Because...
Ray Connolly, one of those journalists who interviewed the Beatles a lot while they were still together and hence still ends up quoted in biographies , once observed: „To me, the Beatles resembled a family: John was the smart, moody, pretty unpredictable father, Paul the concerned, hard working mother, always trying to mediate. And Ringo and George went along as the fledgling and the brooding teenager.“
This is certainly the dynamic that plays out in Get Back: The Unauthorized Chroncile of the Beatles‘ Let It Be Disaster by Doug Sulpy and Ray Schweighardt, aka their painstaking transcription of the bootleg Let it Be tapes. Not something for light reading, not least because presumably for copyright reason, they transcribed the whole thing in indirect speech, never direct quotation, which makes for occasionally very stilted prose („Paul and George both express their happiness with the fact that Beatle songs are now covered by artists that The Beatles themselves admire“). Also, this is by no means a neutral protocol; the authors are pretty unabashedly anti-Yoko in their descriptions. (When Yoko takes the microphone, she does so „ominously“, her vocal efforts are invariably described as „screeching“ or „wailing“, etc.) And lastly, it’s sad to read for the same reason why the film Let it Be so incredibly depressing: what was meant as a project to revitalize the group - the basic idea was that the Beatles would rehearse for a live concert at a yet to be determined location, the film would document the rehearsals and the final concert - turned out to be a documentation of their falling apart, with the miracle being that this wasn’t the last album, and that everyone was able top pull themselves together enough for Abbey Road afterwards. (And a good thing, too, regarding the quality difference.) All this being said, the book is worth reading if only because it offers everyone’s opinions at the time, without the benefit of hindsight or the inevitable distortion of memories, on such important issues as the impact of Brian Epstein’s death on the group, George’s feeling of being eternally treated as the kid and not taken seriously, and of course the John and Yoko relationship and its impact. The most important debates, for those of you not willing to go through an entire book of indirect speech:
„Michael“ is the film’s director, Michael Lindsay-Hogg. He was very familiar to the Beatles, having shot several promo films for them from „Paperback Writer“ onwards, including „Hey Jude“, which was why he was picked for the project, and would years later shoot the film „Two of Us“ about the April 1976 meeting between John Lennon and Paul McCartney. „Neil“ is Neil Aspinall, roadie/employee/friend since the Liverpool days (he went to the same school as George and Paul did), who ended up heading Apple.
On Tuesday, January 7th: „Initiated by George’s somber reflection that things have changed for the worse since the death of their manager Brian Epstein, the discussion turns to the lack of leadership in the group, one of the reasons why The Beatles (and therefore the rehearsals) are so obviously disintegrating. Paul, with remarkable candor, remarks how pessimistic they’ve been since Epstein died, and that it’s beocme an unpleasant chore to be a Beatle. He then explains that they have two choices - to work to improve things, or to call the whole thing off. George agrees, and indicates that he, at least, knows that The Beatles are coming to an end, and does not want to see them finish up their career with inferior product. John (sounding very sleepy) raises the subject of incentive. Paul draws him out, and John explains that they need to think of some reason to continue. Paul returns to the topic of discipline, and presents a lengthy lecture on what the group is lacking. Once again referring to Brian Epstein’s creath, Paul points out that Epstein’s role as father figure and disciplinarian, even if it was only symbolic, now falls upon themselves. He then points out that because they’re now controlling themselves they foolishly do as little work as they can, and reminds them of hte thought and care which had gone into making „Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band“ two years before. (…) He contrasts the morale within the group to Jackie Lomax‘ s productive attititude during the sessions for his album „Is this what you want?“ (which Paul had attended), and stresses how easy such a person makes things for everyone. George bitterly tells Paul to go find that person and play with them. This casues Paul to remind him that The Beatles used to be a cooperative, creative unit. (…) He makes the mistake of reminding George of touring ; George immediately pinpoints this as a reason for not wanting to be involved anymore.
