"I thought, as a friend of the family, I would motor out to Weybridge (John's former home with Cynthia) and tell them that everything was all right: to try and cheer them up, basically, and see how they were.
Since then, I'd seen them get married and seen them have Julian." "We had hung out since John's art school days when I had a girlfriend called Dot and John had Cynthia, and we used to foursome it a lot and go to parties together. "I had known them for so long," Paul continues. "John and Cynthia were splitting up," Paul explains in the book "Anthology," "and I felt particularly sorry for Julian." By June 1968, John and Yoko were living together in an apartment owned by Ringo in Montagu Square in central London, leaving his wife Cynthia and son Julian living alone in their Kenwood home in Weybridge. Right to this day, the respect generated by this one song is astronomical, and there is no hint of that respect abating any time soon. If anything had tarnished the reputation of The Beatles to any degree up to that point in history, they went way above and beyond to redeem themselves in most people's eyes with the release of “Hey Jude” in the fall of 1968. It also ranked as the most popular record of the sixties, according to Billboard Magazine. The impact was so great that it only took three weeks for it to reach #1 on the US Billboard singles chart, staying there for a remarkable nine weeks and becoming the most successful American single of their career. The majority of music fans today who were alive at that time have vivid and cherished memories related to hearing the song, some remembering the first time they heard it. Their new single, “Hey Jude,” released on their own new Apple Records with its stunning green label, took over the airwaves as well as our television screens (on "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" on October 6th, 1968). Then, on August 26th, 1968, The Beatles made the most remarkable comeback of their career, winning back any naysayers who thought they'd already heard everything that the band had to offer. It appeared that maybe the “bubble” was indeed 'bursting.' Their follow-up single, “ Lady Madonna,” while a masterstroke in recorded music, failed to get any higher than #4 on the US charts, which was quite uncharacteristic for them. Pepper” album was an artistic as well as commercial triumph, critics were merciless toward their “ Magical Mystery Tour” film which was passed over entirely for American release at the time. The innocent pop songwriting that was expected of them gave way to such mind expanding subject matter as “ Strawberry Fields Forever” which, at the time, left many die-hard fans disillusioned. In 1966, concert attendance began to dip somewhat and then they decided to discontinue touring altogether.
However, interviewers would regularly ask them when they thought the “bubble will burst” and their popularity would fade.
Their live concerts consistently broke attendance records, and their growth in musicianship and songwriting provided a template for newer as well as already established acts to follow in nurturing for their own growth and success. Nearly every subsequent single release thereafter had raced up the charts, either reaching the summit or only just missing it. Their explosive emergence in America in 1964 soon saw them holding down the entire Top Five positions on the Billboard singles chart (April 4th, 1964). By 1968, many were likely of the opinion that the bloom of the rose that was The Beatles' career had seen its day and was in the process of eventually of wilting away to nothing.
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