April 1969 - September 1969: I Couldn't Have Been Happier

Pictured above: George Harrison and Bob Dylan, 1969

After having left The Beatles, George took two months off on vacation to America, where he met up with Bob Dylan and stayed with him in his cabin in Nashville while the rest of The Band were on tour.

“I pulled a Brian Wilson sort of deal where the others went on tour while I stayed behind... I wasn’t really ready to return touring at that time.”

- Bob Dylan, 1975

During George’s stay, he and Bob discussed what went down with The Beatles, and his frustrations, particularly about John and Paul (who gained the nickname “the two-headed monster” among the two at the time.) It was then that Bob suggested that he recorded a solo album to “let the songs out”. George, with a wide grin, thought it might be time to show the world how capable of a songwriter he really was, also asking how he could repay Bob for giving such a brilliant idea.

“Bob said he’d love for me to produce the next Band album, and I couldn’t have been happier to do so!”

- George Harrison, 1989

that same day, George started writing a new song with Bob, Nowhere to Go, for possible inclusion on his solo album. Around the same time, he also wrote a song venting about his frustrations with The Beatles, Wah-Wah.

Sessions for both George’s album and The Band’s (tentatively self-titled) second album started on May 8th (two weeks after George’s leave from The Beatles). However, these sessions were soon cut short due to a call from Columbia Records.

“Get this, those fuckers wanted two more albums outta me, I was tempted to reply with “I don’t owe you swines shit!” and hang up right there, though George saw that look in my eyes and gave me a ‘you’ll regret it’ look in return. So I just said ‘Alright, two, and no more’”

- Bob Dylan, 1986

Nashville Skylines was recorded in only 9 days between May 12th and May 21st (not counting the 15th due to Bob participating on the first episode of Johnny Cash’s television show) with local Nashville musicians, later released on July 9th, 1969. Around June, George returned to England, with essentially half of his album already finished.

“George rang us up around late June, early July... nobody outside of Apple heard George left The Beatles at that point. Epstein and the other Apple folks were doing their best to keep it under wraps. Anyways, George rang us up and told us he was working on a solo album and asked if we wanted to help him with it... be his backing band and all. Of course, we agreed, and that was it.”

- Pete Ham, 1974

The Abbey Road sessions for George Harrison’s proper solo debut album (Wonderwall Music being dismissed as a music soundtrack album and nothing else) Something carried onto the rest of July and early August, albeit were interrupted on August 14th in order for George and Badfinger to prepare and relocate themselves to New York for the Woodstock music festival.

Pictured above: The Beatles in studio, 1969

Sessions for Get Back painstakingly carried on throughout May and June with the new unofficial inclusions of Eric Clapton and Billy Preston among The Beatles’ ranks.

Among the songs recorded in the May-June sessions were Two of Us, One After 909, Get Back, Dig It, Ain’t She Sweet, Teddy Boy, Junk, Oh! Darling, She Came in Through the Bathroom Window, Madman, Watching Rainbows, and another attempt of Ringo’s to work further on Taking a Trip to Carolina.

“As much as George said he was ok with me standing in for him, I just felt incredibly out of place. Not to mention a certain tension with John and Paul’s bickering and an overall awkwardness in the air... we ended up taking a break in July, only really reuniting after Woodstock.”

- Eric Clapton, 1995

Pictured above: Early poster of the Woodstock Festival, with the acts yet to be included.

The Woodstock festival is remembered for many things, albeit if any event, in particular, shocked the world the most, was the first appearance of The Beatles in concert in over three years and the first time the world heard of George’s permanent leave from the band.

The acts performing between August 15th and August 16th at Woodstock are as follows:

• Richie Havens (5:07 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.)
• Swami Satchidananda (7:10 p.m. - 7:20 p.m.)
• Sweetwater (7:30 p.m. - 8:35 p.m.)
• Bert Sommer (8:30 p.m. - 9:15 p.m.)
• Tim Hardin (9:20 p.m. - 9:45 p.m.)
• Ravi Shankar (10:00 p.m. - 10:45 p.m.)
• Melanie (11:00 p.m. - 11:30 p.m.)
• Arlo Guthrie (11:55 p.m. - 12:25 p.m.)
• Joni Mitchell (12:55 a.m. - 1:30 a.m.)

The acts performing between August 16th and 17th at Woodstock are as follows:

• Quill (12:30 p.m. - 12:45 p.m.)
• The Beatles (1:20 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.)
• Santana (2:00 p.m. - 2:45 p.m.)
• The Doors (3:30 p.m. - 4:05 p.m.)
• Keef Hartley Band (4:45 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.)
• The Incredible String Band (6:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.)
• Canned Heat (7:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.)
• Mountain (9:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.)
• Grateful Dead (10:30 p.m. - 12:05 a.m.)
• Creedence Clearwater Revival (12:30 a.m. - 1:20 a.m.)
• Janis Joplin and the Kozmic Blues Band (2:00 a.m. - 3:00 a.m.)
• Sly & the Family Stone (3:30 a.m. - 4:20 a.m.)
• The Who (5:00 a.m. - 6:05 a.m.)
• Jefferson Airplane (8:00 a.m. - 9:40 a.m.)
• George Harrison featuring Badfinger (10:00 a.m - 10:50 a.m.)