Paul responds that negative feelings based on such things as putting on make-up or going through stage routines are pointless, because to go back before a live audience doesn’t mean they have to do any of those things. To illustrate his point, he brings their attention to John who, he says, doesn’t adhere to any standard stage traditions, but simply shows up hidden with Yoko in a bag. Having trouble, perhaps, envisioning George Harrison in a white canvas bag, Michael asks directly whether The Beatles ever expect to perform in front of an audience again. After a vaguely positive response from Paul and no responses at all from the other three, he follows up with a reflection on how hard it must be to recapture the thrill of live performances. (…) George can’t be swayed from his pessimistic outlook, however, and now insists that he doesn’t ant to contribute any of his songs to the project, fearing that they wouldn’t turn out as well as they would in a studio environment. This exasparates Paul, who confronts George with a statement that he had made the year before where he had expressed his opinion that there was no limit to creative expression. As Paul sees it, they can still make great records if they want to, and he sees no point at all in thinking otherwise. He suggests that George let go of his negative thoughts by reminding him of the processes they’re both familiar with through transcental meditation, teling him that The Beatles can work together even when one or the other gets tired of playing. He then reiterates that he sees no reason at all to just give up on the band. (…) George mentions that he thought the live broadcast of „All you need is love“ (on a 1967 programm called Our World) was successful because it captured the feel of the moment and was similar to a political broadcast because it reflected the prevailing philosophy of ‚the summer of love‘. Paul tries to capitalize on George’s brief positive display, likesn the current project to the earlier broadcast, and once again asks George to wait until they have a show before rejecting it. George, still pessimistic, points out the times have changed, but suggests that a political slant to the program might not be bad.“
Typical for „where should we perform“ debates is this exchange from one day earlier:
„Paul, George, Yoko and Michael are discussing the theoretical uses of an audience (John is present, but silent). Paul talks about the three purposes of having an audience; to please them, get money from them, and to experience the pleasure of direct feedback from them. George, on the other hand, worries that their audience might be nothing more than the usual screaming young females and Yoko suggests that they dispense with the audience altogether and play to 20,000 empty seats. This conceptual slant irritates Michael, who nervously jokes that it would look like no one wanted to come. Yoko makes the observation that it would be undesirable to limit their audience to young people, preferring to invite roalty instead. Paul (…) goes as far as to suggest a possible compromise - that they could perform one show to empty seats, and another to a paying audience. Again, the concept of playing to an empty auditorium worries Michael. (…) The conversation continues as Yoko encourages the others to accept her idea to play to empty seats by foretelling a mob scene with Batle fans queuing up to get tickets. (…) John’s only contribution to the conversation is an observation that it would be chilly playing outdoors in the English winter. Perhaps jokingly, Paul conjures up a vision of the band playing in the nude. George, however, would prefer that the audience be naked. Yoko seems quite obstinate set against the idea of The Beatles returning to their past , and presents the somewhat confused argument that people would rather see Richard Burton shaving than returning to his roots on the stage.“
The big Yoko debate occurs on January 13th, at a point where George is intermittendly on strike (he will come back) and John and Yoko are late (or not showing up at all, everyone is still trying to each them on the phone; as it turns out, they will come later in the ofternoon). This is also one of only two occasions where Linda Eastman, Paul’s future wife, is also present.
„Paul seems to go out of hiws way to justify John and Yoko’s behavior, pointing out that, whatever else it may be, it’s at least sincere. This is a bit too much for Neil and Linda, who make their opinions obvious by a series of rude noises. Paul admits that he’d rather compose songs without Yoko around and that he tries to please John through her. He realizes this is silly, but places the blame solely upon himself, claiming that John and Yoko are actually very honest. Ringo and Michael ask Neil if John has been reached and told they’re waiting, and Neil informs them that nobody’s picking up the phone at John’s house. (…) Neil complains that John and Yoko’s actions effectively turned the board meeting into a party, and Paul agrees, but once more sticks up for Yoko, wondering if her presence isn’t simply being used to excuse away the deterioating Lennon/McCartney partnership. Paul then touches upon the power structure within The Beatles and how John had evidently attempted to justify Yoko’s involvement by pointing out how The Beatles tend to keep people out of their inner circle. (…) Michael tries to provoke Paul by asking how long John’s been involved with Yoko. Linda tries to divert the topic by claiming that hte real problem is a lack of communication between the four Beatles, but Paul insists that Yoko is part of the problem because she’s so much a part of John’s life. He then explains they have two options, to oppose Yoko and get the The Beatles back to four or to put up with her. Paul says he’s faced with a dilemma. If he confronts John, he’s sure that John will simply quit The Beatles and devote himself to Yoko, but he sees the group disintegrating anyway. (…) Paul and Neil’s comments here sum up their frustration. They see Yoko talking for John, and they feel that when they talk to John they’re really talking to Yoko, since John’s sonly saying what Yoko wants him to say. Paul applies this to his efforts to write songs with John, and admits his embarassment at having to address them both in order to get the work accomplished. It should be noted that as Paul and Neil continue to discuss Yoko, Ringo and Linda share a cozy little discussion about domestic animals. Once again, Paul worries that they’re not being fair to Yoko, arguing that she’s not as bad as they think. But Neil strongly feels that she talks too much, and worries about her intruding while John and Paul write. Paul (…) explains how she didn’t interfere when he and John were struggling with the lyrics for „I Will“ the previous year. He realiizes that the problem is not so much with Yoko as John’s reliance upon her, although he admits that he doesn’t like her presence if only because she’s a distraction to him (Paul). He then goes a step further and sticks up for John, claiming that when the two get really serious about something John won’t allow Yoko to interfere and will actually participate in conversations (if this is true, it is not supported by the available tapes). He admits that John and Yoko go too far in their relationship, but tolerates because it’s alwas been characteristing of John to go overboard on things. He then explains that it’s not really their business to tell John that Yoko can’t attend their business meetings. (…) He still thinks, however, that The Beatles have the ability to play well and that the real problem is with their lack of communication, patronizing each other and (as Michael points out) not speaking their hearts. Paul then reveals that the underlying motive behind the „Get Back“ sessions was to force the group into the discipline of a 9 to 5 situation, claiming that even if it’s a grind at times, at least they’d be able to reap the rewards of their work. Michael recalls John’s comment that the act of working itself inspires one to work and Linda remembers George coming to the sessions for the previous year’s double album and exclaiming how good it was to be back at work again. Ringo joins in, and adds that if you just stay at home you’re not inspired to do anything. Neil returns to the subject of John and Yoko and mentions how jarring it is to have Yoko constantly present, complaining that she intrudes to the point of sitting on their amplifiers. Paul simply reiterates his feeling that it’s not appropriate for him to confront John and Yoko about their behaviour, likening them to two children who are being naughty and would only act worse if chastised. He explains that his tolerance for Yoko is a compromise to John’s wishes and hopes that this will cause John to return the favour in some way. Michael points out that with all the trouble she’s caused within the group Paul has compromised enough, but Paul repeats his fear that if they attempt to restrict Yoko’s involvement John will simply leave the group. Since the band obviously cannot discipline themselves, and Paul feels that it would be inappropriate to discipline each other, he wishes that they had an authority figure who could instruct them to show up on time and leave the girlfriends at home. Neil feels that authority wouldn’t work in John’s case. Finally, Paul remarks on the absurdity of the current situation, an dforecasts how silly they will appear to history if they break up simply because John insisted on bringing his girlfriend to the sessions.
