1. They spent more than 2600 hours in the recording studio
Over The Beatles’ eight-year career, they spent an estimated 2652 hours together in the recording studio. Some albums took more time than others, with Please Please Me only taking just a little more than 24 hours in total, while The Beatles took more than 700 hours to record.
2. They influenced the counterculture of the 1960s
As the 1960s progressed, social tensions grew during an era of change. During this period, people, particularly youth, spoke out about civil rights issues. With alternative lifestyles emerging in the rise of this cultural phenomenon, The Beatles played a key role in the anti-establishment counterculture movement, embracing the creative, carefree culture that inspired activism movements of women’s rights, anti-racism, gay rights, and environmentalism.
3. There are 61 famous (and not-so-famous) people on the cover of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
The Beatles’ 1967 album has a widely recognized album cover with dozens of celebrities like Mae West, Bob Dylan, Edgar Allen Poe, Marilyn Monroe, Bette Davis, Albert Einstein, and of course, the Fab Four. Even German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen makes an appearance!
4. They used food and drinks in their lyrics — a lot
The Beatles referenced many different types of food and beverages in their songs — from eggs, cornflakes, and honey to coffee, octopus, turkey, marmalade, coconut, mustard, and pies. There is no mention of scrambled eggs, however, which was Paul McCartney’s working title as he was composing Yesterday.
5. Their background lyrics were clever too!
The Lennon-McCartney partnership is still considered to be one of the most celebrated writing duos in music history, but they didn’t just have fun with the lead vocal lyrics. If you listen closely to the background vocals on Paperback Writer, you can hear John Lennon and George Harrison softly singing the lyrics to the classic French nursery rhyme, Frère Jacques.