Originally posted by Hook
Wikipedia covers that pretty well, Pompano. I was just reading it last night.
During the period occupying the recording of the White Album, Let it Be and Abbey Road, John, George and Ringo had a period where they either said
they were leaving the Beatles (John) or walked out of recording sessions (George and Ringo). The Let it Be sessions were filled with acrimony between
all of them and continued into the recording of Abbey Road. John told the others he was leaving but agreed to delay the announcement until after Abbey
Road was released.
Taken from Wikipedia:
The primary recording sessions for Abbey Road began on 2 July.[223] Lennon, who rejected Martin's proposed format of a "continuously moving piece
of music", wanted his and McCartney's songs to occupy separate sides of the album.[224] The eventual format, with individually composed songs on the
first side and the second consisting largely of a medley, was McCartney's suggested compromise.[224] On 4 July, the first solo single by a Beatle was
released: Lennon's "Give Peace a Chance", credited to the Plastic Ono Band. The completion and mixing of "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" on 20 August
1969 was the last occasion on which all four Beatles were together in the same studio.[225] Lennon announced his departure to the rest of the group on
20 September, but agreed to withhold a public announcement to avoid undermining sales of the forthcoming album.[226]
Released six days after Lennon's declaration, Abbey Road sold four million copies within three months and topped the UK charts for a total of
seventeen weeks.[227] Its second track, the ballad "Something", was issued as a single—the only Harrison composition ever to appear as a Beatles
A-side.[228] Abbey Road received mixed reviews, although the medley met with general acclaim.[227] Unterberger considers it "a fitting swan song for
the group", containing "some of the greatest harmonies to be heard on any rock record".[229] MacDonald calls it "erratic and often hollow", despite
the "semblance of unity and coherence" offered by the medley.[230] Martin singled it out as his personal favourite of all the band's albums; Lennon
said it was "competent" but had "no life in it". Recording engineer Emerick noted that the replacement of the studio's valve mixing console with a
transistorized one yielded a less punchy sound, leaving the group frustrated at the thinner tone and lack of impact and contributing to its "kinder,
gentler" feel relative to their previous albums.[231]
For the still unfinished Get Back album, one last song, Harrison's "I Me Mine", was recorded on 3 January 1970. Lennon, in Denmark at the time, did
not participate.[232] In March, rejecting the work Johns had done on the project, now retitled Let It Be, Klein gave the session tapes to American
producer Phil Spector, who had recently produced Lennon's solo single "Instant Karma!"[233] In addition to remixing the material, Spector edited,
spliced and overdubbed several of the recordings that had been intended as "live". McCartney was unhappy with the producer's approach and particularly
dissatisfied with the lavish orchestration on "The Long and Winding Road", which involved a fourteen-voice choir and thirty-six-piece instrumental
ensemble.[234] McCartney's demands that the alterations to the song be reverted were ignored,[235] and he publicly announced his departure from the
band on 10 April 1970, a week before the release of his first, self-titled solo album.[234][236]
So, it depends on which event you choose to point to; his private announcement of quitting, his last time in the recording studio with the other
three, his releasing of his own single or the public announcement by Paul that effectively ended the Beatles.
[Edited on 12-9-2013 by Hook] |
My two older sisters would play the Beatles incessantly to the
point that I developed an aversion to it. My oldest sister saw them play at Dodger Stadium. In my early twenties I re-discovered their music. Lots of
good listening.
