Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
For the most part, Harrison, Lennon and Starr were content with the
state the Beatles had reached. In the eyes ofthe world, the group
remained untouchable and untoppleable as pop musie royalty. Yet ar
the same time, Apple gare them oudets for projects that did not fali
comfortably under the Beatlcs banner.
Lennon quic!dy beg'a n making use of this freedom, recording and
relea_sing bis experimental collaborafions with Ono. Harrison had
brought out Wondenoall and would soon makc Electronic Sounc~ a
collection of Moog synthesizer practice tapes, recorded with the elec-
tronic musi composer Bernie Krause (whose name, to his consterna-
dom, was hidden under a wash of silver paint on the album cover) and
other collaborators. Starr's interests, for the moment, were in film.
After his cameo in Candy, he would take on a more extensive role in
Tbe Magic Cbristia& with Peter Sellers, in February t969.
McCarmey, however, missed the collective spirit ofthe group's
early days, and be was convinccd that giving a few concerts perhaps
in a eontrolled environment would revive that spirit. Thc recording
studio, he believed, had liberated their imaginations, but had also
fostered ah unfortunate insularity, for which the discipline of rehears-
ing and playing for an audience was the logical antidote. The others
had their doubts, although in September 1968 Harrison mused in
interviews about taking over a concert hall and giving performances
for a few months. The next month, McCarmey announced that once
Tbe Beadeswas finisbed, the group would work up some ofthe new
songs for a television taping, and would then perform them live.
Soon there was talk ofa three-day booking in mid-Decembcr at
the Roundhouse, with proeeeds from the sale of 4,5oo tickets going
to charity.
But true conscnsus within the Beatles was a slippery concept by
the end oft968. As the concert date approacbed with no sign that
reheatsals might begin, the booking was scrapped, and a new date
(but no venue) was announced for mid-January. In fact, the plan had
T h e F i n a l Ye a r 1 9 6 9 187
changed yet again. Now, still with ah eye towards giving a concert.
the Beatles would get ogether just af*er tbe New Year and begin
preparing new material. The rehearsals would be filmed for a
television special, and then they would go to some exotic location
- a Roman amphitheatre in North Africa, the Sahara desert and even
a big ship in the Mediterranean were mendoned - to play a single
concert, which would also be filmed. They hired Michael Lindsay-
Hogg, the director who had made their promotional films for
'Paperback Writer', 'Rain', 'Hey Jude' and 'Revolutioff, to film this
endeavour from start to finish. To an extent they carried out their
plan, except thac the exotic concert venue turned out to be the roofof
TheB~alles
thcir new Applc ol~ces and rcording studio in Savilc Row, London,
on a co]d January afiernoma.
With the tensions of thc 'Whitc Albtm~' sessimls still fresh ~n
thcir minds, and with the added pressure ora camela crew fu]luwing
thcm around, the Bcatlcs began thcir rehcarsals at Twickcnlxam
Film Studios on z January. Because these were not proper recording
sessions, therc were no real studio facilities. But the cameras, and a
portable tape recorder used to make reference recordings, captured an
extraordin0xy amount of detaii about the Beatles' working methods
anal interaction. Wc hear them, for example, limbering up un count
less oldies. Songs by Chuck Berry, Buddy Holiy, I ittle Richard, tlle
Drifiers, Bob Dylan, Carl Perkins, Smokey Robinson, the Rolling
Stones, the Temptations and even a few of rheir mvn hits are tuuhed
upon. Mostly, these are unbuttoned, unpolished pcrformanccs.
The real work at hand, uf course, was the new material, of which
there was plenty, with contributions from ali four Beatlcs. In fact,
ifevery new song tried out at these sessions had gone through to
completion, the group coulcl easily have filled another double album.
Besides the songs induded on the Ler Ir Be album, these sessions
yieldcd rhc first workuuts uf mure than half the songs that would
berecordedlaterintheyearfurAbbeyRoad induding Starr's
'Octopus's Garden', McCamley's 'Maxwcll's Silver Hammer', 'Oh!
