Let It Be / Get Back (the movie)
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Beatles4Ever wrote:
Yankeefan2 wrote:
Beatles4Ever wrote:
Yankeefan2 wrote:
Just finished Part 1 and here are some of my random thoughts.
All you ever hear about is the Lennon-McCartney songwriting partnership and it takes something like this documentary to remind you how well they sounded together vocally.
I knew Paul smoked but it seems he liked cigars which I did not know.
One of my favorite scenes is Paul playing piano (Let It Be) with Mal Evans and Ringo with him and Linda McCartney taking pictures.
Years ago in the movie "Let It Be" I thought Paul came off as bossy to George, now I think it was partly George being too sensitive. I was shocked to hear George say he did not want one of his songs to be in live performance.
Was fun to hear the beginning of songs that would eventualy be on their solo albums.
How would you have liked to have been a "fly on the wall" and know what Yoko Ono and Linda McCartney were talking about to each other?
When George walked off and said he was leaving the band, they seem to carry on and having fun without him -lol.
This documentary is not for a casual fan, you really have to be into the Beatles to get the full enjoyment IMO.
Linda was new to Paul, so she was new to the others. I doubt she had ever met Yoko before that day. But who knows what they were saying to each other. It all seemed new to them to be chatting together. George was "too sensitive" because he was fed up with being totally ignored...by both Paul and John, especially since he actually brought songs to the sessions. John seemed to only have "Don't Let Me Down," which he sang constatly...that and old rock n'roll songs....as if the pending deadline for new material didn't exist. Paul dismissed George almost totally as far as I could see....merely pretending to have any interest in what songs George might have....or to give a sincere listen. I sorta loved when Paul sang over and over and over the words......"I've Got a Feeling." Finally, George deadpanned....."So, it's called I've got a Feeling, is it?" lol Paul deserved some sarcasm from George....IMO....particularly when he told Paul he would do whatever Paul wanted him to do...."If you know what any of that is." But....Paul had to be the taskmaster. It seemed to be his role and he took it very seriously. And he obviously had tons of songs. Both Glynn Johns and Lindsay-Michael Hogg...or is it Michael-Lindsay Hogg??... were the same age as the Beatles....except for George who was maybe 3 years younger. Didn't quite know that before. It was interesting to see George Martin enter now and then, more or less just observing. I wonder what he was actually thinking???
Linda made comment that she felt most comfortable around Ringo then the others which was interesting. George made comment that he did not want any of his songs used for the live show so maybe Paul figured why bother giving his songs a "sincere" listen. George used sarcasm to Paul ( I Got A Feeling) which was fine and I thought it was funny but did you see Paul get upset, I didn't -lol. Paul was the taskmaster because John did not appear into it and Paul only considered John his equal at that time. I give George credit for trying and was pleasantly impressed how involved he tried to be. Anyway, will try to watch Part 2-3 soon.
Billy Preston showing up saved the day!!!! they all seemed to perk up and start taking it all more seriously. He instinctively knew what to play for each song. It was interesting to see how George's ideas for how Get Back could be improved...the structure, where and when solos be inserted...guitar and then piano. Paul listened then. They all seemed to waste endless amaounts of time. I guess I don't really understand the whole recording process. They seemed to record snatches of songs....go into the control boothe and give a listen and then add a bit more. It all seemed odd how songs are put together. There was so much time wasted during Part II that I really got irritated. Were I just a casual fan, I would have tuned out. Unless there were lots of bits not included, I could not get much of an idea of how the songs' structures came together. I finally learned why John played lead guitar on Get back...George had quit the group when that part was decided...and why George did not perform I, Me, Mine on the roof. He didn't want any of his songs performed. Was he just being stubborn..or was he nervous about performing, didn't want any concert, or what? When he returned to the band, however, he was much more invested...and not afraid to make his ideas known. I kind of wondered just what exactly Michael-Lindsay Hogg was doing, how any of it consisted of or was considered directing???? He mostly just laughed about whatever the Beatles were commenting about....and it was all over the place, especailly John's spouting off about whatever. It was nice when somebody finally said.....You have to do a good job, you're The Beatles!! I thought....thank you. They needed reminding of that, it seemed. Maybe they just knew they could and would pull it off.
