# Who was the fifth Beatle? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 19, 2010, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-fifth-beatle/529623 "2010-02-19T14:13:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-fifth-beatle/529623/1 "2010-02-19T14:13:40Z")
And why? ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-fifth-beatle/529623/2 "2010-02-19T14:16:43Z")
[Stuart Sutcliffe](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_Sutcliffe) is the only person with a legitimate claim to the tile, having played with the other four Beatles. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-fifth-beatle/529623/3 "2010-02-19T14:17:30Z")
[Take your pick.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifth_Beatle) There wasn’t any single person who got called this. There are about a dozen who have or might have been called this. Nobody ever actually chose an “official” one. But **Annie** , there’s no tradition or anything of the title actually referring to a fifth band member. Brian Epstein and George Martin have been called it at times. Billy Preston, for god’s sake, has been called this because of his work collaborating on some of the later records. There’s really no official “5th Beatle”. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-fifth-beatle/529623/4 "2010-02-19T14:31:03Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > [Take your pick.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifth_Beatle) I was looking at that link just before I posted this. This thread is more IMHO than factual. Personally, I’d go with George Martin. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-fifth-beatle/529623/5 "2010-02-19T14:31:56Z")
Murray the K ---
**Author:** ![Ian\_D.Bergkamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Ian\_D.Bergkamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ian_D.Bergkamp)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-fifth-beatle/529623/6 "2010-02-19T14:41:08Z")
The first person who comes to mind for me is soccer player George Best, just because he was called that in the press due to his popularity in the late '60s-early '70s. But if I were really trying to name someone who I considered to be a band member closest in proximity to the Fab Four, I’d say Stu Sutcliffe. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-fifth-beatle/529623/7 "2010-02-19T14:50:09Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I was looking at that link just before I posted this. This thread is more IMHO than factual. Okay…I was misreading the OP, then. Personally, I’d say Brian Epstein or George Martin. Both of them were with the band throughout their most famous and active period, and worked more closely and for a longer time with them than any former member who bailed (or got kicked) prior to “the big break” did. And both of them were, in many ways, as responsible for “the Beatles” being who and what they were as the actual Fab Four were. ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-fifth-beatle/529623/8 "2010-02-19T15:50:23Z")
My vote goes to George Martin. Brian Epstein was certainly of incredible importance / influence on developing the group as performers and personalities. But as far as I know – and I could definitely be wrong about this, so please correct me if I am – he didn’t have as big an impact on the actual music as Martin, whose role as producer / arranger was inestimable. Many of the songs and albums we love wouldn’t sound the same without George Martin, such as _Eleanor Rigby, Yesterday, Tomorrow Never Knows, Strawberry Fields Forever_, all of _Abbey Road_, and too many more to mention. So while cases can be made for others, for me, considering how unimaginably different the recordings would sound without him, George Martin gets the nod. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-fifth-beatle/529623/9 "2010-02-19T16:15:04Z")
Billy Preston. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-fifth-beatle/529623/10 "2010-02-19T16:19:05Z")
The unconfirmed Beatle on the grassy knoll. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-fifth-beatle/529623/11 "2010-02-19T16:30:45Z")
Not sure about The Beatles, but I do know that [Bill Murray was the fifth Rutle](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9AtD37HRiU). ---
**Author:** ![ProfessorX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@ProfessorX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ProfessorX)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-fifth-beatle/529623/12 "2010-02-19T16:33:37Z")
The joker in me whats to say Yoko Ono since she has had a lot of influence over the band. But George Martin is the bet here. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Sensitive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58956e/32.png) [@Darth\_Sensitive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Sensitive)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-fifth-beatle/529623/13 "2010-02-19T16:43:49Z")
Scottie Pippen. ---
**Author:** ![Ms\_Boods](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5e9695/32.png) [@Ms\_Boods](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Boods)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-fifth-beatle/529623/14 "2010-02-19T16:49:32Z")
Dunno if you’d call him the Fifth Beatle, but Peter Serafinowicz could sure substitute for one of them, if necessary: Ringo writes for James Bond [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Xd8fOouKiLc/hqdefault.jpg "Ringo Remembers Goldfinger") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xd8fOouKiLc) Ringo plays on Paul’s 1979 Christmas record [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/cW1ou7SH3is/hqdefault.jpg "Ringo Remembers Christmas 1979") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cW1ou7SH3is) Ringo witnesses the first version of ‘Imagine’ [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/nQr8WzY5zUk/hqdefault.jpg "Ringo Remembers Imagine") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQr8WzY5zUk) Ringo remembers 1969 (may be slightly NSFW) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/HnWk0nB06bQ/hqdefault.jpg "Ringo Remembers 1969") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnWk0nB06bQ) Paul at Christmas (NSFW – naughty language) [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p24iHL00QGQ) Stu Sutcliffe did play with four other Beatles, but the version that was John, Paul, George, and Pete. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-fifth-beatle/529623/15 "2010-02-19T16:56:25Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > [Stuart Sutcliffe](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_Sutcliffe) is the only person with a legitimate claim to the tile, having played with the other four Beatles. What about Pete Best, the original drummer? ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-fifth-beatle/529623/16 "2010-02-19T16:58:21Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Murray the K I think it’s cute and chutzpahrific that he actually went around trying to call himself that. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-fifth-beatle/529623/17 "2010-02-19T16:59:17Z")
Well, he was the one who coined the phrase. Might as well give him a shout-out. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-fifth-beatle/529623/18 "2010-02-19T17:16:53Z")
[Clarence Walker](http://snltranscripts.jt.org/83/83lrocknroll.phtml). Seriously, though, I’d have to say George Martin. Listen to any Beatles album (other than _Let It Be_): What five guys were mostly responsible for what you hear? ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-fifth-beatle/529623/19 "2010-02-19T18:05:46Z")
Last I checked, the Beatles were a four-man band, although I cannot entirely dismiss the possibility that there was a spirit from a parallel dimension re-animating Paul’s corpse. ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-fifth-beatle/529623/20 "2010-02-19T18:09:31Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > What about Pete Best, the original drummer? That’s the only one I’ve heard referred to as this. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-fifth-beatle/529623.md?page=2)