Who got you into The Beatles?

[DMSweenz30]

When I was about 9 years old (2002) I heard the song "Yellow Submarine". My parents had recently gotten the "1" album and I listened to the song. Then the next song played. Then the next. And it continues on like that. After listening to that CD alone for about a year, I started getting more, starting with their first two, "Please Please Me" and "With The Beatles".

In 4th grade I did a biography project on Paul McCartney. I also did some art projects involving the Beatles (still do). I saw Paul in 2005 and then again in August (where I first played TB:RB)

I still remember the day I got the email from thebeatles.com announcing TB:RB, and I didn't know how I'd wait it out. But I did, and here we are. Since I got this game I've probably played at least 3 hours a day (would be more if it wasn't from the whole "school" thing).

The Beatles have been my favorite band for 7 years, and I know that they will always be. They've influenced everything about me and whenever I feel sad I just turn on a Beatles song and everything is all right.

[DookieMan]

It was my dad. When I was just a youngster, 2 or 3 years old, right up until I was 6 or 7, my dad and I would always go cruising in his Firebird. It didn't matter where we were going, just that we were hanging out, father and son, having a good time. The Beatles would always be playing. He liked the stuff from the touring years - I would've asked him to play the studio years, but I didn't know any better.

I remember the first time I ever saw my dad play the guitar. I'd always seen the thing hanging up on the wall and wondered what it sounded like. I don't know what I was doing at the time, probably playing Super Mario Bros. or something, but I heard this music coming from upstairs, in my parents bedroom. I went to check it out, and he was just chilling out on the bed, playing (and singing [poorly, I might add]) Yesterday. It was the coolest thing in the world, to know the words to this song and how it went, and to see my dad playing it. That one pivotal moment in my life would form the basis of who I would eventually become. A lover of music who feels more at peace with the world than the Dalai Lama so long as he's got a six-string and comfy place to sit.

But then something happened. I still don't understand it to this day, but something happened within my dad that changed him. He became an angry person. Our relationship deteriorated as I got older and he got colder. Words were said, things were thrown. We were more like warring countries than family. He didn't play The Beatles anymore. After awhile, I grew to hate my dad, so much so that I couldn't wait to get away from home. I graduated high school, moved a province away, and started my new life.

In the months leading up to the move, I saw yet another change happening in my dad. It was as if he was finally realizing that he'd wasted all the years that he could've spent actually getting to know me, to find out who I was growing up to be, being an actual f*cking DAD for once, and I think it made him pretty sad. He started taking an interest in what I was doing, started making an effort to get out and do a few things.

And then I moved. It wasn't something that was always on my mind, but every now and then I'd think about my family back home and I'd feel glad that I was able to move away on at least decent terms with my father. It was a comfortable feeling. I came back to visit during Christmas Break of my first year of college. When I got to my family home, I had barely dropped my bags in my old room when my dad came up to me, really excited about something that he had bought, pulling it out of the closet and hooking it up to the TV. It was a karaoke machine loaded with a couple thousand songs.

Take a guess at the first song he picked to sing.

That was a beautiful story...

[Tanuul]

Every time my mom hears a song off the White Album, she tells us about the year the album was released; apparently she and her family were snowed in that winter, and my uncle played the album on repeat in his room (which was right next door to my mom's). She got so sick of it that even now, it's her least favorite Beatles album.

But she passed her love of the REST of the Beatles down to my sister, who became a huge fan as a kid. So the Beatles ended up being played a LOT in our home.

So, when I got Beatles Rock Band, I took it to my sister's, and a big group of us played it for hours. And everyone knew the words. Two days later, my sister went out and picked it up. And I'll bet ya my mom will be knocking on our doors asking to play, or at least to watch us play.

[rayrox222]

When I was young my first exposure to the Beatles was in the 1968 animated film Yellow Submarine from which I really only remembered two Beatles songs: "Nowhere Man", and of course "Yellow Submarine". I remember enjoying the film as a child but Beatlemania didn't really catch on until much more recently when TB:RB gameplay trailers came out.

