Flashback: Beatles' final recording session

It was on this day 36 years ago (January 3rd, 1970) that the Beatles recorded their final song together. Three of the four Beatles - Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, along with keyboardist Billy Preston - gathered at London's Abbey Road studios to complete Harrison's tune "I Me Mine" for the group's Let It Be soundtrack. Unbeknownst to the world at the time, John Lenon had quit the group the previous September. At the time of the session Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono were vacationing in Denmark.

The song "I Me Mine" was written by Harrison in late 1968 about the ongoing personality clashes within the group. Harrison, McCartney and Starr can be seen running through the song in the Let It Be film while Lennon waltzes around the rehearsal stage with Yoko. "I Me Mine" was never officially recorded during the Let It Be or the Abbey Road sessions from later that year, so when the decision was made that the song was to be included in the Let It Be film, the band re-grouped to record the song.

The January 3rd session lasted from 2:30 p.m. to 12:15 a.m. the following morning. 16 takes were laid down of "I Me Mine," featuring Harrison on acoustic guitar and lead vocal, McCartney on bass, Starr on drums and Billy Preston on Hammond organ. Backing vocals from McCartney and lead guitar from Harrison were added towards the end of the session. The original mix of the song topped out at only one minute and 34 seconds. When producer Phil Spector was brought in to "re-produce" the Let It Be album, he added a brass ensemble and re-edited the song to stretch out to 2 minutes and 25 seconds. The original version of the song can be found on the Beatles' Anthology 3 album.

Although overdubs for the Let It Be album stretched on until March, this was the last time the Beattles entered a recording studio to record new material prior to their official breakup on April 10th, 1970. It wasn't until February 11th, 1994 when Paul McCatney, George Harrison and Ringo Star re-grouped at McCartey's home studio to begin work on the first Beatles "reunion" song, "Free As A Bird," for their Anthology project.
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