Get Back!-A Beatles Timeline

[Seltaeb Eht]

As recording of The Beatles Again drew to a close, the band’s discussions inevitably turned to touring. Although the Fab Four had not toured together since 1966, the Beatles had been touring steadily since 1972 and George had toured twice since he left the band. McCartney wanted to build on the success of the last tour, making it even more of a production. To his surprise, he found agreement from George.

“The last tour was huge, and had a big production, and I wanted even more of that. George agreed with me, and I was like, ‘woah’. Because George always hated touring back in the Beatlemania days, and later on in the 60s and early 70s he and I would never agree on anything. So it was beautiful to have him so enthusiasticc about the tour and everything, it really felt like the band was back together.” – Paul McCartney, 2007

Paul wanted a huge sound, and a chance to really do some of the songs right. With George’s support, he convinced the others that they would need to hire a horn section to appear on some of the songs. Jimmy McCulloch (whose band White Line would serve as the opening act) would also cover bass duties on certain songs where Paul was playing piano, and John and George would both be occupied with guitar parts. Lennon was the most resistant to these ideas at the time, and would later speak out about them (although he seemingly mistakenly attributed the ideas for horns to Harrison, perhaps because George had called on his old friend Jim Horn to lead the players).

“On the last one, we had the horns and all that. We were trying to be more than four guys, even though we were finally four guys again. George had the horns on his tours, so we thought we had to have them on this one. But at the core, we’re just four guys up on a stage with guitars and drums. This is rock ‘n’ roll, not Broadway.” – John Lennon, 1978

Another bit of friction was the material they would play. The Beatles and Harrison had had separate, parallel career paths for almost four years. There was question of whether to play material from that period, and if so, whose. That tension, however, was dissolved rather quickly and amicably by most accounts.

“I expected an ultimatum from George, saying ‘you can’t play anything after Imagine’ or ‘we have to play my solo material’, but he didn’t say anything like that. We went over the setlist with him, and we did pull some numbers out, put some of his [Beatles] material in. HE just wanted a fair billing as far as number of songs goes. And we did add in a few more from the last time he was in the band [material from ’69-‘71], too, but he didn’t force us, we wanted to. The only thing he was really adamant is changing the opening, because he wanted the show to start with a song from when we were all together, so we pulled out the “Venus/Rockshow” opening, even though I was pretty fond of that.” – Paul McCartney, 2008


“Reporter: Why aren’t you playing any George Harrison songs?

GH: Well that’s news to me, because I’ve been singing plenty in the set-

RS: More than enough

[laughs]

Reporter: I mean any of your solo songs – “My Sweet Lord”, “Give Me Peace”, “You”-

GH: Well it’s a Beatles tour, not a George Harrison tour, so we’re playing Beatles songs.

Reporter: So does that mean there’s going to be another George Harrison tour?

JL (ignoring last question): Plus, we had to cut ‘em to make room for Revolution number nine.

[laughs]”

- An exchange between the Beatles and a reporter at a press conference, 1976


With the setlist being worked out and some backing musicians hired, the Beatles rented a theater to begin rehearsals, following the end of recording for The Beatles Again. Neil Aspinall and Alistair Taylor (who had taken over most of the Beatles’ management from Peter Brown) began booking dates. Mal Evans was officially managing the tour, and was overseeing the rehearsals and preparation of gear, but much of the hands-on work was done by a new member of the Beatles team. John Hammel1 was hired as the Beatles’ personal assistant and road manager just before the start of the tour. He would stay in that position for years to come, becoming an invaluable part of the Beatles’ inner circle.

Of course, the Beatles were not just a business affair anymore; they were a family affair. Both Ringo and Paul would bring their wives and children on the tour, as they had for the last several. But the Beatles family was also expanding. George’s girlfriend Olivia Arias would come along for the first time, as would John’s son Julian. Julian had been seeing more and more of his father since the latter’s divorce from Yoko Ono, and both saw this as a perfect opportunity to grow closer. The younger Lennon would later look fondly on the tour, citing the happy times he had with his father and the other Beatles children (citing especially the times he spent jamming on the drums with Zak Starkey). More happy news broke just before they went out on tour: Linda McCartney was pregnant. All the Beatles shared in Paul’s joy as they set out to conquer the world once again.

