Sir Paul….. Mr. Ringo…..
Ok. So I know that my last post urged The Beatles for “one final bow. One final curtain call. One final show.” And while I wouldn’t be (couldn’t be) upset with just one concert, I think that two shows would be a more complete, and thus a much more final act for The Beatles.
Hear me out…..
One way to synthesize the entirety of The Beatles canon is into two categories: 1) Songs easily played by the six of you, and 2) Songs needing more than the six of you. The two concerts could be divided, more or less, along these two distinct lines, and thus would offer you and your BILLIONS of fans two completely different and still wholly complimentary shows to enjoy and to cherish.
Here is my poor man’s rough sketch of this possibility.
Concert #1 would have the six of you, being backed by an entire orchestra of both Western and Indian musicians. This way, all of the music you created mainly between Rubber Soul and Magical Mystery Tour could be recreated. The concert would thus focus on, but of course not be limited to, this period. This would also allow for the ultimate Beatles fantasy: Playing “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” in its entirety.
Just think of it. You’ve already played 90 minutes of music, including Hey Jude, Yesterday, The Long and Winding Road, Got To Get You Into My Life, All You Need Is Love, Strawberry Fields, Eleanor Rigby, Here There and Everywhere, Love You To, Yellow Submarine, Penny Lane, Across The Universe, and Norwegian Wood. The orchestration could also be blended into ‘Til There Was You, Do You Want To Know a Secret, All My Loving, If I Fell, and While My Guitar Gently Weeps. Even songs, such as Dear Prudence, We Can Work It Out, Nowhere Man, Revolution 9, and Rain, could be embellished with a few extra instruments (or not). After an intermission, you return to the stage and play “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” from the first guitars and drums to the final chord.
How absolutely, indescribably incredible would that be?
Concert #2 would only be the six of you. The focus would be a much grander retrospective of your entire catalog. For this you could simply pick and choose any other songs you would like to play one more time, from the obscure (if there is such a Beatles song) to the most famous. This one fan’s list would include Hard Day’s Night, Let It Be, Long Long Long, Twist and Shout, She Loves You, Help, Taxman, Boy, From Me to You, Please Please Me, In My Life, I Feel Fine, I Want to Hold Your Hand, Helter Skelter, Ticket To Ride, I Need You, Honey Don’t, Eight Days a Week, Can’t Buy Me Love, I Saw Her Standing There, Revolution, Happiness Is a Warm Gun, Get Back, and The Ballad of John and Yoko. The final song of this first set would be Tomorrow Never Knows (with the addition of Julian on keyboard and extra percussion from Zak, the six of you could pull this off). After intermission, you return to the stage and play “Abby Road” from Come Together to Her Majesty.
How absolutely, indescribably incredible would that be?
Of course, all of this is pure hope, wish, desire, and certainly fantasy. I mean, if Lorne Michael couldn’t get you boys to reunite in ’76, then how or why should this very less funny, yet equally impassioned offering bring you together?
The truth is that it probably won’t. I know that, and I’m ok with that. But a man can dream, can’t he? And because of this dream, I now have both of those incredible concerts on auto-play in my mind. And that feels pretty darn indescribably great.
I think that I can once and for all let it be.