Daxling', 'She Carne in Thmugh the Bathroom Window' and
'Her Majcsty', and Lcnnon's 'Sun King', 'Mean Mr Mustard' and
'Polythcnc Paro', and Harrison's 'Something' as wdl as q~te a tw
songs that found homes on their post-Beatles solo alhures.
The referente tapes made by the film crew capture the complete
development of several of the ncw songs, from the moment the com-
poser played it to the others through to the finished production.
McCarmey is heard sitting at the piano or with bis ba-ss, singing og~
the choixls tu his songs whilc the others follo~v along, or scat-singing
sections that hck lyrics, and sometimes adding vocal harmunies
even before the lyrics are finished. Sulags are tried s]ow and fast, in
elcctric and acoustic versions, and with diRrent kinds ofinrroduc-
tions and solos.
Often, the lyrics come together gradually whilc the band is churn-
ing through the churds. 'Get Back', for example, bcgan life as 'No
Pakistanis', a parody one ofseveral recorded during these sessions
T h e F i n o r Ye a r 1 9 6 9 189
of chc 'Britain for the Bridsh' stance taken by various right wing
groups. The Pakistani notion was soon droppcd, bur thc refrain 'get
back to where you once belonged' - became the peg around which
two scant ul~conncctcd fantmsies were spun. And ar one poiut, tbe
tapes capture McCarmey coming up with the line 'Jo Jo lefr his home
in Tucson, Arizona'. Lennon a~sks, 'Is Tucson in Arizona?' 'Yeah,'
McCartney tells him, 'k's where tbey make High C]mpparal'.
There is a]so plenty of chat, which runs the gamut from hilarious
monologues by Lennon, to serious discussions ofthe feasibility of
various concert proposals. And there are fights. Harrison, at this
point, had the longest list of grievances. He objected to McCarmey's
telling him when and how to play. And having become a more pro-
lific composer, be wanted his songs better represented on the Beatles'
albums. After a particularly tense session on Io January, he walked
out, dearly with the intention ofnot returning. The o~hers continued
without him; [.ennon wcnt as lar as to suggest tha~ they invite Eric
Clapton to sit in. Five days later, when ali four met to negotiate their
future, Harrison made it clear that he would no longcr consider the
prospect of a live performance, bur would return ir they would leave
Twickenham and begin work on an album. The fi}m was summarily
redefined as a t elevision programme about the making ofa new
Beatles album, asld the musicians and film crcw moved to the group's
new Apple Studios, where mosr of the material on the Ler Ir Be album
was recorded in ten days of scssions. Evcntually, the television idea
wa_s scrapped in favour ofa theatrical film.
Ali that makes the production ofthe album sound much more
clear-cut than it was. In fact, it ~;was a disaster, although in concept, ir
should have been quite easy. By thc rime thc sesdons moved to Apple,
the Beatles had announced that they were getting back to tbeir roots
- that thcir new album would be recorded live in the studio, without
overdubbing or fancy tecbnology. Since they would not, after ali, per-
forrn live, this was the next best thing. And the album's tide, at lhis
stagc, was to be Get Back.
To make sure that the group's textural demands cou[d be met
without multitracking (they Iater did some slight touch-up overdub-
bing), Harrison brought in Billy Preston, an American organist who
tbe Beades had met ar the Star Club in I962, when he was pari of
Little Richard's band. Preston would soon become an Apple ardst in
The Beofles
his own right, but for now be was a]most a fif~h Beatle. He playcd on
most ofthe sessions, took a few prominent solos (on 'Get Back' for
instance), and wa.s given a label credit for his pcrformance.
The formal sessions were as tmruly as those at Twickenham: jams
and oldies performances punctuated attempts to record new material,
and the Beatles decided that some of these off-the-cuffperformances
should be included on the record. By 29 January, they had completed
several new songs, and the next da)', in the hope ofgtting versions
tbat really did sound live, they clambered up to the windswept Apple
roof-top and gave a concert ~br the cameras while crowds gathered on
the street and on adjacent roof-tops. The police cvcnmally stopped
lhe performance, but the Beades did get for ty-two minutes oftaping
done, which yidded the last twenty minutes of the La Zt Be film.
