It’s amazing The Beatles were able to record two classic albums in 1969, considering how relationships between the four men had deteriorated by that time. As it turned out, the infighting also helped a random artist out one fateful evening during that eventful year.
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That artist was Steve Miller, then near the beginning of what would become an illustrious career. As fate would have it, he showed up at a London studio one night at just the right time to call on the services of a very frustrated Paul McCartney, and the two made cathartic musical magic.
Four Beatles (and a Prospective Manager) Walk Into a Studio …
Friday, May 9, 1969, was the date for a recording session at Olympic Studios in London, a session earmarked for doing some mixing on the project The Beatles had undertaken at the beginning of the year. That project, originally called Get Back but eventually released as Let It Be when it finally appeared in 1970, was to feature some off-the-cuff, in-between-songs dialogue captured during those sessions. This particular evening was devoted to choosing those snippets.
The Beatles started in the afternoon and worked through the evening. But there was a visitor that night that caused some friction. Allen Klein, who had been chosen by John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr to take over the band’s managerial duties and financial oversight, showed up as well.
Paul McCartney was holding out, feeling they should do a bit more due diligence before making this decision. The other three insisted McCartney needed to sign that evening. A standoff ensued during the session, with McCartney first suggesting there’d be no harm waiting till Monday, since business couldn’t be conducted on the weekend. He also argued the group should hold out for better terms. None of his bandmates agreed.
Miller Time
After the argument raged on for a while, it became clear no good would come from any more discussion. The Beatles had always insisted that no decision could be made without all four agreeing, which made McCartney’s holdout a major sticking point.
The other three members, along with Klein, finally left the studio. That left McCartney stewing about what had happened. Right about that time, Steve Miller, in the process of recording his third album (which would be called Brave New World when released in June 1969), just happened to wander into the room.
McCartney greeted him and explained what had just happened. Miller wondered if the studio was open then for him to record something. Looking for an outlet for his frustrations, McCartney agreed to join him for the session.
Hello “Dark”-ness
“My Dark Hour,” the song they thrashed out that evening, featured a title that easily could have described McCartney’s mood at the time. He played some guitar on Miller’s track, while also handling bass, drums, and backing vocals duties. Miller took care of what was left over, including the bluesy lead vocal.
You can practically hear McCartney letting all his anger out in the way he bangs the drums and screams out the backing vocals. When the album was released, Macca was credited as Paul Ramon, a pseudonym he had used in the past.
Fast-forward to 1997. Miller returned the favor from all those years ago, duetting with McCartney on the song “Used to Be Bad” from Paul’s album Flaming Pie. It’s an easygoing track, one where you can almost sense the smiles on the faces of the two men as they trade vocals. Quite the contrast from “My Dark Hour,” when Miller effectively piggybacked on McCartney’s furious state of mind.
Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic Inc.
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