Fifth Beatle

The fifth Beatle is an informal title that various commentators in the press and entertainment industry have applied to people who were at one point a member of the Beatles, or who had a strong association with the "Fab Four" (John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr) during the group's existence. The "fifth Beatle" claims first appeared in the press immediately upon the band's rise to global fame in 1963–64. The members have offered their own beliefs of the "fifth Beatle":

  • Lennon was critical of individuals who claimed credit for the Beatles' success, including the individual Beatles themselves, saying in his 1970 interview with Jann Wenner, "I'm not the Beatles. I'm me. Paul isn't the Beatles. Brian Epstein wasn't the Beatles, neither is Dick James. The Beatles are the Beatles."[1] Lennon was also disparaging of their music producer George Martin's importance.[1]
  • McCartney said on two separate occasions that "if anyone was the fifth Beatle", it was manager Brian Epstein (in a 1997 BBC interview)[2] and producer George Martin (in a 2016 memorial post).[3]
  • Harrison stated at the Beatles' 1988 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame that there were only two "fifth Beatles": Derek Taylor and Neil Aspinall (referring to the Beatles' public relations manager and road manager-turned-business-executive, respectively).[4]

The term is not used to indicate the chronology of band members joining the group. Pete Best joined Lennon, McCartney, Stuart Sutcliffe and Harrison on the eve of their Hamburg sojourn, the five using the monikers "The Silver Beetles" and "The Silver Beatles" (they experimented with "The Beat Brothers" and ultimately "The Beatles" while in Hamburg with Best).

Early group members

Stuart Sutcliffe

Stuart Sutcliffe[5] was the original bassist of the five-member Beatles, he played with the band primarily during their days as a club act in Hamburg, Germany. When the band returned to Liverpool in 1961, Sutcliffe remained behind in Hamburg. He died of a brain haemorrhage shortly thereafter. Instead of replacing him with a new member, Paul McCartney changed from rhythm guitar (with Lennon) to bass and the band continued as a four-piece.

Sutcliffe was an accomplished painter, but when compared to the other Beatles, his musical skills were described as "inadequate",[6] and his involvement in the band was mainly a consequence of his friendship with Lennon. Sutcliffe's input was an important early influence on the development of the band's image; Sutcliffe was the first to wear what later became famous as the Beatles' moptop hairstyle, asking his girlfriend Astrid Kirchherr to cut his hair in emulation of the hairdo worn by friend Klaus Voormann.

Pete Best

Pete Best[7] was the original drummer of the Beatles. He played with the band during their time as a club act, in both Liverpool and Hamburg, Germany. The band during this time period consisted of Best, bassist Stuart Sutcliffe, and guitarists McCartney, Harrison, and Lennon. Best continued to perform with the band until mid-August 1962, when he was let go and replaced by Ringo Starr.

Temporary members

Andy White

Andy White played drums on The Beatles' U.S. pressing of "Love Me Do", which was their first single in the United States. Ron Richards, assistant producer to George Martin, was in charge of recording on 11 September 1962. In June, the band had recorded "Love Me Do" with Best, then a second time in early September with brand new (three weeks) member Starr, before deciding to record it a third time. Richards brought experienced session drummer White in for drums on this recording, with Starr playing tambourine. White and Starr also both played percussion on "P.S. I Love You" during this session, with White on drums and Starr on maracas.[8]

Jimmie Nicol

Jimmie Nicol played drums for the first eight shows of The Beatles' 1964 world tour. Starr became ill and the opening part of the tour was almost canceled. Instead of canceling, the Beatles' manager Brian Epstein hired Nicol to stand in until Starr recovered. Nicol played with the band in early June, in Denmark, the Netherlands, Hong Kong and Australia. Nicol made the most of his time, signing autographs and giving interviews. Starr rejoined the band on 14 June, in Melbourne.

Chas Newby

When The Beatles returned from West Germany for the first time, they were short of a bass guitarist. Pete Best suggested Chas Newby. Newby had been with The Black Jacks (Pete Best's group), and was now attending university, but was on holiday and so agreed to play with The Beatles. He appeared with them for four engagements in December 1960 (17 December, Casbah Club, Liverpool; 24 December, Grosvenor Ballroom, Liscard; 27 December, Litherland Town Hall; 31 December, Casbah Club). John Lennon asked him to go to West Germany for the Beatles' second trip,[9] but he chose to return to university and after Lennon and George Harrison both declined to switch to bass guitar, Paul McCartney, who previously played guitar and piano, reluctantly became the band's bassist.

