January
11:
"Please
Please Me", the Beatles' second single, is released in the U.K..
February
11:
In one day,
during a marathon 10 hour session, the Beatles record ten songs which,
together with the
previously cut "Love Me Do", "P.S. I Love You", "Ask Me Why" and
"Please Please Me" make up their first full album, also titled "Please
Please Me".
February
22:
The "Please
Please
Me" single goes to #1 on the British charts. (It stays there for two
weeks.)
March 22:
The "Please
Please
Me" album is released in the U.K. and becomes an immediate hit, making
#1 on the charts
and remaining at the top for 29 weeks. (Released in the United
States in July as "Introducing the Beatles" it generates only
disappointing sales.)
April 8:
John
Charles
Julian Lennon is born at 7:45 am in Liverpool, England, to John Lennon
and Cynthia (Powell) Lennon.
August
3:
The Beatles
play
their 274th and last gig at the Cavern Club, heading a bill with the
Merseybeats,
the Escorts,
Johnny
Ringo
and the Colts, the Roadrunners and the Sapphires.
(None of
them
performed at the club again after that, except Paul McCartney, who did
a solo show in late 1999.)
October
13:
The Beatles
appear
on British ITV's popular variety television show “Sunday Night at the
London Paladium”,
which reaches an estimated 15 million viewers. (The hysterical audience
reaction that night
is generally considered by most Beatle biographers and researchers to
be the genesis of Beatlemania in Europe and the beginning of the
group's phenomenal
world wide popularity.)
October
17:
The group
records
the first of seven Annual Christmas Messages for their fans, for
distribution
through the Beatles Fan Club. They were later combined into an album,
also exclusively
for fan club members.
November
4:
The Beatles
appear
at the Royal Command Performance, performing for the Queen Mother,
Princess
Margaret, Lord Snowdon and other royals. Before beginning the last
number, "Twist and Shout," John teases the crowd with "Will the people
in the cheaper seats clap their hands? And the rest of you, if you'll
just rattle your jewelry." (A comment that would
"go down in history".)
November
22:
The group's second album "With the Beatles", featuring "All My Loving,"
"Please Mr.
Postman" "Roll Over Beethoven" and others, is released in the U.K.,
shooting to the top position on the British charts and remaining
there for 21 weeks. (It succeeded "Please Please Me" in the number one
spot, and together the two hits topped the album charts for 51
consecutive weeks.)
November
29:
The single "I Want To Hold Your Hand" is released in the U.K. and
immediately
hits number one on the charts.
December
13:
A press
release
issued by CBS appears in American newspapers:
THE BEATLES
OF
LONDON TO MAKE U.S. TELEVISION DEBUT ON SULLIVAN SHOW.
"The
Beatles,
wildly popular quartet of English recording stars, will make their
first
trip to the United States Feb. 7 for their American television debut on
"The Ed Sullivan Show," Sundays, Feb. 9 and 16 (8:00-9:00 PM, PST) on
the
CBS Television Network. Their first appearance will be done at Studio
50
in New York, and their second at the Hotel Deauville in Miami Beach,
Fla."
December
23:
Capitol
Records starts an advertising campaign with “The Beatles Are Coming”
stickers slapped "on any friendly surface" by their promotional staff,
and their sales representatives ordered to make business calls to radio
stations and record stores wearing Beatle wigs.
December 26:
The single "I Want To Hold Your Hand" is released in the U.S. and hits
#1 on the charts. (It stays in the top spot for seven weeks.)
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