George Harrison Had to Use a Cigarette to Warm His Frozen Fingers at The Beatles’ Final Live Show
In 1969, three years after The Beatles’ last tour, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr put on a historic show on the roof of Apple Records. The band hadn’t initially planned to put on the show on the roof. Up until the last minute, they weren’t even sure they wanted to go through with it. They decided it was worth it to perform but found it was so cold it was hard to play their instruments. Harrison even had to use a cigarette to keep his fingers warm.
George Harrison had to resort to creative measures to warm his hands at a Beatles show
In Jan. 1969, The Beatles climbed up to the rooftop of Apple Records to perform an impromptu concert. Despite the chilly winter weather, they decided the show would be a good idea. When the band got onto the roof, the temperature was in the low 40s. It made playing their instrument more challenging, but Harrison found an innovative solution.
“George had me light some cigarettes for him for a few minutes just so he could hold the tips of his fingers up against the coals so he could feel his strings,” Apple employee Ken Mansfield told Rolling Stone. “And I know John was really complaining about it, about the cold and how he couldn’t feel his hands.”
George Harrison and the other Beatles weren’t sure they wanted to perform at all
In many ways, it’s a wonder Harrison got on the roof to perform at all. By this point, tensions in The Beatles were at an all-time high, and they had been arguing about where to put on their performance. They decided on the rooftop show at the last minute, but not everyone was sold on it. McCartney wanted a more formal concert at Saville Theater. When Let It Be director Michael Lindsay-Hogg pitched a show on the Apple rooftop, Harrison and Starr were firmly against it.
Even after they agreed to perform on the roof on Jan. 29, they didn’t seem thrilled about it.
“There was a lot of dissension with the Beatles at the time,” Mansfield said, adding, “I went up to the dressing room — the offices they were using just before the concert — and it looked like they were nervous, like a young band getting ready for an audition. I thought maybe it was because they haven’t played in a while and there’s a lot of tension. I found out later on that when I walked in, they weren’t nervous; there was just a lot of tension amongst them.”
Mansfield said they couldn’t even decide if they wanted to perform minutes before they were meant to go on.
“They were deciding if they should even go up,” he recalled. “Somebody told me later that even when they got to the door to go on the roof, they were still deciding and that John said, ‘Oh, come on. Let’s do it. We need the footage.'”
What songs did the Beatles play on the rooftop?
Ultimately, of course, the band did perform on the Apple rooftop. Per The Beatles Diary Volume 1: The Beatles Years by Barry Miles, they began with two performances of “Get Back.” From there, they played “Don’t Let Me Down,” “I’ve Got a Feeling,” “The One After 909,” “Dig a Pony,” and “God Save the Queen.”
While the police eventually shut down the performance, the band managed to play “I’ve Got a Feeling,” “Don’t Let Me Down,” and part of “Get Back” again.
