Peter Jacksons Beatles Doco - 'The Beatles Get Back'

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Osho

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I have thought that a lot of times about different bands/musician.
But it really is a common theme in music. The 20s is really when muso’s seem at their creative prime.
Saying that, The Beatles output was ahead of most.
Its also seems to have died off these days. Bands are lucky to realease an album once in 3-4 years.
There are quite a few thinkers in their youth who were spectacular and trailed off into mediocrity after that (Marx, Nietszche). It may be a more generalised phenomena across different spectra?
 
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There are quite a few thinkers in their youth who were spectacular and trailed off into mediocrity after that (Marx, Nietszche). It may be a more generalised phenomena across different spectra?

Mathematics is the obvious field that comes to mind not that they fade away so much, more so that many breakthroughs have been made by those younger minds.
 
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I have thought that a lot of times about different bands/musician.
But it really is a common theme in music. The 20s is really when muso’s seem at their creative prime.
Saying that, The Beatles output was ahead of most.
Its also seems to have died off these days. Bands are lucky to realease an album once in 3-4 years.

This
 

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AdelaideGT

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I've never been a major fan of the Beatles, but a friend had me download the '8 Days A Week' doco for her a few years back and since I am a major fan of music history, I enjoyed watching that.

This I enjoyed even more. Yes, it got a bit repetitive at times (50 rehearsals of 'Get Back' for example) but it really was interesting to see how that song developed from nothing to one of their classics within a few weeks.

John did seem to take a back seat but it was interesting that Paul still thought of him as the 'boss' of the group. Paul did have to take charge though. As he admitted, since the death of Brian Epstein they hadn't really been disciplined.

I enjoyed seeing the people in the street responding to the concert and not all of the older people interviewed disapproved of the noise and disruption which was pleasing.

The copper visit was quite funny too. I wonder if the assertive young constable watched this doco and can laugh at his young self.
 
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I always thought Another Day sounded like a Beatles song and Paul McCartney was working on it during the Let It Be sessions.




That was one of the off cuts, one of the songs that didn't make the cut for that album, although I think Paul was storing some songs for his solo career.
 
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One of the last great Beatles songs.




That's a McCartney song too, it's credited to Lennon-McCartney but Lennon had checked out by that stage and McCartney was doing the heavy lifting.



I’ve read a few criticisms of this song saying it’s overdone and too sentimental etc - I honestly don’t get comments like that. It’s an utterly beautiful song

I watched Paul’s carpool karaoke last night on YouTube. If you haven’t seen it, do yourself a favour - if it does not make you smile/cry, nothing will.
 
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Watching the documentary and rediscovering the Beatles has stirred a lot of emotions in me. I’ve made it pretty well known in a few boards on this forum that my life has completely fallen apart in the last couple of years and pushed me to the very edge a few times and the only constant I’ve had in that time aside from my kids has been music, both as a part time profession and just a release to be able to listen to my favourite performers and take something from what they sing about.

I feel incredibly lucky that I can say I was alive while 3 of the 4 most influential figures in pop culture history were alive, and even now I can still jump on YouTube and see two of them still going. They’ve contributed more to the global community than just about anyone in the last century and that will last forever.
 

AdelaideGT

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I think Paul was storing some songs for his solo career.

I'm not sure he was thinking of his solo career yet. John & George were the ones keenest to do their own thing.

Like John's 'Jealous Guy' which we also heard an early version of, I just think they weren't close to being finished.
 

Osho

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Watching the documentary and rediscovering the Beatles has stirred a lot of emotions in me. I’ve made it pretty well known in a few boards on this forum that my life has completely fallen apart in the last couple of years and pushed me to the very edge a few times and the only constant I’ve had in that time aside from my kids has been music, both as a part time profession and just a release to be able to listen to my favourite performers and take something from what they sing about.

I feel incredibly lucky that I can say I was alive while 3 of the 4 most influential figures in pop culture history were alive, and even now I can still jump on YouTube and see two of them still going. They’ve contributed more to the global community than just about anyone in the last century and that will last forever.
Extremely sad hearing of your battles, PB, I hope you keep getting through it. A lot of people feeling extremely vulnerable these days, comrade.

Another Day is a magnificent and subtle song, it took me years to appreciate the details within rhe song.
 

Osho

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I recently watched this YT doco, its in several parts.

Having grown up swallowing the Paul John antithesis, this doco really brought home how close the 2 were, how inseparable they were in the first half of the band's life, and how their developing relationship with all the typical ups and downs all relationship have evolved. It tries to show that they were real soul mates, and totally dependent on each other musically. There is even some insinuation they may have been lovers, which the doco says explains the depth of their breakup.

Worth a watch nevertheless, to get a perspective on how fantastic they were together.
 

AdelaideGT

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There is even some insinuation they may have been lovers

Imagine writing all those songs. All those early tours. Plus being with their wives/girlfriends/groupies during this time. AND being lovers.

A hard day's night indeed!
 

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Osho

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Imagine writing all those songs. All those early tours. Plus being with their wives/girlfriends/groupies during this time. AND being lovers.

A hard day's night indeed!
I've been working,
Like a dog.
 
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I feel incredibly lucky that I can say I was alive while 3 of the 4 most influential figures in pop culture history were alive, and even now I can still jump on YouTube and see two of them still going. They’ve contributed more to the global community than just about anyone in the last century and that will last forever.


So I'm 15 when Lennon died & had just started really listening to his solo stuff & loving it of course. It probably an easy throw away line thats been used a few million times before but I really do feel to this day that a bit of me died that day as well, at the very least my faith in humanity has never really recovered which is easily justified with all the goings on since then & the state the world finds itself in today. Exactely where it deserves to be? Yeah, I think John would think so.
 