The Beatles – “Back in the World Tour” (1976)
Back in the US (US, Canada): 29 Shows, 24 April- 20 June
Back in the East (Japan, Australia, New Zealand): 19 Shows, 1-25 July
Back in the UK (England, Wales, Scotland): 10 Shows, 8-22 August
Back in Europe (France, Germany): 5 Shows, 25 August – 2 September

Setlist:
Electric Set 1:
1. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
2. It Don’t Come Easy
3. What You Got
4. Beware of Darkness
5. Let Me Roll It
6. Yer Blues
7. This Song
8. Come Together
9. Photograph
10. Move Over Ms. L
11. Lady Madonna
12. Silly Love Songs
13. What Is Life
14. I Want You (She’s So Heavy)

Acoustic Set
15. I’ve Just Seen a Face
16. You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away
17. Two of Us
18. This Boy
19. Here Comes the Sun

Electric Set 2:
20. Band On the Run
21. #9 Dream
22. Hi Hi Hi
23. Crackerbox Palace
24. Imagine
25. Octopus’s Garden
26. Something
27. Whatever Gets You Thru the Night
28. Let it Be
29. Live and Let Die

Encore:
30. While My Guitar Gently Weeps
31. Give Peace a Chance
32. Hey Jude

The tour was a Beatle fan’s dream. Absolutely packed with hits and other favorites, most thought it improved over the last tour, which many thought wasn’t possible. Critics and fans alike delighted at the addition of “Sgt. Pepper” as the opening number. The addition of several Harrison songs was also met with praise. And finally, the inclusion of the singles from The Beatles Again ensured that each became hits. The biggest hit of the four, however, was Paul’s “Silly Love Songs”, a new crowd favorite which the audience delighted in singing along to.

Despite the immense positive reaction, however, the tour was grueling. More than four months on the road led to exhaustion, with even Starr stating to the press: “Well sure, it was fun. But I don’t know if we can do another like it. Certainly not every year. We’re not teenagers anymore.”

 

[cortz#9]

Good stuff! Nice to see Julian getting to spend more time with his dad ITTL.

 

[=hb2b=]

15. I’ve Just Seen a Face
16. You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away

Just wondering, is there an in-story reason for them choosing to play pre-1967 material again? Will they slowly start bringing more and more pre-Sgt Pepper songs into the live performances?
Anyway, another great update.

 

[Seltaeb Eht]

Just wondering, is there an in-story reason for them choosing to play pre-1967 material again? Will they slowly start bringing more and more pre-Sgt Pepper songs into the live performances?

I don't think there's necessarily a reason, or if there really was a ban on pre-67/68 material. I think they'd definitely be adverse to playing the early 60s hits or even anything they heavily toured with previously. But as for other, more obscure stuff, I think it fits in. Especially in the acoustic set, which I see as kind of a special case. "I've Just Seen a Face", in fact was performed by Wings in '75/76.

 

[Seltaeb Eht]

When it was launched in 1968, Apple Records showed promise as a young independent label run by the biggest band in the world. 8 years later, its roster was growing stagnant, composed mostly of holdovers from the late 60s and early 70s. Although Queen and James Taylor were still attaining chart success, it was hardly a sustainable model for a record label. Meanwhile, its US sister label No Dice was thriving due to an influx of new, young artists signed by A&R director Pete Ham. Ham was called home to the UK in January 1976 by Apple chief executive Peter Brown in order to repeat the success he had with No Dice.

Ham decided to adopt the strategy that had won Apple success in 1968 and 1969: hit the streets of London in order to find young, up-and-coming acts. In the various clubs and bars, Ham heard the start of a new musical movement, similar to what he had heard in New York; multifaceted, it was a back-to-basics approach that would spawn punk, pub rock, and New Wave, and would be compared to the beat movement in the early 60s that his bosses had been part of; For now, all Ham knew was that it was the sound of the future.

At a show by singer-songwriter Nick Lowe in a London club, Ham was recognized by Lowe’s manager, Jake Riviera. Riviera, who also managed several other bands, impressed Ham with his knowledge of the scene, and offered to take him around to see other shows. In another club about a week later, Riviera told Ham that he was considering starting an independent label that would focus on the band currently coming up in the London scene. Ham informed him that Apple was currently looking for an A&R director who would refocus the label on that scene. After meetings with Apple executives including Brown, Ron Kass, and even one with Paul McCartney, Riviera was hired as Apple Record’s A&R Director.

Ham remained in London until June to help Riviera begin his term signing new artists. The new label manager took to his job immediately, signing a host of new artists to the label from London’s underground scene: the Damned, the Jam, the Clash, Wreckless Eric, Elvis Costello, and Nick Lowe. Riviera also signed Lowe to a contract to produce some of the other artists on the label. Lowe convinced Riviera to sign Dave Edmunds, who was between contracts, to Apple. The signing Edmunds, who had several top 10 UK singles a few years earlier, lent credibility to Riviera in the eyes of some of the Apple executives skeptical of the new direction he was taking the label in. Riviera and Lowe began producing their new artists. The first release by any of the new artists was “New Rose”, a single by the Damned. Its poor commercial performance worried the Apple management, but the single would become a cult classic, and would be acknowledged as the first punk single released in Britain. The few other of Riviera’s artists who released singles by the end of the year fared a little better, assuaging some of the higher-up’s fears.

