When The Beatles finally parted ways in April 1970, the media began to sensationalise the tension that existed between the four members. While there may have been slight fabrication in the reports, when the Fab Four hit the studio to record material for the final two albums, Abbey Road and Let It Be, strained relationships seemed to dictate a curtain call.
As seen in Peter Jackson’s unique 2021 documentary, The Beatles: Get Back, the most apparent tension arose between George Harrison and Paul McCartney as the former battled to squeeze his burgeoning songwriting catalogue onto the new records. Meanwhile, John Lennon became increasingly withdrawn as he fell into Yoko Ono’s orbit.
Some mark manager Brian Epstein’s 1967 death as the beginning of the end for The Beatles. Still, others argue that collapse was inevitable since the four began to outgrow one another in a testing tenure as the most famous group in the world. On top of the strain between Harison and McCartney was a sense that Lennon wanted to record material his bandmates weren’t on board with.
One final straw for Lennon was when his three bandmates rejected ‘Cold Turkey’ due to its dark connotations to heroin use that didn’t align with The Beatles’ usual outlook. “The two of them were on heroin,” McCartney reflected many years later, referring to Lennon and Yoko, “and this was a fairly big shocker for us because we all thought we were far-out boys, but we kind of understood that we’d never get quite that far out.”
Following a lukewarm reception from his fellow Beatles, Lennon decided to record ‘Cold Turkey’ as one of his early solo releases following ‘Give Piece a Chance’. The song features Eric Clapton on guitar as Lennon anguishes over his addiction struggle: “Temperature’s rising/ Fever is high/Can’t see no future/Can’t see no sky/ My feet are so heavy/ So is my head/ I wish I was a baby/ I wish I was dead”.
A turn in the lyrical tides is certainly a significant factor in Lennon’s decision to leave The Beatles in December 1969. However, according to McCartney, the final straw lay in the production of the final album, Let It Be. Speaking to The Word in 2003, McCartney admitted: “The Beatles were feeling the strain for various reasons. We all agreed in the end that we’d come full circle, and we were aware of that, hence the re-staging around that time of our first album cover. That felt pretty spooky.”
The bassist then alluded to “the arguments, the business differences and all that”. He noted that the “final straw was Allen Klein coming in.” The famously duplicitous and ill-principled manager alienated most musicians who were unfortunate enough to hire him. In addition to his greedy business moves, he also made some controversial creative decisions.
McCartney revealed how Klein’s decisions marred the quality of Let It Be. “It was his decision that Let It Be wasn’t good enough and that it needed strings, needed tarting up. So he brought in Phil Spector,” he continued. “Poor old Phil, it’s not really his fault. He had to tart it up – literally, put tarts on it. And a few strings.”
The ‘Let It Be’ songwriter admitted that he enjoyed the final product but felt the unrefined strength of the early cut was superior. “When the album came out, I liked it, but I’d had an early copy before all that happened, an acetate,” he concluded. “I was listening to this acetate one night and thinking, ‘Jeez, this is brave’. It was The Beatles stripped back, nothing but four guys in a room with Billy Preston. It was almost scary ‘cause we’d always double-tracked, harmonised and so on. I remember being in this empty white room and getting a thrill. It was very minimalist, and I was impressed. And then it got re-organised, re-produced for disc.”
Alongside releases like Abbey Road and Revolver, Let It Be certainly marked a decline in quality from The Beatles. However, one can’t help feeling that many fans unfairly dismiss the final album because it reflects a band on its last legs, no longer working in harmony.