(…) Once again Linda expresses her opinion that the four Beatles need to be left alone to solve their problems. Neil sullenly informs that he doesn’t think this will ever be possible and mildly suggests that if the question is brought to John at least he’d have to quit or to stay, and the problem would be solved. Michael realizes, however, that John needs to be given some way to save face in such a situation, or he’s almost sure to quit. He then jokingly suggests that they drug Yoko’s tea just to get a minute or two alone with John. He goes on to use several racial slurs against her. Once again, Paul defends John and Yoko‘s togetherness, claiming that it’s not an unnatural thing and repeating his feeling that it’s not his place to tell John to leave Yoko at home. Michael understands this, but draws the line at the point where it’s disrupting everyone else’s life. Paul claims that trying to keep them apart would be seen by John and Yoko as an attempt to disrupt their life. Neil then reports Mal has been trying to phone John, but that his line is always busy, suggesting he’s taken his phone off the hook. This annoys everyone, and as Ringo and Linda offer sarcastic comments, Michael suggests that Yoko be put in a black bag where she can’t talk. Paul simply mutters that The Beatles seem to be down to two.“
This particular day, btw, ended in John and Yoko arriving three hours later (at which point Linda had left again), and the punchline of Yoko apologizing for the lateness while Paul replies he’s used to it. Despite the transcription bias I have to say these protocols make a case for Yoko as well because it can’t be easy to be somewhere where everyone, even the film crew, doesn’t like you and the only guy who makes an effort at politeness does so because he doesn’t want to lose your boyfriend. And that’s leaving out the racial slurs from Michael. The only interruptions in the gloomfest that were the Get Back/Let it Be sessions came when the band played either songs they’d loved as teenagers (Carl Perkins, Buddy Holly), at which point everyone perks up and gets into the spirit of things again, or during nostalgia trips to the very early pre-Beatles Lennon/McCartney catalogue. The only one of these songs which ended up in the Let it Be film and album was The One After 909, but they played several more; these were also the only occasions where John was amiably talking with the rest of the group again. This causes our transcriber to go into raptures, as in the following example, two days later, George is back:
„The nostalgia trip through the prehistoric Lennon/McCartney catalgoue continues wiht a performance of „I lost my little girl“, which Paul wrote when he was 14. Surprisingly enough, it’s John who takes the lead vocal here, with Paul occasionally prompting him on the lyrics or singing backup. The effect is completely charming, and John’s sense of fun is contagious. George provides the rythm on electric guitar and offers a brief solo.“
Whereas jamming sessions involving Yoko do not meet our transcribers’ approval (these seem to have involved only John, Paul and Yoko, btw, Ringo and George never participate in them):
“John pounds out a beat on the back of his guitar. Paul trashes about on drums, and Yoko contentedly shrieks into the microphone. These horrible few minutes are even worse than Yoko’s contribution from the tenth.”
Humour isn’t exactly Doug Sulpy’s forte when writing these transcriptions. Witness the po-faced report of a “Two of Us” rehearsal:
“John fools around a bit with the lyrics and Paul mentions the connected themes of “Get Back”, “Two of Us”, “Don’t Let Me Down” and “Oh!Darling”. John agrees and says that he and Paul need to be lovers for “Oh!Darling”. Paul says he was planning to wear a skirt on the show in any case.”