As Riviera established a new direction for the label, the old guard of Apple Records marched on. The Beatles, of course, were finally free to fully release their records on Apple (where their recordings had previously been owned by EMI). The remaining Apple mainstays of the late 60s and early 70s all released albums this year as well, although none had great success besides Queen (whose single “Somebody to Love” became the year’s UK Christmas #1).

Pete Ham returned to Los Angeles in June 1976 to resume his duties at No Dice. The label had moved along smoothly in his absence, as he and label president Jack Oliver had set up a hands-off model, where the artists recorded on their own without label interference, often outside LA (necessary for the many New York-based bands). Ham did still have a lot on his plate, including the production of the Heartbreaker’s new album, including the title track which would become a top 40 hit. Ham also produced the debut of the label’s newest band Cheap Trick. No Dice hummed along steadily in 1976. Although its artists still largely lacked hit singles, their albums were steady sellers and critical favorites, and the label was gaining a following.


Apple Records 1976

Albums:
· Rock ‘n’ Roll – The Beatles, 27 January, produced by the Beatles and Phil Spector [EMI]
· Time to Hide – Denny Laine, 9 February, produced by Denny Laine
· Which Way Will I Get Home? – Splinter, 22 March, produced by Chris Thomas
· The Beatles Again – The Beatles, 25 April, produced by the Beatles
· Golden Moments – James Taylor, 6 June, produced by Russ Titleman
· Preston – Billy Preston, 8 September, produced by Billy Preston
· Too Many Miles – Jimmy McCulloch and White Line, 15 October, produced by Ron Wood
· A Day at the Races – Queen, 20 December, produced by Roy Thomas Baker and Queen

Notable Singles:
· “Stand By Me”/“Brown Eyed Handsome Man” – The Beatles, 20 January (#1 UK, #5 US)
· “Photograph”/ “Nobody Loves You When You’re Down and Out” – The Beatles, 3 April (#1 US and UK)
· “Silly Love Songs”/“Cookin’ in the Kitchen of Love”- The Beatles, 25 April (#1 US and UK)
· “Shower the People”/“I Can Dream of You” – James Taylor, 26 May (#15 US, #22 UK)
· “Crackerbox Palace”/“She’s My Baby”- The Beatles, 2 July (#1 UK, #2 US)
· “#9 Dream”/“See Yourself”- The Beatles, 5 August (#1 UK, #3 US)
· “New Rose”/“Help!” – The Damned (produced by Nick Lowe), 21 October
· “In the City”/“Talkin’ My Love” – The Jam (produced by Jimmy Riviera), 12 November (#40 UK)
· “Somebody to Love”/“Drowse” – Queen, 21 November (#1 UK, #12 US)
· “So it Goes”/“Heart of the City” – Nick Lowe (produced by Nick Lowe), 14 December (#35 UK)

No Dice Records 1976

Albums:
· Horses - Patti Smith, 15 January, produced by Pete Ham
· New York Connection - Tom Scott, 2 April, produced by Tom Scott
· The Runaways - The Runaways, 17 June, produced by Kim Fowley
· Buyin’ Time – Stephen Stills, 8 July, produced by Peter Tork and Stephen Stills
· Attitudes – Attitudes, 20 July, produced by David Foster
· Leave Home- Ramones, 8 August, produced by Tommy Ramone
· American Girl – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, 20 October, produced by Pete Ham
· Cheap Trick – Cheap Trick, 8 December, produced by Pete Ham

Notable Singles:
· “American Girl”/“Breakdown” – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, 8 October (#39 US)

Apple Artists, as of December 1976
· The Beatles (since 1968 - released on Apple but contracted to EMI 1968-1976)
· James Taylor (since 1968)
· Billy Preston (since 1969
· Denny Laine (since 1971)
· Queen (since 1971)
· Splinter (since 1973)
· Jimmy McCulloch and White Line (since 1976)
· The Damned (since 1976)
· The Jam (since 1976)
· The Clash (since 1976)
· Wreckless Eric (since 1976)
· Elvis Costello (since 1976)
· Nick Lowe (since 1976)
· Dave Edmunds (since 1976)

Former Apple Artists
· Mary Hopkin (1968-1973)
· Badfinger (1968-1975)
· Jackie Lomax (1968-1975)
· Delaney and Bonnie (1969)
· Modern Jazz Quartet (1969)
· Brute Force (1969)
· Yoko Ono (1969-1973)
· Radha Krshna Temple (1969)
· Doris Troy (1969-1970)
· Nazareth (1971-1975)
· George Harrison (1972-1975 – contracted to EMI)

No Dice Artists, as of December 1975
· Ravi Shankar (since 1974)
· L.A. Express (since 1974)
· Tom Scott (since 1974)
· Peter Tork (since 1974)
· Stephen Stills (since 1974)
· Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (since 1975)
· Ramones (since 1975)
· Talking Heads (since 1975)
· Heart (since 1975)
· Patti Smith (since 1975)
· Cheap Trick (since 1976)
· Attitudes (since 1976)

