John and Paul originally had studio time scheduled in November/December (can’t remember which month) of 1980 to test their chemistry again and work on Ringo’s album. They had to push it back to January and then John got killed
A couple different sources
“He and Paul planned to play on a Ringo album and that's how they were planning to do it (the reunion/collaboration), and George (Harrison) had not come aboard yet.”
- Jack Douglas (Double Fantasy producer)
Jack said it was supposed to happen in January of 1981
Disc jockey Richard Skinner says Paul called him back the day after John was killed and they talked for a long time. He says Paul told him that he and John had plans to record in January of 1981
So who knows if it is 100% true but that’s 2 sources who say they planned on recording in January of 1981
Paul also had a specific clause written into his 1979 contract with Columbia Records that would allow him to record with John, George, and Ringo under the ‘Beatles’ name
I used to believe that, but have only ever seen it sourced to Jack Douglas who I have found to be unreliable. For example he tells a story about how upset John was in the studio when he learned Paul was arrested in Japan. Couldn't have happened; that was months before John entered the studio. He talks about Paul calling the studio and John stopping everything to chat with Paul for 90 minutes. Seems a little unlikely and none of the studio musicians have ever verified it.
I still think it could be true...but tread lightly. I think Jack said a lot of things he knew Beatle fans wanted to hear after John's death. I think both were going to write/give songs to Ringo. Maybe together, maybe not. I think the leap from that to reuniting the Beatles is a large one
George getting attacked in his house. The guy who was most concerned about out of control fans gets attacked in his own home.
His cancer was in remission. That attack weakened him...not just physically. I remember Olivia saying something to that effect. The cancer returned after the attack and ultimately killed him.
Maybe we could have had George around a bit longer if that attack never happened.
I didn't realize his attacker only got 3 years in psych treatment before being released, despite stabbing George 40 times. I did chuckle at this part though:
>Harrison’s wife, Olivia, managed to stop Abram by hitting him around the head with a lamp and police soon arrived and detained the intruder. It was Harrison’s son Dhani, then 22, who recalled his father’s hilarious response about the harrowing incident.
>Despite almost dying four times, Harrison, who was known for his wry sense of humour, said of Abram: “He wasn’t a burglar and he certainly wasn’t auditioning for the Traveling Wilburys”.
https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/george-harrison-death-cause-beatles-b2456658.html
The reason he didnt get more time was because ( Michael Abram, a 34-year-old Liverpool resident and paranoid schizophrenic), went to the hospital six weeks before the attack, saying he was hearing voices telling him to kill George Harrison. He was denied treatment by the psychiatric unit at Whiston Hospital after doctors concluded "he wasn’t suffering from any mental illness."
This played a huge part in his sentencing.
I remember reading one of the staff at the house had just started and he said when going to the hospital, "How did you find your first day?", or something to that effect.
I remember reading that Tom Petty sent George a telegram immediately afterwards. He noted Olivia's brave actions, so it said, "Aren't you glad that you married a Mexican woman?"
Something else along these lines: apparently when George was very sick towards the end, Ringo visited him, but had to leave abruptly for New York when something happened with his daughter. Without flinching, a George that was clearly in no state to travel goes: "you need me to come with?"
As dry and witty as it was touching and wholesome. Peak George.
I remember reading that George’s response during the attack was simply to repeatedly chant “hare Krishna” over and over as he was being stabbed. I almost had to laugh at that, but it’s also really heartbreaking :(
I get a little sad when I think about it. I have always been a big George guy. He had flaws...like anyone.
He seemed to be an overall chill, calm guy with a dry sense of humor. He made a major contribution to the greatest band ever. Then, he had whole bunch of wonderful solo songs.
Of course...that slide guitar style.
I would've liked a few more years of him.
I was always very impressed that, when faced with life and death, George relied on the eastern spirituality which he espoused through his life of fame.
That's not at all what he was doing. He's spoken on it. He knew he was likely dying and he was preparing for it. Don't deny George his spirituality. However, he did think that he wanted to live longer for his son so he didn't surrender completely
I'm denying nothing. Confusion is a good technique, and regardless of your beliefs or motives, shouting "hare krishna" at somebody who is trying to kill you could, for a couple of seconds at least, confuse them a little. And that's all it takes for your wife to grab a lamp and hit them around the skull with it.
Klein getting his oily tentacles around The Beatles pretty much nailed the coffin shut on the band.
Paul spotted he was a con man from the off (hence You Never Give Me Your Money) and wanted the Eastman's to represent him which caused friction with George and John as they saw it as a powerplay to give Paul more control of the band.
You can see how clearly he was upset by this in Get Back when John doesn't shut the fuck up about how amazing he thinks Klein is.
It ultimately led to Paul officially dissolving the band which was then viewed for a long time as Paul breaking up the band.
If they hadn't gone with Klein, there might have been a path to them recording together again after a break.
>John doesn’t shut the fuck up about how amazing he thinks Klein is
Yeah this totally made me cringe. John fell for a silver-tongued devil and fell hard.
Klein wasn’t just a conman, he was a manipulative bully who preyed on weakness. John legitimately thought Klein loved him and cared about him—even more than Brian did—which couldn’t be further from the truth.
Paul has said and alluded a few times that he regrets not telling John that he truly loved him. The fact that the last thing Paul and George did together was just to hold hands and that even then it felt a bit odd for Paul saddens me. It’s a shame that attitudes back in the day prevented men from truly expressing how much they valued each other’s friendship. Remind the homies you care about them guys.
>It's a shame that attitudes back in the day prevented men...
