Fifth Beatle
The fifth Beatle is an informal title that has been applied to people who were at one point a member of the Beatles or who had a strong association with John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. 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 programme. In the 2024 film Beatles '64, directed by David Tedeschi and produced by Martin 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 manager Brian Epstein, and later applied the honorific to producer George Martin in a 2016 memorial post. Harrison said at the Beatles' 1988 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame that there were only two "fifth Beatles": Derek Taylor, the Beatles' public relations manager, and Neil Aspinall, their road manager-turned-business-executive. Others referred to as the "fifth Beatle" include their early drummer, Pete Best, original bassist Stuart Sutcliffe, and keyboardist Billy Preston.
Early group members
Though best-known as a four-man ensemble, The Beatles were in their early career a quintet.Stuart Sutcliffe
Stuart Sutcliffe was the original bassist of the five-member Beatles. He played with the band primarily during their days as a club act in Hamburg, West Germany. When the band returned to Liverpool in 1961, Sutcliffe remained behind in Hamburg. He died of a brain hemorrhage shortly thereafter. Instead of replacing him with a new member, Paul McCartney changed from rhythm guitar 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", 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.
Pete Best
Pete Best was an early drummer of the Beatles. He played with the band during their time as a club act, in both Liverpool 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 was Anthology 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."Temporary members
Chas Newby
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, 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. Lennon asked him to go to West Germany for the Beatles' second trip, 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
Jimmie Nicol played drums for the first eight shows of The Beatles' 1964 world tour. Starr became ill and the opening part of the tour was almost cancelled. Instead of cancelling, the Beatles' manager Brian Epstein hired Nicol to stand in until Starr recovered. Nicol played with the band in early June, in Denmark, the Netherlands, Hong Kong and Australia. Nicol made the most of his time, signing autographs and giving interviews. Starr rejoined the band on 14 June, in Melbourne.Business, management, and production
Brian Epstein
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 of the 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."
When the Beatles were awarded their MBEs in 1965, Harrison said that a fifth medal should be given to Epstein since "MBE really stands for 'Mr Brian Epstein.
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."
In 2013 Epstein was the subject of a graphic novel entitled The Fifth Beatle by Vivek Tiwary. The book was released in November and spent several weeks on The New York Times Best Seller list, reaching no. 1 in its third week of release.
George Martin
George Martin produced nearly all of the Beatles' recordings and wrote the instrumental score for the Yellow Submarine film and soundtrack album, and the string and horn arrangements for almost all of their songs. His arrangement of the string octet backing for "Eleanor Rigby" was widely noted.Martin's extensive musical training and sophisticated guidance in the studio are often credited as fundamental contributions to the work of the Beatles. Writer Ian 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" to Beatles' manager Brian Epstein.
Lennon disparaged Martin's importance to the Beatles' music. In his 1970 interview with Jann Wenner, Lennon said that music publisher Dick 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." 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 editing Yoko and I did alone."
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." Julian Lennon called him "The Fifth Beatle, without question".
Neil Aspinall
A schoolmate of McCartney and Harrison and a close personal friend of Pete Best, Aspinall joined the Beatles as their road manager, which included driving his old Commer van to and from shows, both day and night. After Mal Evans started work for the Beatles, Aspinall was promoted to become their personal assistant, and eventually ascended to the position of CEO for Apple Corps.Aspinall was involved in court cases on behalf of Apple over the years. He supervised the marketing of music, videos, and merchandising 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 a tambura 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 the Rock 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.
Derek Taylor
Daily Express journalist Derek Taylor 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 for Apple 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.