Apple Corps Executives, December 1976
Managing Director and Chairman of the Board: Peter Brown
Director of Communications: Derek Taylor
Apple Records:
President: Ron Kass
Director of A&R: Jake Riviera
Director of Promotion and Marketing: Tony Bramwell
Director of Design: John Kosh
Studio Manager, Apple Studios: Geoff Emerick
Apple Films:
President: Denis O’Brien
Apple Management:
Director: Neil Aspinall
Associate Director: Mal Evans
Apple Publishing:
Director: Alistair Taylor
No Dice Records:
President: Jack Oliver
Director of A&R: Pete Ham

 

[Unknown]

Like how Pete Ham is still alive; his and Tom Evans' deaths are some of the saddest in music history, IMO...

 

[cortz#9]

So Apple signed some Punk bands, cool.
Too bad they didn't sign the Sex Pistols, maybe Matlock would've stayed with the band and they'd have recorded a second album.

 

[Elmore_James_Loves_Me]

Is this dead? Read this whole timeline in like 30 minutes. so good. When´s the next update coming (if there is one, that is)

 

[Seltaeb Eht]

Hey everyone,

Sorry for the long long silence. I've had an update cooking for a long time, but life things have gotten in the way of completing it. I feel bad for dropping off the map for so long. Thanks to all those who continue to read, and for any new people that have come in. If anyone is new to the timeline or needs a refresher, here is a good place to start: https://www.alternatehistory.com/fo...beatles-timeline.293837/page-13#post-11622879 . It's my summary from the last time I dropped off for a while. From there, you can just read the next couple pages to catch you up to speed.

I'm going to start updating a lot more frequently, because I want to see where this goes as much as any of you. I know it's been a long time since I've started, and there have been a lot of false starts and stops, but I'll be glad to keep moving forward, and finally get out of the 70s.

I started the timeline initially as a vehicle for my fantasy Beatles albums, but along the way I've had a lot of fun exploring an alternate world with these artists we think we know so well. Thanks to everyone who's ever read or clicked on this timeline, and especially to those of you who have been on since the beginning and continue to read and comment on every update.

So today I have a very short update to take us through the end of 1976; expect a longer one tomorrow to cover 1977. I'm focusing much more on the Beatles themselves, and not so much on the extended Apple side of things for now. I'll probably go back later and cover Apple happenings over a few years, but for now I just want to move forward with the Fabs.

Again, thanks so much to everyone, and sorry for the long delays. Hope you've enjoyed and continue to enjoy.

Peace and Love,

- SE

 

[Seltaeb Eht]

The Beatles ended their 1976 world tour at the beginning of September. Four straight months of touring had followed two months of recording, and the band was ready for a rest. Even Paul, who had briefly floated the idea of recording another single for the Christmas season, had given up on this at the end of the tour. McCartney and his family returned to Scotland to prepare for the coming of their new baby. Paul’s first son, James Louis McCartney, would be born 15 December 1976.


The other Beatles also enjoyed their little bit of downtime. George delighted in showing Olivia his Friar Park home, as the couple had been largely living in Los Angeles or on the road for much of the time they had been together. Ringo and John also enjoyed some downtime at their homes. However, as it did with the Beatles, some business soon came up.


The Band was planning a farewell concert in November of that year, and they planned to have several guest performers, including Bob Dylan. They also planned to film and record the concert for release. Dylan, however didn’t want to be filmed, believing it would interfere with his own film project, Renaldo and Clara. Warner Bros. was funding the project with the understanding that Dylan would appear in the film and on its soundtrack. If he didn’t, the label would pull out. So the Band’s guitarist, Robbie Robertson, phoned George, asking if he could maybe convince Dylan to appear. Harrison offered Robertson something better: he could guarantee funding of the film. After meeting with Peter Brown and Denis O’Brien, then getting the permission of the other Beatles, the Band’s The Last Waltz was made an official Apple Films project.


The creative input of the Beatles/Apple wasn’t needed; they just had to provide the funding. The Band and their management had already contracted director Martin Scorsese and a crew, and arranged all the guests. Nevertheless, Harrison, Lennon, and Starr flew out to San Francisco for the concert. George would play with the Band on “This Wheel’s On Fire”, while all three joined the celebrity finale of “I Shall Be Released”. Backstage, George also convinced Dylan to allow his songs to be filmed and recorded, which would go on to increase the success of the film.


After the concert, George and Olivia flew back home, to again try to gain some peace and quiet at Friar Park. John and Ringo Stayed behind in California, however. The pair went to Los Angeles to visit Harry Nilsson and check up on No Dice. Pete Ham introduced them to several of the Los Angeles-based artists, then flew them to New York to meet some of the artists there. At an industry party in New York, Lennon met May Pang, an employee at businessman Allen Klein’s ABCKO management firm. Lennon and Pang hit it off, and Lennon invited her to return to Los Angeles with him, where the two would spend the holidays with Harry Nilsson. Ringo flew back to London to spend Christmas with his family.


