Chapter 16: Ain't No Mountain High Enough (November 1969 - August 1970)

3 November 1969 - 4 January 1970

The Beatles, September 1969.

After a month off to spend time with their loved ones, the Beatles returned to the basement studio of Savile Row to work on their next album. Following the blowout between Paul McCartney and George Harrison at the end of the Get Back sessions, it was agreed that the latter would have more say in what songs the Beatles would include on their albums.

This would ultimately prove to be a good decision in retrospect, especially when Paul had brought forth the murder ballad "Maxwell's Silver Hammer", set to a jaunty tune. The other three Beatles reacted negatively to the tune, John Lennon especially.

JOHN LENNON: "Listen here, Macca; you already had your granny shit included on [Beatles] '68 when we did 'Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-bloody-Da', and we're not going through that bollocks again with 'Maxwell'! Even if we wanted to, it would never be made as a single anywhere." (to Paul McCartney, 1969)

Instead, the Beatles opted for "Come and Get It", a tune McCartney had written and produced for Badfinger for their next album, due for a single release next week. Seeing as the others were unwilling to play on "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" - "It was too complicated to work with," said Harrison (1995) - he withdrew the song from the potential track list and worked on a new version of "Comet and Get It". However, for the final track listing, it would be credited to McCartney alone as opposed to Lennon/McCartney, to which Lennon admitted to feeling hurt by being left out of the writing process.

Paul McCartney, December 1969.

Another controversial contender for the next album was Lennon's "Cold Turkey", inspired by his experiences recovering from a brief heroin addiction alongside Yoko Ono. Well, that was what he claimed at first, but in later years, he revealed that it was about a severe case of food poisoning he and Yoko suffered after eating leftover Christmas turkey that was cold. McCartney was concerned about the content of the song, but Harrison was supportive, even providing an impromptu guitar solo that gave the track its own sound. The track was included anyway, citing Lennon as going through writer's block at the time.[1]

PAUL McCARTNEY: "It just seemed strange, really. They wouldn't include 'Maxwell' for being granny music - as John put it - and yet they were okay with 'Cold Turkey' despite the drug implications. That was, in hindsight, another sign that the others were getting fed up with me." (1984)

When it came to deciding how the new album would be structured, Lennon preferred the more traditional release with self-contained songs whilst McCartney and George Martin wanted another album with a thematic approach akin to Merseyside by including a medley. Side A would fulfill Lennon's wish whilst side B fulfilled McCartney's and Martin's collective wish.

Ringo Starr and George Harrison during the recording sessions for Everest, 1969. George Martin can be seen behind Harrison.

Out of the four Beatles, Harrison finally received a chance for his songwriting to shine with the love song "Something" for his wife Pattie and "Here Comes the Sun". The former was considered by both Lennon and McCartney as the best song of the album, as well as the best song Harrison had ever written. So much so that it was planned to be the first single released ahead of the album with McCartney's "Let It Be" as a double A-side. Harrison's third and final contribution to the album was "I Me Mine", a commentary on his fractious relationship with McCartney at the time; it became part of a medley with Lennon's "Polythene Pam", and would also be the last song for several years that all four Beatles would record together on the same track.

9 January 1970
GEORGE MARTIN: "Brian Epstein came to me after the boys had put out Get Back, and he noted to me that there were a lot of songs that Capitol had not put out on an album. It was a similar case for the United Kingdom, so I went over all of their albums from the days beginning with Please Please Me all the way up to Abracadabra. The United Kingdom compilation, which ultimately became known as Past Masters, was easy to assemble. The American compilation was a lot more difficult to put together, because there were only ten tracks that hadn't been on an American album. I discussed this issue with the boys, and they agreed to put out some tracks that weren't put on an album at all. It really gave Sessions some exclusivity when it came out." (2003)

The original Past Masters 1963-1966 cover; it was later replaced with a plain black cover with white text in 1988.

