Why the Classic 'Ballad of John and Yoko' Never Appeared on a Beatles Album
If you want to chart how quickly The Beatles progressed in the late 1960s, just check the dates of the albums. By early 1967, they had expanded their musical palette with tunes like “A Day in the Life” fromSgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Less than two years later, John Lennon and Paul McCartney collaborated on their last great tune together, “I’ve Got a Feeling.” With that song, fans heard stripped-down Beatles rock at its finest. It was a completely different sound from “Lucy in the Sky” (not to mention “Norwegian Wood”).
In March ’69, just after marrying Yoko Ono, John got to work on a new song about the adventures surrounding their wedding. Taking the same approach the band did on Let It Be, Lennon kept things rocking and spare on the tune.
However, the track that became “The Ballad of John and Yoko” never landed on a Beatles studio album. Since John recorded it much like he did his first solo album and wanted it released quick, it went out as a single instead of on the final albums.
Source: cheatsheet.com
