Revisiting "Let It Be" - The Lost Beatles Album

With The Beatles: Get Back making it onto Disney+ next month, I figured it'd be high time that I throw my hat into the ring over a recreation that many Beatles fans have done for years - what would Let It Be have been like had it been released as Get Back, as originally intended? I'm not the first to ponder this, nor will I be the last. I've done this a few times myself, but have never been satisfied with the results, so hopefully, this will be the recreation that sticks with me the most!

To those who may be wondering why Let It Be is a controversial album among fans, I'll try to explain as best as I can while keeping things succinct.

The Beatles performing their final concert on the rooftop of Savile Row, January 30, 1969.

It began back on August 27, 1967 - why this particular date? Because that was the day that the Beatles' manager, Brian Epstein, died of drug overdose (whether or not it was a suicide or accident remains a mystery; it doesn't change the story before or after). His death marked the beginning of the end of the Beatles. The following year, they went to India to practice Transcendental Meditation with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, and while they were there, wrote many songs that would form the basis of their follow-up to Sgt. Pepper, The White Album. When they went to record the songs, however, there was no longer a group mentality; each Beatle wanted to do their own thing while the other three were practically sidemen.

This was when Paul McCartney suggested that they write, rehearse and record an album as quickly as possible much like the old days, so they could recapture what they had lost over the past few years. All live with no overdubs was the mentality for what was going to be called Get Back. While it was a good idea in theory, unfortunately, it was not so great in practice as George Harrison did not want to do Paul's songs and vice-versa, while John Lennon wanted nothing to do with the project at all. Ringo Starr just played along for the miserable ride. The sessions throughout January 1969 ended with their final live performance on the 30th - "Get Back", "Don't Let Me Down", "I've Got a Feeling", "One After 909" and "Dig a Pony" - and definitive takes of "Two of Us", "Let It Be" and "The Long and Winding Road" on the 31st.

Glyn Johns had been brought in to compile the album together, being given the simple task of presenting the Beatles with their pants down, as John Lennon put it. I'll present the track listings below, but as it turned out, Glyn Johns' first version of Get Back was the Beatles naked from the waist down! The project was temporarily halted so the Beatles could return to work on their superior work, Abbey Road, before another version of Get Back was compiled, dropping "Teddy Boy" and including "I Me Mine" and "Across the Universe". While it was marginally better, it didn't meet the Beatles' standard either, leaving everyone wondering if Get Back would ever get released at all.

This was where Phil Spector came in to finish what Glyn Johns could not, but he abandoned the notion of "no overdubs" and included orchestration overdubs over "Across the Universe", "I Me Mine", "Let It Be" and, most infamously, "The Long and Winding Road". Paul was furious over the treatment given to the latter, especially as it was without his consent, and announced the Beatles' breakup that April, one month before it finally came out as Let It Be and received harsh reviews from critics. Come 2003, Paul had commissioned a new version of the album subtitled Naked that stripped away Spector's orchestrations, and it was viewed as superior to the original Let It Be album, although not by a whole lot. Was it even possible to make the Beatles' final(ish) album coherent? Could anyone achieve what Glyn Johns could not?

As I'm about to explain, all four track listings were fatally flawed in some way or another.

Get Back, Version 1 (May 1969)

Side A - "One After 909" / "Rocker" / "Save the Last Dance for Me" / "Don't Let Me Down" / "Dig a Pony" / "I've Got a Feeling" / "Get Back"

Side B  - "For You Blue" / "Teddy Boy" / "Two of Us" / "Maggie Mae" / "Dig It" / "Let It Be" / "The Long and Winding Road" / "Get Back (reprise)"

Only "One After 909" is taken from the rooftop concert, while the rest of the tracks were studio versions. This was perhaps not what the Beatles had in mind about being shown with their pants down; "Two of Us" and "The Long and Winding Road" were far rougher compared to the polished performances recorded on January 31, and Glyn Johns even included an aimless jam called "Rocker" and a sloppy rendition of the Drifters' "Save the Last Dance for Me". It's a mess all around and it feels like there was no thought whatsoever into arranging the album.

Get Back, Version 2 (January 1970)

Side A - "One After 909" / "Rocker" / "Save the Last Dance for Me" / "Don't Let Me Down" / "Dig a Pony" / "I've Got a Feeling" / "Get Back" / "Let It Be"

Side B - "For You Blue" / "Two of Us" / "Maggie Mae" / "Dig It" / "The Long and Winding Road" / "I Me Mine" / "Across the Universe" / "Get Back (reprise)"

"Let It Be" is moved onto the end of Side A, and "Teddy Boy" is deleted in favor of "I Me Mine" and "Across the Universe", both featured in the movie while "Teddy Boy" was not. Some chatter was also removed to improve the pacing of the album. Although slightly better, clearly this album's weakness was inescapable, and one wonders why Glyn Johns insisted on keeping "Rocker/Save the Last Dance for Me" since it was never used for the final album.

Let It Be (May 1970)

Side A - "Two of Us" / "Dig a Pony" / "Across the Universe" / "I Me Mine" / "Dig It" / "Let It Be" / "Maggie Mae"

Side B - "I've Got a Feeling" / "One After 909" / "The Long and Winding Road" / "For You Blue" / "Get Back"

Phil Spector might have used better takes, but the album's cohesion is a mess all around. Not only do we alternate between acoustic and electric tracks, but he left off "Don't Let Me Down" altogether, which is just insanity. Not only that, both sides are unbalanced; Side A runs at 19 minutes and Side B almost 16 minutes! Even if we tacked on "Don't Let Me Down" towards the end of Side B to have evenly timed sides, it would still sound sloppy and all over the place. There doesn't seem to be any cohesion whatsoever.

Let It Be... Naked (November 2003)

"Get Back" / "Dig a Pony" / "For You Blue" / "The Long and Winding Road" / "Two of Us" / "I've Got a Feeling" / "One After 909" / "Don't Let Me Down" / "I Me Mine" / "Across the Universe" / "Let It Be"

This is perhaps the best sounding version of Get Back/Let It Be, but even then, we lost "Dig It" and "Maggie Mae", which were very much part of the original album's running as far back as the first Glyn Johns mix. Studio and live chatter were also removed, and some songs fade out too quickly, making them sound abrupt and unnatural.

And now, here's my reconstruction of Get Back, for which I've decided to keep the final Let It Be title.

Let It Be (May 1969; October 2021)

Side A - "One After 909" / "Dig a Pony" / "I've Got a Feeling" / "Not Guilty" / "Don't Let Me Down" / "Get Back"

Side B - "Dig It" / "Let It Be" / "All Things Must Pass" / "Maggie Mae" / "Two of Us" / "For You Blue" / "The Long and Winding Road" / "Across the Universe"

I've taken some cues from all four track listings; both of the Glyn Johns mixes start with "One After 909", the oldest Beatles song recorded for the sessions, having been written some time between 1957 and 1960, and was even considered for a single release in 1963. This would be a good thing to set the tone for the "back to basics" approach of the album, so it's our opening track.

Also on both Glyn Johns mixes, "Dig a Pony" and "I've Got a Feeling" are played back to back. This is the same sequence used for the rooftop concert, although the latter was the second take rather than the first as heard on Let It Be, but whatever. Similarly, I've chosen to end Side A with "Get Back" per the first Glyn Johns mix, preceding that with "Don't Let Me Down", not dissimilar to the sequencing of "Ask Me Why" and the title track on their debut, Please Please Me.