The Beatles - Past Masters 1963-1966

Released: 9 January 1970

Recorded: 5 March 1963 - 16 April 1966

Producer: George Martin
Compiler: George Martin

Track listing[2]

Side A

From Me to You
Thank You Girl
She Loves You
I'll Get You
I Want to Hold Your Hand
This Boy
Long Tall Sally
I Call Your Name
Slow Down
Matchbox

Side B

I Feel Fine
She's a Woman
Bad Boy
Yes It Is
I'm Down
Day Tripper
We Can Work It Out
Paperback Writer
Rain

The Beatles - Sessions

Released: January 9, 1970

Recorded: 6 June 1962 - 5 August 1969

Producer: George Martin
Compiler: George Martin

Track listing[3]

Side A

Besame Mucho
How Do You Do It
Misery
There's a Place
From Me to You
One After 909 [original version]
Sie liebt dich
Can't Buy Me Love
A Hard Day's Night

Side B

I Should Have Known Better
Leave My Kitten Alone
If You've Got Trouble
That Means a Lot
I'm Down
Paperback Writer
Rain
Mailman, Bring Me No More Blues

Past Masters and Sessions were released on the same day in the United Kingdom and the United States, respectively. Past Masters compiled every track that was not included on an album in the United Kingdom, excluding the single version of "Love Me Do" and the Germany-released single "Komm, gib mir diene Hand"/"Sie liebt dich". The latter two tracks were included on the German release closing out sides A and B, respectively. Later CD releases would place the two tracks in between "This Boy" and "Long Tall Sally".

Sessions, meanwhile, included not only the ten tracks that had not received an album release in America, but it also included seven outtakes - including the original version of "One After 909" - ranging from before they had even released their first album ("Besame Mucho", "How Do You Do It") to the most recent Get Back sessions ("Mailman, Bring Me No More Blues"). The outtakes were included to flesh out the compilation a little more, and at the time, it was considered an exclusivity before the seven outtakes were later included for the Savile Row compilation album in 1995.[4]

17 April 1970

The Beatles - Everest

Released: 17 April 1970

Recorded: 3 November 1969 - 4 January 1970

Producer: George Martin

Track listing[5]

Side A

Because
Something
Come and Get It
Cold Turkey
Octopus's Garden
Her Majesty
I Want You (She's So Heavy)

Side B

The Long and Winding Road
Here Comes the Sun
Cosmically Conscious
Sun King/Mean Mr. Mustard
Polythene Pam/I Me Mine
Let It Be
Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End

The Beatles' fifteenth album, Everest, was released to near universal acclaim. The album received its title after Geoff Emerick's favorite brand of cigarettes, but also after the gigantic mountain in the Himalayas. An initial idea was to travel there for a photo session, but the idea was shot down and instead, an image of the band was placed overseeing Mount Everest, designed by Klaus Voormann, who also designed the cover for Abracadabra.

Everest reached #1 on both sides of the Atlantic, backed by the success of the double A-side "Something"/"Let It Be" released that February. Both tracks reached #1 in America, but stalled at #2 in the United Kingdom. A second single was released exclusively in the United States, McCartney's "The Long and Winding Road" with Ringo Starr's "Octopus's Garden" as the B-side. This was not dissimilar to the "Yellow Submarine"/"Eleanor Rigby" single from four years previous with a children's song performed by Starr contrasted by a more depressing track by McCartney. The single hit #1 in the United States, their 27th single overall to reach #1 in either country.

But despite two successful albums at the end of the old decade and at the start of a new one, not all was well within the group.

John Lennon and Yoko Ono, 1970.

GEORGE HARRISON: "When we finished recording for Everest, we needed a break. John and Yoko both undertook primary therapy from psychologist Arthur Janov that lasted about five months. Paul and I were off writing more tracks and producing for Mary Hopkin and Jackie Lomax. Ringo stayed at home." (1985)

Whilst Lennon was undergoing primal therapy, he would record demos for songs such as "Mother", "Working Class Hero", "Isolation", and "God", as well as a re-working of a track from India, "Look at Me". Similarly, McCartney was recording demos for older songs such as "Every Night", "Teddy Boy", and "Junk", as well as newer songs such as what many would consider his masterwork, "Maybe I'm Amazed". Harrison now had a big stockpile of songs he was unable to record with the Beatles with songs like "Isn't It a Pity", "Let It Down", "Hear Me Lord", "All Things Must Pass", and a collaboration with Bob Dylan, "I'd Have You Anytime". It looked as though, when they reunited towards the end of summer, the Beatles would end up recording a double album's worth of material, possibly a triple, had it not been for a meeting between a certain ringed drummer and their manager.

