Dick James on the Writing of "Ticket to Ride"

"It was four months ago, during rehearsals for the Beatles' Christmas Show at the Hammersmith Odeon, that I sat with Paul in the stalls, watching some of the other acts. Then, he sang a few snatches of melody to me, which he and John had in mind for future songs. Soon after, John started on the same tunes that Paul had just been singing. 'There's a title I've got in mind,' John said to me, 'which I can't get rid of. She's got a ticket to ride.' I liked the phrase, for it was a slightly more original idea than usual for expressing goodbye and parting. I encouraged John to work at it and the matter then passed into the back of my mind. Then, one evening, two months ago, in February, when John joined George Martin for a skiing holiday in Switzerland, John borrowed a guitar from their skiing instructor and strummed through a tune."

Geoff Emerick on John Lennon in the Studio on LSD, 1967

"John came up from the studios into the control room and said [to George Martin], 'George, I do feel really funny.' He ended up taking John up onto the roof of Abbey Road Studios, and left him there, thinking he was just a bit dizzy or faint. When George came down and told the others what he had done, the others rushed up to the roof to rescue John."

Beatles Covers: Pixies - Wild Honey Pie

George Martin on Working with the Beatles in the Studio, 1966

"We now spend more and more time in the studios than ever before. The Beatles have come to accept that recording is their way of life. They accept their voluntary imprisonment of being in the studio for as long as 14 hours at a time... There are no secret unissued Beatles tracks in case of any emergency. Everything that the Beatles have recorded has been released. It has to be this way. The demand is so strong, it is difficult even keeping up with it."

George Martin on George Harrison's "I Need You" (1965)

"'I Need You' worked out very well. George got a bit discouraged some time ago when none of us liked something that he had written. He has got something to say as a songwriter, and I hope he keeps it up."

Ringo Starr on Temporarily Leaving the Beatles, 1968

"I took a week's holiday and, when I came back to work, everything was all right again. Paul is the greatest bass guitarist in the world, but he is also very determined. He goes on and on to see if he can get his own way."

Paul McCartney on "Hey Jude" and the Rolling Stones

"I remember taking it down to a late night Hashish-smoking club in a basement in Tottenham Court Road, the Vesuvio Club. I said to the DJ, 'Here's an acetate, do you want to slip it on some time during the evening?' He played it and I remember Mick Jagger coming up to me and saying, 'Fuckin' 'ell! Fuckin' 'ell! That's something else, innit? It's like two songs."

Francie Schwartz on John and Yoko Living with Paul McCartney in Cavendish Avenue

"One morning I noticed there was an envelope with a typed address on it. No stamp or return address, it just said, 'John and Yoko.' They thought it was a piece of fan mail and they opened it up and it was a typed unsigned note that said, 'You and your Jap tart think you're hot shit,' and John was wounded by it. He loved her and couldn't understand why people would hate her, and Paul came into the living room and he says, 'Oh, I just did that for a lark!' The letter was from Paul, and John looked at him and that look said it all, 'Do I know you?'"