The End of The Beatles 4-10-70

On April 10, 1970 Paul McCartney announced that he was leaving The Beatles. After atleast a year of Paul, John, George, and Ringo trying to keep things going, this was it. Although they had not been together in the studio in several months, with this announcement it was suddenly and painfully official: the Beatles were done.

Of course, the Beatles will never really end. Just like classic films that are "discovered" by new generations of fans, the Beatles will always be with us. They had another huge increase in sales when their catalog was made available on itunes, for example. Their music is, although definitely of a specific time, in the greatest
sense of the word, timeless. 

The songs that would be turned into the Beatles "last" album, "Let It Be," were recorded first; the album that was their last chronological recording was "Abbey Road," which was released first. Phil Spector took all of the acetates from the "Let It Be" sessions in January 1969 and tried to salvage them. For example, he added the chorus and strings to "The Long and Winding Road," the Beatles' 20th and last Number One hit in the United States (June 1970). Ironically, Paul hated this version of the song; when he requested that Spector's version be revised John, George, and Ringo disagreed with him. Probably this was another straw on Paul's back; he made the announcement that he was leaving the band after "Let It Be" was released. Oddly enough, "The Long and Winding Road" is one of the few Beatles hit songs that I can't stand. And it the last bit of irony, "Let It Be" was the Number One song in the US the week Paul McCartney made his announcement. 

So here is the last recorded Number One hit by the Beatles, "Come Together." How is THAT for irony?

It looks to me like this is video of the actual "Abbey Road" sessions....if it's not, I apologize for my mistake.