The Beatles are fucking good.

[Famous Mortimer]

I've been listening to the first Quantick one, and while it's interesting, I do find their approach frustrating.

This is, presumably, because Quantick is an awful fuckwit.

[Egyptian Feast]

I've only got around to this now, after rewatching Anthology and all the films in between episodes. Hated Let It Be (not all of it, obvs), but loving every minute of this so far.

Some random thoughts:

Glyn Johns looks like the offspring of Z-Man from Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls and a member of Supergrass. A style icon.

Michael Lindsay-Hogg didn't have such a plummy accent when he used to buy his Sunday papers & cigars from the newsagents I worked in. Bit gruff sounding, maybe from all of those fat stogies.

Paul was wearing an orange top on the day he was being bossy and George got the hump. When he strolled into Apple wearing it, I thought "Uh-oh, he's going to be a twat today" but that theory was bollocks and he was fine. That might have been the same day George looked like Satan.

Their faces look a bit waxy and weird sometimes, especially John, and I swear there have been bits where someone in the background's face would go all blurry and jumbled for a second like in a bad 2010s horror about a nun who was also a ghost. I'm not watching it on Disney Plus, which may explain that, or it was a haunted torrent. Maybe there'll be a jump scare at the end where a spectral John will flash up screaming for a second, head all whirry like he's in a Marilyn Manson video.

The bit where George left the group and the rest of them had the cathartic jam with Yoko was probably the highlight of Twickenham for me.

Watching Billy's expressions as he finally clicks that John is asking him to play with them was such a delight. One of many wonderful moments inexplicably left out from the dour, boring and incoherent original film.

Best Peter Jackson film since Braindead. You don't hear people usually say this about his films: There's still 2 and a half hours left, but I don't want it to end. Lord Of The Rings style extended cuts of each episode, you can do it right now, please.

[SteveDave]

One thing I've heard a lot recently is the reason that there's no Glyn Johns and not a lot of Billy Preston (or anyone else) in "Let It Be" was that Allen Klein basically Poochied them. Only the Beatles should be in this film and when they're not on screen, people should be asking "Where's Beatles?"

[lb99]

Best Peter Jackson film since Braindead. You don't hear people usually say this about his films: There's still 2 and a half hours left, but I don't want it to end. Lord Of The Rings style extended cuts of each episode, you can do it right now, please.

At the Q&A with Jackson at the IMAX, he said there's another 3-4 hours of material that he'd like to add in an extended version, but Disney need to be convinced it's worth doing.

[Replies From View]

At the Q&A with Jackson at the IMAX, he said there's another 3-4 hours of material that he'd like to add in an extended version, but Disney need to be convinced it's worth doing.

Disney's stance here is weird to me, because what will they lose by adding an extended version to the mix?  They aren't short on space on Disney+ I assume, and the material is presumably already cleaned up and has received its aggressive DNR in preparation, so the process of editing it in won't require a whole new budget?

I just don't get it.  Unless the question mark is over whether people will buy a blue ray of it, but what kind of risk is that?

Beatles fans have shown themselves to have a record of forking out for this stuff, and at eight hours Get Back has never been a project for people not already invested in the Fab Four.  So an extended version is really just taking it to its logical conclusion, rather than padding for padding's sake and alienating some broader audience.

[daf]

I just don't get it.  Unless the question mark is over whether people will buy a blue ray of it, but what kind of risk is that?

They might show it on their site, but in general streaming sites are trying to kill physical media.

Disney are unlikely to be keen on giving punters any incentive to buy a blu ray (with extras) when they want them to be subscribed to their shit platform in order to watch the footage.

It's all about control - a punter with a blu ray can decide when and how often they watch stuff - the streaming sites don't want that.

[Replies From View]

They might show it on their site, but in general streaming sites are trying to kill physical media.

Disney are unlikely to be keen on giving punters any incentive to buy a blu ray (with extras) when they want them to be subscribed to their shit platform.

