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Did the Beatles break up at the right time? What would have happened if they stayed together?
11 February 2014
7.58pm
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derek
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What would it be like to have the Beatles (as a band not as 4 seperate solo artists) in the 70s…

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’nuff said.

11 February 2014
8.20pm
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Funny Paper
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Assuming John had never been murdered, my answer to the topic is “Yes and No” — they should have broken up when they did, then they should have had a Reunion in about the late 80s, early 90s.

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11 February 2014
8.41pm
tulane
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Thank you everyone.  I’ve enjoyed reading your comments.

Although it is interesting to speculate about what songs would have made up future albums, that is not really what I had in mind when I started the thread.  To be honest, I don’t really think you can compile a hypothetical tracklisting of a future Beatles album from tracks they recorded in their solo careers as we don’t know what John and Paul would have written together and what they would have inspired eachother to write.  I think of that quote of Johns where he says about how “Paul would appear with about 20 good songs and all of a sudden I’d have to write a fucking stack of songs”.  I think John and Paul would push eachother and get the best out of eachother.  Also, I think they would give eachother feedback and be eachothers editors, which would help improve the quality.

eg. if John or Paul came up with something that wasn’t up to scratch, the other would say so, whereas, when they went solo, I would suspect that they were surrounded by yes men who would tell them that everything they did was marvellous and they could become a bit complacent.

What I wanted to explore was whether, as a fan, you would want to hear as much music as possible by a band you love or would you rather see them go out at the top with a virtually unblemished discography even if it means you miss out on some classic music.

Let us pretend, for instance, that you had the choice of the Beatles staying together for another decade and producing another 9 albums: 3 absolute masterpieces, with 3 so so albums and 3 real stinkers in between.  Would your eagerness to hear the masterpieces outweigh your fear of the band damaging their legacy with the crappy stuff?

12 February 2014
2.05am
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ivaughan
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Well, in an ideal hypothetical situation, I would say that what I would want would be for them to stay together post-1969 and continue to make masterpiece after masterpiece.

But to use your scenario of a decade that produced 3 absolute masterpieces, 3 so-so albums, and 3 stinkers, I would say that I would have preferred them to stay broken up. Not only would they have left a great unblemished legacy but they would have still had an output over the next decade as solo artists that would have produced 4 really excellent albums (POB, Ram , Band On The Run , All Things Must Pass ), several very good albums (Imagine , McCartney) and a handful of more good albums on top of that (Walls And Bridges , Red Rose Speedway , Material World, George’s self titled, Ringo). 

12 February 2014
2.12pm
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BBCSessions1963
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As much as I hate to say it, they broke up at the right time. They just could not continue. George and Ringo walked out on the group, and they also became song writers and establish themselves more than how they were in 1963. Ringo also went on to persue an acting career. John and Paul hardly wrote together like they had done in 1963-1966 and were beginning to bring their partners into records of the group. (Yoko ruined Bungalow Bill ( and then the song comes up in my TuneIn Radio station)) After their touring years, it seems like the group began to become more distant. Probably Paul tried to fix this with the early Get Back plans he had. 

And if you saw my love, I'll love her to.

30 March 2014
5.50pm
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Bongo
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Just take each members solo hits and put ’em together to make yourself a Beatles LP. a-hard-days-night-paul-11

  Screen-Shot-2022-10-04-at-7.52.07-PM.png   BEATLES Music gives me Eargasms!  apple01

21 June 2014
7.51pm
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Hey Jude !
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People I was wondering what would happen if Beatles lasted till 1975 without any clash. I mean John never fell for Yoko till late 1974, more George’s songs appeared on albums and Paul hmmmm worked together with John like start till Sgt Pepper  

Note by Ahhh Girl 22 June 2014: Originally, this post was the beginning of a new thread titled “What if Beatles lasted till 1975”. As of this moment the thread runs through post 34. More posts may be added in reply.

22 June 2014
12.59am
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trcanberra
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Hey Jude said
People I was wondering what would happen if Beatles lasted till 1975 without any clash. I mean John never fell for Yoko till late 1974, more George’s songs appeared on albums and Paul hmmmm worked together with John like start till Sgt Pepper  

Hard to say as so many of the things which influenced their music in this period would not have occurred in your hypothetical.  I think there would have been a tour, which would have been awesome – maybe another amazing double album.

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22 June 2014
11.45am
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Hey Jude !
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a-hard-days-night-ringo-8 Yeah you’re right. Things which may not happen are

1) A lot of songs John wrote for Yoko wouldn’t be on the White Album

2) No Hey Jude ( NO! NO! NO!)

3) No Imagine by John (I think John will be able to write this, he was Getting Better )

But on the plus side

1) More George. John would definitely allow George to have more songs after Something a-hard-days-night-george-9

2) More creative albums like Sgt Pepper & Revolver oh and Abbey Road too

3) And in the end more……….The Beatles……….More Lennon-McCartney songs a-hard-days-night-paul-7a-hard-days-night-john-1

22 June 2014
12.30pm
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Ron Nasty
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@Hey Jude ! What you are missing here is that John’s relationship with Yoko DID NOT break up The Beatles, no more than Paul’s relationship with Linda broke up The Beatles. In my opinion, the nail in the coffin was Brian’s death, because that meant they had to start dealing with the business side of their relationship with each other themselves.