So that's all of Side A completed... except we're one track short. I'm sure most people would include "I Me Mine" or "For You Blue" to flesh it out further, but I've made a decision that would probably baffle some people. I've decided to insert "Not Guilty" in between "I've Got a Feeling" and "Don't Let Me Down" for three reasons - one, to maintain the electric vibe of Side A; two, I wanted to keep all recordings pre-February 1969; and three, I think it would've fit in better than "I Me Mine", recorded January 1970. This may not seem believable, but they did include "Across the Universe", recorded February 1968, so why not include a track that was recorded in August 1968? Is this something any 60s band would've pulled on us? I think they would have.

So Side A is comprised of all five songs recorded on the rooftop concert - even "Not Guilty" was miraculously performed - but how do we begin Side B? Side A of Let It Be ended with "Dig It" and "Maggie Mae", with the title track inserted in between. Not a bad sequence, although the jokey performance of "Maggie Mae" seems to disregard the serious tone of "Let It Be", but is there a way around it?

Insert anachronism number two; "All Things Must Pass". Specifically, the demo version as found on Early Takes Volume 1, because neither the Anthology 3 nor bootlegged versions sound that great to begin with. I'd include either of them, but I want to make it sound as polished as I can. With some editing, it runs at a pretty similar length, and it fits right in between "Let It Be" and "Maggie Mae". I view "All Things Must Pass" as an amen response to "Let It Be" before jumping into "Maggie Mae". Think of it as being similar to the "Love You To"/"Here, There and Everywhere"/"Yellow Submarine" sequence on Revolver. And like Revolver, it gives George three vocal spots - "Something" and "Here Comes the Sun" were considered the best songs on Abbey Road, so I think giving George a third song would've further proved that, showing that he deserved to stand alongside John and Paul as a songwriter.

Speaking of which, the "For You Blue"/"The Long and Winding Road" sequence is taken directly from Let It Be... Naked, with "Two of Us" being the link between "Maggie Mae" and "For You Blue". The first Glyn Johns mix ends with "The Long and Winding Road" while the second mix ends with "Across the Universe" - in both cases, we exclude the reprise of "Get Back".

Here's the tracks I've chosen to exclude:

• "Rocker/Save the Last Dance for Me" - They're superfluous and would have added nothing of value to the album.
• "Teddy Boy" - It was dropped after the first version of Get Back, and not to mention that I wanted to avoid having too many McCartney-penned tracks.
• "I Me Mine" - As mentioned, I preferred "Not Guilty" to it. Plus, it was recorded in January 1970, a year since the project was first started. Yes, I know it was included for the final album because rehearsals were in the original film, but again, I am sticking to 1968-69 recordings. Maybe "I Me Mine" could be included for a theoretical follow-up to Abbey Road?

Overall, my version of Let It Be runs at about 44 and a half minutes with Side B a bit longer than Side A, but to me, it feels coherent with one side giving us a final taste of the Beatles as a live band, and the other being a studio performance. Maybe it's not quite what the Beatles were envisioning back in 1969, but I did try to maintain George Martin's mentality when it comes to sequencing the albums as best as I could, and I think it came out very nicely.

How to Assemble Get Back/Let It Be

"One After 909" - Primarily sourced from Let It Be... Naked with opening ambience taken from the 50th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition and the closing ambience from Let It Be.

"Dig a Pony" - Naked version with opening and closing ambience from Let It Be.

"I've Got a Feeling" - Let It Be version with no edits. This is whole first take on the rooftop while the Naked version is a composite edit of both performances.

"Not Guilty" - Take 102 from the 2018 deluxe edition of The White Album, with opening ambience taken from the bootleg As Nature Intended to create a faux live performance. I've cut about thirty seconds' worth of the ending guitar to keep it a similar length to the rest of the live tracks, around three to four minutes.

"Don't Let Me Down" - Naked version with opening and closing ambience from the 50th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition.

"Get Back" - I've utilized the Anthology 3 version because I feel it sounds different enough from the single version, especially the coda. I've included opening and closing ambience from Let It Be, which restores John's "I hope we passed the audition" quip at the end. All six tracks are crossfaded together to make one continuous live performance.

"Dig It" - A unique mix that starts off with the "Morning Camera" dialogue from an alternate take of "Two of Us" before jumping into the album version - with John's "dig it" outro made twice the length - that crossfades into "Can You Dig It", being cut down so it's just under two minutes. Like the original Let It Be, the closing dialogue leads right into...

"Let It Be" - Naked version with closing dialogue from the first take found on Anthology 3 - "I think that was rather grand. I'd take one home with me."

"All Things Must Pass" - Early Takes Volume 1 version cut down to 3:30 so it could run at a similar length to several rehearsals; the 2021 re-release of All Things Must Pass cuts it short for some reason. As stated before, the 1969 versions are not that great sounding, so let's pretend that it was recorded during on January 31, with John sitting it out. The quiet laughter at the end leads right into...

"Maggie Mae" - Let It Be version with no edits.

"Two of Us" - Naked version with extended outro sourced from Let It Be. Closing dialogue is sourced from the 1969 Glyn Johns mix found on the 50th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition.

"For You Blue" - Take 4 with opening dialogue sourced from the 1969 Glyn John mix, both from the 50th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition. I'm sure most would choose the Naked mix, but I wanted as few overdubs as possible. The opening dialogue from the first take of "Let It Be" from Anthology 3 is added onto the end - "Are we supposed to giggle in the solo?" "Yeah." "Okay." "This'll... this is gonna knock you out, boy."

"The Long and Winding Road" - Naked version with no edits.

"Across the Universe" - The 1970 Glyn Johns mix with the opening dialogue cut, sourced from the 50th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition. This version includes Lizzie Bravo and Gayleen Pease's backing vocals, otherwise mixed down, to make it sound less sparse.

Sources

The Beatles - Anthology 3 (1996)

The Beatles - As Nature Intended (1994; bootleg)

The Beatles - Let It Be 50th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition (2021 remaster)

The Beatles - Let It Be... Naked (2013 remaster)

The Beatles - The White Album 50th Anniversary Edition (2018 remaster)

George Harrison - Early Takes Volume 1 (2012)

Chapter 80: We Are the World (July 13 and 14, 1985)

 July 13, 1985

Wembley Stadium - 7:00 to 8:45 EDT (12:00 to 13:45 BST)

Diana and Prince Charles attending Live Aid, 13 July 1985.

"It's 12 noon in London, 7 AM in Philadelphia, and around the world, it's time for Live Aid! Sixteen hours of live music in aid of famine relief in Africa," announced Richard Skinner. "Wembley welcomes their Royal Highnesses, the Prince and Princess of Wales!"

The crowd cheered as Prince Charles and his wife Diana Spencer appeared amongst them in the stands, accompanied by the Coldstream Guards playing to mark their arrival, before taking their seats. Bob Geldof stood by the prince's left as the latter greeted the crowd with a wave.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the Royal Salute!" announced Tommy Vance.

The Coldstream Guards kicked off the Wembley show with the first six bars to "God Save the Queen". They'd been performing for the British Army for two hundred years, and it seemed fitting that they be the ones to kick off the show.

"And now, to start off sixteen hours of Live Aid," Vance announced again, "would you welcome, Status Quo!"

Status Quo (7:01 EDT; 12:01 BST) fittingly kicked off Live Aid with a cover version of John Fogerty's "Rockin' All Over the World", following that up with "Caroline" and "Don't Waste My Time". They were soon followed up by the Style Council (7:19 EDT; 12:19 BST - "You're the Best Thing", "Big Boss Groove", "Internationalists" and "Walls Come Tumbling Down!") and the Boomtown Rats (7:44 EDT; 12: 44 BST - "I Don't Like Mondays", "Drag Me Down" and "Rat Trap").

