Beatles ’74 pt2

With Allen Klein out of the picture and John Lennon living a bachelor lifestyle independent from Yoko Ono for the first time in nearly five years, it seemed the circumstances were at last right for the musical reunion many thought to be impossible: Lennon and McCartney together again in the studio. These loose, drug and drink-fueled jam sessions from March of 1974 (affectionately dubbed "a toot and a snore in '74" by fans, years later) were hardly a masterwork of new material...still, John and Paul were making music together and thereby keeping the hope of a Beatles reformation alive. Lennon's crew of so-called "Hollywood Vampires" present at the Santa Monica beach home for this momentous occasion included Keith Moon, Stevie Wonder, Ringo Starr and the affable Harry Nilsson who, due to the excesses in his personal life, found himself suffering from debilitating throat problems. In fact, the Lennon-produced sessions for Harry's upcoming Pussy Cats album were nearly derailed by his ailments - and John found himself in the position to take charge of his rowdy comrades much like he had done for the Beatles themselves over a decade prior. But while John was straightening out, his fellow former bandmates George and Ringo spiraled further into times that could only be referred to as "simply shady"...