The White Album, released by The Beatles in 1968, signalled the start of the end. The Fab Four would part ways just three years after its publication, unable to connect with one another and each determined to pursue their own goals. Though the tensions between Ringo, Paul, John, and George had been building long before they erupted, “Why Don’t We Do It In The Road?” is among the best illustrations of the split that progressively tore The Beatles apart.
The Beatles had changed significantly from their teen-bopper days by the time of The White Album. For starters, they had performed their last live show in 1966 and had since ceased touring. Subsequently, their unusual style emerged, avoiding sharp suits in favour of vivid flares and eccentric jackets. However, The Beatles’ most significant transformation was probably an internal one. Perhaps because of the opportunities they had in the studio, or maybe just because they were tired of being little parts in the Beatles machine, Lennon, McCartney, and the like embraced their individual creative selves in a way that had never been seen before with the White Album.
In fact, the Beatles’ desire for individuality caused them to start writing and recording songs apart from one another. Occasionally, they would split into opposing groups, with Paul and Ringo on the one side and John and George on the other. Lennon felt hurt by the creative choice made by Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr to record “Why Don’t We Do It In The Road?”, for instance, without consulting John or George.
In a post-breakup interview, McCartney’s decision to record the song alone seemed to represent the group’s isolation, according to Lennon. Lennon started off by saying, “That’s Paul,” outlining the song’s beginnings. In a separate room, he even recorded it by himself. That’s how things used to be back then. He finished the entire record when we arrived. Him beat drumming. He was at the piano. His singing. But maybe he was unable to break away from The Beatles. He just couldn’t. You know, I have no idea what it was. The song was enjoyable to me. Though I can’t speak for George, I was always offended when Paul completed a task without consulting us. However, things were just that way back then.
McCartney, however, believed that he was merely repeating what Lennon had done innumerable times before with “Revolution 9” and “Julia.” “It wasn’t a planned action,” he said. “Let’s go and do this,” I told Ringo, since he and I were free to hang around while John and George were busy finishing something. Well, he applied the same principle to “Revolution 9.” Without me, he went off and made that. No one ever says that. I’m the bastard, and John is the nice guy. It gets repeated all the time.