Back in their basement studio, on 31 January, they finishcd off
three more songs, and then, considering their work done, they
washed their hands ofthe project, leaving George Martin and Glyn
Johns to sort out the audio recordings, and Michael Lindsay-Hogg to
make his way through a month's worth of film. The outcome was a
confilsing raess. In early Match, Lennon and McCarmey asked Johns
to compile the Get Back album. He produced a sequence that ful~lled
the group's wish to mix impromptu material and between-songs chat-
ter with finished recordings ofthe new songs. Or so be thought. In
tbe end, they refilsed to sign offon ir, and bis scqucnce was shelved.
Except for some minor tinkering, tbe tapes were untouchcd for the
rest ofthe yealr.
A few ofhis selections, dropped from the finished album, are
worth noting, since they represent the free-wheeling atmosphere
ofthe project. One was an instrumental jam, provisionally tkled
'Rocker', which fades in on its final thirty seconds and then, after a
btx~akdown and some discussion, goes into the Drifter's classic 'Sare
the Last Dance for Me', which pivots briet~y into one of Lennon's
new songs, 'Don't Let Me Dowff. In the discussion that follows, one
can heat that they actually were thinking in terras ora conccrt ser. At
least, Lennon goes through the order that the songs are to be played.
Also dropped was McCarmey's 'Teddy Boy', and understandably:
clearly unfinished, it mcanders, with the others {bllowing McCartney
as he hums bis way througb it. And then there is Lennon's 'Dig It',
one ofseveral jams in which the band played a slowly evolving vamp
TheFinalYear1969 193
Lenncn and Onc believed The Beatles, actual[y, were on to oth things. [n February, they
thot they should use tfLeir began a series of sporadic s~ssions, producing material that would
cel~sbr p;y - and its
find its way onto theA Roada]bum. On iz Match, McCarmey
immediate media access
to compaign for peac~ married IJnda Eastman, ah American photographcr whom he had
They held a second 'Bed4n' mct in t967. Eight days later, Lennon and Ono married roo. The
in Montceal from 26 May
Lennons had undcrtakcn an aggressivc campaign for wofld peace,-
to 2 June, during which
'Give Peace a Ck~nce' and decided to use the natural publicity that a Beatle wedding was
was wit~en and r~corded likely to draw as a plafform for their new mission. Afier marrying in
Gibraltar, they flew to Amsterdam for their honeymooa, which they
staged as a wcck-long 'Bcd-ln for Pcacc', inviting journalists to a series
of bedside interviews. They repeated this in Montreal in [ate May.
Lennon documented the wedding and ali the events surrounding
ir in 'Thc Bal[ad ofJohn and Yoko'. Perhaps as an offshoot ofhis
peace campaigning, Lennon began thinking of songwridng as a kind
o f journalism: he could write and produce recordings about whatever
was on his mind, and get them immediately into the storcs. This was
to be his first try at that, although as it turned out, six weeks elap*ed
between the recording session and the release of the'disc. 'Give Peace
a Chance', similarly, was recorded in his Montreal hotel room and
released tive weeks later. The process wasn't really per fected until early
The Beot[es
t97o, when he wrote and recorded 'lnstant Karma? in a day, and had
it in the stores eleven days later.
Only McCarmey was available when Lennon was ready to record
'Ballad', so on 14 April they divided the instruments between them
(Lennon p[ayed ali the guitar lines, McCarmey played bass, drums,
piano and maracas) and completed the recording themselves. The
song's salient feature was its refrain. Surely still mind fui ofthe com-
motion his 'bigger than Jesus' statement had caused in t966, Lennon
mischievously ended each verse with the lines, 'Christ you know ir
ain't easy, you know how hard it can be. The way things are going,
they're goktg to cr ucify me.' Sure enough, some radio srations played
an edited version.
