The Afterword

Musings on the byways of popular culture

Menu

Navigation

You are here: Home / Forum / Get Back, anybody watching?

Get Back, anybody watching?

by 331 Comments

I loved it. With the caveat that there is a lot of bits where the non-fan will get bored. But seeing them do the Third Man theme, Linda and Yoko having a laugh together, Mal Evans hitting an anvil, John and Paul singing Two Of Us at the same mic, George Martin looking suave and Ringo being Ringo is brilliant. Eight hours of this is probably not enough.

0

Comments

  3. I was looking forward to this, but I’ve been completely put off by the news that it is eight hours long. Wish they’d stuck to the original feature length idea with the extra footage hived off to bluray extras or whatever.

    • I was mildly interested, thinking it would be a window into the era or whatever, but watched half an hour or so and checked out. I conclude that it’s definitely a fans-only thing. I found it pretty dull, and definitely won’t be investing 8 hours.

      • The third episode is definitely a ‘window into the era’. During the rooftop concert there is a great deal of footage from the street and various insights to be gleaned there. Sgt Kenrick has been planted, surely – a character out of Yellow Submarine.

  7. The deciding factor to subscribe for a month was that we get to see Summer of Soul as well… and already have.

    Get Back is fabulous. Seen the first part and couldn’t take my eyes off it.
    Still think some sort of edited cinema release would have been nice though.

    Biggest revelation? How useless Lennon is, and this extended version of events does him NO favours at all… at least not in Part 1.
    His contribution in the first 2 1/2 hours is Don’t Let Me Down, worked on considerably by the others while he stares blankly, and (the already recorded in early 68) Across the Universe.

    George brings in All Things Must Pass, Isn’t It A Pity, For You Blue and I, Me, Mine and I can’t help but feel that if he’d shown the lack of enthusiasm that John does, George would have been discarded quicker than a betting slip for Tottenham to win a trophy.

    The hero? Paul, who not only looks the best but starts up pretty much all the memorable songs on the L.P. AND proceeds to do a significant amount of Abbey Road.
    Oh, and Linda is so beautiful.

    • Lennon useless? Well it’s relative. On “The Beatles” album 2 months earlier he was absolutely brilliant. He didn’t have many new songs and he was strung up on heroin, so not on top of his game

    • I’m now two episodes in and enjoying it much more than I’d expected as a non-fan. A lot of the time I like the recognition of seeing it’s just like me and my mates when we discuss what chords we’re supposed to be playing etc.
      But speaking as someone who didn’t know much about them before, it’s my opinion of John that has been most revised. I always assumed he was quite an aggressive, sarcastic, caustic chap. But, unlike a lot of the comments here, to me he comes over as surprisingly playful, funny, easy-going and quite sweet. I liked him a lot more than I thought I would. (Whereas George seems a bit humourless and miserable rather than just “quiet”. Yoko was “the quiet one”.)

      • ..with the qualification “at the period of time depicted”. Maybe George’s tendency to remain quiet is why his unease can simmer all the way up to resentment at this stage. John already seems like two different people in the hours we see.
        Don’t forget – an alien drawn to watching this by the legend of The Beatles might think this was as good as the music got, rather than the periodically feisty latter hours of what had earlier been a thrilling life-landmark party..

  8. I’ve already told Junior this on Facebook, but I’m sure he can stand to read it again…

    I found it fascinating yet strangely boring…like every band practice I’ve ever been in. Always someone noodling away to himself and not paying attention, someone suddenly getting bored with what they’re doing, usually in the middle of a song…but George’s walkout was electrifying.

  10. The highlight of part one for me was witnessing the genesis of Get Back.
    Watching Paul seizing on the germ of an idea and then developing the song in front of the camera was spellbinding.
    All the while George is watching in awe and eventually joins in trying to aid Paul in his creation of a Beatles classic.
    Wonderful stuff.

  11. Almost finished Part 1. I’m struck by how much more I like Ringo now. He seems very astute and pragmatic. A steady voice of reason and support. Not the ‘cheeky one at the back’ of lore.

    A pal of mine, a Beatles obsessive and nearly a rock star in the 90’s, (so used to many similar band rehearsals) is not impressed with Part 1. He felt it was footage of frazzled stars sifting through their latter dregs with no spark to anything so far.

    Hmmm…

    • Last year I read “White Heat”, Dominic Sandbrook’s history of the 60s. There are three chapters devoted to the Beatles and Ringo is by far the Beatle that is portrayed most positively. He’s the only one that is described as having both feet on the ground by the end of the decade. Harrison and McCartney are also portrayed fairly positively. Lennon not so much.

  12. It’s hard enough to write a bad song but 10 plus good songs with all those people and lights and cameras and the weirdness of Yoko sitting there and George in a bad mood ( though a little misunderstood I think) and John strung out. It’s like watching cricket – you have to know what you’re watching for it to make any sense really . So I’m not sure why you feel your friend has a particular insight – given that they are yet to record Abbey Road it’s clear that they have plenty yet but the vision of what they wanted is eluding them and Paul just tries too hard.

    • Is this a reply for me? I don’t think he thinks he has any particular insight, it was merely just me giving a bit of context to his opinion so far. I’m assuming being in a full time band can make you empathetic to these rehearsal situations. I mentioned it because I was surprised by his opinion.

  15. I’m almost at the end of Part 1 as well. I’m absolutely loving it, but I can’t for the life of me see how anyone without an unhealthy obsession with the HJHs would last more than about 20 minutes.

    The bit where Paul starts riffing on Get Back is just spine-tingling (if you have an unhealthy …etc)

  16. Loving it. As Mike says it’s both riveting and boring. My Facebook is sticky with the jizz of elderly men who have finally discovered, after 50 years, that George did in fact have sugar in his tea on day three at Twickenham, but I have to admit to a slight tumescence myself. As buried treasure goes it’s up there with Tutankhamun.

