They christened their label Apple. The working title for "Yesterday" was "scrambled eggs".
Paranoids heard "I buried Paul" at the end of "Strawberry Fields Forever", when it was really John Lennon muttering "cranberry sauce".
Forget the hidden drug references. While armchair analysts detected LSD insinuations in "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds", no one noticed the marmalade skies and marshmallow pies.
The real untold story in Beatles lore lies in the band's obsession with food. Or so suggests a study of Beatles scholar Martin Lewis, who scoured 1800 recordings and 40 hours of films, videos and documentaries made by the Beatles collectively and individually from 1961 to 2001.
He also pored over their interviews, art work and books. Every reference to food or dirnks was logged into a database.
The top edible is honey, cited in 14 lyrics. With a dozen musical mentions, tea is the drink of choice, though other beverages get their due: Coca-Cola in "Come Together", gin in "Rocky Raccoon" and rum in "Helen Wheels".
Vegetarian George Harrison has the highest tally of meat references, with lyrics about pigs, hot sausage, chops, bacon, chicken, Burger King and McDonald's.
For heaviest portions in a single song, nothing tops Paul McCartney's "Cook Of The House", a grocery list of sweet potatoes, green beans, garlic, salad, curry, salt and pepper. Which brings us to "Sgt Pepper" and "Mean Mr Mustard" - exotic characters of favourite seasonings?
Lewis, host of the annual US bi-coastal Beatlefest conventions and a consultant on the Beatles' Anthology and Live At The BBC projects, will unveil the full menu on Eat The Beatles!, a radio special in Los Angeles.
"Because the Beatles have been covered in every possible way, I assumed somebody had already done this analysis," said Lewis, who embarked on the study to satisfy his own cravings.
"The two biggest loves in my life are the Beatles and food. This is my dream meal."
Lewis allows that artistic references don't necessarily stack up against fact. In reality, the Beatles favoured Scotch and Coke.
They were hardly life-long gourmets. A typical meal growing up was chip butties. Still, Lewis relished unearthing recipes that may or may not shed light on the Beatles' appetites.
During three months in 1967, purportedly the peak of a drug-use phase, they recorded five songs alluding to tea: "Lovely Rita", "A Day In The Life", "All Together Now", "It's All Too Much" and "Good Morning, Good Morning".
You'll also find Lennon "sitting on a corn flake" and musing about "pilchard" in "I Am The Walrus".