Peter Jackson's The Beatles' Get Back: Sneak Peek

[SamuelBLupowitz]

I haven't been too focused on the news about this project, though I've been mildly interested. Saw the original Let It Be film once, and yeah, it's kind of a bummer. Now, though... this little montage has me excited and even moved.

 

Among the great little moments: A close-up of Billy Preston's hands playing the end of the Get Back Rhodes solo. Enjoy.

 

[video:youtube]

[zxcvbnm098]

My god, I can hardly wait to see this. Out-freaking-standing!

 

My uncle took me and my cousin and brother to see this at a drive-in when it came out. I was 10, but I still remember the impact of seeing them all. What a marvelous take on the sessions this will be!

[analogman1]

That looks great! I was grinning from ear to ear all the time while watching the trailer.

COUNT ME IN to check that out for sure!!!

Thanks so much for sharing...made my day!!!

[KuruPrionz]

This looks like fun, I will watch when it is released.

 

For all that hair splitters and cork sniffers try to get the sound of the Beatles by acquiring the equipment they used, it will never quite work.

There are 3 obstacles.

1. They were who they were and nobody else is.

2. They did their 10,000 hours in the trenches, playing dive bars and all that goes with that.

3. They recorded live, as a group much more often than not.

 

You might be able to get 2 and 3 (I've done #2 and then some) but 1 is unattainable.

[MAJUSCULE]

Wow, yeah, even as a casual listener, this looks pretty cool.

 

And thank god for Billy.

[ProfD]

For all that hair splitters and cork sniffers try to get the sound of the Beatles by acquiring the equipment they used, it will never quite work.

There are 3 obstacles.

1. They were who they were and nobody else is.

2. They did their 10,000 hours in the trenches, playing dive bars and all that goes with that.

3. They recorded live, as a group much more often than not.

 

You might be able to get 2 and 3 (I've done #2 and then some) but 1 is unattainable.

QFT.

 

No matter how well executed, there will be critics. H8ll, the living members of the band cannot stray too far away from whatever time period and/or recording listeners have stamped their greatness.

 

I understand the adoration and admiration and desire to preserve whatever made or makes a band, artist or musician great.There's nothing inherently wrong it. IMO, trying to duplicate or replicate it is an exercise in futility as quoted above.

 

Talent, skill and luck are essential ingredients when it comes to greatness whether it's musicianship, building a band

or songwriting and composition.

 

Like many others before and after them, the stars aligned for The Beatles to become iconic as a band and individuals.

[MathOfInsects]

This looks like fun, I will watch when it is released.

 

For all that hair splitters and cork sniffers try to get the sound of the Beatles by acquiring the equipment they used, it will never quite work.

There are 3 obstacles.

1. They were who they were and nobody else is.

2. They did their 10,000 hours in the trenches, playing dive bars and all that goes with that.

3. They recorded live, as a group much more often than not.

 

You might be able to get 2 and 3 (I've done #2 and then some) but 1 is unattainable.

Nice. There's a number 4 as well, which is this: For nearly the entirety of their career, they were ahead of the zeitgeist. Their restlessness led them to the front of the curve on cultural changes and preferences, almost without fail. And the few exceptions to this--for example, Magical Mystery Tour--were their only real "failures" during that sweet-spot run they had.

 

They did this by constantly going with the "what if" that others weren't thinking of or were considering but rejecting, or were trying but not turning into commercial success. What if we overload that mic, what if we run vocals through a Leslie, what if we put these two takes in different keys together, what if we were a band that didn't tour, what if we made a bunch of sounds we will never play live, what if we write songs no one will ever play on the radio, and so on. The list is endless. So if, in 2020, you are looking to The Beatles for your sound, you are already not looking to The Beatles for your sound.

[SamuelBLupowitz]

There's a number 4 as well, which is this: For nearly the entirety of their career, they were ahead of the zeitgeist. . . . They did this by constantly going with the "what if" that others weren't thinking of or were considering but rejecting, or were trying but not turning into commercial success. . . . So if, in 2020, you are looking to The Beatles for your sound, you are already not looking to The Beatles for your sound.