It's funny because BEFORE I saw those trailers, all I read were announcements about the Beatles coming to Rock Band and was like "Meh, they're ok. Maybe I'll pick up a song or two." My meh would later shift to outrage when I found out the Beatles' music was not going to be downloadable content for rock band 2 and they would instead run on their own game, which at the time I thought stunk of AC/DC LIVE. My attitude then was "!@#$ those elitist British !@#holes. If they get off their high horse and sell songs through an existing game like most every other band in the world I may patronize them." Thus I remained turned off by the Beatles coming to Rock Band UNTIL two gameplay trailers aired: the one featuring the dreamscape for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band / With a Little Help from my Friends; a song I was NOT FAMILIAR with but fell in love with the latter of the two songs musically and who in this world but a blind person could not be drawn into the fantasy land of Sgt. Pepper with the costumes and all? It was all so endearing and beautifully done so then I realized with the work Harmonix was putting into this game and as much as I was growing to realize I really LOVED the Beatles music I knew I had to have it! And if that trailer wasn't enough to change my attitude COMPLETELY, the next one I saw was for "Here Comes the Sun" which is one of the prettiest songs ever written. With the beautiful dreamscape on top, I was sold then and there and kept tabs on TB:RB forums for announcements, read, commented from time to time, and am so happy I did not miss out on this game!

My testimony of Harmonix being primarily responsible for drawing me into the music of the Beatles of course is a common story these days. Since I've gotten the game, one of my friends who regularly comes over to my "rock band parties" (a few of us typically played RB2 together on weekends) was at my house for our debut enjoyment of the new Beatles Rockband and after he went home all he could do was look up their music online to listen to more! He comes back a week later, I ask him which Rockband game he'd want to play (2 or Beatles), almost certain he'd say RB2 due to the wider variety of music available to play with a much bigger song selection (I have over 200 songs with DLC), but to my surprise he told me RB2 felt empty after playing TB:RB. In a lot of ways I feel the same way! Who would've thought that would happen over a single band?

The Beatles seem to have this domino effect of luring in more and more fans and in a way it's funny because everyone's heard the band's name but I'm sure there are many who would love their music if they just gave them a chance and listened to some songs. And of course when the interest is rooted in a musical rhythm game like rock band I've found it also amplifies the interest of those who were already fans, like another one of my friends who told me he grew up with the Beatles but when he started playing The Beatles: Rock Band he commented how impressed he was with McCartney's work on bass and the intricacy of the harmonies; details like this not everyone picks up on just listening to recordings, but really take in once they experience the actual music in a game like this!

I can't thank Harmonix enough for this one. Problem I have of making it a gift to those I think might be interested is I'd also have to get them a PS 3 and instruments along with the game before they could enjoy it and play with me and frankly I do not have that kind of money. :P

[GuyMonkey]

That was a beautiful story...

Hey, thanks. I hadn't really thought about it in awhile, and I never really realized the poetic subtext of it all until I put it all into words today.

[Footboy]

The cassette of Abbey Road (with the wrong track order) lived in my parents' VW when I was growing up, so The Beatles were one of the few artists I knew about for a long while. I've heard that album too many times to associate it with anything specific from my childhood, but I do know that seeing the album art fleshed out in the "Abbey Road Studios '68-69" cutscene evoked an emotional response in me that I didn't see coming.

In retrospect, hearing their last album first influenced the kind of music I associate with The Beatles -- I knew about the popular tracks from Sgt. Pepper and the white album, but as a kid I thought the pre-Revolver stuff was by a different band entirely. My dad, a former bassist, also had a bunch of The Beatles' older works on vinyl, so what I heard of Meet The Beatles and so on were mostly basslines reverberating through the basement ceiling to my bedroom floor. Maybe there's a case to be made for The Beatles' career spanning the shift from "oldies" to "classic rock," with my personal tastes favoring the latter.

I've come to associate some tracks from Rubber Soul and Help! with pleasant memories, but I mostly just hear The Beatles' "oldies" when I'm listening to Love. Or when I'm playing TB:RB, of course.

[Regulus]

The Beatles: Rock Band got me into The Beatles...

[joeyve]

Back in 1981 (I was 13 years old) a weird little medley of music by The Beatles and other contemporaries came out. It was called "Stars on 45".
My parents bought it for me and after hearing me play it X amount of times, they realized I thought this was original music. So they proceeded to open my eyes and introduced me to several bands of the era. Most importantly THE BEATLES!

@joeyvenegas

[MajorDannykilla]

this stories thing was an amazing idea, beatles forever =)

[Explosion2]

My dad is a HUGE Beatles fan.
he's always been a huge fan, and it got me into the Beatles too.
He is a musician, and used to play gigs all around Jersey in the 80's, and now records music with his friend for fun. Beatles tracks are always on the top of the list.
The one story that sticks out in my head is how he learned Blackbird on guitar. when he was a kid, he sat with his guitar and the record, and kept playing it back piece by piece (spinning the record back to play little sections back) until he had it PERFECT. and he does have it perfect.

I don't think I've heard anybody else get the guitar as spot on as he does.