  17. Jonathan Freedland waxes lyrical here.

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/nov/26/get-back-past-beatles-present-fab-four

    And even here, the ignorance that has characterised the coverage of this (a June 1968 picture of them on the front of the Radio Times, for example) is evident: “you want to urge the four of them to find a way to keep going, if only for a little longer” – they did, and and they made Abbey Road, mister so-called historian.

  18. John Lennon?
    The best second half showing since Liverpool F.C. in Istanbul!
    It’s two different people.

    I don’t need to own a copy of this after the subscription of one or (possibly) two months, but I do plan to get about three showings in – best way to do it, lump on while it’s there.

      • Of the Golden Age – Rock ‘n’ Roll to the end of the Beatles/Jimi – it is the latter bit which is way too over-subscribed, and its those first ten years I find myself exploring more and more as there are fewer chin-strokers (mostly dodgers) planting their size 10s all over it… Uncut/Mojo etc. start everything off from about 65 thereby completely ignoring the Beatles’ own teenage idols!… but, no, still Golden Age (just).

        If 8 hours on screen – 80% previously unseen – of the biggest entertainment phenomenon of all time from 69 or a film as jaw-droppingly brilliant as Summer of Soul (filmed over the summer five months later) pitch up… why would you think I’d not be interested in them?
        It’s everything afterwards I’m not interested in!

        Nothing since comes close to what we’ve seen over the last two days and nothing feels as contemporary. It’s well woke.

  20. There’s an awful lot of smoking going on by everyone on the set, what with the fags and big cigars (a) the place must have rather smelt (a bit like your clothes after a night out at a gig or in the pub before the smoking ban) and (b) I’m amazed anyone made it past 30 without the big weezies…..
    Also, such colourful clothes…..

  21. 2h 24mins in the second episode…why are they doing Geordie accents?

    Also – is that Paul’s first beard, or what? He can’t keep his hands off it!

    Ps. 2 hrs 37 – great moment. Shame we can’t hear it, but we can see it at least.

    Lennon to Peter Sellers: “We want to share with the world what we have… and this is what we have”… weapons-grade sarcasm.

  22. Watched the lot. Enthralled by the rooftop gig. The police didn’t overtly force them to stop at all. They merely asked that they stop and they did.

    Delighted by the scenes of the two rozzers waiting in reception in a bit of a nark. Especially when one of them offered a bit of post production advice. ‘Can’t you just dub the sound on?’ Quite. Thank you, Officer.

  23. So much to enjoy – some highlights so far:

    Ringo and John making Heather McCartney laugh
    Octopuses Garden
    George wrestling with the Something lyric (“attracts me like….like….a pomegranate?”)
    The flowerpot conversation between Lennon/McCartney
    John completely smitten with Allen Klein and telling the others about it while Paul was out of the room.

  24. Only watched episode 1 so far, my daughter insists on watching with me and I have to move at her pace. Thought it was completely wonderful, surpassed my expectations

  25. Marvellous. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Billy Preston eh? Seemed to make such a difference to the spirit once he arrived.

    Can’t wait to watch it again, but I would imagine its hard work if you’re not a music nerd.

    • Not a music nerd. You have specifically to be a Beatles nerd, and a genuinely obsessive one. Those things aren’t synonymous, whatever Beatles fans tend to think. 😉

    • What a moment! The look on their faces as Billy just sat down and fitted right in was electrifying.

      And yet, somehow, Yoko’s caterwauling didn’t have the same effect. Strange.

      • Hey, no Yoko bashing! They seemed to enjoy it and were having more fun than when misery guts George was around. She had recently had a miscarriage too which might explain how quiet she was otherwise and give an idea that John was suffering too

          • Both Mrs Moose and I got to the end and agreed that no-one could now assert on this evidence that Yoko broke up the Beatles.

            My Dad was fuming though. “She was always….there!“. 50 years of racist/sexist prejudice isn’t going anywhere.

      • I’m still only on the first episode, but already I can’t wait for Billy. At this point, with the exception of Ringo’s incredible drumming they are very sloppy sounding and in dire need of some proper musicianship.

          • To explain, what I mean is the ability to slot into a band and instinctively find the perfect part to play to fill the hole that needs filled. To gel with a band, in short. It’s a rare and underappreciated skill. For all that the four Beatles in episode one are playing with musical ability, they are clearly noodling for the main part, and just not slotting together well as an ensemble. Paul and George both sound magical when singing and playing solo (not so much Lennon at this point), and Ringo’s drumming is as instinctual as ever, but as a live band they are crying out for a fifth member like young Billy.

            • Ok I see. Think the fact they had possibly worked out some of the band issues before he arrived helped too as well as then wanting to impress the newcomer.

  27. About 5 hours in. A lot of tedium but I think editing out the tedium would dilute the impact of when they get going.
    What a shot in the arm was Billy Preston.
    And watching Paul strumming away till you start hearing a nascent Get Back was fascinating.
    Having watched this and The Rubin series I have a much much higher opinion of Paul. He really was the driving force behind so much. But and it is a big but , he is really pushy on getting his way. No wonder George cracked it.

  28. Fantastic. Have they got that Time Machine sorted yet? Maybe Magic Alex created one? That was another myth exploded, “gullible Beatles,” I suspect that as a tax dodge and just simply to keep spirits high, Magic Alex’s new inventions arriving in the studio at a steady rate were a constant delight to the four of them and worth every penny for that alone.

    I do hope, though, that the 100 minute or so version that Paul et al saw at a Premiere sees the light of day at the cinema as its current incarnation is probably only going to preach to the converted (but, if I’m honest, I wouldn’t trust anyone who wouldn’t want to see this or any other version).

