The Beatles 14th Album

I've thought about doing that. I think trying to stick to songs that were actually around during the time of the Beatles is probably the best way to go about doing a fantasy album.

 

Is there a decent version of "Suicide" out there? All the versions I've ever heard have been very low quality.

 

The only problem with "Not Guilty" is that it was rejected once, would John and Paul have included it on 14? Also, it wasn't "of the time" but of course that didn't stop them from putting "Across The Universe" on Let It Be.

I love this topic, by the way. Let's hear more opinions!

 

Yes, there is a decent version out there, much better than most that have been booted. I think it is from a television broadcast, with vocals, piano, bass, and drums.

 

Ron, great post. I'm looking forward to hearing how side 2 works out. I agree, design it as an LP, which is what it would have been in 1971. We're playing a balancing game between fantasy and reality.

 

"Glasses" actually refers to the bit just before the clip of "Suicide" which is a recording of Paul (overdubbed multiple times, of course) playing glasses with water in them (he demonstrates this on The McCartney Years DVD).

 

It's hard to think of "Imagine" out of the context in which it's known. Had the Beatles been around, John may have still chosen to release it solo.

I agree with you on this. I can't imagine George not getting parity. When you starting talking 1973, I can't follow it. So much time had passed and their music was really moving in different directions, particularly Paul with the entire Band On The Run album. Had the group continued in ANY form, they probably wouldn't have drifted so far apart. Even among CSNY, for the most part, they could re-form without having to regress, although by 1978, Neil was in a very different place.

Given the state of things going into 1970, I can't imagine what Paul, in particular, thought was going to happen with those songs. He had two of his best songs ever in limbo, and there is no way "Two Of Us" would have been wasted. I don't think the others cared much about their contributions. Paul moved forward with his first album, but didn't include any of his 1/69 songs except "Teddy Boy", which he must have already known was never going to be on a Beatles album. I'd imagine he thought he might have "Let It Be" and "The Long And Winding Road" to himself until Phil Spector made Let It Be a reality.

Aside from the creation of a paradox ("the results of which could cause a chain reaction that would unravel the very fabric of the space-time continuum and destroy the entire universe"), which would have rendered the song impossible, what else would've prevented the song from being written? I didn't think it was ever established that "Let Me Roll It" had anything to do with John.

I think something like that could very well have happened.

Yeah, you're right actually. I was listening on my speakers at work. Plus, I was listening to another "compilation" prior to the ATMP recordings to which you are referring. THOSE ones fit nicely. They're probably under-produced compared to what a George Martin-produced album would've sounded like.

I tried your comp with this take, and it certainly sounds good. Maybe all four would've okay'd it. There is no way to know. My thinking is that a song with the word "Lord" in the title, with lyrics addressing a particular spiritual point of view that the others didn't adhere to, would have been too much. George's conception of God at that point seemed to merge a Christian God with Hindu concepts. Paul has been pretty ambivalent about the topic. John has been all over the place, but at the time, God was "a concept by which to measure" his pain. If they had put out that song, it certainly would've been a really bold move.[/QUOTE]

I don't think George cared much for "Not Guilty" at the time, particularly since he didn't revisit it on All Things Must Pass. If I was going to try to shoehorn "Not Guilty" onto a Beatles album, I'd pretend the "Get Back" project never happened and that they started new album sessions in the spring. "Not Guilty" could go there. And probably, "Come And Get It" as well. In this scenario, Abbey Road wouldn't exist.

Yep... that's the big problem. The acoustic stuff works best, usually.

 

Oh, man! Such a great idea, but where are all the songs where they _actually_ vent their frustrations for each other??? THAT would be a perverse album.

What if the Beatles went in the studio and actually played on all the songs where they express their specific frustration and alienation? What would be included?

In other words, if the album consisted solely of songs that couldn't possibly have been on a Beatles album?

