Mistakes The Beatles Made

Thought it might be interesting for people on this thread, as fans, to list the things they believe the Beatles actually did wrong. Obviously no-one is perfect, and despite their magnificent track record the Beatles occasionally made errors of judgement, just like anyone else.

So what do YOU think were the Beatles' biggest clangers? These can be anything: musical misjudgements, career path cock-ups, financial foibles...or any other kind of mistakes. So go on...what did the Beatles get wrong?

Here's a few to get you started (all IMHO, of course ) :

*The coda of Hey Jude (the "NAA-NAA-NAA-NANANA-NAA" bit) is far too long...once the musical motif is established, it really doesn't go anywhere and is simply an excuse for a lot of screaming etc. from Paul. I believe it should have been faded after 30 - 40 seconds.

*John's ill-advised comment about the Beatles being bigger than Jesus. Regardless of whether you agree with it or not, the reaction it provoked certainly didn't work in the Beatles' favour...especially not in John's, if you believe (as many do) that the comment influenced Mark David Chapman's actions 14 years later.

*Getting involved with Allen Klein, and the whole 1969 Apple business mess that drove a wedge between Paul and the others, and ended up tearing the Beatles apart. Not to mention that Klein was a shyster who ripped off all of his clients, none more so than the Rolling Stones, whose pre-1970 output they had to sign over to Klein in perpetuity, just to get rid of him.

* Even considering discontinuing their managerial relationship with Brian Epstein after his contract with them expired in 1967. Even though by that time they were no longer touring, and therefore Brian had nowhere near as much to do on their behalf, in retrospect it is clear that the band became a rudderless ship without him, and even John acknowledged that after Epstein's death the band's demise was only a matter of time...

Over to you, folks...

I don't know if the Bigger than Jesus furore influenced Chapman. Has he ever said that? Apart from that it wasn't a mistake. John said he was glad he said it 'cause it brought everone to the conclusion they should stop touring.
I def. don't think the Hey Jude ending was a mistake. Apart from Pauls screaming which I love the na na na's are great for everyone to singalong too. It was a great idea to extended it. Even John seemed to like it!

What about all that crap with merchandising?
Where they hardly got a cent? My memory escapes me right now.
When all this beatles stuff was being sold and they got very little of the profits or something...

Originally Posted by TheEggman

I don't know if the Bigger than Jesus furore influenced Chapman. Has he ever said that?

I am not aware whether Chapman himself has ever said so publicly, but he has been reported by various sources as feeling anger toward John because of it.

From the website Peacepink:

Chapman was a fan of the Beatles, particularly Lennon, but was reportedly angered by Lennon's infamous 1966 remark that the Beatles were "more popular than Jesus." Jan Reeves, sister of one of Chapman's best friends, reports that Chapman "seemed really angry toward John Lennon, and he kept saying he could not understand why John Lennon had said it. According to Mark, there should be nobody more popular than the Lord Jesus Christ. He said it was blasphemy.

Originally Posted by TheEggman

Apart from that it wasn't a mistake. John said he was glad he said it 'cause it brought everone to the conclusion they should stop touring.

I suppose whether it was a mistake in that context or not depends on whether you think the band stopping touring was a good idea...

Originally Posted by TheEggman

I def. don't think the Hey Jude ending was a mistake. Apart from Pauls screaming which I love the na na na's are great for everyone to singalong too. It was a great idea to extended it. Even John seemed to like it!

OK fair enough...you are entitled to your differing opinion from mine. But apart from disagreeing with almost everything I said in my original post, do you have anything to contribute to this thread? Or don't you think the Beatles ever made any mistakes?

Definitely hooking up with Allen Klein was a mistake, even though he helped get rid of some of the deadwood at Apple and got them a more lucrative contract with EMI. George certainly discovered what a mistake it was when Klein ended up stabbing him in the back during the "My Sweet Lord" plagiarism lawsuit by purchasing Bright Tunes (the company that owned "He's So Fine" and was suing George). And John obviously thought so too, when he composed the song "Steel & Glass".

As for the other examples you mention, I wouldn't call them mistakes at all -- in my opinion, Lennon's "Bigger than Jesus" comment was certainly fair within the context of the interview he was doing with Maureen Cleave; the extended coda on "Hey Jude" is a masterstroke, and part of what makes the song such a powerful listening experience; as for the bit about Brian Epstein -- did they actually consider parting ways with him? A few accounts have claimed that, but I've never seen The Beatles themselves actually admit they were thinking of not renewing their contract with him -- if so, yeah, that would have been a mistake.

