THE BEATLES REUNION IN THE MULTIVERSE

There has never been a crystal clear description of what happened on the night of December 8th, but what is known is that a security guard from the Record Plant, Robert “Big Bob” Manuel decided, though he was not feeling well, to accept an invitation to come to the Dakota following a recording session at the Record Plant and dinner.

Shortly after they had arrived at the Dakota, John Lennon was approached by a suspicious autograph seeker, and Big Bob, citing muscle memory, immediately sought to put himself in front of John Lennon. A split-second later he was also trying to disarm the man, whose gun seemed to come from nowhere.  Big Bob yelled “Security!” and in moments it seemed like there was a football game’s worth of security on top of the would-be assassin as well as John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Even with all the noise, a gunshot could be heard.  John yelled for Yoko; amazingly he heard her quiet voice and thought “How lucky we are.” Big Bob had taken the shot, and within what seemed like seconds, an ambulance was hurtling at light speed towards Roosevelt hospital.   

Immediately there was misinformation that John Lennon was shot; that he was hurt; that Yoko was killed; but fortunately the story that ran on Monday Night Football’s extremely rare break-in from Howard Cosell had the story right: John Lennon and Yoko Ono were approached by a man with a gun but the fast action of a friend and bodyguard they were with saved them.   The man’s name was being withheld pending updates on his condition. 

Paul McCartney got the news from Ringo, and told his wife Linda “We’re going to New York.” 

Following the attack, John, who has always been comfortable walking around New York City without a bodyguard or entourage, holes up in the Dakota.  

His and Yoko’s recent album “Double Fantasy” has been out for a few months and sales increase dramatically based on the near-constant coverage of the event.  Despite pressure from the media, John and Yoko offer no comment on the event other than a full page ad close to Christmas with an urging for peace.  John, haunted by his own close call, recedes into the Dakota.  At Yoko’s suggestion, the tour is cancelled. John thinks he can continue to focus on the follow-up record they were recording but he finds he can’t go back to the Record Plant, work with Jack Douglas, or really do anything creative. He decides to continue to focus on raising Sean and they consider moving back to England (but they don’t).    

FIVE YEARS LATER

Yoko suggests that John see Arthur Janov again.  This takes a while to negotiate with Arthur being on the West Coast, but eventually they get together, and following six months of successful sessions, he helps by suggesting that John consider ‘getting back’ with his mates (The Beatles), as that was the way he originally navigated his way out of his mother’s untimely death.   At the very least, he told John, "Getting out of your isolation will be curative."

In 1988, Yoko gets word that Paul, who was concerned not just for John but for Linda, who was ill,  is eager to lend a hand. 

A call is brokered by Ringo and after several scheduling foul-ups (which turned out to be John's cold feet) Paul comes by the Dakota.  The first few hours are spent catching up.  

Paul suggests that the Beatles do a new record, as between The Travelling Wilburys, Ringo's complete career meltdown and Paul’s niche output, there was some concern at Capitol/EMI that the Beatles, 18 years after their breakup, were no longer as marketable a commodity as they had once been.  

Paul understood, and clearly found a fellow journeyman in Yoko, that the key to their long-term financial stability was in keeping The Beatles in front of not just their audience, but new audiences to come. 

And it wasn’t just thinking about the future, it was about protecting their legacy. Capitol records had been releasing anthologies since 1973 with less and less success and care, and had been threatening to release a triple-record set of outtakes, in order to continue to profit off the moptops.  

Paul saw a new record as a way to stave off that destiny, and he was privately concerned that the bootlegs not only had already been out in the market, but did not show him at his best—one of the reasons “Let it Be” had been in a "time-out" for 18 years.  

He felt pretty certain that a new Beatles LP didn’t need any ‘goosing’, but he understood that Lennon, aside from a few cryptic remarks right after the attack, had said almost nothing publicly about the incident, but he had a lot to say on the matter. Further, that his audience was eager to hear whatever it was, and however he would sing/say/report it. This would be a built-in selling point.

