# Fascinated by alternate history, Beatles version **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [November 25, 2022, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinated-by-alternate-history-beatles-version/975528 "2022-11-25T14:07:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2022, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinated-by-alternate-history-beatles-version/975528/21 "2022-11-25T22:42:16Z")
Follow up question: When the alternate-universe Fabs hit the stage again, what song should they open the show with? My suggestion: _Back In The USSR_. ---
**Author:** ![Ponderoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponderoid/32/19221_2.png) [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2022, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinated-by-alternate-history-beatles-version/975528/22 "2022-11-25T22:52:50Z")
The story mentioned what happened in OTL: They were actually in NYC that night, but decided they were too tired. It is a very late show. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2022, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinated-by-alternate-history-beatles-version/975528/23 "2022-11-25T23:12:11Z")
But does Uncle Walt still insist on changing the style of their big musical number from rock to barbershop? ---
**Author:** ![Jaycat.again](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat.again/32/11525_2.png) [@Jaycat.again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaycat.again)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2022, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinated-by-alternate-history-beatles-version/975528/24 "2022-11-25T23:22:42Z")
By 1977, the Clash, Ramones and Sex Pistols had come along. The (ex-) Beatles were about as relevant as Glenn Miller was when Charlie Parker hit the scene. ---
**Author:** ![slicedalone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slicedalone/32/12515_2.png) [@slicedalone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slicedalone)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2022, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinated-by-alternate-history-beatles-version/975528/25 "2022-11-25T23:29:11Z")
I think they might have been able to sell a disc or two. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2022, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinated-by-alternate-history-beatles-version/975528/26 "2022-11-25T23:39:12Z")
Have you seen this book? > **[Across the Universe: Tales of Alternative Beatles: Ventrella, Michael A, Dawn,...](https://www.amazon.com/Across-Universe-Tales-Alternative-Beatles/dp/1515423964)** > > Across the Universe: Tales of Alternative Beatles \[Ventrella, Michael A, Dawn, Randee, Strock, Ian Randal\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. Across the Universe: Tales of Alternative Beatles ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2022, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinated-by-alternate-history-beatles-version/975528/27 "2022-11-25T23:45:41Z")
I know of 2 short stories about the Beatles either staying together or getting back together. One is “Rubber Soul” by Spider Robinson, which first appeared in Omni Magazine. It involves Paul freezing John until they could fix him and bring him back. The other is a story whose title and author I can’t recall, published in Playboy Magazine, about the band being kidnapped around the time of the Lorne Michaels offer. Their families are held hostage until they play a concert at Shea Stadium. It has a bit of a twist ending. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2022, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinated-by-alternate-history-beatles-version/975528/28 "2022-11-26T00:02:56Z")
> [@Jaycat.again](#): > > By 1977, the Clash, Ramones and Sex Pistols had come along. The (ex-) Beatles were about as relevant as Glenn Miller was when Charlie Parker hit the scene. The Beatles would just have introduced punk into their act. Even with thos acts, the Beatles were still selling records. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2022, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinated-by-alternate-history-beatles-version/975528/29 "2022-11-26T01:18:54Z")
If they had carried on, I think they would have returned to the stage. In the seventies, stage and monitor tech dramatically improved, and it became common that big acts had additional musicians like horn or string sections (listen to the fantastic “It’s Too Late To Stop Now” by Van Morrison from 1974), so they could have produced their album sound on stage and even could’ve heard themselves. Maybe they would’ve progressed in the studio on things like “Tomorrow Never Knows”, a masterpiece that strangely hadn’t been really explored and worked upon until 80s house and techno by other people. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2022, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinated-by-alternate-history-beatles-version/975528/30 "2022-11-26T01:30:39Z")
> [@solost](#): > > The Stones’ last really significant, groundbreaking album was Some Girls (or maybe Tattoo You, but I think the former). Since then most every album they cranked out has been kind of “oh, there’s a new Stones album? Huh.” I couldn’t agree with this more strongly. Okay, back to The Fabs… ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2022, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinated-by-alternate-history-beatles-version/975528/31 "2022-11-26T02:11:07Z")
> [@solost](#): > > In a similar vein I think the Beatles would have become a much less significant musical force, kind of fading into the background. “Oh, there’s a new Beatles album? Didn’t know they were even still together”. Maybe they would have started touring again, because just as the Stones basically became a successful touring “nostalgia act”, it would have been the best way for the aging Beatles to stay in the spotlight and make money. Maybe- or maybe not? The Beatles very successfully reinvented themselves from the early 60s love tune crooners to the more psychedelic and innovative later 60s. Paul McCartney with Wings showed he could move with the times. Imagine the Beatles dabbling with Punk or Metal. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2022, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinated-by-alternate-history-beatles-version/975528/32 "2022-11-26T02:12:09Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > If they had carried on, I think they would have returned to the stage. They could have, but would they have wanted to? I get the impression that John and George lost interest in at least that aspect of being a Rock Star. ---
