Led by primary songwriters Lennon and McCartney, the Beatles built their reputation playing clubs in Liverpool and Hamburg over three years from 1960, initially with Stuart Sutcliffe playing bass. The core trio of Lennon, McCartney and Harrison, together since 1958, went through a succession of drummers, eventually settling with Pete Best in 1960, who played with them for two years before being replaced with then Rory Storm & The Hurricanes drummer Ringo Starr in 1962. Manager Brian Epstein molded them into a professional act and producer George Martin guided and developed their recordings, greatly expanding their domestic success after their first hit, "Love Me Do", in late 1962. As their popularity grew into the intense fan frenzy dubbed "Beatlemania", the band acquired the nickname "the Fab Four", with Epstein, Martin and other members of the band's entourage sometimes given the informal title of "fifth Beatle".
By early 1964, the Beatles were international stars, leading the "British Invasion" of the United States pop market and breaking numerous sales records. They soon made their film debut with A Hard Day's Night (1964). From 1965 onwards, they produced increasingly innovative recordings, including the albums Rubber Soul (1965), Revolver (1966) and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967), and enjoyed further commercial success with The Beatles (also known as "the White Album", 1968) and Abbey Road (1969). In 1968, they founded Apple Corps, a multi-armed multimedia corporation that continues to oversee projects related to the band's legacy. After the group's break-up in 1970, all four members enjoyed success as solo artists. Lennon was shot and killed in December 1980, and Harrison died of lung cancer in November 2001. McCartney and Starr remain musically active.
The Beatles are the best-selling music act of all time, with estimated sales of 600 million units worldwide. They hold the record for most number-one albums on the UK Albums Chart, most number-one hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and most singles sold in the UK. The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988, and all four main members were inducted individually between 1994 and 2015. In 2008, the group topped Billboard's list of the all-time most successful artists on the Billboard Hot 100. The band received seven Grammy Awards, four Brit Awards, an Academy Award (for Best Original Song Score for the 1970 film Let It Be) and fifteen Ivor Novello Awards. Time magazine named them among the 20th century's 100 most important people.
Former Rolling Stone associate editor Robert Greenfield compared the Beatles to Picasso, as "artists who broke through the constraints of their time period to come up with something that was unique and original "... In the form of popular music, no one will ever be more revolutionary, more creative and more distinctive ..." The British poet Philip Larkin described their work as "an enchanting and intoxicating hybrid of African-American rock-and-roll with their own adolescent romanticism", and "the first advance in popular music since the War".
They not only sparked the British Invasion of the US, they became a globally influential phenomenon as well. From the 1920s, the US had dominated popular entertainment culture throughout much of the world, via Hollywood films, jazz, the music of Broadway and Tin Pan Alley and, later, the rock and roll that first emerged in Memphis, Tennessee. The Beatles are regarded as British cultural icons, with young adults from abroad naming the band among a group of people that they most associated with UK culture.
Their musical innovations and commercial success inspired musicians worldwide. Many artists have acknowledged the Beatles' influence and enjoyed chart success with covers of their songs. On radio, their arrival marked the beginning of a new era; in 1968 the programme director of New York's WABC radio station forbade his DJs from playing any "pre-Beatles" music, marking the defining line of what would be considered oldies on American radio. They helped to redefine the album as something more than just a few hits padded out with "filler", and they were primary innovators of the modern music video. The Shea Stadium show with which they opened their 1965 North American tour attracted an estimated 55,600 people, then the largest audience in concert history; Spitz describes the event as a "major breakthrough ... a giant step toward reshaping the concert business". Emulation of their clothing and especially their hairstyles, which became a mark of rebellion, had a global impact on fashion.
According to Gould, the Beatles changed the way people listened to popular music and experienced its role in their lives. From what began as the Beatlemania fad, the group's popularity grew into what was seen as an embodiment of socio-cultural movements of the decade. As icons of the 1960s counterculture, Gould continues, they became a catalyst for bohemianism and activism in various social and political arenas, fuelling movements such as women's liberation, gay liberation and environmentalism. According to Peter Lavezzoli, after the "more popular than Jesus" controversy in 1966, the Beatles felt considerable pressure to say the right things and "began a concerted effort to spread a message of wisdom and higher consciousness".
Other commentators such as Mikal Gilmore and Todd Leopold have traced the inception of their socio-cultural impact earlier, interpreting even the Beatlemania period, particularly on their first visit to the US, as a key moment in the development of generational awareness. Referring to their appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show Leopold states: "In many ways, the Sullivan appearance marked the beginning of a cultural revolution ... The Beatles were like aliens dropped into the United States of 1964.
In 1965, Queen Elizabeth II appointed Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Starr Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBE). The Beatles won the 1971 Academy Award for Best Original Song Score for the film Let It Be (1970). The recipients of seven Grammy Awards and fifteen Ivor Novello Awards, the Beatles have six Diamond albums, as well as 20 Multi-Platinum albums, 16 Platinum albums and six Gold albums in the US. In the UK, the Beatles have four Multi-Platinum albums, four Platinum albums, eight Gold albums and one Silver album. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.
The best-selling band in history, the Beatles have sold more than 800 million physical and digital albums as of 2013. They have had more number-one albums on the UK charts, fifteen, and sold more singles in the UK, 21.9 million, than any other act. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked the Beatles as the most significant and influential rock music artists of the last 50 years. They ranked number one on Billboard magazine's list of the all-time most successful Hot 100 artists, released in 2008 to celebrate the US singles chart's 50th anniversary. As of 2017, they hold the record for most number-one hits on the Billboard Hot 100, with twenty. The Recording Industry Association of America certifies that the Beatles have sold 178 million units in the US, more than any other artist. They were collectively included in Time magazine's compilation of the 20th century's 100 most influential people. In 2014, they received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
There are two holidays celebrated for the Beatles: Global Beatles Day on 25 June each year. On that date in 1967, the band performed "All You Need Is Love" on television. In 2001, UNESCO created World Beatles Day on 16 January each year. This date has direct relation to the opening of The Cavern Club in 1957.
