Four Fab Facts About The Fab Four

The last time all four Beatles were in the studio at the same time working on a song was when they were recording “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” from Abbey Road, recorded on August 20, 1969.

While everyone knows that Lennon & McCartney were the primary songwriting duo, there is actually one Beatle song credited to Lennon & Harrison. It’s a pure instrumental called “Cry for a Shadow,” recorded in 1962 in Hamburg, Germany, during sessions the boys cut backing up Tony Sheridan. It was finally released on the Beatles Anthology I set in 1995. It was one of the only official recordings featuring Pete Best on drums.

On the cover their Help! Album, people think the lads are spelling out “Help” in semaphore, but actually, the flags spell our ‘N-U-J-V.” (You’ll also notice that Capitol Records changed the position of the Beatles so they’re spelling out “N-V-U-J” in the States.)

The first Beatle to perform in America was George Harrison. His sister married an American and settled in Illinois. George came to visit her long before Beatlemania took hold and performed a few times with local Illinois bands.

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