I have had it up to here waiting for the Beatles catalogue to be remastered

And yet no "Good Morning Good Morning"?

If they had decided not to release an album of the early 1969 material (except for what had already come out on singles), were there enough spare singles and outtakes sitting around to release a different final Beatles album, more like Led Zeppelin's Coda? Sort of a combination of the US Hey Jude, plus "Across the Universe", "You Know My Name", maybe "Not Guilty", "What's the New Mary Jane" etc?

Notable quote time:

Michael LH : "I'm the biggest Beatles fan here"
Linda : "Well, if you want a fight about it..."

Michael LH : "John.... We were talking..."
John : "What, about the space between us all?"
Michael LH : "um.. no..."

I don't remember them verbatim, but John had several quips when non-band people liked a song or a take where he said things like, "Well I'm a literal Beatle, you know." Just these little signals of how much confidence they had as a band, they conquered the world.

I downloaded the mono White Album. Whoa -- who knew "Long, Long, Long" had a piano?!

Michael LH : "John.... We were talking..."
John : "What, about the space between us all?"
Michael LH : "um.. no..."

yeah lol I liked this bit. John's favorite Harrisong too!

john loves quoting beatles lyrics unbidden

There were so many lines like that, that if someone had written it as fiction, would appear as too corny. But, there they are...

One other side effect of Get Back has been a lingering desire to where a fur coat, which has never even occurred to me previously.

But not to grow an accompanying
beard?

I grew one to see if I could.

This would be in 1987, I was 26

I downloaded the mono White Album. Whoa -- who knew "Long, Long, Long" had a piano?!

oh man there are people who are so dogmatic and obsessed with the mono versions it is crazy.

FWIW I like the mono white album and sgt pepper though I'm hard pressed to say they are 'better'. For all the talk about mono pepper being the approved mix, it still sounds sloppy to me compared to the stereo one.

You're meant to listen to it with just one ear, I believe.

God I love macca’s bass sounds starting in the psychedelic era.

No argument with that.

I’ve been dreaming - nearly going so far as to contact folks to propose it - but in the end knowing I’m not going to sell this idea to anyone - so I’m just gonna drop this here so I can forget about it -

I want the world’s best Beatles tribute band to sit down and play the what-if game: what if they hadn’t had the shit kicked out of them by the loss of control of Northern Songs, what if John hadn’t blurted out he wants a divorce, what if Paul had picked up on John’s signals throughout late ‘69 that he was open to continuing, what if the 4/4/4/2 meeting had gone just a little better … and instead of breaking up, they continued making records into 1970-74? What would John & Paul have contributed to the best of each other’s solo songs of the period? How would Ringo and George have played on “Maybe I’m Amazed” and “Back Seat of My Car”? Would the words & melody of “Working Class Hero” have gotten married to the groove of “Momma Miss America”? Maybe coming at the Beatles with a bit of a fresh start even allows John & Paul & George to actually write together occasionally.

So I want this band, with their intimate physical knowledge of how the Beatles played, to essentially “write” another 5-6 Beatles albums based on the existing solo material but not slavishly keep to the solo arrangements or even to the exact words/tune/structure of the songs & to deeply imagine their way into a plausible alternate early 70s where the band kept the vibes going a little longer.

That’s not too much to ask, right?

The part where Heather is singing into the mic and John goes, "Yoko!" has already been mentioned.

But I've had that bootleg of "Dig It" for years and have always thought that the guest vocalist was Yoko. Had no idea it was a six-year-old.

why do they have to work on new music and come up with Let It Be? And then start on Abbey Road right after?

I don't remember the source, but one of the reasons "Ballad of John & Yoko" was released as a single was because Apple was hemorrhaging money.

That’s not too much to ask, right?

― war mice (hardcore dilettante),

yes

j/k

No manual existed in 1970 instructing bands at The Beatles' level of fame how to amiably keep together. It's possible allowing John, Paul, and George (and okay fine Ringo) their solo careers at the same time as functioning as a band might've served as a pressure release; one conversation between John and George during this time features the former encouraging the latter to do just that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSmbd00zsqQ

My latest theo is..

If they had released"Get Back" the album at the time, they may well have continued on for longer. But having to return to it after "Abbey Road", soured them

That's not what the Beatles said then and afterward. George Martin himself admitted the sessions were peaceful (except for "Maxwell's) because they all knew it would be the last.

Oh, and war mice..

They would have written more/different songs if they had continued, not necessarily ones they did solo.

Xpost the latest intelligence suggests they did not know it was their last.

