Remember When: Paul McCartney Took Out His Beatles Frustration on a Steve Miller Song
It’s amazing The Beatles were able to record two classic albums in 1969, considering how relationships between the four men had deteriorated by that time. As it turned out, the infighting also helped a random artist out one fateful evening during that eventful year.
That artist was Steve Miller, then near the beginning of what would become an illustrious career. As fate would have it, he showed up at a London studio one night at just the right time to call on the services of a very frustrated Paul McCartney, and the two made cathartic musical magic.
Friday, May 9, 1969, was the date for a recording session at Olympic Studios in London, a session earmarked for doing some mixing on the project The Beatles had undertaken at the beginning of the year. That project, originally called Get Back but eventually released as Let It Be when it finally appeared in 1970, was to feature some off-the-cuff, in-between-songs dialogue captured during those sessions. This particular evening was devoted to choosing those snippets.
The Beatles started in the afternoon and worked through the evening. But there was a visitor that night that caused some friction. Allen Klein, who had been chosen by John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr to take over the band’s managerial duties and financial oversight, showed up as well.
Paul McCartney was holding out, feeling they should do a bit more due diligence before making this decision. The other three insisted McCartney needed to sign that evening. A standoff ensued during the session, with McCartney first suggesting there’d be no harm waiting till Monday, since business couldn’t be conducted on the weekend. He also argued the group should hold out for better terms. None of his bandmates agreed.
Source: americansongwriter.com/Jim Beviglia
