MARK LEWISOHN Volume 3 Update: Beatles Get Back & Abbey Road Hybrids - Album That Never Was |  

Mark Lewisohn is amazing and deep down such a big fan too. He is trying to set the story straight

And we know George had a couple - Let It Roll, All Things Must Pass, that could have been tapped, Paul had several (Another Day, Back Seat of My Car) to draw from, and Gimmee Some Truth was out there if they needed 5 more for a different Abbey Road

You're right about this. It confirms my speculations on this subject. I've also read that NME interview that John Lennon gave at the end of April 1969 and it all ties up. It's also interesting to note that Billy Preston does not play on any of the sessions in July-August 1969 (the 'Proper' Abbey Road sessions). Finally, what's strange is that Glyn Johns only compiled the tracks recorded in January (the first draft of the Get Back album)? Great stuff!

Another compelling video! Great work!

Very nice. Thank you.

Great breakdown of information, the dates and times make all the difference.

Fascinating! Love these videos. Great job on researching all this Beatles info! I'm going back and watching all the videos! Thank you!

I can watch your videos all day. And I do. Great Work!

The most fascinating revelation to me is that John was involved in the "montage" early on, but then after Abbey Road, he basically craps on it, calling it Paul's opera or something to that effect. Typical John. 🙄

One of the lyrics on Abbey Road was "Once there was a way to Get Back Home...." I guess that was originally meant for the Get Back Album.

This concept is made to appear so easy by you , but in fact is not. The 14 songs are thoughtful , they flow like Rubber Soul. I can feel your joy at preparing this great Lp . Merci Matt . You showed me that these 14 show that the 4 were still in each others pockets in 1970 although in different rooms .

The sound of the songs from the Get Back sessions are nowhere near the quality of the tracks on Abbey Road, and I think that's the main problem with doing a hybrid between the sessions. The tracks recorded at Apple are just altogether rougher in every way, and the mood probably didn't help. Abbey Road has a rounded, almost timeless production quality. Re Cold Turkey, it was rejected as a Beatles song and then recorded and released by POB. But the main takeaways from this period is the sheer volume of work the band carried out. And I'd you add in their side projects as producers, performers and indeed "businessmen" with Apple it's incredibly prolific and just outrageous in terms of the quality. They'd just finished White Album the previous year and there was the Yellow Submarine film too. Just mindboggling.

An all-Ringo album review would be cool!

5:34 - Correction: Across The Universe and I Me Mine were not added to Get Back album until January 1970 when they saw the near final cut of the movie. - Fact check that as why Get Back as of September of 69 Was called Get Back and Don't Let Me Down and 9 other songs, cos Rocker was on it. Dig It and Maggie Mae were considered link tracks at that point.

Very interesting.

Amazing

Intriguing.

man...after watching your Beatles 70 and the follow up vids, I had a thought of what would've been a better track list for the originally intended version of Let It Be album, Get Back. and, voila! here i found that you already did one... 😄 Man, on the "what if" Abbey Road, I so wanna put in Isn't It a Pity in place of Maxwell's Silver Hammer...lol George was really putting out great stuff during this period...Something, Here Comes the Sun, For You Blue, Old Brown Shoe, I Me Mine, Isn't It a Pity, All Things Must Pass, Let It Down and Wah-Wah. Were My Sweet Lord and What Is Life written in this same time period? The guy was just cranking it up..after years of being told, "Your stuff ain't good enough for the album, George".

Nice video

Personally I would have taken the songs for the live rooftop concert as a live EP released in late February/ early March side A) get back~ take 1 / dont let me down ~ take 2 / one after 909 - total 11:21 side B ) I've got a feeling ~ take 2 / god save the queen/ dig a pony 12:53 There was enough session work to have easily a full lp for get back

I think the '12 songs' may have actually included dig it and teddy boy instead of i me mine and across the universe because the former was only on the album due to it being prominent in the film and the latter was planned for a yellow submarine EP release as late as March 1969, plus there's the wwf version. The version of dig it used was also of full song length. The interview is most likely 22-26 april 1969 as he says there is only two weeks recording left, recording ended on 6th may. Potentially the 12 tracks could even include old brown shoe, eliminating dig it and replacing it as a track because it was the only April song that was fully recorded by this time. Perhaps it wasn't relegated as a b side until later.