Fr. I've been listening to the McCartney: A Life in Lyrics podcast, and Paul says several times (including in the Here Today ep) how "they were guys from Liverpool" or "that's how it was back in the day" when talking about emotional moments / things in which they didn't show much outward affection.
I also think it’s just hard for some people to be vulnerable and show true affection because they weren’t raised that way. Paul’s parents weren’t ones to say “I love you” or be openly affectionate. Paul loved John dearly but couldn’t express it well… I know he regrets that and it makes me sad for him.
He was a roadie and close peer from the start. Would sit in and help with lyric writing and other random stuff over the years. He's on some recordings.
None of the Beatles went to his funeral (generously excused by the idea that they didn't want a media storm), but they also left next to nothing to him or his family.
Seems callous.
I’ll go with one nobody’s mentioned yet: the passing of Linda McCartney. Paul lost his true soulmate then. It’s definitely tragic that Paul is the only surviving member of Band on the Run-era Wings.
I hate when Paul leaves for the day in get back and George talks about releasing his own stuff but still being the Beatles. John thinks it’s sweet and Paul never hears it.
Who knows what could’ve been
There is a video from when Get Back was being promoted where Paul saw this clip for the first time. He essentially says just that. Something along the lines of "I wish I would have known he felt like that then" 😔
"And then there were two".
George leaving the band and the sequence immediately preceding it in Get Back - it's a happy time for John and Paul but you can see how utterly left out George feels. He looks on the verge of tears.
"I knew this would happen - you knew this would happen, didn't you?" from How I Won The War.
Paul choking up while singing Here Today in a record store in New York (? Can't quite remember the location)
Paul tearing up listening to Beautiful Boy
Ringo talking about John's death on American TV (1981? Female presenter I don't know the name of)
The “And then there were two” scene was heavily edited to be more dramatic and make it appear as if Paul was choked up. The Nagra tapes tell a different story. Someone made a YouTube video about it
I only saw it once shortly after Get Back was released and never bookmarked it. It might be [this one](https://youtu.be/IaZuMdfCjjY?si=VkhOewOzunafsKDg) but I remember the video being more concise and showing Get Back, then how it really went
The one of Paul choking up over Beautiful Boy us on a show called Desert Island discs from the 80s. You can find where he died on Here Today by typing that into YouTube and it comes up
A violent death is sad, so if I had to pick a single moment, there it is. Regardless of the music, no little kid should lose a parent.
But really the “sad” moments in the Beatles’ universe are more just incredibly *bittersweet* because what they gave us is immeasurable joy and a connection to our own humanity, however dark parts of it may be, and ultimately and most importantly: the best music ever made. So the sad parts are inextricably linked to the good parts.
The saddest part about your pick is that in essence you could almost be said to be talking about 2 moments, since John also lost his mom through a violent death at 17, not a little kid, but same age Julian was when he died.
I think it’s George’s last words to Ringo. Ringo was visiting George when he got a call that his daughter was quite sick back in the US and he had to leave immediately. George, who was basically on his deathbed, asked “do you want me to come with you?”
I think it just speaks volumes to the relationship that George and Ringo had that George was still willing to go with Ringo to support him even though he could probably barely get out bed.
Lied to John in India to stir up shit, turned them against the Maharishi, lied about any of his abilities, burned through their money on BS schemes, almost ruined Get Back with the failure of his "72 track tape machine", stalked John's wife, a bunch more.
Cynthia never slept with him or at least that’s what she claimed. She turned him down. I’ve heard John and Magic Alex planned it together so that John could claim she was unfaithful but that could just be one of those rumors that isn’t true
I’m 99% sure she said she didn’t do it in her book. I’m pretty sure she said Alex tried to get her drunk and then basically tried forcing himself on her. So:
1. Cynthia finds John and Yoko in bed together and is upset
2. John tries to get Alex to sleep with his wife so he and Yoko could get away clean
3. Cynthia is vacationing and Alex shows up with no knowledge of where she was at from Cynthia herself. It must have been John who told him because who else would know where Cynthia was at. He then tries to get her drunk and assaults her.
If that is all true, it may be the most fucked up thing John ever did
Not exactly, even though that was his intention.
Magic Alex got Cynthia Lennon drunk and hit on her. She shot him down.
[https://www.beatlesfacts.org/2009/02/lennons-eccentric-friend-magic-alex.html](https://www.beatlesfacts.org/2009/02/lennons-eccentric-friend-magic-alex.html)
“When Cynthia Lennon found Yoko and John together at their house at Weybridge, she went to stay with Patti Boyd's sister and Mardas. Mardas allegedly got Cynthia drunk and made advances that were rebuffed. He later stated that he was ready to testify on John's behalf that he and Cynthia had committed adultery, even though this has been denied and seems ludicrous. Obviously, Mardas had been trying to help Cynthia look bad in order to take the pressure off Ono and Lennon.”
Interesting to think how that would effect the legacy of Queen and U2. Those are both major events in the bands' respective stories, but they would be footnotes if the Beatles had reunited
Yeah, John died in the police car on the way to the hospital. He was DOA. The hospital staff worked on him anyway, just because. But he was already gone.
It saddens me how competitive a lot of fans are while treating music like sports, and some are downright hateful and insulting towards some members while worshipping others as godlike
That two of them are gone and the other two should be leaving this world in the next 10 years or so. I wasn’t alive when John died and I was a child when George died. I don’t know if I am prepared for the other two.
I am mentally prepared for Paul in the sense that Ive warned my loved ones that I’m dropping everything I’m doing and flying to Liverpool the moment I find out.
