This Day in Beatle History

August 12

1960 (Aug 12) - Pete Best Auditions For The Beatles

Pete Best auditioned to become The Silver Beatles’ drummer and was asked to travel to Hamburg in Germany for the bands next set of dates. Before leaving for Hamburg, The Silver Beatles changed their name to simply, “The Beatles”.

1963 (Aug 12) - Beatles Begin A Week at the Odeon Cinema

Beatles begin a a week long residency at the Odeon Cinema, Liandudno. Two shows a night.

1964 (Aug 12) - 'A Hard Days Night' Opens in the US

The Beatles first film A Hard Day’s Night opened in 500 American cinemas to rave reviews. The film was a financial and critical success. Time magazine rated it as one of the all-time great 100 films.

1966 (Aug 12) - Beatles Play Two Shows in Chicago

The Beatles performed two shows at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois. This was the first stop on what would turn out to be The Beatles’ final US tour. Support acts were the Remains, Bobby Hebb, Cyrkle, and the Ronettes.

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.

1968 - 'White Album' is #1 in the US

It was the group’s 12th US #1 album. The double album has no graphics or text.

1968 (Jan 20) - 'Judy In Disguise' is #1. Inspired by 'Lucy In The Sky'?


One Hit Wonders John Fred and the Playboy Band started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Judy In Disguise, (With Glasses)’.  It topped at No.3 in the UK.  The song was allegedly inspired by The Beatles ‘Lucy In The Sky’.

1971 (Aug 12) - John Donates to Shipbuilders

John Lennon & Yoko Ono donated £1,000 to the Clyde Shipbuilders Scottish Union fighting fund who were refusing to stop work at the Glasgow site after being made redundant.

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.

August 13

1965 (August 13) - Beatles Arrive in New York

The Beatles arrived at Kennedy International Airport for a tour of North America. The set list for the tour was ‘Twist and Shout’, ‘She’s a Woman’, ‘I Feel Fine’, ‘Dizzy Miss Lizzie’, ‘Ticket to Ride’, ‘Everybody’s Trying to Be My Baby’, ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’, ‘Baby’s in Black’, ‘Act Naturally’, ‘A Hard Day’s Night’, ‘Help!’, ‘I’m Down’ and ‘I Wanna Be Your Man.’ The tour was not a happy one for The Beatles, John Lennon took to screaming off-microphone obscenities at the audiences.

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