How to tell the Beatles apart
a quick guide to telling the Beatles apart
I am not big on classics. I think that might have something to do with my parents’ music taste - I very distinctly remember how my dads favourite category on iTunes (oh, the days) was called “Easy Listening”. For years I thought that was a music genre but in hindsight I think it was simply iTunes’ way to discribe simple, straightforward tracks. Anyway, I loved my dad’s music.
But The Beatles weren’t ever a part of that. Even though I think they are fairly easy to listen to. Anyway - at the ripe age of 28 - I had the following conversation with a close friend when he showed me a picture of a Beatles record as a reference to a haircut I thought might look good on him.
Me:
I just have no idea which Beatle is which.
For your amusement, and because I really trust that you won’t think I’m completely dumb, I’m going to guess now:
So, we have John, George, Ringo, and Paul.
I say (from left to right, top to bottom):
Paul, John, George, Ringo.
How many points do I get?
Toby:
Exactly 0! :D
A few weeks later I came across another picture of the Beatles on my Instagram and I, very confidently, send Toby this picture captioned “Another day, another Beatles guessing challenge”.
If you happen to know The Beatles somewhat better than I did you will see that I somehow got one Beatle right and then proceeded to think there was one called Kurt. I think I might’ve thought about Kurt Cobain? You see: work needed to be done here. Let’s dive right in - because in the following half hour I learned to differentiate the Beatles and I now I just can. It’s a magical feeling. Some might even call it a Magical Mystery.
The easy period
I think to hit it off it is easiest to start with pictures from the late 60s. The later we go, the easier it gets. So let’s start at an easy point. This picture must be roughly from around 1967 and it is very easy to see how The Beatles look like different people.
John is usually easily identifiable: He has the lightest hair and (pardon me) slutty little round glasses. If you see these glasses and light hair, it’s always John. I think you can also see how his face and his nose are elongated and his eyes look a bit sleepy.
Paul will always be the easiest Beatle for me. He has these dark but very open eyes. He often looks kind of dreamy. Paul is the one who you wouldn’t be scared of if he happened to walk into your bedroom unannounced in the middle of the night.
George and Ringo look quite similar. The both often have a similar hair length and colour. Ringos eyes are lighter though and (no offense) George kinda is a better looking version of Ringo. Modern day kids might call him the yassified version. Yeah. That’s not nice but it works to keep them apart.
The obvious period
My favourite Beatles photoshoot is from August 22, 1969. It’s at John Lennons country house and I love it. Maybe because George looks hella good in these pictures and he is my favourite Beatle. Maybe because it’s they’re last photoshoot (Allegedly. A Pinterest caption said that. I don’t know if I can trust that.). Maybe because there are so many good pictures and they all look quite different when you don’t pay attention that they didn’t change outfits in between. Sometimes I come across a very nice Beatles picture and then I notice - oh yeah, thats August 1969, Ringo is wearing the weird scarf.
Anyway, we take our trusted formula: John wears sluttly little glasses, Paul looks least like a possible nightmare, George is prettier Ringo. Tell me this doesn’t work. Because it does.
I would also like to note the difference in Georges and Ringos eye section. George has rather straight eyebrows and they are (not in this picture, but generally) more pronounced than Ringos.
We will now venture to the land of the early 60s and therefore towards the real challenges: the time of similar haircuts and babyfaces. But before that, I quickly want to recap the two pictures I showed you at the start of this blogpost. Now they should be embarrassingly obvious.
The early days of “yeh, clones”
Thanks to our man Jürgen Vollmer, a German guy from Hamburg, the Beatles decided to get the same haircut in September of ‘61. Paul is quoted to have said:
“[…] to get back to the haircut. I should know! We saw a guy in Hamburg, whose hair we liked. John and I were hitchhiking to Paris. We asked him to cut our hair like he did his. He was living in Paris. He was sort of an artsy guy, a photographer friend of everyone. His name was Jürgen […]”
John and Paul hitchhiking to Paris is a whole different story and a very sweet one at that. But one for another time.
So: the Beatles looked like clones and we have a real challenge at our hands. Thanks Jürgen.
Somehow I think Paul and John are still fairly easy to spot. John has the long nose, sleepy eyes and lighter hair. Paul has these big, dreamy eyes. And since it’s only four, George and Ringo must be last two and we know how to tell them apart.
This picture is a lot harder in my opinion.
I think what makes this hard is that Paul doesn’t look straight at the camera which messes with his most prominent feature: His big, dreamy eyes. Still, you can kind of see who Paul is. I also think that John looks fairly out of character here. He looks quite awake. Still, I think he is recognizable.
What I notice about John in these earlier pictures is that his face is a bit more square. Especially in comparison to George and Paul, whos jaws are a lot more narrow.
This picture is mainly why I told you about Georges straight and strong eyebrows. When their hair is a bit shorter on the forehead, George is easily spotted.
You see: The early days are the hardest. One might also argue that these boys were quite young back then and their facial structures as we know them in later photographs is still covered in a fair bit of soft tissue which makes them appear more similar.
I want to give you another example of this period.
Uff. I know. They look so similar here. To me, Ringo and George are the easiest here. John has the boxier (just a bit boxier) face and a lighter haircolour. And then Paul is left.
Does this work for you? To check if my attempts have been fruitful, I have prepared a sweet little quiz for you!
Guess the Beatle(s)!
Okay, congrats! Tell me in the comments is this was helpful to tell The Beatles apart. Until then I say goodbye to you, dear reader, and would love to hear your favourite Beatle and your favourite Beatles song.
Cheers!
Despite the post AND private lessons, I must admit the last few pictures are still impossible for me to wrap my head around.
I can almost always find Ringo now, and often Paul – I'll take that as a win! But then John and George for some reason are a complete toss-up if I don't have the hat or slutty little glasses to go off of. And even then, I'm pretty sure you could put those glasses on George's face and I would be loudly and confidently wrong in declaring that this is John and anyone who says it's not is lying.
Anyway, thank you, this is the first time I've seen someone refer to George as the yassified Ringo and now I will never unsee it. :D