Business, management, and production

Brian Epstein

Brian Epstein

Brian Epstein, the band's manager from 1961 until his death in 1967, was instrumental in the Beatles' rise to global fame. Epstein "discovered" the band in Liverpool, saw their potential, and never wavered in his faith and commitment to them. He purposefully restricted his oversight of the band, limiting himself to business matters and public image, and gave the band free creative rein in their music. Epstein also doggedly sought a recording contract for the band in London at a crucial moment in their career, fighting their perception as provincial "northern" musicians.

Epstein's death in essence marked the beginning of the Beatles' dissolution, as Lennon admitted later. Because he was not creatively involved with the band, Epstein was only infrequently called the "fifth Beatle", but over the years he and producer George Martin have clearly been recognised as the inner circle members who most profoundly affected the band's career. In an interview in the 1990s describing Epstein's involvement in the band's rise to fame, Martin declared "He's the fifth Beatle, if there ever was one."

McCartney summarized the importance of Epstein to the Beatles when he was interviewed in 1997 for a BBC documentary about Epstein. He stated: "If anyone was the fifth Beatle, it was Brian."[2][10]

In 2013 Epstein was the subject of a graphic novel entitled The Fifth Beatle by Vivek Tiwary. The book was released in November and spent several weeks on The New York Times best-seller list, reaching no. 1 in its third week of release.[11]

George Martin

George Martin produced nearly all of the Beatles' recordings (except for the Let It Be album, produced by Phil Spector, and the songs "Real Love" and "Free as a Bird," produced by Jeff Lynne) and wrote the instrumental score for the Yellow Submarine film and soundtrack album, and the string and horn (and even some vocal) arrangements for almost all of their songs (with the famous exception of Spector's re-production on Let It Be, and "She's Leaving Home", which was arranged by Mike Leander). His arrangement of the string octet backing for "Eleanor Rigby" was widely noted.

Martin's extensive musical training (which he received at the Guildhall School of Music) and sophisticated guidance in the studio are often credited as fundamental contributions to the work of the Beatles. Writer Ian MacDonald noted that Martin was one of the few record producers in the UK at the time who possessed the sensitivity the Beatles needed to develop their songwriting and recording talent. Martin's piano playing also appears on several of their tracks, including "Misery" and "In My Life". Martin himself deflected claims of being the "fifth Beatle"[12] to Beatles' manager Brian Epstein. In 2006, Martin inadvertently strengthened his image as the "fifth Beatle" by contributing the only piece of new music on the Love soundtrack: a string arrangement on top of George Harrison's solo acoustic demo of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" from Anthology 3.[13][14]

Lennon disparaged Martin's importance to the Beatles' music. In his 1970 interview with Jann Wenner, Lennon said, "[Dick James is] another one of those people, who think they made us. They didn't. I’d like to hear Dick James' music and I'd like to hear George Martin's music, please, just play me some."[1] In a 1971 letter to Paul McCartney, Lennon wrote, "When people ask me questions about 'What did George Martin really do for you?,' I have only one answer, 'What does he do now?' I noticed you had no answer for that! It's not a putdown, it's the truth."[15] Lennon wrote that Martin took too much credit for the Beatles' music. Commenting specifically on Revolution 9, Lennon said, "For Martin to state that he was 'painting a sound picture' is pure hallucination. Ask any of the other people involved. The final editing Yoko and I did alone."[15] In a tribute to George Martin after his death, Paul McCartney said "If anyone earned the title of the fifth Beatle, it was George. From the day that he gave The Beatles our first recording contract, to the last time I saw him, he was the most generous, intelligent and musical person I've ever had the pleasure to know." [16]

Julian Lennon called him "The Fifth Beatle, without question".[17] According to Alan Parsons (2016), Martin had "great ears" and "rightfully earned the title of "Fifth Beatle".[18]

Neil Aspinall

A schoolmate of McCartney and Harrison and a close personal friend of Pete Best (he actually lived in Best's house and fathered his youngest brother, Roag), Aspinall joined the Beatles as their road manager, which included driving his old Commer van to and from shows, both day and night. After Mal Evans started work for the Beatles, Aspinall was promoted to become their personal assistant, and eventually ascended to the position of CEO for Apple Corps (a position he held until 10 April 2007).

Aspinall was involved in court cases on behalf of Apple over the years (including cases against the Beatles' then manager Allen Klein, their label EMI, and the case against Apple Computer). He supervised the marketing of music, videos, and merchandising for the group. Aspinall also temporarily served as the group's manager following Epstein's death.

