When it came time to leave Los Angeles, according to Tony Bramwell, “Paul and Linda were like Siamese twins, holding hands and gazing into each other’s eyes all the way to the airport.” But any chance they might have had for a romantic farewell was scotched when FBI agents burst into the VIP lounge; apparently there had been a bomb threat directed at Paul’s flight.
This was alarming to everyone, but especially to Linda, who had “enough marijuana packed into her vanity case to get a herd of elephants stoned,” says Bramwell. When the agents asked to search everyone’s bags, Linda kicked her case under an empty seat and skedaddled, explaining that she had her own flight to catch.
That was actually, technically, last night; today Paul and company flew from New York to London, where George was continuing to work on Jackie Lomax’s debut single. In addition to the A-side of “Sour Milk Sea,” these sessions produced the B-side, “The Eagle Laughs at You”:
Although the label above lists this as a George Harrison composition, I believe that it is actually a Lomax original. It’s pretty good, I guess? Kinda catchy, punchy horns, doesn’t go on for too long.
Elsewhere within EMI Studios, John was overseeing various technical jiggery-pokery on the “Revolution”s, both of which were completed by the end of the day. It was at this point that “9” was edited down from a ludicrous 9 minutes and 5 seconds to a merely ridiculous 8:12. It’s possible that John was in a rush to get this done before Paul got back, so the completed track could be presented as a fait accompli. Paul’s reaction upon hearing it is not recorded but I’ll bet that in the Liverpudlian accent it rhymed with “duke.”