While Brian was worried about whether his management contract would be renewed, I don’t believe that they would not have resigned with him. As John said immediately following his death, “He was one of us.” And as he reflected in 1971, “I knew we’d had it then.”

The clash in the end was business based, and on how – and who – to run their Empire.

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22 June 2014
1.26pm
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WETSRoosa
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Ron Nasty said
@Hey Jude ! What you are missing here is that John’s relationship with Yoko DID NOT break up The Beatles, no more than Paul’s relationship with Linda broke up The Beatles. In my opinion, the nail in the coffin was Brian’s death, because that meant they had to start dealing with the business side of their relationship with each other themselves.

While Brian was worried about whether his management contract would be renewed, I don’t believe that they would not have resigned with him. As John said immediately following his death, “He was one of us.” And as he reflected in 1971, “I knew we’d had it then.”

The clash in the end was business based, and on how – and who – to run their Empire.

Plus by ’69, the Beatles were tired of each other. They needed to move on, George especially. They were all in their mid-to-late 20s, and as any male who was in a college fraternity will tell you, you’re not as close to your buddies as you were in your younger days. Relationships change, thanks to wives, careers, different interests, etc. The Beatles were no different. They were like their own fraternity. But as they got older, the individuals changed, and the same “all for one” dynamic was no longer really possible.

"There's no such thing as bad student... only bad teacher."

22 June 2014
2.06pm
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Into the Sky with Diamonds
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I agree with WETSRoosa.

Had the Beatles not broken up until a few years later, their next album (according to my fantasy) would have been [Isn’t there a thread on this already?]:

Side 1: Maybe I’m Amazed , Imagine , My Sweet Lord , Every Night , Jealous Guy , Junk

Side 2: All Things Must Pass , Gimme Some Truth , You’re Sixteen, Uncle Albert /Admiral Halsey , Another Day , Instant Karma

What would have been a good title for the album? What song if any would have been chosen as a single?

"Into the Sky with Diamonds" (the Beatles and the Race to the Moon – a history)

22 June 2014
2.12pm
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Starr Shine?
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Do you think that the Beatles would have been influenced by disco?

https://youtu.be/52nwiTs7bk8

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22 June 2014
4.06pm
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meanmistermustard
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@Into the Sky with Diamonds, you can find a thread on a hypothetical Beatles solo album here

@WETSRoosa, apologies for the notification. I had you in my head due to your above reply and itswd replying to it. I do agree with Ron and yourself by the way.

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4 May 2017
1.07pm
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SgtPeppersBulldog
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IMO Here’s what I reckon could have happened if The Beatles stayed together after 1970:

1970 – c.1974: A great line of albums, combining the complexity of Sgt Pepper and Abbey Road with the back to basic and lo-fi sound of Let It Be (although in my universe, Get Back /LIB is scrapped and the sessions are released similarly to SMiLE several decades later.), but with contemporary prog and pop tinges.

c.1975 – c.1979: Like The Stones, The Beach Boys and other veteran 60s bands (except the Bee Gees, who seemed to benefit from this era), they would’ve had their soft rock and (yikes!) disco period in the mid – late 70s, although there probably would be several overlooked gems of b-sides and album tracks in this section of their discography. 

c.1980 – c. early 1990s: A resurgence in popularity throughout the 80s with their twentieth anniversaries and  a blend of post-punk rock, new wave and synthpop filled albums, although they go quiet and on a brief hiatus of studio material in the early 90s.

c.1994- present: The Anthology project, chronicling their pre-fame and then 60s material, yet again boosts their popularity, putting them back at the top, and ever since, they have released albums and toured every few years or so.

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4 May 2017
3.03pm
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William Shears Campbell
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They probably would release an album called Everyday Chemistry on September 9th 2009.

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2 July 2017
9.33pm
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Dark Overlord
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I agree with Joe that i think it’s great that they split up when they did, i’d hate to see a Beatles that stayed together past 1970. However, i do wish they stayed together until the end of 1970 so they could produce one final album that would’ve been released in December and then they split up, i hate how they didn’t do any 1970 issues of The Beatles Book Monthly. Also, i wish they did a full album of original stuff for Anthology instead of an outtake album with 2 new tracks.

As for what i think would’ve happened if they stayed together, my guess would be that they’d return to touring in 1970, they’d make more albums but at a gradually slower pace, their 70’s input would be inferior to their 60’s input and would be more pop than rock and in the 80’s they’d resort to synths and drum machines and then in the 90’s they’d go back to their roots and stay that way.

One more thing, their singles would’ve been on their albums since that was starting to happen around 1969 and they even did it with Come Together .

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