The Beatles: What Caused the Breakup ?

[SUPERECWFAN1]

On the Beatles DVD Its been said that Lennon and Mcartney both at the end rarely talked. That for years they went without saying much until they talked In the mid 70's.


So what caused one of the greatest Rock Bands In the World to finally call It quits ? To walk off Into the sunset as a broke band ?


Two of Us : In the start Its always said that John Lennon and Paul Mcartney saw each other as musical brothers and had the same type tastes. The 2 men grew up as kids jamming In several bands and finally with the Beatles achieved fame & success.


As the band grew bigger and bigger , the 2 men's song writing skills grew. The 2 always leaned on each other and Its evident In the Anthology Albums as on one song , John asks Paul to start him off.

By the late 60's the band had pretty much became an act that could expiramint and change with the times. Growing as song writers John and Paul started writing thier own tunes and started shifting to working alone at times ( White Album.)

This led to problems as we have seen that John and Paul could never really click togethor as much. The 2 would argue and want certain things on each song and the 2 would object to changes the other wanted to make to songs. ( An example Is when Lennon was less than happy with the preachy " Let It Be ". He wasn't Into It and a joke: Can I giggle In the solo ...Is heard on the Anthology album )


Another aspect Is also the fact George Martin brought up. Martin said that both men had became super competetive and wanted thier songs and touch on the albums. Paul however seemed to have a better touch commercially than Lennon at times and It gnawed at John Lennon.

Plus as some magazines have reported , on the White Album Lennon brought " Cold Turkey " to the Beatles and wanted It on the album. Paul and the others rejected It as Lennon wasn't pleased.


Of course Paul Isn't totally Innocent because he too could be hard headed and demanding. A fact George Harrison got pissed off about In the " Let It Be " sessions.


George Walks ! : Harrison had came to the band as a great gutarist and wasn't really considered a strong song writer like Lennon and Mcartney. Harrison was always called the " silent" Beatle because he rarely was like the other 3 who would say a lot during Press Conferances.

Harrison's career started slowly as a song writer as we have seen but by the mid to late 60's he had started his grove. Of course having " Lennon/Mcartney " as song writers on a Band Isn't easy.


Harrison started to feel cramped when he wanted " All Things Must Pass " to be placed on the last few albums. In the Let It Be sessions Harrison In tapes uncovered lately...got angry at Mcartney's Indifferance towards his material and walked out pissed.

Harrison himself claims that he was not going to stay In the band much longer and odds are by the end of 1970 he would have quit. In the same sessions Lennon himself doesn't seem fazed by Harrison's walk and replies the band can get Eric Clapton to take his spot!


Apple : Of course the Beatles didn't just have thier fractured personal relationships to worry about. They also had thier business that was going south.

Apple was formed to give the Beatles freedom to produce all kinds of media and be the boss. Of course this was after brillant manager Brian Epstien died and the result was 4 creative men with no mind for business.

Apple didn't last long before the ship started to sink. The company was losing thousands and thousands of dollars and the Beatles knew that the only way to save the business and thier recoring rights was to produce albums that would sell. This had to be a pressure on them a whole lot to be successful as they were as a Teen Band.


Paul becomes RULER ! : After Brian Epstiens death the Beatles needed a leader and Paul Mcartney relunctantly took the job. Of course he never wanted It and the rest of the band grew to hate him.

Lennon Its been said wanted to bring In the Rolling Stones Manager and did finally. To try and straighten out the mess that Apple was and In thier recording lives.

The Band got pissed when Paul disagreed with his 15% contract and how It was presented to him. The other 3 Beatles outvoted him and weren't happy with the stall tactic.

Then you have Paul who In the " Let It Be " sessions Is dedicated to trying to keep a Band breaking up togethor. Finally In one scene he gets angry over the Bands lackadasical attitude about playing a live show at the end.

Some pointed to him as a key reason and some pointed It to a group of men who had grew up. In a famous statement Mcartney said this:

" Its like an Army or Regiment who come home. The War Is over and ya know you gotta move on and grow up. Thats what happened here. We all came home and went our different ways. "


So you be the judge....what caused the Beatles to end It In the end ? Was It one factor or was It all crashin down on them ?

