One of my favorite creation tales is the story of The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s & The White Album. I am no expert and I am sure I get the details wrong, so please feel free to correct me, but in my version it is a great example of the conditions that can lead to creative output (Note: since writing this I have made some amendments)
We all are told that Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is the great album of the rock era, the first true exploration of the art form. Whether that’s true or not is open for debate, but what it is the first album that The Beatles had no back catalogue to exploit. John and Paul were already not getting on that well. They had a lot of pressure to produce and top themselves, but mostly they were just wanting to better the other. They had written close to the same number of songs and didn’t want the other to get ahead. John’s songs on the album reveal this commitment: “I’ve got nothing to say, but it’s okay. Good Morning!” and For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite — which is him singing a poster in his kitchen.
And meanwhile they were taking tons of LSD. They were messing around with their minds and how. Young George knew they need a break. A change. He took them down to India to hang out with the Maharishi. They went down with their pals Donovan and Mia Farrow. On the way their, they got the news that their longtime manager, Brian Epstein, had died. And upon arriving they had to take a vow of silence and abstinence. No mourning and no drugs. No sex. No speaking. But then, as the story goes, they walked in on the Maharishi trying to have his way with Ms. Farrow. Shock. Betrayal. How could he? Wasn’t he supposed to be more than human?
Outraged, they split back to London and hold up in George’s garage and in the course of three weeks produce virtually everything on The White Album, and the first solo albums by Paul & George. Needless to say they broke their vow of silence. They now had a common enemy. Their first attempt at “Sexy Sadey” had “Maharishi” in her place, “what have you done? You’ve made a fool of everyone”.
Sometimes you have to wade through a lot of shit to be brought back together and find your way.
Here are the demos from that session to get you through the day:
(via Metafilter)
