It's Not Like It Was Before: Some Post-Fab Socializing and Near-Reunions

Book Excerpt (Chapter 32) of Fab Four FAQ2 by Robert Rodriguez

All of the available evidence suggests that the last time all four Beatles were together in one place was on August 20, 1969; the occasion as to oversee the final mixes of Abbey Road. From that point onward, three ex-Fabs at most would gather at any one time (notwithstanding the hoax that all four reunited in secret for a November 1976 recording session). Though they eventually resumed cordial relations, the split's effect of generating four separate careers made even casual get-togethers difficult.

Of course, each would assist another on recording projects from their breakup onward, but only once were three of them in the studio simultaneously-for the recording of John's "I'm the Greatest" during the Ringo sessions-and even that was a bit of a fluke. All four seemed to possess a certain self-consciousness about "Beatling" together that kept them from being as close as they otherwise might have been, given the enormous weight of expectations that came from being former Fabs. [Read excerpt]