A great insight. It's true, by the time the rest of the culture had caught on to, for instance, Sgt. Pepper, and started putting out their big, colorful, psychedelic records... the Beatles had already moved on to their rootsy, gritty album with the all-white cover. Few other bands offer such a grand musical journey over such a short recording career.

[Bill H.]

Super creepy to see Yoko sitting in a chair directly in front of John - staring intently without emotion while everyone else is laughing and goofing off. You read about it and it doesn't completely register. You have to see it to believe it.

 

John thought Paul's line "Get back to where you once belonged" was directed towards Yoko. And it may have well been.

 

The Beatles weren't always ahead of the curve. The arrangements and harmonies of Rubber Soul and Revolver were clearly influenced by the Byrds for example, and they were a little late on the protest bandwagon as well.

 

They just did it better than anyone else.

[Mark Schmieder]

I finally saw the original for the first time earlier this year, when someone snuck it onto YouTube briefly before it once again got yanked down.

 

After decades of build-up and criticism, I was expecting it to be awful, but instead had an experience of euphoria and felt it was near-perfect.

 

The rooftop performances were riveting and full of energy as well as band tightness -- and of course I had heard the opposite, for decades.

 

Additional footage may or may not diminish what was already edited down. I never saw the Anthology videos, so maybe that covers this too?

[Mark Schmieder]

BTW John was right when he said that attacks on Yoko were racist and misogynist. I'll leave it at that. I have a different mindset and upbringing, and my honest unfiltered reaction to her on film is fairly positive.

[Sam Mullins]

There's a number 4 as well, which is this: For nearly the entirety of their career, they were ahead of the zeitgeist. . . . They did this by constantly going with the "what if" that others weren't thinking of or were considering but rejecting, or were trying but not turning into commercial success. . . . So if, in 2020, you are looking to The Beatles for your sound, you are already not looking to The Beatles for your sound.

A great insight. It's true, by the time the rest of the culture had caught on to, for instance, Sgt. Pepper, and started putting out their big, colorful, psychedelic records... the Beatles had already moved on to their rootsy, gritty album with the all-white cover. Few other bands offer such a grand musical journey over such a short recording career.

 

I posted this quote a couple years ago from Dan Breithaupt's book on Steely Dan's Aja:

 

(Fagen) "The main thing we got from the Beatles was the idea that each album should be a gift. You shouldn't take it lightly. I remember in the sixties, starting with Rubber Soul, they'd come out with an album, and it always seemed like they'd worked on it really hard so it wouldn't be disappointing". (Breithaupt) So, while their contemporaries were making off with entire Lennon/McCartny melodies and turns of phrase, Steely Dan stole the Beatles' work ethic.

[zxcvbnm098]

This looks like fun, I will watch when it is released.

 

For all that hair splitters and cork sniffers try to get the sound of the Beatles by acquiring the equipment they used, it will never quite work.

There are 3 obstacles.

1. They were who they were and nobody else is.

2. They did their 10,000 hours in the trenches, playing dive bars and all that goes with that.

3. They recorded live, as a group much more often than not.

 

You might be able to get 2 and 3 (I've done #2 and then some) but 1 is unattainable.

Nice. There's a number 4 as well, which is this: For nearly the entirety of their career, they were ahead of the zeitgeist. Their restlessness led them to the front of the curve on cultural changes and preferences, almost without fail. And the few exceptions to this--for example, Magical Mystery Tour--were their only real "failures" during that sweet-spot run they had.

 

They did this by constantly going with the "what if" that others weren't thinking of or were considering but rejecting, or were trying but not turning into commercial success. What if we overload that mic, what if we run vocals through a Leslie, what if we put these two takes in different keys together, what if we were a band that didn't tour, what if we made a bunch of sounds we will never play live, what if we write songs no one will ever play on the radio, and so on. The list is endless. So if, in 2020, you are looking to The Beatles for your sound, you are already not looking to The Beatles for your sound.