Early 1970 (post divorce report)
Dear Boy (sniping)
How Do You Sleep (obvious)
Sue Me Sue You Blues ("Find yourself a new band....")
or
Wah Wah ("You made me such a big star....Being there at the right time")


So....call it the divorce EP.

 

I'd buy both of these

 

That makes a great Phase Two Beatles album. That's pretty similar to the the tracklisting I've been playing with for the past few days, but I'd save "Instant Karma" b/w "What Is Life" as a non-lp double a-side. I'd maybe open the album with "Mother" seguing into "Every Night," and open side two with "It Don't Come Easy" instead of "Early 1970." I'd also substitute either "If Not for You" on "Behind That Locked Door" for "Let It Down," but I pretty much agree with your choices.

 

Thanks!

Mmmm ... that would instantly have become one of the best double-A singles in Beatles history!

 

Wow so basically ABBEY ROAD is that last album they maybe released knowing they were breaking up..its basically all songs that could have been on their solo records anyways...but look how they had all gone their separate ways by that time. Everyone had their own sound, John, all hippy dippy and mad, Paul, all pop, fun and creative, Ringo, uh well ringo as usual, and George, as stylish and pro as ever. Im kinda glad they ended on a high note, as I think they were pretty much out of ideas to DO TOGETHER anymore. Between them after they broke up, paul released about 30 truly great songs, John maybe 20, ringo about 6, and george maybe 12......!!

 

IMHO, each of them recorded or released the best song of their solo career within a year of the last Beatles recording session:

Lennon - Instant Karma
McCartney - Maybe I'm Amazed
Starr - It Don't Come Easy
Harrison - My Sweet Lord

 

I love their solo careers, but a strong case can be made for this argument. I think they were all at the peak of their powers in 69-71. Once Lennon got back on track (ie. clean), he started producing the best work of his career.

 

I thought Lennon's best work was his stuff on Double Fantasy.

 

Swap "My Sweet Lord" for "What Is Life?" and you'll get no argument from me.

Would've made a swell "comeback" EP, too.

 

Both great songs, no doubt, but My Sweet Lord--to me--typified George's quest for spiritual fulfillment like no other song of his.

I agree, too, than Lennon's work on Double Fantasy (and Milk and Honey) is . However, for me, Instant Karma is his best solo track--although Starting Over, Watching the Wheels, Woman, and Nobody Told Me are right up there.

 

According to the book "The Beatles On Record" the group had planned to release the 14th Lp under the title of"Rock And Roll" and had a cover all drawn by an artist depicting the group as insects (Beetles)....the Lp never was recorded due to the break-up of the group....the planned Lp never got released as a result. Michael Boyce

 

The Beatles never came up with a name and artwork for an album before it was recorded, and I don't think they would have been planning such things at a time they were feuding, as they were in 1970. A lot of Beatle books should be titled "imagine".

 

Ah, so someone DOES agree with me then. I've made the argument elsewhere that the 1980 songs (Double Fantasy and Milk And Honey combined) are the strongest collection of songs he's put in one place since A Hard Day's Night. Lennon in 1980 wasn't exorcising demons or making grand statements. He was simply a smart pop song writer just like he was in 1964.

 

I was thinking about a variation of this topic... what if either "Get Back" never happened and a new studio album was recorded sometime in mid-1969 or so? Or if "Get Back" did happen, instead of dismissing the core songs, they were part of the next project?

So the premise of this compilation is that instead of trying to make a movie, George and John stood their ground and said it was a bad idea, so they only recorded a single of "Get Back" and "Don't Let Me Down". Everything else transpired as it did in reality and the group decided to make an album with the thought that it might be their last. Consequently, all of the songs available to them in the early months of 1969 are still available in the summer.

This is also a difficult exercise. I assumed the following:

• Get Back/Don't Let Me Down was released as a single
• Any Let It Be or Abbey Road song was eligible
• No song that existing as a result of those albums is eligible (no "One After 909" or "big melody").
• It must be no more than 50 minutes (which is still too long)
• It must include all of the very noteworthy songs from this era (Paul's ballads, George's Abbey Road songs).

