Editing The Beatles (album) (section)

===Personal problems===
During the recording sessions for ''The Beatles'', each member of the band began to increasingly assert themselves as individual artists who frequently found themselves at odds. McCartney described the sessions as a turning point for the group because "there was a lot of friction during that album. We were just about to break up, and that was tense in itself";{{sfn|Doggett|2009|p=130}} Lennon said, "the break-up of the Beatles can be heard on that album".{{sfn|Womack|2009|p=55}} Recording engineer [[Geoff Emerick]] had worked with the group since ''Revolver'', but became disillusioned with the sessions. He overheard Martin criticising McCartney's vocal performance while recording "[[Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da]]", to which McCartney replied, "Well you come down and sing it".{{sfn|Lewisohn|1988|p=143}} On 16 July, Emerick announced that because of the frequent bickering and tension, he was no longer willing to work with the Beatles and left the studio in the midst of a session.{{sfn|Lewisohn|1988|p=143}}

[[File:John Lennon en zijn echtgenote Yoko Ono op huwelijksreis in Amsterdam. John Lenn, Bestanddeelnr 922-2305.jpg|thumb|The new relationship between [[John Lennon]] and [[Yoko Ono]] caused tension in the studio with the other Beatles.{{sfn|Lewisohn|1996|p=276}}]]

''The Beatles'' sessions marked the first appearance in the studio of Lennon's new domestic and artistic partner, [[Yoko Ono]], who accompanied him to Abbey Road to work on "[[Revolution (Beatles song)#"Revolution 1"|Revolution 1]]"{{sfn|MacDonald|1997|pp=245–246}} and who was thereafter a more or less constant presence at Beatles recording sessions.{{sfn|Harry|2000|pp=108–9}} Ono's presence was highly unorthodox as, up to that point, the Beatles had generally worked in isolation, rarely allowing visitors, wives and girlfriends to attend recording sessions.{{sfn|Miles|1997|pp=483–484}} Lennon's devotion to Ono over the other Beatles made working conditions difficult by impeding communication between Lennon and McCartney, as well as the intuitive aspect that had previously been essential to the band's music.{{sfn|Miles|1997|p=491}} McCartney's girlfriend at the time, Francie Schwartz, was also present at some sessions,{{sfn|Winn|2009|p=176}} as were the other two Beatles' wives, [[Pattie Harrison]] and [[Maureen Starkey]].{{sfn|Harry|2002|pp=77–78}}

[[Peter Doggett]] writes that "the most essential line of communication" had been broken between Lennon and McCartney by Ono's presence on the first day of recording.{{sfn|Doggett|2011|pp=46–47}} Beatles biographer [[Philip Norman (author)|Philip Norman]] comments that the two shared a disregard for the other's new songs; Lennon found McCartney's songs "cloyingly sweet and bland", while McCartney viewed Lennon's as "harsh, unmelodious and deliberately provocative".{{sfn|Norman|1996|p=340}} Harrison and Starr chose to distance themselves partway through the project,{{sfn|Lewisohn|1988|p=137}} flying to California on 7 June so that Harrison could film his scenes for the [[Ravi Shankar]] documentary ''[[Raga (film)|Raga]]''.{{sfn|Miles|2001|p=300}} Lennon's, McCartney's and Harrison's individual projects outside the band in 1968 were further evidence of the group's fragmentation.{{sfn|Inglis|2009|p=120}} In Lennon's case, the album cover of his experimental collaboration with Ono ''[[Two Virgins]]'' featured the couple completely naked, a gesture his bandmates found bewildering and unnecessary.{{sfn|Doggett|2011|pp=54–55}}

On 20 August, Lennon and Starr were working on overdubs for "[[Yer Blues]]" in Studio 3, and visited McCartney in Studio 2 where he was working on "[[Mother Nature's Son]]". The positive spirit of the session disappeared immediately, and engineer Ken Scott later claimed that "you could cut the atmosphere with a knife".{{sfn|Lewisohn|1988|p=150}} Starr abruptly left the studio on 22 August during the session for "[[Back in the U.S.S.R.]]",{{sfn|Miles|2001|p=307}} feeling that his role in the group was peripheral compared to the other members, and upset at McCartney's constant criticism of his drumming on the track.{{sfn|Hertsgaard|1996|pp=250–51}}{{sfn|Clayson|2003|pp=183–84}} Abbey Road staff later commented that Starr was usually the first to arrive at the studio, waiting in the reception area for the others to arrive.{{sfn|Lewisohn|1988|p=151}} In his absence, McCartney played the drums on "Dear Prudence". For "Back in the U.S.S.R.", the three remaining Beatles each made contributions on bass and drums, and the drum part is a composite of Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison's playing.{{sfn|Lewisohn|1988|p=151}} Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison pleaded with Starr to reconsider. He returned on 5 September to find his drum kit decorated with flowers,{{sfn|MacDonald|1997|p=273}} a welcome-back gesture from Harrison.{{sfn|Beatles|2000|p=312}}