Following the release of the Beatles' newest masterpiece, Space Oddity in late 1969, the band planned on going their separate ways to give themselves some alone time. John Lennon used his time off to spend time with his new wife, Yoko Ono, in London as well as taking primal scream therapy classes in Los Angeles. Paul McCartney spent time with his wife Linda as well as his children on a farm he bought in Scotland. George Harrison had recently bought Friar Park, a Victorian mansion, where he moved in with his wife Pattie Boyd. Ringo Starr also took the time to spend with his family. But David Bowie, his star ever-rising, used his time off recording and playing live with his side band Hype. Along with guitarist Mick Ronson and drummer Woody Woodmansey, he played local clubs to hone his new material that he would later showcase to the other Beatles. His new recordings would mark a new phase in the Beatles' history.
The Beatles would reconvene in mid 1970 to record a new album. All band members, with the exception of Ringo, brought new songs to the sessions, but Bowie was the one that the rest of the band would listen to. After all, it was "Space Oddity" that carried their previous album. He had the potential to become a hit-maker, and the rest of the band knew that, regardless of how happy they were with it. While Lennon, McCartney and Harrison's new songs were varied in composition and style, most of Bowie's songs had a hard rock feel to it, no doubt inspired by new bands like Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. Lennon, McCartney and Harrison decided to use their songs that best fit with Bowie's for the album, and the stage was set for their next masterpiece. In addition to George Martin returning, Bowie brought on his own partner Tony Visconti to help produce the album.
Lennon's song "Instant Karma!" was chosen as a non-album A-side that would release prior to the album due to its jauntiness. George's "Awaiting on You All" was original chosen to be its B-side, but would be replaced with Bowie's "Running Gun Blues" after its recording was finished. For Harrison, this was the final straw. He had been tossed around as a songwriter before Bowie had joined and even more so after. He couldn't even believe that Lennon and McCartney would allow Bowie to have the most vocals on the album. He had so many bottled-up ideas that he couldn't get across because Lennon and McCartney would repeatedly block his efforts. So in October 1970, a month before the album's release, George Harrison would leave the Beatles. News would not get out until the release of the new album so as not to damper its sales.
The album, The Man Who Sold the World would release on November 27, 1970. Reviews were initially extremely positive, as always, but the news that Harrison had left the band put a damper on sales, as was expected. Some would leave the Beatles fanbase, but most would stay to hear what the band would put out next. Retrospectively, the album is considered another one of their best but certainly not as good as their previous album. From then on, the Beatles would return to being a foursome with another project on the horizon. George Harrison, meanwhile, would start crafting his own record, so as to make a name for himself.
THE BEATLES - THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD
Released: 27 November 1970
Genre: Blues rock, pop rock, art rock, hard rock, psychedelic rock
Producer: George Martin, Tony Visconti
Side A
The Width of a Circle
I Me Mine
Oh Woman, Oh Why
All the Madmen
Let It Down
Valentine Day [hidden track]
Side B
Cold Turkey
Junk
After All
The Art of Dying
Maybe I'm Amazed
The Man Who Sold the World
Well, Well, Well
Track list sources:
Songs are sourced from The Man Who Sold the World, Let It Be, Ram (Archive Collection), All Things Must Pass, McCartney, and John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (Ultimate Collection). "Well, Well, Well" is Take 2.
