Beatles Break Up Essay, Research Paper

Final paper; The Beatles Break-up

The End of a Legend

As they walked off the plane, thousands of people stood there to welcome them. They were screaming their names and singing their songs. Everyone had heard of them, they were the true meaning of rock and roll; they defined it. They were the biggest sensation since Elvis; they called themselves The Beatles. They had never expected to be the next sensation. No one ever expects to become a great legend in national or world history. It had taken them two years to establish the final four members, but once they joined together they were known around the world. Even though they were not the greatest guitarists, drummers, singers or musicians (Professor Joel Friedman, personal interview). As a whole they came together as a world champion team, like a finely tuned machine. But just as every dynasty has its finest hour they came to an end, just like any great thing. No one ever wanted or thought this miraculous band would ever cease to be. However, they did, but why is the question many people still ask today.

They were four young men with a dream to play in a band. The members consisted of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison. The band was created in nineteen sixty, but the group was not fully established until nineteen sixty-two. This is when the name British Invasion first started to take acclaim. They toured around the world performing everywhere. Not wanting to ever stop for a second because of the love they all had for music and because of how hard they had worked to finally achieve what all human beings want, success. They had about seven great years together, at least from what the world new, but soon things started to change. The group began to have difficulties within themselves. Internal conflict is what brings all great things to stop working like clockwork. The question is what was so bad that this extremely talented group had to break up?

There is much controversy to why the group broke up. Many people believed different things, the problems varied; the problems ranged from drugs to personal differences among one another. The group gave many interviews and had many discussions to why they had broken up, but still there are debates. People now are starting to come to the conclusion, that there is not one specific reason to why the exceptional band ended.

Could the Beatles just have not had anything left to do with their music? According to The Beatles, written by Allan Kozinn, the Beatles had given seven great years of music, but the whole group wanted different things. In a personal interview done with Professor Friedman, the possibilities were endless to why they ended. Lennon had begun recording a record with his wife and felt it was in his best interests to go solo. McCartney, one of the key writers for the band, began creating songs solo. The band no longer worked as a group to accomplish things; they would just come together as one when they needed to record. The band started to feel that it would just be better to go on their own paths and see where they would end. Many people say this reason could not be true because all of the Beatles songs say written by McCartney-Lennon. McCartney and Lennon would no longer try to create songs together, or try to put music to what they had written. It got to the point were the only reason the songs were McCartney-Lennon was because Lennon might give his opinion if McCartney needed help, not because he wanted to help him write (Friedman).

According to the web site, on March 30, 2000, www.askjeeves.com, Harrison had wanted more artistic freedom with his work, which was not possible. Harrison had become very interested in Indian music, culture and philosophy; he wanted to incorporate it into the Beatles music, but Lennon and McCartney would have no part of that. (Kozinn, 162). They believed that they were the two writers for the group, and did not want to incorporate Harrison’s music into their band, therefore he felt as though he was being shunned from the group. This intimidated Harrison, which is not something that helped the band. When a member of a group does not feel 100% involved, it causes aggression and can lead to more controversy. Everyone in the group wanted to put in what they believed in, but they felt as though they could not. Which causes tension and controversy.

Through out their entire career the Beatles have always had an idolization with Bob Dylan. While spending more and more time with Dylan the Beatles began to experiment in drug use along with him. However, Dylan and the Beatles are totally different personalities. Dylan being able to use drugs and still accomplishes his goals and in contrast the Beatles were not able to mix work with pleasure in that respect (VH-1, Behind the Music). Lennon had become too entangled into the drug scene. Lennon was having a very tough time in his life. He became bored with all the things that he used to love, touring and recording. He soon found something to replace the feeling of emptiness; experimenting with drugs. He was no longer part of the Beatles world; he was in his own. The drug use started fights among the members and soon it was impossible to establish any kind of agreement (Orman 12-13). The Beatles were soon unable to work together. By all consuming drugs and having that one thing in common led to a split between members because they all had different attachments to it.

Another main reason that was speculated to why the Beatles had to come to an end was because of marriage and/or girlfriends. Lennon became very close with Ono. The two lovers became inseparable. They also wanted to start a family together and move on in life instead of staying in the same place. Their time together began cutting into their recording time, which made the others frustrated. The fact that Lennon had began recording an album with Ono caused much tension among the group. The group preferred recording in privacy, which Lennon did not understand. According to Kozinn it is ridiculous to blame Ono for the break up. Though she caused much tension, the reasons were much more complex and way beyond her (Konzinn 175). The group had always worked alone, and once things got tough and the group began to develop more and more trouble, Ono began to interfere more with the group, causing more problems (Friedman). Also, Harrison and Starr were married, and both of their families lived outside of London, which made recording and touring difficult. The Beatles wanted to spend time with their families and not have to leave all the time. Lennon especially was a main factor in the fact that the touring ended. He did not like to go out on tours; he also lost the desire to record music within the band. It had become routine to him, and he was sick of it. In an interview done with George and John in 1967 referring to stop touring, it was said that it was like an end of a cycle. When they were in Liverpool, it was like they understood the crowd, but once out touring around the world, it was different. There was a new different type of audience each day; it was no longer what they were use to (www.askjeeves.com March 30, 2000). As many old bands experience today when they go on tour they seem to not have the same crowd following. There include some old fans, new ones, and other people who would just go to see them because they never saw them and figured it would be fun. They were losing their fan base that believed in their music, and gained fans that just wanted to hear something.