Def Leppard (8:01 EDT; 13:01 BST) kicked off the second hour of Live Aid with "Photograph" and "Rock of Ages", both from their most recent album Pyromania[1]. Following up on them was Ultravox (8:17 EDT; 13:17 BST) with "Reap the Wild Wind", "Dancing with Tears in My Eyes", "One Small Day" and "Vienna".

Wembley Stadium (London) and John F. Kennedy Stadium (Philadelphia) - 8:45 to 17:00 EDT (13:45 to 22:00 BST)

George Segal and Marilyn McCoo introducing Live Aid to American audiences.

"Live from JFK Stadium in Philadelphia, USA!" announced George Segal. "And live from Wembley Stadium in London, England! The Live Aid concert! Welcome to the worldwide Live Aid concert! I'm George Segal in Philadelphia, and I'm here to welcome you to something more than a television show. As of this moment, we're being seen in sixty nations throughout the world, we can be seen on 85 percent of all the television sets on the planet, and we can be heard on 75 percent of all the radios on the planet! We welcome you to a massive, totally unprecedented coming together of all the peoples of our world in support of our neighbors in Africa."

"We've come together today to make a simple and powerful statement," added Marilyn McCoo, "that all men are our brothers, that all women are our sisters, and especially that all children are our children. When one of us suffers as millions today are suffering in Africa, then we all suffer. And as this is the custom in families everywhere, we extend our helping hand. We lift them up until they can stand on their own. And we don't do this because we feel guilt and certainly not because we feel pity. We do it simply because that's the kind of people that we are."

"And so, for the next sixteen hours, we'll all be enjoying what can only be characterized as the hottest acts in music today."

"And they are Crosby, Stills and Nash, Tom Petty, Sting with Phil Collins and the Who, Bryan Adams... you know who Bryan Adams is?"

"I know who he is."

"Oh, alright. Alright. Eric Clapton, the Beach Boys, Wham!, and much more."

"They're all performing free; not only for African famine relief, but also in support of an even larger purpose. Ending hunger in our world forever. But right now, we're going live to London!"

Joan Baez performing at Live Aid at John F. Kennedy Stadium.

The last performer in London just before the Philadelphia portion of Live Aid kicked off was Spandau Ballet (8:46 EDT; 13:45 BST) with "Only When You Leave", "Virgin" and "True". The first artists to play at Philadelphia were Bernard Watson (8:51 EDT; 13:51 BST - "All I Really Want to Do" and "Interview") and Joan Baez (9:01 EDT; 14:01 BST - "Amazing Grace" and "We Are the World"), the latter of whom kicked off hour three of Live Aid. Elvis Costello (9:07 EDT; 14:07 BST) was the next artist performing at London, singing a cover of the Beatles' "All You Need is Love". At the same time, Bruce Springsteen (9:10 EDT; 14:10 BST) played "Born to Run" and "Dancing in the Dark" at Philadelphia[2]. For the next hour and a half, the following artists and their respective setlists were as follows:

Nik Kershaw - 9:22 EDT / 14:22 BST (London)

"Wide Boy"

"Don Quixote"

"The Riddle"

"Wouldn't It Be Good"

Four Tops - 9:32 EDT / 14:32 BST (Philadelphia)

"Shake Me, Wake Me (When It's Over)"

"Bernadette"

"It's the Same Old Song"

"Reach Out I'll Be There"

"I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)"

Billy Ocean - 9:45 EDT / 14:45 BST (Philadelphia)

"Caribbean Queen"

"Loverboy"

Sade - 9:53 EDT / 14:53 BST (London)

"Why Can't We Live Together"

"Your Love Is King"

"Is It a Crime?"

Black Sabbath - 9:55 EDT / 14:55 BST (Philadelphia)

"Children of the Grave"

"Iron Man"

"Paranoid"

Run–D.M.C. - 10:12 EDT / 15:12 BST (Philadelphia)

"Jam Master Jay"

"King of Rock"

Sting and Phil Collins - 10:18 EDT / 15:18 BST (London)

"Roxanne" (Sting)

"Driven to Tears" (Sting)

"Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" (Phil Collins)

"Message in a Bottle" (Sting)

"In the Air Tonight" (Phil Collins)

"Long Long Way to Go" (both)

"Every Breath You Take" (both)

Rick Springfield - 10:27 EDT / 15:27 BST (Philadelphia)

"Love Somebody"

"State of the Heart"

"Human Touch"

REO Speedwagon - 10:47 EDT / 15:47 (Philadelphia)

"Can't Fight This Feeling"

"Roll with the Changes”

Howard Jones - 10:49 EDT / 15:49 BST (London)

"Hide and Seek"

David Gilmour performing at Live Aid with the rest of Pink Floyd and Roger Waters at Wembley Stadium.

Kicking off the fifth hour of Live Aid was Pink Floyd (11:03 EDT; 16:03 BST), reuniting with Roger Waters for the first time since 1978[3]. Their setlist began with "Speak to Me" and "Breathe", along with the reprise of the latter before transitioning to "Money", all from The Dark Side of the Moon. Before they began their next song, Roger Waters addressed the crowd.

"It's actually quite emotional to be standing up here with these three guys again, after all these years - standing to be counted with the rest of you," he said as they began to play "Wish You Were Here". "Anyway, we're doing this for the people who're not here - and particularly, of course, for Syd."[4]

Concluding Pink Floyd's setlist was "Comfortably Numb" from Roger Waters' The Wall. David Gilmour was especially receptive to this, as Waters had been waiting for the perfect opportunity to play the song live with Pink Floyd. The next two artists playing at Philadelphia were Crosby, Stills and Nash (11:12 EDT; 16:12 BST - "Southern Cross", "Teach Your Children" and "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes") and Judas Priest (11:29 EDT; 16:29 BST - "Living After Midnight", "The Green Manalishi (With the Two-Pronged Crown)" and "You've Got Another Thing Comin'"), while the next London artist was Paul Young (11:40 EDT; 16:40 BST), performing the the intro of "Do They Know It's Christmas?", "Come Back and Stay", "That's the Way Love Is" as part of a duet with Alison Moyet, and "Everytime You Go Away". For the next hour and a half, the following performances were made:

Bryan Adams - 12:01 EDT / 17:01 BST (Philadelphia)

"Kids Wanna Rock"

"Summer of '69"

"Tears Are Not Enough"

"Cuts Like a Knife"

U2 - 12:19 EDT / 17:19 BST (London)

"Sunday Bloody Sunday"

"Bad" (w/snippets of "Satellite of Love", "Ruby Tuesday", "Sympathy for the Devil" and "Walk on the Wild Side")

The Beach Boys - 12:39 EDT / 17:39 BST (Philadelphia)[5]

"California Girls"

"Help Me, Rhonda"

"Wouldn't It Be Nice"

"Good Vibrations"

"Surfin' U.S.A."

Dire Straits - 13:00 EDT / 18:00 BST (London)

"Money for Nothing" (with Sting)

"Sultans of Swing"

George Thorogood and the Destroyers - 13:26 EDT / 18:26 BST (Philadelphia)

"Who Do You Love?" (with Bo Diddley)

"The Sky Is Crying"

"Madison Blues" (with Albert Collins)

Freddie Mercury and Brian May performing at Live Aid at Wembley Stadium.

Smile (13:41 EDT; 18:41 BST) would go on to mark one of the most iconic performances of Live Aid, first beginning with the ballad portion of "Bohemian Rhapsody" with the guitar solo transitioning towards "Radio Ga Ga". After a brief vocal improvisation between Freddie Mercury and the crowd, Smile played "Hammer to Fall", "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" and "We Will Rock You" before concluding with "We Are the Champions".