[The Shadow]

Yoko Ono.





nuff said.

[Ilash]

Simply put:

John simply no longer cared about the Beatles
Paul became to bossy
George was sick of living under the Lennon/ McCartney shadow
All four wanted to spend time with their families

[Buried Alien]

Don't underestimate the role of management and business-related conflicts. The personality and creative differences aside, it was the fundamental disagreement over the band's management in the post-Brian Epstein era that *really* did the Beatles in. If not for that, it's conceivable that the band members could have convened intermittently during the 1970s for the occassional band project in between solo endeavors.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[Neil]

Don't underestimate the role of management and business-related conflicts. The personality and creative differences aside, it was the fundamental disagreement over the band's management in the post-Brian Epstein era that *really* did the Beatles in. If not for that, it's conceivable that the band members could have convened intermittently during the 1970s for the occassional band project in between solo endeavors.
I agree.

The personal stuff had existed and been worked around since the beginning. They were definitely moving in a bunch of directions and age and ego would certainly have led all to do solo stuff, one way or the other. What made those The End and not side projects was business.

[Rob Imes]

They wanted to do their own thing and "The Beatles" was stifling that. When they were younger and starting out, all listening to the same music and spending lots of time together, they were more on the same wavelength and "The Beatles" became a vehicle for them to express themselves.

But when they started to outgrow the image of what "The Beatles" were, they felt more confined by it and by each other. They weren't following the same goal and vision anymore. Paul was trying to keep things going like the good old days, but John and George's hearts and minds were no longer into it. Why repeat what they had done before, when they could pursue something new -- in John's case, pursue with Yoko the artsy side and political activism; in George's case, interest in Eastern spirituality. "The Beatles" would not have been a good vehicle for those things.

John and Yoko put out three avant-garde LPs during 1968-69 which shows where his interest lay at that time. His attempt at incorporating this interest into "The Beatles" -- the audio-montage "song" titled "Revolution 9" -- was not well-received by most Beatles listeners, or even by all within the band.

On their first proper solo albums, moreover, Lennon and Harrison's opinions about God were definitely split. While Harrison was singing the praises of "My Sweet Lord," Lennon rejected Hare Krishna in the songs "God" and "I Found Out." It's hard to see how those songs, so important to their respective authors, could have appeared together on a Beatles album without confusing most listeners. They would have sounded like a band going separate ways anyway, so why not do it for real, instead of cheating listeners with a facade called "The Beatles"? So, that's what they did.

[SpecialAgentPunk]

I heard that during a 'Yer Blues' cover played by John's supergroup The Plastic Ono Band, it was going fine, Clapton playing the riffs and John singing, when Yoko came on stage and just started screaming. It's on The Great Rock and Roll Circus by The Rolling Stones DVD (I think.) I was told that you can see Clapton glaring and giving stink eyes to Yoko.

[Royal]

Oh this one's easy.

Basically, Paul was a dick. Didn't want to compromise & expand. Wanted to do silly little love songs all his life.

Now look what we got.

Half the band dead & Paul singing a vapid, flag waving piece of shite just so he can make a quick buck.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Oh this one's easy.

Basically, Paul was a dick. Didn't want to compromise & expand. Wanted to do silly little love songs all his life.

Now look what we got.

Half the band dead & Paul singing a vapid, flag waving piece of shite just so he can make a quick buck.


Paul's albums don't sell a whole lot. Its like Mick Jagger's albums. They sell nearly gold and thats It. But as a Touring act thats where he sells pretty well.


I do think half the crap he did after the Beatles sucks. But the " Band on the Run , Baby I'm Amazed , and a few others are pretty good. Plus It sold well and that was what made Paul. He knew what sold commercially then.

[Visitor Q]

I do think half the crap he did after the Beatles sucks.


In my opinion, that applies to the rest of the Beatles, too, though.

Paul gets more flak because he produced more work and was the most commercially successful, but proportionately, they all more than had their fair share of crappy musical moments--even Saint John.

[Dennis K]

George Harrison's facial hair was the reason the Beatles broke up, everybody knows that.

