We’re having a week or two of anniversaries at the moment; first there was James Bond’s 50th anniversary and now fans of The Beatles are marking 50 years since the Fab Four first hit the airwaves.
Friday marked 50 years since John Lennon’s catchy harmonica riff on Love Me Do was first released and changed the face of popular music forever.
From humble beginnings in the Liverpool suburbs, The Beatles went on to take over the world and become the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful band in the history of music.
Their origins were in boyband-esque pop songs that captured the hearts and minds of young girls around the world, but the evolving musical genius of McCartney, Lennon and Harrison soon saw them experimenting with other genres.
Using recording techniques that are commonplace today, but were groundbreaking at the time, The Beatles pushed the boundaries of what an album could be.
Today, more than 40 years after their fractious break-up, the band’s songs and influence are as important as ever.
Anniversary celebrations have been taking place around the world to remember one of the greatest bands the world has ever seen. So, how can you remember the Fab Four?
Let It Be musical, London
Unfortunately for most Beatles fans, seeing them in concert was simply never an option. The band stopped touring in 1966, due to the fact that their playing was barely audible over the screaming fans.
So Let It Be, a Beatles musical currently showing at the Prince of Wales theatre in London’s West End, is the perfect opportunity to see some of the band’s songs performed live.
Chronicling the rise and rise of the Liverpool quartet through their discography, Let It Be features some of the band’s most popular songs performed with aplomb by four fantastic impersonators. Tickets for Let It Be start from £20 and the show runs until January 19 2013.
Cavern Club, Liverpool
Any true Beatles fan needs to visit Liverpool at least once, to see the locations that shaped the band’s formative years.
There is all manner of Beatles sites to visit in Liverpool, from Penny Lane to St Peter’s Church – where Lennon and McCartney first met.
However, the iconic Cavern Club is probably the best-known Beatles location in Liverpool, where the band performed on more than 200 occasions between 1961 and 1963.
Abbey Road, London
Along with Revolver, the album Abbey Road is considered one the greatest albums of all time. The iconic album cover, depicting the Fab Four crossing the road outside Abbey Road Studios, has made the London location a Mecca for fans of the super-group all over the world.
The zebra crossing is still there, despite the dismay of locals at a constant string of fans trying to recreate the Abbey Road cover.
Rishikesh, India
In 1968 the band visited the city of Rishikesh, in India, to engage in transcendental meditation with the guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, having met him in London the previous year.
The visit to India received widespread media attention, but the calming nature of the stay led to one of the band’s most musically productive periods.
McCartney, Lennon and Harrison all wrote many songs, 18 of which were used on the White Album and two on Abbey Road. Even Ringo Starr wrote one.
It was a hugely influential period for the band. So, why not travel to the region yourself, which is located in the foothills of the Himalayas, to see what all the fuss was about?
Strawberry Fields, New York
John Lennon’s life was cut tragically short in 1980, when he was killed by Mark David Chapman outside his home in New York City.
Lennon’s influence on the world of music and popular culture is still remembered in the city through the Strawberry Fields memorial.
Located in Central Park, the 2.5 acre memorial is a peaceful part of a very noisy city, and is used to hold vigils and tributes to the late Beatle and other influential artists.
(Images: Affendaddy, letitbelondon, Art History Images, WillMcC, Tylersundance, Conyr)