Simple Minds - 14:05 EDT / 19:05 BST (Philadelphia)

"Ghost Dancing"

"Don't You (Forget About Me)"

"Promised You a Miracle"

David Bowie - 14:23 EDT / 19:23 BST (London)

"TVC 15"

"Rebel Rebel"

"Modern Love"

"Heroes"

Pretenders - 14:41 EDT / 19:41 BST (Philadelphia)

"Time the Avenger"

"Message of Love"

"Stop Your Sobbing"

"Back on the Chain Gang"

"Middle of the Road"

The Who - 14:59 EDT / 19:59 BST (London)

"My Generation"

"Pinball Wizard"

"Love, Reign o'er Me"

"Won't Get Fooled Again"

Santana with Pat Metheny - 15:21 EDT / 20:21 BST (Philadelphia)

"Brotherhood"

"Primera Invasion"

"Open Invitation"

"By the Pool"

"Right Now"

After The Who (with Phil Collins on drums) had finished up their set list, Bob Geldof walked on stage to introduce the next artist.

"This could be the most important performance of the entire concert, let alone the entirety of rock music history," he said. "So, please let me introduce to you, the act you've known for all these years..." He paused for dramatic effect; there was some scattered chuckling at the reference Geldof had just made, but they were drowned out by unstoppable clapping and screaming the moment he said their name...

"THE BEATLES!"

Paul McCartney performing with the Beatles at Live Aid at Wembley.

John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr walked onto the stage, clutching their guitars and (in Ringo's case) drumsticks, a sense of excitement and anxiety shared amongst them. Despite this sense of nervousness, at 15:25 Eastern Time, 20:25 British Summer Time, they kicked off their setlist with "Come Together", with the outro being accompanied by the guitar introduction to "Revolution", transitioning into "Back in the U.S.S.R.". The crowd was beside itself with excitement the whole time, which, to the Beatles, was a good sign that their performance was going well.

The next song of the Beatles' setlist was George's vocal spot "Something". Backstage, the Beatles' families were watching the performance on the television set. Olivia had the biggest smile out of the Beatles' wives; although the song had been written back when George was married to Pattie Boyd, it didn't make the song any less resonant to her.

Back on the stage, Paul had put down his bass guitar and sat at the piano to perform the next number. "This song's a little something that we played twenty years ago," he told the crowd as he played the first chords. "Since this little number came out, God knows how many people have performed it, and I think you can guess what it is by the first lyric... Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away..."

For the rest of the song, the crowd sang along with Paul. They cheered again as "Yesterday" drew to a close, and John picked up the acoustic guitar to perform the next song.

"This little number is dedicated to all the people we've met over the years, including those who are no longer with us," he said. "I would also like to dedicate it to a few very special people, wherever you are and even if you're not watching..."

Aunt Mimi was at home watching Live Aid on television and smiled; even though John wasn't here with her right now, she knew exactly who he was referring to. As did Madeline, watching the performance with the rest of the Beatles' families as John sang "In My Life".

"In my life... I love you more..." As the song drew to a close, the crowd once again began cheering loudly as the number of donations to support Ethiopia began to triplicate.

"For those who've not done anything yet," called John, "let's come together and donate what we can to help all the people of Ethiopia in their fight against famine!"

"Just standing here and playing with the guys," added Paul, "it's an amazing feeling, especially in fighting a cause that we all wished did not exist."

"This is a big deal, what we're doing right now," said George. "The world's watching us and they need to contribute to Live Aid."

"Peace and love, wherever you are!" finished Ringo. "Come on, everybody! Let's bring the house down!"

That was when the Beatles began the last song in their set, "With a Little Help from My Friends". Once again, the crowd was singing along, even during the extended outro to the song that transitioned towards "The End".

"And in the end... the love you take... is equal to the love you make..."

If the crowd wasn't in a frenzy before, they certainly were now! All four Beatles walked to the front of the stage together, arm in arm, and bowed before the crowd before leaving the stage again, feeling a strong sense of satisfaction with their performance. Meanwhile, back in Philadelphia, Ashford & Simpson (15:57 EDT; 20:57 BST) performed "Solid" and "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)", the latter of which was performed with Teddy Pendergrass.

Elton John performing at Live Aid at Wembley.

There was one hour left to go at Wembley, beginning with Elton John (16:00 EDT; 21:00 BST) whose setlist consisted of "I'm Still Standing", "Bennie and the Jets", "Rocket Man", "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" and "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me", the latter two of which were duets with Kiki Dee and Wham! (George Michael on lead vocals), respectively.[6] Back at Philadelphia, Madonna (16:27 EDT; 21:27 BST) performed "Holiday", "Into the Groove" and "Love Makes the World Go Round", the latter of which was with Thompson Twins and Nile Rodgers.

With just fifteen minutes left for the Wembley performance, Freddie Mercury and Brian May (16:48 EDT; 21:48 BST) returned to the stage to perform "Is This the World We Created...?".

"Thank you very much," said Freddie after the song came to an end. "And now a man with glasses will return to the stage, and I think you can tell who he is! Ah, there he is now!"

"Thank you, Freddie," said John Lennon as he walked onto the stage again and to the piano. "There's still time left to donate, so let's fight against poverty not just in Ethiopia, but in the entire world! Every action is needed so we can... Well, you know what this next number's about, don't you?"

And that was when John began to play "Imagine" before transitioning to "Give Peace a Chance", being backed by David Bowie, Bob Geldof, Alison Moyet and Roger Waters.[7] The Wembley Stadium portion of Live Aid came to a close with Band Aid singing "Do They Know It's Christmas?", a song composed by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure telling listeners about the Ethiopia famine.

"Thank you, everybody!" called Bob as the performance came to an end. "That's the end of our show, you've been a fantastic audience! Thank you, and good night! Over to you, Philadelphia!"

July 13 and 14, 1985

John F. Kennedy Stadium - 17:00 to 23:00 EDT (22:00 to 4:00 BST)

Tom Petty performing with Mudcrutch at Live Aid at John F. Kennedy Stadium.

The remaining six hours of Live Aid at JFK Stadium began with Tom Petty and Mudcrutch (17:02 EDT; 22:02 BST) by performing "American Girl", "The Waiting", "Rebels" and "Refugee". They were followed up by Kenny Loggins (17:30 EDT; 22:30 BST) with "Footloose" and The Cars (17:39 EDT; 22:39 BST) with "You Might Think", "Drive", "Just What I Needed" and "Heartbeat City". The following two hours went as follows:

Neil Young - 18:06 EDT / 23:06 BST

"Sugar Mountain"

"The Needle and the Damage Done"

"Helpless"

"Nothing Is Perfect (In God's Perfect Plan)"

"Powderfinger"

The Power Station - 18:42 EDT / 23:42 BST

"Murderess"

"Get It On"

Thompson Twins - 19:21 EDT / 0:21 BST

"Hold Me Now"

"Revolution" (with Madonna, Steve Stevens and Nile Rodgers)

Eric Clapton - 19:38 EDT / 0:38 BST

"White Room"

"She's Waiting"

"Layla"

Robert Plant and Jimmy Page playing with the Yardbirds at Live Aid at John F. Kennedy Stadium.

Badfinger (20:00 EDT; 1:00 BST) made a surprise appearance at Live Aid; Mike Gibbins and Pete Ham had lived in America over the past decade, and the latter called up Tom Evans and Joey Molland about a one-off reunion for Live Aid, to which he found surprising agreement from both of them as well as Mike Gibbins, who had also played with Crosby, Stills and Nash and Eric Clapton. Badfinger performed "No Matter What" and "Without You" for their brief appearance at Live Aid[8]. Although it was intended to be a one-off reunion, Badfinger would perform for other charity concerts until Gibbins' death in 2005, their last performance being at Live 8 that same year.