    However, in a hostile world and as my football team scored a last-minute winner yesterday, let’s offer an olive branch…
    I hear all the time on the radio some 30-40 somethings spending whole weekends binging on The Wire, Game of Thrones or some such (“I didn’t see the first three ‘seasons’ so I binge watched them over the weekend”), so 8 hours is a fraction of that.
    Just think of it as a documentary, not a film, and divide it up into 6 or 8 parts… job done.
    When I re-watch it (I’ve got three weeks of the subscription left) that’s what I’m going to do. Twice, probably.

  29. I just have to add these observations:

    1. Weren’t the police nice! I wouldn’t fancy pulling a similar, relatively harmless, stunt in Priti Patel’s lesser age, and if I did I’d place considerably more than Mal Evans between me and the Met Police.

    2. I doubt there was anyone within a ten-mile radius of those two Apple Scruffs (apart from the Beatles themselves) – certainly not in the City – who most “got” the zeitgeist. After interviewing them (both, if they had anything about them, which they clearly did, now sitting on the most valuable collectables of all – signed White Albums), I’d have gone over to the other side of the road to passers-by and asked:
    “Would you do that?”
    If the answer was “no,” my second question would be:
    “Why on earth not?”

    • I remember the chin straps on those helmets dangling just below the bottom
      Iip. One of the PCs was absent-mindedly chewing on it – as noted by Beezer above. What was the thinking when they designed that?

      Also the first two police officers looked about 15.

      • Is the presence of plod here the inspiration for the Smith and Jones “We’ve had a complaint about the noise” bit at Live Aid and did everyone on this site know that at the time and I’m the odd one out.?

        • The non-reaction to this query suggests a collective 🙄obvs by the Massive. But you must remember pretty much all of this is new to some of us. For example, never having seen any of that rooftop stuff before, I did wonder whether Macca had been pranking the band by coming in wearing bright orange knitwear in the rehearsal, so that George turns up for the bit that’s going to be on the news in a bright red/green combo while the NMLNH’s attire would not look out of place at a funeral..

      • Re. The location of chinstrap. It hung below the bottom lip, almost, rather than underneath the chin (therefore adjacent to the windpipe) to prevent wrong uns from attempting strangulation by pulling their hat back from behind.

  32. And another thing. How good it was to notice that Lennon was a more accomplished guitar player than history has painted him.

    If you’ve ever semi regularly read any guitar technique mag over the past few decades you’ll know he’s generally ignored. Paul’s bass playing and Harrison’s now iconic fills get plaudits but John’s rhythm playing gets nowt.

    He was never a virtuoso so it’s understandable but watching him jam, contribute and create – he was more than capable and far better than I’ve been led to think.

    • I’ve given up on it, but I did enjoy 5 mins or so of watching each of them as instrumentalists. They’re all really good. McCartney is extraordinary.

  33. Two thirds in now. The most positively revised reputations are Paul and Yoko, which may or may not have anything to do with them being the first named producers of the series. I’m struggling to believe that all the stuff about Yoko’s malign influence is fiction. Not that it was ever her fault, really – John had moved on, the others hadn’t. But there must be something we’re not seeing.

    Paul, on the other hand, probably finally gets the re-frame he deserves. The guy’s a musical genius, and trying his best to keep the whole ship afloat.

  34. George comes into the studio after being up all night writing I Me Mine. McCartney and Lennon work on it add the rockin’ bit to change the pace before it goes back to the main song again.

    And yet the original melody and lyric delivered straight with a sparse arrangement, perhaps on piano, could be something to rival Yesterday or Eleanor Rigby. Imagine if Paul had come in with either of those and the others took over and added a loud freak out guitar bits and shouting?

  35. Did anyone spot a really weird bit about halfway through the first episode? At the bit where they are playing the acetate of Across the Universe, there is a brief shot of George smoking a cigarette… and the smoke is going backwards!

    An editing mistake? A deliberate little surreal touch by Peter Jackson to create an otherworldly feel? Or did George have magic powers and the camera accidentally caught him using them when he wasn’t looking? You decide!

  36. I did the whole thing yesterday. I wasn’t going to bother. But I did, and I am glad.

    I feel this sets the record straight about what went on, for better or worse. Seems to me that Lennon was always acting the clown when he had an audience. The only time he shows his real self is when he’s caught on hidden mic in the canteen. The rest of the time, his larking about is an act of self-sabotage, as it seems to me that his confidence is completely gone and he can’t face up to it (same as George).

    The main revelation for me is, the Lennon-McCartney songs are just as much collaboration as they always were. This idea that they wrote separately is just not right, perhaps the only difference was the germ of the song was done before coming into the studio, whereas before they might have thrashed something out on the spot. Although they even do that here with Get Back.

    Glyn Johns was out of his depth, he couldn’t be assertive with them. It’s funny when George Martin comes in, and tells them to move the microphones, sort out the PA, and open the piano lid – whilst reminding them how much it’s costing them.

    Also, Ringo farting and warning George Martin about it – this is what we want!

    Glyn Johns clothes are amazing.

    • I was surprised just how quiet John is – at least in the first few days (I’m two hours into the first episode – taking it slow). But then I’m wondering how much of this is just in the edit. I’ve listened to bits of the bootleg of the original tapes and I seem to remember John being quite chatty.

      It does seem though that everyone who watches this is reading their own interpretations into it. Lots of people online are commenting how much Paul and John are ignoring George’s songs, but I don’t see that at all. To me their silence looks more like awe than anything else: they are both clearly impressed with I, Me, Mine.

        • I keep looking at John’s pallid skin and greasy hair and thinking “you need a bottle of Head + Shoulders and some vegetables”.

