Fifth Beatle

The term originated in 1964 with the American disc jockey Murray the K, who pronounced himself the "fifth Beatle" due to the amount of promotion and coverage he afforded the band on his radio program.

Others referred to as the "fifth Beatle" include their early drummer, Pete Best, original bassist Stuart Sutcliffe, and keyboardist Billy Preston.

McCartney has said that "if anyone was the fifth Beatle", it was manager Brian Epstein (in a 1997 BBC interview)[2] and producer George Martin (in a 2016 memorial post).

Instead of replacing him with a new member, Paul McCartney changed from rhythm guitar (with Lennon) 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 girlfriend Astrid Kirchherr to cut his hair in emulation of the hairdo worn by friend Klaus Voormann.

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.

Instead of cancelling, the Beatles' manager Brian Epstein hired Nicol to stand in until Starr recovered.

Brian Epstein, the band's manager from 1961 until his death in 1967, was instrumental in the Beatles' rise to global fame.

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.

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.

"[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?'

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.

[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 their road manager, which included driving his old Commer van to and from shows, both day and night.

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.

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.

The word "Beatles" was judged to sound too similar to the German "Pidels" (pronounced peedles), the plural of a slang term for penis, so the album was credited to "Tony Sheridan and The Beat Brothers".

Richards brought experienced session drummer White in for drums on this recording, with Starr playing tambourine.

[22] Apart from Sheridan, the American pianist Billy Preston[23] was the only artist to receive joint credit on a Beatles single, for his playing on "Get Back".

Preston also played organ on "Let It Be", "Something" and "I Want You (She's So Heavy)", and Fender Rhodes electric piano on "Don't Let Me Down", "One After 909", "Dig A Pony", "I've Got a Feeling", and "Get Back".

Harrison thought that it sounded weak, and called in Eric Clapton to perform the lead guitar on the song.