The Beatles & Heather McCartney 😍 #TheBeatlesGetBack pic.twitter.com/rUU4nGhnwu

— get back, kristen! (@swaying_daisies) November 27, 2021

(and okay fine Ringo)

Sure, no one’s gonna mount a serious defense of Ringo’s solo records (though “It Don’t Come Easy” and “Back Off Boogaloo” are up there with any solo Beatle singles), but from 1970-74 he had no fewer than eight top 10 US hits. That’s as many as Paul, and more than John and George combined in that period. And three of those hit #1 — George had one #1, and John had two.

I'm not dissing Ringo! I'm saying he had a solo career because what else was he going to do. His burning ambition was to drum for the Beatles forever, and why not?

and, yes, a couple of his solo hits are fantastic

Ringo's "Early 1970" is a really charming b-side.

No one seems to like "Blindman" but me

Also, "That'll be the day" proved he could act, you forget it's Ringo

I'm not dissing Ringo! I'm saying he had a solo career because what else was he going to do. His burning ambition was to drum for the Beatles forever, and why not?

Good point, and yeah, he always said that all he wanted to do was play with great musicians. I wish his career had also included anonymous (or not) drumming appearances on other artists’ records, like maybe playing on a few Dylan albums, or a few sessions with Stevie Wonder.

Agree!! I always wish more for drummers who have only played (primarily) with one band their entire drumming lives, even if it's the Beatles!

Oh, and war mice..

They would have written more/different songs if they had continued, not necessarily ones they did solo.

I wish his career had also included anonymous (or not) drumming appearances on other artists’ records, like maybe playing on a few Dylan albums, or a few sessions with Stevie Wonder.

He kinda did do this, working with Nilsson, Tom Petty and others.

True…but beyond Nilsson and Petty (and his appearance in The Last Waltz maybe) I can’t think of many other instances of Ringo as a session player. Unless there’s a bunch I’ve missed.

One of my favorite '70s Ringo things: playing the Pope against Roger Daltrey & Lil' Nell Campbell in Lisztomania (clip NSFW)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl22fsSCBkI

I am trying to figure out why this show is so successful. I guess the beginning of the show is so dire, you instantly connect that with the breakup, and even though things improve in Part 2, you aren't expecting something quite so cathartic as their reactions to playing live again on the rooftop concert.

I think it's the startling intimacy of it. We mostly knew the Beatles as icons, and after watching the show we now know them as human beings to a far greater extent than was imaginable.

Secondarily, everyone knew those songs as classic tunes that have simply always existed, and to see them being shaped into form is another unexpected dose of reality.

And, like, it's the literal Beatles.

The one time I saw any of them in concert was Paul at Bonnaroo in '13, and I was excited about the show but I was unprepared for him opening with "Eight Days a Week" — it just suddenly hit me, oh he's a BEATLE.

Something like Get Back would also be awesome with any number of other bands, especially if it was a band you liked or loved, but it still wouldn't be the Beatles.

man, that makes me want to actually want to see him in concert. and i've never done the thing of splurging on tickets to see a big arena-scale "legend" act. but I bet it'd be pretty cool, right? i mean, he was a BEATLE! i get it.

One of the first concerts I went to was McCartney. Treated myself because I was finally on my own and making money, and I thought, "what's stopping me?" (I almost never went to concerts before, it was drilled in me that they were too costly.) And for a diehard Beatle fan who had listened to them endlessly for close to a decade, it was mindblowing. The best part was walking out through the parking lot and running into Paul's bus, just crawling along as he stood in the front honking the horn, waving at every, single, person, looking them straight in the eye, including me. For a second, it was like 1965 and I was ready to scream into infinity. I never felt better on my way home from a show.

that's so great!

beautiful bird

<3 that is so cool

My mum (not a concert goer) bought tickets for Macca (including one for me unprompted) because it's bloody Paul McCartney. Best song of the night: Back in the USSR.

Just watched Get Back (though it seems y'all have moved on a bit from discussing it). My wife gave up 30 minutes into the doc, and I almost did when Paul read through the entire tabloid article in a funny voice, but it was worth sticking through till the end. Part 3 was incredible, as I had not seen anything more than a few clips of the rooftop concert before, did not know there was police involved, etc. Parts 1 and 2 were too long, but I can see that everyone has their own moments they like. I personally would cut more than half the moments they goof around on covers but I'm sure a lot of people love that stuff

i wish any of their previous eight albums had gotten this treatment instead of this one

yeah, seriously. or Abbey Road. it's fascinating to see "Get Back" and "The Long and Winding Road" evolve, but they're also two of my least favorite Beatles singles

is there much more in-studio footage out there? I know this exists

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdrb1vFTtJI

i loved all the times they tried to work out “two of us” electrically before they brought out the acoustic guitars and realized they should’ve been playing it that way all along

I think they were asking for non-Get Back recordings?