this did NOT HAPPEN. kinda sad some people believe this, didn't watch it and have no need to

I just watched the great little documentary about Paul's missing Hofner bass on BBC and how it went missing for many years. It got me wondering about Stuart Sutcliffe's bass and whether anyone knows it's whereabouts.

It was a Hofner 500/5 bass. Incidentally my brother had a bass just like this in the late 1970s and he eventually sold it but I've always wondered.... what if?

I think it's an amazing video for the song. It's not too serious. We can see the lads performing in the Sgt. Pepper uniforms. Also the spontaneous synchronized footstomp between Paul and John is funny. What do you think about the video and the song in general?

What if The Beatles never broke up… and 1970 gave us one more album?

This album, Beware of Darkness, imagines that moment.

For song selection I used John’s real-life suggestion (as a possible follow-up to Abbey Road) of a fairer split—4 songs each for John, Paul, and George, plus 2 for Ringo. This fan album reconstructs a world where the band keeps going after Abbey Road. My hope is that this selection of songs sounds like an album, not a playlist. 

For example, I do not include any of the so-called “diss” tracks or any of George’s overtly religious songs. I just don’t think The Beatles would have recorded them (though they are some of my personal favorites).

Every choice matters. The 14-track limit forces tough cuts, just like the original UK Beatles albums. Songs can reach slightly back in time, but never forward—keeping the project grounded in what 1970 could have been.

This isn’t about replacing the real albums. It’s about reimagining the story—and inviting geeky fans like me into it. Come on…every fan has their own version of this record… you probably had it on a mixtape (yeah, I went there).

So here’s the question: if The Beatles had one more chance… would it sound like this?

Here is the tracklist for this album:

1. Remember
2. Another Day
3. What Is Life (Session Outtakes/Jams - Take 1)
4. $15 Draw (special guests Pete Drake, Jerry Reed, and Charlie Daniels)
5. Working Class Hero
6. Maybe I’m Amazed (I cheat a bit and use the live version, which I prefer)
7. All Things Must Pass
8. Loser’s Lounge (special guests Pete Drake and Charlie Daniels)
9. Hold On
10. Every Night
11. Going Down To Golder’s Green
12. Look At Me
13. Junk
14. Beware Of Darkness

Here’s a link to Episode 38 of Groovin’ Up Slowly:

https://youtu.be/tdmM1-gqdtw

Here’s a link to this album on Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5PwZgP2eoIZw2afegwJIBp?si=349d3605bff44d15

Here’s a link to this album on Apple Music:

https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/beatles-beware-of-darkness-1970-solo-beatles-fan-album/pl.u-8aAVXDVTmvAexD1

Here’s a link to the YouTube playlist for this album:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLB5dkZQ7h7GhH4ogP_2pvxWIw7yvuke9R

Here’s a link to the Substack essay for a bit of a deeper dive into this album…

https://groovinupslowly.substack.com/p/what-if-the-beatles-never-broke-u

With April comes the anniversary of the Beatles' break up. The 10th is generally considered the day the band ended, when Paul's statements issued in a press release for McCartney hit the headlines. Yesterday, I re-read Paul's press statement and listened to some interviews with John, George, and Ringo in the weeks leading up to this announcement. I was surprised to see that the other three spoke somewhat optimistically about how another Beatles record was not entirely off the table; John is vague but doesn't rule it out, whereas it seems that George is expecting that they will record together again fairly soon.

You can read Paul's interview here and listen to the interviews with the other three here. I thought I'd share what I thought were some of the main takeaways relating to their comments on the future of the Beatles, but the interviews are worth a listen - they speak positively of one another's solo works and you can hear their comments on Abbey Road in the earlier interviews.

John Lennon (February 1970)

Q: Are you going your own way with Yoko these days? Because that is the impression one has.

JOHN: Well, each Beatle's doing their own thing at the moment. It could be a rebirth, or a death. We'll see what it is. It'll probably be a rebirth for all of us.

Q: When do you in fact plan to record with the Beatles again?

JOHN: At the moment there is no plan whatsoever. At the moment we have this film and album in the can, until that's sorted out there won't be any plans. I plan to make an album with Yoko with Phil Spector in about two weeks, I heard Paul was planning to do an LP too.

Q: Do you think it's unlikely that you will be making another track with the Beatles?

JOHN: You can't pin me down because it's completely open whether we do it or not... anything is open, I don't like to pre-judge it. I have no idea if the Beatles are working together again or not - I never did have. It was always open. If somebody didn't feel like it, that's it. Maybe if one of us starts it off the others will come 'round and make an album. It's just like that at the moment.

Q: It's the first time this situation has arisen, isn't it?

JOHN: Before Sgt. Pepper, there was nine months of nothing. So in between our albums now, there's a lot of stuff going on, that's all. There might be nine months or a year before we decide we're interested enough to produce a Beatles album. But there was nine months before Sgt. Pepper and it's only been since September since we worked together.

Q: Do you care about making another one?

JOHN: I think Beatles is a good communication media and I wouldn't destroy it out of hand, or dissolve it out of hand.

George Harrison (March 1970)

GEORGE: ...in a way it's a great relief for us to work seperately at the same time. Maybe if I get the chance, I'd like to do an album as well just to get rid of a lot of songs, so I'll try to get that together some time during this summer. And I suspect by that time, we should be ready to do a new Beatle album.

Ringo Starr (March 1970)

Q: Would you say that the Beatles are just as united as they had been or not?

RINGO: I think behind each other we're as united as we ever were.

Q: On the face of it, it hasn't looked like it so much over the last few months.

RINGO: No, but that's only because you read the papers where they say "Is there a split?" where they've just got nothing else to write.

Paul McCartney (April 1970)

Q: "Are you planning a new album or single with the Beatles?"

PAUL: "No."

Q: "Is this album a rest away from the Beatles or the start of a solo career?"

PAUL: "Time will tell. Being a solo album means it's 'the start of a solo career...' and not being done with the Beatles means it's just a rest. So it's both."

Q: "Is your break with the Beatles temporary or permanent, due to personal differences or musical ones?"

PAUL: "Personal differences, business differences, musical differences, but most of all because I have a better time with my family. Temporary or permanent? I don't really know."

Q: "Do you foresee a time when Lennon-McCartney becomes an active songwriting partnership again?"

PAUL: "No."

My roommate and long time best friend’s grandfather used to work as a security guard in an Atlanta venue. I can’t remember the exact name (I could ask him though) but I know that Ringo Starr was actually the first act to perform at this venue and left these drumsticks behind after performing and my roommates grandfather just decided to take them lmao. But I thought this was the coolest thing ever an figured you guys would enjoy it too.

I have the best family ever! We had the party a little late.

George trying to sound like Dylan

Beatles filming the anthology…