The Beatles, 1969
In 1970, John Lennon claimed that he wanted to leave the Beatles as early as late 1966, after the end of touring. George Harrison was writing more songs than could be contained within the Beatles, and growing resentful. Could they have broken up in early 1969 instead of April 1970?
Years later, it was revealed that tension during White Album sessions nearly broke up the group. While Paul and Ringo were, by far, the most content members of the Beatles, even Ringo reached a breaking point during recording sessions for the White Album, leaving the group for two weeks. Later in January 1969, George walked out amid disagreements with Paul and indifference from John.
The sessions in early 1969 revealed the breakdown of the relationships between the individual members occurring in real time and captured on film and audio. The prospect of ending the group then and there was placed on the table. The Get Back project was designed by Paul to bring the group together, while in fact, it did the exact opposite. In September 1969, following the release of Abbey Road, John left the group for good.
Post-touring, and particularly after Brian Epstein’s death, despite continued international success, the group was gradually falling apart. If not for Paul’s efforts is it not unimaginable that “All You Need Is Love” would have been the group’s last effort? Remember, John was already disenchanted with the group, and only writing songs as needed (which he later complained about). George was moving further into Eastern religion and contrary to John, writing more songs than ever. Paul brought the others along through sheer persistence and love of the group. The others had yet to come up with a better alternative. This was before the time when members of a group could be both solo artists and members of a group.
It should be noted that Paul wasn’t solely responsible for keeping the group alive. The others probably needed only a little nudging to get into the new projects and recordings. Again, in later years, particularly in Lennon’s Rolling Stone 1970 Lennon Remembers interviews, resentment over Paul’s “nudging” was aired. George made his opinions about working with Paul throughout the entirety of his solo career. Yet, it’s hard to imagine either John or George suggesting Magical Mystery Tour, Get Back, or Abbey Road, or anything comparable. Wouldn’t some of these alternatives have been revealed over the years had they existed? We don’t know if John had any other ideas. George’s main idea, as far as we know, was to include more of his songs on the albums.
Paul became de facto leader out of necessity, and possibly his own fear of the entire thing falling apart if he didn’t keep going with new ideas. To get an idea of Paul’s mentality, consider that in September 1969, Paul was unaware of John’s feelings to the extend that he was still pitching Beatles projects such as playing small clubs, prompting John to finally announce that he wanted his “divorce” from the group and calling Paul “daft” in the process. In hindsight, Paul’s lack of insight into John’s state of mind was a bit daft.
The irony of Paul doing the most to keep the group together was that he, of all them, was best positioned to be a solo artist, if need be. Had the group broken up sometime in 1968 or early 1969, McCartney was overflowing with songs and production work.
What would a Paul McCartney solo career have looked like in 1968 or 1969? We’ll explore this hypothetical, and somewhat ridiculous, possibility in a future post.
Paul looks like he’s crying in this picture, possibly he is. Makes me so sad, still.
Paul couldn’t read John’s or George’s minds, who can? John and George never said they wanted a lay-off of the Beatles.
John did have a vision for the Beatles though. He wanted them to do Yoko’s stuff.
I agree, it would’ve been great if Paul took his late period Beatle songs for his first solo album.
He probably IS crying. After this photo session they went back to sign the lucrative new contract with EMI, everyone posing with Allen Klein, and I think Sir Joe.
“In 1970, John Lennon claimed that he wanted to leave the Beatles as early as late 1966, after the end of touring.”
-Sorry, this is very convoluted, confusing writing. Notwithstanding the “as early as late” where does the “1970″ part of the sentence come into play here?
It’s common knowledge that The Beatles DID break up in 1969. In September of that year is when John claimed in a meeting at Savile Row that he “wanted a divorce”. Because of business interests, it was Allen Klien who pursuaded Lennon and the rest to keep this news “under wraps”. It was only in April 1970 when McCartney had it with the shirad and mounting legal nightmares that he decided to go public with what had already been a reality for six months.
“As early as late 1966″ refers to an earlier than expected time to think about a break up. I could have said “September 1966″ instead of “late 1966″ but John Lennon was never that specific about when he was first having thoughts about wanting to leave the group. It’s not clear that he meant any particular time between September and December. Perhaps I could have said “In November 1966″ but since I didn’t know if that was correct, and the entire post was speculative, I left it as is.
“In 1970″ refers to when John was interviewed by Rolling Stone and made his comments about when he started to think about getting out of the group. It’s a good thing I didn’t put “late 1970″ because the interview was in December. Talk about word salad!
Yes, the “divorce” announcement in September 1969 followed by McCartney’s announcement in April 1970 is the story. However, the full story of the breakup dates back to the 1966 touring and it’s immediate aftermath. The disintegration of group unity that ultimately caused the final rupture was hastened by Brian Epstein’s death in August 1967. Also, the exact nature of the “charade” isn’t clear based on contemporary comments by all four. McCartney didn’t entirely believe Lennon. John, George, and Ringo all discussed future plans for the group prior to McCartney’s announcement. If you haven’t read Peter Doggett’s book, you should. There was talk about group activities even after McCartney’s announcement. McCartney’s lawsuit put an end to that. In other words, until McCartney sued to get out of the contract in “late December”, the others weren’t totally sure how final the breakup was.
Lennon, in particular, describes that process in both the Rolling Stone and Playboy interviews. Paul tells much the same story from his perspective – except he didn’t want the group to end, whereas John more or less did want the group to end but didn’t know how to do it, or what else he’d do. Yoko solved the latter problem.
Hi Dave,
Yeah, I’ve read Dogget’s book. It’s a gripping read alright. One of the best books on the Beatles I’ve read by far…
What I meant by the above is, the title of your article is a bit misleading in the sense that The Beatles did in fact break up in 1969… I think something along the lines of, “What if The Beatles had broken up after Let It Be?” or “What if The Beatles had broken up before Abbey Road?” I think the content of your piece (which is great, by the way) muses that scenario.
It’s pretty safe to assume that had they parted ways in January 1969, McCartney’s first solo album would have been more lavish than the “McCartney” we all know and love. Indeed part of its ‘rawness’ was in direct contrast to the lush production that had just been showcased on “Abbey Road”. Almost certainly, songs like “Oh! Darling”, “You Never Give Me Your Money”, “Golden Slumbers” and “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” (sigh) would have made it onto the record, with their production being very similar to what’s on “Abbey Road”. Other tracks like “She Came in Through the Bathroom Window” probably would have been ditched. Regarding the rest, my money would be on others like “Maybe I’m Amazed”, “Every Night” as well as “Another Day” and “The Back Seat of My Car” (the latter two were already being kicked around during the Get Back sessions).
As far as Lennon is concerned, “Come Together”, “I Want You (She’s so Heavy)” and “Because” would have probably made it onto “Plastic Ono Band”… but substantially more stripped-down in production. Other tracks such as “Mean Mister Mustard”, “Polythene Pam” “Sun King” would have probably been ditched as well (to surface later on?).
As far as George is concerned, his two Abbey Road gems would have certainly been on “All Things Must Pass” (sounding very different, however, without McCartney’s contribution in production).
Suffice to say, all things indicate that the follow- up to “Abbey Road” would have been an amazing album. Perhaps the following one as well…but nearing the glam pre-disco days of 1975, who knows… in the end, it’s a good thing they broke up in 1969!
Cheers