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1967

January 4
The Sgt. Pepper sessions continued. The Beatles worked on "Penny Lane."
January 5
More work on "Penny Lane" at EMI.
January 6
The Beatles did further work on "Penny Lane."
January 9
Wind instruments were added to "Penny Lane."
January 10
More work on "Penny Lane."
American ABC TV broadcast the 1965 recording of The Beatles At Shea Stadium.
January 11
Paul saw the BBC program Masterworks, on which David Mason played piccolo trumpet on Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F Major with the English Chamber Orchestra. Paul decided this was the sound he wanted on "Penny Lane."
January 12
George Martin telephoned David Mason and booked him for a session on the 17^th to play piccolo trumpet on "Penny Lane."
At EMI, the Beatles did more work on "Penny Lane."
January 15
John had a minor car accident, but was not hurt.
January 17
David Mason added his piccolo trumpet solo to "Penny Lane."
January 20
Vocal tracks were added to "A Day in the Life."
January 25
Brian Epstein signed a deal allowing Hunter Davies to write an authorized biography of the Beatles.
January 27
The Beatles and Brian Epstein signed a new nine-year worldwide recording contract with EMI records.
January 30
EMI was desperate to release a new Beatles single, so Brian Epstein asked George Martin for two tracks from the Pepper sessions. George reluctantly gave him "Penny Lane" and "Strawberry Fields Forever."
The Beatles began filming the promotional films for "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Penny Lane" at Knole Park, Sevenoaks in Kent.
January 31
John bought an 1843 circus poster in an antique shop in Sevenoaks, near where they were filming. The poster provided him with almost the complete lyric for "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite." John hung the poster on the wall of his den at Kenwood.
Filming the "Strawberry Fields" promo was completed at Knole Park.
February 1
The Pepper session continued at EMI. "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" was recorded.
February 2
Further work on "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band."
February 3
The Beatles worked on "A Day in the Life."
February 5
Part of the horse-riding scene for the "Penny Lane" promo was made at Angel Lane in Stratford, East London.
February 7
The Beatles went back to Knole Park to shoot more horse-riding scenes for the "Penny Lane" promo film.
Micky Dolenz of the Monkees spent an evening at Paul's house in Cavendish Avenue.
February 8
Work began on John's "Good Morning Good Morning."
February 9
The Beatles recorded three takes of "Fixing a Hole" at Regent Sound Studios, Tottenham Court Road.
February 10
"A Day in the Life" was worked on back at EMI, Abbey Road, London.
February 11
The BBC's Juke Box Jury showed part of the "Penny Lane" promotional film.
February 13
The "Strawberry Fields Forever"/"Penny Lane" single was released in the US.
"Only a Northern Song" was recorded at EMI.
February 14
More work on "Only a Northern Song."
February 16
Work on "Good Morning Good Morning" at Abbey Road.
BBC TV's Top of the Pops showed the "Penny Lane" and "Strawberry Fields Forever" film clips.
February 17
The "Strawberry Fields Forever"/"Penny Lane" single was released in the UK.
At EMI, Abbey Road, the Beatles worked on "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite."
February 20
Fairground sounds were added to "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite."
February 21
"Fixing a Hole" was completed.
February 22
The big piano chord was added to "A Day in the Life." Paul, John, Ringo, and Mal Evans sat at three pianos and played E major. After overdubbing, the chord lasted for fifty-three seconds. The recording levels were turned up so high in the mix that the sound of Abbey Road's air conditioning system could be heard.
February 23
Work began on Paul's "Lovely Rita."
February 24
More work on "Lovely Rita."
March 1
The Beatles worked on "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" at EMI.
March 2
More work on "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds."
March 3
French horns were added to the "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" track.
March 6
Sound effects of audience laughter and applause were added to "Sgt. Pepper's."
March 7
More work on "Lovely Rita."
March 9
Work began on "Getting Better."
March 10
More work on "Getting Better."
March 11
The Beatles won three Grammy awards: Best Vocal Performance for "Eleanor Rigby," Best Song for "Michelle," and Best Cover Artwork for Revolver.
March 13
The brass section was added to "Good Morning Good Morning."
March 15
Work began on George's "Within You Without You," an Indian track. The other Beatles did not play on this track but were present at the session. George used four Indian musicians on tabla, dilruba, swordmandel, and tamboura.
March 17
The orchestral track for "She's Leaving Home" was recorded. George Martin was unavailable to orchestrate it because he was producing a Cilla Black record, so Paul used Mike Leander as arranger instead, something which hurt George Martin quite a bit, although Paul didn't mean to hurt him. He was just anxious to get the song done.
March 20
John and Paul recorded the vocal track for "She's Leaving Home."
March 21
The piano solo was added to "Lovely Rita," and vocals on "Getting Better" were interrupted when John found himself on an accidental acid trip. He thought he was just taking some uppers. He remembered, "I never took it in the studio. Once I did, actually. I thought I was taking some uppers, and I was not in the state of handling it. I suddenly got so scared on the mike. I said, 'What is it? I feel ill...'"
Because so many fans were outside the studios, George Martin took John up on the roof to get some fresh air.
March 22
George continued work on "Within You Without You" while the others listened to playbacks.
March 23
Further work on "Getting Better."
March 25
It was announced that the Beatles had won two Ivor Novello Awards for 1966.
March 28
John added the lead vocal to "Good Morning Good Morning," and then the animal noises were added to it. Later, further work was done on "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite."
March 29
Work began on "With a Little Help From My Friends."
