When was the last time the Beatles were happy as a band?

On the ' Let It Be ..Naked ' bonus ' Fly on Yhe Wall ' disc there's a moment where George tells Paul that his beard suits him and Ringo addresses him as " Captain".

 

You might

 

The very first time I saw Paul with the beard was in a rooftop pic TV Guide used when they did a feature article on the, then, upcoming LIB film. Seeing him like this was, at the time, jaw dropping. But cool. Very cool.

 

Watching the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band and that stripper inside a small tent.

 

Music & money can transcend differences. Rishikesh transcended the self. I believe India was a powerfully antidote to Beatlemania, letting it all go, finding peace, writing songs within community. To me, this was the last time the band were happy as people, before returning as The Beatles.

 

This is an excellent point and part of the reason for my musings on this topic.

There are so many contradictions with these guys. Common opinion has it that they were last happy as a band before the White Album. And I sort of agree....pre-White Album, or up to 1967 was their last heady highpoint, as @wildcat1969 stated earlier, before the cracks started appearing. After that it's seemingly an ongoing winter of discontent. Yet, when you start to look beyond common opinion, there are things that just don't make very much sense - so many photos/videos/interview snippets and indeed, demo tapes such as the Esher tapes where they are clearly having a good time and getting on as a band.

The upcoming Get Back film will apparently be showing us the Beatles succeeding as a band despite the obstacles in their path. Even if you believe the Get Back film to be revisionist, the Abbey Road album exists. To me, that's not a sign of a desperately unhappy band. Yet they broke up. There's a photograph of Yoko in hospital and John has pictures of the other three Beatles on the wall for company. This is the same guy who would break them up 10 months later. It's so strange.

 

Yesterday.

 

My belief until I learn something different is that when they were playing together it was (Almost) always a real joy. It's the other things, like buisness matters and general separation from each other, that were the things that broke up the band if you know what I mean.

 

Great post! I didn't know that there was a session without Yoko. See, I always learn something from these kinds of discussions. Is there an audio of that particular session? Just the four of them together again must have been great fun. And yes, I agree with you about what a fantastic way to close out the decade.

 

Interesting. That was indeed a fiasco. Why do you think it all went downhill after that?

 

not that I am aware of. If there were any I would think it would have made its way onto the box set, being the iconic Beatles climax that it is. I'd sure love to see/hear any session documentary reels that might exist. That'd really be something ! (no pun intended)

 

Paul, George, and Ringo adding their parts to "Free As a Bird" and "Real Love" with Jeff Lynne (and somewhere, John was smiling).

 

I think they had happy (or relatively happy) times untill mid 69. But few of them than, say, 65.

 

yeah and hopefully we won't get deleted and pushed aside like in the other Beatles threads

 

They apparently got together better than they ever had during the "Sgt Pepper" sessions.

Weed and acid and the rosy, comradery glow that they impart probably helped, but still.

Then after Epstein died and Paul pushed his Magical Mystery movie plan onto the others, things started to disintegrate... got worse in and after India... which led to even worse during "The White Album" sessions.

Happiness was a rare gun for them, after that.

 

Pepper launch party?
Lennon looks like he's about to waste away, reported to be scared that the album would kill the band. They all seem very glassy-eyed at that party. Linda describes meeting John there (whom she claimed had been her favorite Beatle), noting he was nervous and insecure.

There was probably more harmony, more good than bad, throughout the whole tenure of the band than was portrayed after the breakup. There was certainly tension and it seems to have expanded in the wake of the reaction to John's Jesus comment.
India did them good, but Paul and Ringo were less enthusiastic about it.
There was also tension with George Martin, where John and Paul reportedly felt Martin may have taken (and been given) too much credit for Pepper. Martin took a break from the White Album and seemed only a peripheral presence at the Get Back sessions. Then there's Harrison stating he and Ringo often felt like the "less groovy Beatles", always in danger of being replaced.

But in 1964 they looked liked Superheros who had life figured out, before the heavier drug use.

 

They had happy moments until the end.

 

Knowing the effect that baked beans have when eaten large quantities, I feel sorry for Maureen. She had to share a chalet with him.

 

From the photos, John appears to be drinking a lot, probably to calm his nerves. As regards George Martin, I recall a quote from Paul along the lines of, "he couldn't have made Pepper with Gerry and The Pacemakers".

 

They had a good amount of light-hearted Beatle happiness during the Mad Day Out photo sessions in July 1968:

 

I've been checking out the Robert Rodriguez' "Something About the Beatles" podcast, and also read the Doggett book, 'You Never Give Me Your Money', and I'm going to say the day before the first meeting with Allen Klein would be my guess. That seems to be the point of no return. When the four of them could not agree about Klein, (and Paul's suspicions were correct), then they were not going to be happy as a unit.

 

Stupid bloody Tuesday...

 

How about when they recorded "Ballad of John and Yoko"?

 

Well that was just John and Paul.

 

I'm going to assume the last time they were happy together as a band wasn't photographed or reported on, like most lives, and therefore any speculation is pointless and irrelevant.