He also knew that John could be reactionary, and expected there to be long, drawn-out negotiations just to get started, so he was surprised when he immediately agreed to collaborate.  Almost certainly this meant it was Yoko’s idea and he understood then, at this magnificent turning point, he would not bring up touring.  Linda was struggling with her own health issues and though he loved the adoration, energy and financial benefit of touring, he was not eager to either be separate from her or drag her on the road.  

The four of them had a specially prepared vegan ‘take-in’ dinner since John was still not quite up to restaurant going and certainly not with the four of them, as it would have been a madhouse.  Playing the part of Brian Epstein, he wanted to save the big fireworks for when there was something to actually crow about.

The next day he planned to return, Yoko would be off tending to some Holstein cows, and that gave them the opportunity to spend some time alone.   Paul had a few completed songs, “You Can Make Me Free” and one that he had written specifically about the incident called “Bad Day,” and one "I Don't Mind at All" that he had kept in his pocket all these years.  The reunion LP was the spot for it. 

John had a set of songs written as a followup to “Double Fantasy,” but confided that after the attack, funeral and aftermath, he felt songs about “Stepping Out” and “UFOs over New York” were too light-hearted and silly and he wasn’t going to go back to the recording studio until he could put something heavy, real and personal into the music.   

There was little discussion about who would produce the record: they agreed, after a minute that they would auger for George Martin, who, partially deaf, was now working with son Giles.  They knew George would want to bring some of the Wilburys, which they were ready to defend against.  “Has to be just us” said John, “Or the whole thing’s buggered.”  No one brought up Yoko, who at the time was busy with much more pressing matters of running the Lennon-Ono organization.

As excited as they were to work together again, they each had a few requirements.  John’s was to start with a song he had written called “Lucky One” and title the album “Beatles 13.”   

John had mostly fragments of songs, as he had been struggling with completing them.  “Lucky One” the first song he reportedly shared with Paul, was ‘his theme,” and he wanted to call the LP “Lucky 13.”   The title became the central argument between the four men.  John had suggested the title “13” because he (incorrectly) calculated that was the number the album would be in sequence.   Loving the simplicity of things like “The Beatles” (White Album) he consistently rejected the others suggestions of “Reunited” or something that would trumpet the Beatles successful reunion.   John suggested it was the right title because it was simple and because it would represent how long it had been without any Beatles product.  When both of these reasons were shown to be false (it would be their 14th LP if you count Magical Mystery Tour or 15th if you count The Beatles as 2), he dug his heels in and would not consider participating in the promotion unless he got his way.  He also had penned what he thought would be the title track, “Lucky One,” which he thought perfectly went with the sub-text of 13 being an unlucky number.    Lastly, he suggested that the number 13, when correctly rendered by font, would look like a “B” for “Beatles'' and he especially loved that.  He also believed it would be the number of tracks on the album, but he was wrong there, too. 

Knowing they could not win, they all capitulated.

Paul had a reason for giving in on the name— he wanted to get his way with the music, and the marketing, which he knew was key, and it didn’t matter what the name of the LP was, if it made John happy.  

Paul had a requirement of his own: He insisted that in every song, whether in the words, the music, the sound effects or even in backwards messages coded into the vinyl—they put ‘love notes,’ secret messages, clues and homages to other Beatles songs.  (These are now known as "Easter Eggs"). Nostalgia? No, he was the only one of the band that understood that the three biggest periods for Beatles sales were after John’s Jesus comment (burning records); after they broke up (hoarding) and when in 1969 the rumor that he was dead hit the mainstream media (clues).  Paul knew that those detective-fans were still out there, and the fans were going to have to do a lot of extra homework to find all the clues. He would see to that.  

John's songs based on the event comprised the majority of his work on “Beatles 13” and they included “Lucky One,” “Sideways” “Karma Police” and “Look What You’ve Done.”  But in his desire to ‘get back’ he dove back into writing songs about his overwhelming love and need for Yoko, made even more keen by his time under the pig-pile after the gunfire.  The songs “Let Love Rule” “She’s the One” and “If You Want My Love” were coins of the realm there, and honestly, the other Beatles expected nothing else.  Even though John might have had the least commercial success as a solo artist, he was still their “Elvis” and they wanted him to work and heal.  Listening to the record, you can hear that Beatles contributions aside, it sounds like a much better “Plastic Ono Band.”