 

I would add there was a fifth element, and that was the fifth Beatle himself George Martin. In him they had a key and crucial mentor and collaborator who taught them about recording, arrangements, and listened to them to help realize their ideas.

[Anderton]

There's a number 4 as well, which is this: For nearly the entirety of their career, they were ahead of the zeitgeist...They did this by constantly going with the "what if" that others weren't thinking of or were considering but rejecting, or were trying but not turning into commercial success. What if we overload that mic, what if we run vocals through a Leslie, what if we put these two takes in different keys together, what if we were a band that didn't tour, what if we made a bunch of sounds we will never play live, what if we write songs no one will ever play on the radio, and so on. The list is endless. So if, in 2020, you are looking to The Beatles for your sound, you are already not looking to The Beatles for your sound.

 

I've written/posted often about my concern that too many people are asking "how do I" instead of "what if." the irony, of course, is that we now have more tools than ever to which we can ask "What if"...but people want to know "how do I" get the Beatles sound instead.

[Docbop]

Just watching that sneak peek made me feel so good. So glad I grew up in that time period great time in music and life.

[jerrythek]

Interesting... I never heard negatives about the rooftop performances. For me, it was the dreariness of the studio time, and the bickering and infighting that I walked away remembering. They didn't seem to be having fun. This teaser already dispels that recollection.

 

 

 

I finally saw the original for the first time earlier this year, when someone snuck it onto YouTube briefly before it once again got yanked down.

 

After decades of build-up and criticism, I was expecting it to be awful, but instead had an experience of euphoria and felt it was near-perfect.

 

The rooftop performances were riveting and full of energy as well as band tightness -- and of course I had heard the opposite, for decades.

 

Additional footage may or may not diminish what was already edited down. I never saw the Anthology videos, so maybe that covers this too?

[Anderton]

I also highly recommend "The Beatles: 8 Days a Week - The Touring Years," which was done by Ron Howard. Unfortunately it's exclusive to Hulu, which prevents a lot of people from seeing it. There's a 30-second teaser that gives a bit of the flavor.

 

What I like the most about the movie is that it captures the years the Beatles played live, from 1962 up to their last concert in 1966. Half a century later, I think the Beatles are remembered mostly for their studio work, but they were a kick-ass live band. I suspect that also infused their music in a way sitting home in your bedroom can't.

 

The work that went into that movie was pretty monumental, I did an interview with Chris Jenkins about how the sound for the movie was put together from archived materials. Giles Martin was a huge part of the process. If you don't have Hulu, find someone who does, and invite yourself over

[miden]

Loved it! There was real joy in what they were doing. Either that or they were very VERY good actors haha!

[MathOfInsects]

BTW John was right when he said that attacks on Yoko were racist and misogynist. I'll leave it at that. I have a different mindset and upbringing, and my honest unfiltered reaction to her on film is fairly positive.

 

Unquestionably. There are plenty of winky, smarmy interviews at the time that make this clear.

 

Not to mention, she was a legitimate fixture in the avant-garde long before she managed to intersect with The Beatles. What she does and did is not for everyone, but it's not for no one either, pun allowed but not intended.

[MathOfInsects]

I would add there was a fifth element, and that was the fifth Beatle himself George Martin. In him they had a key and crucial mentor and collaborator who taught them about recording, arrangements, and listened to them to help realize their ideas.

 

Absolutely, though I include him in the "Number 1" factor, which is them being who they were. I'd throw in Epstein too. For better or worse, the "band" really broke up when he died; the remaining few years were essentially a series of solo endeavors with some occasional but transcendent cooperation among them.

[MathOfInsects]

A great insight. It's true, by the time the rest of the culture had caught on to, for instance, Sgt. Pepper, and started putting out their big, colorful, psychedelic records... the Beatles had already moved on to their rootsy, gritty album with the all-white cover. Few other bands offer such a grand musical journey over such a short recording career.

