Get Back

[Vistalite Black]

I finally finished the Disney Beatles® documentary by Peter Jackson, the director of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey , The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014).

I won't question whether the 7-hour Beatles documentary was too long. I'm sure it was necessary to include footage of Yoko Ono caterwauling in each of the three episodes.

But, I do have a question: Given the 6.5-hour buildup to the rooftop "concert," was it a good decision to interrupt each song for man-on-the-street interviews asking, "Do you know who's on the roof?'

FWIW, most people in central London in 1969 correctly guessed the enormous crowd and media had assembled for the Beatles.

 

[hsosdrum]

... But, I do have a question: Given the 6.5-hour buildup to the rooftop "concert," was it a good decision to interrupt each song for man-on-the-street interviews asking, "Do you know who's on the roof?' FWIW, most people in central London in 1969 correctly guessed the enormous crowd and media had assembled for the Beatles.

Having not been on stage for 3 years I'm sure the band dicked-around some between the songs. The man-in-the-street interviews probably replaced that stuff.

P.S. How nice of you to finally actually watch something you've been criticizing sight-unseen for months, not that it lends your criticisms any particular validity.

 

[BennyK]

I watched the whole thing too . Understand that I grew up with the Beatles this Beatles that hysteria as it happened . It was the fabric woven into our daily existence . However ,this film shed a significantly different light on the lads from Liverpool . Harrison - the brooding genius, McCartney the insecure disciplinarian ,Lennon with his vaguely sinister overtures .These qualities weren't apparent on Beatles cards or fanzines . Ringo emerges as the most confident,stable , sober (?) , and sharply attired .

It was so English ,I half expected Austin Powers to stroll into the picture .

Glad I watched it .

 

[Cauldronics]

I don't know if it was mentioned yet in the thread, but I believe that the reason Ringo's left eyebrow appears thin and mangy is that he and Bonham were mucking it up at a pool party not long before the filming of Get Back. After Ringo passed out at the party, Bonzo decided to shave off his eyebrow, and there you have the reason he looks a little odd throughout the film. Edit: Actually, in the pic it looks like both eyebrows went missing, so maybe I'm wrong.

 

[JDA]

my final or last thoughts on the Beatles is that they were a Collective of where ,what and what occurred to Humanity at the same time. Anyone at the same time - and the whole world did this at the same time- put the 45 rpm record Charlie Brown on a turntable and also the B-side Three Cool Cats- (add a dash of besame mucho) all humanity reached the same similar conclusion at the same time And it was the Beatles that encapsulated this collective time conclusion. The world turned in their direction and was in step. Humanity reached the same conclusion The Beatles encapsulated it. Because they too felt it. McCartney especially had a clear sense of what this collective sigh-sign-was. Everyone knew it Everyone around the globe knew it was the next logical extension and flocked to it.

 

[Vicey]

I don't know if it was mentioned yet in the thread, but I believe that the reason Ringo's left eyebrow appears thin and mangy is that he and Bonham were mucking it up at a pool party not long before the filming of Get Back. After Ringo passed out at the party, Bonzo decided to shave off his eyebrow, and there you have the reason he looks a little odd throughout the film. Edit: Actually, in the pic it looks like both eyebrows went missing, so maybe I'm wrong.

View attachment 534114

Bang bang Bonzo's wooden hammer came down upon his head.

 

[Vistalite Black]

Having not been on stage for 3 years I'm sure the band dicked-around some between the songs. The man-in-the-street interviews probably replaced that stuff.

P.S. How nice of you to finally actually watch something you've been criticizing sight-unseen for months, not that it lends your criticisms any particular validity.

The

I watched the whole thing too . Understand that I grew up with the Beatles this Beatles that hysteria as it happened . It was the fabric woven into our daily existence . However ,this film shed a significantly different light on the lads from Liverpool . Harrison - the brooding genius, McCartney the insecure disciplinarian ,Lennon with his Manson like overtures .These qualities weren't apparent on Beatles cards or fanzines . Ringo emerges as the most confident,stable , sober (?) , and sharply attired .

It was so English ,I half expected Austin Powers to stroll into the picture .

Glad I watched it .

What do you mean by "Lennon with his Manson like overtures." ?

 

[BennyK]

edited

manson like a wee bit harsh agreed

 

[Vistalite Black]

Having not been on stage for 3 years I'm sure the band dicked-around some between the songs. The man-in-the-street interviews probably replaced that stuff.

P.S. How nice of you to finally actually watch something you've been criticizing sight-unseen for months, not that it lends your criticisms any particular validity.

The man-in-the-street interviews were aired in "Get Back" in the middle of the Beatles performing multiple songs. There's top-flight audio of the actual performance ... I have it on a bootleg LP.

It surprises me that I have to explain that a person can appreciate and even love a documentary -- or another type of art -- while not receiving it with no questions and no critical examination.

As an example, I continue to wonder, "Was it necessary to feature Yoko One screaming as music is played" in all three episodes?

Having John and Ringo egging her on after Harrison stormed out was so odd that I'm genuinely surprised the Hobbit trilogy director didn't provide more context on it.

I also wonder if anyone else suspects John and Paul were in on the microphone-in-the-plant thing beforehand?

 

[ThomFloor]

I don't know if it was mentioned yet in the thread, but I believe that the reason Ringo's left eyebrow appears thin and mangy is that he and Bonham were mucking it up at a pool party not long before the filming of Get Back. After Ringo passed out at the party, Bonzo decided to shave off his eyebrow, and there you have the reason he looks a little odd throughout the film. Edit: Actually, in the pic it looks like both eyebrows went missing, so maybe I'm wrong.