          A friend of a friend was a high-functioning user for years, until his liver and kidneys gave up, and we had no idea because he was always clean (no pun intended) and smartly-dressed.

          • An old friend was a heroin addict for quite a few years. His older sister got him into it. She was a high-functioning addict, successfully holding her job down as an Inland Revenue tax inspector and rising to a quite senior grade.

            • Reminds me of Brass Eye: “Luckily, the amount of heroin I use is harmless. I inject about once a month on a purely recreational basis. Fine. But what about other people less stable, less educated, less middle-class than me? Builders or blacks for example. If you’re one of those, my advice to you is leave well alone. Good luck. “

  37. Another revelation for me was that they clearly knew Magic Alex was completely useless, and were egging him along for their own amusement. It might even have been worth it for the revolving bass/guitar, the work of a simpleton for sure.

    Arguably they were being cruel of course.

  38. A bit off the main subject, but I remember reading an interview with Michael Lindsay-Hogg some time ago, in which he said he’d been told his real father was Orson Welles. It was never proved conclusively either way, but both his looks and way of speaking in the film are reminiscent of a young Welles, although he could have picked up some of his mannerisms from working with him.

  39. As a huge fan, I was really, really, looking forward to this, although I was a bit wary of the ‘everything is actually joyful’ hype. I was also wary of inflicting it on Mrs. T, knowing her usual reaction to anything remotely like a bootleg (‘why are you listening to this rubbish when the finished songs are so good..?’ being a typical response). I spread it out over 4 days, watching about half an episode at a time.

    It is interesting how people’s responses have varied – I guess this depends on your level of Beatle engagement previously, stuff you know or don’t know already, what you think about the individual protagonists, your expectations…and mood probably.

    Some of my random thoughts…
    1. Mrs. T actually watched most of it with me, although it was mixed with doing other things while she was listening. She also said she enjoyed it, and was asking me about the stuff that was happening.
    2. Part 1 was a bit of a grind, although the interactions between them were revelatory. George is clearly the outsider when Paul and John are working up a song, and there was really no escape at Twickenham as the idea was that they just sat there and rehearsed. Later on at Apple, and presumably EMI studios when they were there, he wasn’t so trapped. The fact that he wasn’t all that keen on the whole thing didn’t help!
    3. I found the subtitles mostly unnecessary and distracting.
    4. Plotting all this day by day through January was a great way to do this – it really brought home the time pressures.
    5. ‘And then there were two’…Ringo and Paul tearing up made me well up thinking how we lost John and George later.
    6. Clearly the arrival of Billy changed the dynamic, but mostly they actually needed another pair of hands to be able to record/play stuff ‘live’ without overdubs. In the past I guess George Martin would have played that role.
    7. The absolute chaos in that Apple studio – it amazes me that they got anything done.
    8. McCartney is clearly a genius – his self-confidence can be grating, but bloody hell he’s good.
    9. Lennon is a better guitarist than his reputation.
    10. Michael Lyndsey-Hogg was annoying, it was great to see Glyn Johns contribution, George Martin was a very funny guy, and Mal Evans is brilliant, isn’t he? The way he deals with those 14 year old coppers was priceless.
    11. The swearing! The industrial quantities of tea, toast and fags consumed!!
    12. Yoko Ono isn’t really a problem at all, especially considering how many other people are around during these sessions. Mind you, I still can’t stand her vocal stylings. The famous ‘jam’ with John and Paul is awful.
    13. Once George comes back he is really engaged, positive and contributing.
    14. Isn’t Ringo fantastic..? His drumming is a given, but he really is….well…the Ringo we all love!
    15. I found it really frustrating that we don’t get to hear the full, final takes. They start a take, and I’m thinking ‘Ooo…This is what I’ve been listening to for 50 years’ and I just want to watch the whole thing….the caption comes up telling me this was on LIB, and they bloody cut away to more chat! In an 8 hour series there was plenty of time.
    15. The rooftop gig is astonishingly good, and you don’t want it to end. Jackson’s split screen approach works really well and utilises so many camera angles. They were still an amazing band and still able to just lock in and play. I could watch this over and over (see 15 about whole song takes!).
    16. Overall, I’m so glad we have this as an absolutely invaluable document. At 8 hours it is probably too long, and the faffing around does get wearing sometimes (I’m not a great fan of the dreadful bootlegs from this month either). The conversations and the dynamics within their relationships are fascinating though.

    As an afterthought, McCartney 3-2-1 is also on Disney +, but takes a bit of finding. This is absolutely brilliant, with Macca talking to Rick Rubin. Not the usual stories! Highly recommended while you have the subscription.

  40. I watched it all over the weekend. I was struck by how much messing about they did even when they had a deadline and were nowhere near it. But I guess that was just part of their established process. It was fascinating to hear the songs develop to the form in which we know them. Also hearing John sing On The Road To Marrakesh and I’m thinking “why is he singing that to the tune of Jealous Guy?” It took a few minutes for the penny to drop. I’m not Macca’s biggest fan but he is amazing in this documentary and clearly the only one with the real impetus to drive the project forward. Music seems to pour out of him and his singing is fantastic throughout. Interesting that fairly early on he sings Another Day which I think was his first solo hit. It doesn’t feature again as he was presumably keeping it up his sleeve for a future solo career

    • Back Seat of My Car was my favourite. He just casually comments, “Oh yeah I was writing a little thing this morning, you know”…

      Paul clearly has tunes pouring out of him at this point. With a more engaged band, he could have come up with a solo triple album at this point. But then it wouldn’t have been the Beatles and it wouldn’t have been as good.

  42. Watched the first 2 so far.
    The bit where George says “I think it’s time for me to leave” doesn’t seem to be a reaction to the “argument” with Paul, or the fact he can’t get his songs aired, he just seems thoroughly miffed with the Twikenham space.
    By Ep2 he seems more comfortable and happy in the sessions.

