Sagot :
John, Paul, George and Ringo. The Beatles were a tight-knit gang of four - christened the Fab Four in 1963 after the press picked up the term from the sleeve notes for their second album.
The term "fifth Beatle" was first used a year later when they crossed the Atlantic in an attempt to crack America.
"It's part of the mythology that the American DJ Murray the K was the first to name himself the 'fifth Beatle' on air," says Beatles expert Stephanie Fremaux, from Birmingham City University. "He probably did that as he was heavily promoting their first US visit in 1964 and playing their music on the radio."
Since then around a dozen people connected with the band have been awarded the title by fans or the press.
When it came to the band's distinctive sound, Sir Paul is now in no doubt that The Beatles owed the most to their record producer Sir George Martin, who has died, aged 90. "If anyone earned the title of the fifth Beatle it was George," he wrote on his blog. George was the fifth Beatle when it came to their records," agrees music journalist Paul Gambaccini. "He was interested in creating a painting instead of a photo. He wanted to help them achieve what they wanted to convey, not just capture their performances.
The term "fifth Beatle" was first used a year later when they crossed the Atlantic in an attempt to crack America.
"It's part of the mythology that the American DJ Murray the K was the first to name himself the 'fifth Beatle' on air," says Beatles expert Stephanie Fremaux, from Birmingham City University. "He probably did that as he was heavily promoting their first US visit in 1964 and playing their music on the radio."
Since then around a dozen people connected with the band have been awarded the title by fans or the press.
When it came to the band's distinctive sound, Sir Paul is now in no doubt that The Beatles owed the most to their record producer Sir George Martin, who has died, aged 90. "If anyone earned the title of the fifth Beatle it was George," he wrote on his blog. George was the fifth Beatle when it came to their records," agrees music journalist Paul Gambaccini. "He was interested in creating a painting instead of a photo. He wanted to help them achieve what they wanted to convey, not just capture their performances.