"The Medley" on side 2 of Abbey Road is actually two medleys: "You Never Give Me Your Money" through "She Came In Through The Bathroom Window" and "Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End." They are separated.

Fascinating to change the meta analysis understanding of the Beatles. Thank you for another fascinating video. Coming to your channel late, I have been working my way through your videos. What a treasure! BTW, at 9:06, what is “Let it Down”??

Uber Paul's idea was to "Get Back" to a simpler, more live sounding production process with limited overdubs and gadgetry. The Abbey Road songs had synth, white noise, and multi tracking and were simply of a different character. Plus Let it Be was recorded in the film studio giving those numerous tracks a different "feel". Let it Be was a full album with little filler. Nor sure where one could squeeze the alien different newer tracks in.

Great video, this is really fascinating stuff! I knew there was some overlap of the albums in February with the Trident sessions and George's demos, but I had no idea the overlap was this extensive. I took a shot at putting together a version of this album, here's the track list I came up with. Side 1 - (25:15) 1. Get Back (Single Version) 2. Something 3. The Long and Winding Road (31 Jan) 4. Dig a Pony 5. Octopus's Garden 6. I've Got a Feeling (Naked Mix) 7. I Want You (Trident Sessions) Side 2 - (24:14) 1. Two of Us (Naked Mix) 2. Old Brown Shoe 3. Oh! Darling 4. Don't Let Me Down 5. Let It Be (Single Version) 6. Across the Universe (Naked Mix) 7. All Things Must Pass (Anthology Demo) I put most of the tracks from the singles on it because I thought they fit really well, which unfortunately does leave some leftover songs. John and Yoko / You Know My Name seems like a cool alternate single but For You Blue and 909? I have no idea what could be done with those haha

I would say the obvious idea for Get Back would be: Left side songs, minus Across the Universe and minus I Me Mine those two were touched up January 70. (Also remember Get Back singles said it was from their upcoming Get Back LP. Then the first four of column 2 and Old Brown Shoe. That gives 14. Ballad of John and Yoko was a spur of the moment song to record and release as fast as possible. John was mainly set as the song as a single. I doubt he had any thought of it on an album, especially one not ready for release yet since the final edit of the film for Get Back wasn't finished yet. I would guess at that point Old Brown Shoe was tossed as the B Side because George wanted t finish Somethig because Old Brown Shoe and For You Blue would have made George's two cuts on the LP seem too similar. At that point all their new material was sounding too complex to be considered 'Getting Back' So I'd guess Somewhere around April they were shifting towards just doing a next album. So Get Back the fictional lp would have ended at Old Brown Shoe. -- Yours is a nice line-up, I'm just going by what their logical choices would have been based on where the recordings of the songs were at. Were those songs fully seen as a medley yet? Bathroom Window was rehearsed at both locations of the Get Back sessions. The problem with Glyn Johns mixes and choices of takes for each version of the Get Back album was that he'd always stick to the darn takes he played for them from acetates during the sessions that were 'best' early on. Sometimes ignoring better takes.

In the original Let it be film they were working on Maxwell Silver Hammet.

Hi Mark! I have the "Get Back" cd! 16 songs!

Man, I Want You on Let it Be would've been killer!

Interesting. I kind of knew this, but I don't know why. It does kind of follow the pattern set by their previous "soundtrack" albums, A Hard Day's Night and Help!, where they put the songs from the film on side one and a collection of other songs on side two. I don't think that they would have used Across the Universe in that context, though it might have made a B side. But that would give them Two of Us, Dig a Pony, Let It Be, I've Got A Feeling, One After 909, The Long and Winding Road, For You Blue, Get Back and Don't Let Me Down to choose from for Side One, leaving a couple aside for the single. Having completed the soundtrack side in January, they would then go on to complete a collection of another seven songs for side two. Maybe only six, given how long I Want You was, and the physical limits of how much a vinyl record can hold before quality becomes an issue (Side One of Abbey Road only had six songs).