According to John, “When we were away from it for a while it was like school holidays. You hadn’t done any work for a bit and you just remembered the laughs. You looked forward to it again… until you got back and were fed up. But we’ve had enough performing now. I can’t imagine a reason that would make us do any sort of tour ever again (www.davidsbeatles.com). Though the fans were disappointed and touring was hard on the members in the band. They wanted to make music and have fun, but touring was no longer fun for them, which hence forth, made creating new music no longer fun.

In reference to the web page, www.ask.com as of March 24, 2000, in 1969 the group began to discuss ending the group and going there separate ways. Paul wanted perfection, John had Yoko, George wanted more artistic freedom and Ringo was tired of being just a drummer. They all urged for something more that could not be given to them if they kept doing what they were doing. Although it does not sound selfish and greedy it really was. Just as a dynasty begins to lose power because they want to keep expanding on what they already had their band lost power because of what they wanted to become.

When Paul was asked to explain why the group had broken up he stated, “Personal differences, business differences, musical differences, but most of all because I have a better time with my family.” The other questions those many during this time were wondering; was it temporary or permanent? Paul answered, “I don’t really know.”

George Harrison was interviewed in 1971 about one year after the break- up. He stated that Paul John and himself have made so many songs of their own, that it is a good idea if they all go and make their own albums. Each of them wanted to play their songs their own way and not the way the others want. The only way to go about it was for them to break -up. George also said that they all have to try something different, and once they had maybe the Beatles’ will work together again. It was all about compromise for George.

Slowly the screams started to fade and soon the Beatles were no more. If only the group had learned to compromise to what the others wanted, and had stopped being

selfish, the miraculous band would not have ended, but their stubbornness and their inability to listen is where their downfall was. There were so many reasons to why the band had to end, but the most prominent to me, was because they no longer were a band together; they were a band that had drifted and no longer combined their work, they just did what they had to do. Who knows where and what they could have done with there incredible talent. This amazing band changed rock and roll forever, and they will never be forgotten. Though the screams have stopped and the fans no longer are at the airport to greet them when they get off the plane, they will always be known as the band that changed music for the better. They will always live in the memories of what once was and of what became.

They changed music to better suite the people of the day and they laid the foundation for the future of all musicians across the globe from present to future. People should not sit and ponder about why the Beatles broke up, but should think about the great memories they have provided for the entire world. How they helped make music what it is today for all music fans and for the children who will once listen to the great sounds which come out of the same stereos which once played the great music that Lennon, Harrison, McCartney, and Star magically fabricated.

Cording, Robert?Ed. In My Life. Fromm International Publishing Co. New York. 1998

This book talks about how the Beatles influenced everyday peoples lives. Which is important to how they took the world by storm and how the people felt when they fell apart. It was because of the fans they were so great, so what they think and how they felt is substantial.

Kozinn, Allan. The Beatles. Phaidon Press Limited. London, 1995

The Beatles whole history is recorded in this book. It contains how they started, became famous, and how they fell apart.

Orman, John. The Politics of Rock Music. Nelson- Hall, Chicago. 1984

This book deals with the issues of John Lennon and his problem with drugs. This is an alleged reason that the Beatles broke up.

www.ariz.com/beatles/index.html March 7, 2000

The Beatles dominated rock music in the 1960s, eventually broke up when they felt their possibilities as a group were exhausted

http://www.getback.org/breflib/breakup.html March 7, 2000

this site explains why the Beatles broke up. It expresses that each one of The Beatles wanted to do there own thing. Paul had made the announcement there was a lawsuit issued by him. Which caused much controversy. He also stated that the Beatles would never again work together.

http://rollingstone.tunes.com/sections/artists/text/bio.asp?afl=&LookUpString=868 March 7, 2000

John Lennon had wanted to part from the group before there actual break- up in 1970. Just before the group broke up, he had started recording with Ono, his wife. Because of Lennon’s relationship with Ono, would cause great tension among the Beatles. In April McCartney — in a move that Lennon felt was an act of betrayal — announced his departure from the Beatles and released his solo LP. From this point on (if not earlier), Ono replaced McCartney as Lennon’s main collaborator. The Beatles were no more. At the time, much attention was focused on Ono’s alleged role in the band’s end.