The acts performing between August 17th and 18th are as follows:

• Joe Cocker and the Grease Band (2:00 p.m. - 3:25 p.m.)
• Country Joe and the Fish (6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.)
• Ten Years After (8:15 p.m. - 9:15 p.m.)
• The Band (without Bob Dylan) (10:00 p.m. - 10:50 p.m.)
• Johnny Winter (12:00 a.m. - 1:05 a.m.)
• Blood, Sweat & Tears (1:30 a.m. - 2:30 a.m.)
• Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (3:00 a.m. - 4:00 a.m.)
• Paul Butterfield Blues Band (6:00 a.m. - 6:45 a.m.)
• Sha Na Na (7:30 a.m. - 8:00 a.m.)
• Jimi Hendrix / Gypsy Sun & Rainbows (9:00 a.m. - 11:10 a.m.)

Pictured above: Joni Mitchell at Woodstock, 1969

Despite the insistence of her manager to not miss appearing at The Dick Cavett Show, Joni Mitchell came to the Woodstock festival, filling in a slot previously occupied by Joan Baez (who canceled due to her six-month pregnancy). Her setlist was as follows:

1. Chelsea Morning
2. Rainy Night House
3. Cactus Tree
4. Night in the City
5. Willy
6. Both Sides, Now

Pictured above: John Lennon performing with The Beatles at Woodstock, 1969

As The Beatles walked on stage, cheers and applause filled the crowd, soon followed by a silent confusion from those who were paying attention, as John, Paul, and Ringo came on the stage, with no sign of George to be seen.

“Geez, I was expecting a bit of screaming from the audience, well anyways, you’re all probably wondering why George isn’t with us right now. Well, he’s had enough of me and Paul’s screamin’ matches, and went solo! We, of course, wish him the best of luck on his career and his set!”

- John Lennon, 1969

After John’s short speech, the three Beatles proceeded to play an acoustic set that would go down in history as The Beatles’ last live performance. The setlist was as follows:

1. Two of Us
2. Dear Prudence
3. I’m Only Sleeping
4. You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away
5. Norwegian Wood
6. Child of Nature
7. Yesterday
8. Revolution
9. All Together Now

Pictured above: Jim Morrison performing with The Doors, 1969

“We almost turned down showing up at Woodstock actually, we felt it would just be a second class repeat of Monterey Pop Festival. We definitely would have regretted it.”

- Robby Krieger, 1996

The Doors’ performance at Woodstock is often considered one of their best, despite a slight misstep. Between the songs Touch Me and The Soft Parade, there was a brief interruption by the political activist Abbie Hoffman, who attempted to speak against the jailing of John Sinclair of the White Panther Party. He grabbed a microphone and yelled, “I think this is a pile of shit while John Sinclair rots in prison...”. Jim Morrison was adjusting his microphone when he saw Abbie, “Hey man, get the fuck outta here!” he snapped, grabbing Abbie’s arm and throwing him off of the stage and saying “...yeah, it’s bullshit, but don’t fucking interrupt us like that!”. The Doors’ setlist was as follows:

1. Five to One
2. Break On Through (To the Other Side)
3. Back Door Man
4. When the Music’s Over
5. Touch Me
6. The Soft Parade
7. Light My Fire
8. The Celebration of The Lizard

Pictured above: George Harrison performing at Woodstock with Badfinger, 1969

“What John told you all yesterday is true, I’m out of The Beatles. I wish I could say I left on the best of terms, but all things must pass, no? Anyways, I’m here with an Apple band, Badfinger, and we’re gonna play a few songs for you today, and some of them are from my upcoming album, called Something, I hope you all enjoy!”

- George Harrison, 1969

The crowd’s feedback was a nearly uniform mix of boos and cheers as reassurance came in that the classic lineup of John, Paul, George and Ringo was no more. However as the beginning chords of Taxman kicked in, cheers came from all throughout the crowd. George’s setlist was as follows:

1. Taxman
2. Wah-Wah
3. I Want To Tell You
4. Something
5. Piggies
6. Old Brown Shoe
7. Nowhere to Go
8. While My Guitar Gently Weeps (Chaos)
9. I Me Mine
10. Here Comes The Sun
11. Isn’t It a Pity
12. Art of Dying

As Jimi Hendrix’s set came to a close on the morning of August 18th, so did Woodstock. The festival went down in history as the culmination of 60s counterculture and a high point for many of the artist’s careers.

Though more bittersweet, Woodstock unofficially marked the end of The Beatles as a band. They continued recording Get Back throughout August, but they were no longer a proper unit at that point, rather just five musicians “getting it over with”. Recording was concluded on August 31st, and a week before the release of Get Back, John officially quit the band on the 20th of September, Paul quitting on September 30th, three days after the album’s release. Get Back was seen as a “fitting swan song” for the group by critics, citing that the secret track fits in with the narrative of Ringo trying to get his song, but realizing it’s no good.

Get Back

- 01. Two of Us (3:36) [1]

- 02. Dig a Pony (3:54) [1]

- 03. Across the Universe (3:25) [1]

- 04. Don’t Let Me Down (3:18) [1]

- 05. Dig It (4:07) [1]

- 06. Let It Be (3:49) [1]

- 07. Maggie Mae (0:40) [1]

- 08. I’ve Got a Feeling (3:37) [1]

- 09. One After 909 (2:54) [1]

- 10. The Long and Winding Road (3:37) [1]

- 11. Ain’t She Sweet (2:11) [1]

- 12. Get Back (3:31) [1]

- 13. The End (2:15) [1]

- 14. Taking a Trip to Carolina (0:44) [1]

Released: September 27, 1969

Track sources:

[1] Custom Mix by The_Lifehouse

Author's notes:
Well, everyone, I hope you enjoy this new entry of Something Creative, in particular, our slightly different take on Woodstock and our version of Get Back. We don't really have much else to say other than to thank everyone for making it this far. Your support is what keeps us going and we wouldn't be doing this is not for your support. Expect more soon!