Five asteroids, 4147 Lennon, 4148 McCartney, 4149 Harrison, 4150 Starr and 8749 Beatles are named after the Beatles.
Three Cool Cats
The Beatles Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Three cool cats
Are coming up in a beat up car,
Spitting up a lift of candy bar
Talking on about how sharp they are.
Three cool cats.
Three cool chicks
Swinging their hips,
Splitting up a bag of potatoe chips
I think cool cats really did flip.
Three cool chicks
Three cool chicks.
Well up came that first cool cat,
He said: man look at that.
Man, do you see what I see?
Well I want that middle chick
I want that little chick.
Hey man save once chick for me.
Well three cool chicks.
Three cool chicks.
Well they love like
Angels from up above
And three cool cats
Really fell in love.
But three cool chicks
Made three fools out of
Three cool cats.
Three cool cats.
Well up came that first cool cat,
He said: man look at that.
Man do you see what I see?
Well I want that middle chick,
I want that little chick.
Hey man, save one chick for me.
Three cool chicks.
Three cool chicks.
They look like
Angels from up above
And three cool cats
Really fell in love.
And three cool chicks
Made three fools out of
Three cool cats.
Three cool cats.
Three cool cats.
Three cool cats.
The Beatles’ “Three Cool Cats” is a light-hearted tune about six young people who cross paths on a city street. The song is characterized by its repeated mentions of the “three cool cats” and the “three cool chicks” who are walking and driving around in pairs. The song begins by introducing the first group of characters, the three cool cats, who are driving around in a beat-up car and eating candy bars. They are boasting about how cool they are and are clearly on the prowl for a good time. The second group of characters, the three cool chicks, comes into view, strolling down the street with a bag of potato chips. The cool cats are immediately smitten, and the rest of the song is devoted to their fruitless attempts to win the ladies’ affections.
The song explores themes of attraction and competition. The three cool cats are clearly interested in the three cool chicks, but they don’t seem to possess the suavity or sophistication to win them over. In fact, the song suggests that the cool cats’ fumbled attempts at seduction actually make them look foolish. Meanwhile, the three cool chicks seem to take the attention they receive from the cool cats in stride, relishing in their power to captivate and confound their admirers. The song is ultimately a tongue-in-cheek portrayal of a series of encounters between young people who are all convinced of their own coolness and invincibility.
Line by Line Meaning
Three cool cats
Three fashionable and trendy men
Three cool cats
Same as the first line; emphasis on their demeanor
Are coming up in a beat up car
Approaching in a worn out vehicle
Spitting up a lift of candy bar
Sharing a stash of sweets
Talking on about how sharp they are
Discussing their impressive style and appearance
Three cool cats
Repeating the first line; continuing to emphasize the men's coolness
Three cool chicks
Three attractive women
Are walking down the street
Strolling casually along the road
Swinging their hips
Moving their bodies sensually
Splitting up a bag of potatoe chips
Dividing a bag of chips between them
I think cool cats really did flip
The men were impressed by the women's attractiveness
Three cool chicks
Repeating the line about the women; continuation of the story
Three cool chicks
Same as previous line; reiterated for emphasis
Well up came that first cool cat
One of the men sees the women
He said: man look at that
He comments on the women's appearance
Man, do you see what I see?
Asking his companions if they see the women
Well I want that middle chick
He expresses his desire for one of the women
I want that little chick
He expresses his desire for another of the women
Hey man save once chick for me
He asks his friends to leave him one of the women
Well three cool chicks
Reiteration of the women's description
Three cool chicks
Same as before; continuing the story
They love like angels from up above
The men are very attracted to the women
And three cool cats really fell in love
The men are smitten with the women
But three cool chicks made three fools out of
The women outsmarted the men
Three cool cats
Reinforcement of the men's description
Three cool cats.
Same as before; repetition for emphasis
Well up came that first cool cat
Return to the man who spotted the women earlier
He said: man look at that
He observes the women again
Man do you see what I see?
Asking his friends if they see. again
Well I want that middle chick,
Same as before; repeating his desire for one of the women
I want that little chick.
Same as before; repeating his desire for one of the other women
Hey man, save one chick for me.
Same as before; asking his companions to leave him one of the women
Three cool chicks
Same as before; referring to the women
Three cool chicks
Same as before; continuation of story
They look like angels from up above
Reiteration of the men's admiration for the women
And three cool cats really fell in love.
The men are sincerely infatuated with the women
And three cool chicks made three fools out of
The women outsmarted the men; a repeat of earlier line
Three cool cats.
Reiteration of the men's description; conclusion of the song.
Three cool cats.
Same as before; repetition for emphasis
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: JERRY LEIBER, MIKE STOLLER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Philip Kassabian
on Mother Nature's Son
A really great Beatles song.
Philip Kassabian
on The Night Before
A really splendid Beatles song.
Philip Kassabian
on P.S. I Love You
Now this is a really great Beatles song.
Philip Kassabian
on There's a Place
A seriously underrated Beatles song.
Philip Kassabian
on Do You Want to Know a Secret
A fantastic song by The Beatles.
Philip Kassabian
on When I'm Sixty-Four
A very tuneful Beatles song.
Philip Kassabian
on Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds
An excellent Beatles song.
Philip Kassabian
on I'm Looking Through You
A beautiful Beatles song.
Philip Kassabian
on Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)
Honestly The Beatles can't stop producing good songs.
Philip Kassabian
on Michelle
A fantastic Beatles song and absolutely beautiful.