March 30
The Sgt. Pepper photo shoot took place in Peter Blake's studio down King's Road. Paul came up with the idea of putting a bunch of famous people on the cover, and the Beatles made lists of people they wanted to see in the crowd. George's list was all gurus. John suggested Adolf Hitler and Jesus Christ, but that idea was thrown away because of all the trouble his Jesus comments had caused in 1966. Some of the people that made it onto the cover include Stuart Sutcliffe, Sonny Liston, Mae West, Marlon Brando, Bob Dylan, Edgar Allan Poe, and Shirley Temple.
Also on this day, the Beatles did more work on "With a Little Help From My Friends" at EMI.
April 1
"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)" was recorded and mixed all in one session.
April 3
Paul flew to the US to pay Jane a surprise visit on her 21^st birthday.
April 11
Paul flew back to London and worked out the concept for Magical Mystery Tour on the way.
April 20
Standing around a single microphone at EMI, the Beatles recorded several minutes of gibberish, which was overdubbed, reversed, and edited to make the final run-out groove of the Sgt. Pepper album. During the session, Ringo felt faint. He said, "I think I'm going to fall over," and fell backwards, but was caught by Mal Evans.
April 25
The first session for Magical Mystery Tour at EMI, working on the theme song.
April 26
More work on "Magical Mystery Tour."
April 27
Vocals were added to "Magical Mystery Tour."
May 3
Trumpets were added to "Magical Mystery Tour."
May 5
Paul shaved off his moustache.
May 9
The Beatles recorded an instrumental jam probably intended for Magical Mystery Tour, but it was never completed or used.
May 11
The Beatles worked on "Baby You're a Rich Man" at Olympic Sound Studios, Barnes.
May 12
The pirate station Radio London became the first station to play the Sgt. Pepper album in its entirety, before copies had even been pressed.
"All Together Now" was recorded and mixed in one session.
May 15
Paul went to see Georgie Fame at the Bag O'Nails nightclub in Soho. There he met Linda Eastman, a photographer. He and Linda went to the Speakeasy Club together and heard a record called "A Whiter Shade of Pale."
May 17
The Beatles went to EMI and worked on "You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)."
May 18
The Beatles attended a photo session in Hyde Park for Time magazine.
They also announced that they would be representing England in the first ever worldwide television satellite link-up, to take place on June 25.
May 19
There was a Sgt. Pepper press party at Brian Epstein's house. Linda Eastman was invited to the party to take some pictures and met Paul again.
May 20
The BBC banned "A Day in the Life" on the grounds that it advocated the use of drugs.
May 25
The Beatles recorded "It's All Too Much" at De Lane Lea recording studios.
John took delivery of his Rolls Royce, which was now painted with psychedelic designs.
May 31
Further work was done on "It's All Too Much" at De Lane Lea.
June 1
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was released in the UK.
June 2
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was released in the US.
The Beatles did more work on "It's All Too Much" at De Lane Lea.
June 4
Paul saw Jimi Hendrix open his set with the title track from Sgt. Pepper at the Saville Theatre. Paul described it as one of the greatest honors ever bestowed upon him, especially since Jimi had only three days to learn the song.
June 7
Another take of "You Know My Name" was made at EMI.
June 8
More work on "You Know My Name." Brian Jones added his sax solo.
June 14
The backing track for "All You Need is Love" was made at Olympic Studios, Barnes, for use on the worldwide satellite link-up program, Our World.
June 17
Life magazine ran an interview with Paul, in which he admitted he'd had LSD. The reporter asked him if he thought he'd encouraged his fans to take drugs, and Paul replied, "I don't think my fans are going to take drugs just because I did. But the thing is, that's not the point anyway. I was asked whether I had or not, and from then on the whole bit about how far it's going to go and how many people it's going to encourage is up to the newspapers and up to you on television. I mean, you're spreading this now, at this moment. This is going into all the homes in Britain, and I'd rather it didn't. But you're asking me the question and if you want me to be honest, I'll be honest."
June 19
More work on "All You Need is Love."
June 23
The orchestral track was added to "All You Need is Love."
June 24
The Beatles went to EMI and prepared for the Our World broadcast. They did a full run-through of "All You Need is Love" with their thirteen-man orchestra and conductor for the BBC camermen. More than 100 journalists and photographers were allowed into the studio for a late-morning photo call.
June 25
An estimated 200 million tuned in to watch the Beatles perform "All You Need is Love" on the Our World broadcast. They were shown recording it in EMI's studio one. The Beatles wore headphones and uniforms of green, pink, and orange, similar to their Sgt. Pepper outfits. Among the guests were Eric Clapton, Keith Moon, Marianne Faithfull, and Mick Jagger. Mick sat on the floor close by Paul's high stool, smoking a joint in front of 200 million people, and the next day he was busted for drugs. The vocals, Paul's bass, Ringo's drum, George's guitar, and the orchestra were all mixed live on the air. In the control room afterwards, George Martin played back the tape, and Paul knew it would be another big hit.
June 26
Ringo added his opening drum roll to "All You Need is Love."
June 28
George had to pay a fine at South Western Court, London, for speeding down Roehampton Lane, Putney, in his Mini Cooper.
June 29
Leslie Bryce, the photographer for Beatles Book Monthly, took pictures of John at Kenwood for an "at home" session.
July
Some time during the month, John was introduced to Alex Mardas, or "Magic Alex," as he was called. He had a good line in electronic toys and inventions. John's wife, Cynthia, said, "John was totally ignorant of the tricks one can make with electricity. He really believed that Alex had something magical about him." John started a business with him later, Fiftyshapes Limited. Once Apple got started, they changed its name to Apple Electronics.
