Paul McCartney teases his new album 'McCartney III' in trailer
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On April 24, 1976, Paul and Linda visited John and Yoko at their New York home at The Dakota, on the corner of 72nd Street and Central Park West. The night became famous, not just because it was the last time the Beatles stars would ever see each other, but also because they were watching Saturday Night Live. The show’s producer had made them an extraordinary offer on air as a joke – not knowing they would actually be enjoying the show together a few blocks away from the studio. SCROLL DOWN TO WATCH THE LEGENDARY SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE BEATLES SEGMENT
John lived at the Dakota from 1973 until the night of his death on December 8, 1980. In the spring of 1976, Paul was about to start a US tour with his band Wings and kept “popping over” to see his former bandmate.
That particular night, John introduced him to the hit show Saturday Night Live. He told Paul that the producer Lorne Michaels had declared his love for The Beatles and made a public offer live on air.
He said: “In my book, The Beatles are the best thing that ever happened to music. It goes even deeper than that — you’re not just a musical group, you’re a part of us. We grew up with you.”
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Michaels went on: “Now, we’ve heard and read a lot about personality and legal conflicts that might prevent you guys from reuniting, that’s something which is none of my business. That’s a personal problem. You guys will have to handle that.
“But it’s also been said that no one has yet to come up with enough money to satisfy you.
“Well, if it’s money you want, there’s no problem here.”
This was referring to a recent offer of $5million for the band to reunite.
Of course, The Beatles didn’t need the money, but would they be tempted by the sheer craziness of the new offer?
Michaels added: “The National Broadcasting Company has authorized me to offer you this cheque to be on our show. A certified cheque for $3,000.”
https://www.youtube.com/embed/z0C6Wuw_YOM
Little did the poducers know that John and Paul were looking at each other across town and discussing the idea.
Michaels had cheekily added that they would need to earn the fee by singing three songs: “She Loves You, yeah, yeah, yeah – that’s $1,000 right there. You know the words. It’ll be easy.
“Like I said, this is made out to The Beatles. You divide it any way you want. If you want to give Ringo [Starr] less, that’s up to you. I’d rather not get involved.”
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Incredibly, there was a moment when John and Paul actually considered jumping in a cab and shocking the producers and the viewers with the greatest cameo in history.
Paul later recalled: “John said, ‘We should go down, just you and me. We’ll just show up. There’s only two of us, we’ll take half the money.’
“For a second we were like, ‘Shall we do it?’ I don’t know what stopped us. It would’ve been work and we were having a night off so we elected to not go to work. It was a nice idea. We nearly did it.”
John also spoke about that night just before his death.
He said: “Paul was visiting us at our place in the Dakota. We were watching it and almost went down to the studio, just as a gag.
“We nearly got into a cab, but we were actually too tired.
“He and I were just sitting there watching the show, and we went, ‘Ha ha, wouldn’t it be funny if we went down?’ But we didn’t.'”
He also revealed that Paul turned up the very next day, hoping to continue hanging out together.
John answered the intercom but wouldn’t even let him in the building.
John said: “That was a period when Paul just kept turning up at our door with a guitar.
“I would let him in, but finally I said to him, ‘Please call before you come over. It’s not 1956, and turning up at the door isn’t the same anymore. You know, just give me a ring.’
“He was upset by that, but I didn’t mean it badly. I just meant that I was taking care of a baby all day, and some guy turns up at the door.”
It’s an understanable comment since John’s newborn son Sean was just six months old at the time. Although Paul would have been understandably upset at beiong treated as just “some guy.”
Paul left the following day for Dallas, to start rehearsals for Wings’ upcoming US Tour, and the two Beatles never saw each other again.
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