Shortly following Badfinger was the Yardbirds (20:10 EDT; 1:10 BST) performing "Rock and Roll", "Whole Lotta Love" and "Stairway to Heaven"[9]. Marvin Gaye (20:39 EDT; 1:39 BST) came next with "What's Going On" and his newest hit, "Dodging a Silver Bullet"[10].

Duran Duran - 20:46 EDT / 1:46 BST

"A View to a Kill"

"Union of the Snake"

"Save a Prayer"

"The Reflex"

Patti LaBelle - 21:20 EDT / 2:20 BST

"New Attitude"

"Imagine"

"Forever Young"

"Stir It Up"

"Over the Rainbow"

"Why Can't I Get It Over"

Hall & Oates - 21:50 EDT / 2:50 BST

"Out of Touch"

"Maneater"

"Get Ready" (with Eddie Kendricks)

"Ain't Too Proud to Beg" (with David Ruffin)

"The Way You Do the Things You Do"

"My Girl" (with Eddie Kendricks and David Ruffin)

Ronnie Wood, Bob Dylan and Keith Richards performing at Live Aid at John F. Kennedy Stadium.

For the final hour of Live Aid, Mick Jagger (22:15 EDT; 3:15 BST) performed "Lonely at the Top", "Just Another Night", "Miss You", "State of Shock" and "It's Only Rock 'n' Roll (But I Like It)", the latter two of which were with Tina Turner. Fellow Rolling Stone members Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood played with Bob Dylan (22:39 EDT; 3:39 BST) for "Ballad of Hollis Brown", "When the Ship Comes In" and "Blowin' in the Wind". Live Aid concluded with USA for Africa performing "We Are the World".

Outside of JFK and Wembley Stadiums, various other countries were pitching in to help the cause, such as Australia (Oz for Africa), Japan (Off Course, Eikichi Yazawa, Motoharu Sano and Meiko Nakahara), the Netherlands (B.B. King) and West Germany (Band für Afrika), with Cliff Richard even making a performance in the United Kingdom with "A World of Difference". Deep Purple was originally going to perform via satellite from Switzerland, but they pulled out as Ritchie Blackmore wanted nothing to do with the performance.

END OF PHASE THREE

Footnotes

1. Adam Ant played "Vive Le Rock". He later criticized Live Aid and regretted performing it. "It was the end of rock 'n' roll," he commented. In addition, as Rick Allen didn't lose his arm in his car accident in TTL, Def Leppard is able to perform, accepting Bob Geldof's invitation, which also happened in OTL, but they declined as they were waiting for Allen to recover.
2. The Hooters played "And We Danced" and "All You Zombies". In addition, Bruce Springsteen had declined to take part in Live Aid despite his popularity at the time, although he would come to regret this decision.
3. Bryan Ferry played "Sensation", "Boys and Girls", "Slave to Love" and "Jealous Guy" with David Gilmour on guitar. Pink Floyd's setlist is the exact same as that from when they performed at Live 8 in 2008.
4. Roger Waters' quote at Live 8 taken verbatim.
5. A one-off reunion with Dennis Wilson, who is still living by 1985.
6. Elton John's final song in his setlist was a cover of Marvin Gaye's "Can I Get a Witness".
7. Paul McCartney played "Let It Be". In addition, Pete Townshend played alongside David Bowie, Bob Geldof and Alison Moyet for the performance.
8. Phil Collins played "Against All Odds" and "In the Air Tonight" after flying out to Philadelphia to play a short solo set there, having also played alongside Eric Clapton for his solo set.
9. Phil Collins played drums for Led Zeppelin shortly after playing his solo set in Philadelphia.
10. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young played "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" and "Daylight Again/Find the Cost of Freedom".

Author's Comments

And so concludes Phase Three of Strawberry Peppers, as well as the first draft altogether! After a period of over thirty months and eighty chapters, I never imagined I'd get this done, as writer's block and unintentional abandonment are very much the bane of every alternate universe writer, I'd imagine. Still, hopefully I managed to do this finale justice and ended things on a strong note. I did have to gloss over some performances by listing who performed what, sticking mostly to what happened in OTL, with changes made to accommodate the butterflies that have occurred in the past twenty years. The Beatles' performance, of course, was the piece de resistance, hence it has the most focus out of the performances listed.

The first draft may be over, but there's still a few more posts to go, beginning with a standalone post showing my own version of Let It Be that'll come out this Friday. After that will be a new 1985 album for the Clash as part of an Extra Scene (remember those?) along with an information post about the DC Appleverse. Following that will be part four of An Alternative Beatles Discography - No Covers, focusing on the 1984-2009 period, and then what I have in mind for The Second Coming. Make sure to keep an eye out for those!

Chapter 79: The Power of Love (February - July 1985)

18 February 1985

Phil Collins - No Jacket Required

Released: 18 February 1985

Recorded: May - December 1984

Producer: Phil Collins and Hugh Padgham

Track listing[1]

Side A

Sussudio

The Man with the Horn

Long Long Way to Go

I Like the Way

One More Night

Side B

Don't Lose My Number

Who Said I Would

It's Alright

Inside Out

Take Me Home

Bonus track on CD releases

We Said Hello Goodbye

Phil Collins' third post-Genesis album featured several guest vocalists including Helen Terry of Culture Club, Sting of the recently-disbanded Police and fellow ex-Genesis member Peter Gabriel, as well as current Genesis frontman Kim Beacon. "I did some backing vocals on 'Take Me Home' while we were recording for Prospect Road," Beacon explained years later. "I felt like I owed Phil a favor for helping to produce that album."

Much of No Jacket Required was improvised with a drum machine, particularly "Sussudio", and it still managed to reach #1 in several countries, including the United Kingdom and the United States. Critical reception was mostly positive. The four singles off of the album - "One More Night" (30 November 1984 - #4 UK, #1 US), "Sussudio" (14 January 1985 - #12 UK, #1 US), "Don't Lose My Number" (15 April 1985 #7 UK, #4 US) and "Take Me Home" (15 July 1985 - #19 UK, #7 US) - were all Top 20 hits. To date, No Jacket Required remains Collins' highest-selling album, being certified diamond status in 2001 in the United States.

May 1, 1985

Christopher Lee, 1980s. Famous for his role as Count Dracula, he portrayed Steppenwolf in Justice League.

After a few years' worth of teasing, Justice League was finally released in theaters to mark the May Day celebrations. The tenth entry to the DC Appleverse was directed by Ivan Reitman and brought together Christopher Reeve, John Travolta, Elizabeth Peña, Thomas F. Wilson and Jeff Goldblum in their respective roles (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash and Green Lantern) on the big screen as a group for the first time fighting against the big bad Steppenwolf, portrayed by legendary actor Christopher Lee. Also starring in the film were Supergirl (Helen Slater) and Robin (Tom Cruise), as well as the introduction of Aquaman (a.k.a. Arthur Curry) and Martian Manhunter (a.k.a. J'onn J'onzz), respectively portrayed by Rutgar Haur and Carel Struycken.

For the past few years, Diana Prince has been travelling the United States, trying to learn more about the superheroes that currently reside in man's world. At the same time, Clark Kent is left wondering about the cryptic warning concerning a greater evil coming to Earth, and Bruce Wayne is trying to learn more about the mysterious flying man in the blue suit. By sheer coincidence, Clark and Bruce meet up at a party being hosted at Wayne Manor, and both encounter Diana there as well, who gets the two men in a private room where she reveals herself to be Wonder Woman and explains about her quest to find other superheroes in the United States. Both Clark and Bruce agree to aid Diana in forming a superhero league.

