From left to right for those of you who don't know: Paul, George, Ringo, and John.
If you're wondering where they got 'Beatles' with an 'A,' here's the scoop. They got the idea from Buddy Holly and his group, the Crickets. The name 'Crickets' had a double meaning - the bug cricket, and the game cricket. The Beatles' name also has two meanings - the beetles (like bugs), and the 'A' comes from the group's 'Beat.' Get it?!?! Beatles?! Anyway, here's John's explanation on the origin of 'Beatles.'
The Beatles were made up of four (hence the nickname 'Fab Four') Liverpuldians (people from Liverpool, England) named John Lennon, the "Witty Beatle," Paul McCartney, the "Cute Beatle," George Harrison, the "Quiet Beatle," and Ringo Starr, the "Happy Beatle." (Some call Ringo the "Sad" one, but he always seemed happy to me). In the late Fifties, John started a group called the Quarrymen (after his school, Quarry Bank High.) Members came and went, and went and came, but had no steady members (except John, of course) until John met Paul and George. At that time John's friend Pete Best was their drummer. This was soon to change, as the group, by then known as The Silver Beatles, went to Hamburg, Germany to play in a club of sorts (it was actually a stage in the back of a strip club or something like that, but that's entirely besides the point!) Anyway, there they met Ringo, who was drumming for Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. John, Paul, and George thought Ringo was better than Pete, so in came Ringo and out went Pete.
At any rate, the group shortened their names to simply 'The Beatles' and they found a manager (Brian Epstein), who managed to get the group signed with a decent record company. The Beatles already had quite a good following of fans in England, but hadn't had much exposure elsewhere. (And everyone knows that if you want to make it big, you have to make it in the U.S.) Anywho...in 1964, Brian got them booked on the popular U.S. show, the 'Ed Sullivan Show.' There were mixed reactions from the media about the group, but when the they arrived at the airport to do the show, they were greeted by thousands of screaming fans. 'Beatlemania' had reached America. The rest is basically history, but if you REALLY want to know more, keep reading.
(This is HIGHLY recommended, of course)
For the first few years, the Beatles wrote and sang mainly catchy, upbeat tunes usually about love, but wrote a few ballads. They topped the charts in the US and UK alike, with hits like 'She Loves You,' and 'I Want to Hold Your Hand.' In 1966, the group got tired of touring constantly, and having to run from fans everywhere they went, or risk being trampled to death. After short vacations, the group again began recording songs, but now they had more depth. They began experimenting with drugs, especially LSD (they had already been smoking pot.) Tripping on acid, I think, opened them up to a whole new level of creativity and they wrote some of their best songs. (Like All You Need Is Love.) Around the same time, the group (especially George, but not Ringo so much) became interested in Indian (as in India, not Native Americans) music and teachings. Many of George's songs around that period were heavily influenced by Indian music (listen to 'Love You To.')
Soon after the Beatles took a trip to India to meditate with the Maharishi in 1967, Brian Epstein died, and the group started to fall apart. The four began to grow apart from each other, and tension built among them. John had recently been going with a Japanese artist named Yoko Ono, who constantly hung around the recording studio with John, which made everyone else uneasy. Paul also had a new love, American photographer, Linda Eastman, who was sometimes found in the studio. The group still produced records, but the public could tell that something wasn't quite right with the Fabs. In 1970, it all became too much for the lads, and the Beatles broke up.
For several years after, everyone wanted the Beatles to get back together, but people's dreams of that were shattered all too soon when John was shot to death outside his New York apartment. The whole story.