I’m really anticipating the next Lewisohn book but I’m afraid that won’t be until 2024.

Dont see how Ballad of John and Yoko can be considered as either part of the Get Back sessions or the Abbey Road seesions.It was a one off that John wrote and wanted to record and be released quickly as a single,hence no George and Ringo.

Album and band CHAOS!!! This makes total sense with all the forces pulling the band apart in 69 and 70. Song writing definitely suffered overall (except for George's 2 masterpieces on Abbey Road).

According to Wikipedia, Glyn Johns booked time from March 10 to May 28 1969 to compile a Get Back album. Why would the album be compiled in March when supposedly all of the tracks weren't even recorded yet? The podcast host even brings this up but Mark slides right past it

As of 15 October of this year, 2021, The Let it Be box set will be released withe the Get Back alum, as Glyn Johns put it together. both on CD and LP

'I Me Mine' wasn't actually recorded in during the Get Back sessions at Saville Row, although George did play and sing a bit of it during the rehearsals in Twickenham, so it would not have been part of the unrealised Get Back album. It was actually recorded at the beginning of January 1970 after the roughcut of the Let It Be film showed George playing it at Twickenham, meaning that they had to record it properly so it could be on the soundtrack album. John had quit the Beatles in September 1969 and by January 1970 he seems to have been ambivilent but seems to have regarded himself as part of the group again. He wasn't at the January 1970 session though, which only featured the other three Beatles and something George said during the session seems to indicate that John had not yet made it clear that he was returning to the group. The 'I Me Mine' session on 3rd January 1970 was thus the last ever recording session by the Beatles prior to the break-up.

Who is to say that the medley idea would have even happened the way it did had the original album concept even been released? It may have afforded them more time to flesh out some of the songs. 'I Want You' also ended up being a particularly long song so it's doubtful they would have stretched the side of the album it was on to a full seven tracks.

The theme for Get Back was a sort of "Get back to our roots." This was to be achieved in a whole host of ways, but one theme was to do some of the older style of music that they did early in their careers. As such, Old Brown Shoe would have fit nicely with that theme. Oh Darling also would have. Perhaps they could have put those songs on Get Back and put the PHil Spectrized Across the Universe and Long and Winding Road on Abbey Road.

Commenting late on this but it's fascinating. This more or less fits with a memory of my thirteen year old self reading an article sometime in the first half of 1969, in which the writer had the inside scoop from John and/or Paul disclosing a number of songs titles that would be on the next Beatles album, which would be called Get Back. I still remember which songs were mentioned and being amazed because it sounded as though the album might well be another double disc album! Later that summer when Abbey Road was released I was just a bit mystified. What happened to all those other songs?

Fascinating info! Love the idea of the hybrid album. One idea I’ve had for many years would be a Beatles hybrid album of just their psychedelic and India songs. Starting with the Revolver era (Tomorrow Never Knows/Rain, etc) and go all the way through to MMT and the White Album (Dear Prudence, Glass Onion) just taking the best songs, including Its All Too Much,...you get the idea...I call it “Sgt. Pepper’s Magical Meditation Mystery Tour” ...so much material to choose from.