My uncle was a recording engineer for Capitol Records back in the 50's and 60's and from what I remember from his stories was the recording process is basically what you are seeing on "Get Back".
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Yankeefan2 wrote:
Just finished Part 2 and some random thoughts.
Billy Preston visiting and then playing on some sessions made the guys behave better (lol) and made them seem to enjoy playing together more.
Moving to Abbey Road studios also helped their mood due to better conditions and probably closer to where they lived.
Found it interesting that George asked Paul where his "Rickenbacker" bass was IMO implying it would be better for the "Get Back" than the Hofner bass.
Ringo constantly looks tired and is caught yawning several times, he is also very quiet and you barely hear a word from him. In addition, he seems to be the only one who is into wearing "jeans". I think he wore some type every day -lol.
Incredible period of songwriting considering songs they were doing would end up on "Let It Be", "Abbey Road" and their respective solo albums.
Got a kick out of Paul and Ringo checking out the "rooftop" for possible location of concert.
Unlike Yoko (lol), Patti Harrison is on camera a few seconds walking quickly to George and giving him a kiss.
Was cool hearing them chat about their trip to India with the Maharishi.
You left out: And John finally washed his hair!
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Well, they moved into Apple Studios... but had a shite load of equipment shipped in from Abbey Road.
I loved their little snipe about "Magic Alex"... the Anthology book makes it pretty clear about him... he promised a lot... but delivered nothing... George talks about that best.
John was enamoured with Allen Klein... I liked how Glynn kinda gave warning signs... which were obviously ignored.
Sadly.
But, the album they were looking at presenting... a combination of the eventual Let it Be and Abbey Road... would've been great...
But I can't argue with what we eventually got... Abbey Road is probably my favourite, and the songs were no longer in a "hurry".
I think Let it Be is still great... contains five or six epic songs.
And I think some of the songs they did that didn't make either cut, which ended up on solo albums, were just as magnificent. .. which was funny, too, cos two or three of them didn't make the first solo albums... but were rather held off until their second releases.
What a band.
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And I also got the feeling that none of them realised how great the song Let it Be was...or The Long and Winding Road.
Well... maybe Paul did.
Both eventual Number Ones.
Both songs are part of Beatles folklore.
But both songs seemed to be performed in the doco under sufferance.... well, by the non-Paul contingent.
But they are two of my favourite songs.
I phucking love them.
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Another fave moment...
John talking about how stoned he got the night before...
Paul was like, in business mode.... cos he knows how stuff leads to headlines.... something like...
"Well, do we need to mention this, Mister Lennon?"
Classic.
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toris wrote:
Well, they moved into Apple Studios... but had a shite load of equipment shipped in from Abbey Road.
That has been the long held view but quite recently Dhani Harrison has said that it was his dads 8 track set-up that was temporarily installed at Apple.
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Nancy R wrote:
Yankeefan2 wrote:
Just finished Part 2 and some random thoughts.
Billy Preston visiting and then playing on some sessions made the guys behave better (lol) and made them seem to enjoy playing together more.
Moving to Abbey Road studios also helped their mood due to better conditions and probably closer to where they lived.
Found it interesting that George asked Paul where his "Rickenbacker" bass was IMO implying it would be better for the "Get Back" than the Hofner bass.
Ringo constantly looks tired and is caught yawning several times, he is also very quiet and you barely hear a word from him. In addition, he seems to be the only one who is into wearing "jeans". I think he wore some type every day -lol.
Incredible period of songwriting considering songs they were doing would end up on "Let It Be", "Abbey Road" and their respective solo albums.
Got a kick out of Paul and Ringo checking out the "rooftop" for possible location of concert.
Unlike Yoko (lol), Patti Harrison is on camera a few seconds walking quickly to George and giving him a kiss.
Was cool hearing them chat about their trip to India with the Maharishi.
You left out: And John finally washed his hair!
