MovieChat Forums > The Beatles: Get Back (2021) Discussion > Seems the thing that broke the Beatles u...

Seems the thing that broke the Beatles up was not really mentioned ...

posted 3 years ago by TrentnQuarantino (9218)
7 replies | jump to latest

First, during these the time of this documentary, John was already talking about leaving the band to Brian Epstein. Then George did his walk-out. John was clueless and got taken in by Allan Klein, but McCartney didn't like Klein, and wanted Linda Eastman's relatives to manage the group.

The group did not like that. The final thing was that McCartney felt he had to sue the group to break up.

Then later at some point - after the group broke up, and after Klein screwed up the tax status for the Concert For Bangladesh they group dumped him.

I don't know if we'll ever really know what happened, but it might be that John was the leader of the band, and maybe did not like sharing or losing power to the more hard-working McCartney. John did not understand practical stuff, which accounted for his need for Yoko Ono who was very practical.

If I had to guess I'd say the problems arose from John, but not really purposefully or consciously ... it just seems like he didn't really know what he was doing, and at this time he was having his Lost Weekend where he went crazy and got in fights and heckled performers in NYC nightclubs.

It is kind of a cheap shot, or maybe just a different drama put out there in this movie to sell tickets.

I saw the movie, and to me who the Beatles were really the first music I ever heard thanks to my parents being young and Beatle fans. I always liked the Beatles, and they meant a lot to the generation who was around to hear them on the radio first. This is not a good movie unless you have some emotional attachment to the Beatles.

[–] Otter (24464) 3 years ago

This documentary doesn't answer the one big question I have about the breakup - what finally drove John and Paul apart? They're absolutely lovey-dovey in this film, but a year later they were over for good and all.

I don't think it had anything to do with Yoko, maybe it was financial and maybe it was just the two of them growing up, but I still have no idea what the last straw was.

[–] mtxmind (3296) 3 years ago

I think it was about all 4 of them growing apart from each other, personally & musically, at least since Revolver.

[–] Otter (24464) 3 years ago

They were absurdly young to be in the position they were, none over thirty. While it felt like they'd been on top of the music world for generations by that point, they had been world-famous for about five years, and were still growing into their adult personalities.

So you can see George growing apart from the others (hard to believe he was 25), Ringo having accepted his role in the band but finding little happiness in it... and John and Paul still adoring each other. Note that the moment before George walked out, John and Paul were singing together and gazing smilingly into each other's eyes, as if the only two of them existed? They'd been that close since they were teenagers, they were still that close, but within a year they were "divorced".

Why exactly?

[–] TrentnQuarantino (9218) 3 years ago

Without other factors they could have kept the Beatles going, and pursued their solo careers.
In one part George talked about having something like 40 decent songs, and at his quote of 2 songs per album, it would have taken him 10 years to get those songs out. That was a killer for him ... and the same but to a lesser degree, Ringo was composing songs, and he always had been, good songs, but just not as many.

The Beatles, per se, broke because of personal fractures, but I'd guess mostly about leadership and business disagreements. I's say Allan Klein had more to do with the Beatles breaking up than Yoko ... but I think George's beefs with the band were not going to go away.

It would have been so cool if each of them had their individual efforts but could have come back and worked together every year or three to continue the Beatles. In interviews though I think they all said in one way or another the magic was that they were together and working alone for the vast majority of their careers, and when they got married and had other interests, and lots of money to do what they wanted to do, it is very much more difficult for them to work together, even if they had been able to satisfy all of their ambitions.

[–] TrentnQuarantino (9218) 3 years ago

I think it was a combination of these things:
John had always been the leader,
but over time it was kind of apparent that it was because John was the
oldest and most aggressive in the band.
Then over time Paul started to come into his own, in terms of business,
and he was, and still is, amazing in his musical ideas. Paul was giving
away songs and helping other artists, and he was in sense usurping
John's position in the band.
The last straw - I think, the way I read it, and I am not expert, by far,
was the management thing, where John got the band in a lot of trouble
by pushing for Allen Klein to represent them. Klein was a borderline
criminal, and he was the one who kept them from re-uniting or playing
Beatles songs.
Meanwhile Paul was pushing for his wife's family to manage them - the
Eastman's, who he trusted, but might have rubbed the rest of the band
the wrong way.
Like all people they were all just doing what they thought they had to do
and what was right for them, and except for two of them dying it was not
the end of the world.

[–] Keelai (34967) 3 years ago

It's refreshing that Yoko isn't being blamed for the split.

They grew up and apart which happens. Artistically, they continued to make great music.

In a recent interview, Paul says John wanted to leave the group, but John isn't here to say otherwise.
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/oct/10/it-was-john-who-wanted-a-divorce-mccartney-sets-the-record-straight-on-beatles-split

[–] TrentnQuarantino (9218) 3 years ago

There are a few data points. They all talked about divorce, including Ringo.
George, because he has a backlog of about 40 songs that would take him 20 years to get his songs out at the regular rate.
Ringo had the same thing, but to a lesser degree, but he did not like being treated like a lesser Beatle.
John did say he wanted to move on .... not necessarily that he wanted to leave the group, but they all wanted to do stuff on their own - but I think they were all expecting it could be done within the structure of the Beatles and Apple Records.
It is true they grew apart, but that is like saying a family grows apart ... it does but it never is gone, and these are 4 guys lived through something no one else had ever experienced before.
Then there was the management issue left by Brian Epstein's passing. I think that was a big deal because the irreversible decision was Paul's when he sued all the other Beatles over management.