As far as errors in judgement in their music go, I'd say Lennon and McCartney dropped the ball by not recording some of George's 1969 offerings during the LET IT BE sessions, especially "All Things Must Pass" and "Isn't It a Pity" -- both were stand-out tracks on Harrison's solo album and vastly superior to the two songs of his they recorded for LET IT BE ("I Me Mine" and "For You Blue" are not bad, but nowhere near as good as "Isn't It a Pity" to my ears).

I have to disagree on the bigger than Jesus comment, and on the Hey Jude ending. Do agree on Klein, totally agree that George should have had more music on the later albums.
Really I think Paul made a huge mistake in marrying Heather instead of me. I'm just saying. ;)

Originally Posted by John Cee

As for the other examples you mention, I wouldn't call them mistakes at all...

Originally Posted by PaulisMine

I have to disagree on the bigger than Jesus comment, and on the Hey Jude ending

I think some of you are slightly missing the point of this thread...it is not intended to be a debate on "was this or that thing a mistake or wasn't it?"...I was asking for people to nominate what THEY THINK were the Beatles' mistakes. Obviously anything that is nominated is purely that person's opinion, and I fully expected most of you to disagree with the "mistakes" I mentioned. BUT...I wasn't asking for an argument on any of the points. I am not going to change anyone's mind, and they are not going to change mine.

So please, stay on topic...this thread is not intended to be a debate. I simply wanted to see what other people thought were the mistakes the Beatles made...

Originally Posted by Nuttybott

I wasn't asking for an argument on any of the points. I am not going to change anyone's mind, and they are not going to change mine.

That's tantamount to saying you don't think we should discuss thing. I'm not trying to argue per se. It's not like it's a big deal. We're just shooting the breeze about something we're all interested in.

Originally Posted by TheEggman

That's tantamount to saying you don't think we should discuss thing. I'm not trying to argue per se. It's not like it's a big deal. We're just shooting the breeze about something we're all interested in.

No, I am not saying we shouldn't discuss anything...but it is not the purpose of this particular thread to debate whether the Beatles' "mistakes" were mistakes in the eyes of everyone. I simply wanted some individual views about what people thought their mistakes and errors of judgement were.

And I notice Eggman that you still haven't answered the original question...

Not putting the song Strawberry Fields on the Sgt Peppers album.

nope, no errors here...

Originally Posted by duanev

Not putting the song Strawberry Fields on the Sgt Peppers album.

I used to think that too but as I've got older, I've changed my mind. Where would it go on the album? I just can't imagine it there anywhere!!!

Probably one thing just about every Beatles fan can agree on... the way they dismissed Pete Best. Not the decision, but the way it was done.

Dead wrong.

In my mind, their number one mistake is not officially releasing Live at the Hollywood Bowl on CD. When they withhold stuff that the fans want they encourage boot-leggers to step in and fill the vacuum. There are several other examples of this continuing mistake. I hear that they are working on a wide-screen release of Let It Be. It should have been released last century. Besides the Hollywood Bowl LP, the reset of the American catalog should be released. Capitol screwed it up the last time they tried this. Using an Engineer who knows the difference between mono and fold-down would be a nice change.

I had to buy all of this stuff on bootlegs. I would gladly buy official releases if only the Beatles would issue them. Yo! Beatles.... wake up!

Originally Posted by duanev

Not putting the song Strawberry Fields on the Sgt Peppers album.

Wasn't that really an absolutely incredible prelude to Pepper's though? A little taste of what was about to come? This had to make anticipation for the album just insane. Although George Martin did also say it was a mistake not to include it. What the real mistake was, was making it a double A sided record. Consequently splitting it's sales figures between the two sides and rendering it a #2 record in the UK. Despite the fact that it sold nearly twice the current #1. To me, that's a huge blunder.

Originally Posted by Maia 66

Probably one thing just about every Beatles fan can agree on... the way they dismissed Pete Best. Not the decision, but the way it was done.

Dead wrong.

There really is no good way to fire someone

Originally Posted by duanev

There really is no good way to fire someone

I respectfully disagree. You can fire someone with dignity... the Beatles, by their own admission, were cowardly about it. But in a way I can't blame them... they were so young and fueled by ambition.

Maybe

Guys in their early 20's........ I'm sure eithics was the last thing they were thinking about.....LOL

IMO no mistake in giving that drummer the axe, no matter how it went down

I prefer Paulie without a beard. I think that it's a 'mistake' to hide his handsome face.

In two words. Yoko Ono.