APRIL 10, 1970 ...

[BLUSH]

APRIL 10, 1970 ... 40 years ago, Wow

Official announcement of Beatle's break-up


While John Lennon had privately left the Beatles months earlier, it was from this interview that the story of the Beatles' break-up finally was made public.*


Q: "Did you miss the other Beatles and George Martin? Was there a moment when you thought, 'I wish Ringo were here for this break?'"

PAUL: "No."

Q: "Assuming this is a very big hit album, will you do another?"

PAUL: "Even if it isn't, I will continue to do what I want, when I want to."

Q: "Are you planning a new album or single with the Beatles?"

PAUL: "No."

Q: "Is this album a rest away from the Beatles or the start of a solo career?"

PAUL: "Time will tell. Being a solo album means it's 'the start of a solo career...' and not being done with the Beatles means it's just a rest. So it's both."

Q: "Is your break with the Beatles temporary or permanent, due to personal differences or musical ones?"

PAUL: "Personal differences, business differences, musical differences, but most of all because I have a better time with my family. Temporary or permanent? I don't really know."

Q: "Do you foresee a time when Lennon-McCartney becomes an active songwriting partnership again?"

PAUL: "No."


http://www.beatlesinterviews.org/db1970.0417.beatles.html








*January 3, 1970 was the last Beatles' recording ("I Me Mine" for the Let It Be album). John was not present, as noted by George just before he, Ringo and Paul began that final recording:

"You all will have read that Dave Dee is no longer with us. But Mickey and Tich and I would just like to carry on the good work that's always gone down in studio number two."

[Ishoutandscream2]

1. Wow, that's right! How did I miss this?

I always think of the real breakup was September of 69, when John announced his "divorce" after having such a successful concert (at least in his mind) in Toronto with Eric Clapton, Alan White, and Klaus Vormann (the original Plastic Ono Band). Lennon to his dying day was pissed that the man who really wanted to keep the Beatles together was the first to publicly say they had split up.

[stevedeshazer]

2. Forty years later

Paul's words still make him sound like a dick.

[edbermac]

4. He had a reason to sound like a dick.

His main reason for leaving was that Lennon brought in Phil Spector to complete the Let It Be album. He just butchered Paul's song The Long And Winding Road without his permission. Spector should have been jailed just for that. Listen to the Spector version and the Let It Be Naked version.

[johnnie]

13. I agree w/ you about Spector ruining those tunes..

But I think the Eastman/Klein thing was more of an issue.

[dorkulon]

14. Most overrated producer in rock history.

"Let's take this rock song and cover it with saccharine! I'm a genius!"

[Frank Cannon]

23. I always thought his vaunted "Wall of Sound"...

made every song sound like it was recorded in an aircraft hangar.

Never did understand what was supposed to be so great about that.

[dorkulon]

27. I think if you listen to "Be My Baby" it almost makes sense,

but by the late '60s the technology had already outpaced him. Don't even get me started on "Born to Run."

[BLUSH]

30. he produced Lennon's first solo album

No wall of sound there

Well, well, well ...

[alfredo]

36. But they sounded good on a clock radio or portable

record player.

[RagAss]

37. Yes...great point...The Wall of Sound was created with AM radio in mind.

[alfredo]

41. The voices double tracked. Of course Les Paul pushed the limits.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0ffdwBUL78

[BLUSH]

38. But wasn't everything on the radio on mono in those days?

From what I've read, groups recorded mono and stero versions back then, but spent more time working on the mono recordings.

(I read that somewhere in one of the Beatles' remastered CD's that came out in 2009.)

[alfredo]

42. Many albums could be played on both mono and stereo.

[BLUSH]

5. Ironic

John and Paul couldn't "make peace."

If only they had given it a chance.

What a bummer 1970 must have been. Beatles breakup, Hendrix and Joplin gone.

[JuniperLea]

8. It was a cruel year...

I was only 13, and let me tell you, it was brutal! The year my oldest was born, Lennon was murdered... oh, the signposts of life.

[rug]

15. Not to mentionthe invasion of Cambodia and Kent State.

[dorkulon]

18. I know John is everyone's favorite,

and surely the smarter of the pair, but it was John that broke up the band, and frankly, he was a bit of a dick himself. Typical angst-ridden artist type, always distancing himself from his past. By the end, he was contemptuous of the kind of crowd-pleasing pop song that Paul specialized in, so they really had to break up. To me, what Paul's doing here is trying not to say too much about the way John dumped him.