[Shellhead]

I heard that during a 'Yer Blues' cover played by John's supergroup The Plastic Ono Band, it was going fine, Clapton playing the riffs and John singing, when Yoko came on stage and just started screaming. It's on The Great Rock and Roll Circus by The Rolling Stones DVD (I think.) I was told that you can see Clapton glaring and giving stink eyes to Yoko.

It's appalling that the legal rights to the Beatles catalog are now in the hands of Michael Jackson (75%) and Yoko Ono (25%).

[SUPERECWFAN1]

It's appalling that the legal rights to the Beatles catalog are now in the hands of Michael Jackson (75%) and Yoko Ono (25%).


The rights won't be In Jackson's favor much longer. A huge Bank loan against them comes due In December. He owes 270 Million In debt so odds are those babies will default and the Bank will hold a sale on them. I wonder If Paul Mcartney Is thinkin of buyin them back ? :D

[Buried Alien]

In my opinion, that applies to the rest of the Beatles, too, though.

Paul gets more flak because he produced more work and was the most commercially successful, but proportionately, they all more than had their fair share of crappy musical moments--even Saint John.

Indeed. Half of John Lennon and George Harrison's 1970s output was damn near unlistenable, and let's not even start on Ringo.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[Alex]

Indeed. Half of John Lennon and George Harrison's 1970s output was damn near unlistenable, and let's not even start on Ringo.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)
Ringo should get more credit for being friggen hilarious in the Beatles movies.
Nothing to do with music, but the guy was funny.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Indeed. Half of John Lennon and George Harrison's 1970s output was damn near unlistenable, and let's not even start on Ringo.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)


Some of Harrison's stuff was pretty solid I thought. His covers were pretty enjoyable. " Stuck In the Middle" " Got My Mind Set On You " and a song he did with ( I forgot his name) " Horse to Water " were pretty enjoyable.


Ringo actually released albums In the 70's ? Damn thats a shock.

[Ilash]

Oh this one's easy.

Basically, Paul was a dick. Didn't want to compromise & expand. Wanted to do silly little love songs all his life.

Now look what we got.

Half the band dead & Paul singing a vapid, flag waving piece of shite just so he can make a quick buck.

Okay, as a huge Paul McCartney fan, I do have to respond to this. First, you are correct that Paul's bossiness was a huge part of the breakup. It was, like has been mentioned, not the only thing. As for Paul not being willing to expand... um, huh? Frankly, on a musical level Paul McCartney has always been the most adventurous of the Beatles. Sure, he does sing plenty of Silly Love Songs but listen to stuff like Ram, Band on the Run, Venus and Mars or London Town to see that there is far more to him than that. In fact, Paul's solo albums were always more interesting musically than Lennon's ever were. While John started to use his music primarily as a means to express himself, which is of course fine except for when the music itself started to suffer - and make no mistake, suffer it did - Paul continued the Beatles' love for experimentation and trying out new things. You want to dismiss Macca because of his inability (or unwillingness) to write good lyrics in his solo years, fine but dismissing his musically is a mistake. In the seventies, at least. The less said about Paul's eighties music the better.

As for George Harrison, my second favourite solo Beatle, well he did go downhill fast after All Things Must Pass but he still released tons of great pop/ soft-rock songs and at least one more excellent album, his last: Brainwashed. He was always listenable though, even at his worst.

[JerrBear81]

Yoko Ono wailing and caterwailing into a microphone on the Rock & Roll Circus made my cat hiss and claw at the tv screen when it was on VH-1.

[Adam Crocker]

Yoko Ono wailing and caterwailing into a microphone on the Rock & Roll Circus made my cat hiss and claw at the tv screen when it was on VH-1.

Ha-ha-ha-ha! That's great!

(Holy crap, Zombie is rubbing off on me! :eek: )

[JerrBear81]

Ha-ha-ha-ha! That's great!

(Holy crap, Zombie is rubbing off on me! :eek: )

He ended up just scowling after a while. I wonder if he'll do it again.

