Who was the Fifth Beatle?

[Sebastian Doyle]

[Angleae]

1. Clarence Walker?

:silly:

[cemaphonic]

2. yeah, that was my thought too

[mikeytherat]

3. "Help" was originally "Help Me, Man." "She Loves You" was originally "She Loves You, Man."

And "She's Got a Ticket to Ride" was originally "She's Got a Ticket to Ride and the B**ch Don't Care, Man."

"I taught them to pick their afros and everything. Paul still uses Afro Sheen because of me!"

mikey_the_rat

[Bossy Monkey]

4. Bernard Purdie, according to Bernard Purdie

Not having that option, I went with George Martin.

[Sebastian Doyle]

10. Yeah, I've heard of that guy

I'm not sure I believe him though. If Paul was ever unhappy with one of Ringo's drum parts, he'd just play it himself. I doubt they had any studio drummers, except for that Andy White dude that George Martin had already hired for sessions when Pete Best was still in the band, and used on the "Love Me Do" single anyway.

Which makes "Love Me Do" the only Beatles song to be officially released with three different drummers:

Andy White on the original single
Ringo on the album version
Pete Best on a studio take that was eventually released on Anthology Vol 1

[Bossy Monkey]

11. Oh, I don't believe him either; should have put a smiley face on my post somewhere nt

[musette_sf]

14. I thought the only Beatles-related songs

that Purdie claimed to have overdubbed were the tracks recorded with Tony Sheridan. I don't think that's a huge reach to believe.

I have a soft spot for Pretty Purdie anyway... I was fortunate enough to participate in a choral performance for which he was the drummer. Nell Carter was a featured vocalist.

[Pendrench]

5. Bert

http://www.willyrussell.com/bert1.html

[NoGOPZone]

6. Apu from the Simpsons

Paul McCartney: We met him in India during the Maharishi days.
Apu: Back then I was known as the fifth Beatle.
Paul McCartney: Sure you were, Apu.

[edbermac]

7. Neil Aspinall, their original roadie.

And later manager of Apple.

http://www.weybridge.de/pepper/images_photos/19670224_Studio/19670224_Studio_Paul+John+Neil+Mal+Ringo+George_TCBRS.jpg

[gmoney]

8. I wonder about George Martin

He sure seemed to have a lot of creative input with the Beatles, especially on the last few albums, but his non-Beatles career is pretty dismal.

Were John and Paul "carrying" Martin and making him look like some sort of excellent producer simply because they had such outstanding musical ideas?

Or was it just that inexplicable synergy of all them working together? None of the solo work even really holds a candle to Beatles oeuvre. (Well, a few of George Harrison's post-Beatles songs were as good as his Beatles-era contributions.)

Or, by the time the Beatles split up, they were all so wealthy and accomplished, it didn't make sense to put much effort into anything further? And maybe Martin was just set for life, so why bother putting in the work to transform good material into great material?

[dr.strangelove]

9. Billy Shears

I BURIED PAUL!

[Maccagirl]

12. I have a baseball cap that says "The Sixth Beatle"

The 20-something clerk at the counter didn't get the joke.

:shrug:

[Sebastian Doyle]

13. No votes for Tony Sheridan?

I'm actually surprised. The guy did make a record with them after all. Played some shows with them in Hamburg too, I think.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lU_SNubOm0E

[jobycom]

15. Didn't Bob Dylan take Paul's place when Paul died?

Or did I get that backwards?

[musette_sf]

16. Ah Bey!

http://www.1960sailors.net/ahbey.Mp3

Murray the K is the Fifth Beatle dammit!!!

[MiddleFingerMom]

17. Ah... those were happy, innocent days back when it was...

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...John...
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...Paul...
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...George...
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...Ringo...
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...and Bubba.
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