The Beatles: Get Back

Yeah, thought that was amazing too. “Here’s one I wrote last night, what do you think ?” Then launches into a pretty fully formed I Me Mine. Fascinating, as was McCartney with fledgling versions of Let it Be, Long and Winding Road (with Mal Evans helping him with the lyrics !) Two of Us and Another Day. Not to mention the evolution of Get Back and a couple of tunes that ended up on Abbey Road, She Came in Through Bathroom Window and Golden Slumbers. What was striking was the emergence of George (All Things Must Pass has been mentioned already) and the relatively meagre contribution of Lennon (so far, have only watched episode) All we’ve really heard from him so far is Gimme Some Truth, Don’t Let Me Down and his part in I’ve Got a Feeling (Loved Georges sarky “Is this one called I’ve Got a Feeling ?”). McCartney by contrast was right at the top of his game and in the middle of a purple patch. (We’ll excuse him Maxwells Silver Hammer !)

Interesting too that while we’ve heard so much about Yokos presence over the years ( and you can see how much it must have annoyed the others- Christ, the bit where she joins in on “vocals”) she wasn’t the only one hanging around. George had a couple of his Hari Krishna buddies there, and Linda also makes an appearance.

Lyndsey Hoggs fixation with Libya was amusing alright, and some of the suggestions, such as playing on a cruise ship and bring a boatload of Brits over with them were bonkers.

The bit with Dick James talking about buying publishing for Northern songs was interesting too, given what later transpired. He seemed like a real snake oil salesman and you could see that the band were barely tolerating him, McCartney particularly.

I’m lapping it up anyway. Someone earlier mentioned the casual viewer, but frankly, to hell with him (or her) 😀 This is for us Beatles nerds

Just started episode 2.

I'm amazed by some of the footage: McCartney sitting in silent thought contemplating the potential break up of the band, his eyes glassy with tears.

And the captured conversation between Lennon and McCartney is revalatory: "You were always the boss and I was the secondary boss."

I'm glad this exists this way. It's not a film as such, more a historical document.

I loved how polite the people were when they were being interviewed about what they thought of the live music even if they didn’t like it.

Also the police officer was so funny, All I could think was man if he could see the world today a band playing on the roof would be a nice break from everything else the police face today.

I agree re Lindsay-Hogg (Irish actress mum btw and his passport is ours - and after years of rumours her friends confirmed that he was Orson Welles' son after her death) but we've got to give him credit for getting all that work done, particularly the filming for the rooftop gig. Amazing work having all those cameras on the Apple roof alongside the other roof, the street stuff and the hidden one for the hapless police. They got every angle you'd possibly want to cover that event.

And btw George Martin sounds posh but isn't. He grew up during the great depression in a house in Highbury without electricity and running water, his mum a maid and his dad a carpenter in and out of work. He did well at school and became a Royal Navy officer during World War II. I guess he altered his accent to fit in with the posh officers but had much more in common with The Beatles than many others they dealt with. Far less posh than John Lennon for starters. And how suave does he always look? In this doc, as always, he comes across as the consummate gentleman.

Would suggest giving All Things Must Pass a listen (loud) after watching the doc. Havent really listened to it in a few years but it really brings a lot of stuff into focus. Totally different album after seeing the doc.

There's a touching moment early in the first part where George is telling Paul how great it is for him to be involved in the creative process of getting the songs together and that prior to the previous album (the White Album I guess) he hadn't been that involved. Paul just shrugs.

George obviously idolised John and Paul and really want to work more closely with them on his and their songs, but they were only interested in working with each other and begrudgingly allowed George a couple of songs per album.

I saw a later interview with George where it was suggested that Paul may want to write some songs with him (this was around the time Paul was collaborating with Elvis Costello). George answered to the effect that Paul had had 30 years to ask him to write a song and he wasn't going to start now.

I actually found the entire thing quite surreal. Amazed how creative yet loose everything was and how it all came together so quickly. Basically the making of Let It Be and most of Abbey Road. In 22 days. From scractch.

Does anyone know if this will be available on Blu Ray?

The comment about George Martin delegating to Glynn Johns is true, but also because he was fed up with their antics in the studio.

Remember he had been told by John that this next album (the "live" album) was going to have "none of your trickery".

I meant in the sense of grander onstage performances rather than just purely musical output.

Just on associated books. I got "The Lyrics" by McCartney a couple of weeks back. Almost finished A - L. Its a brilliant read, alot of anecdotes about the songs, the thought processes behind them, the collaborations etc. Loads of unseen photos too, alot taken by Linda. Highly recommended. You can get it on Amazon for around €60 or thereabouts.

I was going to say Mal Evans! I read up on him on wiki after and while most of his life story with the Beatles sounds like great craic (he lived with different members at different times, went on holidays with them and the name Sgt Pepper came off the back of him), post the Beatles gets a bit depressing. They would never give him a raise for all his years working with them, even though he would have got promotions over time. He was struggling with debts and his wife left him. He was depressed in L.A. during this time while finishing his memoirs about his time with the Beatles. He had picked up an air rifle and the cops were called. They shot and killed him. None of the Beatles were at his funeral.

Just too much cash for me so ordered from my local library. Sounds brilliant and I'd trust Paul Muldoon to word it well, three years taken iin going oveer it with Macca. And how good would this launch have been?

Finished watching this on Saturday over a marathon 5 hour period.

It. Is. Absolutely. Glorious. Simply Outstanding. (I'd be a big enough fan of The Beatles, but not a mega fan, that's reserved for Pink Floyd).

Quite possibly the greatest documentary I've ever seen. It felt like at times I was there in the studio with them.

There were moments, and I'm not afraid to admit, but there were moments where I was genuinely crying tears of joy. Like when the message would come up on screen that "This version appears on the album Let It Be" and then you knew, you were watching them perform the version of the song(s) that you've known your whole life.... Then they're doing the various versions of 'Get Back' and it's sounding tighter and tighter each time they do it, and you're thinking this is it, this is the one, this is the version, and then no its not, and they go again, and it gets even closer and closer.... and then that message pops up in yellow font.... It was just magical.

So many moments of it brought so much joy, like when Billy Preston arrived and became that missing piece of the jigsaw, or the police men during the roof performances, and Paul's reaction to seeing them... or in episode 1, where they are showing John some concept images of what the live show might look like, and you hear Paul in the background working out the piano arrangement for 'Let it Be'.

I turned 40 a few weeks ago, and from then til now, not much has gone on in my life..... in that same amount of time, they wrote & recorded Let It Be.

I'll show this to my mother, she'll love it. I wish my dad was still around to see this, he'd have loved it.

This has left a lasting impression on me, and I really hope it dispels any myths out there that the recording of 'Let it Be' was fractured and tension filled, which it seems couldn't be further from the truth. 4 lads on top of their game.

Outstanding.