For the flip side ofthe single, Harrison was agaiu givetl an oppor-
tunity to shine, and supplied 'Old Brown Shoe', a song that had a
workout during the JanuatT sessions. Two days after the 'Ballad'
recording, the full group gathered to record this, with McCarmey
providing a jangly piano part and an urmsual[y rapid tandem bass
and guitar line.
'Ballad' and 'Old Brown Shoe' were recorded specificaliy for
relea_se a_s a single. What the group thought ir was up to ar its other
early ~969 sessioas is Imt clear. Get Backwas finished bur in limbo,
and it was not until later in the year that they defi nitively decided to
pull together for another album. Yet on 22 February, the Beatles and
Billy Preston reconvened to work on Letmon's 'I Want You (Shs So
Heavy)'. They worked on it more in April, and finally finished ir
in August.
Hardly the most popular song on Abbey Road, ir is nevertheless
oae ofthe most innovative. Something ora Minimalist experiment, it
owed something to 'Hey Jude', bur went lar beyond it. Ir is, in a way,
two musical[y disparate idea-s: an ititmductory section and refrain in
trip[e metre, and a verse in quarter time. This shift from three to four
beat measures, as well as an accompanying sfiift from a kind oficy,
driving severity to a warm blues style, creates ah interesting tension
and keeps the |istermr slighdy off balance.
The introductory figure is a rising and falling guitar arpeggio, sup-
ported by an almost Tchaikovskyesque bass line and an expanding
organ chord. Ir does not quite lead into the song proper: ir simply
stops, and from the silence Lennon's voice emerges. The verse is an
Tbe Final Year 1969 II7
expansion ofrhe title line, sung to a blues melody wirh the lead
guicar following in tandem, McCarmey's bass weaving around ir with
increasing virtuosiry, and Presron's organ providing Stax-flavoured,
texrure-filling figuration. Yet after a few repetitions, Lennon shifis
gears again. Singing a dangling 'She's so - ", be leads the group back
into the music ofrhe introduction, finishing ~he lyric ('She's so heavy')
in two- and then three-part harmony with a passing dissonant touch.
The song moves back and forth between rhese two ideas for just
aver four and a half minutes, eventually leaving d~e final 'She's so'
unresolved and heading into ah instrumentaJ rendering ofrhe intro-
ductory music. This rime the opening chord progression is repeated
over and over, unchanging except in two details. McCarmey's bass
line darts freely around the chords, exploring different harmonic and
rhythmic possibilities each rime. And progressive layers af synrhesized
whire noise create the sound of arctic winds. After three minutes,
I,ennon had ah engineer snip the tape, making for an abrupt ending.
The implication is that the guirar arpeggios and white noise would
otherwise have kept repeating forever,
Alsa in the warks by the end ofApril were McCarmey's 'Oh!
Darling', a Iove song in a raucous, updated ~95os' style, and Starr's
new children's song about ah aquatic utopia, 'Ocmpus's Garden'.
Lennon's 'You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)', on the shelf
since t967, was taken down for some vocal overdubbing, bur was stil]
considered unfinished. The fina[ touches were added seven months
later, and it was released in i97o as rhe B-side ofthe 'Ler Ir Be' single.
Sessions for Harrison's graceful 'Something' gor under way in May.
|t was his most conventional Iove song, and his most successul, being
nat only bis first (and only) A~side ora Beatles single, but a song
widely covered by other musicians. These eady sessions ended on
6 Ma},, and work woutd not resume until July. Bur before the hiatus,
one more song was tape& a gent[y plaintive McCarmey melody with
what under normal eircumstances mighr have seemed a peculiar title,
'You Never Gire Me Your Money'.