July 7
The single "All You Need is Love"/"Baby You're a Rich Man" was released in the UK.
July 17
The single "All You Need is Love"/"Baby You're a Rich Man" was released in the US.
July 20
George, Patti, Maureen, and Ringo flew to Greece. John had long had the idea that the Beatles should all live on an island together with a recording studio/entertainment complex in the middle, surrounded by four separate villas. Beyond that he wanted housing for their friends and staff. So he had arranged for the Beatles to look for an island in Greece. Magic Alex suggested Leslo, about eighty acres surrounded by four islands, one for each Beatle. George and Ringo stayed in Athens while they waited for John and Paul to arrive.
July 22
John, Cynthia, Julian, Paul, Jane, Mal Evans, and Alistair Taylor left for Greece.
July 26
Ringo, Maureen, and Neil Aspinall flew back to London. Maureen was pregnant, so she and Ringo didn't wany to be away too long.
After exploring the island of Leslo, Alistair Taylor was given instructions to fly back to London and make the arrangements to buy it.
July 29
George, Patti, and Mal Evans went back to England.
July 31
Paul, Jane, John, Cynthia, and Julian flew back to London.
August 1
George and Patti flew to Los Angeles for a holiday and rented a house on Blue Jay Way.
August 4
George attended Ravi Shankar's concert at the Hollywood Bowl.
August 9
George and his party flew back to London.
August 18
Maureen gave birth to her and Ringo's second son, Jason.
August 22
The Beatles began work on "Your Mother Should Know" at Chappell Recording Studios, London.
August 23
The Beatles finished "Your Mother Should Know" at Chappell. This was the last session that Brian Epstein attended, because he died four days later. Brian had been very depressed and was relying on sleeping pills to get him through the night. His depression may have started with the Beatles' decision to stop touring; after that, he felt that they no longer needed him anymore.
August 24
John, Cynthia, Paul, Jane, George, and Patti attended a lecture by the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi at the London Hilton on Park Lane. After the lecture, they got to meet the Maharishi and arranged to attend his seminar, which was to be held in Bangor that weekend.
August 25
The Beatles took a train to Bangor, Wales, to attend the Maharishi's seminar there. A policeman mistook Cynthia for a fan and refused to let her on the train with John. Later Neil drove her to Bangor.
August 27
Brian Epstein was found dead from an overdose of Carbitol in his London home. He was 32 years old. It was probably an accidental overdose.
The Beatles were all very shocked when they heard the news. John said, "I knew we were in trouble then. I didn't really have any misconceptions about our ability to do anything other than play music, and I was scared. I thought, 'We've had it'." Paul was sad to hear the news, but he wasn't afraid to carry on without a manager, because they had been moving away from that lately.
August 29
Brian's funeral was held at a Jewish cemetery in Liverpool. It was strictly a family affair, so none of the Beatles were allowed to attend.
August 31
The Beatles announced that they would be carrying on without a manager.
September 1
The Beatles met at Paul's house to discuss what they were going to do next. They decided to carry on with the Magical Mystery Tour project.
September 5
The Magical Mystery Tour sessions started back up. They began to work on John's "I Am the Walrus."
September 6
Work on "I Am the Walrus," "The Fool on the Hill," and "Blue Jay Way" at EMI's studios, Abbey Road.
September 7
More work on "Blue Jay Way."
September 8
The instrumental "Flying" was recorded.
September 11
The first day of filming the Magical Mystery Tour movie. The Magical Mystery Tour coach was still being painted psychedelic and was delayed for two hours in leaving Allsop Place. The Beatles came up with the script for the film themselves. John remembered, "Paul made an attempt to carry on as if Brian hadn't died by saying, 'Now, boys, we're going to make a record.' Being the kind of person I am, I thought, well, we're going to make a record all right, so I'll go along, so we went and made a record. And that's when we made Magical Mystery Tour. Paul said, 'Well, here's the segment, you write a little piece for that,' and I thought, 'Bloody hell,' so I ran off and wrote the dream sequence for the fat woman and the spaghetti. Then George and I were sort of grumbling about the fuckin' movie, and we thought we'd better do it and we had the feeling that we owed it to the public to do these things."
September 12
The Magical Mystery Tour bus got stuck on a bridge on its way to Widecombe Fair, blocking the road, and had to back half a mile up the road to turn around. John was filmed losing his temper, but the footage was never used. They gave up on the plan to visit the fair and stopped at the Grand Hotel in Plymouth for lunch.
John and Paul gave an interview for the BBC 1 news magazine program Spotlight South West and posed for some photos.
The Magical Mystery Tour bus continued to Newquay, Cornwall, with several stops to film on the way. The Beatles stayed at the Atlantic Hotel in Newquay.
September 13
George was interviewed for the BBC's Scene and Heard.
BBC TV's Spotlight South West aired their interview with John and Paul.
More footage was filmed for Magical Mystery Tour.
September 14
Filming for Magical Mystery Tour took place in various locations.
Miranda Ward interviewed Ringo for Scene and Heard.
September 15
Filming in front of hotels and various locations on the way to London. The Beatles stopped for lunch at a small fish and chip shop in Taunton and filmed there as well.
September 16
More work was done on "Your Mother Should Know" at EMI Studios, Abbey Road.
September 18
Filming for Magical Mystery Tour at the Raymond Revue Bar, Soho, with the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band and stripper Jan Carson.
