The End, Part II

It was bound to happen. The world’s greatest rock and roll band just couldn’t keep it together. Egos got in the way. Paul was too bossy, John was too uninterested/too wrapped up with Yoko/too drugged out, George was too passive and Ringo...well, everybody loved Ringo, but it wasn’t enough to keep the Beatles from breaking up. McCartney’s self-interview, published this day in 1970 by the London papers, exposed cracks in the façade which the media had long suspected. The Fab Four had been directionless since manager Brian Epstein died in August 1967. The trip to India to find spirituality instead brought most of the strife to the surface. Paul pretty much took charge because nobody else seemed to care, yet that caused resentment. Even after “Something,” “Here Comes The Sun” and “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” George’s songwriting still wasn’t taken seriously by Lennon and McCartney. John’s indifference, heroin use and being with Yoko didn’t help. The others found her incessant presence to be a huge distraction, particularly during the “Abbey Road” sessions. Yoko even started speaking for John in band meetings. Geesh. The Fab Four decided to just do their own things. There was no formal announcement about the split, yet the shock was felt all around the world. It took another 4+ years for their legal partnership to be dissolved, and the lawyers all got rich. A sad day indeed.