R. I. P. Pat Morita

[Legend]

May he r.i.p , i just heard his voice on robot chicken!

[blckhaze]

grwat actor. RIP

[NateInPA]

Noooooo Danielson wax on wax off....RIP

[NickTheQuick]

RIP Pat Morita as well as George Best aka the Fifth Beatle.

Some of George's quotes:

* "I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars - the rest I just squandered."
* "I used to go missing a lot...Miss Canada, Miss United Kingdom, Miss World..."
* (On David Beckham) "He cannot kick with his left foot, he cannot head a ball, he cannot tackle and he doesn't score many goals. Apart from that he's alright."
* "If I had been born ugly, you would never have heard of Pelé" [4]
* "In 1969 I gave up women and alcohol. It was the worst 20 minutes of my life."
* "Pelé called me the greatest footballer in the world. That is the ultimate salute to my life."

[canihavu]

:cry: :cry: :cry:

[carter83]

RIP to both of them

[brickcitybrother]

Sad

[tsluver247]

May they rest in peace.

[shemalejunky]

Hello dumbass, George Best one of the greatest English football players ever! Why would George Best the 5th Beatle be talking about football...SHEESH!!!

Besides that, this has been bugging me...what was that cheezy cop show that Pat starred in during the 80's called?

[NickTheQuick]

To genious,

You might be thinking of the show Ohara. As far as the first part of your post, George Best was a Northern Irish football international who spent a big part of his career at Man U. While at Manchester United, Best's talent and showmanship made him a crowd and media favourite. He was dubbed "the fifth Beatle" for his long hair and good looks, but his celebrity lifestyle led to problems with gambling, womanising and alcoholism. He spent 10 years there until they finally got rid of him for excessive drinking and persistent failure to attend training sessions and matches. He played for 10 more years for various clubs (even in the US) and retired at age of 37.

There have been several people in the past dubbed "the fifth Beatle". Perhaps where your confusion set in was you are thinking of their drummer Pete Best who was later replaced by Ringo Star. If not, then I have no idea what you were thinking, but I would be careful in calling me a dumbass until you have a valid reason.

Later junky

[NickTheQuick]

Besides that, this has been bugging me...why the fuck do people say SHEESH!!! It sets off a red flag for a dipshit in my mind.

[chefmike]

Nick, as in MacSheesh?

[NickTheQuick]

Nick, as in MacSheesh?


Lol, more than anything I just wanted to call him a dipshit. My dad uses "sheesh" and similar phrases. It must be a generational thing.

[GroobySteven]

Got to say, I know the Beatles well (well not personally but well read and listened) and I had the same response that you'd made a mistake.
I'm also a big footie fan and I've never heard of George Best being dubbed the "5th Beatle" until I done a search on google - this is the first time I've seen him labeled as such.
Pete Best was called the 5th Beatle for a long time and I think performed on one of their first records in Berlin when they were named "The Silver Beatles (???)".
George Best I knew was gravely ill but didn't know he died until I saw this. Obviously a hero to many and could have gone so much further but alcohol destroyed his life and wasted a liver which could have been used on someone with more will power.
Another British icon is gone.
seanchai

[Dkg]

Yeah, I heard this over m cousins house....sad. I really liked him, and he was one of my favorite actors in the 80's.

He will be missed.

[Triggy]

Pete Best was called the 5th Beatle for a long time and I think performed on one of their first records in Berlin when they were named "The Silver Beatles (???)".
seanchai

Yes, Pete Best was known as the 5th Beatle...

George Best was dubbed 'El Beatle' by the Portuguese press after the MU 1968 Euro Cup win vs Benfica, but prior to his death, I never heard the term 5th Beatle used with reference to him..

Of course, by the time Bestie appeared with Beatlesque mop-top, the Beatles themselves were long-haired (mostly) bearded and in there with the Maharishi...

[NickTheQuick]

I never said he was the only person in history nicknamed that nor did I make it up, and since I was not alive during those years when he played for Man U, I don't know how popular that nickname was for him.

Here is the full "fifth Beatle" list if anyone is interested, some curious folks in there for sure.

"Early group members

Before they became famous, The Beatles actually did have five members for a time, so "the fifth Beatle" has been used, accurately, to describe their bassist, Stuart Sutcliffe, who left the band in 1962, and died of a brain hemorrhage shortly thereafter. Similarly, their drummer Pete Best (replaced by the more experienced drummer Ringo Starr when the band got a record contract) is often cited as the "fifth Beatle."

Members of precursor bands (such as the Quarrymen) like Pete Shotton, Colin Hanton, and any one of a number of temporary Beatles drummers have, less often, been discussed in this context.


Producer George Martin

The label is often applied to George Martin, who produced nearly all their recordings and wrote the instrumental score for the Yellow Submarine film and soundtrack album, and the string and horn (and even some vocal) arrangements for almost all of their songs, including the widely noted "Eleanor Rigby" (with the famous exception of the Phil Spector production "Let It Be"). Martin's extensive musical training (which he received at the Guildhall School of Music) and sophisticated guidance in the studio are often credited as fundamental contributions to the work of The Beatles; some contend that he is responsible for transforming a good rock-and-roll group into the most extraordinary popular musicians of their era. Martin's piano playing also appears on several of their tracks, including "Misery" and "In My Life".

Billy Preston

Pianist Billy Preston was the only artist to receive joint credit on a Beatles record, on "Get Back". Preston also played the keyboard on "Let It Be" and "Don't Let Me Down." Preston had been introduced to the Beatles during the early 1960s, but did not work with them until 1969, when Harrison invited him to join them for recording sessions in order to diffuse tensions in the band. Lennon once suggested that Preston join the Beatles, but the idea was dismissed by the others, as by that time, they were on the verge of breaking up.


