An infamous moment in television history saw The Beatles offered a cheque by Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels, and to get the money they had to perform live on the show.
While Paul McCartney and John Lennon may have considered the offer, and George Harrison showed up on the show a short while later in a humourous attempt to cash-in the cheque, The Beatles never did play together on the long-running comedy programme. But fans of the Fab Four have taken to the r/Beatles subreddit and wondered what songs the band would have played. McCartney recently played the fiftieth-anniversary show, with some suggesting it could prove a fitting swansong for the legendary songwriter.
A post to the r/Beatles subreddit reads: “Let’s say that The Beatles all decided to take Lorne Michaels’ offer and appear on Saturday Night Live, and they agree to play three Beatles songs. What three songs would they play?”
The original poster suggested: “Cold open with She Loves You, not their first big hit but it encapsulates Beatlemania with the ‘yeah, yeah, yeah’s’. Middle of the episode, Ticket to Ride. Close of the show, Hey Jude.” Fans have since suggested what The Beatles could have played, should they have reformed on Saturday Night Live.
One wrote: “As a nice little extension of the joke, it would have been hilarious for them to sing Money.” Another added: “I’d wager if John and Paul had taken up the offer, they would have probably just played some oldies since those were the songs they could probably play without any rehearsal.”
Lets say that The Beatles all decided to take Lorne Michael's offer and appear on Saturday Night Live, and the agree to play 3 Beatles songs. What 3 songs should they play?
byu/mushbo inbeatles
A third user agreed, adding: “Get Back made it clear- that’s their common ground. I think you’re right. Though I think it’s possible they might have played some Get Back songs since the neurons would be in there still from prepping for the rooftop concert.”
Another user suggested the band could have even played a solo song from Lennon, suggesting that even if the performance was unlikely, it was nice to think about what could have been. They wrote: “I love the question. However unlikely given the situation, it’d have been amazing if they played While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Happiness is a Warm Gun and Helter Skelter or Imagine, Something and Yesterday.”
Another agreed, adding: “I think you’re thinking of this the right way — if this were to have happened, John, Paul, and George would have each gotten a song. If you look at The Band’s appearance in 1976, Richard Manuel, Rick Danko, and Levon Helm each got a song. (Plus one song, Life is a Carnival, where they all shared lead vocals).”
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