Beatles Thru the Roof 40 Years On...

Copy from the Telegraph:

Yes, it was 40 years ago today that Sgt Pepper and his band played live for one last time. Their music has hardly ever gone out of style in the four decades since and raised plenty of smiles from generations of new fans.

The afternoon of January 30, 1969 was when The Beatles surprised a central London office lunch crowd with an impromptu concert on the roof of their Savile Row Apple headquarters.

Before the outing was abruptly cut short by police who objected to the noise, the band (with a little help from young keyboardist Billy Preston) had managed to thrill Londoners on adjacent rooftops and the streets below with a run-through of songs they had been rehearsing with a vague album in mind. Their five-song set included Don't Let Me Down, I've Got a Feeling and Get Back - all considered classics in subsequent years.

The rooftop 'concert' was the first live gig since the band stopped touring in 1965 (tired of constantly screaming girls and frustrated by not being able to reproduce the more complex arrangements of their studio albums) and was to be their last.

Part 1 of 3 ("Get Back" & "Don't Let Me Down")


Part 2 of 3 ("I've Got a Feeling" & "One After 909")


Part 3 of 3 ("Dig a Pony" & "Get Back")