The songs The Beatles struggled to perform: “It was never easy”
When The Beatles stopped touring, it was both the very best and very worst thing to happen to music.
In terms of the former, it was quite obvious. Had the Fab Four not packed up their things and moved into the studio, it’s likely they would have never innovated in the same way that they did. Stripping away the expectation of translating the song to a live setting, combined with the looming time pressure that an upcoming tour would place on the band, meant that the studio brought with it ultimate freedom. And with ultimate freedom came the likes of ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ and Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band.
But let’s also accept that with that retirement came the simple fact that music fans all over the world were deprived of the chance to see their genius. When Revolver, Sgt Pepper and The White Album all hit, so did the appetite to sing along to those songs in a live setting, something of a necessary need for any music fan worth their salt.
However, the question is, how would they have sounded live? Could ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ have been psychedelically explored on stage, or would the chorus of ‘Something’ even be heard over the deafening screams of the crowd? Likely not, and the band had learned that the hard way. Their touring career came to a grinding halt because of an irritation towards the latter.
But there were also songs in the discography that had taught the band, playing with experimental fire often leaves you burned, something Paul McCartney himself found out.
“We could all take the piss out of each other,” he once said, recalling the onstage dynamics of their touring days, “On the Royal Command Performance, I had to sing ‘Till There Was You’ or something, in front of all these people, and while it’s easy to do a rock’n’roll song it was never easy to do those ‘Yesterdays’ or ‘Till There Was You’.
He concluded, “It was always a piss-take. But it was just part of The Beatles. Keeping each other’s feet on the ground. So that didn’t bother me”.
It was perhaps the only way to make sense of the rock and roll circus they had created with their music. Within years of playing their first ever gig, they were on stage at sports stadiums all around America performing in front of thousands of fans who were beside themselves with excitement. It was nothing but a bizarre experience for the otherwise humble Liverpudlian lads who were somehow forced to deal with it the only way they knew how: with humour.
Humour was always an important part of the camaraderie, but better yet, their music. Playful melodies, esoteric lyrics and a freedom in studio sessions made the music of history’s greatest band, and so humour can never be understated as a cog in the experimental machine. In fact, it was the moment that it fell away completely that the band eventually broke up and no longer became what they once were.
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