September 19
The Beatles filmed at West Mailing Air Station, Kent, where they shot the "I Am the Walrus" promo.
September 20-24
Filming continued at the West Mailing Air Station, Kent.
September 25
The Beatles had allowed two weeks for editing the film, but it ended up takinf eleven. Editing started immediately and was done by Roy Benson at Norman's Film Productions at the corner of Old Compton Street and Wardour Street.
More work on "Fool on the Hill" at EMI Studios, Abbey Road, London.
September 26
More work on "Fool on the Hill."
September 27
The orchestra and Mike Sammes Singers' parts were added to "I Am the Walrus," and Paul added a new vocal to "Fool on the Hill."
September 28
Work on "I Am the Walrus" and "Flying."
September 29
John and George made an appearance on The Frost Programme, discussing transcendental meditation.
Sound effects were added to "I Am the Walrus," and "Your Mother Should Know" was completed back at EMI Studios, Abbey Road.
October 1
More filming at West Mailing Air Station, Kent.
October 2
Work began on the Beatles' next single, Paul's "Hello Goodbye."
October 4
John and George made a follow-up appearance on The Frost Programme and continued discussing transcendental meditation.
October 6
"Blue Jay Way" was completed at EMI.
October 7
Sid Bernstein offered the Beatles £1 million for a single concert at Shea Stadium, but they turned him down.
October 17
The Beatles attended a memorial service for Brian Epstein, held at 6 PM at the New London Synagogue, Abbey Road, London.
October 18
The Beatles and their wives and girlfriends attended the UK premiere of How I Won the War, which John had had a role in, at the London Pavilion. Afterwards they went to Cilla Black's flat for a party.
October 19
Further work on "Hello Goodbye" at EMI Studios, Abbey Road.
October 20
The flute passage was added to "The Fool on the Hill," and the viola to "Hello Goodbye."
October 29
Ringo filmed the getting-on-the-bus sequence for Magical Mystery Tour in Lavender Hill, London.
October 30
Paul and Aubrey Dewar filmed the "Fool on the Hill" sequence for the film in Nice at sunrise.
November 1
Paul flew back to London from Nice.
November 2
Paul added an extra bass line to "Hello Goodbye" at EMI.
November 3
George's "Blue Jay Way" sequence was filmed at Ringo's house, "Sunny Heights," in Weybridge, Surrey.
November 7
Paul added a new vocal to "Magical Mystery Tour."
November 8
How I Won the War premiered in New York.
November 10
Paul directed the promotional film for "Hello Goodbye" on stage at the Saville Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue.
November 17
The Beatles Limited changed its name to Apple Music Limited.
Neil Aspinall went to New York to personally deliver copies of the "Hello Goodbye" promo film to producers of television programs such us The Ed Sullivan Show and Hollywood Palace.
November 22
George worked on his solo Wonderwall soundtrack project at EMI Studios, Abbey Road, with two flautists and a tabla player.
November 23
George continued work on the Wonderwall soundtrack.
November 24
The single "Hello Goodbye"/"I Am the Walrus" was released in the UK. The BBC banned "I Am the Walrus" because they felt there must have been a drug reference in it somewhere and that the reference to knickers was obscene.
November 27
"Hello Goodbye"/"I Am the Walrus" and the Magical Mystery Tour album were released in the US.
November 28
The Beatles recorded Christmas Time (Is Here Again), their fifth Christmas record, to be sent out to members of their fan club.
Afterwards John worked on sound effects tapes for his upcoming stage version of The Lennon Play: In His Own Write.
December 3
Ringo flew to Rome to begin work on his role in the movie Candy. He played the Mexican gardener. Other members of the cast included Marlon Brando, Richard Burton, James Coburn, and Walter Matthau.
December 5
John and George represented the Beatles at a party to celebrate the impending opening of the Apple Boutique at 94 Baker Street, London. Most of what the Apple Boutique sold was psychedelic clothes and posters designed by the Fool and some stuff by Magic Alex and Apple Electronics. The Fool painted the outside of the shop in psychedelic colors.
December 7
Ringo's first day of filming Candy.
The Apple Boutique opened up to the public.
December 8
The EP Magical Mystery Tour was released in the UK.
December 11
Apple Music signed its first group. John named them Grapefruit, which was also the name of Yoko Ono's book. Most of the members were from Tony Rivers and the Castaways, one of the groups Brian Epstein had managed.
December 15
Christmas Time (Is Here Again) was sent out to members of the Beatles' fan club.
December 17
Ringo flew back to London from Rome, his role in the film Candy completed.
December 25
Paul and Jane announced that they were engaged.
December 26
The first showing of Magical Mystery Tour on British TV. It was shown in black and white and attracted 20 million viewers. But the critics hated it. The BBC cut out the beach scenes with Mr. Bloodvessel romancing Ringo's Auntie Jessie on the grounds that it was "insulting to old people."
December 27
In response to all the criticism of Magical Mystery Tour, Paul appeared on The Frost Programme and discussed the film. He said, "Was it really that bad compared to the rest of Christmas TV? You could hardly call the Queen's speech a gas."

1968

January 5
John got together with his father, Alfred, at Kenwood. They eventually made up, and John told the Daily Mirror he had ended the feud with his father: "From now on I hope we'll be in close contact all the time." January 7
George flew to Bombay, India, to record the Wonderwall soundtrack using local Indian musicians.
January 9
George began work at EMI's studios in Bombay.
