George/Paul dust-up during the Get Back sessions

Maybe it was just meant to be.

 

That's how most businesses run, the ones that ultimately fail. Some success, the owners think yeah we know, right? Then.. Boof !

 

Except making Art is not a business.

 

"I like that drummer on yer new album, but I gotta say it's a pretty sloppy shuffle on that Helen Wheels."

 

A principle with a broad application.

 

Have we got any evidence of Keith Moon's version of a Shuffle
Moon would have heard the UK version sans Helen Wheels

 

Clearly Keith Moon was not a drummer either.

 

He might not have been a drummer, but man he could bang those sticks

 

Not really. The same fundamental forces that make something possible will eventually make it impossible.

 

The art was successful, the business less so.

 

I've always questioned this story. I think it's more likely that Moon asked Paul who the drummer was because he felt the drumming was sub-par. Paul misinterpreted it as some sort of high praise.

 

I can't believe I've read through this whole thread, but I have. Took parts of two days. It's a great discussion and I enjoyed following along. Thanks, guys.

The interpersonal relationships of the Fabs have always been a fascinating topic to me, because they had so much bearing on the band's creative process (an even more fascinating topic). LIB was like a smeary, really dirty window into those intertwined subjects at that late stage when things had already gone way sour. I say "smeary" and "really dirty" in allusion to the film's disjointed character. A few pages back someone was wishing for a new cut from the original footage by someone with a more coherent view of things. That would indeed be awesome, but I'm not sure how different the outcome would really be.

It's always tempting to paint LIB as a document of disintegration and dissipated magic, and I guess it is. But the same four angry young men were able to pull together enough to generate Abbey Road, so they obviously had that much left in the tank. LIB still stands as a wonderful historical document. Haven't sat through it in quite some time, but I'm going to try to find time for that soon.

 

Again I'll say

It looks like a typical band rehearsal of any band beyond year one.

That first Velvet underground tape, (from the Peel Slowly box) is way more snippy.

 

This is exactly what I was always thinking.
I agree it's subjective on my part, but .... it's so plausable.

Like:
-Moon: Who's playing drums on this ?
-Linda: It's Paul. We got no drummer so he had to do it.
-Moon: Ahem... err..... well yeah ok. errrr... very good drumming then !

 

-Reply: "Yeah I know. That's why we didn't put the song on the European and Uk versions of the album. "

 

These two got into a fist fight on the Twickenham set? Must have been quite a brawl.

 

John Lennon is the greatest singer-songwriter ever imo. I have no doubt he would have succeeded without the Beatles. Paul would have also. And George could have been a minor star i his own right. That is how much talent the band had.

 

No wonder George was so upset about Yoko stealing his biscuits. The dude was hungry, and losing weight far too quickly. I mean, John was famished too, but he should have stolen his own food, rather than get his girlfriend to do the dirty work for him.

I still firmly believe the Beatles could have avoided breaking up if EMI could have provided catering services whilst recording. Sometimes I too get “hangry” if I’ve missed too many meals.

 

True, but it's not every day a band reaches the heights The Beatles did while going out at the top of their game, followed by them always just missing each other for a proper reunion. When you read Tune In or You Never Give Me Your Money, it's hard not to be struck by how easily history could've gone in a different direction.

 

Perhaps, but thinking that we can know, even if only as a probability (as opposed to a certainty) what would have happened---a day later, a year later---if only X had happened, is an illusion, imo.

 

I don't think that though. I'm not suggesting that if you changed one thing everything would be different. I'm saying there were many little things which, when put together, made for an incredible and unique story.

 

So the Three Stooges made a Butcher Cover before the Beatles did?

 

I think it is worth mentioning that John wasn't the only Beatle that brought a new girlfriend to the first White Album sessions. Paul's girl even sang on John's song..

 

Paul only brought Francine Schwartz to the sessions because John brought Yoko. It was Paul's decidedly odd way of telling Lennon, "John, this business of bringing yer old lady to the studio is not on." Of course John didn't take the hint...

 

But George brought Eric Clapton. So it worked out ...