Okay, so I guess they can't grasp why they should add an extended version to their platform at no extra cost to subscribers.  They've already done their big advertising push for the ordinary release, and it's a while until the 60th anniversary of the Let It Be project will justify a new one.

It's stupid anyway, because this project crosses over with music fans, who have a long history of sticking with older, better technologies and physical media.  From what you're saying Disney seem to be treating it like 'Return of Jafar'; meanwhile fans of the Beatles are forking out for heavyweight 180g LPs of their remixed music and deluxe boxsets.  I'm going to wish Peter Jackson had funded and released Get Back in some other way if Disney are going to be cocks about it.

"But we want to kill your physical media; don't you even understand??"

[Replies From View]

It's all about control - a punter with a blu ray can decide when and how often they watch stuff - the streaming sites don't want that.

I feel that it's more about tying people into something they can't easily escape from.  If you're only buying physical media, you can theoretically stop at a certain point when you imagine you've got everything you can conceivably ever need to listen to or rewatch.

But these streaming platforms train you to appreciate things being on tap, accessible from any device, anywhere, without you needing to lug discs around - it's appealing on that level.  But suddenly you realise that in addition to your ordinary Amazon Prime subscription you've paid to 'keep' a couple of films that weren't free on prime.  And you realise that you'll lose these things if you stop paying the subscription, so you think fuck it and don't cancel.   You can list enough benefits you've decided are true to justify it.  Just like mobile app stores keep you 'choosing' to stay locked in.

[Rich Uncle Skeleton]

Their faces look a bit waxy and weird sometimes, especially John, and I swear there have been bits where someone in the background's face would go all blurry and jumbled for a second like in a bad 2010s horror about a nun who was also a ghost. I'm not watching it on Disney Plus, which may explain that, or it was a haunted torrent.

I watched it on Disney+ at a mate's house in "4k" and it's exactly the same don't worry.

I know what you mean about faces suddenly going blurry. reminded me immediately of They Shall Not Grow Old where whatever process they used had a hard time with some of the more ropey old footage, but for this it's just inexcusable. 16mm film or not, the fact there will have been so many meetings while making this with both Apple and Disney and everyone appears to have gone "yep, looks great" is bizarre.

I just hope when the blu ray finally surfaces the reviews actually take them to task over this, but I have a feeling it won't really come up outside more in depth specialist sites, with more widely read music mags/websites just slapping 5 stars on it.

this isn't AS bad as the "Definitive" GTA remasters or anything, I know, but the fact this didn't really gain much traction online still puzzles me.

Or MAYBE 99% of people are rightly just glad to be able to watch this and I'm just a fussy prick....!!! _{still looks bollocks though}

[Replies From View]

Grand Theft Auto remasters?

[Rich Uncle Skeleton]

just an example of the "definitive" version they put out last year.

like I said, this is nowhere near as bad as that, but it's still bizarre how Get Back goes from just a bit of noise reduction to someone's face disappearing as they turn their head.

i REALLY need stop dossing today, I'm typing far too much (again) about this when I should be working!!

[gilbertharding]

I'll be mocked for being old fashioned - but all I wanted was a fucking DVD of whatever Disney+ put out as the standard lot.

Now, my choice is to either get a month's cheap trial of Disney+ and cancel it before the full rate kicks in - because I'm 53 years old and I'm not fucking interested in any of their other crap... or else buy a BluRay player for the single solitary BluRay disc they're forcing me to buy. I suppose the other alternative (and this looks like the winner actually) is to just not bother.

Happy now, Walt? Happy now Ringo?

[gilbertharding]

Well I wish them the best of luck, even though guitar groups are on their way out.

The other ace thing about these (both the 1994 version and the sequel) is the chats. Happy Birthday Dear Saturday Club... Brian Matthew and Fluff Freeman being all matey, proving they're with it by dropping their Hs and pronouncing 'Ringo' with a soft G.

[jamiefairlie]

Something that struck me watching this is how influenced they were by external styles, all through their career. It points to them being excellent synthesizers of trends but perhaps lacking a central core internal need to capture and express something essential to themselves.

[Kermit the Frog]

lacking a central core internal need to capture and express something essential to themselves.

