How the Beatles got their name

I found this little video while listening to a lot of different music tonight on Youtube. Do you know about the site called ListenToYouTube.com which creates MP3′s for you from YouTube videos? I found out about it because I was reading about LimeWire paying RIAA $105 million dollars for allowing people to share music illegally.

Not everything on LimeWire is illegal. There are people like me who offer some of their own music as free downloads. I own the rights to my songs and as long as no one is selling my music, I grant permission for free distribution of any music I post on this site.

Like Limewire, this is a “Get it while it lasts” alert as far as pulling mp3′s from YouTube videos. The RIAA control freaks will have their day. Eventually you will be fined for humming a tune that is not your own in public.

But did the Beatles get their name from the movie “The Wild One” which is shown at the end of the above video?

This movie came out in 1953 in America, but it was banned in Britain for 14 years and didn’t come out until 1968 in Paddington, London.

The Beatles didn’t have their name until years after this movie was out, so chronologically, it is possible.

But the whole story of the Beatles’ name began in 1957, when young Mr. Lennon assembled his skiffle group, first calling it the Black Jacks, and then the Quarry Men. The group went through several name changes, surviving monikers like Johnny and the Moondogs, the Beatals, the Silver Beetles, the Silver Beats, and the Silver Beatles, before eventually settling on the Beatles. In March 1957, after acquiring a guitar, John formed a skiffle group with Pete Shotton and for all of a week, they called themselves the Black Jacks. The name was quickly changed to the Quarry Men, after their Quarry Bank School, partly tongue in cheek, and partly to give the group credibility, according to “Lennon” author Ray Coleman.   …

By October 26, 1959, the group was streamlined to just John, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison, and the threesome decided to make a second go at Carroll Levis’ TV show “Discoveries.” They called themselves Johnny and the Moondogs just for these auditions, which they unfortunately failed. One can’t help but wonder whether Johnny and the Moondogs would have become a household word if they had passed the audition!

In March 1960, new member Stuart Sutcliffe came up with the name Beatals, a play on Buddy Holly’s Crickets. The name didn’t last long, though, as band members went in their own directions for a brief period. George played with another group, while John and Paul played two dates, April 23 and 24, as the Nerk Twins.

Around May 5, 1960, the group was known as the Silver Beetles. Brian Cassar , the leader of another Liverpool group called Cass and the Cassanovas, suggested the name change in the first place. He proposed the name Long John and the Silver Beetles, but John would have none of the Long John bit. According to Ray Coleman, Long John Silver was once considered, but rejected outright.

For only one date, they called themselves the Silver Beats for a May 14 gig at Lathom Hall in Liverpool. They were advertised to appear one week later under that name, too, but that date was canceled. …

In early July 1960, they billed themselves as the Silver Beatles, before finally settling on simply the Beatles, around August 16, 1960. Credit for the name goes to both Sutcliffe and Lennon, though it is not certain just which one came up with the “ea” spelling.

In more recent years, another theory as to the origins of the Beatles’ name has been suggested by George Harrison and Beatles’ press man Derek Taylor. In his second revised edition biography of the Beatles (1985), Hunter Davies intimated that Taylor told him the name was inspired by the film “The Wild One.” A black leather-clad motorcycle gang is referred to as the Beetles. As Davies put it, “Stu Sutcliffe saw this film, heard the remark, and came back and suggested it to John as the new name for their group. John said yeah, but we’ll spell it Beatles, as we’re a beat group.” …

vwh.net

From wikipedia:

Sutcliffe is one of several people sometimes referred to as “the Fifth Beatle“. … Sutcliffe and John Lennon are credited with coming up with the name for the Beatles, as they both liked Buddy Holly‘s band, The Crickets.

The growing gap between the Eurasia and North American tectonic plates

Swimming through an area of extreme natural beauty, this diver surveys the underwater canyons on his either side.

But this British scuba diver is actually between two tectonic plates.

Alex Mustard, 36, dived 80ft into the crevice between the North American and Eurasian plates near Iceland to capture these spectacular photos.

Mr Mustard snapped away as he and his dive partners swam through fresh water canyons Silfra, Nes and Nikulasargja, which are up to 200ft deep.

He also took photos of the Arnarnes Strytur Enlarge    chimney, which forms a cloudy plume as 80C water is ejected from Earth’s crust and hits the cool 4C seawater. …

Movements of the earth: Mr Mustard took his photos between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates at Iceland

via The growing gap between the Eurasia and North American tectonic plates | Mail Online.