Although they had returned early from America, George and Olivia did not immediately get to spend time together alone at Friar Park. Olivia had grown close with Linda McCartney over the course of the last Beatles tour, with Olivia often helping take care of the McCartney children. With her due date fast approaching, Linda asked Olivia to the farm to help her with keeping up the house, and for company while she had her new baby. Thus, the Harrisons spent their second straight Christmas with the McCartneys. Paul would later say that George quipped to him “Now, let’s not make a tradition out of this.” (“-in a loving way!”, Paul was quick to add when he recounted the story).

 

[cortz#9]

Nice update. Don't worry to much about the delays, we all know RL gets in the way.
Several TLs I've been following over the past year have come to an unfortunate end due to banning and one untimely death, so happy to see this one is still alive.

 

[Seltaeb Eht]

Nice update. Don't worry to much about the delays, we all know RL gets in the way.
Several TLs I've been following over the past year have come to an unfortunate end due to banning and one untimely death, so happy to see this one is still alive.

Thanks cortz! You're one of the main ones I was thinking of when I refered to those who read and comment on every update. Glad I can give you some Beatles fix, and glad you're still enjoying the TL after all these years.

 

[trekchu]

Am I the only one who is worried that we have yet to see an interview snippet from John Lennon that is dated beyond 1976, never mind 1980?

Also, I wonder what TTL's Bohemian Rhapsody will be like.

 

[Seltaeb Eht]

1977 began less explosively for the Beatles than any other recent year. John Lennon was away in Los Angeles, partying with Harry Nilsson and his new girlfriend May Pang. Ringo was spending a quiet Christmas at home with his wife and children. Paul and George were spending a nice quiet Christmas with their families at McCartney’s farm in Scotland. The two old friends had been estranged for nearly four years before being thrown back together in the pressure cooker that was the biggest band in the world, so this was a nice time to slow down and truly regain what they had lost. By day, they explored the farm, tending animals and riding horses (George later said that he preferred his gardening to Paul’s tending animals, but he still very much enjoyed it and “if being musicians doesn’t work out, we can always be farmers because we have both sides of it – plants and animals”). By night, the two would smoke and jam on the instruments Paul had in his small studio at the farm. It is rumored that this was recorded, but this has never been confirmed.

By the middle of January, Paul felt it was time to get back to business. In December, EMI had just announced something perplexing to the Beatles: a new Beatles record. As owner of the Beatles’ master recordings from between 1962 and January 1976, EMI had the right to repackage compilations of the Beatles recordings. The first of these, The Best of the Beatles: 1962-1966 was released just before Christmas, and was a huge seller, along with it, EMI had released a “new” Beatles single: “Yesterday”/“Eight Days a Week”, which became a Top 10 hit in the US and UK, as well as several other countries worldwide. Two more volumes, paired with their own singles, would follow in the coming months And Apple was furious.

“They didn’t tell us. None of us or anyone at Apple knew until some intern saw an ad in a shop window and told Derek Taylor.: - George Harrison, 1977

“They didn’t have to give us a heads-up, legally, but informing us would have been courteous. They could’ve rang our office up, or sent a memo or something, but they didn’t. And that’s wrong.” – Paul McCartney, 1977

“It’s a bit daft, hearing yourself come on the radio from 10 years ago. Now we have to compete with ourselves in the charts.” – John Lennon, 1977

Paul wanted to get into the studio immediately, lest the current Beatles be overcome by their younger selves. With John back in the country (leaving Pang in America), the four Beatles gathered. Discussing their intentions, the other Beatles were loath to record an entire new album. George intended to marry Olivia soon, and wanted to take a honeymoon. John also resisted, for unexplained reasons (although it seems he simply did not have any substantial songs written at the time). Paul therefore alternatively suggested that they record a fewer number of songs, to be released as singles throughout the first half of the year. The others agreed to this plan, and set to work.

Recording began at Apple on 24 January. The first song presented to the group was “Mull of Kintyre”, a song that Paul and George had written together over the holiday. A simple folk ballad praising the Scottish countryside, the Beatles recorded the track fairly quickly. As he had no involvement with the writing, John agreed to allow the song out with the credit of McCartney-Harrison (although he would later admit to being slightly hurt by this, as he was cut out of Paul’s writing process). The bagpipes which swelled in the latter half of the song were added a week later. Meanwhile, the Beatles pressed on to other songs.

George brought in “It’s What You Value” and “See Yourself”, both of which were also recorded fairly quickly. Paul brought in a few more songs: “Pure Gold” (recorded with Ringo on vocals) and “I’ve Had Enough”. The Beatles also recorded a version of his song “Girlfriend”, although he intended to give this to Michael Jackson to record. By this point, John’s deficiency in terms of available songs was clear. The only thing he presented was a song called “Mucho Mungo”, a nice, if inconsequential ditty. The Beatles also decided to re-record a Lennon outtake from Band On the Run, “Bring On the Lucie (Freda People)”. Embarrassed by this, Lennon resolved to go home and write more songs after these single sessions.

