The Beatles - "Skywriting by Word of Mouth" (1981)

Continuing once again with the Earth-130 timeline, here's the Beatles' fifth post-Abbey Road album, as well as their first album of the 1980s, Skywriting by Word of Mouth! As my usual reminder, in this universe, A Collection of Beatles Oldies is a compilation of non-album tracks, Yellow Submarine is an album with movie songs on one side and 1968-era tracks on the other, and Let It Be was released in May 1969. After Abbey Road, the Beatles elect to work on-and-off in the 1970s, with the resultant albums being 1970's Hot as Sun, 1973's Everest, 1975's Inclinations and 1978's Rainbow Falls, the latter of which was released in the middle of John's househusband phase.

So imagine if you will...

Skywriting by Word of Mouth (December 1981)

Side A (22:14)

1. I'm Stepping Out - 4:08

2. Take It Away - 4:16

3. Dream Away - 4:29

4. I Don't Wanna Face It - 3:40

5. You Can't Fight Lightning - 5:41

Side B (21:43)

6. Average Person - 4:33

7. Borrowed Time - 3:35

8. Wanderlust - 3:49

9. All Those Years Ago - 3:45

10. Here Today - 2:27

11. Nobody Told Me - 3:34

The brand new decade did not start in the way Paul McCartney had intended; Wings were just about to perform in Japan for eleven shows, but upon arrival in Tokyo, Paul's luggage was found to have marijuana in it, resulting in staying in a jail cell for nine days, and subsequently, the cancelation of the tour. After release and deportation, Paul afterward released his first album in March as a solo artist (Ram was a collaboration with wife Linda), eponymously titled McCartney. It was a double album of solo recordings with heavy synthesizer usage recorded in the summer of 1979, and was backed by the first single "Coming Up", which soon reached #1 in the United States, but stalled at #2 in the United Kingdom.

While McCartney was lambasted with negative reviews at the time, one of the more enthusiastic listeners was none other than John Lennon, who called "Coming Up" a "good piece of work". He would further be prompted to return to recording in the studio by embarking on a sailing trip to Bermuda in the midst of a severe storm. While the crew fell to fatigue and sickness, John was forced to helm the ship alone for six hours, which he later recalled felt like "Morse Moose and the Grey Goose" come to life. "Not sure if I was Morse Moose or not," he admitted. After making it safely to shore, he began writing up new songs and reworked earlier demos. "I've got so many to work with, I need both Yoko and the Beatles to get them all out to the world!"

One of those albums, the collaboration with Yoko, who also wrote up some new songs herself, would be a collection of songs wherein the couple would conduct a musical dialogue. Once the songs for what would become Double Fantasy were selected, John would leave others aside for a potential Beatles project, messaging Paul, "It's time to get the band back together. For real, this time. And we'll go on a tour! Just like you wanted for us back in the late sixties, eh?"

At the same time, Paul had gotten together with Ringo Starr for the latter's next album, having written a few songs for it. By coincidence, Paul also had a slew of demos just waiting to be recorded, and once they'd gotten together, he and John determined which ones would end up on the next Beatles project, should it ever happen. There was such cooperation between the two men that, for the first time since "Gimme Some Truth" on Hot as Sun, songs would actually be credited to Lennon/McCartney. Amongst those songs was John's "Life Begins at 40", which he intended for Ringo to sing, especially as both men would turn forty this year. Ringo was also very excited at the prospect of a full-on Beatles reunion that he brought forth a song recorded with Paul, "You Can't Fight Lightning", for possible inclusion.

But what about George Harrison, the one who could make or break a Beatles reunion? By this point, he had just finished up his next album Flying Hour, due for release under Apple Records in September. Ringo was the one who told George about John's idea, and although not quite as enthused about it as the others were, George eventually agreed to the idea. Sessions were booked to begin in November at the Hit Factory in New York, with the Beatles' old producer George Martin being called in to produce the album, his first work with any of them since Wings' "Live and Let Die".

During that time in between, John and Yoko recorded for Double Fantasy, but were rarely in the studio at the same time, and the sessions went by quick. The album would be preceded by John's "(Just Like) Starting Over" as the first single in October, with the album coming out. Meanwhile, Ringo continued work on what would become Stop and Smell the Roses, booking sessions with Stephen Stills, Ronnie Wood, Harry Nilsson, and even George bringing forth a few songs, including "Wrack My Brain".