View attachment 534114

This picture is post-Get Back, likley well into the 70's. John Bonham was thin as a rail in and around 1970.

 

[wflkurt]

I got through all three installments and I absolutely loved it. So many cool things to witness and I am just floored that so much was caught on camera. It really sent me down a rabbit hole the last few weeks as I have been listening to let It Be (I'm loving the naked version) and Abbey Road. After listening to the naked version, I think the mix makes Ringo's drums stand out so much better. I had always thought Ringo's playing was too light on The Long and Winding Road but I now realize it was mixed that way by Spector. Not that Ringo was bashing by any means but he was hitting those things.

I too was just blown away by how they could literally start with nothing and turn all those ideas into an album (and some for the next album). I could also feel for George and I love the songs he came up with. I do find it ironic that he wrote Here Comes the Sun mostly out of frustration in dealing with Beatle business and it is the number one downloaded song on Spotify. Ironically John is not even on that song either as it is just the other three. I'm also a studio geek and love the behind the scenes of how albums and movies are made. I have listened to the Let it be album for years and I just never put it together that several of the songs from the album are combined versions from the rooftop concert. I guess I just assumed that all the audio tracks were done in the studio as I would think that being outside in January on a roof would be less than ideal to record. I mean they didn't have guitar tuners in those days and not one of them asked Billy Preston for an A so they could tune to him!

The footage looks crisp and clean and I loved how Peter Jackson made a point to subtitle conversations and name different people that were not known to most. My ringing ears would never have understood half of those conversations. I definitely need to re-watch this again sometime when I have a good chunk of time to waste. My wife watched some of the rooftop concert but I would seriously doubt she would be able to watch much of the studio stuff. I also had to go back to Gary Astridge's awesome page to geek out on Ringo's maple set a little more. I knew it was a '67 set but I didn't know it was ordered in the spring-summer of '68. I don't quite understand how Ludwig built a set like this in March of '67 (which would have been a unique set in '67 as thermogloss maple was pretty much a jazzette thing) and it sat around for pretty much a year. That is very confusing to me.

 

[JDA]

"Three Cool Cats" was one of the fifteen songs recorded by The Beatles for their Decca Records audition on New Year's Day in 1962 in London.[1] The Beatles' cover version featured George Harrison's vocals and Pete Best on drums

 

[TheDrummerFromAmsterdam]

Almost done.

It truly was the Paul McCartney band (not a bad thing for me, but George not speaking up enough as I felt he wanted, was interesting to see).


Did I say Yoko.

Like that girlfriend of your best friend that goes along un-invited to everything you and the guys want to do.

Funny thing though, I actually had such a friend with such a girlfriend (which I hooked him up to even).

 

[bpaluzzi]

Almost done.

It truly was the Paul McCartney band (not a bad thing for me, but George not speaking up enough as I felt he wanted, was interesting to see).


Did I say Yoko.

Like that girlfriend of your best friend that goes along un-invited to everything you and the guys want to do.

Funny thing though, I actually had such a friend with such a girlfriend (which I hooked him up to even).

Yoko wasn't there because she wanted to be there. Yoko was there because, at that point in his life, John _needed_ her to be there.

 

[TheDrummerFromAmsterdam]

Yoko wasn't there because she wanted to be there. Yoko was there because, at that point in his life, John _needed_ her to be there.

Still the same to me.

It didn’t looked liked she didn’t liked to be there.

It came over as quite cringeworthy to me, especially compared to Linda who was there too but was far from intrusive/clingy.

 

[Vistalite Black]

Yoko wasn't there because she wanted to be there. Yoko was there because, at that point in his life, John _needed_ her to be there.

“Needed her there” to read the paper? And sort her mail?

 

[Whitten]

I guess they were innovating again. It was about making the work day inclusive, with wife and kids present, rather than a boys club.
Paul didn't want to spend much time apart from Linda, and I guess John was the same.
Linda played on tour with us, and she was a great presence to have around, just a nice positive person. We had all the kids on the road too.

 

[wflkurt]

I guess they were innovating again. It was about making the work day inclusive, with wife and kids present, rather than a boys club.
Paul didn't want to spend much time apart from Linda, and I guess John was the same.
Linda played on tour with us, and she was a great presence to have around, just a nice positive person. We had all the kids on the road too.

I like how Paul had her with him all the time. It kept them together and I'm sure it helped their relationship in the long run. I saw a quote from him once that was a response to someone that was giving him crap about her being on stage with him. His response was something like "Hey I'll put my cat up there if I want to."

I thought that was pretty funny.

 

[jptrickster]

It mentions their early gigs at the Cavern being 8 hrs.

For a 100 quid ea!

 

[jptrickster]

Totally late to the party . We saved this movie for our little NYE get together last night, by midnite everyone had and english accent and was rip roaring bloody drunk!

I really enjoyed it , have to watch again missed most of it, was tending the fire outside.
Was mezmorized by Ringo's drums and that bass in your face sound , phenomenal! ( Taking the reso off today lol)
So wild and amazing to witness these songs unfold from noodling to the finish product.

Have much the same face as Ringo (blank stare) at those long drawn out rehearsals, I give him credit, not easy while working out chords/structure/harmonies for hours on end and just sitting there (not noodling away! )
Interesting, 2&4 he had going on early run Get Back.....didn't see at what point he it changed to the galloping snare which is totally brilliant. Must watch again!!(sober) HNY!