When did John decide to leave The Beatles/what was the "final straw"?

I always assumed John wrecked his car because he was driving while high, and this made him wake up a bit and at least attempt to straighten out and kick heroin. He thought he'd kicked it by the end of the Abbey Road sessions (but was straight enough for several weeks to knock out two killer new songs in Come Together and Because and help with the medley, and then wrote Cold Turkey about doing so, but then there are reports he was shooting up with Clapton and the band on the way to Toronto, so that didn't last long. The biggest problem is that both John and Yoko were on heroin. She'd been on it much longer than he, and introduced him to it. But when two addicts are together like that, it's rare that they get help quickly and kick it. There's just too much temptation when both are hooked.

John's addiction to H was as big a factor as any in the Beatles demise and it's rose-colored glasses to think otherwise. It just gets swept under the rug by Paul and Ringo and all the TV specials.

 

Did John play on "Savoy Truffle"? I've never heard much info about this recording itself, other than what inspired the lyrics.

Also on the acoustic demo of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" it's John who slips over to the organ and plays along some. He must have been interested in the song to do that. You don't play along on a demo if you're not really into the song.

 

Paul is on the organ on the Anthology demo, don't think John is on Savoy Truffle. In John's defense most everybody is missing from some tracks on the White Album, George is on neither Ringo sung song, Ringo missed a bunch of songs, Paul is only absent from a couple things I believe. Just the way the album was recorded.

 

Amazing to think that Lewisohn could shed light on this topic (he says he's doing the research for volumes 2 and 3 at the same time) but it could be 15 years before he shares his insights with us. Reading volume 1 I was struck by the dates of the interviews - especially the key Kim Bennett one - they were from around 2003. He sat on that amazing story for 10 years.

An unrelated point, but I am so grateful that they split when they did, because Lennon's first solo album and All Things Must Pass were such magnificent artistic statements - and neither would have been anything like as fully developed if they'd tried to work on those songs within the group.

 

Agreed. And I've never thought it made much sense that Paul's leaving the "She Said She Said" sessions had anything to do with his refusal to drop acid at that point and inability to relate to the song. Paul contributed plenty to "Tomorrow Never Knows," which is as least as much if not more of an acid song. And that was recorded over two months before "She Said She Said."

 

Yes, Lennon's contributions to "Piggies" sort of seem like the exception to the rule or something, don't they? Seems like every other Harrison composition from '67 onward, though, Lennon's contributions were fairly minimal- backing vocals or something. Most of John's instrumental parts on George's songs (if there were any) ended up getting wiped for one reason or another.

Again, pure conjecture, but as I've mentioned before one possibility is that some of George's songs simply weren't to Lennon's tastes, either because he didn't like the music or found the songs too difficult to play.

True, but "She Said She Said" relates back to a specific incident- the L.A. acid trip John, George and Ringo took with The Byrds where Paul declined to join in, and by Lennon's own admission they gave him a bit of a hard time about it -"We're taking it [acid] and you're not!". If John had said to Paul during the "She Said" session, "No, Paul- I want to sing this with George" that might have pissed Paul off enough that he said "Screw you" and walked out. But like Nikh said, we don't know for sure, it's all just guesswork fifty one years down the road.

 

It's possible he didn't like the music, but too many people take that as a foregone conclusion, and then we get the whole "John didn't help George with his songs but Paul did, so it was unfair of George to be hostile towards Paul rather than John in the post-Beatle years" trope. Which leads to a bunch of armchair psychoanalysis about how George had a mental block against criticizing John and didn't appreciate poor Paul etc. We don't know why John doesn't play on some songs, but I think it's equally possible that it's because George didn't want him too. John was hardly a virtuoso, and George was the one who did the erasing when John was erased from a track. Or it's possible there was some other reason.

 

John plays bass on It's All Too Much and is in the backing vocals. Some of George's songs were mainly Indian instruments, no John there. John's musical contributions on guitar could be played exactly as George wanted them by George himself so John's role was more likely on keyboards or percussion or backing vocals. The White Album and Abbey Road are oddities in that John was absent from some sessions due to the accident and some sessions because they recorded songs in trios and pairs more in 1968.
But, as I always say, people noticing Paul contributing great musical motifs and licks to George's later day songs and John not contributing noticeably has more to do with Paul wanting to record the best possible Beatles track and being able, as a fluent and energetic musician to do so.
It's not noted as often but is more telling that Paul never contributed to the writing of any of George's songs but John did, as both George and John revealed. So instead of this continual sniping of "why couldn't John be bothered to turn up to help record George's songs?" (not true in 18 out of 22 cases anyway) why don't they complain "why couldn't Paul be bothered to turn up to help write George's songs?". That's just how it was. In the end, The Beatles was four guys and that's how they did it.

 

I've been struck down by a horrible Flu. Hopefully I'll be better in a few days & can add my 2 cents at that timr

 

John did seem to be having a lot of fun playing slide on "For You Blue" and according to bootlegs, he jammed on "Something" and gave lots of lyric suggestions to George for that song—even if none ended up being used—he was into it enough to want to help George finish it.

Of course these are John projects, but George was the only other Beatle to be asked to partake in Revolution 9 and What's the New Mary Jane. John could have just had Yoko on those tracks, but he invited George in to get weird with them. I think that says something about their friendship.

 

It says "avant garde a clue"

 

I thought Paul was involved in Ballad Of John & Yoko........sings lots of harmonies?

 

He's all over it, I think John plays guitars (and percussion?) and Paul everything else plus bg vocals.

 

Yes, he was saying in an alternative reality no one helped.

 

Apologies.....didn’t realise I was in a parallel universe.

 

Yes Ballad was a perfect example of John actually getting away with a whim and what he would later complain about ( allegedly ) not being able to do with Cold Turkey, he had the song and wanted to get it out quick, Paul was the only Beatle around and the pair just did it together - and amazingly then released it straight on Get Backs coat-tails !

 

Instant Karma was pretty much the same way, except he never asked the Beatles to do it.

 

But he did get George to play on "Instant Karma".

So IF the Beatles were still a viable option for John at this time, and IF he wanted to continue being a Beatle, he theoretically could have released it as being done by "The Beatles", just as "The Ballad Of John & Yoko" was "The Beatles" without George and Ringo.

 

Altho there were only Beatles on the Ballad of John & Yoko, I know there are some Beatles songs with guests.

 

Of course. I'm just making that suggestion from the alternate universe...

 

Now hold on! Wasn’t John the one who was peeved Paul was going around asking people for suggestions on Eleanor Rigby? And John helped with the lyrics on things like For No One. As far as I’ve heard, camaraderie in the Beatles was high throughout the Rubber Soul-Revolver period. She Said She Said was an exception to a period of generally high band collaboration.

 

Well George helped John polish up the song, so they were getting along OK. John helped on Taxman, so it evens out.

 

Where did you read that John helped with the lyrics on "For No One"? I don't think I've ever seen that mentioned, I even just did a quick google search and everything so far says it's Paul, including the lyrics - even John said it was Paul's song and never claimed any contributions.

 

He was almost all the instruments along with the vocals. He made that song because John asked him too and he put everything into it.

My post stated in an alternate timeline that if John wasn’t catered to then, it might have been the end of the Beatles even before he didn’t get his way with Cold Turkey.

 

I know, that's why the "She Said" session sticks out, because obviously some of that camaraderie went out the window at the point, and one could say never really returned.

Indeed- Lennon had nothing to so with "For No One"- he doesn't even play or sing on it.