The Beatles

The jangly opening chord of The Beatles' hit has long frustrated amateur guitarists seeking to replicate it. So a Canadian mathematician used sound-wave analysis to figure it out. It appears that the Fab Four got by with a little help.

Forty years ago Wednesday, The Beatles launched Apple Records. The label's trademark green Apple logo appeared on albums by The Beatles and other artists the band helped discover. It didn't take The Beatles long to show they were better at making music than running a business.

The man who knew John, Paul and George before Ringo, who served as a confidante and business manager to all four Beatles and who helped keep peace in the band after it split up — Neil Aspinall — died this week. Beatles scholar Martin Lewis remembers Aspinall's life and work.

Wednesday marks the fifth anniversary of former Beatle George Harrison's death from cancer. Producer Paul Ingles solicits remarks from fans of the late George Harrison, the so-called "Quiet Beatle."

25 years after his murder in New York City, Ed Gordon remembers ex-Beatle John Lennon and his love of soul music.

The first drummer with The Beatles, Pete Best, has written a book about his time with the band, The Beatles: The True Beginnings. In an interview with Terry Gross, Best discusses the story of The Beatles in Liverpool.

After three decades of performing his post-Beatles pop, Paul McCartney releases a new live recording filled with Beatles tunes. In an interview with NPR's Renee Montagne, McCartney discusses the emotions of performing songs dedicated to George Harrison and John Lennon.

Mark Mobley, Music Producer with NPR's Performance Today, offers his appreciation of ex-Beatle George Harrison, who died Thursday at the age of 58.

Morning Edition has this remembrance of the Beatles guitarist. George Harrison succumbed to cancer on Thursday.

McCartney has written some of the most famous song lyrics in pop history, including those for "When I'm 64," "Yesterday," "Fool on the Hill," "Paperback Writer" and many more. They're collected, along with his poems, in a new volume titled Blackbird Singing: Poems and Lyrics 1965-1999.

Thirty-one years after the release of George Harrison's first solo album, amidst the latest spate of Beatlemania, Capitol records has remastered and re-released All Things Must Pass. NPR's Mark Mobley has this appreciation of the quiet Beatle's landmark recording.

As the British Invasion changed the landscape of the music industry, jazz musicians had to adapt to popular music written by the bands themselves instead of hired songwriters. But as we hear in these five Beatles covers, jazz musicians were finding their own voices in the Fab Four's tunes.

When The White Album was released 40 years ago this month, fans were both baffled and awe struck by its sprawling world of sound. It was released as a double LP (almost unheard of at the time) and featured instant classics like "I Will," "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," and "Blackbird." But The White Album (its real name is simply The Beatles) was also filled with songs many found hard to digest, like the eight-minute, experimental sound collage "Revolution 9" or the inexplicably surreal "Wild Honey Pie."

The singer-songwriter's new CD, Harps and Angels, is as good as anything he's ever done. Newman stopped by to DJ an episode of All Songs Considered and talk about his favorite songs, as well as the musicians who've shaped his music — especially Ray Charles, the Beatles and his uncle, Alfred Newman.

Diehard fans of The Beatles have been waiting for this moment for decades. On Sept. 9, EMI will release remastered copies of the band's entire catalog, from 1963's Please Please Me to the 1969 album Abbey Road. The remastered versions offer stunning clarity to The Beatles' music, allowing fans to hear elements in the songs they most likely never noticed before, like subtle sound effects or guitar lines that were lost in the original, all-analog releases.

Eleanor Rigby may be a real person after all. A 97-year-old document up for auction in London later this month seems to contain clues about her identity. The current owner of the document, Annie Mawson, gets to the heart of the mystery surrounding The Beatles' iconic song.

MTV Networks announced Thursday a deal to use songs by The Beatles in its popular "Rock Band" video game series. This would be the group's first digital licensing deal. It would also be a huge coup for Viacom, which owns "Rock Band." The company's been vying with rival video game, "Guitar Hero," for the valuable repertoire.

The man who knew John, Paul and George before Ringo, who served as a confidante and business manager to all four Beatles and who helped keep peace in the band after it split up — Neil Aspinall — died this week. Beatles scholar Martin Lewis remembers Aspinall's life and work.

The Beatles', Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was released June 1, 1967, in Britain, and on June 2 in the United States. The album became a phenomenon, and its sound was perfect for the then-new frequencies of FM.

Rock journalist Bob Spitz's new biography of the Beatles is decidedly not prettified: venereal disease, drugs, and bad business are all part of the story of the Fab Four. The book is The Beatles: The Biography.

The Beatles recorded their final album together at London's Abbey Road Studios 35 years ago this week. Musician and music critic David Was examines the legacy of Abbey Road an album that marked the end of six remarkable years for The Beatles.

Saturday marks the 40th anniversary of the Beatles' arrival on U.S. shores. There are countless books and TV and radio specials. Paul Ingles reports on one aspect of the original madness — the radio wars that erupted around the Beatles.

Scott on Mojo magazine's poll, which selected the Beatles' "In My Life" as the greatest pop song of the century.

Scott talks with BBC presenter Frankie Conner about this week's concert by Paul McCartney at the Cavern Club in Liverpool.

When The White Album was released 40 years ago this month, fans were both baffled and awe struck by its sprawling world of sound. It was released as a double LP (almost unheard of at the time) and featured instant classics like "I Will," "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," and "Blackbird." But The White Album (its real name is simply The Beatles) was also filled with songs many found hard to digest, like the eight-minute, experimental sound collage "Revolution 9" or the inexplicably surreal "Wild Honey Pie."

Forty years ago this month, the Beatles began recording Rubber Soul. A new tribute CD features remakes of the landmark album's 14 tracks. Some of the artists weren't even born yet in 1965, when Rubber Soul came out.

Music journalist Ashley Kahn reviews a new collection of John Lennon recordings called Acoustic. While listening, you can also learn how to play Lennon's songs. The CD collection comes with a chord chart that shows where to place your fingers on the frets of a guitar.

Gen-Xers love "In Your Eyes" by Peter Gabriel, while their parents prefer "At Last" as sung by Etta James. Those are two of the most popular tunes NPR listeners selected in a recent NPR.org online poll on Valentine's Day music. Hear the songs and read the stories behind them.