Pictured above: Badfinger, 1970
At the end of October 1969, Ron Griffiths, the sole married member of the band who was also raising a child, left the group. As the release date of their single Come and Get It was approaching, the band looked for a replacement, eventually hiring guitarist Joey Molland, with Tom Evans moving from rhythm guitar to bass. The single was released in December 1969 and achieving top 10 throughout the world. The single was bundled with newly recorded tracks, two of them being recorded for the movie The Magic Christian, which was distributed by Apple Films and included Ringo Starr in it, and some outtakes from their debut album to assemble the album Magic Christian Music, released on both vinyl and ELP, one of the first albums under 40 minutes to be released on the latter format.
Magic Christian Music
01. Come and Get It (2:21) [1]
02. Crimson Ship (3:42) [1]
03. No Escaping Your Love (2:15) [2]
04. Mrs. Jones (2:16) [2]
05. Midnight Sun (2:46) [1]
06. Storm in a Teacup (2:31) [1]
07. Rock of All Ages (3:16) [1]
08. Carry On Till Tomorrow (4:48) [1]
09. Walk Out in the Rain (3:27) [2]
10. Arthur (3:20) [1]
11. Give It a Try (2:31) [1]
12. Looking for My Baby (2:08) [2]
Released: January 6th, 1970
Track sources:
[1] - Magic Christian Music [1970]
[2] - Maybe Tomorrow [1969]
Pictured above: Davy Jones, 1970
“Penny Music was the album I was most proud of, not just because it’s my best selling, but because I just felt a sense of confidence recording it!”
- Davy Jones, 1997
Working with producer Chip Douglas (Who had previously produced the Monkees’ Headquarters and Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd.) Davy set off to record his next album for Bell, tentatively titled Davy Jones’ Locker. During the sessions, former Monkees bandmate Micky Dolenz would stop by to sit in and see how his old friend was managing, even laying out some backing vocals to some of the songs. As sessions drew to a close, Davy thought about the song Penny Music, and how it’d be a good album title, as a bit of a playful response to Frank Zappa’s Absolutely Free.
Penny Music
Side A:
01. Opening Night (3:48) [1]
02. Penny Music (2:40) [2]
03. Don’t Listen to Linda (2:48) [3]
04. Me Without You (2:10) [3]
05. Love to Love (2:30) [2]
06. I’m Gonna Try (2:44) [4]
Side B:
07. Storybook of You (2:52) [5]
08. The Girl I Left Behind Me (2:44) [3]
09. How Can I Tell You (3:16) [1]
10. A Man Without a Dream (3:03) [3]
11. Time and Time Again [5]
Released: February 15th, 1970
Track sources:
[1] - The Monkees Present, 1968 - Deluxe Edition
[2] - Missing Links, Volume 3
[3] - Instant Replay, 1968
[4] - The Birds, The Bees, and The Monkees, 1967 - Deluxe Edition
[5] - Missing Links
Pictured above: Ringo Starr, 1970
Before The Beatles even broke up, the idea of Ringo recording a solo album came from the rest of the band and later his parents one day at their Liverpool home. The plan was to create an album of standards that would reflect his mother’s favorite songs, even asking her and other family members to choose the tracks. Starr engaged the services of Beatles producer George Martin to produce it. The album was recorded between October 27th, 1969, and March 6th, 1970, being released less than a month later.
“I wondered, what shall I do with my life now that it's over? I was brought up with all those songs, you know, my family used to sing those songs, my mother and my dad, my aunties and uncles. They were my first musical influences on me. So I went to see George Martin and said: ‘Let's do an album of standards, and to make it interesting we'll have all the arrangements done by different people’.”
- Ringo Starr, 1970
Sentimental Journey
01. Sentimental Journey (3:26) [1]
02. Night and Day (2:26) [1]
03. Whispering Grass (Don’t Tell the Trees) (2:37) [1]
04. Bye Bye Blackbird (2:11) [1]
05. I’m a Fool to Care (2:39) [1]
06. Stardust (3:22) [1]
07. Blue, Turning Grey Over You (3:19) [1]
08. Love is a Splendoured Thing (3:06) [1]
09. You Always Hurt the One You Love (2:20) [1]
10. Have I Told You Lately That I Love You? (2:44) [1]
11. Let The Rest of The World Go By (2:56) [1]
Released: March 27th, 1970
Track sources:
[1] - Sentimental Journey, 1970
Pictured above: Paul McCartney, 1970
After The Beatles broke up, Paul McCartney fell into a depressive state and withdrew to his farm in Campbeltown, Scotland. While it was not officially announced, partly for business reasons, his period in seclusion with his family coincided with widespread rumors in America that he had died - an escalation of the three-year-old “Paul is Dead” rumor. The rumor was broken by journalists tracking him down at his farm.
McCartney and his family returned to London shortly before Christmas 1969, and he started work on his debut solo album at his home on a Studer four-track tape recorder, without a mixing desk. McCartney later described this setup as “Studer, one mike, and nerve”. He later took these recordings and worked on overdubs in Morgan Studios and later Abbey Road Studios, completing the album during March of 1970. He played every instrument in the album, with his wife Linda McCartney participating in harmony and backing vocals (best heard on the songs Maxwell’s Silver Hammer, Man We Was Lonely and Oh! Darling). The album was released a month later, preceded by the single Maybe I'm Amazed (with the B-side You Never Give Me Your Money (Single Edit).
McCartney
01. The Lovely Linda (0:45) [1]
02. That Would Be Something (2:41) [1]
03. Maxwell’s Silver Hammer (3:39) [2]
04. Every Night (2:39) [1]
05. Oh! Darling (3:27) [3]
06. Junk (3:06) [2]
07. Man We Was Lonely (3:01) [1]
08. Oo You (2:49) [1]
09. Suicide (2:50) [1]
10. Teddy Boy (2:24) [1]
11. She Came in Through the Bathroom Window (3:05) [4]
12. Maybe I’m Amazed (3:53) [1]
13. You Never Give Me Your Money (7:25) [2]
a. You Never Give Me Your Money
b. Golden Slumbers
c. Carry That Weight
d. Her Majesty
Released: April 17th, 1970
Track sources:
[1] - McCartney, 1970
[3] - Abbey Road, 1969
[4] - Anthology Vol. 3, 1996
Author’s comments:
Well folks, here it is, the first post of the 1970s. The main event here is arguably seeing what came from Paul and Ringo following the breakup of The Beatles. Now as you may have noticed, the song Dream is absent from our take on Sentimental Journey. Why is that? You’ll just have to wait and see.
Until then, thanks for reading as always.
Oh my, the first alt timeline that actually allows the Beatles to break up! That's bold
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to future posts!
Well, I wouldn't say it's bold, and not to completely give spoilers here but two members of The Beatles will reunite with some familiar faces in order to form a new band... but for all intents and purposes, John, Paul, George and Ringo (also Eric and Billy) are no more for the forseeable future.
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