In a flash of anger, George Harrison left The Beatles on January 10, 1969. The split came after a heated argument with Paul McCartney while recording their final album, Let It Be, at Twickenham Studios. This conflict happened during challenging sessions meant to prepare the band for a live performance.
Tensions had been building since recording The White Album in 1968. “I just got so fed up with the bad vibes – and that arguments with Paul were getting put in the film. I didn’t care if it was The Beatles, I was getting out,” said Harrison to Musician Magazine in 1987.
Five days passed before Harrison returned. His comeback hinged on three strict terms: a switch to Apple Studios, scrapping plans for live shows, and fresh methods for making music.
That same day he quit, Harrison wrote “Wah-Wah.” The track landed on his first solo work, All Things Must Pass, in 1970. Through music, he poured out his raw feelings about the band’s bitter fights. When “Wah-Wah” hit the airwaves, critics took notice.
“They were filming us having a row. It never came to blows, but I thought, ‘What’s the point of this? I’m quite capable of being relatively happy on my own, but I’m not able to be happy in this situation,” Harrison said in a previous documentary, Anthology.
This split marked a turning point. By year’s end, John Lennon asked to break up the band. In 1970, they told the world that The Beatles were done.