Interesting. The inclusion of Abbey Road tracks would have greatly improved Let It Be. But I also think that they would have displaced existing weak/filler tracks rather than just adding on to what they already had. I Me Mine was never intended to be on the album, so it shouldn't be considered. You Know My Name is obviously a joke track and wouldn't be used save for an emergency. Ballad of J&Y was single or nothing. So what would we have gotten? Something likely would have replaced For You Blue. Oh! Darling would have replaced I Got a Feeling. I Want You would have replaced Dig a Pony. Octopus's Garden would have been the only true add. And of course Dig It and Maggie May would have been dropped. That would have made a really strong album. But, I suspect that the AR material would have sounded quite different recorded at Apple, without George Martin, but with the not-yet-fully-discarded stripped-down concept, and the unfocused chaos going on. So perhaps it's best that it waited. And while this would have been a huge improvement over the album we got, it still wouldn't have really addressed the primary weakness of Let It Be, which is the absence of serious involvement from John Lennon. Ballad of J&Y, Let It Be, Something and Long and Winding Road also go out on singles. This clearly weakens Abbey Road, but like you say, it would have opened up space for other things that were floating around. Junk was specifically intended for AR, and obviously a Beatles Maybe I'm Amazed would have been wonderful. Old Brown Shoe can't fill Something's shoes, but it's a good song and would have fit in well. Likewise All Things Must Pass. George had earned three spaces by then. John wanted Cold Turkey as a Beatles single, but the others explicitly vetoed it, so no way it was going to get on AR. But Child of Nature/Jealous Guy was available. And Gimme Some Truth was a legitimate Lennon/McCartney composition (with Paul perhaps even contributing more to it musically than John) and would have been fantastic. Don't Let Me Down gets discarded or perhaps a fragment ends up in an expanded medley. This would have been a very strong album as well, although they'd still need something for Ringo. I think the single is Maybe I'm Amazed/Gimme Some Truth.

An interesting theory, well, but I don´t buy "You now My Name" for it. This song has already been recorded in mid-May 1967 ! Late April 1969 (not in March) John and Paul revived it and did some vocal work, only to put it to sleep again until late November 69. Then John wanted to put it out as a single with "What´s the New Mary Jane", either under The Beatles or under Plastic Ono Band. Both was denied. So either you count both songs YKMN and WTNMJ - or none at all. Moreover when talking about leftovers, there still was Not Guilty available ... Also the mix of January and February/spring-recordings would have compromised the idea of playing live without tricks (cheating) ... but I admit the idea of such a hybrid-album seems possible. Reg. "The Ballad Of John and Yoko" - this song was written and recorded within two weeks , and released on single (bs: Old Brow Shoe) within another fortnight, so it was very spontanuous and could not have been part of any plan.

So Abbey Road was more of a mishmash than the American version of “Yesterday...and Today.” I think something profound happened to John over the summer of 1969. He gave up leadership of the Beatles 1966 but now feels constrained by Paul’s management and leadership of the group. Cold Turkey? Nuked. Yoko’s songs?? Not going to appear on any Beatles album. Allen Klein? Paul blocks him.

Probably "Cold Turkey" would not have been on the new version of "Abbey Road". I remember reading somewhere that John actually offered to do this with the other three, but they turned him down. They thought it was a bit too much. Maybe "All Things Must Pass" would have made it onto the new "Abbey Road" album.

The Lennon statements should be taken with a healthy grain of salt, but they do show they are already thinking about Abbey Road in May. It also supports what I've always thought about side Two. Here Comes the Sun and Because ARE part of that piece. The repeated arpeggios throughout side two and Here Comes the Sun King , to me , show that. It also shows Lennon quickly lost interest. I think he came up with Because and Here Comes the Sun King and then got tired of the idea, adding the previously written Mustard and Polythene Pam to his two other songs to complete his contributions. Add the February recording of She's so Heavy, the only Lennon track that remains is Come Together. Which means he only brought one new track to the record, which would indicate that his interest in the group was wearing very thin at that point. He wasn't done yet, but he was bored with it. Even if I'm wrong, best case scenario, Lennon is only walking in to those sessions with 3 new songs. A far cry from the 15+ songs he walked into the White Album with.

Maybe I miss it....but I always thought what would the next Beatles album look like with songs that were introduced while they were technically still the Beatles. Like Teddy boy, or Another day....by McCartney.....?

