外研版《英语》Book 2 Module 3 Music: The Beatles
The Beatles were the most successful band in the history of popular music. The band consisted of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. Starr played drums, the other three played guitar. Lennon and McCartney wrote most of the songs. All the Beatles were born in Liverpool in the north of England.
During the early 1960s, the Beatles were influenced by American rock singers, such as Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley. They had their first hit in 1962 with a catchy song called Love Me Do (1962). In 1964, after they had become stars in their own country, the Beatles toured the United States and were a huge success.
During the mid-1960s, the Beatles were one of the bands which gave rock music a new direction. Some of their songs were quite serious, such as Nowhere Man; there were ballads such as Yesterday and more complex songs such as Strawberry Fields Forever.
By the late 1960s, their music had changed completely. They had stopped writing simple songs with catchy tunes. The tunes and the lyrics had become more interesting and they had begun to use new instruments, too. For example, after visiting India, they started using Indian instruments.
Some of their albums changed pop music completely. Their last album was Let It Be in 1970.
After they had finished recording Let It Be, they split up. By the time they stopped working together, they had sold more albums than any other band in history. After the group had broken up, all the Beatles performed as solo artists or started other bands.
John Lennon died in New York in 1980. George Harrison died in 2001.