22 Things You Didn’t Know About The Beatles

1. The working title for the film Help! was Eight Arms to Hold You.

2. George’s house was raided for drugs on Paul and Linda’s wedding day — March 12, 1969.

3. John went to Paris with Paul to celebrate his 21st birthday.

4. Ringo’s first ever show with The Beatles was on February 5th 1962 — his first official show with The Beatles would be later that year on August 18th.

5. Fans threw Jelly Babies at George Harrison all because they heard that he liked them.

We don’t like Jelly Babies, or Fruit Gums for that matter, so think how we feel standing on stage trying to dodge the stuff, before you throw some more at us.

Couldn’t you eat them yourself, besides it is dangerous. I was hit in the eye once with a boiled sweet, and it’s not funny! – George Harrison

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSfYyiOCQrQ&w=584&h=390%5D

6. Here Comes The Sun would’ve been on the Voyager’s record album — you know, just in case extraterrestrials out there would fancy a listen — but EMI refused to let that happen and so Carl Sagan had to make do without The Beatles.

7. The song She Said She Said was based off of Peter Fonda’s comments while tripping on acid.

“It’s like…it’s like…you’re making me feel like I’ve never been born.”

8. Before Cher was Cher, she was Bonnie Jo Mason and she wrote a song for Ringo Starr. American radios supposedly didn’t play it because they thought her voice of that of a man’s and thought it was homosexual.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIQ8coQX9mg&w=584&h=390%5D

9. The Beatles once ate a horse for Christmas in Germany.

10. Being the great influence that he is, Bob Dylan, in Bob Dylan fashion, introduced The Beatles to weed at The Delmonico Hotel.

11. Adding a sitar in Norwegian Wood was actually a spur-of-the-moment decision by George.

12. Paul was banned from driving for a year in Liverpool.

13. The Beatles wanted to film a live-action Lord Of The Rings, but JRR Tolkien shut it down.

14. The vultures in The Jungle Book were supposed to be voiced by The Beatles, but John Lennon didn’t want to do it.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEvoKVrrhf4&w=584&h=390%5D

15. Paul, along with the rest of The Beatles, didn’t know how to read music.

No. Well, I’ll tell you. I was just playing the piano in Liverpool at my Dad’s house. And my sister Ruth’s pianobook, she was learning the piano, and you know there’s a sort of… ‘Golden Slumbers and Your Old Favorites’ was up on the thing, you know. It was a stand, you know, as a little book with all those words in it and stuff. So I was just flicking through it and I came to Golden Slumbers, you know. So I just started… ‘cuz I can’t read music so I didn’t know the tune, and I can’t remember the old tune, you know. — Paul McCartney

16. Ringo walked out of the White White album recording sessions. When he returned, his drum kit was covered in flowers.

17. There was a Beatles-inspired cartoon series that ran from 1965 to 1969. It aired 35 episodes over 3 seasons on ABC.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=980NfvGGEgs&w=584&h=390%5D

18. John Lennon once said, “We’re more popular than Jesus,” and people all around the United States threw a shitfit.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETFKXMdjbkU&w=584&h=390%5D

19. The South African Broadcasting Corporation banned The Beatles from their airwaves shortly after Lennon’s aforementioned remark about Jesus.

20. The Beatles called for the legalization of marijuana and signed a petition in Times. But they renounced the use of drugs shortly after.

21. George invited Hell’s Angels to come and spend Christmas with The Beatles, which they accepted — and almost ruined the Christmas party.

22. John Lennon returned the MBE he received in 1965 to Her Majesty in 1969 to protest the war.