The circumstances were anything bur normal, though. Since
February, the group's finances had been precarious. Lennon told the
press that Apple was almost bankrupt that ir had become an open
house for freeloaders, and that money was pouring out of it more
quick[y than even the Beatles could coin ir. MeCarmey insisted tha~
The Bealles
Althaugh lhe Beal[es signed things were not so dire, but proposed hiring the New York law firm
countlessoutogrophsover of Enstman and Enstman to sort things out. Eastman and Eastman
the years, complete se~s
was a prestigious firm that had contacts in music and publishing
withspecialchamcteristics
fo[nstance, the stretching back decades. The catch, from the other Beatles' point of
individua[caricatureshere view, was that Eco Ea~stman and his son John were about to become
- are especially prized
McCarmey's father-in-law and brother-in-law.
by colleclors
Neverthc[ess, in ear[y February, ali four signed ah agreement
appointing Eastman and E.Istman as general counseI for AppIe. But
Lennon, Harrison and evenmally Starr, had doubts about the
arrangement. Lennon had a competing proposa[. Allen KLein, a New
York music manager who had negotiated a fortune in royalties for the
Rolling Stones, had flown to London to offer his services as soon as
Lcnnon's assessment ofApp[e's finances hit the papers. Brusque and
down to earth, exactly the oppositc ofthe Eastmans, Klein impressed
Lennon, who signed him on as bis personal representative after a
single meeting. Harrison and Starr backed Klein too. McCartney
did not. So the others, with typical n~ivety, decided that both John
Eastman and AIlen Klcin cou[d look after the group's interests.
Thcir first joint endeavour should have bcen to buy NEMS
Enterprises, Epstein's management firm, which took a twenty-five
per cent commission on the Beatles' record royalties, and was now
Th~ Final Y~ar 1969 I 9
for sale. Epstein's family said it would rather sell the company to the
Beatles rhan to the highest bidder, the Triumph Investment Group.
Yet just as NEMS was within their grasp, managerial infighting ar
Apple scared rhe Epsteins into the arms of Triumph.
Eventually Klein managed to buy the Beatles out ofthe NEMS
contract. Bur anather disappointment loomed. Dick James, the
publisher who signed Lennon and McCarmey in I963, and was the
principal shareholder of Nofthern Songs, the company be creared to
handle their catalogue, was alarmed by Lennon's avant gardism and
had staunchly opposed their involvement with Klein. He had also
had enough ofthe group's increasingly high-handed treatment of
him. So when Lennon and McCarmey were on their honeymoons, in
Match, he sald his shares in the company to Lew Grade's ATV Music.
Klein sought to seize conrrol of lhe company for the Bearles.
Complicared negotiations were undertaken with a consortium that
controlled the decisive shares, and which was inclined toward the
Beatles. But at the last minute, Lennon publicly proclaimed bis
disinclination to deal with businessmen, and by late May, Grade
had won contro[ ofthe company. Ir was around the some rime that
Klein was formally installed as manager. He began dismantling
Apple's staff forrhwith.
TJ~eB~alles
Lef~, the over of Leflflon's and ir was relcased thirty-one days latcr. The compromise, ir turned
Bag One colleclion oJ eroti out, was a good thing.
lithographs, e preject
Lennon's contributions to the effort were few, but first rate,
wh[h, like lhe Two Vigins
album, celebrated Lennon's Besides 'I Want You (She's So Heaw)', there was 'Because', a stun-
lave For Ono in a way thal ningly harmonized melody woven around a lyric filled with natural
cour ted <antraversy
istic imagery and light puns. I.ennon aiways maintained the the chord
sequente was derived from Beethoven's 'Moonlight' Sonata, which be
heard Ono play and asked her to play backwards. If tfie slory is true,
other harmonic alterations took place along the way, but certainly ~he
accompaaimeat owes something to the Beethoven work.
Lennon's other filll-leagt h offering, 'Come Togather', began life
as a gift ~o Timothy Leary, ~he Americaa LSD guru. Visiting Lennon
during the Montreal Bed-In ar the end of May, Leary said that be was
planning to run for political ofl~ce and asked Lennon to write a song
arouad his campaign slogan, 'Come Together'. Lennon ended up
keeping the song himself, bringing ir to lhe Beades' session in lale
July. 'Come Together' makes a superb opening track: it launches the
album with t.ennon hissing the word 'shoot', followed by a rising
guitar figure that obscures what he is actual]y saying 'shoot me'.
