Charlie O. wrote:Firstly, Bob was still in the band when "Regular" was recorded; he didn't play on that song (nor very much on the rest of the album, apparently), but he obviously didn't veto it.
Secondly, Bob had his soft side. I once watched him onstage as Paul sang "If Only You Were Lonely" solo, and it was nakedly plain that Bob utterly adored the song and was proud to be in a band with the guy who wrote and sang it. So I'm not so sure he would have resisted "Skyway" (even if Westerberg was afraid Tommy and Chris might).
I also heard that, while he is formally listed on the album, he was hardly there for Tim if at all. I would be surprised if he had any veto power at all to say what to record.
Just to be clear on this, the thing that sounds different about "Skyway" isn't that it's acoustic. It's its sentimentality. I don't think this would have gotten through in an earlier edition of the band. There are deliberate things that Westerberg is doing vocally to push certain buttons, things that were kept in check on Let It Be.