There is a slight discrepancy on this video. I don't think there was any intention at the period of April 1969 to include Across The Universe and I Me Mine, since ATU wouldn't be revisited until the late Abbey Road sessions, and there wasn't a proper recording of I Me Mine done till February 1970. So missing on your list were Rocker, Save The Last Dance For Me, and Teddy Boy with the possibility of The Walk tacked on between For You Blue and Teddy Boy.

You should've included Beatles Again (Hey Jude) in there somewhere. Let it Be is sadly missing Don't Let Me Down which went on Beatles Again. I believe Old Brown Shoe and Ballad of John and Yoko could've filled out Let It Be nicely

In the intro, what is that of version of Let it down from?

So interesting. Seems like George Martin kinda fibbed about the process, and stuck to his story. Actually Paul did too I think? There was no clear delineation between the two albums. Except maybe they re-recorded (with Martin) the songs they had started earlier during the Get Back sessions that wound up on Abbey Road?

What a misconception. Really blows the whole Abbey Road sessions theory out of the water. The fact that they wanted to release a proper Get Back album is exciting. So this opens the door to a ton of questions. What songs would have been included and/or omitted. Especially the tracks You Know May Name, Across the Universe, Balled of John and Yoko, Old Brown Show. You Know My Name was originally recorded after the Pepper sessions. And Across the Universe was recorded before the White Album Sessions in 68. Then of course you have the tracks slated for the Abbey Road album, which at the time wasn't conceived yet. I need a drink!

You know my name is a 67 song George Martin shortened.

Across The Universe and I Me Mine were not recorded as part of the Get Back project. The Feb 1968 recording of Across The Universe was remixed in Dec 1969 and I Me Mine was recorded in Jan 1970. Both were done for the sole purpose that they were going to be seen in the movie and, even later, were remixed again by Phil Spector. They would not have existed for a early/mid 1969 album.

Let me explain to you some of the realities of the interpretation of the Beatles work in the literary arena. I don't take anything away from Mark as I've used his books in writing all of mine. But I have two things to say. In 1983 when I was at the home of the keyboard player for deep purple George Harrison stopped by and one of the things he said to me was that when he picked up one of Mark's books whichever one was out at the time, he found a mistake on the first page so we just shut it thinking the whole thing was not bonafide. Now that's a little severe and I think we would all take George's word over marks any day however I have to stick up for Mark here because Mr Harrison was a musician not a literary man. He had this idea that to write a biography you had to either be the person or married to that person to be qualified to do so which completely discounts the concept of research. My second point is that Mark is a statistician he's not really a biographer. Conversely I am a biographer not a statistician I'm interested in writing about the people their human interactions their everyday lives their faults foibles and inspired ability. What made them tick who they loved what substances they took and how that helped to shape the work that they did. Mark will tell you what time of the day they recorded Love me Do and the brand of the guitar strings that has a value but it's very different from my work.

It's a pity the remaining beatles didn't go with that Get Back cover, at EMI with those songs, instead of the poorly conceived (apart from the inclusion of DLMD) 'Naked' album and cover in 2003. It could still happen I suppose, but Paul may revert to his "one man band' approach. Personally, I have always enjoyed Let It Be as an album. It hints at a return to Lennon's rock n roll preferences, as opposed to Paul's endless vignettes: Ob la de Ob la da, Rocky Racoon, Lady Madonna, Maxwell etc.

which song was used in the intro? i swear i've heard it before.

She Came In Through the Bathroom Window was worked on extensively during the Jan. Get Back sessions as was the dreadful Maxwell's... Maybe they would have finished All Things Must Pass and Teddy Boy as well ? We'll never know.