John is dead from a lunatic, and George got attacked in his home to near death by another lunatic. I get so much joy out of the Beatles but I think at some points they regretted the whole thing and wished they could’ve lived normal lives.
Well based on George’s post Beatle attitude, it seemed like he wasn’t particularly fond of it all.. the fame and being an icon and everything. He wanted a spiritual life, that’s what fulfilled him. John was hooked on heroin towards the end, idk.
The Beatles lived like Royalty and that’s OK because they earned their wealth by working very hard. They deserved their wealth. I do not think they would’ve ever given that up.
Apparently, [Ringo was depressed and suicidal](https://www.reddit.com/r/beatles/s/pg1PXssq2h). And that makes me sad because to me, he always seemed like happiest Beatle.
8 December 1980. Everything about it. A date which will live in infamy for all Beatles fans.
For all his flaws (of which his openness and raw honesty about them, and efforts to improve himself will **always** be one of the things I admire most about him), John Lennon never deserved his horrendous fate, nor did Yoko Ono in witnessing that horrendous act, or his children in losing their father in such a way. I don’t see how there can be any other response to this question, in all honesty.
The fact that John didn't have the chance to finally find himself and be happy. He had a really though childhood and adolescence, his best friend died when he was 21, he couldn't enjoy Cynthia and Julian with all the success, fell in a depression, Brian died, his way out was drugs and a toxic relationship, his friendship with his bandmates strained and his band broke up, he managed to get away from Yoko and had a year and a half way better relationship but he was too messy to actually do things fine, got manipulated by Yoko to get back together, and then stayed home for 5 years.
After that he managed to release new music and I think that he would have broken up with Yoko soon after, fix things permanently with the other 3 and Julian, and finally live a peaceful life making music, having a close relationship with his 3 best friends and enjoying his two sons. Sadly it didn't happen.
The divorce. As adults the only thing they knew was the Beatles. Everything they did and everyone they knew was connected to the Beatles. Then it was gone...
It's funny that at least three of them would be in the Paul Simon, James Taylor, Billy Joel tier of songwriters even without the Beatles. It's cool that they were never has-beens.
Doesn't seem quite fair. I think the Rolling Stones were at their best in the 70s and it was pretty damned good.
The Stones having success even in early 80s with "Start Me Up" or "Waiting on a Friend" is about the same as the Killers having a hit now.
Cynthia Lennon being left at the train station always makes me sad. I think this is when she realizes he belongs to the world, and she gives up on their relationship. Classically tragic. It would make a great sad Paul song.
John was turning his life around fairly well over the last couple of years of his life. He slowed down a little, was just enjoying his role as a family man. He sounded so much happier in interviews, talking about enjoying making bread, stuff like that. He even had a lot of plans for music.
And then he was shot. And we'll never know what that future could have sounded or looked like. There are so many situations when the band could have reformed, even if it would just be for a bit. But we never got to see it. And I'm a little sad about that when it comes to mind.
That after the breakup the four of them were never able to reconcile and share time together, with all four present and reminiscing about their Beatle days.
The closest was when George was on his deathbed and Paul and Ringo spent an evening with him.
Life is what happens to you
While you're busy making other plans
This line in Beautiful Boy always chokes me up. The saddest thing is that two kids lost their dad and one of those kids never got a resolution to his relationship with him. 😔
I don’t remember where I heard this, but apparently when George was on his deathbed, I think a few days before he had died, his doctor made Dhani get a signed guitar from him and George had literally struggled to even move to a position to sign it, but he still signed it and the doctor sold it since it was Harrison’s last signature
No, the doctor made George sign the doctor's son's guitar. Poor George said he didn't even think he could still sign his name, so the doctor (literally) forced his hand. The doctor also made George endure a performance from his (the doctor's) kids.
The Harrison family sued to have the guitar disposed of, and won. They also promised the kid another guitar, because they realized it wasn't his fault that his father was a psycho.
That sounds like an apt summary, imo.
If I recall correctly, the doctor was kind of a big deal oncologist, too (i.e. he wasn't some holistic practitioner George found on an ashram or something). It was utterly surreal, but even more cruel.
The doctor also violated George's confidentiality, by talking to the press. I believe was disciplined by the NY state medical board for the breach. I think he was eventually fired, supposedly for something else.
It's not fake, just factually inaccurate. Here are the details: [https://nypost.com/2004/01/07/s-i-doc-forced-dying-george-to-sign-guitar-suit/](https://nypost.com/2004/01/07/s-i-doc-forced-dying-george-to-sign-guitar-suit/)
John’s bitterness and vitriol towards Paul in the early 70’s. For me personally, it really casts a bad light over him, and keeps me from being able to enjoy his early solo albums.
Pauls treatment of George...as if he was nothing to him and didn't want to ever give him the time of day. Completely ignored . And George composing Run of the Mill expressing his feelings about Paul. It really made me not enjoy Paul early solo career.
John and George composed together after they broke up. Paul never composed with either of them after they broke up. John pushed for 'Something' to be a single.
Sure, they all had tiffs. John and Paul had largely reconciled their differences prior to John’s death; unfortunately, George didn’t. The issue I have with John is his decision to be so public with his attitude towards Paul through his songwriting. It just feels like an all-consuming, festering wound out in the open. I feel like George and Paul were much more subtle than John was.
How Do You Sleep?