At long last, the Beatles were back in the same studio together with George Martin at the helm, just like in the old days. No one had ever seen John so enthusiastic about being a part of the Beatles since who knows when, but given the songs he wanted to put out to the world, who could blame him? His main contributions to the sessions were "I'm Stepping Out", "I Don't Wanna Face It" and "Nobody Told Me", the latter of which recalled "Instant Karma". Paul's major contributions were "Take It Away", "Average Person" (another story song in the mold of "Eleanor Rigby" and "Another Day") and "Wanderlust", for which he hoped George would contribute a guitar solo to. Along with the completion of Ringo's "You Can't Fight Lightning", George brought forth his first contribution to the sessions, "Dream Away", which had been commissioned by Monty Python member Terry Gilliam to appear in the film Time Bandits. By the start of December, the Beatles had well over half of an album in the can, but alas, things would not go the way they had expected...

On December 8, 1980, John Lennon had been shot outside the Dakota by a deranged fan called Mark David Chapman. John was quickly rushed to Roosevelt Hospital where he died from his wounds at 11:15 in the evening. The world was left in shock upon the news, with many wondering how a man who preached peace could have his life end in such a violent way. Six days later, Yoko would request ten minutes of silence for John in lieu of a funeral. Apart from her, no one was more shaken up by John's murder than the other three Beatles. All plans for a reunion tour were dropped, and the status of the planned comeback album was left in the air. How could the Beatles possibly continue if one of the members was dead?

Two months later, in February 1981, George called over Paul and Ringo to Friar Park; since John's death, the three had kept a low profile, and all of them feared that any one of them could be next, a fear not felt since their catastrophic visit to the Philippines or their last American tour, both in 1966. Inside, George talked about wanting to complete the album in John's honor, feeling as though it was what he would have wanted, and he brought forward a song called "All Those Years Ago". He'd originally written it for Ringo to sing, but the latter disliked the lyrics and felt the vocal too high for his range, so George had rewritten it to be a tribute to John. After presenting the revised song, Paul told George, "Y'know, George, people always thought it was me and John who were the faces of the Beatles, but you? You're the most essential one out of us. We could've carried on without you if you'd quit, but John and I needed you possibly more than you needed the two of us. You've kept us going for the past few albums, and this may be the best thing you ever wrote." No further words were said as the two old friends who'd known each other since meeting on a bus in 1954 hugged. Ringo, not wanting to be left out, simply patted George on the shoulder.

Recording re-commenced that March at AIR Studios in Montserrat, with George Martin once again producing, to work on "All Those Years Ago", as well as to add some overdubs to the songs recorded prior to John's murder. During these new sessions, Yoko had brought forth a demo by John recorded back in Bermuda in June 1980 called "Borrowed Time" for possible use on the album, but it was decided to leave the demo as is, and for John to get sole songwriting credit. "It just felt right, y'know," Paul later stated, "showing John where he was at before we'd even started work on Skywriting." As completion of the album drew to a close, Ringo married his new girlfriend Barbara Bach, whom he met on the set of the film Caveman, on April 27, with Paul, George and their families in attendance. In addition, Stop and Smell the Roses would come out in June.

The final song brought forth for the Beatles' last album, as well as the last song recorded period under the Beatles' name, was none other than Paul's "Here Today", recorded entirely solo with a backing string arrangement, not dissimilar to "Yesterday". If "All Those Years Ago" was a celebration of John's life, then "Here Today" was Paul's personal goodbye to his songwriting partner, written as a conversation they may have had together, with Paul even crying as he wrote it. Both songs would be released as the first single off of Skywriting by Word of Mouth, which came out in December 1981, exactly one year since John Lennon's murder. By this point, Wings had quietly dissolved with Denny Laine leaving the group, and with the Beatles also no more, Paul McCartney would find himself now as a solo act, but his first post-Beatles, post-Wings album, War and Peace, would not come out until 1983.

Skywriting by Word of Mouth was met with wildly positive reviews upon release, giving the Beatles their best reviews since Hot as Sun, although reactions would cool off in later years. "All Those Years Ago" would hit #1 on both sides of the Atlantic, and the follow-up singles, "Take It Away" and "Nobody Told Me", were also huge hits upon release in 1982. That same year would also see the release of 1970-1981, otherwise known as "The Green Album" due to its border, continuing on from where 1962-1966 (Red) and 1967-1969 (Blue) left off, covering 24 songs from across their final five albums, as well as "Another Day" from the extended play of the same name. The compilation would be released in October 1982, on what would have been John Lennon's 42nd birthday, ending the Beatles' career on a high note.