January 12
George finished recording with the Indian musicians for Wonderwall and began working on other things for possible use on a Beatles album. He made the basic track for "The Inner Light."
January 18
George flew back to London with the Wonderwall tapes.
January 22
Apple opened offices at 95 Wigmore Street, London.
January 25
The Beatles went to Twickenham and filmed their brief cameo appearance in the animated film, Yellow Submarine.
January 27
John was interviewed by Kenny Everett for BBC Radio's The Kenny Everett Show.
January 30
George continued to work on Wonderwall at EMI Studios, Abbey Road.
February 3
Work began on Paul's "Lady Madonna" at EMI.
February 4
Work on "Across the Universe."
John's interview from a few days ago was broadcast on The Kenny Everett Show.
February 6
Ringo appeared on BBC TV's Cilla, taking part in sketches, singing, and tap dancing.
The other three Beatles worked on "The Inner Light" and "Lady Madonna" back at Abbey Road.
February 8
"The Inner Light" was completed, and the rest of the session was spent on "Across the Universe."
February 11
The Beatles intended to film the recording of "Lady Madonna" for a promotional video, but chose instead to record "Hey Bulldog" and filmed that.
February 16
George, Patti, John, and Cynthia arrived in Rishikesh, India, to study transcendental meditation with the Maharishi. The Academy of Transcendental Meditation was built 150 feet above the Ganges River, and it was surrounded on three sides by mountains. Students lived in cottages, which had twin beds and a bathroom. Meals were vegetarian. There were two ninety-minute lectures a day, and the rest of the time was spent meditating.
February 19
Paul, Jane, Ringo, and Maureen flew to Rishikesh to join the others.
February 25
The Maharishi threw a party for George's 25^th birthday. He gave George a plastic globe of the earth as a gift, but it had been fitted so that the map of the world was upside-down. The Maharishi explained what it symbolized: "This is what the world is like today - upside-down. It is rotating in tension and agony. The world waits for its release and to be put right. Transcendental meditation can do this. George, the globe I am giving you symbolizes the world today. I hope you will help us all in the task of putting it right." George took it and immediately turned it over so it was the right way up. He said, "I've done it!" causing everyone to laugh. George then played his sitar a bit.
February 29
Yoko Ono and her husband, Anthony Cox, split up. Yoko began to pursue John. She sent him many postcards while he was in Rishikesh. Cynthia remembered, "Every morning he'd be up and out of our room before me, saying he was off to meditate alone. I realized later that he was going to collect the morning mail..."
March 1
Ringo and Maureen left Rishikesh earlier than anticipated. The food was too spicy for Ringo's tastes, Maureen couldn't stand the flies, and they were both missing their children.
March 9
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band won four Grammy awards: Best Album, Best Contemporary Album, Best Engineered Record, and Best Album Cover.
March 14
The promotional film for "Lady Madonna" was shown on Top of the Pops.
March 15
The single "Lady Madonna"/"The Inner Light" was released in the UK.
March 18
The single "Lady Madonna"/"The Inner Light" was released in the US.
March 26
Paul and Jane had had enough and returned to England from Rishikesh. John and George got lonely, so they got Magic Alex to come down and join them. Magic Alex took an instant dislike to the Maharishi.
April
Paul spent several weeks at his farm in Scotland, the Mull of Kintyre.
April 12
John, Cynthia, George, Patti, and Magic Alex returned to London from Rishikesh. They didn't like the Maharishi using their name for publicity, and Alex convinced John and George that the Maharishi was using his position to gain sexual favors from at least one of the female meditators. John said, "We went to see [the Maharishi] after we stayed up all night discussing was it true or not true. When George started thinking it might be true, I thought, 'Well, it must be true.' If George started thinking it might be true, there must be something to it. So we went to the Maharishi, the whole gang of us, the next day, charged down to his hut, his bungalow, and as usual, when the dirty work came, I was the spokesman. I said, 'We're leaving.' 'Why?' he asked, and all that shit, and I said, 'Well, if you're so cosmic, you'll know why'."
May 9
John and Ringo held a meeting at Apple to discuss the possibility of an Apple children's school, which would be run by John's former school mate, Ivan Vaughan, now a qualified teacher.
May 11
John and Paul, accompanied by Magic Alex, flew to New York to promote Apple.
May 12
John and Paul had an Apple business meeting while cruising around the Statue of Liberty in a Chinese junk.
May 13
John and Paul did interviews with newspapers all day from a suite at the St. Regis Hotel. After the interviews were over, Paul met Linda Eastman again. She slipped him her phone number.
May 14
John and Paul gave a press conference at the Americana Hotel on Central Park West. John explained, "The aim of the company isn't a stack of gold teeth in the bank. We've done that bit. It's more of a trick to see if we can't get artistic freedom within a business structure, to see if we can create things and sell them without charging three times our cost."
In the evening, they appeared on The Tonight Show, and then wished they hadn't. John remembered, "It was terrible! There was this baseball player hosting the show, and they didn't tell us. He was asking, 'Which one's Ringo,' and all that shit! You go on the Johnny Carson show, and when you get there, there's this sort of football player who doesn't know anything about you, and Tallulah Bankhead pissed out of her head saying how beautiful we were. It was the most embarrassing thing I've ever been on."
May 16
John, Paul, and Magic Alex returned to London.
May 19
With Cynthia taking a holiday, John invited Yoko Ono out to Kenwood, and they made a random sound tape, which was later issued as the Two Virgins album. When Cynthia returned, she found Yoko and John in the bedroom, and Yoko was wearing Cynthia's dressing gown.
