What was the last Beatles song?

I believe that was the case. They were trying to fill out a full album with sings that appear in the film...
"Across The Universe" was run through... but they came up with a better, cleaner, more finished version for the album proper- albeit one that eas recorded almost a full year before the project...

"I Me Mine" was a similar situation... rehearsed during filming, but.... they recorded the definitive version for the album almost a full year after the project...

 

Having researched it a bit in Lewisohn, I think a good argument could be made for Because. It was the last tune started for Abbey Rd and the day it was started 8-1-69 was the last day the 4 Beatles worked on the same track together.

The last day all 4 Beatles were in the studio together for recording purposes was 8-8-69 (appropriately, the day they were photographed crossing the street away from the studio), but that day they worked on different tracks - Paul and Ringo on The End, Paul on Oh Darling, and John and Ringo on I Want You (unclear what George did if anything).

The last time the 4 were in the studio together was for mixing on 8-20.

But I come out with a real good argument can be made for the last song they did together was Becausw, with 4 of them in the studio to start it on 8-1-69. Ringo isnt actually on the final track, but be tapped a hi hat to serve as a human click track at the session.

 

If I remember correctly, only Paul, George, and Ringo are on the basic track and only Paul, George, and John played the solos, so that wasn't a full band recording as all 4 didn't play at the same time so the argument can't be The End as a full band recording, but I don't really care about the semantics. So my choice for their last song is "Now and Then".

 

Cute answer, but wrong. So no super-duper luxury luggage set of Egypt Station for you. The jigsaw puzzle and all the other junk stays with me...

 

This is such a great and logical explanation. Thank you. And it lays to rest all those arguments that because it is credited to the Beatles, it is their last song. Your differentiation between the actual band and the corporation is an apt description.

 

There really can be no answer outside the correct one which is I Me Mine. That John didn't bother to show is completely his problem if we need to attach some kind of extra significance to the event. How is the last recording any more important the all the others? For those who say The End is a nice way to go out I can only say that this is an example of the mind not conforming to reality but to a personal fairy tale. And let's not forget that John not showing for the final recording could be construed as a blessing as that meant no Yoko.

 

Just to complicate things, 'All Things Must Pass (Demo)' was released on Anthology 3, which was released AFTER 'Real Love'.

 

There are obviously several "correct" answers, depending on the criteria being used. My criteria are not necessarily your criteria. Diverse perspectives are a good thing.

 

I don't have a criteria. I am simply looking at the last time the Beatles recorded a song. Facts don't require criteria.

 

There is much more involved in making a record than the recording. Substantive work was done after the recording of "I Me Mine." And if I am using "substantive work" as my criterion, then the Beatles being physically together in the studio is not relevant.

In reading through the thread, I think that almost every response is valid, depending on the criteria being employed. And that is a good thing.

 

“Free As A Bird”, because “Real Love” was just a remake of a track from Imagine: John Lennon

 

The End is the last time as a foursome with the intention of completing an album they all signed on for and wanted to do. It’s the figurative death. The End was the end.

But technically I me mine even though John was missing, that was the actual last time. The literal death.

Free As A Bird/Real Love has all 4 but not in the same plane of existence so it’s more like a cheap workaround.

Get back definitely not.

 

Real Love for the win. I will always consider it the last Beatles song.

 

Smoke on the Water?

 

yeah, but that one was a George solo recording.

 

How about the last time the Beatles recorded a song alive? Come on now. Free As A Bird/Real Love aren’t true Beatles songs. They’re in name only.

How can Real Love be the last Beatles song when the Beatles never reformed as a band unit? The Threetles released it under their brand name. The Beatles did not release it as a band. Three does not make four. That is a fact.

 

And it really throws a wrench in the "wow, incredible" factor as, "can you believe 200 (or whatever the number is) songs in just 7 years, 4 months" loses a tad bit of its punch when it changes to, "202 songs in 33 years".

 

But this opens a can of worms. Did Led Zeppelin play the O2 in 2007? Does Supertramp really exist since Roger Hodgson left in 1983? How about Pink Floyd after 1984?

 

The last time all four of them willingly participated in making a new Beatles record was the '69 Christmas record. I guess the last time a Beatle came up with a "song" for a Beatles record would have been that little McCartney Christmas ditty.

 

All the guitar work is George on "I Me Mine"?

 

Sadly, I wanna say Lennon's "God" - the most shocking, biting thing you could express. Summer Of Love is over, don't forget your purse...

Sort of the "Mirror Universe" version of The Threetles (and, it would most certainly cap-off a great comp that starts off with, "All Those Years Ago").

 

For me, it's Her Majesty.

 

But Lennon had left the Beatles in 1969 and they carried on as a threesome (albeit temporarily). If they'd wanted to, the other three (either before or after Lennon's death) could have continued without him or reformed the group (depending on when). Which, in fact, was what they did in the 1990's. That they chose to use Lennon demos in order to include performances by him was their choice. They could have decided to write and record something entirely new. It would still have been The Beatles. Many won't like that fact but there are a great many bands that continued after a member died.

 

I dont think they exhibited any intent to carry in as a threesome. They finished work on the soundtrack for a film to fulfill a contractual commitment and both the film and the album were released by a 4 piece band. It was several years before they dissolved their partnership, at which point they did not replace it with a 3 man partnership.

 

Whether it’s technically correct or not, I consider “The End” to be the end.