Side One
Come Together
Old Brown Shoe
Two Of Us
Oh! Darling
Dig A Pony
Octopus's Garden
The Long And Winding Road

Side Two
Cold Turkey
Let It Be
Something
I've Got A Feeling
Across The Universe
Here Comes The Sun
You Never Give Me Your Money

Notable omissions are "Maxwell's Silver Hammer". I cut it because in my scenario here, Paul had so many songs that he didn't need one that caused so much frustration for everyone. "For You Blue" didn't make it because I think it was a throwaway song specifically for the movie. "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" wasn't included because it was too long. "Because" wasn't included because I couldn't find a good place for it. "Come And Get It" was a contender, but there were already too many Paul songs. So I assumed that he still gave it away. I had no idea what to do with "The Ballad Of John And Yoko". The my alternate world, perhaps it was released as a single with "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" as the b-side.

The biggest problem with this comp is the same problem that the Beatles had in reality - John didn't have songs. So in order to have John songs included, I had to break a couple rules. "Across The Universe" was a done deal except for it's resurrection in the movie. I don't think it would've been reconsidered at this point. And "Cold Turkey" was not only rejected by the group, but it was written after the time frame I was considering. But since it was possible, and Ringo is on it, I took the liberty.

 

I've thought about that myself. I don't really care for most of the post-1968 Beatles material. I think "Abbey Road," "Let It Be" and all of the non-LP tracks could have been scrunched together to make one really strong, cohesive album.

What version of "Across The Universe" did you use?

Not sure what you mean here.

The DF and M&H material is very unfairly maligned, IMHO.

 

LIBN

"One After 909" was selected because John didn't have new songs, it fit with the concept, and it would've sounded good in the show. The Abbey Road medley was totally a product of that album. It was a Paul and George Martin idea specifically to try something new. It was most likely specific to Abbey Road and wouldn't have had happened in other circumstances. For instance, using the list I made, which songs should be cut for "Mean Mr. Mustard" and "Carry That Weight"?

 

I gave this a try and if you remove the FL and FR, and mix only the C, LFE, SL and SR you get an absolutely wonderful mix, one that you really could believe would have been a Beatles take... for the first 20 seconds. Then the handclaps are mixed in.. loud and fake sounding, and the image is pretty much ruined. Maybe I'll play around with oopsing and stuff, see if I can reduce the handclapping effect some. I have always though of this as a quasi-Beatles song, I wish it had been recorded and produced like one.

 

I've done a variation on your variation ... ... in my scenario, John and Paul manage to record "The Ballad of John and Yoko," the group struggles through a few sessions but never agrees to make another album, and they break up in April 1969. EMI, with four months of abandoned sessions on their hands, decides to release a "posthumous" final Beatles album, titled All Things Must Pass. They use the unused Get Back cover art, and John and Paul finish off one final song to complete it. I've actually made a CD of this (unlike my Beatles XIV, which for now exists only in my head), and it's a fun listen. I enjoy it more than Let It Be, that's for sure. Originally, it was a catch-all compilation of A3 and LIBN tracks, but I wanted to put a "story" behind it. (I even wrote a press release for it. Yes, I know that's sad.) Here's the tracklist:

SIDE ONE:
------------
01. Two of Us (LIBN)
02. I've Got A Feeling (LIBN)
03. Something (A3 demo)
04. Don't Let Me Down (LIBN)
05. Octopus's Garden (A3)
06. Old Brown Shoe (A3 demo)
07. Across The Universe (A2)

SIDE TWO:
------------
01. Get Back (LIBN, with the fadeout fixed)
02. The Ballad of J&Y (Blue Album, with the full ending from 1 added)
03. For You Blue (LIBN)
04. Let It Be (edit of the Anthology DVD and LIBN)
05. All Things Must Pass (A3 demo)
06. The Long and Winding Road (Anthology DVD)
07. You Know My Name (my own "cleaner" edit of the A2 version, with the removed parts restored)