May 22
George and John attended the press launch and press conference for Apple's second boutique, Apple Tailoring, at 161 New King's Road, London.
May 23
Apple Tailoring opened its doors to the public.
Paul and Ringo were interviewed at Abbey Road for a documentary on pop music called All My Loving.
May 30
The Beatles met at George's American-style bungalow in Esher, "Kinfauns," to record a demo tape of songs that they planned to use on their next album. Most of the songs had been written during their visit to India, and some made it onto The White Album.
May 31
The White Album sessions. Work on "Revolution 1." Yoko attended the session, which would become a usual thing.
June 4
The White Album sessions continued with more work on "Revolution 1."
June 5
The Beatles began recording Ringo's "Don't Pass Me By."
June 6
Further work on "Don't Pass Me By."
Kenny Everett visited the Beatles at the studio to record an interview for BBC Radio's The Kenny Everett Show.
June 7
George flew to California to make a guest appearance in Ravi Shankar's film Raga.
June 9
BBC Radio broadcast the Beatles' interview on The Kenny Everett Show.
June 10
John added more sound effects to "Revolution 9" at EMI Studios, Abbey Road.
June 11
At EMI Studios, Abbey Road, John did more work on "Revolution 9," while Paul, on his own in a separate studio, recorded and mixed "Blackbird."
June 15
While Cynthia was on holiday, John and Yoko made their first public appearance together planting an acorn for peace at Coventry Cathedral.
June 16
Paul made an appearance on David Frost Presents... Frankie Howerd. David Frost and Frankie Howerd interviewed Paul, and then Paul introduced Mary Hopkin, and she sang two songs.
June 18
George flew back to London from California.
The John Lennon Play: In His Own Write opened at the Old Vic Theatre, London. John and Yoko's arrival at the theatre together was seized upon by the press. The following day, Cynthia saw the photos in the newspaper of John and Yoko at the premiere together.
June 20
Paul flew to Los Angeles to address the Capitol Records Sales Conference. He contacted Linda Eastman, who flew out from New York the next day to join him.
John and Yoko went to Abbey Road's EMI Studios together and worked on "Revolution 9."
June 21
"Revolution 1" was finished with the addition of the horn section and guitar solo.
June 22
Apple paid half a million pounds for a new headquarters building at 3 Savile Row, London. The Beatles asked Magic Alex to build a studio in the basement, which ended up taking him seven months.
June 26
The White Album sessions continued. The Beatles worked on John's "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey."
June 27
More work on "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey."
June 28
The Beatles started recording "Good Night," John's lullaby for his five-year-old son, Julian. John thought it was too soft for his image, so he got Ringo to sing it.
July 1
John and Yoko arrived dressed in white at the opening of their art exhibiton, You Are Here, at the Robert Fraser Gallery, London. John marked the opening by releasing 365 helium-filled balloons over London and said, "I declare these balloons high."
Afterwards, John went to EMI and added the lead vocal to "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey."
July 2
Ringo recorded more vocals for "Good Night."
July 3-8
The Beatles worked on "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da."
July 10
Work on "Revolution," intended to be the A-side of the next single (but ended up as the B-side).
July 11
Piano and bass were added to "Revolution," and horns were added to "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da."
July 12
"Don't Pass Me By" was worked on, and a new bass and guitar part were added to "Revolution."
July 13
John took Yoko with him to his Aunt Mimi's house and introduced them.
July 15
Paul added a new vocal to "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da," and John remixed "Revolution." After this, they rehearsed "Cry Baby Cry."
July 16
More work was done on "Cry Baby Cry."
The Beatles' engineer Geoff Emerick quit his job. He could no longer tolerate the tension between the group in the studio and the ill-mannered attitude shown towards the engineers.
July 17
The Beatles attended the premiere of the animated film Yellow Submarine at the London Pavilion.
July 18
At the studio, the Beatles worked on "Cry Baby Cry" and rehearsed "Helter Skelter."
July 19
Work on "Sexy Sadie."
July 20
Jane Asher made an appearance on Simon Dee's BBC TV show Dee Time and announced that her engagement to Paul was off. Apparently she had come home early one day and found Paul in bed with another woman named Francie Schwartz.
July 22
At EMI, "Don't Pass Me By" was completed, and a new version of "Good Night" was recorded with the orchestra and Mike Sammes Singers. Ringo did his vocal track just after midnight.
July 23
"Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey" was completed.
July 24
More work on "Sexy Sadie."
July 25
Work began on George's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps."
July 28
The Beatles spent almost the entire day being photographed in different locations in London. This became known as the Mad Day Out, and the photographer was Don McCullum.
July 29
The Beatles worked on Paul's song "Hey Jude," which would be the A-side of their next single. Paul had written it for John's son, Julian, during the time when John made Cynthia move out of Kenwood.
July 31
The Apple Boutique closed down because it was becoming a drain on Apple's finances. Pete Shotton, who had run the store, said, "It was total madness. I had four bosses, all giving different orders. Paul would come in and tell me he wanted a partition. Almost as soon as we had done it, John would arrive and say, 'What the fuck's going on here?' He'd then want the partition taken down." They let people come in and take all the leftover items in the store for free until it was all emptied out.
August 1
At Trident Studios, Soho, orchestra, bass, and lead vocals were added to "Hey Jude." There were arguments between John and Paul about whose song was going to get the A-side of their next single, their first on the Apple label, but Paul won and "Hey Jude" became the first Apple release and the best-selling Beatles single of all of them.