As for new songs (the rehearsal and performance of which had been othe original purpose of these sessions), here the transcripts offer ample material for „why George had good reason to to feel angry“. Not only does he get a ho-hum reaction for great songs of his own (like „All Things Must Pass“, which the Beatles never recorded and which was one of George’s first solo efforts), but his suggestions for the others‘ songs aren’t taken with the same weight, either. Sample, from the work on John’s song „Don’t let me down“:
„As we begin, The Beatles play the end of the middle eight and chorus, with enthusiastic vocals from John. This leads into an instrumental version of the chorus which finishes out the song. John then suggests that they work on the middle eight, which he considers the weakest part of the song. Paul works on his bass guitar part and improvises a wordless falsetto harmony vocal which answers each line of John’s lyrics. As they continuie to rehearse the middle eight Paul improvises some lyrics for his vocal part. He thinks that John’s lyrics are too corny, and that the addition of further trite lyrics would make the song seem to be a purposeful send-up. More rehearsals of the middle eight occur with Paul’s harmony vocal. Paul remarks upon the weakness of his improvised lyrics, suggesting that they work on it later. John, however, wants to retain Paul’s lyrics becuase he doesn’t see much merit in his own lines either. (…) John suggests a piano part. Paul disagrees. John then suggests that George lay off the wah-wah pedal. George disagrees with this, an dclaims tha tit would be uncreative to play it John’s way. John, obviously irritated, says he wouldn’t mind using the usual instrumental lineup. It’s interesting to observe that John will entertain any number of musical suggestions from Paul, but does not allow George to present his view as to how the song should be played. When working within the framework of the Lennon/McCartney partnership, George is viewed as a sideman.“
Not surprisingly, George, mid-rehearsing „For Your Blue“, then comes up with this:
„George then succinctly categorizes the others‘ attitudes toward the show by quoting the old aphorism „hear no evil“ (Paul, the presistent optimist), „speak no evil“ (John, who contributes nothing to the conversation) and „see no evil“ (Ringo, who really doesn’t care what they do). Paul, obviously disgusted, attempts a bit of direct communication and asks the other Beatles why they’re even bothering to show up if they don’t want to do the show. Nobody responds.“
As I said, reading through this, the miracle isn’t that the group fell apart but that given this state of things, they had enough energy left for one more album, and that the recording of said album proceeded smoothly and professionally (George’s one freakout over Yoko helping herself to his biscuits excepted). Since I don’t want to end on a depressing note and need to cheer myself up, have a report from sound engineer Geoff Emerick (in his book “Here, There and Everywhere”) of how one bit of that particular marvel , “Abbey Road”, was accomplished, to wit, the recording of John’s song “Because” which required a three part harmony between John, Paul and George.
“The only problem was that George Martin had worked out nine harmony parts for the Beatles to sing, but we only had five tracks to record them on. That was resolved easily enough when it was decided to have John, Paul and George Harrison sing their three-part harmony together live, instead of overdubbing each part one at a time, and then to have them do two additional passes in order to add on the remaining six parts. It was as much an aesthetic as it was a technical decision, because their voices had always meshed so well naturally.
It was mid-afternoon, but the lights in Studio Two were dimmed way down low for atmosphere. The four Beatles - Ringo was there, too, providing moral support - were gathered in a semicircle, the sparse backing track playing softly in their headphones. To start with, everyone was standing up, but it quickly became apparent that this was going to be a time-consuming process, so they were soon sitting, on regulation EMI hard-back chairs, not stools. To get the phrasing spot-on, Paul was making hand gestures, conducting the others. It would take more than five hours to get those vocals done, and though John’s patience was sorely tried that afternoon, no one gave up. Perfection was the goal, and nobody was prepared to accept anything less.
George Martin took his pace next to me in the control room, listening intently. Yoko was up there with us, too, but she never said a word the entire afternoon. John, Paul and George Harrison each had his own mic, but they were all recorded on a single track, so I was focused on doing the balance. To keep the purity of the sound, I had decided to use no signal processing whatsoever - no compressors or limiters. That meant I had to manually “pot” the sound to smooth out the peaks and valleys - moving the faders up and down as it was being recorded. The three Beatles sang “Because” over and over and over again that afternoon; they probably did each pass twenty or thirty times. Pitching was not a problem - they rarely sang out of tune, and they were good at remembering their parts - but it wasn’t easy to get the phrasing precise, starting and ending each word at exactly the same time. Even John was unusually patient that day, though he rebuked Paul once or twice, at one pint snapping “Jesus Christ, give me a break already, I wish I hadn’t written the bloody thing!”
But John kept at it, as did George Harrison, who, to my surprise, never uttered a word of complaint. They knew they were doing something special and they were determined to get it right. There was no clowning around that day, no joking; everyone was very serious, very focused. That day I saw the four Beatles at t heir finest: there ws one hundred percent concentration from all of them - even Ringo, sitting quietly with his eyes closed, silently urging his bandmates on to their best performance - all working in tandem to get that vocal nailed, spot on. It was a stark example of the kind of teamwork that had been lacking since “The White Album” started. It’s tempting to imagine what the Beatles might have been able to accomplish if they could only have captured and sustained that spirit just a little longer.”