Meanwhile, at Coast City, Barry Allen and Hal Jordan respectively encounter a half-human, half-Atlantean man by the name of Arthur Curry and a Martian known as J'onn J'onzz. Barry and Hal both talk about their findings and invite Arthur and J'onn to partner up and form a team themselves. Unknown to the heroes, however, Steppenwolf, a New God from Apokolips, is leading a horde of Parademons to Earth to find Superman and destroy him, under the command on his nephew Darkseid.

Christopher Reeve as Superman in Justice League, 1985.

Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman battle the Parademons when they invade Metropolis, but they are quickly outnumbered. Just as Steppenwolf is about to finish off Superman, he is stopped by the sudden arrival of the Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman and Martian Manhunter, along with the assistance of Supergirl and Robin. Instead of finishing off Steppenwolf, the villain returns to Apokolips to face his punishment at his failure to accomplish his goal. The Flash then explains that they heard about the impending invasion at Metropolis through Robin, which was how they were able to get there quickly. With Earth's heroes together for the first time, they form the Justice League and begin a new quest to not only protect the Earth, but find new superheroes to help them do so.

In the post-credits scene, Steppenwolf faces the wrath of Darkseid, portrayed by Liam Neeson, who announces that when the time comes, he will be coming to Earth.

The reception towards Justice League was universally positive, even competing with Back to the Future in the box office for most successful film of 1985. Aerosmith's version of the Beatles' "Come Together", featured in the film's end credits, was released as a single in conjunction in the film, giving Aerosmith a creative revival after spinning their wheels in the early 1980s.[3]

10 May 1985

Fleetwood Mac - The Challenge

Released: 10 May 1985

Recorded: 1984-1985

Producer: Fleetwood Mac, Richard Dashut and Jimmy Iovine

Track listing[4]

Side A

The Challenge

Can't Go Back

Message to My Girl

I Sing for Things

Slow Dancing

Got a Hold on Me

Side B

One More Big Time Rock and Roll Star

Hold Me

The Devil You Know

Time Bomb Town

The Smile I Live For

No Spoken Word

Lindsey Buckingham's re-entry into Fleetwood Mac had been met with great acclaim; having taken a few years away from the band following the aborted Tusk sessions, along with the death of Ozzy Osbourne that made him rethink life choices, Buckingham and the rest of the group looked towards a more optimistic future, as per the lyrics to 1977's "Don't Stop". But now that the band had become a sextet, and four of the members contributed vocals, it became a matter as to how much each member could contribute.

CHRISTINE McVIE: "Stevie, Lindsey, Neil and I each put out solo projects during 1983 and 1984 [Nicks' The Wild Heart, Buckingham's Go Insane, Finn's Conflicting Emotions[5], McVie's eponymous album], but each of us held back a few tracks for our follow up to Mirage. One of the tracks ["Hold Me"] was actually a leftover from those sessions, but when Lindsey came back, we used it for what became The Challenge." (2003)

Crowded House, 1986.

To keep things democratic within the group, it was decided that there would be an even split among the songwriting credits - Buckingham and Stevie Nicks each had three songs, Christine McVie had four ("Hold Me" was a duet with Buckingham) and Neil Finn just two. This averaged out to three songs per songwriter. Nicks found herself working on both The Challenge and her own solo album, Rock a Little, so she didn't contribute much to the sessions on the former aside from backing vocals if needed. Meanwhile, having made few contributions to the album himself, Finn had some other irons in the fire when he formed the Mullanes, which later evolved into Crowded House. By the end of the sessions, he would leave Fleetwood Mac in favor of Crowded House, but they would not release their debut album until 1986.

LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM: "It was a shame when Neil left, but we respected his decision. He did bring some fresh blood to the band in my... er, absence, and I would've liked to see that formation continue." (1990)

The Challenge was finally released in May 1985 and quickly went to #1 in the United States and peaked at #3 in the United Kingdom. It was Fleetwood Mac's only album as a sextet, and it received acclaim upon release. "Hold Me"/"One More Big Time Rock and Roll Star" (#4 US) was the biggest hit from the album, and "Slow Dancing"/"The Challenge" (#14 US), "Got a Hold on Me"/"The Devil You Know" (#7 US) and "Message to My Girl"/"Time Bomb Town" (#22 US) were also Top 40 hits. The B-side "Time Bomb Town" would make a brief appearance on the radio in Back to the Future when Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) was awoken from his sleep by Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) on the phone.

20 May 1985

The Yardbirds - Shaken 'n' Stirred

Released: 20 May 1985

Recorded: 1984

Producer: The Yardbirds, Benji Le Fevre and Tim Palmer

Track listing[6]

Side A

Hip to Hoo

The Only One

Too Loud

Trouble Your Money

I Get a Thrill

Side B

Little by Little

Doo Doo a Do Do

Crackback

Sixes and Sevens

JIMMY PAGE: "I told Robert and John [Paul Jones] that they were driving the Yardbirds into the ground by using more synthesizers and less guitar, and Shaken 'n' Stirred was proof of that. I liked maybe a few of songs on there, but the rest I could've done without. The critics weren't a fan of it, and neither were I and Bonzo." (2010)

The Yardbirds' sixteenth album was a flop by their standards - it didn't broach the Top 10 in either the United Kingdom or the United States (#11 UK, #15 US), and its sole single, "Little by Little"/"Pink and Black" (#83 UK, #36 US) didn't fare any better either. Reception towards Shaken 'n' Stirred was harsh, being cited as one of the Yardbirds' lower efforts, with critics wondering if the band had outstayed their welcome as a group. It would be a few years before the Yardbirds regained some lost ground.

July 1985

John Lennon and his aunt Mimi Smith, circa mid-1960s.

…we came in? The following is excerpted from John Lennon's autobiography, Nowhere Man, originally published under Apple Books, July 1990:

"Bob Geldof and the concert organizers for Live Aid wanted the Beatles to take part in the concert as they believed having a group of 'elder statesmen' of British music would give it greater legitimacy in the eyes of those politicians whose opinions we had to shape up. At first, we didn't want to do this, but we ended up agreeing to perform as it was our kids who persuaded us to take part.

Maddy, Freddie, Alice and I flew out to England like Paul, Ringo and their families did (George, Livvy and Dhani were already there), but while they went to Liverpool to reflect, I wanted to head towards Poole, Dorset first. Aunt Mimi had been living at that bungalow I'd bought for her for the last twenty years, and was still living there at the age of eighty-two. Up until that point, she'd never set eye on Maddy, Freddie and Alice, but she had met Julian and Cynthia before. Even though Mimi was less than half my age, she still wanted to ensure that I was keeping myself out of trouble.

'The guitar's all right, John, but you'll never make a living out of it' was what she'd often tell me in my teenage years, but who'd have thought that thirty years on, she'd still be around to see how much success I'd achieved? I still remind her about that, but Mimi would admit to me that she'd been wrong.

Mimi and I spoke for a long time, and eventually, I asked her, 'Will have the telly on this coming Saturday?'

'Whatever for?' she asked me. I told her about Live Aid and that the Beatles were taking part; this was basically twenty-eight years in the making for us, beginning with meeting Paul after a Quarrymen show in 1957, and although the Beatles have since then had their ups and downs - our reputation was at a low point by then in America, despite having regained some lost ground in England with Thomas the Tank Engine - Live Aid would make or break our good name. I was nervous, and I thought Mimi was the only other person outside of Maddy and the other guys that I could openly express my worries to.