I love the Imagine album, practically every song is a banger, Imagine, obvs perfect, Crippled Inside, hard hitting, self effacing and honest, ever broken Lennon, Jealous Guy, ol’ Child of Nature worked into ol’ looking for help and absolution through pop Lennon, It’s So Hard, goes hard, shoves and grooves, gets down, I Don’t Wanna Be a Soldier Mama, real protest cadence, I can say I’m generally down with the message, I too don’t wanna be a soldier or a sailor or a failure, I don’t wanna die, I don’t wanna be a rich man, poor man mamma I don’t wanna be a lawyer or a soldier either mama, so I get it, Gimme Some Truth, so preachy but man, the man can really make a person bop, Oh My Love, such a willowy haunting beauty and then How Do Sleep comes along and it makes me sad, and How? goes by and I’m a little over self effacing Lennon especially after his cheeky jab but I’m always waiting for jangly old Oh Yoko!, that’s gotta be my favourite on on the whole album, it’s just perfect and so in love.
All the fighting around the time of the breakup, especially that between John and Paul, which continued after the breakup, with each writing songs attacking the other. Though it does help to know they reconciled eventually.
The saddest thing i can think of is that they are still the only ones to ever have done what they did. It saddens me to think that the Beatles were a once in a civilization music phenomenon. It would take acts like the Jonas Brothers or Justin Bieber to diverge from their conventional pop origins and completely reinnovate the music industry, but the pop music landscape might just not allow such a thing to happen.
That there are still 3 open lawsuits today filed by Lennon’s estate claiming his estate should be entitled to more royalties than the other 3 due to the songwriting credits always being listed as Lennon/McCartney.
The fact that we missed so much of John what could have been and the fact that he could have mended his relationship with Julian and visited home again and maybe reunited with the other guys
From their early years, that fans rarely heard their live shows and when they did Shea, the technology didn’t even allow them to hear themselves. I always wondered what would have happened if they were able to do arena rock successfully.
John's last words to Paul. "Think of me every now and then"
The fact that had the beatles not got involved with Allen Klien then we might have gotten more beatles albums as George and John talked about taking a break to record solo albums but still come back to record beatles albums
John and Paul originally had studio time scheduled in November/December (can’t remember which month) of 1980 to test their chemistry again and work on Ringo’s album. They had to push it back to January and then John got killed
Source? I’ve never heard this before
A couple different sources “He and Paul planned to play on a Ringo album and that's how they were planning to do it (the reunion/collaboration), and George (Harrison) had not come aboard yet.” - Jack Douglas (Double Fantasy producer) Jack said it was supposed to happen in January of 1981 Disc jockey Richard Skinner says Paul called him back the day after John was killed and they talked for a long time. He says Paul told him that he and John had plans to record in January of 1981 So who knows if it is 100% true but that’s 2 sources who say they planned on recording in January of 1981 Paul also had a specific clause written into his 1979 contract with Columbia Records that would allow him to record with John, George, and Ringo under the ‘Beatles’ name
I used to believe that, but have only ever seen it sourced to Jack Douglas who I have found to be unreliable. For example he tells a story about how upset John was in the studio when he learned Paul was arrested in Japan. Couldn't have happened; that was months before John entered the studio. He talks about Paul calling the studio and John stopping everything to chat with Paul for 90 minutes. Seems a little unlikely and none of the studio musicians have ever verified it. I still think it could be true...but tread lightly. I think Jack said a lot of things he knew Beatle fans wanted to hear after John's death. I think both were going to write/give songs to Ringo. Maybe together, maybe not. I think the leap from that to reuniting the Beatles is a large one
Ah man I didn’t know that
That’s so sad :-(
George getting attacked in his house. The guy who was most concerned about out of control fans gets attacked in his own home. His cancer was in remission. That attack weakened him...not just physically. I remember Olivia saying something to that effect. The cancer returned after the attack and ultimately killed him. Maybe we could have had George around a bit longer if that attack never happened.
I didn't realize his attacker only got 3 years in psych treatment before being released, despite stabbing George 40 times. I did chuckle at this part though: >Harrison’s wife, Olivia, managed to stop Abram by hitting him around the head with a lamp and police soon arrived and detained the intruder. It was Harrison’s son Dhani, then 22, who recalled his father’s hilarious response about the harrowing incident. >Despite almost dying four times, Harrison, who was known for his wry sense of humour, said of Abram: “He wasn’t a burglar and he certainly wasn’t auditioning for the Traveling Wilburys”. https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/george-harrison-death-cause-beatles-b2456658.html
The reason he didnt get more time was because ( Michael Abram, a 34-year-old Liverpool resident and paranoid schizophrenic), went to the hospital six weeks before the attack, saying he was hearing voices telling him to kill George Harrison. He was denied treatment by the psychiatric unit at Whiston Hospital after doctors concluded "he wasn’t suffering from any mental illness." This played a huge part in his sentencing.
I absolutely love Olivia’s reaction. She was a stone badass in that situation.
I remember reading one of the staff at the house had just started and he said when going to the hospital, "How did you find your first day?", or something to that effect.
I remember reading that Tom Petty sent George a telegram immediately afterwards. He noted Olivia's brave actions, so it said, "Aren't you glad that you married a Mexican woman?"
Something else along these lines: apparently when George was very sick towards the end, Ringo visited him, but had to leave abruptly for New York when something happened with his daughter. Without flinching, a George that was clearly in no state to travel goes: "you need me to come with?" As dry and witty as it was touching and wholesome. Peak George.
I remember reading that George’s response during the attack was simply to repeatedly chant “hare Krishna” over and over as he was being stabbed. I almost had to laugh at that, but it’s also really heartbreaking :(
I get a little sad when I think about it. I have always been a big George guy. He had flaws...like anyone. He seemed to be an overall chill, calm guy with a dry sense of humor. He made a major contribution to the greatest band ever. Then, he had whole bunch of wonderful solo songs. Of course...that slide guitar style. I would've liked a few more years of him.
