In fact, their problem was really the opposite: punishing live performance and tour schedules with too many gigs that if anything interfered at times with their songwriting and recording (see Beatles for Sale).

Before the end of that year, The Beatles' unprecedented success ensured that they would never have a problem getting a live performance booking ever again in their career.Īnd of course, they didn't.

Even if it was true, this had the effect of marginalizing George which would create problems later on.Ĭlick to expand.Well, this is kind of silly, because the only time span in which you can truly say 'The recordings were purely a vehicle to do more performances' was perhaps late 1962 through late 1963. George used to have equal stage time to John and Paul, but all that changed when they agreed that his contributions didn’t count as much as theirs. John and Paul agreed to exclude George from songwriting credits.I think this left a lasting impact on John and George. He apparently felt he needed to demonstrate his independence and importance to the band. Paul ditching that important early meeting with Brian, leaving the guys hanging, and forcing Brian to come get him.That seems to have enforced his need to demonstrate that he’s capable of playing anything, which the others will find annoying later on. Paul not having a role for a time in Hamburg - despite his skill on the guitar, he had no instrument for a while, which led to him playing piano and eventually becoming the bassist by default.Three things I learned from Tune In that I think foreshadow their future troubles Once they stopped playing live, they didn’t see each other as often and began to grow apart. I do think that playing live created a cohesiveness simply because they saw each other all the time.

Tune in by mark lewisohn