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Today saw the release in the UK of George’s album Wonderwall Music:
The Beatles Bible calls this “the first Beatles solo album,” but by my count it was the second, after Paul’s 1967 soundtrack to The Family Way.
Wonderwall Music had been completed back in January, so it’s a bit odd that it came out only now, just a few weeks ahead of the new Beatles album. Probably it was held up because of the movie, which had premiered at Cannes in May but would not actually be released in theaters until January 1969. Even then Wonderwall was little-seen and quickly faded into obscurity, along with George’s album, until both were eventually rediscovered by Beatlephiles.
Meanwhile George himself was in an L.A. studio with Jackie Lomax, recording a Lomax original called “Little Yellow Pills.” It’s not the greatest, but embedding is free, so in case you’re curious:
It was also today, more or less, that Linda Eastman — having wisely decided that she wasn’t going to do better than a Beatle — accompanied Paul on his return from New York to London. They would be together pretty much continuously until she died in 1998.
And so all the forces that would eventually dissolve The Beatles had been set in motion. It’s just a matter of time now, but there’s still a lot of good stuff to come. I for one intend to savor every remaining day of Beatledom.