This Day in Beatle History

September 8

1968 (Sep 8) - Beatles Perform 'Hey Jude' on 'Frost On Sunday'

The Beatles were seen performing ‘Hey Jude’ on the UK television show ‘Frost On Sunday’ in front of an invited audience. The song was the first single from The Beatles’ record label Apple Records and at over seven minutes in length, ‘Hey Jude’ was, at the time, the longest single ever to top the British charts. It also spent nine weeks as No.1 in the United States—the longest run at the top of the American charts for a Beatles’ single.

1977 (Sep 8) - Jimmy McCullouch Quits Wings

Guitarist Jimmy McCulloch left Wings to help re-form the Small Faces. McCulloch had played with Paul McCartney band on the Venus and Mars and Wings At the Speed of Sound albums, as well as on the Wings Over America tour. He died two years later at the age of 26. Drummer Joe English also left Wings at this time, joining Sea Level.

1997 (Sep 8) - Derek Taylor Dies

Derek Taylor the publicist for The Beatles died aged 67. Taylor had been responsible for many of the legends surrounding their career and had also worked with The Beach Boys and The Byrds. In 1967 he helped organize the Monterey Pop Festival together with Lou Adler and John Philips. He helped launch the Beatles Anthology trilogy in the 90s.

2008 (Feb 20) - Beatles' Autographed Rolling Stones Album Auctioned

A 1976 Rolling Stones album bought for £2 at a car boot sale sold for £4,000 at an auction. The ‘Black and Blue’ LP was signed by John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Paul and Linda McCartney and George Harrison as well as members of the Rolling Stones. The seller obtained the album after haggling the cost down from £3.

September 9

1962 (Jun 6) - First Beatles Recordings at What Will Become 'Abbey Road'

The first Beatles recording session took place at EMI studios. The group recorded four tracks, one of which was ‘Love Me Do’ the four musicians received payments for the session of £7.10 ($12.07) each.

1963 (Sep 9) - 'She Loves You' #1 in Britain

The Beatles were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘She Loves You.’ ‘Please Please Me’ was at No.1 on the UK album chart. ‘She Loves You’ became The Beatles’ best-selling single in the United Kingdom, and was the best selling single in Britain in 1963.

1966 (Feb 18) - Brian Wilson Finishes 'Good Vibrations'

Beach Boy Brian Wilson finished recording the future classic song ‘Good Vibrations’, which went on to become the band’s third US number-one hit. As a child, his mother told him that dogs could pick up “vibrations” from people, so that the dog would bark at “bad vibrations” Wilson turned this into the general idea for the song.