Although not a musician, Aspinall also made minor contributions to a handful of Beatles' recordings. He played a tambura on "Within You Without You", harmonica on "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!", some percussion on "Magical Mystery Tour", and was among the many participants singing on the chorus of "Yellow Submarine". In January 1988, while accepting the Beatles' induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Harrison named Aspinall as one of only two people worthy of the title "the Fifth Beatle", the other being Derek Taylor.[19]

Derek Taylor

Derek Taylor[20] first met the band after reviewing their stage performance. Instead of the anticipated negative review of a rock-n-roll group, Taylor gave their act the highest praises. Invited to become acquainted with the Beatles' camp, he soon became a confidant, and gained his share of exclusives on them.

Eventually, he was hired away from his newspaper job by Epstein, who put him in charge of Beatles press releases, and playing media liaison to himself and the band. He also became Epstein's personal assistant.

By 1968, he became press officer for Apple Corps. As a VIP at Apple, Taylor had a major role in the company's ups and downs, making or enforcing many crucial business and personal decisions, for the Beatles and Apple's staff, and witnessing many key moments in the latter days of both. In January 1988, while accepting the Beatles' induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Harrison named Taylor as one of only two people worthy of the title "the Fifth Beatle", the other being Neil Aspinall.[19]

Musical contributors

During the Beatles' existence (specifically, 1960–70 and the Anthology project), several musicians recorded with the Beatles in a more limited capacity, either on a Beatles' album, or on another artist's album with two or more Beatles members appearing. Hence, such artists could be dubbed "the Fifth Beatle" for a single track or two. Artists include:

Tony Sheridan

Tony Sheridan[21] employed various backup bands while performing in Hamburg between 1960 and 1963. In 1961 the Beatles (comprising Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, and Best), who had met Sheridan during their first visit to Hamburg in 1960, worked with him on their second. When German Polydor agent Bert Kaempfert saw the pairing on stage, he suggested that they make some recordings together. (At that period, Sheridan was the bigger name, with the Beatles as his backing band.) In 1962, after a series of singles (the first of which, "My Bonnie"/"The Saints" made it to no. 5 in the Hit Parade), Polydor released the album My Bonnie across Germany. The word "Beatles" was judged to sound too similar to the German "Pidels" (pronounced peedles), the plural of a slang term for penis, so the album was credited to "Tony Sheridan and The Beat Brothers". After The Beatles had gained fame, the album was re-released in the UK, with the credit altered to "Tony Sheridan and The Beatles".

Billy Preston

Apart from Sheridan, the American pianist Billy Preston[22] was the only artist to receive joint credit on a Beatles single (for playing on "Get Back"). On the Let it Be album where Preston's performances are used the song credits list "with Billy Preston", clearly identifying him as separate from the main group, yet also giving him a level of individuality that separated him from studio session players. Preston also played the organ on "Let It Be" and "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" and the Fender Rhodes electric piano on "Don't Let Me Down" and "Get Back". Preston had been introduced to the Beatles in 1962, and worked with them in 1969, when Harrison invited him to join them for recording sessions in order to defuse tensions in the band. Lennon once suggested that Preston join the Beatles, even using the term "Fifth Beatle",[23] but the idea was dismissed by the others. To distinguish him from the controversy over who is the Fifth Beatle, he is sometimes given the unique title of the "Black Beatle".[24]

Eric Clapton

Originally "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" had only the first guitar solo in the song off the album. Harrison thought that it sounded weak, and called in Clapton.[25] to perform the lead guitar on the song. It was decided to cut one verse entirely and add another guitar solo towards the end of the song. When Harrison briefly left the band in January 1969, Lennon suggested inviting Clapton to replace him. After the Beatles broke up, Clapton became one of the few musicians to appear on solo recordings by each of the four.

Other musicians

  • Klaus Voormann played bass with the Beatles in the Hamburg clubs after Stu Sutcliffe left to return to art school in Hamburg. When McCartney left during the break-up, Voormann was mooted as a replacement. After the breakup and until 1976, Voormann played on almost every solo album recorded by Lennon, Harrison and Starr.[26]
  • Like Voormann and Preston, American drummer Jim Keltner was considered to be a potential Fifth Beatle during the 1970s.[27] After playing drums on Lennon's Imagine album in 1971, Keltner performed (beside Starr) at Harrison's Concert for Bangladesh and went on to play on many albums by the former members for the next two decades,[27] forming a lifelong friendship with Harrison. He was one of the "Sideburys" supporting Harrison's supergroup the Traveling Wilburys, toured as a member of Starr's first All-Starr Band in 1989,[27] and participated in recording for Harrison's final album, Brainwashed.
  • Little Richard good-naturedly claims to have "taught the Beatles everything they knew" and at times has laid claim to the title.
  • Pete Shotton was a close friend of Lennon's from childhood until his death and played washboard in the original lineup of The Quarrymen. He played percussion on various studio recordings and made minor uncredited contributions to the lyrical development of "I Am the Walrus" and "Eleanor Rigby". He served as manager of the Apple Boutique and first managing director of Apple Corps.[28]