[Visitor Q]

Indeed. Half of John Lennon and George Harrison's 1970s output was damn near unlistenable, and let's not even start on Ringo.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)



Yup.

I love "Plastic Ono Band" and "All Thing Must Pass" to death, but it was pretty much nothing but downhill for Harrison and Lennon from there on out. McCartney's debut was relatively less ambitious and impressive, but it was still a very solid, memorable album with a healthy mix of good and classic (Maybe I'm Amazed, Junk) tracks...and then, unlike the others, McCartney went on to release even better albums well into the 70's.

Outside of "Imagine" (the song, not album), and disregarding a few months after Harrison's death, none of Lennon and Harrison's solo stuff still gets the same requests for radio airplay McCartney's solo and Wings work get--McCartney's songs are more commonly heard on classic rock and oldies station rotation (at least in PA and S Fl). As far as I've read, even after all these decades, McCartney's old solo stuff still sells better than any other of the other Beatles' solo efforts, too--especially Wingspan, in comparison with, say, Lennon's "best of" work.

When you get right down to it, McCartney's solo stuff has stood the test of time better, even though all their solo efforts have passed that test to varying degrees.

It's become less fashionable nowadays, I think, but the simultaneous Post-Beatles McCartney bashing and Lennon idolizing still annoys me.

[Visitor Q]

Yoko Ono wailing and caterwailing into a microphone on the Rock & Roll Circus made my cat hiss and claw at the tv screen when it was on VH-1.


That's one of the funniest things I've read all day.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

I have the Wingspan collection and I have to say this. Paul Mcartney did do a lot of expanding on songs. Like trying disco beats In some songs , trumpets , horns ect ect...the man tried almost everything.


Mcartney gets dissed because most look at the Let It Be clips and see a guy bossing people around. Well the Beatles really didn't have someone there to rally them all after Epstien's death.


Paul and the band really weren't Into the recording at the time and It shows. He just wanted to get the hell outta there and finish the album and you can tell the others weren't happy eithor. Ringo was more Interested in Hollywood. George was more Interested In producing albums for other bands and his own material. John....John was wanting to do his own deal at this point and sure as hell didn't want a boss In the recording studio.

They had commited to this Idea and then It came crashing down because as Mcartney and Lennon had said later: " You can't produce when pressured by TV Camera's." The band admitted that they made albums at all hours at times and this type of trying to do an album wasn't helping them.


Odds are had they backed out and took time away.....they would have stayed togethor a few more years.

[leonaozaki]

The Beatles broke up because Brian Epstein died and there were too many fights about money.

Oh, and: Paul was doing too much coke and Lennon too much smack. Probably didn't help.

rob

[leonaozaki]

PLASTIC ONO BAND and IMAGINE might make one good record if put together; "Watching the Wheels" and "Instant Karma" are great singles.

You could probably edit the entire recorded output of Macca's solo career (including Wings) onto one CD and make it a good listen. I wouldn't buy it but he still made some good singles.

All hail ALL THINGS MUST PASS.

Ringo: Thank you for "Octopus's Garden," "Don't Pass Me By," and "Act Naturally." Otherwise stick to drumming.

The Beatles were much greater than the sum of their parts and their solo careers vary from the bland to the ridiculous, for the most part.

rob

[FunkyGreenJerusalem]

Yoko Ono.





nuff said.

I say rather Linda Mcartney.

Every other Beatle worked with Yoko afterwards.

none worked with Linda.

On George and Ringo:

I think Harrison had some solid songs, if not albums in the 70's - and Brainwashed is a decent if over produced album.

As for him walking... he wrote some of the best tracks on Abbey road.
Hell, he wrote Sinatra's favourite Lennon/Mcartney song.

Ringo's first album has some good tracks on it.
And Alex was right, he's piss funny in the beatles movies.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

On George and Ringo:

I think Harrison had some solid songs, if not albums in the 70's - and Brainwashed is a decent if over produced album.

As for him walking... he wrote some of the best tracks on Abbey road.
Hell, he wrote Sinatra's favourite Lennon/Mcartney song.

.


A sad fact that Sinatra always claimed that Lennon and McCartney wrote It. Sad.... :(