George and Olivia were married 1 March 1977, at the Register Office of Henley-On-Thames, near Friar Park. George asked Paul to be his best man, and Linda served as Olivia’s maid of honor. The attendees were other two Beatles, along with Apple associates Derek Taylor, Peter Brown, Mal Evans, and Neil Aspinall, Maureen Starkey, and the Starkey and McCartney children, and Harrison’s immediate family, with a few additional members of British rock or entertainment royalty (including Eric Clapton and Pattie Boyd) at the subsequent party at Friar Park. The next day, Mr. and Mrs. George Harrison were on a plane, heading for Hawaii.

A few days later, on March 5, the new Beatles single would be released: “Mull of Kintyre”/“Bring On the Lucie”. The McCartney-Harrison A-side was a darling in the UK, and in certain other countries. Conveniently knocking the latest EMI Beatles single (“Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”/“With a Little Help From My Friends”/ “A Day in the Life”) off the top slot in the UK, it would remain #1 for weeks, and would remain in the Top 40 through the year, again hitting the Top 10 over Christmas, becoming the UK’s all-time best selling single up until that point (taking over that distinction from the Beatles’ own “She Loves You”). The single’s success was inexplicable. It did not, however, appeal to North American sensibilities. Stations, shunning the A-side, instead played the Lennon B-side (although even that failed to reach the Top 10, hitting only #18).

The failure of “Mull of Kintyre” in America seemed to weigh on Paul heavily, especially as the second EMI Beatles single of the year, “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”/“With a Little Help From My Friends”, backed with “A Day in the Life” (released ahead of a second collection, The Best of the Beatles: 1967-1970), again became a Top 10 Hit in the US. A May editorial in Billboard unfavorably compared the success of the band’s current material to its archival material. The most egregious part was the question posed in the headline: “Are the Beatles dead in America?”

The Billboard article provoked a response from Rolling Stone, staunchly defending the band, its current work, and its place in the current pop culture landscape. Still, the article greatly affected Paul, and in response, he moved the release of the band’s next single up a month before it was initially planned. “It’s What You Value”/ “I’ve Had Enough”, released 15 May, appealed more to American radio, putting the Beatles back in the Top 10. Moving up the single was all he could do however, with George still abroad and John and Ringo loathe to record without him (and insisting Paul was worrying too much, that “Mull of Kintyre” was just a fluke, and that it was proven with the success of the latest single), Paul needed to devise another way to retake what he saw as the band’s lost ground.

Paul reasoned that the band’s standing in America could be regained if they could repeat the success of the previous year’s concert tour. But with it looking extremely unlikely that the band would tour North America (or anywhere else) until the fall at the earliest, he decided that they could simply use the material from the last tour. Many of the shows had been recorded, and the Madison Square Garden show was filmed. With the approval of the other Beatles, Paul set to work sifting through the audio tapes, while Michael Lindsay-Hogg, with whom the band had previously worked with on Get Back, began assembling a concert film.

“Paul just couldn’t take a break I suppose. He just needed to be working at all times on something back in those days.” – George Harrison, 1989

“Well I think that the others were sort of burnt out from the big world tour… but we couldn’t sit still, the landscape was pretty dynamic that year and we had to try and keep up.” – Paul McCartney, 2007

George was back in the UK on 20 June, after lengthy stays in Hawaii and Los Angeles. Paul immediately enlisted him into his project, as Ringo and John had not been very active in it (Ringo later joked “I only came in once a week to make sure Michael [Lindsay-Hogg] was putting enough shots of me in”). Paul and George worked closely over the next few weeks with each other and with Lindsay-Hogg to finish the album and film, while arrangements were made with Warner Bros. Pictures to distribute the film, with premieres and release dates lined up for October.

As news of the project got out, others were quick to capitalize on the marketing hype for what would be the Beatles’ first film since Get Back. EMI, having since released their third Beatles compilation (The Best of the Beatles: 1971-1976), were planning on starting a series of “themed” Beatles compilations (an album of love ballads, of harder rock songs, etc.) for the Christmas market, decided instead to push the start of those releases into the next year; instead, they would release an album made from tapes of the Beatles’ 1964 and 1965 appearances at the Hollywood Bowl, hoping that they could ride on the success of the Beatles’ new live album. EMI enlisted the Beatles’ longtime producer George Martin to assemble the album and clean up the tapes. Unbeknownst to EMI, however, a third Beatles live project was being planned for the fall – one made from recordings of the Beatles in their pre-fame days in Hamburg. The owner of the tapes had been trying to market them for years (even offering them to EMI and to Apple on separate occasions), but now found an opportunity to sell them. Once they caught wind of the project, EMI filed suit against Lingasong (the record company formed to release the Hamburg album), but were unsuccessful in their attempt to block it. It would be a crowded Christmas for Beatles releases.