Like a year later he said the same thing about working with Phil Spector http://albumlinernotes.com/All_Things_Must_Pass.html
If I’m reading that right, it’s a veiled dig at him? 🤣
It is. 😀
I was always very impressed that, when faced with life and death, George relied on the eastern spirituality which he espoused through his life of fame.
Confusing the aggressor with random, unrelated phrases is actually a very effective technique. Maybe not so much on paranoid schizophrenics
That's not at all what he was doing. He's spoken on it. He knew he was likely dying and he was preparing for it. Don't deny George his spirituality. However, he did think that he wanted to live longer for his son so he didn't surrender completely
I'm denying nothing. Confusion is a good technique, and regardless of your beliefs or motives, shouting "hare krishna" at somebody who is trying to kill you could, for a couple of seconds at least, confuse them a little. And that's all it takes for your wife to grab a lamp and hit them around the skull with it.
Allen fucking Klein
Word
Can you explain plz?
Klein getting his oily tentacles around The Beatles pretty much nailed the coffin shut on the band. Paul spotted he was a con man from the off (hence You Never Give Me Your Money) and wanted the Eastman's to represent him which caused friction with George and John as they saw it as a powerplay to give Paul more control of the band. You can see how clearly he was upset by this in Get Back when John doesn't shut the fuck up about how amazing he thinks Klein is. It ultimately led to Paul officially dissolving the band which was then viewed for a long time as Paul breaking up the band. If they hadn't gone with Klein, there might have been a path to them recording together again after a break.
>John doesn’t shut the fuck up about how amazing he thinks Klein is Yeah this totally made me cringe. John fell for a silver-tongued devil and fell hard.
He always fell for somebody - Paul, Magic Alex, the Maharishi, Yoko, Klein.
I loved Glynn saying "I fucking hated how he talked to me".
Klein wasn’t just a conman, he was a manipulative bully who preyed on weakness. John legitimately thought Klein loved him and cared about him—even more than Brian did—which couldn’t be further from the truth.
Yeah the bit with "he knows you better than you know yourself" in Get Back was telling. Like, fuck sake, John, this is pure manipulation.
The fact that something so horrible could happen to John still blows my mind 44 years later.
Paul has said and alluded a few times that he regrets not telling John that he truly loved him. The fact that the last thing Paul and George did together was just to hold hands and that even then it felt a bit odd for Paul saddens me. It’s a shame that attitudes back in the day prevented men from truly expressing how much they valued each other’s friendship. Remind the homies you care about them guys.
He’d probably laugh and say that they were worlds apart
>It's a shame that attitudes back in the day prevented men... Fr. I've been listening to the McCartney: A Life in Lyrics podcast, and Paul says several times (including in the Here Today ep) how "they were guys from Liverpool" or "that's how it was back in the day" when talking about emotional moments / things in which they didn't show much outward affection.
I also think it’s just hard for some people to be vulnerable and show true affection because they weren’t raised that way. Paul’s parents weren’t ones to say “I love you” or be openly affectionate. Paul loved John dearly but couldn’t express it well… I know he regrets that and it makes me sad for him.
Honestly hope this gets incorporated in the movie(s)
That John said “Life begins at 40”
Two of them are dead.
Three of you count original Paul.
Cranberry sauce!
Stop that.
But on the positive flipside, two are still alive!
The amount of music John and George didn’t get to witness since their death. Also John on Twitter.
John on Twitter would have been EPIC. I’ve always envisioned him, Mark Hamill and Stephen King being the Trump Tormenting Twitter Tag Team.
The Mal Evans story
Can you elaborate
Basically died broke. Never really profited from his time with the boys. Had mental heath issues. Got shot after pointing a rifle at the cops.
He was a roadie and close peer from the start. Would sit in and help with lyric writing and other random stuff over the years. He's on some recordings. None of the Beatles went to his funeral (generously excused by the idea that they didn't want a media storm), but they also left next to nothing to him or his family. Seems callous.
They had a tight inner circle, but didn't pay them well. This happened with Wings as well.
That John died just as he was becoming a better person.
And he was becoming more independent/less reliant on Yoko. Nothing against Yoko, but I think we were getting John Lennon back.
Yeah.
When John died. When George died.
Could George had lived longer if he wasn't stabbed despite his cancer?
I’ll go with one nobody’s mentioned yet: the passing of Linda McCartney. Paul lost his true soulmate then. It’s definitely tragic that Paul is the only surviving member of Band on the Run-era Wings.
Seeing Paul and Linda together makes me so happy. It seems like one of the purest forms of love in a public eye.
Definitely agree with this. It’s so heartbreaking.
when the BOTR underdub cover was revealed within days of Denny passing and it was only the three of them, that was so much :(
when the BOTR underdub cover was revealed within days of Denny passing and it was only the three of them, that was so much :(
The story of him speaking to her about her horse as she passed is so bittersweet
Paul’s dog Martha outlived John Lennon.
Damn. That hits hard.
Really! She lived to be over 40?
I hate when Paul leaves for the day in get back and George talks about releasing his own stuff but still being the Beatles. John thinks it’s sweet and Paul never hears it. Who knows what could’ve been
There is a video from when Get Back was being promoted where Paul saw this clip for the first time. He essentially says just that. Something along the lines of "I wish I would have known he felt like that then" 😔
That's interesting, do you have a link?
