1 day until the start of the Get Back sessions
Ring out the old, ring in the new!
It’s hard to pin down what the Beatles did the first day of 1969, but we can at least agree they enjoyed a wildly successful 1968, certainly as far as their music was concerned. With the Fabs, it always got bigger and better, and Paul McCartney signaled as much in an quote he gave to Ray Fullagar that was published a few days before New Year’s.
“We are continuously experimenting with sounds and instruments,” Paul McCartney told me. “Fortunately as a group we are in a better position than many to do this. We have no intention of fading away into obscurity, and will be producing sounds our fans will not only like, but will buy.
“No one can forecast at this stage what our 1969 sounds will be. They just happen during a rehearsal, rarely are they planned in advance.”
Hindsight is 20-20, but it’s incredible to think that the Beatles fading into obscurity was a possibility in our earthly timeline.
The rehearsals mentioned by Paul that would debut the Beatles’ 1969 sounds were ready to begin in a day’s time.
Any new Lennon-McCartney originals would benefit publisher Northern Songs, which just expanded its catalog. According to the January 1, 1969, Daily Express, Northern Songs completed its purchase of the 4,000-song Lawrence Wright songbook for £812,500.
Northern Songs chief Dick James shared the full scope of the catalog with the Beatles during a visit to Twickenham on January 10, 1969, an appearance that would be overshadowed later that day, when George left the group.
But we’re getting ahead of the story. On Wednesday night, January 1, 1969, the individual Beatles probably caught a little bit of TV, maybe messed around with a song or two at home before ending their extended, extremely busy break and getting back to work the next day.
They May Be Parted 
