Thefifth Beatle is an informal title that has been applied to people who were at one point a member ofthe Beatles or who had a strong association withJohn Lennon,Paul McCartney,George Harrison, andRingo Starr. The term originated in 1964 with the American disc jockeyMurray the K, who pronounced himself the "fifth Beatle" due to the amount of promotion and coverage he afforded the band on his radio program. In the 2024 filmBeatles '64, directed by David Tedeschi and produced byMartin Scorsese, Harrison is seen questioning Murray the K's original proximity to the group.
The band's members have offered their own views as to who should be described with the title. McCartney said in a 1997 interview that "if anyone was the fifth Beatle", it was managerBrian Epstein,[1] and later applied the honorific to producerGeorge Martin in a 2016 memorial post.[2] Harrison said at the Beatles' 1988 induction into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame that there were only two "fifth Beatles":Derek Taylor, the Beatles' public relations manager, andNeil Aspinall, their road manager-turned-business-executive.[3] Others referred to as the "fifth Beatle" include their early drummer,Pete Best, original bassistStuart Sutcliffe, and keyboardistBilly Preston.[4]
Though best-known as a four-man ensemble, The Beatles were in their early career a quintet.
Stuart Sutcliffe[5] was the original bassist of the five-member Beatles. He played with the band primarily duringtheir days as a club act inHamburg,West Germany. When the band returned to Liverpool in 1961, Sutcliffe remained behind in Hamburg. He died of abrain hemorrhage shortly thereafter. Instead of replacing him with a new member,Paul McCartney changed from rhythm guitar (withLennon) to bass and the band continued as a four-piece.
Sutcliffe was an accomplished painter, but when compared to those of the other Beatles, his musical skills were described as "inadequate",[6] and his involvement in the band was mainly a consequence of his friendship with Lennon. Sutcliffe's input was an important early influence on the development of the band's image; Sutcliffe was the first to wear what later became famous as the Beatles'moptop hairstyle, asking his girlfriendAstrid Kirchherr to cut his hair in emulation of the hairdo worn by friendKlaus Voormann.
Pete Best was an early drummer of the Beatles.[7] He played with the band during their time as a club act, in bothLiverpool and Hamburg, West Germany. The band during this period consisted of Best; bassist Stuart Sutcliffe; and guitarists McCartney, Harrison, and Lennon. Best continued to perform with the band until mid-August 1962, when he was fired and replaced by Ringo Starr. The first official Beatles release to include performances by Best wasAnthology 1 in 1995, whereupon he commented, "Lots of people have laid claim to being the fifth Beatle. I was the fourth, and now I'm getting the credit for it."[8]
When the Beatles returned from West Germany for the first time in 1960, they were short a bass guitarist. Pete Best suggested Chas Newby. Newby had been with the Black Jacks (Pete Best's group), and was now attending university, but was on holiday and so agreed to play with the Beatles. He appeared with them for four engagements in December 1960 (17 December, Casbah Club, Liverpool; 24 December, Grosvenor Ballroom, Liscard; 27 December,Litherland Town Hall; 31 December, Casbah Club). Lennon asked him to go to West Germany for the Beatles' second trip,[9] but he chose to return to university and after Lennon and Harrison both declined to switch to bass guitar, McCartney, who previously played guitar and piano, reluctantly became the band's bassist.
Jimmie Nicol played drums for the first eight shows ofThe Beatles' 1964 world tour. Starr became ill and the opening part of the tour was almost cancelled. Instead of cancelling, the Beatles' managerBrian Epstein hired Nicol to stand in until Starr recovered. Nicol played with the band in early June, inDenmark, theNetherlands, Hong Kong and Australia. Nicol made the most of his time, signing autographs and giving interviews. Starr rejoined the band on 14 June, inMelbourne.
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Brian Epstein, the band's manager from 1961 until his death in 1967, was instrumental in the Beatles' rise to global fame. Epstein "discovered" the band in Liverpool, saw their potential, and never wavered in his faith and commitment to them. He purposefully restricted his oversight of the band, limiting himself to business matters and public image, and gave the band free creative rein in their music. Epstein also doggedly sought a recording contract for the band in London at a crucial moment in their career, fighting their perception as provincial "northern" musicians.
