The Beatles are fucking good.

[kalowski]

The moog solo towards the end is ace!

Alan Parsons : "Paul used the Moog for the solo in Maxwell's Silver Hammer but the notes were not from the keyboard. He did that with a continuous ribbon-slide thing, just moving his finger up and down on an endless ribbon. It's very difficult to find the right notes, rather like a violin, but Paul picked it up straight away. He can pick up anything musical in a couple of days."

That is cool. And note, when I say Maxwell is the nadir, I would still never skip it. Imagine skipping a Beatles' track. (It's not easy if you try).

[Ant Farm Keyboard]

Even "All Together Now"?

[kalowski]

I love All Together Now

[Custard]

I have a mate who loves loads of the Beatles stuff, but hates, with a passion.......Strawberry Fields Forever

Take that thought with you through the day

[IsavedLatin]

Yeah my impression of Ringo has gone through the roof after watching these.
He just seems to be a thoroughly nice, friendly guy. Genuinely happy to just be there. Not causing any aggro but enjoying the ride.

I think one of my real standout moments is in the first part, where insufferable Michael Lindsay-Hogg is yammering away at Ringo about the Libya idea, talking up the importance of a grand location in order to make the concert visually amazing. Ringo is being non-confrontational about it but clearly hating the idea/MLH. Paul is messing about at a piano in front of them, and Ringo responds to MLH's drubbing about the film needing to be on a grand SCALE by indicating Paul and saying something to the effect of, "I'd happily just watch an hour of him at the piano -- cos he's great," with such a warm, genuine beam of admiration and happiness that even MLH is lost for words.

[IsavedLatin]

Stating the obvious, but if anyone is a villain in this it's Allen Klein. Can't believe they fell for his shite.

Spoiler alert

John telling George that Klein already knows him as well as George does. Madness. Lennon seems easily led at times, for such a sharp, astute bloke

[close]

You just wanna scream at the screen to steer well clear!

Was quite impressed that Glyn Johns

Spoiler alert

tried to warn John off -- as good as said, "He might not make it as plain to you, because you're John Lennon, as he does to the rest of us mere mortals, but he's a complete cunt."

[close]

[jobotic]

I think one of my real standout moments is in the first part, where insufferable Michael Lindsay-Hogg is yammering away at Ringo about the Libya idea, talking up the importance of a grand location in order to make the concert visually amazing. Ringo is being non-confrontational about it but clearly hating the idea/MLH. Paul is messing about at a piano in front of them, and Ringo responds to MLH's drubbing about the film needing to be on a grand SCALE by indicating Paul and saying something to the effect of, "I'd happily just watch an hour of him at the piano -- cos he's great," with such a warm, genuine beam of admiration and happiness that even MLH is lost for words.

That's lovely. Like all cool people I don't really like The Beatles much but I do want to see that. Can't deny McCartney's talent and Ringo does seem like a nice chap.

Do people like Good Night? Cos I bloody do.

[SteveDave]

On my version of Revolver, Rain is in there instead of Submarine

*Runs*

Signed, Jean Jacket, Steve Hoffman Forum

[Custard]

Signed, Jean Jacket, Steve Hoffman Forum

Eh?

I don't think not liking Yellow Submarine is very Steve Hoffman. They're more likely to keep it on there and make it an hour long!

(I have 1 post on the Steve Hoffman Forum. It was incredible. You should have seen it)

[CaledonianGonzo]

Was quite impressed that Glyn Johns

Spoiler alert

tried to warn John off -- as good as said, "He might not make it as plain to you, because you're John Lennon, as he does to the rest of mere mortals, but he's a complete cunt."

[close]

Haven't got to this bit yet.....but mibbe due to Glyn Johns having had more than enough exposure to him the previous year with the Stones whilst recording Beggars Banquet?

[Custard]

Yeah, Glynn John seems a good egg. George Martin too, but he's more like a headmaster on Mufty Day

[Custard]

The rooftop gig sounds and looks absolutely amazing in this. Such a brilliant finale

This has been awesome. Magical, beautiful, utterly life affirming

[Old Nehamkin]

Watched episode 1. It really is incredibly good. What a treat. You're a good lad Peter.

[Dr Rock]

Wow, thanks for pointing me to this, it's fantastic.

[the science eel]

Yeah, Glynn John seems a good egg. George Martin too, but he's more like a headmaster on Mufty Day

Oh, I love George M. Gentle, kind, sharp as a tack. The best kind of peoples

[SteveDave]

Glyn John's jackets deserve a documentary of their own

[lipsink]

Spoiler alert

So did George leave cos he didn't like the backing vocals on the middle eight of 'Don't Let Me Down'? I'm with George on this one. Thank God they ditched them. Nice idea but just didn't work

[close]

.

