Most of us should be considered lucky to have had The Beatles for as long as we did. The customary lifespan of any rock and roll outfit was usually only a few years before they bottomed out, but when the Fab Four started to go beyond the limitations of what everyone else was doing, there was no limit to where they could go on albums like Rubber Soul and Sgt Pepper. But if they were going to be one of the greatest rock and roll bands the world had ever seen, that meant letting go of their live presence.
Because, really, how was anyone expecting to hear some of their strangest sounds whenever they performed? They were already flirting with non-live performances when Paul McCartney played the song ‘Yesterday’ on an acoustic guitar with a backing track, but when they started making tunes like ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’, there was no one waiting with baited breath to see what that sounded like live. No one could reproduce it, but their touring regimen needed to be done.
The touring circuit was a common part of every rock and roll band’s journey, but every member of The Beatles would have gladly held on to their sanity if it meant not having to deal with the perils of Beatlemania. Playing in front of crowds screaming along to your music might feel awfully good for about five seconds, but once the screaming doesn’t end and people are running after you on the street, there comes a moment when everyone realises that they have locked themselves in their own prison.
And by the time The Beatles made their way through their final shows, it was clear they were over everything as well. They still were playing to the best of their abilities, but since they could hardly hear themselves over the roars of the crowd, there came a point when they were going to need to either quit the road or dumb down their music, and Macca finally found his answer after one too many gigs.
Despite being the one holdout and advocate for playing live, McCartney remembered a gig in St Louis being the final straw after a rainy night, saying, “There was danger of the stuff blowing us up with the water on the amps. Everyone was in a bit of a mood, but we did the show. I said, ‘OK’ and I let off a bit of steam, swore a bit and said, ‘Oh well, I really fucking agree with you. I’ve fucking had it up to here too.’”
While studio-only acts may not have been as commonplace back then, McCartney would make sure that no one counted them out yet. Everyone was used to having their favourite artists play in front of them, but when Sgt Peppers came out, fans got a better look at what the Fab Four could do. They were now making art pieces, and their final records were all about them exploring their creative muse rather than worrying about the mechanics of going onstage.
But Macca never truly lost the bug to perform live, either. Despite the rest of the band being over the idea of being Beatles by the time of Let It Be, McCartney seemed the one person who felt the most excited to play live on the rooftop of Apple Corps, even hamming things up a little bit when the police eventually got called to shut them down.
The road may have been where the Fab Four cut their teeth for many years before people had even heard of them, but the real tragedy would have been not seeing what they could be as studio musicians. The live stage is a great breeding ground, but there was a lot more for them to explore.
