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understand
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Follow our
daily timelime
of historical
events to
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role The Beatles
played in changing
the modern world.

1944--David Crosby is born David Van Courtland in Los Angeles, California. First a member of The Byrds, he then teams up with Stephen Stills and Graham Nash in 1968 to form Crosby, Stills & Nash.

1947--India and Pakistan are granted independence from the British Commonwealth.

1958--Elvis Presley’s mother, Gladys, dies of a heart attack at the age of 42. Elvis will never really be the same.

1961--The Beatles perform at the Cavern Club -- a lunchtime show.

1962--Ringo Starr is nearing the end of a three-month engagement with Rory Storm and the Hurricanes at Butlin’s holiday camp when he receives a telephone call from John Lennon, who confirms Ringo’s invitation to join The Beatles. The Beatles need Ringo right away, and he has been interested in joining The Beatles for some time, so Ringo gives Rory Storm three days notice and, on August 18th, Ringo appears as a member of The Beatles for the first time.

1963--The Beatles perform two shows at the Odeon Cinema in Llandudno, Caernarvonshire.

1963--The Beatles tape two songs for delayed broadcast on the Granada TV program “Scene at 6:30.” They are not dressed in their suits, as usual, but in black polo-neck sweaters and jeans. They tape two songs: Twist and Shout (which is broadcast later the same day) and She Loves You (which will be broadcast on August 19th). After the taping, the Beatles return to Llandudno in North Wales for their evening performances.

1964--The Beatles in the recording studio (Studio Two, Emi Studios, London). Recording songs for their fourth album, Beatles For Sale. I'm a Loser is recorded in eight takes, and Mr. Moonlight is recorded in four takes. The Beatles also record five takes of Leave My Kitten Alone, but they are unhappy with the results and abandon the song. The Beatles Anthology 1 includes a combination of Takes 1 and 4 of Mr. Moonlight and the completed Take 5 of Leave My Kitten Alone (Disc 2, Tracks 21-22).

1965--The Beatles, in the US for a tour of North America, tape an appearance for “The Ed Sullivan Show.” Recording at Studio 50, New York City, New York, they perform I Feel Fine, I’m Down, Act Naturally, Ticket to Ride, Yesterday, and Help! During Paul’s performance of Yesterday, accompanied by a pre-taped track of three violins, the other three Beatles leave the stage. After the song, they return to the stage, and John comments, “Thank you, Paul, that was just like him.” The program is broadcast on September 12th, for the season-opener the popular variety show. Also appearing on this show are Cilla Black, Soupy Sales, Allen and Rossi, and Fantasio the Magician (sorry, no Topo Gigio). The Beatles’ performance of the song Help! is included as part of a US television special titled “Really Big Show: Ed Sullivan’s 50th Anniversary," broadcast by CBS-TV on May 18, 1998.

1966--On their final tour of America, The Beatles perform a concert at Cleveland Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio. The show is interrupted when 2,500 fans flood onto the field where The Beatles are playing.

1966--A Longview, Texas, radio station sponsors a public bonfire for Beatles records. The station is knocked off the air when it is struck by a bolt of lightning. Must be some of that instant karma John Lennon would later warn us all about!

1967--Queenie Epstein arrives in London to stay with her son, Brian, at his Chapel Street house.

1968--The Beatles in the recording studio (Studio Two, EMI Studios, London). Yer Blues is brought nearly to completion with therecording of a second John Lennon lead vocal. Then recording begins for What’s the New Mary Jane (4 takes). This song is very nearly included on The Beatles (The White Album), but is cut at the last minute. John and George Harrison are the only Beatles who perform on the song, and John is the only singer. But Yoko Ono and Mal Evans join John and George in making the recordings. The “best” recording from this session was released on The Beatles Anthology 3 (Disc one, Track 22).

1971--The great sax player, King Curtis, is stabbed to death in New York. As well as playing for The Coasters and on his own hits, he played on It’s So Hard and I Don’t Wanna Be A Soldier on John Lennon’s album, Imagine.

1978--US release of The Beatles single Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band / With a Little Help From My Friends / A Day in the Life (Capitol). These songs had not been previously released as singles.

1984--IBM releases MS-DOS version 3.0.

For more day-by-day history go to HistoryUnlimited.net