Beatles FAQ

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  Ringo has always been a pragmatic musician. His first instrument was  a toy drum - given to him by a visiting nurse while he was in hospital during a childhood illness.

  “We’ve just come across... the most weird song.  I’ve no recollection of ever recording it.” George Harrison Anthology

Until 1968 wives and girlfriends stayed away from Abbey Road during business hours. This unwritten rule  was unilaterally abandoned by John. The new arrangement was to have “Yoko literally in the middle of the recording session...sitting on the amps" as Paul later put it.

Abbey Road was not a happy working environment during the recording sessions for The White Album. Ringo, the least involved in the squabbling and backbiting, suffered the most from the emotional fall out: I couldn't take it any more. There was no magic and the relationships were terrible. I'd come to a bad spot in life. It could have been paranoia, but I just didn't feel good – I felt like an outsider.   Ringo, Anthology Things came to a head during a recording session for  Back in the USSR  on the 22nd of August, 1968. The precise trigger point is unknown but at some point Ringo snapped. After telling John and Paul he was leaving the group, he walked out of the studio. At first, Ringo's departure seemed to confirm the underlying reason for it. The others assumed that their drummer's 'resignation' was not seriously intended. They continued the recording session. Sardinia The next day Ringo took his family on holiday to Sardinia, where his friend Peter Seller...

Legally, The Beatles were formally dissolved on 29 December 1974. This was the date on which their 'divorce' became final.