It's June 1968 and The Beatles' double album is finally taking shape. Kicking things off this month was the very first all-original composition by Ringo Starr, a years-in-the-making honky tonk number called Don't Pass Me By. And the Beatles wouldn't pass it by, spending as much time and energy on Ringo's first track as they had for any of those that came before. It was moments like these that drew a sharp distinction from the tension that was beginning to haunt these sessions - a tension never before experienced on a Beatles project. The four boys who had entered the EMI studios 5 years earlier were now four men who were beginning to lead separate (and sometimes intense) personal lives of their own. As John's marriage to Cynthia broke down, his passionate love affair with artist Yoko Ono became public knowledge, and while a divergence into the avant-garde was good for Lennon's soul, it also alienated many longtime friends and fans. George's attempt to bring Indian spiritualism to his bandmates may have been a rocky road with mixed results, but his heart remained in Indian culture even if his brothers-in-arms didn't. With Apple in full swing, Paul's attention was set squarely on talent development, both his own (recording tracks like Blackbird and Mother Nature's Son to name a few) and that of his musical proteges like Mary Hopkin. The band would have to hang on to periodic shows of unity, because the woes of the double album sessions would be far from over...

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