Neither of us said anything for what seemed like an eternity. It was Mimi who broke the silence.

'Well, John,' she said, 'I'll be first to admit that I'd been wrong in saying you'd never make a living out of playing the guitar, but by doing so, from what I've read and heard, you and the rest of the Beatles changed the world and influenced God knows many people. I don't think it should matter to you that much whether or not the performance is good or bad, so long as you're doing what you do the best. Playing music on the stage and entertaining the crowds.'

Again, there was silence. I didn't say anything, but I pulled aunt Mimi in for a hug. She was supporting me right to the end, and I couldn't have been more grateful to have her in my life. I don't recall how much longer we stayed at Mimi's, but I knew we had to head to Liverpool and meet up with the boys.

When we finally arrived there, Paul asked me how the detour went, and I said, 'Just had to see someone from childhood.' I didn't say anymore, but Paul knew exactly who I was referring to.

The thirteenth of July came sooner than we expected, but it was time for the Beatles to head on down to London and play at Wembley Stadium. I was the last one to get down there with Paul, George, Ringo and their families.

'Ah, good morning, John,' Paul said upon noticing my arrival. 'You ready for Wembley?' My response was a nod and a smile. No matter what, it was going to be a hell of performance."

Mimi Smith ended up seeing John Lennon play with the rest of the Beatles at Live Aid on television. She and John continued to remain in contact until her death on 6 December 1991, at the age of 88. Isn't this where…

Footnotes

1. Most tracks are sourced from OTL's No Jacket Required; "The Man with the Horn" and "I Like the Way" are sourced from Other Sides, and "It's Alright" is a live track from the deluxe edition of Hello, I Must Be Going!. In OTL, it was performed live during the No Jacket Required World Tour, which concluded with Live Aid.
2. The story takes loose inspiration from the ultimate edition of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Zack Snyder's Justice League, but with Superman's death being removed altogether.
3. In OTL, Aerosmith recorded "Come Together" for the Sgt. Pepper film in 1978, and was generally regarded as one of the highlights to the soundtrack. This is also an homage to Gary Clark Jr. and Junkie XL's version of "Come Together" being featured in OTL's Justice League from 2017.
4. All of Christine McVie's solo tracks are sourced from her eponymous 1984 album. "Slow Dancing" is sourced from Lindsey Buckingham's Go Insane, and "Time Bomb Town" is from the Back to the Future soundtrack. "I Sing for Things" and "No Spoken Word" are from Stevie Nicks' Rock a Little, with "One More Big Time Rock and Roll Star" found on the compilation album Enchanted. Both of Neil Finn's tracks come from Split Enz's Conflicting Emotions. "Can't Go Back" and "Hold Me" are both from Mirage, the only actual Fleetwood Mac songs on The Challenge.
5. Conflicting Emotions consists of Neil Finn-penned material form Split Enz's album of the same name (excluding "Message to My Girl" and "The Devil You Know") and See Ya 'Round.
6. Most tracks are sourced from Robert Plants' Shaken 'n' Stirred. "The Only One" (featuring Robert Plant) is from Jimmy Page's Outrider, "I Get a Thrill" (featuring Jimmy Page) from The Honeydrippers: Volume One and "Crackback" (again, featuring Jimmy Page) from John Paul Jones' Scream for Help.

Author's Comments

So here we are with the penultimate chapter of the first draft, and boy, was it a bit of a pain to write up! But I figure it was worth it as we're finally heading towards the endgame.

Not much to say in regards to No Jacket Required, although picking out material for The Challenge wasn't that hard; it was simply a matter of determining the order of the track listing, and how much I wanted to leave the solo projects intact so they could coexist with the new Fleetwood Mac album. Not much to comment on with Shaken 'n' Stirred either, but thankfully, this is the last time I'll have to make a new Yardbirds album as picking out the material was not easy.

As you can tell, we've come back to where we started with the prologue, first published way back in January 2019 (jeez, has it been that long?), and so here we are, two years and seven-and-a-half months later. It's been a long, bumpy road, and I've learned quite a lot when it came to this project. Still, just one more chapter to go.

Chapter 78: Jump (September 1984 - April 1985)

September 14, 1984

Tom Petty & Mudcrutch - Southern Accents

Released: September 14, 1984

Recorded: 1983-1984

Producer: Tom Petty and Jimmy Iovine

Track listing[1]

Side A

Rebels

Trailer

The Image of Me

The Apartment Song [ft. Stevie Nicks]

Crackin' Up

Southern Accents

Side B

Walkin' from the Fire

Big Boss Man

Spike

Dogs on the Run

Mary's New Car

The Best of Everything

The seventh album by Tom Petty & Mudcrutch was a concept album focusing on life in the Southern part of the United States; this was further emphasized with cover versions of Wayne Kemp's "The Image of Me" and Jimmy Reed's "Big Boss Man", also previously covered by Elvis Presley and B.B. King, as well as Nick Lowe's "Crackin' Up", which contained some country influence. Southern Accents (#16 UK, #1 US) was released to positive reception with the lead single "Rebels" reaching #15 in the United States.[2] During the sessions, Tom Petty wrote a few tracks with Eurythmics member David A. Stewart, resulting in the non-album single "Don't Come Around Here No More"/"Make It Better (Forget About Me)" (February 28, 1985 - #22 UK, #5 US) that had a music video inspired from Alice in Wonderland.

November 6, 1984

President George Bush, 1984.

To say that George Bush struggled to live up to the legacy left behind by Ronald Reagan prior to his assassination would be putting it mildly. Reagan had been hoping for the 1980s to be a decade of Conservatism - his British counterpart, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, seemed to have had similar thoughts, but her ambition was cut short when the Grand Hotel in Brighton had been bombed on 12 October that year (one day before her 59th birthday), and she was was one of the unfortunate victims.[3] Following Thatcher's death, de facto Deputy Prime Minister William Whitelaw would serve as intern Prime Minister until the next election took place.[4]

Since Reagan's death, things seemed to go badly for President Bush despite his best efforts to lead America. What would become known as the Great Recession in the United States seemed to have had its origins with the 1979 Oil Crisis in the wake of the Iranian Revolution. The Recession further accelerated within Bush's first year in office, and people blamed Bush for what was happening in America.

To make matters worse, Vice President Paul Laxalt - a close friend to Reagan, often referred to as the "First Friend" - was under investigation. Headlines reported embezzlement at the Ormsby House, a hotel and casino in Carson City, Nevada owned by the Laxalt family, suggesting Laxalt himself was tied to organized crime.[5] Laxalt denied these claims greatly, feeling that he had enough to worry about with his duties as vice president, but it didn't stop the public from calling Laxalt "the next Nixon".

Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis, 1984.

As the 1984 election grew closer, Bush announced that he would not be running for a second term as President of the United States. This announcement was met with divided opinions; some were happy at not having to deal with a "failed" president for another four years, while others felt that, had it not been for the Great Recession, Bush could've had a chance to mold his own legacy as President. The Republican Party ended nominating Laxalt as their candidate for the election against Democrat Michael Dukakis, Governor of Massachusetts. Their respective running mates were Senator from Indiana Dan Quayle (Republican) and Senator from Arkansas Dale Bumpers (Democrat).[6]

Despite Laxalt agreeing to a presidential debate, Dukakis declined to participate despite his lead in the polls. Amazingly, this turned out to be a smart move, as there were swarms of reporters asking Laxalt questions about skimming profits from the Ormsby House and the vice president yelling at them, even using the F-word on them. This verbal altercation only served to further harm Laxalt's chances of election.

