Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Ten reasons why the Beatles broke up

They stopped doing concerts.

The band was increasingly less bound by their Englishness. As significant others fell away, their replacements were invariably foreign-born: Yoko, the Eastmans, Klein, Spector, et al. John's future in particular lied in America. The days of hanging out with Mal and Neil and the boys were over; the Liverpool entourage dissolved.

They couldn't figure out how to get rid of George Martin.

John fell in love for the first (and last) time in is life.

Brian Epstein died before they were done with him.

George Harrison had a little brother's chip on his shoulder. From his direct rudeness to Yoko and his dig at Lennon on the "I Me Mine" session to his appearance on the Paul-roasting "How Do You Sleep," George could always be counted on, in his low-key way, to bring some gasoline to a fire.

Paul McCartney vetoed "Revolution" as a single.

Apple Corps: which forced them to be businessmen before they were interested, cluttered their lives, and provided all the battlegrounds you could ever want. (To a man, they eventually became obsessed with business, accumulating the kind of immense wealth you have to work towards--you cannot just fall into it. But that came later.)

Robert Christgau on the break-up: "Three of the Beatles thought they were geniuses, and only one of them was."

There was no route to a reunion.

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