The four members of the group all came from the Liverpool music scene of the 1950s. John Lennon (1940-80) and Paul McCartney (b. 1942) both played the guitar and started out together in 1957, playing in a skiffle group called The Quarry Men. The following year they were joined by George Harrison (b. 1943) on guitar, Paul McCartney switching to electric bass. Their instrumental lineup was the same as The Shadows', with lead, rhythm, and bass guitars and a drummer. The group used a number of drummers before they finally settled on Ringo Starr (Richard Starkey, b. 1940) in 1962.

After signing a record deal with EMI, the group started to evolve, encouraged by musical direction from producer George Martin, who helped them with recording and arrangements. At this time Lennon and McCartney wrote most of their music using two acoustic guitars. Their open-minded acceptance of a wide, eclectic range of influences led the group toward greater sophistication. This can be heard in their guitar work and in instrumental harmony that often contains imaginative chord sequences and an ambiguous tonality.

Recordings 1962-65

The Beatles' first single, "Love Me Do," recorded in June 1962 at Abbey Road Studios, London, is hardly auspicious in terms of guitar. Harrison and Lennon play simple chords strummed on acoustic guitars. There are no melodic fills or solos, and the track has a bare, sparse feeling. It is unrepresentative of the group's instrumental capabilities. The second single, "Please Please Me," (1963) has a driving electric rhythm and harmony that complements the vocal melody line a hallmark of The Beatles' sound.

 During 1963, the group developed the role and sound of the guitars with solos, fills, and varied rhythms, using combinations of electric and acoustic instruments. The solos on "I Saw Her Standing There" and "Twist and Shout" are the first Harrison recorded using the electric guitar. The energy and excitement that the group was able to convey comes across on tracks such as "She Loves You" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand." On "All My Loving," Lennon plays a fast-triplet strumming pattern against Harrison's rhythm part that generates a great feeling of energetic exuberance.

In 1964 The Beatles continued to search for tonal color and soak up influences that expanded and developed their music. At a time when Brazilian composer Antonio Carlos Jobim's music was popular (see page 219), The Beatles used steel-string and nylon-string guitar with Latin rhythms. Harrison plays nylon string in the song "And I Love Her," with a solo based on the melody. With electric sounds, "1 Feel Fine" begins with feedback, then features a catchy riff with a bright, metallic tone. The haunting "She's A Woman" has a blues-influenced solo, unusual for a Beatles song in this era.

Album developments

When the group recorded the album Help! in 1965, McCartney emerged as a guitarist as well as a bass player. On "Yesterday" (see page 131), he uses fingerstyle on steel-string guitar, playing an attractive chord sequence with moving bass and melody parts. He also plays the repeating opening riff and takes solo breaks on "Ticket To Ride." Harrison continues to play with country-style fills and solos, but contributes more unusual color with the use of a Leslie speaker cabinet to create an unusual texture on "It's Only Love" and a volume pedal for swell effects on "I Need You."

 With the album Rubber Soul, recorded during 1965, the group continued to expand into new areas. McCartney plays an innovative slide solo on "Drive My Car." On "Nowhere Man," Harrison adds bright, shimmering chord fills and a chord melody solo, ending on a high harmonic. "If I needed someone" has chiming arpeggiated chords on an electric 1 2-string, and on "Wait" there are volume-pedal chord swells. The acoustic tracks are just as interesting. On "Norwegian Wood," guitar and sitar melody play in unison. "Girl" sees Harrison and Lennon playing with a mandolin like sound and a solo in a Greek folk style. The single "Day Tripper," recorded during this highly creative period, opens with one of The Beatles' best-known repeating riffs played by two guitars that are doubling the bass.

Northern sounds

In the wake of The Beatles came an explosion of new groups from all over the north of England. The Liverpool Merseybeat scene produced groups including Gerry And The Pacemakers, whose atmospheric hit, "Ferry Across The Mersey" (1964), has a light guitar figure; in Manchester, The Hollies, with guitarists Graham Nash (see page 199) and Tony Hicks, had a string of hits with catchy melodic pop-guitar parts, starting with "(Ain't That) Just Like Me" (1963). The Newcastle group The Animals had a major hit in June 1964 with the traditional song "The House of the Rising Sun" featuring guitarist Hilton Valentine. His understated, arpeggiated chord progression with Alan Price's organ became one of the most popular and widely played chord sequences for guitarists.