Paul, greatly distressed by all this, cajoled the others into the studio to record a new single for release after the film and album, so the current Beatles would still be seen, and not just the Beatles of 1962, 1964, and 1976 (not realizing that it would overstuff the market even more). He was sure his new song “With a Little Luck” would be a hit. It was recorded and slated for a pre-Christmas release, with the Ringo-sung “Pure Gold” as its B-side. With a new single in the can, the Beatles started on a promotional tour for their new live project, giving interviews to magazines and on UK television, with Paul and George even going to New York to appear on the tonight show. The album’s single “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”/“While My Guitar Gently Weeps” (both of which had appeared as A-sides of “new” EMI Beatles singles in the past year) was released 12 September and started gaining airplay, with the album following three weeks later. The Beatles and their families attended both the New York and London premieres of the film, before it went into wide release on 20 October.


Titled The Beatles Back in the World: Live 1976, film was a commercial success, as people went to relive their experience of the last tour or to see what they had missed. Sales of the album however, while good initially, dropped off once EMI released The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl. Whether due to market confusion (some may have bought it mistakenly believing it to be the soundtrack to the film) or people preferring the Beatles of yesteryear, EMI’s album siphoned off sales from the current Beatles product, and became the bigger Christmas seller. Lingasong’s album of Hamburg recordings saw little success, and was mostly only an item among hardcore Beatles fans and collectors. Among all this, the new Beatles single “With a Little Luck” struggled to cut through the noise, reaching only #20 in the US.


As the year closed, many in the music press began to adopt the thinking of the May Billboard article. The Beatles were a nostalgia act, completely unable to stand up in the current market against their younger selves or current groups. Many compared their new live material unfavorably with Hollywood Bowl and the Hamburg recordings, contrasting the energy of the early live Beatles with what they claimed the Beatles had become: a middle-aged, middle of the road pop act for middle-aged, middle of the road people. Although their 1977 projects had largely been commercial successes, all the Beatles (but especially Paul) took the constant attacks in the press very hard, and wondered if anything could be done to change their status, or if the Age of the Beatles had ended forever.


Summary of Beatles releases, 1977:
Apple Records:

· "Mull of Kintyre”/ “Bring On the Lucie (Freda People)”, 5 March 1977 (#1 UK, B-side #18 US)
·“It’s What You Value”/ “I’ve Had Enough”, 15 May 1977 (#6 US, #1 UK)
·“Sgt, Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”/ “Wile My Guitar Gently Weeps [Live], 12 September 1977 (#10 US, #8 UK)
· Back in the World, 3 October 1977 (#2 US, #1 UK)
·“With a Little Luck”/ “Pure Gold”, 17 November 1977 (#20 US, #15 UK)


EMI Records:
·“Yesterday”/ “Eight Days a Week”, 12 December 1976 (#5 US, #2 UK)
·The Best of the Beatles: 1962-1966, 12 December 1976 (#1 US, #1 UK)
·“Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band/With a Little Help From My Friends”/ “A Day in the Life”, 21 February 1977 (#1 UK, #2 US)
· The Best of the Beatles: 1967-1970, 21 March 1977 (#1 US, #1 UK)
· “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”/ “Let it Be”, 17 April (#10 US, #12 UK)
· “Imagine”/ “Helen Wheels (previously unreleased)”, 1 June (#7 US, #6 UK)
· The Best of the Beatles: 1971-1976, 20 June (#6 US, #4 UK)
· The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl, 3 November (#1 US, #1 UK)


Lingasong:
· Live! at the Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany; 1962, 20 October 1977 (#111 US)


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

EDIT: I mis-attributed the images I posted, and as I don't have the original creator's permission, I have removed them. They were actually the work of a user over at Steve Hoffman Music forums called "Astronauta". All of their work is great, and you can and should view it here: http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/the-beatles-fan-made-alternative-album-covers.627410/page-34#post-15952109 . Lots of other great fantasy Beatles covers in that thread too it seems, definitely something worth checking out for all Beatles fans!

 

[cortz#9]

Interesting update. A small lull in the Beatles fortunes mid decade makes sense, can't have all highs but its not really that low either despite what Paul thinks.
Cool album covers.
Weird that Sgt.Pepper was released twice as a single with two different B-sides.

 

[Asharella]

Us Beatle fans out in the world weren't in the same mindset as Paul (I'm putting myself in this timeline.) I remember that year. For us all the Beatles material was heavenly. Both new and old Beatles music on the radio? Beatle films in the theaters?