Amazingly off the mark, you think John Lennon never expressed something essential to himself through his music? That George Harrison never did?

[daf]

I'll be mocked for being old fashioned - but all I wanted was a fucking DVD of whatever Disney+ put out as the standard lot.

Now, my choice is to either get a month's cheap trial of Disney+ and cancel it before the full rate kicks in - because I'm 53 years old and I'm not fucking interested in any of their other crap... or else buy a BluRay player for the single solitary BluRay disc they're forcing me to buy.

Blu ray players will also play DVDs (and CDs) - so you can still make use of it after you finish Get Back.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
(I finally snapped in around 2009 when one of the Futurama DVDs (Bender's Game) was encoded at such a low blocky bitrate, I was convinced they were doing it deliberately to force people to switch to blu ray . . . as it turned out, I was really pleased I did. The blu-rays are only a couple of quid more than DVDs, and look both mint and skill!)

[Menu]

I like both of them. There's loads of covers on the second set.

There's only two on the 2nd set, which, tbh, is two more than I remembered it. Every other song had been released before in some version. I suppose there might not have been any more covers left anyway - and I'm aware that most people would be buying it for the songs they love already so there has to be a balance. I was just disappointed when I first played it.

[Menu]

Well I wish them the best of luck, even though guitar groups are on their way out.

Nah they won't last.

[Menu]

One thing I've heard a lot recently is the reason that there's no Glyn Johns and not a lot of Billy Preston (or anyone else) in "Let It Be" was that Allen Klein basically Poochied them. Only the Beatles should be in this film and when they're not on screen, people should be asking "Where's Beatles?"

He really was the Rafa Benitez of the Beatles story.

[Menu]

The other ace thing about these (both the 1994 version and the sequel) is the chats. Happy Birthday Dear Saturday Club... Brian Matthew and Fluff Freeman being all matey, proving they're with it by dropping their Hs and pronouncing 'Ringo' with a soft G.

Yes Brian Matthew in particular was the star of the first set. So laid back and natural, and you can tell the Beatles dig him.

[Menu]

Something that struck me watching this is how influenced they were by external styles, all through their career. It points to them being excellent synthesizers of trends but perhaps lacking a central core internal need to capture and express something essential to themselves.

This reminds me of my close friend who told me he didn't like The Beatles because 'they lack charisma'.

[famethrowa]

Well I wish them the best of luck, even though guitar groups are on their way out.

I'm still amazed that after all the evidence, the trope of "oh those idiots at Decca, gave them away" is still a thing... we've been able to listen to the audition for years now, and it's not great, sounds like a rowdy pub cover band with wayyy too much raw guitar for what was on the charts at the time. It's just become Beatles lore that if Decca had signed them up then Beatlemania would have happened in exactly the same way.

This reminds me of my close friend who told me he didn't like The Beatles because 'they lack charisma'.

Well in a verrrry shallow way, we can see what he means, they don't have a frontman, they're all busy working on their instruments and don't have time to just ponce around the front, waggling their nob like Mick Jagger or Tony Hadley.

[Menu]

I'm still amazed that after all the evidence, the trope of "oh those idiots at Decca, gave them away" is still a thing... we've been able to listen to the audition for years now, and it's not great, sounds like a rowdy pub cover band with wayyy too much raw guitar for what was on the charts at the time. It's just become Beatles lore that if Decca had signed them up then Beatlemania would have happened in exactly the same way.

Well in a verrrry shallow way, we can see what he means, they don't have a frontman, they're all busy working on their instruments and don't have time to just ponce around the front, waggling their nob like Mick Jagger or Tony Hadley.

That's not bad reasoning actually. I'm not sure if HE meant that but it makes sense.

[Menu]

I'm still amazed that after all the evidence, the trope of "oh those idiots at Decca, gave them away" is still a thing... we've been able to listen to the audition for years now, and it's not great, sounds like a rowdy pub cover band with wayyy too much raw guitar for what was on the charts at the time. It's just become Beatles lore that if Decca had signed them up then Beatlemania would have happened in exactly the same way.

