The Guitar That Launched The Beatles

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Posted: 07 Mar 2011 03:41 AM PST

03/07/2011
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(Gibson) "Love Me Do," The Beatles' first-ever single, announced a revolution in rock and roll. The fresh-faced Liverpudlians — Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Starr — sounded like nothing else on British radio in October 1962. As Harrison remembered in The Beatles Anthology: "First hearing 'Love Me Do' on the radio sent me shivery all over. It was the best buzz of all time. We knew it was going to be on Radio Luxembourg at something like 7:30 on a Thursday night. I was in my house in Speke and we all listened in."
With its Everly-inspired harmonies, strident bass and thumping drums and that distinctive, bluesy harmonica riff, "Love Me Do" stood out amidst a sea of early '60s British pop mediocrity. And high in the mix is Lennon's chiming acoustic guitar, played on his new and highly prized Gibson J-160E.

1962 was a crucial year in Beatles history. Liverpool businessman Brian Epstein signed on as manager in January, Lennon's art-school pal and the band's original bass player, Stu Sutcliffe, died in April and, after being turned down by pretty much every label in town, they finally signed a record deal in June with Parlophone. They made their first test recordings with George Martin in June. In August, Lennon got married and The Beatles finally became The Fab Four when, Ringo Starr joined the holy trinity of John, Paul and George. more on this story

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