What again I find interesting here is that the medley, which is traditionally considered to be 'to please Paul' (while the more rocking a-side was 'to please John') is essentially rubbish. John was as interested in the medley as Paul was in the A side tracks. George, I have read elsewhere was an important creative force in Abbey Road. All this lends credibility to Paul recent affirmations that what killed the Beatles (and lead to their acrimonious break up) was the business end of things. A shame really. By 1970, they had grown up and were ready to do different things, but under different circumstances, they might have gone on to do their personal stuff and then from time to time gotten together for a group endeavor. Imagine, for instance if Free as a Bird and the rest had been done in 1985, with additional songs like When we was Fab and the Set on You cover as Beatles songs. It would have been the basis of one hell of a great mid eighties album...

was (i me mine) not recorded until 1970 ?

Maybe move Maxwell's Silver Hammer the other way - forward to McCartney or Ram. Would've cheered John up no end.

Doesn't make sense. Why would they record songs to complete "Get Back" if they were not in the film?

I can't imagine they would have included "You Know My Name," so inferior it is to the rest of the material.

Paul didn't like Alan Klein and so once the other 3 went with him that was pretty much the end.

Dig it was underrated the song never was given a chance to be a thing if it was released in his whole entirety I think I would have done better and I would have thrown out across the universe

I really don't like "Let It Be" at all. it is easily my least favorite Beatles album (and I'll get myself further into hot water by ranking "Sergeant Pepper" my second least favorite.) The record biz was really changing by 1969 with bootleg albums starting to show up for the first time - like Dylan's "Basement Tapes." Before the official release of "Let It Be," bootlegs popped in record stores of "Get Back" without Phil Spector's production. It sounded better to my ears, and those around me as the bootleg received way more listens than the official release. I have not seen the "Let It Be" video in any of its lengths, but It is nice to hear that the individual Beatles apparently did not squabble in the studio. No news seems to be bad news for the press, so I was not surprised that the press played up the conflicts back in the day. Coincidentally, the NY Times had a brief piece on May Pang, Lennon's 'lost years,' and the documentary "The Lost Weekend: A Love Story." In the Times article, Pang is quoted saying that the years weren't lost as Lennon did create quite a bit of material. And he asked Pang about recording with Paul after Paul and Linda had visited him. Pang encouraged this, and it looked like it might happen - until John got back together with Yoko. Sounds like the individual Beatles dislike of another is overblown. Yoko comes out looking like the bad guy. but personal relationships have their ups and downs. An interesting compilation for the "Let It Be" sessions, but I much prefer "Abbey Road" without any of the "Let It Be" tracks. Anbother good show Matt.

I remember when I first heard "Get Back" on the radio. I was actually quite disappointed. I thought then, and I still thinks today, that this was one of the weakest singles they ever released. Towards the end of their career as Beatles, it seemed to me that they weren't putting very much effort into their music.

Disturbs me that you include "one after 909" should have been a single in *1962* it's so annoying especially considering *ALBUMS THAT NEVER WERE*

Dig It is filler but You Know My Name isn't? Ehhhh

I'm glad Cold Turkey never made it on to any Beatles album. Cold Turkey is terrible noise just like the song "What's the new Mary Jane." You wondered some time of the sanity of Lennon with these two songs as well as the sound of Yoko Ono's singing voice. Don't get me started on Lennon's terrible taste in women. I know Lennon missed his mother but I think he needed a psychiatrist at this stage. He dumped an attractive Cynthia Lennon for Yoko Ono. I'm not being racist because I've seen some very attractive Japanese women. I know there's some attractive Japanese women but Yoko is not one of them. All John Lennon had to do was wait a year. Olivia Newton John arrived on the scene as she was covering Bob Dylan's song "If not for you." She was invited and coming to parties thrown by Maurice Gibbs of the Bee Gees and by Ringo Starr. Lennon acted like Olivia Newton John was the invisible woman. That's why I think Yoko Ono used LSD, heroin and some other drugs to brainwash and control Lennon. Lennon didn't even want to visit his son Julian until May Pang told him to in 1973. That's why I think Yoko had complete mind control over John. It's also in his music. That's why I think that he was suffering from some mental issues. Lennon didn't play on Here Comes the Sun, Maxwell's Silver Hammer but played on terrible songs like Cold Turkey and What's the new Mary Jane. Why?