(5 of 5)
Then they fell bitterly to pieces. Throughout the '70s the lapsed Beatles enjoyed solo success--from 1973 to 1974 each of the four had at least one No. 1 record--and Harrison flowered musically. But for John and Paul, some of the magic had dried up. McCartney's silly love songs might have been composed for a cocktail lounge or a kid's birthday party. Much of Lennon's late work is agonized but sentimental--primal kitsch. The two needed each other, as editors and competitors. On their own they were too easily pleased. Working as a team they could take a half-song and make it better.
A song like Free as a Bird. For the first time in more than a quarter-century, McCartney is fixing a hole in a Lennon song. Jeff Lynne got a kick--and who wouldn't?--as he watched Paul and George write missing words to the song. Then Lynne heard them try out some harmonies in the studio kitchen. "I thought, 'God, it sounds like the Beatles in there.' And of course it is."
O.K., guys, now just once more? And this time, please, in German.
--Reported by Michael Brunton/London and David E. Thigpen/New York