This Month in Beatles History – April

From Paul McCartney’s shock exit to the start of sessions for one of the most revolutionary records of all time – April has been quite the month for the Fab Four down the years.

Words & Pictures | Leslie Priestley

Fifty-two years ago in April 1970, the Daily Mirror announced the end of the world’s most famous pop group with the headline: ‘Paul is quitting The Beatles’.

The Beatles’ rise to fame had begun 10 years earlier, playing to small audiences in and around Liverpool. Allan Williams, The Beatles’ first manager, and later ‘The man who gave The Beatles away’, played a key role in taking the band to Hamburg. By 1961 Allan had fallen out with The Beatles and was contacted by local businessman Brian Epstein to see if they had any contractual obligations with him; he told Epstein they didn’t.

Despite having no experience managing a group, Epstein took charge. His vision was to turn The Beatles into the biggest band in the world. Epstein persuaded EMI producer George Martin to sign them and in April 1963, The Beatles received their first silver disc for 250,000 sales of their ‘Please Please Me’ single and later that month performed in front of 10,000 screaming fans at the New Musical Express Poll Winners concert.

They were well on their way to achieving Epstein’s vision and by 1964, had conquered America – returning as international stars with their manager besieged by merchandising offers. Ringo captured the mood of The Beatles’ hectic schedule in April that year commenting ‘it’s been a hard day’s night’. This throwaway line became the title of The Beatles’ first film and their third album – creating a task for John and Paul to write a song to order, something they had never tried before.

To celebrate Epstein’s legacy, permission to erect a statue in his honour has been granted by Liverpool City Council. Led by the Brian Epstein Legacy Project, it will be located in Whitechapel, and will depict Epstein walking towards the Cavern holding a copy of The Beatles’ contract. Epstein, described by Paul McCartney as ‘the fifth Beatle’, is widely recognised as the man who led the group to stardom.

As the touring years finished, sessions for Revolver began in April 1966 and would change the course of popular music. It was a request of The Beatles that revolutionised standard practices in studio recording with the first use of artificial double tracking, something that is still in use today the world over.

The following April, the final touches were being added to the most pivotal rock album of all time, The Beatles’ masterpiece Sgt. Pepper’s. With no silence between the songs, John insisted they include a high pitch whistle on the run out groove, audible only to dogs. Shortly after its release, Epstein was found dead – marking the beginning of the band’s demise.

The Beatles’ 17th and final UK number one, ‘The Ballad of John and Yoko’, released in April 1969, was their first stereo single and unlike any other Beatles single, portrayed the recently married life of John and Yoko. As the group began to fall apart, Ringo was the only Beatle present at their last recording session in April 1970.

Many years after Allan Williams had parted with The Beatles, he gained access to a derelict office and recovered abandoned tapes of the group performing live in Hamburg. The Beatles attempted to legally block the release amid claims of poor sound quality, but they lost out with record label Lingasong successfully claiming the recordings had a historic value and would not damage The Beatles’ reputation. These recordings were released in April 1977 under the title: ‘The Beatles Live! At The Star-Club In Hamburg, Germany 1962’.

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