Cultural references to "fifth Beatle"

  • Murray the K, a New York disc-jockey who was jokingly dubbed the "fifth Beatle" by George Harrison.[29]
  • George Best, star footballer of the 1960s, shared last name with Pete Best and celebrity lifestyle. Best was dubbed "The Fifth Beatle" and "O Quinto Beatle" by the Portuguese press after scoring twice for Manchester United in a 5–1 victory at Estádio da Luz against Benfica in the 1965–66 European Cup quarter-finals, mainly due to his Beatles-style "mop" haircut.[30][31] Best was catapulted to superstar status and arriving back in England the press dubbed him "El Beatle".[32]
  • Jimmy Tarbuck, the Liverpudlian comedian (who was a schoolmate of John Lennon’s), was referred to jokingly as the Fifth Beatle, as he became famous at around the same time, emulated their hairstyle and clothes, and had the same type of accent.[33]
  • Mitch Benn, Liverpudlian musical comedian, performed a show at the 2013 Edinburgh Festival Fringe entitled Mitch Benn is the 37th Beatle.[34] Benn counted everyone who claimed to be the fifth Beatle and tried to arrange them, "in descending order of Beatledom", including himself. This show was later performed on BBC Radio 4. The fifth Beatle on his list was Pete Best, with the rest of the list consisting of Stuart Sutcliffe (6th), Tony Sheridan (7th), the rest of the original Quarrymen (8th-12th), Andy White (13th), Jimmie Nicol (14th), Billy Preston (15th), Eric Clapton (16th), Brian Epstein (17th), George Martin (18th), Derek Taylor (19th), Mal Evans (20th), Neil Aspinall (21st), Badfinger (22nd-25th), Jeff Lynne (26th), Monty Python (27th-32nd), Neil Innes (33rd), David Catlin-Birch (34th), Neil Harrison (35th) and Elvis Costello (36th).[35]
  • In The Simpsons episode "Lisa the Vegetarian," in which Paul and Linda McCartney appear, the character Apu claims to have met The Beatles while studying meditation with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and jokes about being "The Fifth Beatle," at which Paul rolls his eyes in disbelief and sarcastically replies, "Yeah, sure you were, Apu."[36]
  • Victor Spinetti, who appeared in three Beatles films, was sometimes referred to as the fifth Beatle.[37]
  • Behind Harrison in the cover photograph of Abbey Road, there is a Volkswagen Beetle, and as a wordplay (Beatle/Beetle) the car has been referred to as the Fifth Beatle.[38]
  • "Butters Stotch in South Park was referred to by IGN as "unquestionably the Fifth Beatle" of the show[39]. When the character of Kenny McCormick was temporarily written off the show near the end of Season 5, Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, and Eric Cartman allow Butters into their group as the "fourth friend", a role he continued to fill until midway through season 6, upon the eventual return of Kenny.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "The Rolling Stone Interview: John Lennon (text and podcast)". Imaginepeace.com. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  2. 1 2 brianepstein.com: McCartney's comments about the fifth Beatle. Retrieved 12 March 2007
  3. ↑ "Paul McCartney". web.facebook.com. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  4. ↑ Du Noyer, Paul (2012). Liverpool - Wondrous Place: From the Cavern to the Capital of Culture. Virgin Digital. p. 43. ISBN 0753512696.
  5. ↑ "Honouring work of 'Fifth Beatle' Stuart Sutcliffe". St Helens Star. 13 September 2012. Retrieved 23 September 2012. The man they call the Fifth Beatle, who 'fell in love with art' at Prescot Grammar School, is to have work displayed in a charity exhibition. ...
  6. ↑ An Evening With Pete Best, Part I: The Interview. Retrieved 20 January 2007
  7. ↑ "'Fifth Beatle' Pete Best's 'True' Story". NPR. 2 September 2003. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
  8. ↑ Jordan, Chris (23 May 2008). "'Fifth Beatle' Andy White is still keeping time". myCentralJersey.com. Retrieved 7 January 2010.