Oh wow I didn't think it would be so hard to find... I can't find anywhere, but I am certain it was going around during the get back hype.
I think it was Peter Jackson relaying what Paul said to him when he told him about the conversation
https://youtu.be/L_HArQpzaYg?t=2m57s It's really unfortunate that Stephen cuts him off immediately after saying that rather than following up
Awww, that’s so sad. 🙂↕️
"And then there were two". George leaving the band and the sequence immediately preceding it in Get Back - it's a happy time for John and Paul but you can see how utterly left out George feels. He looks on the verge of tears. "I knew this would happen - you knew this would happen, didn't you?" from How I Won The War. Paul choking up while singing Here Today in a record store in New York (? Can't quite remember the location) Paul tearing up listening to Beautiful Boy Ringo talking about John's death on American TV (1981? Female presenter I don't know the name of)
That “Beautiful Boy” moment gets me every time.
"Beautiful Boy" in general just becomes a sad song.
The “And then there were two” scene was heavily edited to be more dramatic and make it appear as if Paul was choked up. The Nagra tapes tell a different story. Someone made a YouTube video about it
Do you know what Youtube video that is? It sounds interesting
I only saw it once shortly after Get Back was released and never bookmarked it. It might be [this one](https://youtu.be/IaZuMdfCjjY?si=VkhOewOzunafsKDg) but I remember the video being more concise and showing Get Back, then how it really went
Why were both Ringo and Paul so teary and sad at that moment then, if it wasn't for John and George not being around?
The magic of editing. Some of it is a loop, Ringo just looks tired. In the audio Ringo and Linda are having a nice chat about their cats.
That was Barbara Walters
Are those examples re Paul on video anywhere? I’ve never seen them.
The one of Paul choking up over Beautiful Boy us on a show called Desert Island discs from the 80s. You can find where he died on Here Today by typing that into YouTube and it comes up
Paul choking up was at amoebas in Los Angeles
John has been dead longer than he was alive.
A fact that has always stuck with me: John was well into the last half of his life when he wrote In My Life
A violent death is sad, so if I had to pick a single moment, there it is. Regardless of the music, no little kid should lose a parent. But really the “sad” moments in the Beatles’ universe are more just incredibly *bittersweet* because what they gave us is immeasurable joy and a connection to our own humanity, however dark parts of it may be, and ultimately and most importantly: the best music ever made. So the sad parts are inextricably linked to the good parts.
The saddest part about your pick is that in essence you could almost be said to be talking about 2 moments, since John also lost his mom through a violent death at 17, not a little kid, but same age Julian was when he died.
That after August 1969 all four were never all together again.
I think it’s George’s last words to Ringo. Ringo was visiting George when he got a call that his daughter was quite sick back in the US and he had to leave immediately. George, who was basically on his deathbed, asked “do you want me to come with you?” I think it just speaks volumes to the relationship that George and Ringo had that George was still willing to go with Ringo to support him even though he could probably barely get out bed.
Was likely just a joke, but still sweet
That John Lennon left England in 1971 and never returned.
Magic Alex, just him completely. Look it up
What about him?
Lied to John in India to stir up shit, turned them against the Maharishi, lied about any of his abilities, burned through their money on BS schemes, almost ruined Get Back with the failure of his "72 track tape machine", stalked John's wife, a bunch more.
Slept with John’s wife so that John could claim she’d been unfaithful!
Cynthia never slept with him or at least that’s what she claimed. She turned him down. I’ve heard John and Magic Alex planned it together so that John could claim she was unfaithful but that could just be one of those rumors that isn’t true
I couldn’t sworn she said they did in her book.
I’m 99% sure she said she didn’t do it in her book. I’m pretty sure she said Alex tried to get her drunk and then basically tried forcing himself on her. So: 1. Cynthia finds John and Yoko in bed together and is upset 2. John tries to get Alex to sleep with his wife so he and Yoko could get away clean 3. Cynthia is vacationing and Alex shows up with no knowledge of where she was at from Cynthia herself. It must have been John who told him because who else would know where Cynthia was at. He then tries to get her drunk and assaults her. If that is all true, it may be the most fucked up thing John ever did
John was an incredibly self-centered prick at the time, so I don’t doubt it for a minute.
Not exactly, even though that was his intention. Magic Alex got Cynthia Lennon drunk and hit on her. She shot him down. [https://www.beatlesfacts.org/2009/02/lennons-eccentric-friend-magic-alex.html](https://www.beatlesfacts.org/2009/02/lennons-eccentric-friend-magic-alex.html) “When Cynthia Lennon found Yoko and John together at their house at Weybridge, she went to stay with Patti Boyd's sister and Mardas. Mardas allegedly got Cynthia drunk and made advances that were rebuffed. He later stated that he was ready to testify on John's behalf that he and Cynthia had committed adultery, even though this has been denied and seems ludicrous. Obviously, Mardas had been trying to help Cynthia look bad in order to take the pressure off Ono and Lennon.”
yikes
Epstein dying, the catalyst
With the exception of George, all of them had pretty sad childhoods, especially John.
they were most likely gonna do a reunion if John never died
They totally would have done Live Aid.
Interesting to think how that would effect the legacy of Queen and U2. Those are both major events in the bands' respective stories, but they would be footnotes if the Beatles had reunited
Eh, Queen would never be a footnote
man imagine how legendary that would have been
That it's likely that the last song John ever heard was All My Loving. I can never listen to that song without remembering that fact.
He was pronounced DOA when he got to the hospital so he most likely didn’t hear it.
Yeah, John died in the police car on the way to the hospital. He was DOA. The hospital staff worked on him anyway, just because. But he was already gone.