Jimmy Nichol

During the band's 1964 tour, Ringo became ill and the Dutch and Danish legs of the tour were almost cancelled. Instead of cancelling, however, the band hired another drummer, Jimmy Nichol, to stand in until Ringo recovered. The photographer following the band for the 1964 tour, Harry Benson, recalls in his book The Beatles in the Beginning, that "John was pleasant to Nichol, Paul was ambivalent, and George downright didn't like him and thought he was too pushy." George and Ringo were close and Ringo felt threatened that he was being replaced, even if it was for just a small portion of the tour.

Nichol made the most of his time in the most famous band. He signed autographs and gave interviews. He was a good drummer too. Eventually there were rumours that Ringo would be replaced, but Jimmy eventually was not accepted as a member of the group, and many fans reacted with disappointment, through letters and telegrams, that Ringo might be replaced. Eventually Ringo rejoined the band on June 14th, in Melbourne, Australia. The next day Nichol, after playing a number of concerts in Sydney and Adelaide, giving interviews and signing autographs was escorted to the airport by Brian Epstein and flew home to Britain. It was later reported that Nichol was paid 500 pounds for the gigs and was given a gold watch as a memento.

It is suggested, perhaps apocryphally, that the phrase "It's getting better" in the track Getting Better (on the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album) was inspired by Nichol's stock response to repeated solicitous inquiries during his time with the band as to how he was coping.


Other candidates

Other people who have been referred to as (or claimed to be) "the Fifth Beatle" include:

* Brian Epstein, the band's manager until his death in 1967. In an interview in the 1990s describing Epstein's involvement in the band's rise to fame, George Martin declared "He's the fifth Beatle, if there ever was one".
* Neil Aspinall, assistant, road manager and close personal friend of the four. The Beatles once claimed he was indeed the fifth member.
* Mal Evans, roadie, assistant, and friend. His roles as Hammond organ player on "You Won't See Me" and 'anvil player' on "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" should also be taken into account.

Several musicians recorded with the Beatles in a more limited capacity, and hence could be dubbed "the Fifth Beatle" for a single track or two:

* Eric Clapton, who played guitar on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" .
* Jeff Lynne who played a number of guitar parts on "Free As A Bird" and "Real Love".
* Tony Sheridan who recorded with the Beatles for Polydor in Hamburg could arguably claim to have been a band member at this time.
* Yoko Ono, John Lennon's second wife, might be referred to as a fifth Beatle. She contributed to songs on The White Album, e.g., "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill" and "Revolution 9". She also attended most recording sessions after around May 1968 (when John insisted that she be allowed to sit and watch), until the break-up of the group, for which some resentful fans blamed her. She was a fixture during the recording sessions (to the possible chagrin of the other band members, who until then were used to having only the four of them in the studio).
* Paul McCartney's wife Linda might also belong in this list, as she apparently provided backing vocals on either Let It Be or Hey Jude (even Paul can't seem to decide which) as well as "Birthday".
* Phil Spector, producer of Let It Be. The January 1969 recordings for the album, produced during a time of tremendous strife among band members, were somewhat lacking, and the band didn't seem to want to have anything more to do with them. Dumping the tapes on engineer Glyn Johns, they told him to come back with an album. In May 1969, Johns came back with the best he could do, and the Beatles rejected it. Spector had been lobbying for a long time to work with the Beatles, so, in March 1970, he was given the tapes and re-worked them. However, his use of his famous Wall of Sound style with the Beatles music has had nearly as many detractors as fans over the years, and Let It Be eventually became the only Beatles album to be re-titled and re-released in a substantially different form (Let It Be... Naked), with Spector's overdubs largely removed.

Other well known persons who have been called "the Fifth Beatle" include:

* Murray the K, a New York disc-jockey who was dubbed the "fifth beatle" by George Harrison.
* George Best, popular footballer of the 1960s, due to his enormous popularity, long-haired good looks and celebrity lifestyle.
* Larry Kane, a long time Philadelphia news anchor that travelled with the Beatles on their first US tour.


"The Fifth Beatle" in popular culture

* Eddie Murphy starred in a Saturday Night Live sketch, playing the role of "Clarence", a man who claimed to be the fifth Beatle, as saxophonist, who was kicked out by John and Paul because they wanted to steal the glory. The sketch featured Clarence's "proof" of his claims: Some out-of-tune saxophone and backing vocal parts clumsily overdubbed on a few Beatles songs, and an obviously phony picture of Clarence standing in the middle of the four Beatles.
* An episode (Lisa the Vegetarian) of The Simpsons animated television show featuring Paul and Linda McCartney included a scene in which Apu Nahasapeemapetilon claimed to be the fifth Beatle (though he mispronounces it "Bee-at-el" (rhymes with Seattle) and gets most of the words to "Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band" wrong). Paul's weary response: "Sure you were, Apu."
* An edition of BBC comedy Fist of Fun featured a "special guest" (played by Kevin Eldon) who claimed to be the tenth Beatle, on the basis that there were only five people with better claim to be the fifth Beatle than him. The fact that he was born in 1971 didn't appear to be a problem to the man as he remarks, with some wonder "If I had been born twenty years earlier, I could have been the fifth Beatle!"
* Charles Manson believed he was the fifth Beatle. Manson believed that the Book of Revelations 9th Chapter said that the Beatles were four angels. The chapter also went on to say that the four angels would call a fifth angel who would have a key to bottomless pit, which Manson believed he had. To Manson this was proof that he was the fifth Beatle."