  9. ↑ "The Story of Chas Newby, Who Played With the Beatles in Liverpool". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  10. ↑ "Brian Epstein Play to Open in Liverpool". The Daily Telegraph. 27 August 2012. Retrieved 23 September 2012. Sir Paul McCartney said of him: 'If anyone was the Fifth Beatle, it was Brian.'
  11. ↑ "HARDCOVER GRAPHIC BOOKS". The New York Times. 17 December 2013. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
  12. ↑ "George Martin: 'The Fifth Beatle' Returns". NPR. 19 February 2007. Retrieved 23 September 2012. Sir George Martin is often regarded as 'The Fifth Beatle.' ...
  13. ↑ Watson, Greig (17 November 2006). "Love unveils new angle on Beatles". BBC. Retrieved 17 November 2006.
  14. ↑ "The Beatles 'LOVE' Podcast". The Beatles. 11 January 2007. Archived from the original on 19 January 2007. Retrieved 22 January 2007.
  15. 1 2 Willman, Chris (8 October 2012). "'John Lennon Letters' Reveal Bitterness Toward George Martin As Well as McCartney". Yahoo Music. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  16. ↑ "Entertainment Live: Sir George Martin tributes". 9 March 2016. Retrieved 23 May 2017 – via www.bbc.com.
  17. ↑ "Julian Lennon". web.facebook.com. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  18. ↑ "Alan Parsons". web.facebook.com. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  19. 1 2 O'Dell, Chris; with Ketcham, Katherine (2009). Miss O'Dell: My Hard Days and Long Nights with The Beatles, The Stones, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, and the Women They Loved. New York, NY: Touchstone. p. 122. ISBN 978-1-4165-9093-4.
  20. ↑ Goldsher, Alan (2010). Paul Is Undead. Gallery Books. p. 104. ISBN 1439177929.
  21. ↑ Boone, Brian (2011). I Love Rock 'n' Roll (Except When I Hate It): Extremely Important Stuff About the Songs and Bands You Love, Hate, Love to Hate, and Hate to Love. Perigee Trade. ISBN 0399536795.
  22. ↑ "Songwriter, 'Fifth Beatle' Billy Preston Dies". NPR. 6 June 2006. Retrieved 23 September 2012. Called "the Fifth Beatle" Preston also worked with other musicians, including the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, and Sly and the Family Stone.
  23. ↑ The Beatles - A/B Road: The Complete Get back Sessions, 24 January
  24. ↑ Martin, Philip (2001). Artificial Southerner: Equivocations and Love Songs. University of Arkansas Press. p. 76. ISBN 1557287163.
  25. ↑ Adamson, Nancy (11 August 2002). "Book Review: New rock 'n' roll trivia book hits a nice note". Midland Reporter-Telegram.
  26. ↑ Ingham, Chris (2009). The Rough Guide to the Beatles. Rough Guides. p. 310. ISBN 184836525X.
  27. 1 2 3 Eder, Bruce. "Jim Keltner". AllMusic. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  28. ↑ "Early John Lennon Bandmate & Childhood Friend Pete Shotton Dies at 75". billboard.com. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  29. ↑ "1922-1982: Murray Kaufman". rollingstone.com. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  30. ↑ "Manchester United Official Web Site". Manchester United F.C. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  31. ↑ "The birth of El Beatle - Premier League - Football". The Independent. UK. 7 December 2005. Archived from the original on 16 July 2012. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
  32. ↑ "The birth of El Beatle". The Independent. Retrieved 5 September 2014
  33. ↑ Quemby, Dee (2007). I'm Ready For My Close Up - Anybody!. AuthorHouse. ISBN 1425977820.
  34. ↑ "TERRA'S WORLD IS OUT!! ALSO EDINBURGH NEWS; 37TH BEATLE RETURNS". Mitch Benn. 2014-07-17. Retrieved 2016-02-20.
  35. ↑ "Mitch Benn is the 37th Beatle". Mitch Benn is the 37th Beatle. 6 February 2014. BBC. BBC Radio 4.
  36. ↑ "The Simpsons Quotes". beatles.coolcherrycream.com. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  37. ↑ "Victor Spinetti, the raconteur of genius -Wales Online".
  38. ↑ White, Guy. "Paul McCartney And The Iconic Abbey Road Sessions". sabotagetimes.com. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
  39. ↑ https://au.ign.com/articles/2014/03/01/top-25-south-park-characters?page=5
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