One of the great Beatle myths is that the band broke up after the Get Back/Let It Be sessions and that the original film documented the break-up. That is not true.
The Beatles broke up after the release of the ‘Let It Be’ album and movie, that is true, but ‘Let It Be’ was recorded over a year before the break-up and they went on to make another album, ‘Abbey Road’ as soon as the ‘Get Back’ sessions were complete.
The ‘Get Back’ sessions which produced the ‘Let It Be’ album also developed the bulk of the songs that would became ‘Abbey Road’. We see the creation and development of many of the song in the Peter Jackson movie.
The ‘Get Back’ sessions concluded on 31 January 1969. The first ‘Abbey Road’ song recorded was ‘I Want You (She’s So Heavy)’ on 22 February 1969, just three weeks after the ‘Get Back’ sessions were completed.
Because a movie takes so long to produce, ‘Abbey Road’ was started, finished and released before the ‘Let It Be’ movie was ready and subsequently, the ‘Let It Be’ album was held back to coincide with the movie release.
‘Abbey Road’ was released on 26 September 1969. ‘Let It Be’ wasn’t out until 8 May 1970 and inbetween, The Beatles also released the ‘Hey Jude’ album on 26 February 1970, made up of songs that weren’t on albums, including two from the ‘Get Back’ sessions, ‘George Harrison’s ‘Old Brown Shoe’ and John Lennon’s ‘Don’t Let Me Down’.
The ‘Abbey Road’ sessions continued through until 20 August 1969 but the very final Beatles song features on the ‘Let It Be’ album, not ‘Abbey Road’. George Harrison’s ‘I Me Mine’ was recorded on 3 January, 1970, one year after the ‘Get Back’ sessions and after the release of ‘Abbey Road’. It was the last song The Beatles ever recorded (not counting the two Anthology songs ‘Free As A Bird’ and ‘Real Love’ in the 90’s, made with early John Lennon recordings after he had died).
The official break-up of The Beatles was in April 1970, one year and three months after the ‘Get Back’ sessions had concluded. At this point The Beatles’ empire was falling apart. John, George and Ringo had brought in crook Allan Klein to run their business. It was a disaster. Paul McCartney wanted with his father-in-law, New York lawyer Lee Eastman to run the business but was out-voted.
‘I Me Mine’ does not feature John Lennon. Only George, Paul and Ringo were present for the final session. John had left at that stage and within months, so had the others.
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