The song landed him in legal hot water. A typical Lennon lyric, ir
interspersed nonsense phrases, outlandish wordphy and utopian
sendment. Bur as was Lennon's wont while composing, he used
another song as a templatc. This rime ir was Chuck Berry's 'You Can't
Catch Me', a~~d unfortunately, he retaiaed a line of Berry's lyric with
only slight alterations. Berry's publisher sued, and the case dragged on
to the mi&197os, when Lennon agaeed to record 'You Can't Catch
Me" and a few more songs from the publisher's catalogue on Rode 'n'
RalL his 1975 oldies collection.
Also among rhe free-standing songs were Starr's 'Octopus's Garden'
and McCarmey's 'Oh! Darling' and 'Maxwell's Silver Hammer', an
oddity with a [yric about a cranium-smashing, psychopathic medicai
student, ser to an incoagruously singsongy melody. The second side
began with a second Harrison oflcring, 'Here Con/es the Sun', in
which a gracefully lildng melody supports a lyric about the arrival
of spring after a dismal winter. Harrisen's introduction is based on
variations ofa D major chord fingering, a trick he last used on 'Ir
1 Needed Someone'. The acoustic guitar holds centre sraga, with
drums, bass, and delicate syathesizer rracery added, ali making for
T~e ~~otles
A nd in the etut
The love you mke
Is equal m the love you make
It was the perfect ending for the Beades' recording career. Or, it
x~ould have been. Bur real life is not so tid)~ Thc Bcatles' recognition
of this is clear from the way the album actually ends: afier a long
silence, ~he brief'Her MajesiT' suddenly pops our ofthe speakers, los
appearance was an accident: after lopping it out ofthe medley, an
engineer aliixed ir to the end ofthe reeh When McCarmey heard ir
on a playback of tbe tinishcd suite, be decided to leave it there.
Ir also creates a circular effect that the Beatles cannot have inten-
ded, but which is interesting harmonicall)~ Because ofthe/vay it was
cut from the medle); 'Her MajesiT' lacks irs final note, and so ends in
the middle ora chord sequente. As it turns out, it is is the same key
as 'Come Togerher', so ifrhe album is played again immediatcly affer
'Her Majesty' ends, the progression is resolve& Similarl); the sudden
tape cut ar the end of "1 Want You (Shc's So HcaT)' leaves the so~~g,
and side one ofthe album, unresolved. But sitie two begins with
'Here Comes the Sun', which starts with exactly the chord needed to
~nish the sequente.
Whcn the Bcatles finishedAbbey Road. Lennon reasserted his need
for what he called a divorce from the Beatles. The others, and KIein,
persuaded him not to discuss these feelings publicly: EMI and Klein
were negotiadng a revision of their eontract, which would provide
them with greater royalties on earlier albums, h would nol do for
EMI to know that the Beatles might no Ionger be a going concern.
Lennon's interviews from the rime le~ the impression that be
was more incerested in his own projects ihan Beades endeavours, bur
206 The Bealles
Epilogue
Ler Die', a high-energy theme song for a James Bond fllm, and
Band on the Rum, the album that would become a higb-water mark
of McCarmcy's solo carccr. Band on theRun was a triunlph snatched
from the jaws of disaster. HalfofWings resigned the day Paul and
Linda McCartney and Denny Laine [cft for Lagos, Nigeria, to begin
recording. McCarmey was mugged soon after his arrivaI. Yet the
album was McCarmey's most consistent, and most spirited, since
the Beatles. [ts successor, Venus andMars, in I975, was cu~ from
similar doth.
With irs release, McCarmey and a newly rcconstituted Wings
under took a world tour, stopping only to record Wings ar the J~oeed
of Soundin t976. The tour produced a triple ]ive album, Wings Over
America, and a film, Rockshow, which includcd McCarmey's remakes
ofa handful of Beatles songs, along with stage versions ofhis
solo malerial.
The tour gare McCarmey a creative boost; yet Wmgs ar the Speed
ofSoundand its z978 follow-up, London Town, were retreats flora
the bright sound of Band on the Rum and Vemus and Mars. Now
McCarmey was lightening the textures, Iooking at music that prized
melody, character and introspection over energy and drive. There
were also responses to the criticism he had earned so lar: in 'Silly
Love Songs', he confronts those who objected to thc sappiness of
'My Love', but he is none roo convincing.