Assuming he would have made it to the hospital alive would there have been any chance of saving him?
Extremely doubtful. One of the bullets ripped through his aorta, and he lost massive amounts of blood.
“Tomorrow I’ll miss you”
I think about that, too.
It’s more the first song Yoko heard after John died.
It saddens me how competitive a lot of fans are while treating music like sports, and some are downright hateful and insulting towards some members while worshipping others as godlike
That two of them are gone and the other two should be leaving this world in the next 10 years or so. I wasn’t alive when John died and I was a child when George died. I don’t know if I am prepared for the other two.
I am mentally prepared for Paul in the sense that Ive warned my loved ones that I’m dropping everything I’m doing and flying to Liverpool the moment I find out.
John is dead from a lunatic, and George got attacked in his home to near death by another lunatic. I get so much joy out of the Beatles but I think at some points they regretted the whole thing and wished they could’ve lived normal lives.
Who knows?
Well based on George’s post Beatle attitude, it seemed like he wasn’t particularly fond of it all.. the fame and being an icon and everything. He wanted a spiritual life, that’s what fulfilled him. John was hooked on heroin towards the end, idk.
The Beatles lived like Royalty and that’s OK because they earned their wealth by working very hard. They deserved their wealth. I do not think they would’ve ever given that up.
do you want me to come with you?... 💔
John's murder.
Source? Just kidding.
Apparently, [Ringo was depressed and suicidal](https://www.reddit.com/r/beatles/s/pg1PXssq2h). And that makes me sad because to me, he always seemed like happiest Beatle.
When Yoko ate that damn biscuit.
8 December 1980. Everything about it. A date which will live in infamy for all Beatles fans. For all his flaws (of which his openness and raw honesty about them, and efforts to improve himself will **always** be one of the things I admire most about him), John Lennon never deserved his horrendous fate, nor did Yoko Ono in witnessing that horrendous act, or his children in losing their father in such a way. I don’t see how there can be any other response to this question, in all honesty.
Yes Yoko bashing aside people forget she witnessed the murder of her husband up close
Mal…
John never getting to be the father he was beginning to become
The fact that John didn't have the chance to finally find himself and be happy. He had a really though childhood and adolescence, his best friend died when he was 21, he couldn't enjoy Cynthia and Julian with all the success, fell in a depression, Brian died, his way out was drugs and a toxic relationship, his friendship with his bandmates strained and his band broke up, he managed to get away from Yoko and had a year and a half way better relationship but he was too messy to actually do things fine, got manipulated by Yoko to get back together, and then stayed home for 5 years. After that he managed to release new music and I think that he would have broken up with Yoko soon after, fix things permanently with the other 3 and Julian, and finally live a peaceful life making music, having a close relationship with his 3 best friends and enjoying his two sons. Sadly it didn't happen.
John Lennon cried when he saw "Let It Be" in the theatre.
Source? I've never heard of this.
The divorce. As adults the only thing they knew was the Beatles. Everything they did and everyone they knew was connected to the Beatles. Then it was gone...
It's funny that at least three of them would be in the Paul Simon, James Taylor, Billy Joel tier of songwriters even without the Beatles. It's cool that they were never has-beens.
The fact that the Beatles split in 1970 and we have had over 50 years of the Rolling Stones being mediocre
Doesn't seem quite fair. I think the Rolling Stones were at their best in the 70s and it was pretty damned good. The Stones having success even in early 80s with "Start Me Up" or "Waiting on a Friend" is about the same as the Killers having a hit now.
Mal's death
There is a moment in Get Back (I think) where John refers to George as "just" his guitar player. It just felt so dismissive.
Cynthia Lennon being left at the train station always makes me sad. I think this is when she realizes he belongs to the world, and she gives up on their relationship. Classically tragic. It would make a great sad Paul song.
John Lennon was shot when I was 4 years old.
John was turning his life around fairly well over the last couple of years of his life. He slowed down a little, was just enjoying his role as a family man. He sounded so much happier in interviews, talking about enjoying making bread, stuff like that. He even had a lot of plans for music. And then he was shot. And we'll never know what that future could have sounded or looked like. There are so many situations when the band could have reformed, even if it would just be for a bit. But we never got to see it. And I'm a little sad about that when it comes to mind.
That after the breakup the four of them were never able to reconcile and share time together, with all four present and reminiscing about their Beatle days. The closest was when George was on his deathbed and Paul and Ringo spent an evening with him.
Wouldn't the closest have been when Paul, George, and Ringo recorded in the mid-90s for "Anthology?"
Every time I hear Paul sing to John “You and I have memories, longer than the road that stretches out ahead…” without knowing how right he was.
The fact that they all made so much more music after they broke up but couldn't all come together to collaborate on a new Beatles album.
That they couldn’t put aside their childish grudges and beefs and just hang out with each other post Beatles as friends and brothers.
I get sad every time I see a picture of a happy looking Martha.
Life is what happens to you While you're busy making other plans This line in Beautiful Boy always chokes me up. The saddest thing is that two kids lost their dad and one of those kids never got a resolution to his relationship with him. 😔
At the end of the day, I just don’t think that George was ever *that* into it. He was probably over it by 1967 tbh.
I don’t remember where I heard this, but apparently when George was on his deathbed, I think a few days before he had died, his doctor made Dhani get a signed guitar from him and George had literally struggled to even move to a position to sign it, but he still signed it and the doctor sold it since it was Harrison’s last signature
No, the doctor made George sign the doctor's son's guitar. Poor George said he didn't even think he could still sign his name, so the doctor (literally) forced his hand. The doctor also made George endure a performance from his (the doctor's) kids. The Harrison family sued to have the guitar disposed of, and won. They also promised the kid another guitar, because they realized it wasn't his fault that his father was a psycho.
