The Beatles Success Story in 1964

“Write's” success won Lennon an invitation to the prestigious Foyles Literary Lunch on Shakespeare's 400th birthday. Legend has it that Lennon was noticeably high when he attended. Among insiders, this was nothing new.

The Beatles were marketed as ”wholesome, smiling, safe, and clean”. Unbeknownst to the public, there were some unsavory aspects. (If some of the media were aware, it was kept secret. The group had become world-wide popular, and no one wanted to bring them down or bust the cash cow that the group had become. Unlike today, huh?)

All four were heavy smokers, especially George. Back then, this wasn't a liability, because it seemed that every other adult smoked in real life, TV, and the movies. It was regarded as being “grown-up” and sophisticated, one of the grown things you did.

There was constant in-group fighting (all four had vastly different temperaments) and with manager Brian Epstein. John could be particularly cruel. Epstein himself was a “closet” homosexual-which literally meant he had to keep this fact completely in the closet, in the dark. Could you imagine the fallout that would have occurred in 1964?-John, the other Beatles, and several insiders knew. Epstein was also attracted to John, but John wasn't.  It is rumored that Epstein was also attracted to Billy J. Kramer. 

From the early beginnings, there were hookers, and upon the group's success, there were what's now called “groupies”, in unlimited numbers, everywhere, behind the scenes. It was also interesting to find out that the Beatles' initial attitudes toward women were VERY chauvinist. It wasn't until several years later that those attitudes were altered or dropped entirely.

It was the result of their upbringing; northern English men traditionally viewed women as subservient to them. It was also “the thing to do” to get them pregnant first, then marry them. And if “your woman” had a career, she was expected to give it up upon marriage.

And there was pill-popping (at first), dating back from their Hamburg days. These consisted of French Blues, Purple Hearts, Black Bombers, and-Yellow Submarines. There was a growing boredom with everyday pleasures, and the group began pot smoking this year. In 1964, passing around a “joint” became an after-dinner ritual in fashionable London circles.

It was a pressure cooker, goldfish bowl life. But there was a financial upside: each group member became

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