Epstein's death in essence marked the beginning ofthe Beatles' dissolution, as Lennon admitted later. Because he was not creatively involved with the band, Epstein was only infrequently called the "fifth Beatle", but over the years he and producer George Martin have been recognised as the two inner-circle members who most profoundly affected the band's career. In an interview in the 1990s describing Epstein's involvement in the band's rise to fame, Martin declared, "He's the fifth Beatle, if there ever was one."[10]
When the Beatles were awarded theirMBEs in 1965, Harrison said that a fifth medal should be given to Epstein since "MBE really stands for 'Mr Brian Epstein'".[11]McCartney summarised the importance of Epstein to the Beatles when he was interviewed in 1997 for a BBC documentary about Epstein. He stated: "If anyone was the fifth Beatle, it was Brian."[1][12]
In 2013 Epstein was the subject of a graphic novel entitledThe Fifth Beatle byVivek Tiwary. The book was released in November and spent several weeks onThe New York Times Best Seller list, reaching no. 1 in its third week of release.[13]
George Martin produced nearly all of the Beatles' recordings (except for theLet It Be album, produced byPhil Spector, the songs "Real Love" and "Free as a Bird", produced byJeff Lynne and "Now and Then", produced by his sonGiles Martin) and wrote the instrumental score for theYellow Submarine film and soundtrack album, and the string and horn (and even some vocal) arrangements for almost all of their songs (with the famous exception of Spector's re-production onLet It Be, and "She's Leaving Home", which was arranged byMike Leander). His arrangement of the string octet backing for "Eleanor Rigby" was widely noted.
Martin's extensive musical training (which he received at theGuildhall School of Music) and sophisticated guidance in the studio are often credited as fundamental contributions to the work of the Beatles. WriterIan MacDonald noted that Martin was one of the few record producers in the UK at the time who possessed the sensitivity the Beatles needed to develop their songwriting and recording talent. Martin's piano playing also appears on several of their tracks, including "Misery" and "In My Life". Martin himself deflected claims of being the "fifth Beatle"[14] to Beatles' managerBrian Epstein.
Lennon disparaged Martin's importance to the Beatles' music. In his 1970 interview withJann Wenner, Lennon said that music publisherDick James is "another one of those people, who think they made us. They didn't. I'd like to hear Dick James' music and I'd like to hear George Martin's music, please, just play me some."[15] In a 1971 letter to Paul McCartney, Lennon wrote, "When people ask me questions about 'What did George Martin really do for you?,' I have only one answer, 'What does he do now?' I noticed you had no answer for that! It's not a putdown, it's the truth." Lennon wrote that Martin took too much credit for the Beatles' music. Commenting on "Revolution 9", Lennon said, "For Martin to state that he was 'painting a sound picture' is pure hallucination. Ask any of the other people involved. The final editingYoko and I did alone."[16]
In a tribute to Martin after his death, McCartney said "If anyone earned the title of the fifth Beatle, it was George. From the day that he gave The Beatles our first recording contract, to the last time I saw him, he was the most generous, intelligent and musical person I've ever had the pleasure to know."[17]Julian Lennon called him "The Fifth Beatle, without question".[18]
A schoolmate of McCartney and Harrison and a close personal friend of Pete Best (he actually lived in Best's house and fathered his youngest brother, Roag), Aspinall joined the Beatles as theirroad manager, which included driving his oldCommer van to and from shows, both day and night. AfterMal Evans started work for the Beatles, Aspinall was promoted to become their personal assistant, and eventually ascended to the position ofCEO forApple Corps (a position he held until 10 April 2007).
Aspinall was involved in court cases on behalf of Apple over the years (including cases against the Beatles' then-managerAllen Klein, their labelEMI, andthe case againstApple Computer). He supervised the marketing of music,videos, andmerchandising for the group. Aspinall also temporarily served as the group's manager following Epstein's death.