Yes! It looked stringy most of the time....as did Paul's all too frequently...and looked nice and full when John finally washed it!! Paul couldn't seem to keep his hands from running through his hair. He did have some nice sweaters, however. The concert made it all worthwhile!!! The payoff!!! It was exciting to watch and hear! I knew, of course, that they were a great band...and excellent musicians, but we never fully heard them play a song all the way through until the rooftop. Wish there had been more songs....such as George doing I, Me, Mine. And I would have loved to see complete videos of Paul and the others doing Let It Be and The Long and Winding Road all the way through. They could not do those on the roof, but maybe included them from studio performances. And .....it would have been nice to hear Two of Us on the rooftop. It would not have been a loud rocker, but nice for that portion. Some of the crowd's comments were priceless and lol funny. Some lady complaining that all the noise woke her up from her nap....and didn't they have enough money already....and do their playing somewhere else! Dear lady: They were The Beatles. You should have thanked your lucky stars to have been there. One final thought.....I could not quite believe how John was so hoodwinked and taken in by Allen Klein. Didn't he learn anything from the Maharishi about what a con artist looks and sounds like??? And why didn't the Stones warn him? He was bilking them and they said nothing knowing what Klein was up to with The Beatles? Maybe they wanted Klein to do them in!! I believe Glynn Johns warned John.....Klein was slick in that right in the middle of a conversation when a question was asked, he would quickly and deftly change the subject. Anyway, I have much more respect for Let It Be, the album. I haven't thought that highly of it over the years, but now have much greater appreciation. It has some great songs on it....including three number one songs. There really is no song I don't like on it.....I did some slight editing: Removed the snatches/bits of Maggie Mae and Dig It and added Don't Let Me Down, since it clearly belongs on the album.
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Finished the 3rd episode tonights and some random notes.
The rooftop concert reminded all of us once again how much Paul loves playing live and how excellent he was back then and years to come in concert.
One of the few moments Paul seemed to be enjoying himself with George was when George was doing "Old Brown Shoe".
I did not know before tonight Paul's brother Mike was at the studio for these sessions.
It was cute seeing Paul play with his adopted daughter Heather.
If the Beatles had lasted longer, I wonder if Billy Preston would have played with them again.
John really seemed to enjoy singing 50's rock.
Got a kick out of all of them including wives/GF listening to the playback tapes of the rooftop concert.
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I won't repeat what's been said by others, but this show had so many magic moments. The mood shift with the move to Abbey Road and Billy Preston joining is just astonishing. Speaking of Billy Preston, I confess that I had no idea until someone on Twitter pointed it out that Preston had been a child prodigy. Here he is at age 11 on
in 1957. Absolutely astonishing. -
Kestrel wrote:
toris wrote:
Well, they moved into Apple Studios... but had a shite load of equipment shipped in from Abbey Road.
That has been the long held view but quite recently Dhani Harrison has said that it was his dads 8 track set-up that was temporarily installed at Apple.
Very true, Kestrel... that got a mention... George was certainly instrumental in this period of the band... From that... to his involvement in trying to achieve their objective.... he was great... he offered his opinions on songs more than anyone else... apart from Paul, of course... helped Ringo through Octopus' Garden...he was a shining light throughout... And, of course, he was just on the precipice of releasing some of his "greats"... even though he was already performing a couple of them in front of Paul and John during those sessions....
Even though George famously walked out... this was perhaps the making of him... As you know, Frank Sinatra thought Something was Lennon-McCartney's greatest song... But Elvis singing it.... the greatest compliment of all.
I think these sessions were the making of George...
That being said...I think Long, Long, Long is simply gorgeous.
But the whole thing... George walked out of the shadows of this experience... whether it be in Twickenham or Apple... in one magnificent way.
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Yankeefan2 wrote:
Finished the 3rd episode tonights and some random notes.
The rooftop concert reminded all of us once again how much Paul loves playing live and how excellent he was back then and years to come in concert.
One of the few moments Paul seemed to be enjoying himself with George was when George was doing "Old Brown Shoe".
