The Beatles officially broke up in 1970 and while Let it be was released in 1970 as the last studio album by The Beatles, it was actually recorded before Abbey Road in early 1969.
What if the Beatles hadn’t parted ways and got together for a final album? What songs from your 1970 solo albums (Paul McCartney McCartney, By George Harrison All things must pass, And John Lennon Ono plastic band) Would it have reached a Beatles album?
The following is the list of songs from the 1970 Beatles theoretical album that you would have made with these three solo albums if you were The Beatles producer. It would have been released in December 1970, as that was when the last of these three albums (Ono plastic band) was released.
List of songs from the 1970 Beatles album Imaginary
Side one
# 1 “My sweet sir” – Harrison.
This is a catchy, uplifting and quite uptempo song that would have been a good start. I think it could have sounded really good like a Beatles song. It’s a great tune as is, but a great McCartney bass line could bring it to life. I think this would have been a hit single for The Beatles just as it was for Harrison. It would have shortened the runtime a bit. And that applies to many of the songs on this stiff Beatles album.
# 2 “Wait” – Lennon.
This is a great tune that I think would work really well as a second track.
# 3 “Every Night” – McCartney.
As you can see, this album is shaping up to be a laid back and wonderful acoustic album. Like a second Rubber core.
# 4 “What is life” – Harrison.
This would help pick up the pace a bit, but it still looks pretty wonderful. Rubber core part II feeling. I’m not sure how Lennon & McCartney would feel about having two singles off the album as Harrison songs, but the shoe fits.
# 5 “Glasses” – McCartney.
I think this experimental little piece would fit very well as a transition between the upbeat “What Is Life” and the more somber “Isnt It A Pity.” The part of “Hot As Sun” that precedes it is quite nice, but I think it would work better if “What Is Life” were put directly into “Glasses”. This would be about 20 to 30 seconds long.
# 6 “Isn’t that too bad” – Harrison.
I imagine this is a pretty great Beatles song (since it’s already a great George Harrison song). Sort of a whiny version of the “Hey Jude” approach. However, I’m not sure if it would have to be the full 7 minutes on a Beatles album. In fact, it probably wouldn’t fit on this side at that length. I think it would work as a 4-5 minute song in this context.
# 7 “trash” – McCartney.
This is the sadder side of that wonderful, relaxed acoustic sensation. It seems like it would go on very well with “Isn’t It A Pity.”
# 8 “Hero of the working class” – Lennon.
Lennon would close side one with this rather dark tune. This album is shaping up to be a bit serious, isn’t it? Yes. I think it would actually fit in very well with the latest Beatles album as it has that kind of feeling. There is a sense of seriousness in these songs and it is amplified by putting them one after another in this way.
Side two
# 9 “Mother” – Lennon.
This probably would have sounded a little different as a Beatles song, but I think it could have kept its obscurity while possibly adding a bit more musical interest to it (again I’m thinking of McCartney on bass).
# 10 “I found out” – Lennon.
This song is pretty strong on the Plastic Ono Band, but I think it could have been more musically interesting as a Beatles song with Paul’s bass and George’s lead guitar licks.
# 11 “All things must pass” – Harrison.
I always thought this was a brilliant song. I prefer the more simplified Anthology version to the more orchestrated version of the album that bears the name.
# 12 “Teddy Boy” – McCartney. (Ringo in voice).
I don’t know if this would actually work, but you know that Ringo would have to take the lead on a song and it seems like maybe he could pull it off, maybe with a lot of help from Paul.
# 13 “I’d have you any minute” Harrison.
Would a song co-written by Bob Dylan really end on a Beatles album? Well, I think this is a beautiful song, so it would be if I were the producer.
# 14 “Maybe I’m surprised” – McCartney.
I don’t think this selection needs to be explained too much. It’s probably McCartney’s most timeless song as a solo artist and it would be a great album closer to the last Beatles album.
Missing songs
I know I am missing a lot of great songs. It is difficult to reduce three solo albums to a single album, especially when one of those albums is a triple album (Harrison’s All things must pass.) Some of Lennon’s solo songs just don’t work in the context of a Beatles album. “Mother” is an exaggeration. “God”? I do not think it works.
Pablo?
It is also impossible to imagine Paul being okay with just singing 3 songs on this album. I just don’t think he would accept that, although I think it’s pretty clear that George was writing more good songs during this period, or at least he had a lot more built up. As you think about this, it begins to become clear why the Beatles parted ways when they did. I guess maybe it was for the best.
That’s not to say that I don’t think this album I just described wouldn’t have been an excellent album (although probably not as good as Abbey Road for example) just that they (John, Paul and George) were writing too many songs and going in too many different directions to be really restricted from being in a band any longer.