And because YouTube has it, here's just one of those vocal takes - nothing but the voices - of "Because":
This entry was originally posted at http://selenak.dreamwidth.org/603791.html. Comment there or here, as you wish.
This is certainly the dynamic that plays out in Get Back: The Unauthorized Chroncile of the Beatles‘ Let It Be Disaster by Doug Sulpy and Ray Schweighardt, aka their painstaking transcription of the bootleg Let it Be tapes. Not something for light reading, not least because presumably for copyright reason, they transcribed the whole thing in indirect speech, never direct quotation, which makes for occasionally very stilted prose („Paul and George both express their happiness with the fact that Beatle songs are now covered by artists that The Beatles themselves admire“). Also, this is by no means a neutral protocol; the authors are pretty unabashedly anti-Yoko in their descriptions. (When Yoko takes the microphone, she does so „ominously“, her vocal efforts are invariably described as „screeching“ or „wailing“, etc.) And lastly, it’s sad to read for the same reason why the film Let it Be so incredibly depressing: what was meant as a project to revitalize the group - the basic idea was that the Beatles would rehearse for a live concert at a yet to be determined location, the film would document the rehearsals and the final concert - turned out to be a documentation of their falling apart, with the miracle being that this wasn’t the last album, and that everyone was able top pull themselves together enough for Abbey Road afterwards. (And a good thing, too, regarding the quality difference.) All this being said, the book is worth reading if only because it offers everyone’s opinions at the time, without the benefit of hindsight or the inevitable distortion of memories, on such important issues as the impact of Brian Epstein’s death on the group, George’s feeling of being eternally treated as the kid and not taken seriously, and of course the John and Yoko relationship and its impact. The most important debates, for those of you not willing to go through an entire book of indirect speech:
„Michael“ is the film’s director, Michael Lindsay-Hogg. He was very familiar to the Beatles, having shot several promo films for them from „Paperback Writer“ onwards, including „Hey Jude“, which was why he was picked for the project, and would years later shoot the film „Two of Us“ about the April 1976 meeting between John Lennon and Paul McCartney. „Neil“ is Neil Aspinall, roadie/employee/friend since the Liverpool days (he went to the same school as George and Paul did), who ended up heading Apple.
On Tuesday, January 7th: „Initiated by George’s somber reflection that things have changed for the worse since the death of their manager Brian Epstein, the discussion turns to the lack of leadership in the group, one of the reasons why The Beatles (and therefore the rehearsals) are so obviously disintegrating. Paul, with remarkable candor, remarks how pessimistic they’ve been since Epstein died, and that it’s beocme an unpleasant chore to be a Beatle. He then explains that they have two choices - to work to improve things, or to call the whole thing off. George agrees, and indicates that he, at least, knows that The Beatles are coming to an end, and does not want to see them finish up their career with inferior product. John (sounding very sleepy) raises the subject of incentive. Paul draws him out, and John explains that they need to think of some reason to continue. Paul returns to the topic of discipline, and presents a lengthy lecture on what the group is lacking. Once again referring to Brian Epstein’s creath, Paul points out that Epstein’s role as father figure and disciplinarian, even if it was only symbolic, now falls upon themselves. He then points out that because they’re now controlling themselves they foolishly do as little work as they can, and reminds them of hte thought and care which had gone into making „Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band“ two years before. (…) He contrasts the morale within the group to Jackie Lomax‘ s productive attititude during the sessions for his album „Is this what you want?“ (which Paul had attended), and stresses how easy such a person makes things for everyone. George bitterly tells Paul to go find that person and play with them. This casues Paul to remind him that The Beatles used to be a cooperative, creative unit. (…) He makes the mistake of reminding George of touring ; George immediately pinpoints this as a reason for not wanting to be involved anymore.