**Author:** ![Jaycat.again](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat.again/32/11525_2.png) [@Jaycat.again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaycat.again)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2022, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinated-by-alternate-history-beatles-version/975528/33 "2022-11-26T02:47:53Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > The Beatles would just have introduced punk into their act. One might say John Lennon was a pioneer of punk, on his first solo album. Sadly, by the late 70s, he was purveying dad rock. ---
**Author:** ![Jaycat.again](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat.again/32/11525_2.png) [@Jaycat.again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaycat.again)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2022, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinated-by-alternate-history-beatles-version/975528/34 "2022-11-26T02:48:54Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Paul McCartney with Wings showed he could move with the times. Boy, you lost me there. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2022, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinated-by-alternate-history-beatles-version/975528/35 "2022-11-26T03:45:56Z")
There are really two questions here. 1) What would the 70’s Beatles evolve into? Complex art rock like Yes? Back to basics hard rock or punk? Disco? Folk rock? Metal? Certainly their late 60’s work suggests they could have gone in any of these directions, if not all of them. Question #2 is more important. Would we **like** what they evolved into? Beatles who sounded like the Moody Blues, or Chicago, or Fleetwood Mac, or Genesis, or the Bee Gees would not be the Beatles we grew up with. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2022, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinated-by-alternate-history-beatles-version/975528/36 "2022-11-26T04:35:25Z")
“…those Ukraine girls really knock me out…” ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2022, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinated-by-alternate-history-beatles-version/975528/37 "2022-11-26T05:13:34Z")
Helter Skelter: “Am I a joke to you??” ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2022, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinated-by-alternate-history-beatles-version/975528/38 "2022-11-26T05:30:08Z")
Maybe a Beatles that stayed together would have been more open to the idea of making Billy Preston a more prominent or full time member? And from there explored soundtracks? More Motown? Also, people often say ELO was what the Beatles would have become. I love ELO. I think Jeff Lynne is a legendary producer, but I’ve never quite seen the connection. Even with Jeff producing a couple of the later Beatles songs and George Harrison albums. But more realistically…wouldn’t a Beatles that stayed together…wouldnt their albums just pretty much be _The Grey Album by The Beatles (1973)_ 1. Isn’t it a Pity (Featuring Billy Preston) 2. Jealous Guy 3. Silly Love Songs 4. Photograph 5. What is Life 6. Mind Games 7. Me and My Arrow (Featuring Harry Nillson) 8. Band on the Run In fact Im gonna make this on Spotify right now ---
**Author:** ![Jay\_Z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Jay\_Z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jay_Z)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2022, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinated-by-alternate-history-beatles-version/975528/39 "2022-11-26T06:15:27Z")
I don’t think there’s any way in hell they’d have gotten back together even if they were all still living today. There was the Bigger Than Jesus issue. Very few artists reach the “No More Worlds Left To Conquer” level that the Beatles did. Same reason Michael Jordan left to try baseball. That’s just a level very few people get to, even those at the top. George didn’t want to stay in the band because he was getting ADULATION from basically everyone else in the universe except two guys in his own band. Why would he want to keep going back to that? The band got lucky that they could combine Lennon’s initial drive with McCartney’s breadth. But it was never as strong a partnership as Jagger and Richards. Jagger and Richards needed each other, it’s likely the best partnership in rock and roll history. If you look at nearly every other band it’s either one boss person and subordinates, or the partners break apart after time. Nearly always. Jagger and Richards were exceptional. Lennon and McCartney weren’t. Every album was less of a unified team than the one before. Lennon was not going to continue to care about competing with McCartney going into the 1970s, he had a completely different track in mind. McCartney deserved to take on the musical legacy more than the rest, he has done so to a great extent, that’s fine, but he didn’t need the others for that. Honestly, going solo was more honest than continuing to cobble together “group” efforts just to make a buck. ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2022, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinated-by-alternate-history-beatles-version/975528/40 "2022-11-26T08:34:33Z")
Adding one more to bookend it: 1. All Things Must Pass (featuring Billy Preston) I’ve given Harrison nearly half the album to write because I felt his material was the strongest at the time [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinated-by-alternate-history-beatles-version/975528.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinated-by-alternate-history-beatles-version/975528.md?page=3)