I did not know before tonight Paul's brother Mike was at the studio for these sessions.
It was cute seeing Paul play with his adopted daughter Heather.
If the Beatles had lasted longer, I wonder if Billy Preston would have played with them again.
John really seemed to enjoy singing 50's rock.
Got a kick out of all of them including wives/GF listening to the playback tapes of the rooftop concert.
If the Beatles had lasted longer?....interesting, that one, Yankee Fan... Cos I still reckon if they were still together in 1971... it might've been the greatest album they ever did!.. And it might have been a double-album.
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toris wrote:
That being said...I think Long, Long, Long is simply gorgeous.
That song is very high in my favourite Top 10 tracks by the Beatles. Here Comes The Sun, Something and While My Guitar Gently Weeps might be better known but I'll take Long Long Long over those tracks anytime.
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Kestrel wrote:
toris wrote:
That being said...I think Long, Long, Long is simply gorgeous.
That song is very high in my favourite Top 10 tracks by the Beatles. Here Comes The Sun, Something and While My Guitar Gently Weeps might be better known but I'll take Long Long Long over those tracks anytime.
And I'm so pleased that the remixed White Album FINALLY made that gorgeous song much more audible. That might be my favorite thing about the whole project to improve the sound quality!!!
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Yankeefan2 wrote:
Finished the 3rd episode tonights and some random notes.
The rooftop concert reminded all of us once again how much Paul loves playing live and how excellent he was back then and years to come in concert.
One of the few moments Paul seemed to be enjoying himself with George was when George was doing "Old Brown Shoe".
I did not know before tonight Paul's brother Mike was at the studio for these sessions.
It was cute seeing Paul play with his adopted daughter Heather.
If the Beatles had lasted longer, I wonder if Billy Preston would have played with them again.
John really seemed to enjoy singing 50's rock.
Got a kick out of all of them including wives/GF listening to the playback tapes of the rooftop concert.
Yes, he did like that one....."Old Brown Shoe." That was pleasing to see! Too bad it didn't make it onto the album. Billy Preston was with them pretty much through the early part of Abbey Road. Does some great organ work on I Want You. Love seeing/hearing Heather do her Yoko bit!! That was amusing. So much brought a smile to my face, seeing Ringo handing Yoko a stick of gum and her smiling back at him so warmly. Loved watching the faces of the Beatles....both when playing and listening to the playback tapes back inside. It was like....."Damn, we pulled it off so very very well. " In a way, I think their performance possibly surprised them a bit....just the greatness of it all. Love watching Mo bounce her head along to the music....especially "Get Back." She clearly was a huge fanof the band....and had stood in line to see them at The Cavern. That's why Paul said "Thanks, Mo" at the end of the rooftop. John did like 50's music. I think he spent too much time on it....but.....I think he was coming more and more under the influence....his heroin additction was taking over a bit.
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Great Rolling Stone article listing some "Get Back" highlights"
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/beatles-get-back-best-moments-1263945/
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Bruce M. wrote:
Great Rolling Stone article listing some "Get Back" highlights"
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/beatles-get-back-best-moments-1263945/
That was a great read, Bruce.
When I watched this special, I was shocked that there was a secret hidden mike recording private conversations between Paul and John.... I'd never heard that had happened before... Very inappropriate... I wonder at what stage (or year) Paul and John realised that had happened... I imagine neither would have been too happy.
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This article gives details on Mal Evans involvement as the police came up to the rooftop concert. Mal was going to be arrested but Paul interceded.
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An extensive interview with Michael Lindsay-Hogg about filming "Let It Be" .
https://variety.com/2021/music/news/michael-lindsay-hogg-director-let-it-be-get-back-1235130999/
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I don't think oobu ever posted this video she sent me:
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Newmacca_322681 wrote:
I don't think oobu ever posted this video she sent me:
Thanks, Nancy. The host is John Harris, who edited the Get Back transcript book.
Here's a 1973 interview with John Lennon. John says that he has split from Allen Klein and he concedes that possibly Paul's suspicions were right.