WHAT GOES AROUND, COMES AROUND.

Remember two posts ago; I mentioned Helter Skelter had triggered why Ringo blurted out, “I’ve got blisters on my fingers?” Remember I explained the recording session inside Abbey Road Studio began at 7 pm and how all through the night the boys worked on just that one song trying to get a decent finished take, which at last materialized on the band's 21^st attempt, giving everyone agreement to call it quits at 2:30 am? Well, did you know in 1960, our famous, exceptional Beatles worked fifty-six nights’ straight at Hamburg’s Kaiserkeller nightclub from 7:30 pm until 2:00 am? Here is the grueling schedule they had to perform per the signed contract: 7:30 – 9 pm, 9:30 – 11 pm, 11:30 – 1 am, 1:30 – 2 am seven days a week. We can sympathize, as a shift so exhausting certainly makes the up to one’s ears comparison of rigorous labor eight days a week might seem.

Now, think about all the strumming and chord changes up and down those non-precision guitar necks strung with inferior, days of old steel strings. I have calloused left-hand fingertips, and yet, if I play three hours with newly improved, extra light gauge strings, including a twenty-minute break, my tips begin to hurt. Think about all the singing that stretched and damaged vocal cords inside their sore throats. I can feel some strain in my voice when singing just a couple hours two days in a row. Think about all the heavy pounding with a pair of substandard pre-1960 wooden drumsticks rubbing your hands raw, irritating the skin’s surface, and yes, causing blisters as they crash against tightened drum heads attached to hollow cylinders without a two-day weekend rest.  No wonder Pete Best skipped nights, letting Ringo take his place. No wonder he didn’t smile much or joke around like the others. No wonder he dodged the fuss and primping a comb had to endure, raked over his head so as to accommodate the Beatle haircut.  No wonder he ditched his mates after the gig’s last set and hooked up with a steady girlfriend, who’s shift ended at 4:00 am. The guy opted for some relaxing pleasure instead of sleeping in concrete rooms with no shower, windows or beds, and then get rudely awakened by the early matinee’s first showing inside the cinema behind their deficient skinny walls. No wonder while the Beatles auditioned for Parlophone, George Martin insisted on a seasoned professional drummer for the recording session of Love Me Do. Poor Pete lost the spunk, lost the drive to polish his art. Lost the spirit to do whatever it took to reach the same level as his pronounced last name––the “best” he could be. On the other hand, Pete could pretty much go anywhere and do anything he liked without being mobbed, chased, or hounded with questions by the press and constantly photographed by his every move. Something the intact Beatles could only wish for the same treatment after LOVE ME DO opened the road to stardom.

Many first-hand witnesses in and around Liverpool, as well as the Reeperbahn red light district, have assured us all, Pete was the most popular Beatle up till 1962, and huge amounts of rumors point to envy over Mr. Best’s handsome facial features ranked the top reason that got him sacked. How ironic John, Paul, and George took a much longer distant backseat to the popularity fame Ringo received by the countless fans throughout the globe. Nevertheless, only Paul suffered from signs of jealousy. Paul was jealous about the close alliance between John and Stu Sutcliffe. Paul was jealous about every original song credited to Lennon/McCartney, having his name placed last made him bitter. Paul was so jealous about his original tunes he would hog studio time and even tell the other three how his songs should be played. But every time the recording engineers’ focus turned to record a Lennon or Harrison composition, McCartney lost the demand for perfection and pushed his mates to hurry up so he could pull out his next melodic gem arranged on tape. For a while, John believed Paul actually sabotaged recording moments within overdubs on Lennon tunes and grew enraged that McCartney kept holding the A-side position on released singles––Paperback Writer/Rain, Eleanor Rigby/Yellow Submarine, Hello Goodbye/I Am the Walrus, Lady Madonna/ The Inner Light, Hey Jude/Revolution, Get Back/Don’t Let Me Down, Let It Be/ You Know My Name (Look Up The Number). By the insistent of John, the beautiful love ballad called, Something was granted the A-side position backed with Lennon’s Come Together. Nowhere has it been said Paul also urged Apple to release Something as the new single A-side, but you can bet he was jealous by it. His envious ways grew into bossy attitudes, which made Ringo quit the band during the White album and frustrated George that he, too, quit during the Let It Be sessions. Finally, John confronted Paul in September 1969 on the ludicrous crap such as Ob-La-Di-Ob-La-Da and Maxwell Silver Hammer their bass player was writing and announced he wanted a divorce, he was leaving the group but made a promise to Allen Klein, their new manager, not to go public.

Paul’s jealousy got so out of hand, he even wanted his solo album released before Let It Be, and threatened Ringo when the drummer rang the front door bell at the request of John and George to plead for Paul to please change his mind. In the past, nothing moved forward unless all four Beatles agreed. That suddenly changed when John, George and Ringo accepted Klein without McCartney's consent. From then on, the Bassman would do anything he wanted, when he wanted. Paul’s jealousy against both Yoko and Allen Klein caused the vengeful band member to slip inside the McCartney solo album an official written statement that took away all the oomph out of John’s sails, who wanted so much to tell the world he was finished with the Beatles and ready to move in another direction with Yoko. However, for the sake of the band, John kept quiet. Oh, but not our little Pauly, the last Beatle to release a solo album. (George Harrison was the first per, Wonderwall and Electronic Sound – John Lennon was second per, Unfinished Music and Wedding Album – Ringo Starr was third per, Sentimental Journey released a couple of weeks before Paul’s debut solo.)  You think the Bassman wasn’t jealous? Then why did he go public expressing Lennon and McCartney will not continue as active songwriting partners nor is he willing to plan for a new Beatles album? 

What goes around, comes around, in that McCartney failed to produce a single even though the album stayed in the #1 spot for three weeks. On the other hand, Let It Be stayed in the #1 spot four weeks and before the end of the year, John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band spent three weeks in the top ten Billboard Charts. The real kicker though was George, who released the extremely successful, All Things Must Pass solo album riding the #1 spot for seven weeks. The fine collection of songs also produced two top 10 singles; My Sweet Lord backed with, Isn’t It A Pity reached #1, and What Is Life backed with, Apple Scruffs reached #10. Well, now do you think the Bassman was jealous?