In the late '50s, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Richard Starkey were just four Liverpudlian teenagers who decided to play music. With no formal training and no ability to read or write music, they tried to emulate their American rock heroes. Within a few years, they would change music history (and the world) forever. Scott Freiman traces the birth of the Beatles from their days as the Quarrymen to their first visit to EMI Studios and the recording of “Love Me Do.”

• Scott Freiman