August 2
"Hey Jude" was completed at Trident Studios.
August 7
Back at Abbey Road, the Beatles worked on George's "Not Guilty." When she session was over at 5:30 in the morning, Paul and Francie Schwartz went to the empty Apple Boutique and traced the name of the Beatles' new single on the whitewashed windows: "Hey Jude" and "Revolution." Jewish traders came by and took "Hey Jude" as an insult, Paul explained he was sorry that the title had offended them, and it had nothing to do with Jews. He told Evening Standard, "We thought we'd paint the windows for a gas. What would you do if your shop had just closed?"
August 8
The White Album sessions continued at Abbey Road. George's song, "Not Guilty," reached take 101. And it ended up not even being included on the final album.
August 9
More work on "Not Guilty." After the session, Paul went off by himself and recorded "Mother Nature's Son."
August 11
Apple Records was officially launched with "National Apple Week."
August 12
George's vocal on "Not Guilty" was taped.
August 13
"Sexy Sadie" was remade, and work on "Yer Blues" started.
August 14
Work on "Yer Blues," and after Paul and Ringo left, John and George recorded "What's the New Mary Jane."
August 15
"Rocky Raccoon" was recorded.
August 16
A new version was made of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps."
August 17
George and Patti flew to Greece for a short break.
August 20
"Yer Blues" was finished, and Paul added brass overdubs to "Mother Nature's Son" and recorded "Wild Honey Pie." The tension between the Beatles was reported as being very bad at this point. It was so bad that Ringo announced he was quitting, and he flew to the Mediterranean to spend some time on Peter Sellers's yacht. While Ringo was gone, Paul took over the drums.
August 21
George and Patti returned to London from Greece.
John added a new lead vocal to "Sexy Sadie."
August 22
Cynthia filed for her divorce from John, citing his adultery with Yoko as the reason.
August 23
At EMI, John, Paul, and George worked on "Back in the USSR."
August 26
The single "Hey Jude"/"Revolution" was released in the US.
August 28
John, Paul, and George worked on "Dear Prudence" at Trident Studios, Soho.
August 29
Overdubs were added to "Dear Prudence" at Trident Studios.
August 30
The single "Hey Jude"/"Revolution" was released in the UK.
Neil Aspinall, the Beatles' assistant, married Susan Ornstein at Chelsea Register Office. The Beatles gave them a house as a wedding present.
September 3
Ringo returned to the group. At the studio, he found his drum kit smothered in flowers.
September 4
At Twickenham, promo films were made for "Hey Jude" and "Revolution."
September 5
More work was done on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps."
September 6
At EMI, George had Eric Clapton come in and add his guitar solo to "While My Guitar Gently Weeps."
September 8
The film clip of "Hey Jude" was given its premiere on London Weekend Television's Frost on Sunday.
September 9
A new version of "Helter Skelter" was recorded.
September 10
Overdubs were added to "Helter Skelter."
September 11
Work started on John's "Glass Onion" at EMI.
September 12
More work on "Glass Onion."
September 13
Drums and piano were added to "Glass Onion."
September 16
"I Will" was recorded, and overdubs were added to "Glass Onion."
September 17
Paul completed "I Will."
September 18
Work on "Birthday." By the evening most of it was finished.
George was interviewed by Alan Smith for BBC Radio's Scene and Heard.
September 20
"Piggies" was completed.
September 23
"Happiness is a Warm Gun" was worked on at EMI.
September 24
The rhythm track to "Happiness is a Warm Gun" was worked on.
September 25
Recording of "Happiness is a Warm Gun" was completed.
Linda flew out to England and spent the night at Paul's house, leaving her daughter, Heather, in New York to be looked after by friends.
September 26
John spent a session making a sound effects tape for "Glass Onion," which was never used.
September 28
George's interview for Scene and Heard was broadcast by BBC Radio.
September 30
Hunter Davies's authorized biography of the Beatles, The Beatles, was published in the UK. John's Aunt Mimi got a hold of the book, looked at the early chapters, and wanted Hunter Davies to change it, telling him, "John doesn't swear. He's never sworn in his life." John had admitted to shoplifting when he was younger, which went in the book, and Mimi was convinced that it wasn't true. Davies kept Mimi happy by putting a few extra paragraphs at the end of a chapter, with her quote, "John was as happy as the day was long and had a lovely, happy childhood." Hunter Davies said, "It wasn't John's memory, but it kept her happy!"
October 1
Paul's "Honey Pie" was recorded at Trident Studios, Soho.
October 2
Paul added the lead vocal and guitar to "Honey Pie" at Trident Studios.
October 3
The White Album sessions continued at Trident Studios. George's "Savoy Truffle" recording was started.
October 4
Paul and a fourteen-piece orchestra recorded "Martha My Dear" and added finishing touches to "Honey Pie."
October 5
George added the lead vocal, and Paul the bass and drums to "Savoy Truffle." They continued to work at Trident Studios.
October 7
Back at EMI's studios on Abbey Road, George worked on "Long, Long, Long."
October 8
John's "I'm So Tired" and "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill" were recorded, and George did more work on "Long, Long, Long."
October 9
"The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill" and "Long, Lony, Long" were worked on. Paul recorded "Why Don't We Do It in the Road" in the next studio.
October 10
"Piggies" and "Glass Onion" were completed, and Paul slipped away with Ringo to do more work on "Why Don't We Do It in the Road."
October 11
Saxaphones were added to "Savoy Truffle."
