Sunday, August 26, marked the 50th anniversary of the release of The Beatles’ biggest hit, “Hey Jude.”
Here’s what Rolling Stone has to say about the song and it’s role as a high-water marker in The Beatles song catalog as well as their partnership as friends and as a band…
“Hey Jude” sums up the Beatles’ turbulent summer of 1968 — a tribute to their friendship, right at the moment it was starting to fracture. The single was a smash as soon as they released it on August 26th, 50 years ago — their biggest hit, topping the U.S. charts for nine weeks. It’s the Beatles at their warmest, friendliest, most open-hearted. John, Paul, George and Ringo sound utterly in sync, building to that power-drone “na na na na” chant. Yet it’s a song born from conflict. Nobody knew they were falling apart — in fact, “Hey Jude” was released four days after Ringo officially quit the band, walking out on the White Album sessions. Paul wrote it during John’s divorce, to cheer up his mate’s five-year-old son. As Julian Lennon recalled, “He was just trying to console me and Mum.” The world has been taking consolation from “Hey Jude” ever since.
Read the whole article here.
And here’s a great video of the band rehearsing their classic at EMI studios…
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