Hey guys! It’s Mallory with JSK Stories and I’m here to help you see the stories in History. I teach you about Historical moments so that you can write about them in a way that’s fun and engaging, helping all of us to explore history at a deeper level and discover and tell untold stories.
Today we are going to be talking about The Beatles.
The Beatles were a British quartet and were globally known to have changed the history of rock and roll.
The group all started with two primary members, John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Later on, they joined with George Harrison and Stuart Sutcliffe. All self-taught musicians, they took turns writing music and grew from there.
In 1961, a man named Brian Epstein saw them perform and fell in love with their music. Epstein sent all of their music to different record companies trying to get them a record label.
Eventually, they got a contract with Parlophone. Parlophone helped them come even farther by finding a more polished drummer, Ringo Starr.
In 1963 they rose to fame in England. What was so fascinating is that although all of their fans came from all ages and backgrounds, they had one thing in common: they LOVED the Beatles. They called this quick rise to the top “beatlemania”.
After some time, they had some appearances on American television, and “beatlemania” hit the United States as well.
They rose to the top and people claim that while other current artists like Taylor Swift, One Direction, etc., are wildly popular, they don’t compare to the mania that took place when the Beatles rose to the top.
In 1965-1967, the band “rebranded” and started to write music that was more classic and mature, appealing to an even wider audience. The bigger they got, the more freedom they took with their music.
They truly reinvented the meaning of rock and roll. Other artists like Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Smokey Oliver, etc.. (names your parents or grandparents would know better than you), set the “classic” tone for rock and roll while The Beatles Reinvented it.
They eventually disbanded in 1970 due to personal struggles in their lives and in the band, but their music left a legacy that will likely never be forgotten.
So, what characters do we have here?
We have each member of the band, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr.
We have the original drummer, Stuart Sutcliffe.
The band manager, Brian Epstein.
The producer and label, Parlophone.
And then a world full of fans all caught in the whirlwind of “beatlemania”.
Feel free to make up fictional characters based on the time as well.
For example, one I think would be fun is someone who doesn’t “get the hype” of the Beatles, someone who has never liked to go with the crowd in regards to music. Today it would look like the Taylor Swift haters, not caught up in what everyone else thinks is good music.
Perhaps making stories about their families and researching what each character’s family was like.
Or maybe you could talk about tension in the band.
I think it would be interesting to explore the life of Stuart Sutcliffe. One of our goals over here on this channel is to discover and tell “untold stories”, and I think Stuart might be a classic example of someone who played an important role in history, but whose story doesn’t get told.
Maybe there were times the label and the Beatles didn’t agree. Knowing musicians, I can almost guarantee that there were those moments more frequently than one may think.
Another source of inspiration for stories is songs, and the Beatles have many. Try listening to some songs by them and see if that sparks a story idea, I promise listening to other people’s creativity can spark your own.
There are so many directions to go with this story.
Having said that, let me narrow it down for you with a writing prompt.
John Lennon and Paul McCartney write their first song. They play it for their friends and family. How do they react? What do they think of the song? Do they encourage them to pursue music? Write what you think might have happened.
Go ahead and explore this story however you want to! Send me what you come up with with the link in the description below. See you later!