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HE BROUGHT A NEW TRACK TO A PARTY AND THOSE IN ATTENDANCE WERE VERY IMPRESSED DAN HAYGARTH Liverpool Daily Post Editor and Regeneration Reporter 20:00, 20 May 2025 Having enjoyed

unparalleled success throughout the 1960s, The Beatles' recording sessions for their later albums became marked by creative differences and disagreements. They retired from touring in

1966 to focus on recording innovative music in the studio but tensions within the band began to emerge. The sessions for 'The White Album', which was released in 1968, saw each

member of the band wanting to put their stamp on their work and the mood led Ringo Starr to leave The Beatles for a period. About that period of recording, Paul McCartney said: "There

was a lot of friction during that album. We were just about to break up, and that was tense in itself". John Lennon later added: "The break-up of The Beatles can be heard on that

album." Creative differences and Yoko Ono's presence in the studio have been cited as the primary reasons for the tension. 1969's recording sessions for what became their

final album 'Let it Be' were also famously tempestuous, but the seeds for the disharmony were sown the year before. One song recorded during that period seemed to capture the mood

within the band, though its origins were about something different. 'Hey Jude' was recorded in July and August 1968 before its release on August 26 as a non-album single. It was

the band's first release on their new Apple label, hitting shelves three months before 'The White Album'. Credited to Lennon-McCartney, 'Hey Jude' was written by

Paul during a time of turbulence in The Beatles' professional and personal lives. It was originally called 'Hey Jules', addressed to John's son Julian to comfort him

after the separation of his dad and mum Cynthia Lennon. John and Cynthia separated in May 1968 due to his affair with Yoko. It is said that Paul was saddened by Cynthia no longer being part

of The Beatles' social circle and he drove to the family's Kenwood home that June to check on Julian and his mum. About writing the song, Paul said in 1997: "I started with

the idea 'Hey Jules'. which was Julian, don't make it bad, take a sad song and make it better. Hey, try and deal with this terrible thing. I knew it was not going to be easy

for him. I always feel sorry for kids in divorces." At this point, John and Paul were not really writing together, with John spending more time with Yoko than with his long-time

creative collaborator. Instead they wrote independently before presenting songs to each other for final touches. Paul presented 'Hey Jude' to John on July 26 and said he was going

to take out the line "the movement you need is on your shoulder" but John insisted he kept it in, saying: "You won't, you know. That's the best line in the

song." John also believed Paul had written the song about him, rather than Julian. In a 1980 interview with Playboy, he said: "If you think about it... Yoko's just come into

the picture. He's saying: "Hey, Jude, Hey, John." "I know I'm sounding like one of those fans who reads things into it, but you can hear it as a song to me. The

words 'go out and get her' - subconsciously he was saying, Go ahead, leave me. On a conscious level, he didn't want me to go ahead." There were several alternate theories

about the song's composition, with people suggesting it was about Paul's creative differences with John or even his own love life. Writer Mark Hertsgaard said "many of the

song's lyrics do seem directed more at a grown man on the verge of a powerful new love, especially the lines 'you have found her now go and get her' and 'you're

waiting for someone to perform with.'" Music critic Tim Riley said: "If the song is about self-worth and self-consolation in the face of hardship, the vocal performance itself

conveys much of the journey. He (Paul) begins by singing to comfort someone else, finds himself weighing his own feelings in the process, and finally, in the repeated refrains that nurture

his own approbation, he comes to believe in himself." 'Hey Jude' was recorded on July 31 and August 1, 1968 at Trident studio in London - it was The Beatles' first track

to be recorded on new eight-track equipment. It was mixed at their usual home of Abbey Road. Paul was so pleased with the track that he brought the acetate record (essentially a first draft

recording) at a party held by Mick Jagger at Vesuvio's nightclub in London, marking the release of the Rolling Stones' new album 'Beggars Banquet'. It was the first time

the, as yet unreleased, track had been played to an audience. Paul was said to have upstaged the Stones, which writer John Winn said "reportedly ruin(ed)" the event. Mick's

then-partner Marianne Faithfull said in a 2007 Guardian interview: "So there we all were, having a wonderful time, and in strolls Paul McCartney - a little smile on his lips, hands

behind his back. "'What have you got, Paul?’ we cried out. ‘Oh, nothing, really,’ says he. (He then) put on 'Hey Jude'. It was the first time anyone had heard it and we

were all blown away." The seven minute and 12 second song was released as a single on August 26, 1968, and topped the charts around the world, including a nine-week run at number one in

the USA's Billboard Hot 100. It is widely viewed as one of the greatest songs of all time and it is a staple of Paul's live performances. Article continues below NME's Derek

Johnson said in a review he would rather 'Hey Jude' was shorter but said it was "a beautiful, compelling song", calling the first half "absolutely sensational".