Two shillings a foot

When George Harrison finally decided he'd had enough and walked out, John Lennon and Paul McCartney were left wondering how to complete the project without him. Two things surprised me; first that despite Harrison's leaving Lennon and McCartney seem not to consider the possibility of simply cancelling the project. More surprising still was Lennon's suggestion that they simply ask Eric Clapton to fill in for Harrison.  It reinforced the idea of a status hierarchy in the group with Lennon and McCartney  at the top and Harrison and Star as second tier, almost session players. The dynamic isn't that dissimilar to the way Roger Waters thought that by the time they'd recorded "The Wall" he was Pink Floyd. 

Another was when Star comes onto the set one morning; McCartney is sitting at the piano and greets him with "Hi Rich".  Lennon also calls Ringo "Richie" later on during the filming.  Although he'd been "Ringo Star" in public, it suggested that in private he was still Richard Starky to the rest of the band.  

McCartney was clearly an accomplished self-taught pianist. What was surprising was his influences; clearly influenced by jazz and rag time, he also noted the importance of good structure and mentioned Bach as one of his inspirations. 

And of course, the cost of studio time. Despite the fact they the Beatles were the most famous band around in 1969 and probably the most lucrative for EMI, there still seemed the odd moment when "whatever they want" didn't sit happily with EMI. Instead of providing the audio recording equipment the band wanted when there were working at Sheperton, Harrison had to bring the enormous 8-track from his home studio. And when they were in the Apple studio in Savile Row, Glyn Jones remarks that the taping is costing "two shillings a foot" (in one inch magnetic recording tape).