    The other big bit I took from it was when George had left, John hadn’t turned up, Ringo and Paul are sitting waiting – and the there were room.
    Paul looks visibly panicked and concerned that the band is nearing the end.
    No wonder he wanted to get a work ethic/schedule going – to save the band and the four of them.
    Ep1 is hard going, Ep2 is pretty joyous

    • I was surprised at George’s sudden decision. Unless something was lost in the edit, there seemed to be no build up or fracas, and that’s what I was waiting for. It seemed he just sat there simmering and just made a sudden decision in his head.

      • After the attempted reconciliation meeting with George, when Paul and Ringo are discussing it in the studio, it seems the main grievance aired by George was Yoko being around?

        The first 20 mins of episode 2 are dynamite. Waiting for people to show in the studio, Paul and Ringo looking worried that this is the end, the clandestine recording of John and Paul talking. Brilliant stuff.

        • George invited a couple of bored-looking Krishnas presumably to balance his chakras, or to counteract Yoko, or something. We didn’t see them again after his return.

          I interpreted George’s situation as a lack of confidence, he wanted to be more like his pal Eric and be free to play his own way over the songs (he calls this jazz in the last episode) but Paul didn’t want that, he wanted more structure.

          • Funnily enough, the first two thirds of George’s first (proper) album are very structured!

            I think after ’66 Paul is often like his rival Brian Wilson, ie arriving with a very precise idea of what the record is going to sound like. So the rest of the band become session musicians.

      • I know the answer to that one Moosey. They would either have used a map or a driver who already knew the way. In reference to my original question the map equates to a pitchfork or a set of pitchpipes and the driver equates to George Martin walking through the studio and telling Paul his bass is out of tune which Macca seemingly hadn’t noticed. George H didn’t seem to be using anything when tuning so I’m really not sure that he was using as his reference. I can understand that tuning by ear is OK on stage or when rehearsing but I would have though something more accurate was appropriate when making a record. There is a scene where a weighty looking Lowery is brought into the studio, requiring 4 blokes to manoeuvre it, along with what looks like a brand new Lelsie speaker in a cardboard box. So perhaps the answer to my original question, a massive throbbing organ, was starting me in the face all along. I thang yew

  46. I’m near the end of episode two now, and what a change from the first episode. I’m starting to think this is one of the most astonishing documents ever about the struggle of the creative process. The bit where they finally lock into the groove of Get Back and “find” the song is joyous. Hours and hours of loose jamming, going off on tangents, goofing around, leaving the band, coming back again, getting another member in… and then suddenly for two minutes they find what was staring them in the face all along. It’s incredible. The song Get Back isn’t even one of my favourite Beatle tunes, but seeing virtually the whole process (from Paul’s initial little off the cuff riff in episode one) is a real eye opener, and a reminder that pop songs don’t just drop out of thin air. This tortuous coaxing process is what lies behind so many two minute wonders which sound so natural in their finished form.

    It turns out, in case anyone needed reminding, that the old cliche about genius being 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration is true. (It also makes me realise that we have probably been misled by all the examples of Beatle songs where they went into the studio with a half finished tune and came out three hours later with a fully formed, arranged, finished recording. I bet if you actually looked closely at the studio logs – which you can, courtesy of Mark Lewisohn – you would find those are just the untypical ones that stand out, and the truth is that far more songs had long and difficult gestations).

    The only comparison I can think of which comes close is the Rolling Stones movie that Jean Luc Godard shot, of them working on Sympathy For the Devil – jamming it, feeling it out, then eventually lucking onto a groove that suddenly works for them and creates a masterpiece. But Get Back is so much more in-depth than that.

    • Funny you should mention the Stones, as it struck me the other day that they actually went through a similar process at this time. Seeing the Beggar’s Banquet LP in the GB footage made me realise that they too were at a crossroads regarding playing live and ‘getting back’ to basics.
      BB was a return to their roots in many ways, and it allowed them to reboot and return to playing live in Hyde Park in the summer of 1969. What if the Beatles had thought of that..?

      • Yes, you’re right. I think there were many similarities between them both at the time. They both also matured into a more relaxed, “soul” style instead of their earlier frantic, driven pop efforts. It’s the shift from “pop” to “rock”, isn’t it??

        One key ingredient (and I can’t remember which writer first pointed this out) was the Dylan and the Band’s Basement Tapes, which circulated as an acetate among the cognoscenti in ’68. You can hear that laid back country/funky vibe seeping into a lot of the Beatles and Stones stuff at this time, especially John’s and George’s songs.

        And yes, imagine a big summer Beatles concert that year! But then, maybe the legacy is just perfect as it is, with that rooftop performance followed by a final push for a polished album, scooping up all their odds and sods and making something truly special (Abbey Road).

        • Music From Big Pink is the album that gets referenced a lot at this time, along with bands like Fleetwood Mac who weren’t part of the early/mid 60s pop scene and seen as more serious. There was definitely this general move away (by some) from ever more baroque pop and psychedelia, although that did carry on into prog. To think that Sgt. Pepper was only released 18 months before this, and there isn’t a trace of that period, except perhaps for Across The Universe, which sticks out like a sore thumb.

          • Oh yes, Fleetwood Mac, I forgot about them. Did you see the bit in Get Back where John is raving about them, after they were on TV for a live appearance or something? It’s a lovely moment – John so rarely has any praise for any other artists as he is usually quite self-centred.

            There definitely is some Fleetwood Mac vibe that permeates a lot of late sixties British music. I don’t even think it’s necessarily the whole “UK blues revival” thing as such, but just that soulful, gentle edge of stuff like Albatross and Man of the World. I mean, most obviously in Sun King which was John directly trying to be Peter Green.

