My fascination with, and appreciation of, the Beatles goes back to the first time I heard them on radio in early 1964. I have vivid memories of their Ed Sullivan appearances, and even managed to see the first of two shows they did in Houston in August 1965. As I recall, that ticket cost me five dollars, but that was when minimum wage in the US was all of $1.25 an hour, so it’s all relative.
I recently spent about eight hours watching the Beatles documentary Get Back on Disney+, and I plan to watch it again in shorter chunks because there is just too much there to absorb in a single viewing. Something like fifty-six hours of old video and about 250 hours of audio produced during what became Abbey Road (album and movie), were used to produce the eight-hour, three-part documentary. Fans remember the film, and even the record album, as marking the end of the Beatles as a band. But why did it have to happen that way?
Ken McNab’s 2020 book And in the End chronicles what happened to the band after the cameras and microphones were turned off in January 1969. Via chapters dedicated to each month of 1969, McNab makes it clear that the timing of the breakup of the Beatles was inevitable, and that it happened for numerous reasons — not just because Yoko Ono became John Lennon’s shadow about that time. Ono certainly was a contributor to the band’s demise, but as it turns out, she gets more credit for the breakup than she deserves. In both And in the End and in the Get Back documentary, Ono comes across more as an irritating distraction and joke to Beatles fans than as a real reason the group decided to call it quits. The other three Beatles, who had to work with John every day, however, did find her to be more irritating than distracting - as evidenced by lots of eye-rolling and blank stares.
No, the real reasons the Beatles broke up are a lot more boring than the silliness and shallowness of Yoko Ono - and John Lennon’s utter infatuation with the woman. There were business problems: their company, Apple Corps, was almost bankrupt by 1969, and the group could not agree on whom to hire to manage their various interests. Paul McCartney insisted on one choice while John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr insisted on another. And it didn’t help that John and Yoko were now both heroin addicts, or that George Harrison was tired of having his own compositions ignored by the Lennon-McCarney songwriting team. Or that Ringo Starr was finally having some success in movies. Or that the band was terrified of performing live on stage anymore. Or that McCartney, Lennon, and Harrison were starting to enjoy creating music as individuals now that modern technology made it so easy for them to stay home and do exactly that.
No one person or event killed the Beatles, but when they reached their natural tipping point it was all over.
Bottom Line: And in the End is for Beatles fans, especially those still avid enough to spend eight hours watching the new Get Back documentary. The book picks up pretty much where the documentary leaves off and explains what happened during the rest of 1969 and beyond. It’s a sad story that will leave fans wondering, but doubting, if the band breakup could have some way been avoided. Sadly, to this fan at least, it just all seems to have been a matter of time.
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| Ken McNab |
We haven't seen the whole show yet, but it is clear that they are four quite different people. They had leanings, interests in different directions. I don't feel badly. They were perfectly wonderful, and then went their own ways which were also wonderful.
ReplyDeleteI do envy you seeing them. I also wish I could have seen The Doors and Cream.
With the exception of Ringo, who seemed to be willing to go on forever with the Beatles, the Beatles were becoming very different people. What I feel badly about is Lennon's heroin addiction and the way that made all their other differences seem so much worse. The addiction diminished John's creativity and production to the degree that Paul, in particular, felt like he wasn't pulling his weight anymore. You can see from the film that John was lethargic most of the time and had to be pushed on a lot.
DeleteI was and am a Beatles fan, though not as much as my younger daughter who is absolutely obsessed with them and a trove of all kinds of esoteric Beatles trivia. I do want to watch that documentary, although I'm not sure when I'll find the time. Probably won't read the book - it's not really my thing - but I can understand why you liked it.
ReplyDeleteThe book was very dry, and is definitely only for those who want to know more about the specifics of that last year they had together. Fascinating that your daughter is a bigger fan than you, even. I've created a new Beatles nut in the person of my youngest grandson...and I'm tickled that he's actually created a few new ones among his own friends.
DeleteNice review. We don't get Disney+ but we might need to for the documentary. I read a couple Beatles books over the years ... and have their albums. Their breakup is quite sad and perhaps they could've reconnected if John's life hadn't been taken. But it seems at the time they broke up they were burnt out & wanted to try other things. hmm. but the documentary perhaps shows they all were still getting along.
ReplyDeleteThey had largely gone their own ways and were all creating very separate lives at the time of the documentary. John was infatuated with Yoko and all of that weirdness, Paul was happy enough to stay home and make his own music, George was resentful that his own songwriting was being so ignored that he was ready to walk out first...and did. Ringo is the only one who just seemed to be content enough to go on with the gig forever. It was inevitable that it end soon...and for lots of reasons, it did.
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