What did The Beatles do?

The Beatles: On this day in music history

January 25

Most music fans know that The Beatles were an English rock group founded in 1960. They were one of (if not the) most critically and commercially successful bands in history. The line-up from 1962 on included: John Lennon (guitar, keys, and vocals), Paul McCartney (bass, keys, guitar and vocals), George Harrison (guitar, keys and vocals) and Ringo Starr (drums, percussion, piano and vocals).

On this day in music history, there were several noteworthy, memorable Beatles-related moments.  The events date back as far as 1963 and are as recent as 1991.

The Beatles 1963

On this day in 1963 EMI gave United States record label Vee Jay the distribution rights to Beatles records in North America.  Also on this day in 1963, Beatles buddy, singer Cilla Black made her stage debut at Liverpool’s now legendary Cavern Club.

On this day in 1964 The Beatles’ “I Want To Hold Your Hand” became the group’s first number 1 single on the US charts.  This was also the day their song “She Loves You” made its debut.

On this day in 1967 The Beatles, became dissatisfied with the previous mix of “Penny Lane” and returned to the studio to record three more mixes.

On this day in 1969 The Beatles recorded an untitled jam session titled “Untitled Jamming” and a cover of The Everly Brothers’ “Bye Bye Love” in between working on “Two Of Us”, “For You Blue” and “Let It Be”.  Alan Parsons (Alan Parsons Project) was second engineer.

The Beatles 1969

On this day in 1980 former Beatle Paul McCartney is released and deported after serving nine days of jail time in Tokyo, Japan.  He had been taken into custody at the airport when customs officials found approximately 219 grams of marijuana in his personal luggage.

On this day in 1984 Yoko Ono, widow of former ex-Beatle John Lennon, made a charitable donation of $375,000 to Liverpool’s Strawberry Field, an orphanage which inspired The Beatles‘ classic “Strawberry Fields Forever.”

On this day in 1990 The CBS show “48 Hours” broadcast a profile on Paul McCartney.

On this day in 1991 Paul McCartney performed live on MTV’s “Unplugged” program.

(Images courtesy of FanPop and BeatlePhotoBlog)