“Cloud Nine” #6 1/4/1969

The first Temptations single of the post-David Ruffin era was a marked departure from their previous hits. The lyrics were rather psychedelic in nature; some said they were pro-drug use, though strong denials were issued by all involved. Newest member Dennis Edwards was prominently featured, but all five Temps traded lead vocals here. The wah-wah was by Detroit studio guitarist Dennis Coffey, who would appear on many other Motown hits before his 1971 solo smash “Scorpio.”

“Cry Baby Cry”

One that John considered a throwaway from the White Album. Of course, at times Lennon was his own worst critic. It was based on English nursery rhymes, of all things. The ending was tacked on from an outtake of a portion of Paul’s “I Will” and led into “Revolution 9.” Apparently there was lots of bickering and sniping between everyone involved during this recording. It was enough to cause the departure of their primary studio engineer, Geoff Emerick, who was kind of important behind the scenes to the entire process. He wouldn’t work with the Beatles again for another nine months. Geoff passed away in October 2018.

“Savoy Truffle”

Sometimes the Beatles could be a tad whimsical in their songwriting. George based this White Album song on Eric Clapton’s obsessive love of chocolates and what they could do to his teeth. “Savoy truffle” was from Mackintosh’s, a British candy maker. George asked that the sax parts be distorted on purpose, which irked the hired musicians. Once again, John was uninterested in contributing to a Harrison track.

The “Get Back” Album

Though the Beatles were mentally worn out after the fractured White Album sessions, Paul pushed the idea of immediately making a back-to-basics LP, being filmed along the way and showing development of songs from conception to live performance. Kind of a predecessor to reality TV, if you will. Sites considered for a live gig included an ocean liner in the Atlantic and even the Colosseum in Rome. The others weren’t overly enthused about the concept, which had the working title “Get Back.” They had the mindset, “If we must, we must. Let’s get on with it.” Sessions began on this date and lasted all of January 1969. Hours of film and tape were made at the Twickenham movie studio - usually mindless jamming, snippets of older songs, and even more bickering than the White Album. Things deteriorated to where George Harrison walked out for almost a week. He returned on the condition that rehearsals be moved to the basement of Apple Records. Billy Preston was brought in as a calming force, which mostly succeeded. They all knew Billy from Little Richard’s band when they crossed paths back in the Hamburg days. The culmination was performing some new songs January 30th on the Apple rooftop, which brought central London to a screeching halt until police stopped the show.

Glyn Johns was given the unenviable task of making sense of it all for an album. He assembled a running order twice, before and after “Abbey Road.” Although a cover photo was taken, etc., the band rejected both finished products, so in March 1970 Phil Spector was brought in. When you have to call Phil Spector to clean up the mess, you have a complete mess. He fixed it, but did it his way without knowledge or consent of McCartney or George Martin. Phil’s remixes and additions to “Let It Be” and “The Long And Winding Road” really struck a raw nerve with Paul. Add the discord about McCartney’s solo LP, finances and who was to run their business affairs, and that was the last straw. The album wasn’t released until May 1970, but the world’s greatest rock band disintegrated before our eyes a month earlier.

“Honey Pie”

The Beatles could perform just about any musical style. This was reminiscent of their British music hall-styled “When I’m Sixty-Four,” or what we Yanks called vaudeville. Paul’s dad had been a traditional jazz trumpeter, so McCartney knew how to write that type of old-timey song.

“Revolution 1”

There were actually three versions of “Revolution.” This slower take was the original, and the first song recorded for the White Album. John wanted the slow version to be the A-side of the first single issued by Apple Records. But he was outvoted, and that became a serious bone of contention as the sessions wore on. (“Hey Jude” hadn’t even been written yet.) It originally ran more than ten minutes; the first four minutes were used here. The remainder formed the basis for the infamous “Revolution 9.” The non-album version was faster and appeared on the flip side of “Hey Jude.”

“Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” (The Marmalade) #1 UK 1/1/1969

We begin 1969 with this week’s #1 single in the UK, unreleased in America, by The Marmalade (“The” was later dropped). They covered this Beatles’ White Album tune, even leaving in Paul’s transposition of gender. The Marmalade was the first Scottish group to top the British charts. These guys later had a US Top 10 hit with “Reflections Of My Life” in early 1970.

UPDATE: Lead singer Dean Ford passed away on New Years’ Eve. He was 72. https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/marmalade-singer-dean-ford-dead-13804339