October 13
John recorded "Julia" without the help of the other Beatles.
October 14
Overdubs were added to "Savoy Truffle," and all the recordings needed for The White Album were finished.
Ringo left with Maureen for a holiday in Sardinia.
October 16
John, Paul, and George Martin held a 24 hour session, the longest session they'd ever had, trying to figure out the running order for The White Album. George was in the US working with Jackie Lomax on an album, and Ringo was on holiday, so they didn't attend.
October 18
John and Yoko got busted for drugs. The Drugs Squad found 219 grains of cannabis and took the couple to Paddington Green police station, where they were charged with obstructing the police in execution of a search warrant. John said, "All of a sudden there was this knock on the door and a woman's voice outside, and I look around, and there is a policeman standing in the window wanting to be let in. We'd been in bed and our lower regions were uncovered. Yoko ran into the bathroom to get dressed with her head poking out so they wouldn't think she was hiding anything, and then I said, 'Ring the lawyer, quick,' but she went and rang Apple. I'll never know why. So then they got us for obstruction which was ridiculous because we only wanted to get our clothes on."
October 19
John and Yoko went to Marylebone Magistrates' Court. They were remanded on bail and their case was adjourned until November 28.
October 20
After spending a month in London with Paul, Linda flew back to New York, and Paul went with her to stay for ten days.
October 25
John and Yoko announced that Yoko was pregnant, and the baby was due in February of 1969.
October 31
Linda moved to London to live with Paul, bringing her daughter, Heather, with her and enrolling her in a local private school.
November
George spent nearly seven weeks in Los Angeles recording with Jackie Lomas for the album Is This What You Want? at Sound Recorders Studio.
November 1
George's soundtrack album Wonderwall Music was released in the UK. This was the first album to be released on the Apple label.
November 4
Yoko Ono went to the hospital, suffering from stress.
November 5
Paul and Linda drove to Scotland for a rest on his farm.
November 8
John and Cynthia's divorce came through. Cynthia retained custody of Julian.
November 11
John and Yoko's first album together, Unfinished Music No. 1 - Two Virgins was released in the US. The photograph of the two of them naked on the sleeve caused EMI to refuse to distribute it, so Track Records did the job instead. In the US, Capitol refused to have anything to do with it, and a small label called Tetragrammaton released it, but they felt obliged to put the record into a brown paper sleeve with a cut-away allowing John and Yoko's faces to be shown.
November 13
The film Yellow Submarine premiered in the US. Even though George was in the States at the time, he didn't go, saying, "I've already seen it twice."
November 15
While in Los Angeles, George made a short, unannounced appearance on the CBS TV show The Smothers Brothers' Comedy Hour.
November 17
George's appearance on The Smothers Brothers' Comedy Hour was broadcast on CBS in the US.
November 19
Ringo, Maureen, and their children moved from "Sunny Heights," Weybridge, to a new home, "Brookfields," near Elstead.
November 20
Paul was interviewed at his home on Cavendish Avenue for a two-hour Radio Luxeumbourg special, The Beatles.
November 21
Yoko suffered a miscarriage of her baby at Queen Charlotte's Hospital, London, caused probably by their recent drug bust. John stayed by her side, sleeping overnight in a hospital bed. When the bed was needed for a patient, John slept on the floor.
November 22
The Beatles (aka The White Album) was released in the UK.
November 25
The White Album was released in the US.
November 28
John pleaded guilty to the charge of unauthorized possession of cannabis at Marylebone Magistrates' Court. John was fined £150. He and Yoko were found not guilty on the charge of obstructing the police in execution of a search warrant.
November 29
John and Yoko's Two Virgins album was released in the UK. Most of the American record stores had refused to carry it - even when the cover was hidden by a paper bag - contributing to the poor sales.
November 30
New Musical Express reported that "Hey Jude" was approaching sales of six million worldwide.
December 2
Wonderwall Music was released in the US.
December 4
George sent a memo to the staff of Apple warning them that he had invited a group of Californian Hell's Angels over to stay at No. 3 Savile Row: "Hell's Angels will be in London within the next week, on the way to straighten out Czechoslovakia. There will be 12 in number complete with black leather jackets and motor cycles. They will undoubtedly arrive at Apple and I have heard they may try to make full use of Apple's facilities. They may look as though they are going to do you in but are very straight and do good things, so don't fear them or uptight them. Try to assist them without neglecting your Apple business and without letting them take control of Savile Row."
December 10
Kenwood, John and Cynthia's house in Weybridge, was put up for sale.
John and Yoko attended rehearsals at Wembley Studios for the next day's filming of the Rollong Stones' Rock and Roll Circus. John sang "Yer Blues."
December 11
John, Yoko, and Julian spent most of the day and night at Wembley Studios filming the all-star jam session The Rolling Stones' Rock and Roll Circus. Around midnight, John and Yoko drove back to central London to appear live on BBC Radio's Night Ride, where they talked about their Two Virgins album and played a few minutes of the new Beatles album.
December 17
Magical Mystery Tour, the film, was released in America. This was also the day that Ringo's Candy premiered.
December 18
John and Yoko appeared on stage in a large white bag as part of a Christmas party happening at the Royal Albert Hall.
December 20
The Beatles' 1968 Christmas Record was sent out to members of the Beatles' fan club.
December 23
Apple's first Christmas party was held at 3 Savile Row. Hell's Angels and members of a visiting hippie commune were there. John and Yoko dressed up as Father and Mother Christmas and handed out presents to all the children attending.

1968

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