Paul responds that negative feelings based on such things as putting on make-up or going through stage routines are pointless, because to go back before a live audience doesn’t mean they have to do any of those things. To illustrate his point, he brings their attention to John who, he says, doesn’t adhere to any standard stage traditions, but simply shows up hidden with Yoko in a bag. Having trouble, perhaps, envisioning George Harrison in a white canvas bag, Michael asks directly whether The Beatles ever expect to perform in front of an audience again. After a vaguely positive response from Paul and no responses at all from the other three, he follows up with a reflection on how hard it must be to recapture the thrill of live performances. (…) George can’t be swayed from his pessimistic outlook, however, and now insists that he doesn’t ant to contribute any of his songs to the project, fearing that they wouldn’t turn out as well as they would in a studio environment. This exasparates Paul, who confronts George with a statement that he had made the year before where he had expressed his opinion that there was no limit to creative expression. As Paul sees it, they can still make great records if they want to, and he sees no point at all in thinking otherwise. He suggests that George let go of his negative thoughts by reminding him of the processes they’re both familiar with through transcental meditation, teling him that The Beatles can work together even when one or the other gets tired of playing. He then reiterates that he sees no reason at all to just give up on the band. (…) George mentions that he thought the live broadcast of „All you need is love“ (on a 1967 programm called Our World) was successful because it captured the feel of the moment and was similar to a political broadcast because it reflected the prevailing philosophy of ‚the summer of love‘. Paul tries to capitalize on George’s brief positive display, likesn the current project to the earlier broadcast, and once again asks George to wait until they have a show before rejecting it. George, still pessimistic, points out the times have changed, but suggests that a political slant to the program might not be bad.“
Typical for „where should we perform“ debates is this exchange from one day earlier:
„Paul, George, Yoko and Michael are discussing the theoretical uses of an audience (John is present, but silent). Paul talks about the three purposes of having an audience; to please them, get money from them, and to experience the pleasure of direct feedback from them. George, on the other hand, worries that their audience might be nothing more than the usual screaming young females and Yoko suggests that they dispense with the audience altogether and play to 20,000 empty seats. This conceptual slant irritates Michael, who nervously jokes that it would look like no one wanted to come. Yoko makes the observation that it would be undesirable to limit their audience to young people, preferring to invite roalty instead. Paul (…) goes as far as to suggest a possible compromise - that they could perform one show to empty seats, and another to a paying audience. Again, the concept of playing to an empty auditorium worries Michael. (…) The conversation continues as Yoko encourages the others to accept her idea to play to empty seats by foretelling a mob scene with Batle fans queuing up to get tickets. (…) John’s only contribution to the conversation is an observation that it would be chilly playing outdoors in the English winter. Perhaps jokingly, Paul conjures up a vision of the band playing in the nude. George, however, would prefer that the audience be naked. Yoko seems quite obstinate set against the idea of The Beatles returning to their past , and presents the somewhat confused argument that people would rather see Richard Burton shaving than returning to his roots on the stage.“
The big Yoko debate occurs on January 13th, at a point where George is intermittendly on strike (he will come back) and John and Yoko are late (or not showing up at all, everyone is still trying to each them on the phone; as it turns out, they will come later in the ofternoon). This is also one of only two occasions where Linda Eastman, Paul’s future wife, is also present.
„Paul seems to go out of hiws way to justify John and Yoko’s behavior, pointing out that, whatever else it may be, it’s at least sincere. This is a bit too much for Neil and Linda, who make their opinions obvious by a series of rude noises. Paul admits that he’d rather compose songs without Yoko around and that he tries to please John through her. He realizes this is silly, but places the blame solely upon himself, claiming that John and Yoko are actually very honest. Ringo and Michael ask Neil if John has been reached and told they’re waiting, and Neil informs them that nobody’s picking up the phone at John’s house. (…) Neil complains that John and Yoko’s actions effectively turned the board meeting into a party, and Paul agrees, but once more sticks up for Yoko, wondering if her presence isn’t simply being used to excuse away the deterioating Lennon/McCartney partnership. Paul then touches upon the power structure within The Beatles and how John had evidently attempted to justify Yoko’s involvement by pointing out how The Beatles tend to keep people out of their inner circle. (…) Michael tries to provoke Paul by asking how long John’s been involved with Yoko. Linda tries to divert the topic by claiming that hte real problem is a lack of communication between the four Beatles, but Paul insists that Yoko is part of the problem because she’s so much a part of John’s life. He then explains they have two options, to oppose Yoko and get the The Beatles back to four or to put up with her. Paul says he’s faced with a dilemma. If he confronts John, he’s sure that John will simply quit The Beatles and devote himself to Yoko, but he sees the group disintegrating anyway. (…) Paul and Neil’s comments here sum up their frustration. They see Yoko talking for John, and they feel that when they talk to John they’re really talking to Yoko, since John’s sonly saying what Yoko wants him to say. Paul applies this to his efforts to write songs with John, and admits his embarassment at having to address them both in order to get the work accomplished. It should be noted that as Paul and Neil continue to discuss Yoko, Ringo and Linda share a cozy little discussion about domestic animals. Once again, Paul worries that they’re not being fair to Yoko, arguing that she’s not as bad as they think. But Neil strongly feels that she talks too much, and worries about her intruding while John and Paul write. Paul (…) explains how she didn’t interfere when he and John were struggling with the lyrics for „I Will“ the previous year. He realiizes that the problem is not so much with Yoko as John’s reliance upon her, although he admits that he doesn’t like her presence if only because she’s a distraction to him (Paul). He then goes a step further and sticks up for John, claiming that when the two get really serious about something John won’t allow Yoko to interfere and will actually participate in conversations (if this is true, it is not supported by the available tapes). He admits that John and Yoko go too far in their relationship, but tolerates because it’s alwas been characteristing of John to go overboard on things. He then explains that it’s not really their business to tell John that Yoko can’t attend their business meetings. (…) He still thinks, however, that The Beatles have the ability to play well and that the real problem is with their lack of communication, patronizing each other and (as Michael points out) not speaking their hearts. Paul then reveals that the underlying motive behind the „Get Back“ sessions was to force the group into the discipline of a 9 to 5 situation, claiming that even if it’s a grind at times, at least they’d be able to reap the rewards of their work. Michael recalls John’s comment that the act of working itself inspires one to work and Linda remembers George coming to the sessions for the previous year’s double album and exclaiming how good it was to be back at work again. Ringo joins in, and adds that if you just stay at home you’re not inspired to do anything. Neil returns to the subject of John and Yoko and mentions how jarring it is to have Yoko constantly present, complaining that she intrudes to the point of sitting on their amplifiers. Paul simply reiterates his feeling that it’s not appropriate for him to confront John and Yoko about their behaviour, likening them to two children who are being naughty and would only act worse if chastised. He explains that his tolerance for Yoko is a compromise to John’s wishes and hopes that this will cause John to return the favour in some way. Michael points out that with all the trouble she’s caused within the group Paul has compromised enough, but Paul repeats his fear that if they attempt to restrict Yoko’s involvement John will simply leave the group. Since the band obviously cannot discipline themselves, and Paul feels that it would be inappropriate to discipline each other, he wishes that they had an authority figure who could instruct them to show up on time and leave the girlfriends at home. Neil feels that authority wouldn’t work in John’s case. Finally, Paul remarks on the absurdity of the current situation, an dforecasts how silly they will appear to history if they break up simply because John insisted on bringing his girlfriend to the sessions.