As in his Beatles days, McCarmey regular]y released singles thar
did not appear on his albums. One of these, the singsongy 'Muil of
Kintyre' - a paean to the environs ofhis Scottish farto - proved to
be one ofthe best-selling records ofall time, eclipsing even 'I Want
to Hold Your Hand', though for no discernible musicaJ reason.
McCarmey's luck changed for the worse with Back to the Eggin 1979,
a collection that explores a great many styles, from hard rock to I94os'
pastiche. Ir deserved better than the criticai thras}fing ic received.
McCarmey undertook a tour of England, and was about m tour
Japan in 198o when he was arrcsted for marijuana possession a~
Narita Intemationa[ Airport in Tokyo. He spent eight days in jail,
and was deported. For ali practical purposes, Wings el] apart then.
McCarmey did what he did when the Beades brokc up: be released
a one-man-band album, McCartney li. His ins~rumental arsenal had
grown, as had his performing ability, yet the aJbum had [ittlc to
Epilogue 215
rapturously received. But his first single, 'My Sweet Lord', landed him
in earthly trouble: just as Lennon had been sued by Chuck Berry's
publisher for lifting a line from 'You Can't Catch Me', the publisher
ofthe old Chiffons hit, 'He's So Fine', sucd Harrison on the basis of
melodic similarities in the chomses ofthe two songs. Harrison lost
the suit, which dragged on for two decades.
in 1971 Harrison hdped arrange an all-star benefit concert ar
Madison Square Garden, in New York, to raise relief money for
Bangla Desh. Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Pingo Starr, Billy Preston
and dozens more musicians played in this precursor of Live Aid and
other rock charity concerts, and the performance yielded an album
and a film, The Concertfor Bangla Desh. Disputes over everything
ffom distribution rights to taxes kept the proceeds from being put
immediateiy toward the reliefe/~rt.
The songs Harrison recorded forLivirlgirl theMaterial Worldin
w973 filrthcred his Eastern rdigious agenda, and a]though thc album
reached the top ofthe American charrs, there was growing resistance
to what many listeners considered Harrison's preachy tone. Still, as on
Al[ Things Must Pas4 the material was by no means exclusively spir-
itual: 'Sue Me Sue You Blues', for example, offers a glimpse into the
legal infighting among the former Beatles.
Harrison's s[ide ffom pop chart grace began with Dark Horse, in
I974, which was perceived as more preaching and whining. A tour
ofthe USA, undertaken to promote the record, was disastrous:
Harrison, unused to singing more than a song or two in an evening,
did nothing to preparo himself vocally, and had sung himself hoarse
before the show got on the road. k3ctra 7xture, in t975, was ah
improvement, and boasted a few appealing songs in the ruminative
style that Harrison had been drawn to since his Beatles days. Thir-
Three and a Third, released in 1976, was notably more upbeat, the
sermonizing replaced by some satirical comment on tbe ways of the
material world. Specifically, his 'This Song' commented on the 'He's
So Fine' lawsuit, and a vdeo clip made to promote the song parodied
the trial. Stylistically, Harrison's reach was fairly broad here: ot~e hcars
everything flora traditional blues to light jazz, along with Harrison's
own recognizable style.
Harrison took a three-year break flora the music wodd after Thir
Three anda Third. He had been estranged flora bis wife Pattie for
218 The Beotles
some rime; she had, in fact, become romantically involved witH Eric
Clapton. whom she later married. The Harrisons' divorce was final-
ized in 1977, and in 1978 Harrison married Olivia Arias. He also
began to dabble in the tilm world, baili.g out Monty Python's
troubled Life ofBrian. Because this first experience as a film producer
proved both pleasing and lucrative, he formed his own company,
HandMade Films, which made twenty-seven films be(ore Harrison
so[d his interest in 1994.