Although not a musician, Aspinall also made minor contributions to a handful of Beatles' recordings. He played atambura on "Within You Without You", harmonica on "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!", some percussion on "Magical Mystery Tour", and was among the many participants singing on the chorus of "Yellow Submarine". In January 1988, while accepting the Beatles' induction into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame, Harrison named Aspinall as one of only two people worthy of the title "the Fifth Beatle", the other being Derek Taylor.[19]
Daily Express journalist Derek Taylor[20] first met the band after reviewing their stage performance. Instead of the anticipated negative review of a rock-n-roll group, Taylor gave their act the highest praises. Invited to become acquainted with the Beatles' camp, he soon became a confidant, and gained his share of exclusives on them.
Eventually, he was hired away from his newspaper job by Epstein, who put him in charge of Beatles press releases, and playing media liaison to himself and the band. He also became Epstein's personal assistant.
By 1968, he became press officer forApple Corps. As a VIP at Apple, Taylor had a major role in the company's ups and downs, making or enforcing many crucial business and personal decisions, for the Beatles and Apple's staff, and witnessing many key moments in the latter days of both. In January 1988, while accepting the Beatles' induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Harrison named Taylor as one of only two people worthy of the title "the Fifth Beatle", the other being Neil Aspinall.[19]
During the Beatles' existence (specifically, 1960–70 and theAnthology project), several musicians recorded with the Beatles in a more limited capacity, either on a Beatles' album, or on another artist's album with two or more Beatles members appearing. Hence, such artists could be dubbed "the Fifth Beatle" for a single track or two. Artists include:
Tony Sheridan[21] employed various backup bands while performing in Hamburg between 1960 and 1963. In 1961 the Beatles (comprising Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, and Best), who had met Sheridan during their first visit to Hamburg in 1960, worked with him on their second. When GermanPolydor agentBert Kaempfert saw the pairing on stage, he suggested that they make some recordings together. (At that period, Sheridan was the bigger name, with the Beatles as his backing band.) In 1962, after a series of singles (the first of which, "My Bonnie"/"The Saints" made it to no. 5 in theHit Parade,[22] Polydor released the albumMy Bonnie across Germany. The word "Beatles" was judged to sound too similar to the German "Pidels" (pronouncedpeedles), the plural of a slang term forpenis, so the album was credited to "Tony Sheridan and The Beat Brothers". After The Beatles had gained fame, the album was re-released in the UK, with the credit altered to "Tony Sheridan and The Beatles".
Andy White played drums on the US pressing of "Love Me Do", which was the Beatles' first single in the United States.Ron Richards, assistant producer toGeorge Martin, was in charge of recording on 11 September 1962. In June, the band had recorded "Love Me Do" with Best, then a second time in early September with new member Starr, who had only been in the group for three weeks, before deciding to record it a third time. Richards brought experienced session drummer White in for drums on this recording, with Starr playing tambourine. White and Starr also both played percussion on "P.S. I Love You" during this session, with White on drums and Starr on maracas.[23]
Apart from Sheridan, the American pianist Billy Preston[24] was the only artist to receive joint credit on a Beatles single, for his playing on "Get Back". On theLet It Be album where Preston's performances are used the song credits list "with Billy Preston". Preston also played organ on "Let It Be", "Something" and "I Want You (She's So Heavy)", andFender Rhodeselectric piano on "Don't Let Me Down", "One After 909", "Dig A Pony", "I've Got a Feeling", and "Get Back". Preston first met the Beatles in 1962, but his "Fifth Beatle" claim originated in January 1969 when Harrison invited him to join them for recording sessions in order to defuse tensions in the band.[25] Lennon suggested that Preston join the Beatles, even using the term "Fifth Beatle",[26] but the idea was dismissed by McCartney. To distinguish Preston from the controversy over who is the Fifth Beatle, he is sometimes given the unique title of the "Black Beatle".[27]
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The man they call the Fifth Beatle, who 'fell in love with art' at Prescot Grammar School, is to have work displayed in a charity exhibition. ...
Sir Paul McCartney said of him: 'If anyone was the Fifth Beatle, it was Brian.'
Sir George Martin is often regarded as 'The Fifth Beatle.' ...
Called "the Fifth Beatle" Preston also worked with other musicians, including the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, and Sly and the Family Stone
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