KEN ECKERT ...
In the last photographs of the Beatles together, we can see their body language. I realize I may read too much into them. But they look so clearly sick of being together as a band, and itching to do things on their own or with other musical friends. We can only imagine how claustrophobic being so close for years must have been. The only scenario I can imagine where they stay together is where they take a breather as a band to go off and make solo albums, and they agree to get back together in 1971 to continue as the Beatles.
Let’s say that they continue to record together for another six or seven years until the late 70s, either full-time or part-time (perhaps Paul might have still had Wings on the side, pardon the pun). I’d say the albums would still be great, but they wouldn’t be group projects. More likely each member would have an agreed quota of songs that he had full control over, and could ask other members or even outsiders to guest on them.
In essence, that is what happened, and it wouldn’t be hard to take four of each of the Beatles’ best solo songs from the early 70s and make an album mix from it (like this one, or this one). The difference is that the band members would still have had a civil working relationship allowing them to perform on TV or video together (imagine them all on SNL, and not their almost-John-&-Paul appearance) and with more playing on each other’s tracks.
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MARTY SHUPERT ...
That’s a big “IF” but consider this… What if you took three tracks from Imagine, added in three tracks from McCartney, then three tracks from Harrison, and included “It Don’t Come Easy” for Ringo. Then, consider the fact that they would have harmonized, played on,+ and contributed to those tracks. What would that initial album look like?
Maybe I’m Amazed
Imagine
What Is Life?
Ooh You
Crippled Inside
My Sweet Lord
It Don’t Come Easy
Man We Was Lonely
Gimme Some Truth
Behind That Locked Door
Further imagine, if you will, that Eric Clapton had been invited as a guest soloist, and Bob Dylan brought in for a bonus “If Not For You”… Now, even better, imagine the Beatles performing in concerts with actual sound equipment. They didn’t even get to hear themselves during concerts. By the 70’s Beatlemania would have calmed down, and the sophistication of the sound equipment would have come into play. Imagine actually awesome live concerts, because, folks, these guys were amazing live. We just never got to hear them. The answer, of course, is, the quality would have exploded. They would have produced perhaps the ten best albums of all time in the 70’s. But there’s a sports analogy here. One can put the best basketball players on a team at the same time and dream that they would be scoring in the 200’s. It doesn’t happen because there’s only one basketball on the court at a time. The boys out grew each other and needed at least a trial separation in order to develop their talent. They were stifling each other. They really needed a therapist in order to stay together, and the best alternative might not have been saving the marriage. What happened, happened. They were happier apart because it was time to fly the nest. The better question for me, is, what would a reunion have produced? I firmly believe that it would have produced awesome music that would be panned as “disappointing” because that’s the way the world is. Who could possibly live up to their legacy? They were probably wise in hesitating and rejecting the idea of a reunion and then, it was too late, because, as we all know, life is very short and it goes on within you and without you, but it does no harm to imagine.
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JOHN TYLER ...
Take the best bits from their respective solo albums of the same time and you’ve still got kick ass tracks ….the dead wood on their own albums would be replaced by a gem from one of the others
Plus all the songs would have been tweaked with a bit of input from the others
Just the album they would make after let it be charted would be wonderful Imagine an album with the best parts of McCartney or ram /plastic Ono band /all things must pass
It would be fantastic it’s only because as a solo projects we think the albums lack something but the best songs on those albums are up there with anything they did collectively