RINGO STARR: "Just a couple of weeks after Everest came out, I came into Brian's [Epstein] office and told him that I didn't want to just play music all the time. I wanted to have a side career of my own as an actor, especially after the movies we did as a band in the 1960s. It was rather quick for a meeting, but Brian promised that he'd find a way to work something out, and not long after that, he came into contact with an American director called Mel Stuart." (2001)

Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was published in 1964, featuring a young boy called Charlie Bucket receiving an inside tour of a chocolate factory run by eccentric chocolatier Willy Wonka. The idea of a film adaptation came about when Mel Stuart's daughter Madeline read the book and asked her father if he could make a film out of it. Stuart then presented the book to his film-making partner and producer David L. Wolper. By an amazing stroke of coincidence, Stuart and Wolper received a telephone call from Brian Epstein, asking if they had a film in the works.

Ringo Starr, 1970.

MICHAEL LINDSAY-HOGG: "Brian brought in Mel Stuart and David Wolper into a meeting in London, along with the book's author Roald Dahl, about making an adaptation of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Ringo was also present at the meeting, having told Brian about wanting a side career in acting. David was in the midst of talks with Quaker Oats at the time when it came to introducing a new candy bar from its subsidiary in Chicago now known as the Willy Wonka Candy Company." (2001)

With a lot of negotiation, it was decided that the film adaptation of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory would be co-produced by Apple Films, Wolper Pictures and the Quaker Oats Company with Warner Brothers as its distributor. The film would be a children's musical, and Dahl would write the screenplay, although the title was changed to Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory for marketing purposes.

Ringo himself was cast as the titular character, with the knowledge that out of the Beatles, he was easily the most popular and approachable. The other three Beatles were surprised at the announcement of their drummer being the lead character of the movie, and even asked to be in the film as well. Although initially reluctant, Stuart agreed to their presence in the film with Paul being cast as Bill, the owner of the Candy Shop, George as Mr. Turkentine, and John as Mr. Slugworth.[6] In later years, Dahl felt that the presence of the Beatles distracted from the movie as a whole, though he did admit to liking their music. Filming for the movie would begin at the end of August in Germany.

14 August 1970

The Zombies - Back from the Dead

Released: 14 August 1970

Recorded: 1969-1970

Producer: Rod Argent and Chris White

Track listing[7]

Side A

Like Honey
Her Song
Caroline Goodbye
Though You Are Far Away
Dance in the Smoke

Side B

Mary Won't You Warm My Bed
The Feeling's Inside
Freefall
I Can't Live Without You
Rejoice
Say You Don't Mind

With the Zombies having received a resurgence in popularity with "Time of the Season" from Odessey and Oracle, the band put out all of their previously-unreleased material from 1964-1967 under Capitol called From Beyond the Grave, and they even put out a new album the year previous with the ironic title of R.I.P..[8] But where would they go from here?

ROD ARGENT: "Chris [White] was no longer interested in playing on the albums but he still took part in songwriting. But Paul [Atkinson] and Hugh [Grundy] had left the band before R.I.P. was even released." (1990)

The Zombies, 1970. Not pictured: Colin Blunstone.

The Zombies were given a revamp by bringing in drummer Bob Henrit, guitarist Russ Ballard and bassist Jim Rodford, but the core of the band was always going to be Rod Argent and Colin Blunstone. The revamped Zombies were soon back in the studio recording their fourth album, Back from the Dead. In a surprising turn of events, Colin Blunstone was now writing up his own material and Russ Ballard had vocal spots on not only the songs by Argent and Chris White, but on his own songs as well.