 

To be fair, in some cases, the zeitgeist existed because of their influence. But in others, their constant radar-pinging for new sounds and directions, put them just enough ahead of the public shifts in consumption that by the time the rest of the world came around, they were already on to the next idea.

 

You mention the recording career part. Here's what's amazing about that: "The Beatles" as we know them really came to be in mid-1963, with the recording and success of that VERY young-sounding first album, and ended in mid-1969, though it took a year of business wrangling for them to formally announce it (which Paul did to grab some free publicity around his first solo album in 1970). That means that everything they did, they did in 6 years. Isn't that amazing? When they broke up, the OLDEST of them (Ringo) was 29. George was 27. They did all that before their 20s were out.

 

Incredible.

[bennyray]

Just watching that sneak peek made me feel so good. So glad I grew up in that time period great time in music and life.

 

That era had so many amazing artist and musicians.

[EscapeRocks]

BTW John was right when he said that attacks on Yoko were racist and misogynist. I'll leave it at that. I have a different mindset and upbringing, and my honest unfiltered reaction to her on film is fairly positive.

 

 

Bullshit

 

Are you telling me that not caring for her makes me racist and a misogynist? I don't like her because of the sense of self-importance she exudes. I don't like her so-called music. No, I never bought into the "yoko broke up the Beatles"

 

I was only 8 years old when the Beatles broke up. I didn't know who or what was Yoko Ono. I would listen to some of my parent's Beatles albums and really liked them. I didn't know about Yoko till my teenage years in the lat 70's to early 80's when I heard something she recorded and literally thought "wtf did I just hear? A little research made me realize she was John's wife. Then I went back to my life.

 

A couple (few?) years ago when she did that so called performance of screeching brought up my 40 year memory of ," yeah still don't care for her"

 

If that makes me racist, I don't know what to tell you.

[CEB]

I hope Peter Jackson is more true to the Beatles than he was to Tolkien.

[Bill H.]

Interesting... I never heard negatives about the rooftop performances. For me, it was the dreariness of the studio time, and the bickering and infighting that I walked away remembering. They didn't seem to be having fun. This teaser already dispels that recollection.

 

Yeah... the contentiousness of these sessions have been mentioned many times as a cause of their ultimate breakup. This is the way George Martin used to describe their studio time in the beginning, when it was tough to keep them on task because they were goofing off so much. It's fun to watch. I wonder how much more there is like this.

[Adan]

I hope Peter Jackson is more true to the Beatles than he was to Tolkien.

 

Well it's not comparable at all. This is a documentary. 56 hours of never seen footage -- no one could f&%k that up.

 

That teaser gave me chills of the best kind. This is going to start an inferno under the enthusiasm of any Beatles fans . . . which is basically everybody in the world.

[Polkahero]

Sure looked like they were getting along well despite being the final recording sessions before the breakup.

[MathOfInsects]

Sure looked like they were getting along well despite being the final recording sessions before the breakup.

The release dates are a little confusing, but in fact these were not the last sessions before they broke up. Abbey Road was.

[counterpoint]

What blows me away is the clarity of the video....I felt like I was in the studio with them shooting the clips on an IPhone! I know nothing about videography or video clean-up software but, like the advances in audio clean-up software, the advances in video clean-up software will make this a very special film to watch beyond its musical content.

[jerrythek]

Interesting... I never heard negatives about the rooftop performances. For me, it was the dreariness of the studio time, and the bickering and infighting that I walked away remembering. They didn't seem to be having fun. This teaser already dispels that recollection.

 

Yeah... the contentiousness of these sessions have been mentioned many times as a cause of their ultimate breakup. This is the way George Martin used to describe their studio time in the beginning, when it was tough to keep them on task because they were goofing off so much. It's fun to watch. I wonder how much more there is like this.

 

Yet, they "recovered' enough from these sessions to go back and produce Abbey Road. Pretty damn good rebound.