The Beatles: All US Number Ones Ranked Worst To Best
11. Get Back
17th Number One, 1969 - Written by Paul McCartney
By early 1969, the four members of the Beatles were so at odds with each other that Paul thought it might be a good idea for them to go back to their origins, by performing new songs in front of a live audience. That's how the legendary concert atop the Apple Corps building came to happen. For the session, George brought in a keyboardist, his friend Billy Preston, to help alleviate some of the in-group strain.
Despite the good intentions, the animosity remained, the project was short-lived, and the concert was shut down. Nevertheless, Get Back, one of the resulting songs, sounds playful and fun, as if performed by the best of friends, all in sync with one another. Speculation has arisen that the song's lyrics ('Get back to where you once belonged') might have alluded to Yoko Ono, but it's best to believe they stand for the original idea of the band going back to their roots. That, or it's complete nonsense.
Fun Fact: For his role in this song, Billy Preston was the only other artist to be credited as a performer in a single with The Beatles as they became known to the world, though Tony Sheridan was billed in a few pre-Ringo releases.