“Something” would prove to be one of the most complicated and ambitious recording sessions the group would ever undertake. A 30-piece orchestra was enlisted, and George Martin, Geoff Emerick, Phil McDonald, and Alan Parsons were on hand. Recording was done simultaneously in Studio One and Studio Two by linking the two studios via a closed-circuit television hookup.
On August 20, John, Paul, George, and Ringo were all at Abbey Road Studios for the mixing and the sequencing of the
Abbey Road
album. It was the last time they would all be together at the studios. Two days later at John Lennon’s home, all four Beatles were present for the final photo shoot of the group. Ethan Russell took the photos. The Beatles were dressed in black.
Abbey Road
was released on September 26, 1969.
Sometime in December, the “Get Back” project contractually became a movie when Allen Klein sold thefilm rights to United Artists. The sale fulfilled the contract the Beatles had with United Artists for the third film that they owed the company. Some have speculated that MGM was also considering buying the film rights to what became
Let It Be.
Each year since 1963, the Beatles had issued Christmas music on a flexi-disc for the members of their fan club. In 1969 there was no new message recorded. Instead, a compilation of all the messages was issued.
January 3, 1970, marked a return to work related to the “Get Back” project. At a recording session at Abbey Road, Paul, George, and Ringo officially recorded “I Me Mine” for the first time. George Martin served as producer. John Lennon, on vacation in Denmark, did not attend.
On the next day, recording, overdubbing and mixing of “Let It Be” took place’back at Abbey Road. In addition to the cast from the day before, Glyn Johns was in attendance. It would be the last official recording date at Abbey Road by the Beatles (although only Paul, George, and Ringo attended) until the time of the
Anthology
sessions in the 90s.
On January 5, work continued at Olympic. Glyn Johns mixed “Across the Universe” and “I Me Mine.” Once again, he attempted banding and compiling an album. This time, though, he was told that the album would be a soundtrack for a film to be entitled
Let It
Be.
The new lineup would be the same as the previous one, except this time “Teddy Boy” would be dropped and “Across the Universe” and “I Me Mine” would be added.
Of the many projects coming out of Apple, both Beatles-related and otherwise, one hit a slight snag on January 27, 1970. John Lennon had released two solo/Plastic Ono Band singles up until that point. The first was “Give Peace a Chance,” recorded during his second bed-in for peace, at the Hotel Reine-Elizabeth in Montreal, where John and Yoko were staying from May 26 through June 2, and released in July of 1969. The second single, “Cold Turkey,” produced by John on September 25, 1969, at Abbey Road, directly addressed his ongoing problems with heroin and was released in October of 1969. “Instant Karma,” the song that would become his third single, nearly wrote itself on that January morning. However, while at Abbey Road Studios that day, John was having problems getting the right take of it. The track, which would become one of his most anthemic songs, was classic John Lennon and embodied his love for the frisky three-minute single. John still loved the idea of making singles in the vein of the seminal American R&B records that so heavily influenced the early Beatles. John’s homage to those wonderful 45s is evident from the three minor-key piano chords that opened the song. They are the very same three notes that gracethe opening of Richie Barrett’s “Some Other Guy,” which was released in 1962. Although John wrote the song quickly and it even had his unmistakable opening, he had no idea how to record the song. It was very much a follow-up to “Give Peace a Chance,” but was more empowering and hopeful. Like “Give
On August 20, John, Paul, George, and Ringo were all at Abbey Road Studios for the mixing and the sequencing of the
Abbey Road
album. It was the last time they would all be together at the studios. Two days later at John Lennon’s home, all four Beatles were present for the final photo shoot of the group. Ethan Russell took the photos. The Beatles were dressed in black.
Abbey Road
was released on September 26, 1969.
Sometime in December, the “Get Back” project contractually became a movie when Allen Klein sold thefilm rights to United Artists. The sale fulfilled the contract the Beatles had with United Artists for the third film that they owed the company. Some have speculated that MGM was also considering buying the film rights to what became
Let It Be.
Each year since 1963, the Beatles had issued Christmas music on a flexi-disc for the members of their fan club. In 1969 there was no new message recorded. Instead, a compilation of all the messages was issued.
January 3, 1970, marked a return to work related to the “Get Back” project. At a recording session at Abbey Road, Paul, George, and Ringo officially recorded “I Me Mine” for the first time. George Martin served as producer. John Lennon, on vacation in Denmark, did not attend.
On the next day, recording, overdubbing and mixing of “Let It Be” took place’back at Abbey Road. In addition to the cast from the day before, Glyn Johns was in attendance. It would be the last official recording date at Abbey Road by the Beatles (although only Paul, George, and Ringo attended) until the time of the
Anthology
sessions in the 90s.
On January 5, work continued at Olympic. Glyn Johns mixed “Across the Universe” and “I Me Mine.” Once again, he attempted banding and compiling an album. This time, though, he was told that the album would be a soundtrack for a film to be entitled
Let It
Be.
The new lineup would be the same as the previous one, except this time “Teddy Boy” would be dropped and “Across the Universe” and “I Me Mine” would be added.
Of the many projects coming out of Apple, both Beatles-related and otherwise, one hit a slight snag on January 27, 1970. John Lennon had released two solo/Plastic Ono Band singles up until that point. The first was “Give Peace a Chance,” recorded during his second bed-in for peace, at the Hotel Reine-Elizabeth in Montreal, where John and Yoko were staying from May 26 through June 2, and released in July of 1969. The second single, “Cold Turkey,” produced by John on September 25, 1969, at Abbey Road, directly addressed his ongoing problems with heroin and was released in October of 1969. “Instant Karma,” the song that would become his third single, nearly wrote itself on that January morning. However, while at Abbey Road Studios that day, John was having problems getting the right take of it. The track, which would become one of his most anthemic songs, was classic John Lennon and embodied his love for the frisky three-minute single. John still loved the idea of making singles in the vein of the seminal American R&B records that so heavily influenced the early Beatles. John’s homage to those wonderful 45s is evident from the three minor-key piano chords that opened the song. They are the very same three notes that gracethe opening of Richie Barrett’s “Some Other Guy,” which was released in 1962. Although John wrote the song quickly and it even had his unmistakable opening, he had no idea how to record the song. It was very much a follow-up to “Give Peace a Chance,” but was more empowering and hopeful. Like “Give
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