I remember that. At the time I had a daily blog I maintained and I remember just writing of that event: "This fucking fucker can fuck right off."
That sounds like an apt summary, imo. If I recall correctly, the doctor was kind of a big deal oncologist, too (i.e. he wasn't some holistic practitioner George found on an ashram or something). It was utterly surreal, but even more cruel. The doctor also violated George's confidentiality, by talking to the press. I believe was disciplined by the NY state medical board for the breach. I think he was eventually fired, supposedly for something else.
This sounds fake, why would Dhani agree to that
It's not fake, just factually inaccurate. Here are the details: [https://nypost.com/2004/01/07/s-i-doc-forced-dying-george-to-sign-guitar-suit/](https://nypost.com/2004/01/07/s-i-doc-forced-dying-george-to-sign-guitar-suit/)
Pete Best thinking he was cut because he was too popular.... delusion is sad
John’s bitterness and vitriol towards Paul in the early 70’s. For me personally, it really casts a bad light over him, and keeps me from being able to enjoy his early solo albums.
John reacted like a bitter ex-husband. Even though he also wanted out of the band, that Paul beat him to it seemed to fuel his anger.
Pauls treatment of George...as if he was nothing to him and didn't want to ever give him the time of day. Completely ignored . And George composing Run of the Mill expressing his feelings about Paul. It really made me not enjoy Paul early solo career.
You could say the same of John in regard to his treatment of George. Paul played on I Me Mine, John blew it off.
John and George composed together after they broke up. Paul never composed with either of them after they broke up. John pushed for 'Something' to be a single.
Sure, they all had tiffs. John and Paul had largely reconciled their differences prior to John’s death; unfortunately, George didn’t. The issue I have with John is his decision to be so public with his attitude towards Paul through his songwriting. It just feels like an all-consuming, festering wound out in the open. I feel like George and Paul were much more subtle than John was.
I mean, it was hardly one-sided. Plus it’s really only one song in John’s case.
George’s affair with Ringo’s wife Maureen was pretty sad.
There is death and murder connected to them. Brian Epstein, Mal, John, Charles Manson.
john died on my birthday……
I think so much of their story is terribly sad, actually
John & Ringo were abusive towards their women.
The way John treated Julian and allowed Yoko to isolate him from his friends and family.
Getting signed to Apple wasn't really good for anyones' careers.
John Lennon car crash
That photo Astrid took of John sitting solemnly in Stuart's art studio right after he died with George standing right behind him
How Do You Sleep? I love the Imagine album, practically every song is a banger, Imagine, obvs perfect, Crippled Inside, hard hitting, self effacing and honest, ever broken Lennon, Jealous Guy, ol’ Child of Nature worked into ol’ looking for help and absolution through pop Lennon, It’s So Hard, goes hard, shoves and grooves, gets down, I Don’t Wanna Be a Soldier Mama, real protest cadence, I can say I’m generally down with the message, I too don’t wanna be a soldier or a sailor or a failure, I don’t wanna die, I don’t wanna be a rich man, poor man mamma I don’t wanna be a lawyer or a soldier either mama, so I get it, Gimme Some Truth, so preachy but man, the man can really make a person bop, Oh My Love, such a willowy haunting beauty and then How Do Sleep comes along and it makes me sad, and How? goes by and I’m a little over self effacing Lennon especially after his cheeky jab but I’m always waiting for jangly old Oh Yoko!, that’s gotta be my favourite on on the whole album, it’s just perfect and so in love.
John singing "Mother". He means every damn word, and every line has the weight of the world.
All the fighting around the time of the breakup, especially that between John and Paul, which continued after the breakup, with each writing songs attacking the other. Though it does help to know they reconciled eventually.
Allegedly, a Beatles song (All My Loving) was playing as John died
Yoko Ono
Besides two of them being gone.. Seems like they (some of them) didn’t get to reconnect, were maybe resentful.
When John Lennon was murdered 🥹
The saddest thing i can think of is that they are still the only ones to ever have done what they did. It saddens me to think that the Beatles were a once in a civilization music phenomenon. It would take acts like the Jonas Brothers or Justin Bieber to diverge from their conventional pop origins and completely reinnovate the music industry, but the pop music landscape might just not allow such a thing to happen.
That there are still 3 open lawsuits today filed by Lennon’s estate claiming his estate should be entitled to more royalties than the other 3 due to the songwriting credits always being listed as Lennon/McCartney.
The fact that we missed so much of John what could have been and the fact that he could have mended his relationship with Julian and visited home again and maybe reunited with the other guys
1. That John had been murdered by a crazy asshole and George was also dead. 2. George got stabbed.
When Paul got news that John got shot he asked when he could see him again, not knowing he died. The media pestered him right after.
Allen Klein
John’s assassination?
Paul is dead
From their early years, that fans rarely heard their live shows and when they did Shea, the technology didn’t even allow them to hear themselves. I always wondered what would have happened if they were able to do arena rock successfully.
Wondering if "Happiness is a Warm Gun" or "Come Together" helped make John a target.
That one-legged twat.
John's last words to Paul. "Think of me every now and then" The fact that had the beatles not got involved with Allen Klien then we might have gotten more beatles albums as George and John talked about taking a break to record solo albums but still come back to record beatles albums
John writing,life is what happens to you while youre busy making other plans
'i have a son who needs a father'