I thought this would be an appropriate choice for this week’s video feature since the date is September 9th. The Beatles, along with friend and keyboardist Billy Preston, made their final concert appearance at around 1:00 pm on January 30, 1969, on the roof of their Apple headquarters and studio at 3 Savile Row, London. It was an unannounced performance that the London bobbies eventually put a stop to, due to the disruption in the city during the middle of the business day. The Beatles themselves were actually hoping to be arrested for disturbing the peace because it was all being filmed, and that would be the perfect climax of their Let It Be documentary. As it turned out, they were permitted to complete a final version of Get Back before having to stop. The show included multiple takes of Get Back, Dig A Pony, Don’t Let Me Down and I’ve Got A Feeling, along with this performance of One After 909. The Beatles played for 42 minutes before being shut down, and the best 20 minutes are included as the conclusion to the Let It Be film.

One After 909 was actually a song The Beatles revived during their January 1969 Get Back Sessions. Originally titled The One After 909, it was one of the very first songs written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. This was in 1957, during the time when they were part of The Quarry Men. On March 5, 1963, The Beatles recorded it in the studio during the same session when they recorded their From Me To You/Thank You Girl single, but they were not satisfied with the result and it was shelved. Some of this early attempt of the song (takes 3-6) is now on the Beatles Anthology 1 CD set.

The rooftop performance of One After 909, seen here, was also used for the Let It Be LP.

Click the image above to play the video.

Here are some Amazon links to read more on, or purchase, some music related to this post:

1) Let It Be (Remastered) – 2009 remaster of original 1969 album, including rooftop performance of One After 909 seen here.

2) Let It Be… Naked – the “stripped down” version of the Let It Be album released in 2003, including One After 909 with the Phil Spector mix “undone” (also includes bonus disc Fly On The Wall with snippets of The Beatles in the studio in Jan. 1969).

3) Anthology 1 – 1995 2-CD set of out-take versions and concert performances of the early days of The Beatles, including a 1963 recording of takes 3-6 of One After 909.

4) More Amazon links for any of your favorite Beatles-related music: The Beatles, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.

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