Didn't it come up on here that Decca didn't even reject them or something? That this is the biggest myth of the lot. I might have dreamt it though.

But I agree with you: the Decca tape is not good. There's at least two comedy songs on there, and didn't Epstein insist that George was lead singer on at least as many songs as John and Paul? Madness.

[daf]

There's only two on the 2nd set, which, tbh, is two more than I remembered it. Every other song had been released before in some version. I suppose there might not have been any more covers left anyway

that's the basic situation - they released most of the new non-album covers on the first set.

From the available recordings, the tracks for Live at the BBC were selected by longtime Beatles producer George Martin. Martin's selection criteria included both the quality of the sound and of the Beatles' performance. Of particular interest were the 36 songs that the Beatles never performed on their official releases, of which 30 were selected for the album.

Three of the six covers left off were from their first session 1962, and were skipped because of poor sound quality :
• Roy Orbison's "Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream)"
• the Coasters' arrangement of "Bésame Mucho"
• Joe Brown's "A Picture of You"

To be fair, they do sound like they were recorded through a VERY thick sock! They also feature Pete Best on drums, so maybe that was also a factor.

Two others, from early 1963, also were omitted for substandard sound: the Gerry Goffin–Jack Keller adaptation of Stephen Foster's "Beautiful Dreamer" and Chuck Berry's "I'm Talking About You". The reason for the omission of the final song of the six, Carl Perkins' "Lend Me Your Comb" from July 1963, was not clear as it had very good sound quality, and it was speculated that it was held back for inclusion on a later release; the song was indeed issued the following year on Anthology 1. It was also later included on 2013's 'On Air – Live at the BBC Volume 2', as are "Beautiful Dreamer" and "I'm Talking About You".

There are some differences between the original 1994 release and the 2013 re-issue (when vol. 2 came out) - mainly removing the crossfades :

The 11 November 2013 remastered reissue features some minor changes in the track listing and editing. The original version of the album crossfaded the musical and speech tracks, whereas the remastered version does not, providing clean starts and endings for each track. The most noticeable change is the inclusion of three extra tracks. The only musical addition is the closing version of "From Us to You" at the end of disc two. "What is it, George?" is a new speech track between "Carol" and "Soldier of Love" on disc one. The speech track "Ringo? Yep!" replaces "Have a Banana!" as track three on disc two. The majority of "Have a Banana!" has been added to the end of the previous track, but the phrase itself, which gave the original speech track its title, has been omitted.

[gilbertharding]

Blu ray players will also play DVDs (and CDs) - so you can still make use of it after you finish Get Back.

Thanks! I know that. And they're quite cheap nowadays... it's just that I'll then have a perfectly good DVD player I no longer need.

[gilbertharding]

There's only two on the 2nd set, which, tbh, is two more than I remembered it. Every other song had been released before in some version. I suppose there might not have been any more covers left anyway - and I'm aware that most people would be buying it for the songs they love already so there has to be a balance. I was just disappointed when I first played it.

Ah well - fair enough. I thought there were more covers - not new ones, I'll give you that. Like you say, I'm one of those who also likes to hear new versions of the songs I already know, too. And 'Happy Birthday Dear Saturday Club' has been in my head for days now.

[Menu]

that's the basic situation - they released most of the new non-album covers on the first set.

Three of the six covers left off were from their first session 1962, and were skipped because of poor sound quality :
• Roy Orbison's "Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream)"
• the Coasters' arrangement of "Bésame Mucho"
• Joe Brown's "A Picture of You"

To be fair, they do sound like they were recorded through a VERY thick sock! They also feature Pete Best on drums, so maybe that was also a factor.

There are some differences between the original 1994 release and the 2013 re-issue (when vol. 2 came out) - mainly removing the crossfades :

Daf, thank you so much for all this. Brilliant.

[DrGreggles]

Sir Mix-A-Lot considers rewrite

[kalowski]

Sir Mix-A-Lot considers rewrite

Christ, I am falling about over this one. Brilliant.