(…) Once again Linda expresses her opinion that the four Beatles need to be left alone to solve their problems. Neil sullenly informs that he doesn’t think this will ever be possible and mildly suggests that if the question is brought to John at least he’d have to quit or to stay, and the problem would be solved. Michael realizes, however, that John needs to be given some way to save face in such a situation, or he’s almost sure to quit. He then jokingly suggests that they drug Yoko’s tea just to get a minute or two alone with John. He goes on to use several racial slurs against her. Once again, Paul defends John and Yoko‘s togetherness, claiming that it’s not an unnatural thing and repeating his feeling that it’s not his place to tell John to leave Yoko at home. Michael understands this, but draws the line at the point where it’s disrupting everyone else’s life. Paul claims that trying to keep them apart would be seen by John and Yoko as an attempt to disrupt their life. Neil then reports Mal has been trying to phone John, but that his line is always busy, suggesting he’s taken his phone off the hook. This annoys everyone, and as Ringo and Linda offer sarcastic comments, Michael suggests that Yoko be put in a black bag where she can’t talk. Paul simply mutters that The Beatles seem to be down to two.“
This particular day, btw, ended in John and Yoko arriving three hours later (at which point Linda had left again), and the punchline of Yoko apologizing for the lateness while Paul replies he’s used to it. Despite the transcription bias I have to say these protocols make a case for Yoko as well because it can’t be easy to be somewhere where everyone, even the film crew, doesn’t like you and the only guy who makes an effort at politeness does so because he doesn’t want to lose your boyfriend. And that’s leaving out the racial slurs from Michael. The only interruptions in the gloomfest that were the Get Back/Let it Be sessions came when the band played either songs they’d loved as teenagers (Carl Perkins, Buddy Holly), at which point everyone perks up and gets into the spirit of things again, or during nostalgia trips to the very early pre-Beatles Lennon/McCartney catalogue. The only one of these songs which ended up in the Let it Be film and album was The One After 909, but they played several more; these were also the only occasions where John was amiably talking with the rest of the group again. This causes our transcriber to go into raptures, as in the following example, two days later, George is back:
„The nostalgia trip through the prehistoric Lennon/McCartney catalgoue continues wiht a performance of „I lost my little girl“, which Paul wrote when he was 14. Surprisingly enough, it’s John who takes the lead vocal here, with Paul occasionally prompting him on the lyrics or singing backup. The effect is completely charming, and John’s sense of fun is contagious. George provides the rythm on electric guitar and offers a brief solo.“
Whereas jamming sessions involving Yoko do not meet our transcribers’ approval (these seem to have involved only John, Paul and Yoko, btw, Ringo and George never participate in them):
“John pounds out a beat on the back of his guitar. Paul trashes about on drums, and Yoko contentedly shrieks into the microphone. These horrible few minutes are even worse than Yoko’s contribution from the tenth.”
Humour isn’t exactly Doug Sulpy’s forte when writing these transcriptions. Witness the po-faced report of a “Two of Us” rehearsal:
“John fools around a bit with the lyrics and Paul mentions the connected themes of “Get Back”, “Two of Us”, “Don’t Let Me Down” and “Oh!Darling”. John agrees and says that he and Paul need to be lovers for “Oh!Darling”. Paul says he was planning to wear a skirt on the show in any case.”
