EPISODE EIGHT

“They were going through a very revolutionary period at that time,” says George Martin. “They did actually come up with a very good idea: they wanted to write an album, completely, and rehearse it, and then perform it in front of an audience.”

In January 1969, this is the project The Beatles begin at Twickenham Film Studios, in the London suburbs.

Replete with wondrous music, it will lead on to the movie and album titled, “Let It Be” and half a century later, the “Get Back” documentary series. But the tensions that flared up as the “White Album” was recorded are intensifying.

“I thought, ‘OK, it’s a new year [and a] new approach,’” says George. “But it soon became apparent that it wasn’t anything new. It was just going to be painful again.” Only seven days into the new sessions, he walks out.

The four of them soon reunite in much more comfortable surroundings: the basement of Apple’s HQ, where, with the addition of the keyboard player Billy Preston, everything hugely improves. “Suddenly, when we were working on something good, the bullshit went out the window,” says Ringo, “and we just got down to what we did really well.”

There is a sense of the story returning to where it started: with four musicians, playing stripped-down rock’n’roll music. Proving that point, they revive songs they last played in Liverpool and Hamburg and, having decided not to put on the big show they had first conceived, stage a performance that will soon become as legendary as any of their other big moments: the rooftop concert that is finally brought to an end by the arrival of the police.

In the offices on the floors below, Apple’s mounting business problems are cooling the atmosphere. When John puts his affairs under the control of the notorious Allen Klein, another internal crack splits open. “John arrived [and] said, ‘Ok, that’s it. I’m going with Klein,’” Paul recalls. “George and Ringo said, ‘Oh well, we’re going with John.’ And I realised I was expected to go along with it. But I didn’t think it was a good idea.”

Paul marries Linda; John ties the knot with Yoko. “They were more important to John and Paul than John and Paul were to each other,” says George Martin, “and that went for the other boys too. They wanted the freedom of having a real life.”

There is one last spectacular burst of creativity: “Abbey Road,” which is full of some of the greatest music they ever recorded: George’s “Something” (his first Beatles single) and “Here Comes The Sun,” John’s “Come Together” and “I Want You (She’s So Heavy),” Ringo’s “Octopus’s Garden,” and Paul’s “Oh! Darling” and “You Never Give Me Your Money”—not to mention the medley that defines the album’s second half.

Ringo says this was “one of the finest pieces we put together” and, although “Let It Be” was to be released early in 1970, it stands as their climactic musical farewell. It’s now getting very near the end which only leaves a run of last words about The Beatles’ amazing journey meant, from each of them.

“It was magical,” says Ringo. “Some really loving, caring moments between four people. A really amazing closeness. Four guys who really loved each other. It was pretty sensational.”

George talks about the exchange between the Beatles and the public. “They gave their money and they gave their screams,” says George. “But The Beatles kind of gave their nervous systems. Which is a much more difficult thing to give.”

“I’m really glad that most of the songs dealt with love, peace, understanding,” says Paul. “They really did. If you look back, there’s hardly any one [that] says, ‘Go on kind, tell ’em all to sod off, leave your parents.’ It’s all very ‘All You Need Is Love,’ John’s ‘Give Peace A Chance’—a very good spirit behind it all.”

“I’ve read cracks about, ‘Oh, The Beatles sang All You Need Is Love, but it didn’t work for them,” says John. “But nothing’ll ever break the love we have for each other.”

These thoughts bring the curtain down on the original eight episodes of the “Anthology” series. But everything ends with fifteen simple words that leave little else to be said:

And in the end, the love you take ,

Is equal to the love you make

@AppleCorps