            • I’m sure it was a Fleetwood Mac single that was shown in shot at one point. Certainly Blue Horizon.
              I did think of the link to the Basement Tapes but because they didn’t have the folk/roots background, it’s probably why they revisited songs they heard as they were growing up, 20s stuff, Music Hall, stuff from their Hamburg days etc

              • In the original “Get Back” book there are several pages of conversation where George talks enthusiastically about The Band and their album, pointing out musical details to John and Ringo. Isn’t that included in the current series?

                  • It’s the LIB book, just had a look at the pdf
                    George: It’s like Tim Leary, I
                    suppose; in his psychedelic
                    prayers he had one . . . I
                    remember this from years ago: ‘
                    Sunrise doesn’t last all morning’
                    that gave me the idea for this
                    thing, apart from life . . . giving me
                    the idea, that is. You see, the
                    thing I feel about the motion of it
                    is, it’s very Bandy. Rick, the one
                    who wrote really all the best ones,
                    his thing is like . . (sings like ‘The
                    Weight’) la la la la la
                    Paul: (playing sanctimoniously
                    on the organ) Welcome ladees ‘
                    n gen’Imen to the LA Drive-InďżžChurch .. .
                    George: Drive-In-Drugstore.
                    Paul: . . . this morning, Father
                    Anthony Langeles will preach a
                    small sermon, he hopes will be
                    of interest to you and yours. (
                    sings):
                    Darkness doesn’t last all day Got
                    to get some sleep anyway
                    George: See that thing, that one
                    (points out organ peddal to
                    John) do that with your toe. (
                    Weird wah wah moans come out
                    of the organ, like Jonah wailing
                    underneath the sea.) This guy
                    who Paul is looking like from
                    The Band, he’s the organ,
                    fantastic, he’s into that sound so
                    much, it sounds like
                    a synthesizer because the notes
                    bend. The drummer is fantastic,
                    he plays the guitar really, Levon

                    • Helm he’s called he’s
                      really like Coates cum up from
                      Somerset, and like he’s got no
                      neck and all these these whiskers
                      and a happy smiling face. (To
                      Ringo) You would go down a
                      bomb, you know, it’s all Country
                      and Western, their favourite track
                      was Ringo’s because that’s their
                      scene, living up in the woods, just
                      singing their songs .. .
                      Paul: Looks like rain, doesn’t it?

                • I’m on episode 3 and I don’t remember any such conversation, although there’s a lot here so I may just have overlooked it! I remember a bit of dialogue from George at the start, talking more about guitar playing, and being able to improvise and extend a song like Clapton (which George says he can’t do). And they all talk about it being a “jazz” style.

                  • The idea of endless soloing actually being part of rock, rather than being part of jazz,
                    hadn’t quite cemented at that point. By later in the year Woodstock had happened and the noodle was king.

                    • Odd how these terms form and get cemented by people using them.

                      I can’t remember where I read it, but (also in ’69 I think) there is a conversation John has where he is raving about “blue beat” and a “blue beat” version of one a Beatles song (can’t remember which one!). Anyway, it took me a while to figure out he was talking about “reggae”, so maybe the term “reggae” wasn’t as well known at that time as it is now.

                    • Not even in Jamaica, where by 69 the predominant style was rocksteady. It was later that we started using the catch-all term reggae, which existed in ’69 but wasn’t commonly in use as a genre.

              • The 20s stuff is Paul, piano favourites from Forthlin Road. He never thought popular music started with That’s Alright Mama, and that lack of rockist snobbery has been one of his greatest strengths.

  47. Finally reached the summit.
    What a lot of fuckarsing around.
    Certainly got it together when they had to on the rooftop.
    The day before the rooftop Paul sounded just as shambolic as the rest of them as to what they were doing and why.
    George Martin appeared to do very little.

    • I found George Martin’s presence to be fascinating. I wasn’t sure if he was even being paid to be there, or what? He was floating around as if he was desperate to knock them into shape, but also maybe realising they needed to let off steam a bit. And there are a couple of occasions where he steps up and starts giving practical suggestions like opening the piano lid to mic it.

      I loved when he was being encouraging in his comments to them – “It really feels like you have something coming together” or whatever he said.

      • He was introduced (to Billy Preston?) as “George is our A&R man” or something similar in the first half of episode two (which is as far as I’ve made it).

        There was nothing on telly last night, so I switched Get Back on. Thirty seconds later, Yoko started ‘Freakout Jam’. Mrs F turned it off.

        • Have to say I loved that. A precursor to Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band except with Macca on bass. It was a very short clip and they all appeared to be enjoying themselves. Am not saying it’s musical worth is up there with Beethoven’s 5th or something.

    • Sounds completely wrong to me. The whole idea is rehearsing, writing and building up to some sort of concert, which then (kind of) happens at the end.

      • Think Dai missed the “unless you are a nerd” bit.
        I am but a mini nerd – thought Part1 was pretty boring (apart from the groovy clothes), Part 2 was very interesting and Part 3 was brill. Therefore I can see what the guy who wrote ” Start at the end” meant.

        • @Lodesone-of-Wrongness I am not a Beatles fanatic but I think that watching the endless fuckarsing around and puerile banter and tensions is essential to understanding the creative process, the grind and well , them, at the time.

              • Given the number of bootleg outtakes to be found I fear my Blonde on Blonde epicamentary is currently seven weeks long. Might have to do some editing. That moment when Al says ” Howsabout a wee bit of o ma Hammond organ in here, Bobby ma boy” is truly revelatory and as for the “concert” in KFC what else is there left to do but stand and applaud for an hour??