Come Tuesday, even before all polls nation wide had closed, Michael Dukakis, age 51, was declared the President-elect, with Dale Bumpers, age 59, as the Vice President-elect. The Democratic Party had won in a landslide election for the first time since 1964, when Lyndon Johnson trounced Barry Goldwater 486 to 52, although this margin (442 to 96) wasn't as big, but still sizable.[7] Exhausted, the Republicans knew that they were going to have to do some soul-searching after the last four years, and reshape themselves for the 1988 election.

George Bush congratulated Dukakis on his victory in the election, and come January 20, 1985, Bush would return to a private life with his wife Barbara until her death on April 17, 2018, aged 92. George would also die that same year on November 30, aged 94, as would, coincidentally, Paul Laxalt on August 6, four days after his 96th birthday.

16 November 1984

Kim Beacon - Prospect Road

Released: 16 November 1984

Recorded: July - August 1984

Producer: Phil Collins

Track listing[8]

Side A

Only You Know and I Know

Tell Me

Naked

I Don't Wanna Know

Easy Lover [w/ Phil Collins]

Side B

So Inspired

Let Me Be the One

Doesn't Anybody Stay Together Anymore

Free to Love Again

Prospect Road

Kim Beacon's third solo album was his first collaboration with Phil Collins since the latter's departure from Genesis in 1978. Collins served as the producer for Prospect Road and even played drums on a couple of songs, even singing on "Easy Lover" as part of a duet with Beacon. The sessions took place while Collins was working on his follow-up to Hello, I Must Be Going! (shortly following his marriage to Jill Tavelman) and shortly following Genesis' Shapes Tour, which had ended that February. Since its release, Prospect Road (#1 UK, #5 US) has gone on to be one of the most popular albums of Kim Beacon's solo career, with "Easy Lover" (#1 UK, #2 US) becoming a huge hit. A non-album single from the sessions, "Shine Your Light on Me"/"Those Eyes" (14 January 1985 - #7 UK, #16 US), also charted fairly well.

31 December 1984

RICK ALLEN: "It was absolutely terrifying, with me and Miriam [Barendsen] being involved in that accident on the A57. Everything happened so quickly, and yet I'm very grateful the both of us managed to get out of it with just a few cuts and bruises." (2004)[9]

8 April 1985

Pink Floyd - Identity

Released: 8 April 1985

Recorded: September 1984

Producer: Pink Floyd, Bob Ezrin, Tim Palmer and Rick Fenn

Track listing[10]

Side A

Yolanda

Lie for a Lie

Private Person

You Know I'm Right

Blue Light

Amber and the Amberines

Side B

Yet Another Movie (Round and Round)

How Do You Do It?

Cruise

Let's Get Metaphysical

Seems We Were Dreaming

Pink Floyd's About Face Tour was relatively short compared to others, albeit still quite successful, with shows in the United Kingdom, Europe, the United States and Canada. It was also their first to feature Pete Townshend and Dave Harris as support players. That September, the band returned to the studio to record their follow-up to About Face.

DAVID GILMOUR: "Identity was something of a soft reboot for Pink Floyd. While About Face did well commercially, it didn't really feel like we had any sort of direction. Identity was where we seemed to get back on track again." (2017)

Indeed, Identity managed to reach the #1 spot in both the United Kingdom and the United States, becoming Pink Floyd's most successful album of the 1980s, being compared to a Dark Side of the Moon for said decade. Most of the album had been written during the band's About Face Tour, barring "Lie for a Lie", which was written during the sessions by Nick Mason along with Danny Peyronel and Rick Fenn, the latter of whom also co-produced the album. Although Identity was well-received by fans, critics were more mixed in their opinions, with some even thinking that Pink Floyd had sold out.

Footnotes

1. Six of the tracks are sourced from OTL's Southern Accents. The remaining tracks are sourced from Playback, excluding "Walkin' from the Fire", sourced from An American Treasure. In addition, the track listing is based upon AEC's reconstruction of Southern Accents but with "The Apartment Song" moved to Side A and "Walkin' from the Fire" opening Side B.
2. In OTL, while mixing "Rebels", Tom Petty got frustrated and punched a wall, which resulted in surgery on his left hand; this was one of several reasons the band didn't think very highly of the album. In TTL, the "broken hand" incident does not happen.
3. In OTL, Margaret Thatcher narrowly escaped the blast, and she lived until 8 April 2013, aged 87.
4. William Whitelaw served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 (the year Thatcher became Prime Minister) to 1988, when that position was taken over by Sir Geoffrey Howe, who maintained the position until Thatcher's resignation in 1990. Michael Heseltine was the first official Deputy Prime Minister, serving 1995 to 1997. As of 2021, the position is currently not in use.
5. In 1983, the Sacramento Bee published two articles about Paul Laxalt's business dealings in the early 1970s. This is not going to help Laxalt much in the presidential election in TTL.
6. Michael Dukakis went against George Bush in the 1988 election and lost. Dan Quayle was Bush's running mate (and eventual Vice President) while Dukakis' running mate was Lloyd Bentsen.
7. In OTL, Ronald Reagan beat out Walter Mondale 525 to 13, with Mondale winning only Minnesota and Washington, D.C.. This electoral vote total has not been matched before or since.
8. "Only You Know and I Know", "I Don't Wanna Know" and "Doesn't Anybody Stay Together Anymore" are all sourced from Phil Collins' No Jacket Required. "Easy Lover" is sourced from Philip Bailey's Chinese Wall, a duet with Collins in OTL. The remaining tracks come from a live performance at The Outhouse in Glasgow in 1989.
9. In OTL, Rick Allen lost his left arm, which meant that Def Leppard would not perform onstage until August 16, 1986 (they declined to play at Live Aid as they were still waiting for him to recover). That was when Allen could play the drums live with only one arm for the first time at the Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donington. In TTL, as Allen walks away with both arms intact, this means that Def Leppard's Hysteria will be released earlier.
10. Tracks are sourced from Robert Wyatt's Work in Progress (also found on the compilation album Mid-Eighties), Nick Mason and Rick Fenn's Profiles, Zee's Identity and David Gilmour's About Face. "Yet Another Movie (Round and Round)" is sourced from A Momentary Lapse of Reason, the only true Pink Floyd track on Identity.

Author's Comments

At last, we've reached the chapter which shares the same number as vinyl records running at 78 rotations per minute. :P All jokes aside, we're rounding up more story arcs for the first draft before I finally start work on The Second Coming. Tom Petty and Mudcrutch's was probably the least eventful out of the story arcs given that very little changed apart from adding more songs on their 1976-1985 output (plus creating a pre-1976 album), but hopefully I've managed to make them better by adding in the outtakes which are hopefully just as good as those that made the cut.

However, we're not quite done with the Genesis and Pink Floyd story arcs; there's one more album to go through with Genesis (I think you can guess what it is), and even though we've covered the final Pink Floyd album of the first draft, this is not the last time we'll see them. Admittedly, Identity was not in the original plans, but after looking at what was leftover, plus dipping a little into Robert Wyatt's solo career, I decided there was enough material for another album. For those wondering about their post-1985 discography, Learning to Fly is OTL's A Momentary Lapse of Reason, The Division Bell is unaltered from OTL, and On an Island is their last album before the death of Richard Wright, with The Endless River being a Wright solo album.

As for that little vignette with Rick Allen, I did consider having him killed off and Def Leppard would break up after releasing Hysteria, but I decided against it. I don't think it would've made that much of a difference as the first draft is drawing to a close anyway with two chapters to go (and maybe an extra scene or two).