Some of scoffed at the lesser fans buying the compliation albums. Our attitude was more to buy the old LPs we hadn't yet added to our collection. I'd started buying Beatles' albums with Abbey Road when I first started listening to rock radio as I entered High School. I'd then bought every album and single of both the band and the solo material after that. But in 1977 I started buying the previous material I'd missed before. First I bought the White Album. Then I got Magical Mystery Tour.

I had no idea that to Paul my delight in the older music was competition for their current music. To me it was all just Beatles.

(This is basically a reworking of my actual history with the Beatles and their solo work in OTL to fit this one. It's how I imagine I would have been in this timeline, totally oblivious to a distinction between old and new.)

 

[TimeEnough]

*Performs compressions on thread*

 

[Seltaeb Eht]

Yes, I've fallen off the map completely for a while, apologies. Hopefully should have some time soon to be able to keep the story going. Thanks for the interest!

 

[danmartin73]

That's okay! But it's really great to hear that you're back. We missed you!

 

[Seltaeb Eht]

[Hey folks, first of a new series of updates. This one finally takes us into 1978 (only 40 years behind now!); should be following up soon. Thanks to all for the support!]


As the new year of 1978 dawned, the Beatles seemed to be at their lowest point as a current commercial force. Through the past year, their current efforts had been outsold by repackagings of their earlier work by EMI. Even the live album commemorating their blockbuster 1976 tour (which, in final accounting, had been reckoned as the highest-grossing concert tour in history to that point) had been overshadowed by a quickly-produced release of their 1964 and 1965 Hollywood Bowl shows. In regards to poor fortunes of the Beatles (and of many of their contemporaries, including the Rolling Stones, and other events such as the death of The Who’s Keith Moon), even Rolling Stone, often so steadfast in their support of the Beatles, declared that 1977 marked “The End of the 60s”.

“Now here’s what that article didn’t understand when they ran it: The Beatles, Stones, the Who, all of us, ya know, we may have been from the 60s, but we weren’t just the 60s. They said we’d just been hanging on, past our time - well you don’t just hang on for seven, eight years without being a part of something new. I think we still have a place here, and things to say. And if it's supposedly the death of the 60s, why am I hearing ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’ on the radio in America, instead of ‘Mull of Kintyre’ or ‘With a Little Luck’? Sounds like they’re the ones stuck in the 60s.”- John Lennon, British television interview January 7, 1978

Despite John’s defiant stance they would take on television, the Beatles were worried; Paul most of all. All his best efforts the last year in pushing the band and organizing projects - the single, the live album, the film - seemingly had led to noting, or worse. Paul, who had been very active in London throughout the last summer and fall, slipped back up to Scotland for the holidays. After the publication of the Rolling Stone article in January, he stopped answering the calls he would normally regularly get from the Apple offices, and his bandmates. It seemed that Paul had gone into a depression at the ravaging the Beatles were getting in the music press. After two weeks of not answering the phone, George and John drove to High Park to see him.

Paul’s two bandmates brought comfort to Paul, but also something else: stacks of tapes and records the two had collected over the past few weeks. Much of the material was ongoing recording projects by Jake Rivera’s new stable of Apple artists from the London scene, or records from No Dice artists collected by Pete Ham. The rest were other records of a similar bent and from similar scenes.

“I didn’t understand what they were showing me, but then John made it clear. He said ‘Don’t you see Paul, it’s us! Us before the bullshit, these records could’ve been out of Hamburg, or some cellar in Liverpool. These records could’ve come out of there.’ And he was right - there was a rawness there that we recognized. Some of them even covered rock’n’roll songs, the same ones we used to play. It was an awakening, maybe we had to get back to something like that.”- Paul McCartney, 2008

Seemingly with renewed spirits, the McCartneys would return with John and George to London a few days later. There, the Beatles hatched a plan (most would attribute it to John, although it bore striking resemblance to similar schemes of Paul in 1969), then sat down with Neil Aspinall and Jake Riviera to make it a reality. On February 11th, a billing appeared at the Dingwalls Club in London for “The Moondogs” for an evening set. However, once the time came for the band to go on, the four Beatles instead stepped on stage to perform a set of rock’n’roll songs and stripped-down versions of their own songs


The Beatles at Dingwalls Club
London, UK
February 11th, 1978

Vocalist Noted

1. Some Other Guy - Lennon & McCartney
2. Gonna Sit Right Down and Cry (Over You) - Lennon & McCartney
3. Red Hot - Harrison
4. Boys - Starr
5. Yer Blues - Lennon
6. Let’s Dance - Harrison
7. She’s a Woman - McCartney
8. Old Brown Shoe - Harrison
9. Long Tall Sally - McCartney
   

The short set was met with mild applause by the club’s patrons. Those who were there would describe it as somewhat sloppy, but fun overall. A short blurb in NME would speak fairly positively of the Beatles’ “stunt”. However, it performed an important function of giving the Beatles a boost of energy at a time they felt their lowest. With increased confidence, the Beatles would soon set about recording of their next studio album.