Anyway, while John wrote more intellectually interesting songs, Paul was more naturally musical and the best damn bass player of the era, barring John Entwistle, maybe.

[BLUSH]

22. If only Billy Preston had become a full member, perhaps they

might have stayed together a bit longer.

According to George, things were better between the four when Preston was playing with them in early 1969.

[Sugarcoated]

44. Great analysis

Just want to add, let's not forget George's desire to bust out on his own those last two years before they broke up. He never seemed to lose his contempt for the "Fabs", as he called them.

[JVS]

24. It reminds me of Spinal Tap.

[JuniperLea]

3. That's so heavy...

Creative genius is not without its cost. We're lucky to have had them as long as we did.

I remember thinking Paul was an absolute prick during this interview... he and I share a birthday, so it was odd that the child me would think such things... I put soooo much importance in that shared birthday, you have no idea! :)

[BLUSH]

6. re "That's so heavy"

Abbey Road, track 6?

:)

[JuniperLea]

7. DING DING DING! WINNER!

Awesome:)

:hi:

[The_Commonist]

9. Funny...

When I saw the date in the OP subject line, I knew exactly what you were referring to.
I was only 7 at the time...

[BLUSH]

10. It was also 3 days before Apollo 13 ...

"Houston, we have a problem."

[SoCalDem]

33. Funny isn't it, looking back? I got married Mar 1, 1970

and was pretty self-absorbed back then.. All those events were not as important then, as they seem now..

I do remember the Apollo mission-gone-bad & how we all were so worried they might perish, but had forgotten just when it was..

By the time the Beatles broke up, I was not all that into them anymore:)

[BLUSH]

34. Seems like the Beatles broke up too soon

What those albums from the 70s might have been like ... imagine ...

Just think, if the Stones had broken up in 1970 we would never have had Sticky Fingers and Exile.

[BLUSH]

35. in the movie "Apollo 13" with Tom Hanks

Hanks' daughter is crying about the break-up of the Beatles as her father is preparing to reach the moon.

[Dreamer Tatum]

11. I think I'm the only person in the world who hates the Beatles

but I'm OK with that.

[GReedDiamond]

19. I think the Beatles are highly overrated...

...but I love 'em nonetheless.

And, btw, I know somebody (a true bluesman/vocalist/harp player), who absolutely HATES the Beatles. So there are at least two of yas out there.

[tonysam]

12. CCR's breakup was far, far sadder. The animosity has lasted decades. n/t

[LeftWingPunk]

16. the beatles broke up fairly quickly

Anything past the release of Lady Madonna is when they started feuding

[tonysam]

28. Actually their disintegration began with the death of Brian Epstein.

HE, not the "Fab Four," WAS the Beatles. When he was gone, there was no reason for them to stay together.

You can tell by listening to the recordings from pre-1967 and those afterwards. The band was cohesive before then, but then they went every which way afterwards.

Needless to say, I prefer the earlier period.

[BLUSH]

29. Brian Epstein was not really a factor once they stopped touring in 66

But as the story goes, the final straw was Maxwell's Silver Hammer.

Maybe someone can confirm if this is a true story: Paul was so consumed with making that song a "hit" that the other three Beatles found they were doing more work for Paul than he was doing for them. Supposedly it was that song that finally drove John out of the group.

[20score]

17. K&R. Because - it's the Beatles.

[Greyhound]

20. YOKO!!

[BLUSH]

25. Yoko didn't break up the Beatles

Nixon did!

:)

[tinrobot]

21. Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich

One of my favorite lesser-known 60's bands.

[BLUSH]

26. beatle bump

:kick:

[BLUSH]

31. April 10, TODAY

:(

[BLUSH]

32. evening kick

:kick:

[bikebloke]

39. Don't worry. They'll get back together.

Everyone else is having reunion tours and concerts.

[BLUSH]

40. September 1979 – New York Post announces, “The Beatles are back!”

1979 – Another Beatles reunion scare, as the New York Post announces, “The Beatles are back!” The premature announcement is based on rumors surrounding a benefit concert for Cambodian boat people.

http://www.thisdayinrock.com/index.php/general/1979-another-beatles-reunion-scare-as-the-new-york-post/

[dana_b]

43. I still have that album

and I remember everyone wearing gold jackets except for Pete Townshend - the rebel.

What a day in rock history!