[shagatha crustie]

What a ride. Love these greasy-haired lunatics even more than I did before. Didn't think it was possible. Some assorted scrambled thoughts:

They exist throughout this on a diet of toast, wine and fags. When you factor in casual drug use (both in the studio and out - someone was asking for 'pep pills' at one point) it's no wonder they all looked and felt like dogshit - they weren't looking after themselves at all.

It's crazy how fast relationships must have declined once Klein came into the picture. The doc wasn't a 'whitewash' as many feared, but once they got over the whole George quitting business, there was hardly anything at all to suggest that they'd be broken up in a year. On which point, it's a shame not to get more of an hour-by-hour account of what drove George over the edge, but Jackson deliberately and sympathetically captures the broader issue by repeatedly showing his thunderous expression while John and Paul spend all morning singing 'Two of Us' into each others' eyes.

For the first time I'm realising Paul's fundamental *anxiousness*. It's so easy to read him as monomaniacal or self-interested, but I think it's rather that he's terrified of things falling apart or not working out right, and he only knows how to medicate those feelings through work - whether it be in his own world at the piano, or constantly wanting 'one more take - just in case'. He's on a hot songwriting streak in this period, sure, but he didn't appear *confident* to me at all. The biggest mind-blower in the whole seven hours IMO was

Spoiler alert

the lingering shot of him on the verge of tears at the beginning of episode two. Also him writing the bones of 'Get Back' out of thin air, which is a good example - it's a panic response to the band's lack of material for the show, and his body language while he's strumming it out is closed off, anxious, almost childlike.

[close]

John, I feel terrible for as he's clearly seriously struggling - drug abuse, mental health issues, grieving, the works. He *is* this mercurial, chaotic class clown figure but his sweet, sensitive side is really on display here and it's awful to see him nodded out. He is also the spiritual key to the band. When John is engaged, even if his main contribution is hyperactive nonsense/irreverence, everything picks up. Paul's relief at the points where John chimes in is palpable - it means he is no longer forced into the undesirable position of 'boss.' It's interesting that it's up to John to tell Billy Preston 'you're in the band.'

Seeing Billy play, or do anything, is an absolute joy. One thing they were lacking at Twickenham in those endless circling takes of 'Don't Let Me Down' was a fifth member to give them more room to play with.

Ringo/Paul has always been the most mysterious and under-explored dynamic in the band to me, so it's wonderful to see that they clearly adore each other (in a lovably touchy-feely way - Ringo putting his hand on Paul and Linda's clasped hands!)

[the science eel]

It's crazy how fast relationships must have declined once Klein came into the picture. The doc wasn't a 'whitewash' as many feared, but once they got over the whole George quitting business, there was hardly anything at all to suggest that they'd be broken up in a year.

I'm glad you said that, because I noticed it too, but people sometimes do the I-know-better Beatle fan thing and say 'oh a lot was going on under the surface' etc. etc. But there's really no sign of an impending split, whichever way you look at it. We've got enough there - even in this edited, reduced version - to see that, I think.

the first time I'm realising Paul's fundamental *anxiousness*. It's so easy to read him as monomaniacal or self-interested, but I think it's rather that he's terrified of things falling apart or not working out right, and he only knows how to medicate those feelings through work - whether it be in his own world at the piano, or constantly wanting 'one more take - just in case'. He's on a hot songwriting streak in this period, sure, but he didn't appear *confident* to me at all.

Yes, yes.

John, I feel terrible for as he's clearly seriously struggling - drug abuse, mental health issues, grieving, the works. He *is* this mercurial, chaotic class clown figure but his sweet, sensitive side is really on display here and it's awful to see him nodded out. He is also the spiritual key to the band. When John is engaged, even if his main contribution is hyperactive nonsense/irreverence, everything picks up. Paul's relief at the points where John chimes in is palpable - it means he is no longer forced into the undesirable position of 'boss.'

hmm...'clearly seriously struggling' I really don't see there at all. The fact that he tends to make jokes (word play, comedy voices/renditions) suggests he doesn't always want to deal with reality, but he seems pretty cheery to me most of the time. And when Yoko's divorce comes through he's obviously very happy.

But yeah to the second part of that - Paul wants SO much to see John put work in, contribute ideas.