  49. It was long slog but things I take from it:

    They’re all quite short and thin. Mal Evans looks like Giant Haystacks in comparison to them.
    Don’t Let Me Down seems to go on forever at the best of times. Never liked that one.
    We don’t deserve Paul McCartney – if he wasn’t there, they’d still be in the studio now.
    They all view Lennon as the leader, but he didn’t want that job.

    • Agreed.
      No Paul = the greatest entertainment phenomenon of all time.
      With Paul = the greatest entertainment phenomenon of all time – and the White Album, Abbey Road and Let It Be, and Hello-Goodbye, Magical Mystery Tour, Lady Madonna, Hey Jude and Ballad of John and Yoko.

      I’m a “Red,” not a “Blue,” and even I can see the tragedy of not having all that!

      Paul McCartney is the greatest living person in this country (any country, now I think about it)… but admittedly he doesn’t have much to beat.

  50. The story has always been that George Harrison insisted/invited Billy Preston to the Get Back sessions. Yet watching the footage, it does look like Billy just came to say Hi. Do we think it was predetermined by George or just a bit of serendipity.

  51. Nigel T. – miles above this post – mentions the pressures that were at play at the time.

    He’s right but isn’t it amazing that this was the case.

    The group, at the time, have the no. 1 album, there is an Xmas flexi-disc knocking around, during the sessions ANOTHER album comes out (Yellow Submarine), the bass-player’s brother was at no. 1 in the pop chart, now the no. 1 is a woeful version of one of their songs, the Bonzos (pr. Apollo C. Vermouth) are in the top 10, two months previously two members of the group have released their first albums, James Taylor’s first album has just come out, Mary Hopkin is at no. 1 for 6 weeks, Cilla’s on the telly with yadda yadda… enough already! – if I’ve missed anything, ring my doctor.

    This is productivity at an unprecedented level before and (certainly) after.

    If they’d have the misfortune to be born in the 1950s, a grave misfortune for anyone, they’d have been releasing 45s off the various LPs for decades before they got to Let It Be.
    In fact, they’d never have got close to it – I don’t think they’d have got as far as Rubber Soul.

    • Re: the Yellow Submarine album (I digs it – it was the first Beatles record I listened to). I just discovered that it came out a full SIX MONTHS after the film.

      So four brand spanking new (to the public anyway) Beatles songs, at least three of them absolutely mind-meltingly fantastic, you could only hear at the pictures for six months. A-chuffin’-stounding. They had more songs than they knew what to do with.

  52. Just finished it tonight and I’ve been standing in my living room giving a standing ovation for the last hour. What a film. After my initial misgivings I was totally won over.

    I thought I heard Peter Jackson wasn’t going to show the full rooftop concert? Sure looked like the full concert to me! I love how the first thing they did afterwards was retire to the control room to listen back to the whole show! And then Paul wanted to go back up on the roof again to do the rest of the songs?!

  53. Another observation. Jimmy Nicoll – doesnt he get a bagging.
    Aussies remember him as the guy sitting by himself at the airport to go home after Ringo joined the tour.
    Paul is really critical – rolls his eyes, says he couldn’t count the songs in, hopeless.

  54. Since finishing the series I went back and watched the Let it Be section from the 1995 Anthology documentary. It’s actually the same story, just highly condensed – they only spend about 20 minutes on the whole thing. But all the same points are there: they get fed up at Twickenham, George walks out, Billy Preston injects some life into them again, the studio is a mess until they bring in the EMI equipment, the hesitancy over performing on the roof…

    It just goes to show the whole story was always there in plain sight. I think the Peter Jackson doc is starting to get a reputation of righting a 50 year wrong and telling a new story but really that’s nonsense. It doesn’t really contain any massive revelations, but it fills out the details and shows the creative process in all its ugly detail.

      • Art’s comments have just won the “Best Yet Comment” award.

        For me, Get Back is all too much. I get tingles just watching them all in the studio, especially as it seems like it two hundred years ago. A different age when we were all young and really, honestly All You Needed Was Love. And there are many truly fascinating moments. But nine hours??

        • Thank you for your award! But let me just clarify for fear of being misinterpreted: I loved watching every minute of it (see my “standing ovation” comment above)! But I think the tabloid-ish selling point of “this shows a new story we didn’t know before” is simplistic and off the mark.

      • We’ve come at it through his 1970 Rolling Stone interview which is all, “The Beatles was shit, it was all awful, it was not me it was the other three…” As someone said upthread it’s as if he doesn’t want to show any enthusiasm for the Beatles when Yoko’s around. When he’s playing, though, his enthusiasm is often unmistakable.

        • I have been taken by the way John and Paul lock eyes when they’re focused and ‘on it’ – it’s so ubandantly clear how much they love and respect each other, even at the point when they’re emotionally drifting apart. The rest of the room just seems to fade away – no Yoko, no Linda, sadly no George. I can understand how frustrating and dispiriting this must have been for him over seven years.

        • ” We were just a rock band that split up”… I always loved that quote (although I might have just misquoted it). He really was scathing when he was in put-down mode. That 1970 interview is a marvel of acidity and free flowing nastiness.

          I think you can get the full audio of the whole interview? It used to be on Spotify I’m sure. It’s a fascinating, if tiring, listen.

          I love how dismissive he is of other artists. I think at one point he is asked who he listens to, and he can’t think of anyone apart from Dylan. No one holds his interest. He was so fickle, jumping from withering indifference to joyous enthusiasm in a minute. As Get Back clearly shows, when he is up he is up, and when he is down he is a black hole of misery and laziness. Must have been very tiring for the others in the band!

  55. Non-duplicitous, kind, funny, supremely talented, a work rate which would embarrass a colony of ants, original, and completely self-made, the Beatles represent this country in its best light and did it at the best time.