It was eventually decided that Ballard's vocal spots would be compiled on a solo album called Ring of Hands, for an early 1971 release, whilst songs sung either by Blunstone or Argent would be on Back from the Dead.

Back from the Dead was released on August 14 to generally positive reception. Many critics and fans lamented the absence of Chris White (despite his presence in the songwriting), Paul Atkinson and Hugh Grundy, and the album was not a Top 40 hit in the United States, but the music was still considered to be enjoyable for what it was, especially "Say You Don't Mind", originally by former Moody Blues guitarist Denny Laine. The Zombies' cover version reached #15 in the United Kingdom as a single.

Footnotes

1. "Cold Turkey" was brought forth as a potential single for the Beatles, but Paul McCartney rejected it. That was the final straw for John Lennon privately quitting the Beatles and releasing it as a solo single under the Plastic Ono Band. Ringo Starr appears on the track on drums.
2. All tracks taken from Past Masters.
3. Tracks are sourced from the Anthology trilogy, Please Please Me, Past Masters, and A Hard Day's Night.
4. A compilation album called Sessions was planned for release in 1985, but it was shot down by the three surviving Beatles and the tracks were later included on the Anthology albums.
5. The tracks are sourced from the following:
1. "Because", "Something", "Octopus's Garden", "I Want You (She's So Heavy)", and "Here Comes the Sun" are all sourced from Abbey Road.
2. "Come and Get It" is from Anthology 3.
3. "Cold Turkey" is a John Lennon single that can be found on compilations such as Power to the People: The Hits.
4. "Her Majesty" is an audio rip from The Beatles: Rock Band with the closing chord from "Mean Mr. Mustard" cut.
5. "The Long and Winding Road" is taken from Let It Be... Naked.
6. "Cosmically Conscious" is the short version that be found as a hidden track from Paul McCartney's Off the Ground following "C'Mon People". Although somewhat anachronistic, the track has origins tracing back to 1968. The closing sound effects from "You Never Give Me Your Money" are added at the end as "Cosmically Conscious" fades out, fading into the next track.
7. "Sun King" and "Mean Mr. Mustard" are both sourced from Abbey Road and joined together as a single track with the closing chord of the latter re-inserted.
8. "Polythene Pam" is from Abbey Road with the ending, taken from "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window", extended and fading out at the end, cross-fading into "I Me Mine", taken from Anthology 3 with the opening dialogue cut.
9. "Let It Be" is the single version found on Past Masters.
10. "Golden Slumbers", "Carry That Weight", and "The End" are all sourced from Abbey Road and joined together to form a single track.
6. The roles of Willy Wonka, Bill, Mr. Turkentine, and Mr. Slugworth were portrayed by Gene Wilder, Aubrey Woods, David Battley, and Gunter Meisner, respectively.
7. Tracks are sourced from Colin Blunstone's One Year and Argent's self-titled album from 1970, with "Rejoice" taken from Ring of Hands.
8. R.I.P. is soniclovenoize's version that he did back in July 2014; his full take can be seen here.

Author's Comments

Yep, we're finally leaving the 1960s behind and are just about to enter the 1970s. An interesting note in regards to Colin's One Year album from 1971 is that all four members from Argent appeared on three tracks, which sort of made me wonder what might've happened if the Zombies carried on but with different members. How would it have compared to the original lineup? I'm not sure.

The idea for a Beatles-starred take on Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory came from my good friend Mike Nicholson. I did a poll asking which Beatle would be best suited for Wonka, and Ringo was the winner with John coming in a close second. On one hand, John would've perfectly fit Wonka's eccentricity and occasional mad rambling, but on the other, Ringo also has the sort of fatherly charm to him. Gene Wilder managed to do both sides of him brilliantly, and I'll admit it's kind of sacrilege, but heck, it's alternate history. It does also make me wonder how the film would've differed from OTL.

Only a few more chapters to go for Phase One, and after the last chapter is written up, I'll be writing up the complete timeline of events thus far.