January is always one of the bleakest months of the year. The bare trees and lowered temperatures force us inside for warmth, providing opportunity to hole up and consider our lives as we fight through post-holiday depression. I imagine a similarly desolate vibe existed at Twickenham Studios in January 1969 when The Beatles set up to rehearse songs for their next record while simultaneously being filmed for a corresponding TV or film special. The first couple of weeks were spent going over new material but soon enough the tension and bullshit was too thick and George Harrison walked out, famously saying "See you 'round the clubs." This story is well documented and I wasn't there so I'll spare you a retelling. What I want to do is talk about the rehearsals, performances and recording sessions while considering what the band might have been going though. I also want to sift through many of the recordings made of The Beatles during January 1969 in an attempt to suss out some high and low points that occurred between the pre-Saville Row Nagra tapes and Phil Spector's much maligned production entitled Let It Be. I am no expert on the subject but I love the subject which is more than can be said about how the Beatles felt about the project. Anyway, we'll see if I come up with any epiphanies or gain any real insight at all.
"That was 'Can You Dig It?' by Georgie Wood and now we'd like to do 'Hark, The Angels Come!'"
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