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I will eventually watch it.

I have listened to a podcast discussion about it and the 2 main themes seem to be the way George was treated and that Yoko probably wasn't to blame as much for the Beatles break up as we were to believe.
 

Osho

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I will eventually watch it.

I have listened to a podcast discussion about it and the 2 main themes seem to be the way George was treated and that Yoko probably wasn't to blame as much for the Beatles break up as we were to believe.
One wonders now in hindsight how so much misoginy, racism and other orher biases were able to get away with it regarding Yoko.
 
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Haven't clocked this completely, and that probably effects some of my comments, but my thoughts so far:

- Definitely more for diehard fans than casual fans or the layman. It is long-winded and goes through patches where not a lot happens and you just have to work through it. Beatles fans will notice what is important and which scenes are set in for administrative and narrative purposes.
- Happy to never hear the title track again. One of the bands weaker songs, and it just gets rotated through the series on a constant basis
- Thought there was a lack of real high points, but as stated, I haven't seen the ending and I suspect this will tie a lot of the series together and act as a natural climax
- There was over 50 hours of footage in total - clearly it is heavily edited and there were certain aspects that weren't highlighted.
- Got the distinct impression George was the superior songwriter at this point in time, and the tone the band took - especially Paul - was a little off. Like it was a bit of a novelty and something to keep things ticking over, but there was always a sense of distance between his tracks. John was quick to notice when George was onto a good idea though, and watching him collaborate/try to provide suggestions on Something was awesome.
- Conversely felt Paul's songwriting came off as pretty laboured, he'd work on ideas for days and there wouldn't be a whole heap of progress. The band would also leave him to his own devices when he was working on a song and he'd direct all the pieces around him.
- I can see why John adored Yoko - she was passionately in love with him, clearly loved art, loved music, didn't say a whole lot but when she did it was amusing or interesting. Her asking (I think?) The head of Apple about places to buy classical scores was very pure.
- George Harrison is probably the Beatle I'd most like to hang out with. Easily the most natural, individual and interesting Beatle. Wore his heart on his sleeve. It became pretty clear he was progressing beyond the kind of stuff the Beatles were making on Let It Be, and it was frustrating him.
- Contrary to what others have said watching the Beatles develop hit songs actually normalised the whole process and broke it down on a mechanical level I wish I didn't now know about. I feel some of the magic and mystique of the band and their songs has been removed.

Overall, a great insight, keen to see the rest, but it hasn't floored me in the way I thought it would. Maybe if it was At The Drive-In recording Relationship of Command or Rivers Cuomo putting together Pinkerton I'd be more invested, but I'm more a casual fan and a lot of The Beatles catalogue (especially Let It Be) I can take or leave.

Awesome access though.
 
One of the great music docos.

- Being a fly on the wall for so much of these recordings was just magic. Watching the inception of these songs was fascinating.

- Also enjoyed seeing the little early morsels of some of the later recorded Abbey Road songs (Maxwell’s silver hammer aside!).

- Yoko seemed not irritating to the others at all at this stage, maybe that came later.

- It is LONG and yep could’ve done with at least some shaving off. But having said that this is such a gift to watch these legends just hanging about jamming. The second episode in particular I found a grind but the 3rd was the best.

- Lennon was so interesting! Seemed high the whole time at the first studio lol.

- George hadn’t earnt Paul’s songwriting respect yet, but none of them seemed like douchebags.

- The policemen were douchebags!
 
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Thought it was fascinating - just the insight into the creative process it provides is going to make this a really important historical document. My jaw was basically on the floor watching Paul basically pull Get Back out of thin air while waiting for the others to show up.

- Thought the bugged convo between John and Paul at Twickenham was the key pivot point of the movie, and summed up beautifully why the breakup was sadly inevitable by that point - John, Paul and George all having wildly different visions of where they wanted their music to go.
- Provides a lot of important recontextualisation for Yoko - while she's clearly a bit of a space cadet, you can see how much the others recognised how much she and John loved each other, and how they wanted to make it all work. Paul's line ("It's going to be really strange in 50 years when people say 'the band broke up because Yoko sat on an amp') is eerily prescient.
- Also gave me a huge appreciation for Billy Preston as probably the unsung hero of these sessions and the entire movie - the songs simply don't sound like the finished product until he's there, and he's clearly loving every second of it.
 
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One of the last great Beatles songs.




That's a McCartney song too, it's credited to Lennon-McCartney but Lennon had checked out by that stage and McCartney was doing the heavy lifting.


I recently went through the Beatles catalogue, very much a casual fan other then the White Album, that album is unbelievable. Anyway this song blew my socks off, * me it's brilliant.



Haven't seen the doco yet but will have to look into it, heard great reports.
 
Just finished the series. It’s long, but absolutely worth the effort. I felt like a fly on the wall witnessing history. So many take aways, but the key things for me:

- I didn’t realise George walked out on the Beatles mid way through the project, but I thought to myself early on he was pissed off. Neither Paul nor John were listening to him and you could sense his frustration.
- when Billy Preston joined the recording session and there was idle chatter about him becoming the 5th Beatle George said the Beatles should invite others like Bob Dylan to join the Beatles and call the band ‘Beatles & Co’. Fast track to the Travelling Wilburys.
- Paul McCartney is/was a perfectionist and genius, and was definitely the driving force.
- Loved witnessing how songs developed
- John introduced his new song, Road to Marrakech. It sounded familiar. Turns out that tune was later to become his solo hit, Jealous Guy.
- ******* Yoko! She was constantly there, adding absolutely no value to anything.
- Finally, I didn’t realise ‘Lennon-McCartney’ was an agreement between Paul and John, that any song either wrote would be attributed to both.
 
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