John Lennon and

The Beatles

Life of John Lennon

John was born on October 9, 1940 in Liverpool, England

He is named after his Grandfather

His dad did not attend his birth

His parents divorced when he was 4 years old

John went to live with his Aunt Mimi after his parents divorced

Julia Lennon was John Lennon’s mother

She was fatally struck by a vehicle driven by an off duty police officer

John had a really hard time coping with her death

John and Paul

John Lennon met Paul McCartney at church.

Not long after, they created the Quarrymen which was named after their High School.

George Harrison, Pete Best, and Stuart Sutcliffe eventually joined the band.

Buddy Holly and The Crickets The Crickets inspired The Quarrymen to change their name to The Beatles.

The Beatles did a cover of Buddy Holly’s song “That’ll be the day” in 1958.

Brian Epstein discovered The Beatles at Liverpool’s Cavern Club in 1961 where they

used to perform on a regular basis.

The Beatles became the most popular band in Britain due to their popular hits, “She loves you” and “I want to hold your hand”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0YifXhm-Zc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9WzFqv0kdI

“She Loves You”

0:01 - Drums begin right before they start singing0:02 - Chorus 1 begins and repeats 3 times0:12 - They hold out their note while the drummer and guitarists play0:14 - Verse 1 begins0:25 - Chorus 2 begins0:35 - The chord here starts minor and resolves to major0:38 - Verse 2 begins0:51 - Chorus 2 repeats1:05 - Chorus 1 repeats but the end is different than the first time1:17 - Verse 3 begins1:29 - Chorus 2 repeats again1:43 - Chorus 1 repeats for the last time1:49 - The Hook repeats twice2:04 - The music slows down like it’s going to end2:06 - The music picks back up again2:10 - The outro starts here2:18 - The song ends

“I Want To Hold Your Hand”

0:08 - Chorus 1 begins 0:30 - Verse 1 starts here0:52 - Chorus 2 begins1:12 - It goes back to Chorus 1 or the A section. 1:35 - Begins Chorus 2 or the B section1:54 - Goes back to the A section or Chorus 1

John Lennon married Cynthia Powell in August of 1962, but ended up divorcing her in 1968. They had one son together and named him

Julian after Lennon’s mother, Julia. John married Yoko Ono a year later in 1969.

The Beatles became popular in America with their appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.

“Beatlemania” was the launch of a British Invasion of rock bands in America. Beatlemania began to die down and the band took a break from writing new

songs.

The Beatles began to break up after the death of their manager Epstein. Yoko Ono was also

causing tensions in the group at this time. Lennon left the Beatles in 1969 and McCartney

followed him shortly after.

Lennon pursued a solo career shortly after he left the Beatles. Eventually, he decided to quit

the music business and focus on being a husband and father.

John Lennon passed away at New York’s Roosevelt Hospital on

December 8, 1980 after being shot by a crazy fan in front of his apartment.

“Hey Jude!”

Was written for Lennon’s son Julian by Paul McCartney right after Lennon divorced his wife Cynthia.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WMesxVWuhc

0:01 - Verse 1 begins the song softly 0:27 - Verse 2 begins 0:28 - It begins to add more instruments such as the tambourine0:43 - The rest of the singers start singing “Ah” under the main melody0:55 - Verse 3 begins 0:56 - The sound changes with the addition of a bass guitar and drums1:08 - The guitar does a chromatic 3 note scale to introduce the next phrase1:25 - A bridge happens with “na na na na”1:33 - The guitar mimics the singers melody1:34 - Verse 4 begins 1:48 - The background singers sing the first part of verse five under the main melody2:00 - Verse 5 begins

“Help!”

“Help” was described as one of Lennon’s favorite songs that he wrote. This song is called help because Lennon is calling for help with everything that is going on in his life.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWP6Qki8mWc

0:01 - Verse 1 Starts the song out0:13 - Chorus 1 starts0:34 - Chorus 2 begins0:54 - Verse 2 begins 1:15 - Chorus 2 comes back just like a B section 1:35 - Chorus 1 returns just like an A section1:55 - Chorus 2 returns again 2:14 - Starts a different ending to the second chorus to end the song

Sources

http://www.iamthebeatles.com/article1169.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94qbVS28SO8

https://rockhall.com/inductees/john-lennon/bio/

http://www.biography.com/people/john-lennon-9379045#early-life

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lennon