    The absolute polar opposite of Fat Boy J., Cameron, Rees-Mogg and all their cheating, conniving, self-loathing and Britain-loathing chums. Carving up the country for their own ends and doing whatever they want to do while telling the country something else.
    I’m so pleased I’m on the Beatles side.

  56. I know this might sound odd, but having watched the first two episodes, I find it hard to work out how they filled the days. We see them sing old songs, trying out new ones and fooling around, but how much was spent on each? I mean did they warm up for half an hour in the morning with Bye Bye Love, spend two hours rehearsing Get Back multiple times, fool around for half an hour after lunch, and then get onto Let it Be? A clock on the screen would have helped. I know someone will say I could listen to 90 hours of bootlegs, and find out but I don’t care that much (about anything.)

    • Hence the word: week ends.
      As a by the by, I have, at some point, worked all 24 hours of all 7 days (by which I mean you cannot name a time -e.g. 3:47 am on a Thursday – when I have not been in a place of employment). I suppose all parents can say the same thing ..

      • Hence the word? Means end of the week, doesn’t mean you don’t have to work on those days! I work most of them right now, but they are still weekends 😉

    • Likely time and a half on Saturday and double-time Sunday – no wonder there was a long debate about getting EMI staff to install Saville Row over the weekend.
      All unionised, and there was probably a vote.
      Although picking up the “EMI are paying” comment from George he probably didn’t see the issue

  59. You know what this is? It’s the second bloody coming, that’s what it is. It’s like four slightly stoned Jesuses coming back and saying, ‘Yeah, all that stuff back then, I was bit misquoted, actually.’ It’s like a newly-discovered book of the Bible, Revelations 9. It changes everything.

  62. I’ve finally watched the whole thing and am absolutely floored by it.

    My admiration for Paul have risen ten-fold.
    I always liked Yoko and now I like her more, but I loved little Heather impersonating her screaming into the microphone.
    Ringo is adorable and so tiny.
    Everybody needs a Mal.
    Once they move to Apple, John switches on and George is far more positive, it’s magical. This starts before Billy arrives but is enhanced by him. The look of glee on all their faces when he sits down and tinkles on his organ is a moment to cherish. But, don’t underestimate George Martin’s jovial, dapper, charming, devastatingly good-looking presence. He knew how to get the best out of those boys (sorry Glinnis).
    I appreciate the Let It Be album and recent box even more. They did play live most of the time and I’m glad the box allowed the documentary to throw up some additional surprises.
    All those new songs! Wow!
    I’m smitten by Debbie, the Apple receptionist.

    • It emphasised to me that the Let It Be/ Get Back project works best as a visual thing. I get bored easily listening to Let It Be outtakes, and I think the problem with both the Anthology and with the Let It Be box set is that they can’t help but try to present these song nuggets as finished pieces. But so SEE them chronologically over the course of a few weeks jam endlessly and without apparent direction, getting bored with the songs as much as you are, then to witness the moments where they start coming together properly, knowing they are crafting a decent (if disappointing by Beatle standards) little 30 minute album out of them in the end – that’s magical and priceless.

    • Loved Debbie’s comments to the (rather bewildered) cops.

      I disagree about the box set. It may indeed be right decision to not have the full rooftop concert on one of the discs, but there was lots of gold that deserved to be on it (and the CDs included are half empty at best) If they didn’t want it to be a spoiler then release after the film was aired. The remix was fine, not too exciting.

      Love Me Do
      Blue Suede Shoes
      Two Of Us (fast version)
      Bye Bye Love
      No Pakistanis/Commonwealth
      Suzy Parker
      Maxwell’s Silver Hammer
      etc

      Also put all those early Lennon/McCartney songs (mostly snippets) together

    • Yeah I’m surprised as well. It’s a shoo-in for my birthday present this year!

      I also see they are doing a one-day-only cinema screening of the rooftop concert on 30 January. However, I keep checking and it only seems to be in the USA and not the UK, which is annoying. I really, really want to see this in a cinema with BIG SOUND.

      *EDIT* Oh hang on, “A global theatrical engagement of the 60-minute feature, “The Beatles: Get Back–The Rooftop Concert,” will then run February 11-13, 2022.” — Yay!

    • My mistake – looks like it is indeed bluray only…..no extras it seems so presumably it’s just what was shown on tv recently. Oddly the release is only mentioned as a footnote really in the press release for the Imax rooftop concert film.

        • The bigger tech surprise is that it isn’t being released on UHD (4K) format blu ray. Almost every new telly sold is 4K capable, even though it really needs to be a huge screen to see the difference.

          The cynic in me suspects there will be a 4K release later, in some expensive mega-box.

  66. Still got the subscription for Disney (mainly for Summer of Soul) but in absolutely no danger of watching Get Back all over again.
    Thought I would, and I enjoyed it, but as John Densmore said when the Doors were banned from the Ed Sullivan Show: “We’ve already done it!”

    I’m up for a cinema release, though whether it gets to my neck of the woods is an issue.
    I’ll mention it to the local cinema… if on, local football and Rugby permitting, I’ll try to see three or four showings.

  69. Just back from seeing The Rooftop Concert IMAX cinema screening. Absolutely amazing. I wish the whole thing had been released in the cinema.

    I thought it might be simply the ‘concert’ with all the vox pops etc taken out, but no: they had the little 10 minute intro bit from the start of the series where it showed you their career year by year, then a couple of captions, then it jumped to them prepping the equipment on the roof etc. You had all the inserts, with the police etc: it was basically just the last hour of the series, including the end titles with them recording the next day.

    But a real treat to see it on a MASSIVE screen and a huge, rumbling sound system. Paul’s bass was thunderous. It really did feel like you were in the rooftop with them.

    Thoroughly enjoyed it.

Leave a Reply