Harrison's t979 return to recording. George Harrisan, was lighter
in spirit thal~ its predecessors, with songs about everything ffom
automobile racing to psychotropic mushroouas, aiong with a rework
ing of'Not Guilw'. bis defe.sive response to the inter-Beatle squab-
bling during the 'W~aite Album' sessions. Bur his audience, like
McCarmey's, had dwindled by ~979, and when be submitted his
next album, Somewhere in England, at the end of i98o, he had to
face something unthinkable for a former Beatle: his record company
demanded changes. He complied, defiantly adding 'Blood from a
Clone', a song about record company interference in artistic endeav-
ours~ to a line-up that a[ready induded 'Unconsciousness Rules', a
swat ar disco. The request for a revamp did, however, afibrd Harfison
ah opportunity to add 'Ali Those Years Ago', a touching, upbeat
tribute to Lennon. on whch McCarmey and Starr overdubbed
instrumental contributions.
By I982 ir seemed as thollgb Harrison was finding his battles in the
music business utterly dispiriting. When he released Gone Troppo that
year. he did nothing whatsoever to promote k, and it barely registered
in the charts - a pity, really, since it was full of'bright, bumorous,
energetic songs, rich in melodic charro. Once again, be stepped away
from music, not returning unti[ 1987, when Cloud Nine brought him
his bggest success since Ali Things Must Pass. Recorded ar his home
studio, with contribtitions from Starr and C]apton, and co-produced
by Jeff I.ynne ofthe Beatles-influenced Electric Light Orchestra, the
album was refreshingly spirited, and included a imstalgic skewering of
the Beatles myth, 'When We Was Fab'. Now back i/i the limelight, he
teamed up with Dylan, Lynne, the I95OS' legend Roy Orbison and a
younger rock star. Tom Petv/. to record The Traveling Wilburys in
1988. The album, collaborativaly composed and recorded in short
order, was brimming with spontaneitT and humour. Orbison died
soon after the record was rdeased, bur others kept the Wilburys alive,
recording a second album, quirkily named Volume3, in 199o.
Harrison has remained the most reclusive ofthe former Beatles,
bui in 1991 he made a tentative remrn to the stage, touring 3apan with
the support of Eric Clapton and his band, singing a combination of
bis Beades-era compositions and selections from his solo work. A
sampling ofthe performances can be heard on the Live inJapan
album, released in 1992..
It seemed likely that Ringo Starr would devote himself to films
afrer rhe breakup ofthe Beatles, and to an exrent he did, appearing in
several films and cven doing some directing. Yet he had musical
ambitions roo. In late 1969 and early 1970 be recorded Sentimental
Journey, a co[lectio n of cabaret standards. He worked with some starry
arrangers - Quincy Jones, John Dank~vorth and Paul McCarmey,
among them and the music was so[id enough. Bur Starr proved no
competition for Frank Sinatra or Ella Fitzgerald. He next turned his
hand, without greater success, to country and western music,
travelling to NashvilIe to record rhe homely Beaucoups of Blues.
Starr had better luck when he returned to rock and roll. As the
only one ofthe forme, Beatles who enjoyed wafm relations with ali
the others, he was able to draw on the songavriting t;dents of ali thrce
when he recorded Ringo in 1973- The others plaved on tbe recording
roo, making ir as alose to a reunion project as the group would come.
Ringo showed that with the right material, Starr's plalntive baritone
had an appea]. He sought to create the same effect on Goodnight
~qenna in 1974, bur despite contributions from Lennon and o~her
rock stars, the record lacked the dazzle ofits predecessor.
In 1975 Starr's mairiage fel] apart, and he began a jet-setting life-
style that exacerbated a drinking problem which, be later sald, had
developed during bis years as a Beatle. Lennon, McCarmey and
Harrison each contributed a song to Rotogravure, which feamred the
graffiti covered door ofthe former Apple offices on its cover. Bur by
I976, Beatles connections were not enough to buoy up a badly~sung,
bored-sounding per formance. Ringo the 4th fared no better in 1977,
and although Starr participated in a likeable promotional television
Th~ Bearles