[the science eel]

Was a kick to see those old fellas - engineers? - get on the Beatles' kit and have a bash towards the end of episode 2! they were having a blast

[Cottonon]

Half way through EP2, watching 45 mins at a time to make it last. Interesting to hear the J&P canteen conversation cleaned up, seem to remember trying to strain and listen to the original bootleg through the clatter, very exciting to hear that.

It's so damning of the original 1970 cut that they left out stuff like Paul birthing Get Back in real time, that was great.

Notable absence for the "shooting is exercise" line from the Sellers chat.

The Magic Alex guitar, f*ck me that was funny, not sure I'd even heard of that in any of the books.

One of the other things that struck me is they still have moments where they're wearing the same kinds of clothes. J&P both wearing those t shirts with the sleeves to the elbows but in different colours. I guess I think of that sort of like 'Mal, get a load of these for all of us' as a thing they'd outgrown but I loved seeing that.

[FredNurke]

For the first time I'm realising Paul's fundamental *anxiousness*. It's so easy to read him as monomaniacal or self-interested, but I think it's rather that he's terrified of things falling apart or not working out right, and he only knows how to medicate those feelings through work - whether it be in his own world at the piano, or constantly wanting 'one more take - just in case'.

Work and pot. The idea doesn't originate with me, but I think there's a very strong case to be made for his Herculean cannabis intake being at least partly self-medication for anxiety.

[lipsink]

I always felt sorry for Paul back when I first saw the clip of he and George arguing (the "I'll do whatever it is that pleases you" clip). Seen here with more context it shows George up even more as acting like a right fucking passive aggressive baby (not very Hare Krishna was it)

I can understand that George is frustration as his own songwriting was becoming incredible at that point but Paul was really trying to be reasonable and not fall out with him.

Spoiler alert

Plus, yes. John was a dick towards George when he showed him 'I Me Mine'.

[close]

[Custard]

I'm gonna rewatch this all again soon, cos of course I am. But I missed John belittling I Me Mine, and was surprised when I started seeing people mention it. Maybe he was just having a laff.

Like all these years we've been told John's "are we meant to giggle during the chorus?" of Let It Be was mean spirited, when it's clear here that it's meant as a silly joke, as, well, they're giggling. It didn't strike me as nasty or snidey at all

[the science eel]

The biggest band in the world are also the loveliest. Who knew?

[Retinend]

For all your technical queries, it's really worth listening/watching this 3hr 52min podcast interview with Peter Jackson - he basically says at the beginning that he's an obsessive who loves listening to Beatles podcasts and so he gives free rein on questions and really explains the process by which it was all put together. Things like why you can hear dialogue so much better than you can on the NAGRA tapes, and how they put the audio and video together before editing, so the screen would go black when there was audio with no corresponding film, and then split-screen if two cameras were running.

He also gives his theories about what they ended up trying to do, and points out another mystery by showing photos of a later session in Apple that doesn't correspond to any documented ones. He's also more charitable to Magic Alex*, suggesting that they decided to move to Savile Row while he was halfway through building it and he may have created something usable if given more time.

I also recommend this. It's been said enough, but Jackson really is the perfect man for this job. And Disney+, with its limitless run times, is the perfect medium for it to come out on.

Speaking of podcasts, there's a sour note to this episode of my favourite Beatles Podcast, "Something About the Beatles." The host seems bitter that he wasn't asked by Apple to be a researcher on Get Back. In it, he tries to undermine the project based on some (now, post-release) obviously false assumptions about the project and its intentions:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/220-get-back-to-peter-jackson/id1483392342?i=1000530723216
220: Get Back to Peter Jackson
Something About the Beatles

It's a shame, because I think that the host would love this series if he realized how much it fulfils his own speculations. I'll have to see if he's posted on Twitter about it yet.

edit: nope

[Cottonon]

The biggest band in the world are also the loveliest. Who knew?

One bit that got to me was after George's walk out the three of them do a brief huddle and kind of hold each others arms.

[SteveDave]

Like all these years we've been told John's "are we meant to giggle during the chorus?" of Let It Be was mean spirited, when it's clear here that it's meant as a silly joke, as, well, they're giggling. It didn't strike me as nasty or snidey at all

He says "Giddle". There's a few more clips (on the "Anthology Revisited" podcast) where he says "Giddle" instead of "Giggle" too. Dig him up I say.

[The Bumlord]

John also pronounced 'orgies' with a hard 'g' so I'm afraid it's bin time

[Replies From View]

It's the absolute nadir of their output, for me. I just can't stand it.

I know it has its fans on here, but nah, it's not for me. And I usually love Macca's character led tunes

I probably wouldn't mind it as much if it didn't flatten Abbey Road just as it's about to soar into the stratosphere.