As for new songs (the rehearsal and performance of which had been othe original purpose of these sessions), here the transcripts offer ample material for „why George had good reason to to feel angry“. Not only does he get a ho-hum reaction for great songs of his own (like „All Things Must Pass“, which the Beatles never recorded and which was one of George’s first solo efforts), but his suggestions for the others‘ songs aren’t taken with the same weight, either. Sample, from the work on John’s song „Don’t let me down“:
„As we begin, The Beatles play the end of the middle eight and chorus, with enthusiastic vocals from John. This leads into an instrumental version of the chorus which finishes out the song. John then suggests that they work on the middle eight, which he considers the weakest part of the song. Paul works on his bass guitar part and improvises a wordless falsetto harmony vocal which answers each line of John’s lyrics. As they continuie to rehearse the middle eight Paul improvises some lyrics for his vocal part. He thinks that John’s lyrics are too corny, and that the addition of further trite lyrics would make the song seem to be a purposeful send-up. More rehearsals of the middle eight occur with Paul’s harmony vocal. Paul remarks upon the weakness of his improvised lyrics, suggesting that they work on it later. John, however, wants to retain Paul’s lyrics becuase he doesn’t see much merit in his own lines either. (…) John suggests a piano part. Paul disagrees. John then suggests that George lay off the wah-wah pedal. George disagrees with this, an dclaims tha tit would be uncreative to play it John’s way. John, obviously irritated, says he wouldn’t mind using the usual instrumental lineup. It’s interesting to observe that John will entertain any number of musical suggestions from Paul, but does not allow George to present his view as to how the song should be played. When working within the framework of the Lennon/McCartney partnership, George is viewed as a sideman.“
Not surprisingly, George, mid-rehearsing „For Your Blue“, then comes up with this:
„George then succinctly categorizes the others‘ attitudes toward the show by quoting the old aphorism „hear no evil“ (Paul, the presistent optimist), „speak no evil“ (John, who contributes nothing to the conversation) and „see no evil“ (Ringo, who really doesn’t care what they do). Paul, obviously disgusted, attempts a bit of direct communication and asks the other Beatles why they’re even bothering to show up if they don’t want to do the show. Nobody responds.“
As I said, reading through this, the miracle isn’t that the group fell apart but that given this state of things, they had enough energy left for one more album, and that the recording of said album proceeded smoothly and professionally (George’s one freakout over Yoko helping herself to his biscuits excepted). Since I don’t want to end on a depressing note and need to cheer myself up, have a report from sound engineer Geoff Emerick (in his book “Here, There and Everywhere”) of how one bit of that particular marvel , “Abbey Road”, was accomplished, to wit, the recording of John’s song “Because” which required a three part harmony between John, Paul and George.
“The only problem was that George Martin had worked out nine harmony parts for the Beatles to sing, but we only had five tracks to record them on. That was resolved easily enough when it was decided to have John, Paul and George Harrison sing their three-part harmony together live, instead of overdubbing each part one at a time, and then to have them do two additional passes in order to add on the remaining six parts. It was as much an aesthetic as it was a technical decision, because their voices had always meshed so well naturally.
It was mid-afternoon, but the lights in Studio Two were dimmed way down low for atmosphere. The four Beatles - Ringo was there, too, providing moral support - were gathered in a semicircle, the sparse backing track playing softly in their headphones. To start with, everyone was standing up, but it quickly became apparent that this was going to be a time-consuming process, so they were soon sitting, on regulation EMI hard-back chairs, not stools. To get the phrasing spot-on, Paul was making hand gestures, conducting the others. It would take more than five hours to get those vocals done, and though John’s patience was sorely tried that afternoon, no one gave up. Perfection was the goal, and nobody was prepared to accept anything less.
George Martin took his pace next to me in the control room, listening intently. Yoko was up there with us, too, but she never said a word the entire afternoon. John, Paul and George Harrison each had his own mic, but they were all recorded on a single track, so I was focused on doing the balance. To keep the purity of the sound, I had decided to use no signal processing whatsoever - no compressors or limiters. That meant I had to manually “pot” the sound to smooth out the peaks and valleys - moving the faders up and down as it was being recorded. The three Beatles sang “Because” over and over and over again that afternoon; they probably did each pass twenty or thirty times. Pitching was not a problem - they rarely sang out of tune, and they were good at remembering their parts - but it wasn’t easy to get the phrasing precise, starting and ending each word at exactly the same time. Even John was unusually patient that day, though he rebuked Paul once or twice, at one pint snapping “Jesus Christ, give me a break already, I wish I hadn’t written the bloody thing!”
But John kept at it, as did George Harrison, who, to my surprise, never uttered a word of complaint. They knew they were doing something special and they were determined to get it right. There was no clowning around that day, no joking; everyone was very serious, very focused. That day I saw the four Beatles at t heir finest: there ws one hundred percent concentration from all of them - even Ringo, sitting quietly with his eyes closed, silently urging his bandmates on to their best performance - all working in tandem to get that vocal nailed, spot on. It was a stark example of the kind of teamwork that had been lacking since “The White Album” started. It’s tempting to imagine what the Beatles might have been able to accomplish if they could only have captured and sustained that spirit just a little longer.”
And because YouTube has it, here's just one of those vocal takes - nothing but the voices - of "Because":
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