Feels like Paul wanted everyone to get their shit together and progress the band as a whole while George and John were apathetic. Paul, even Ringo, were holding back tears in E2. Also, not sure how I feel about Yoko being in nearly every session. Could be the abuser/abused relationship where John didn't want her out of his sight - not that she was overly annoying or anything. Seeing Paul piece together Get Back in real time as he was strumming away at chords was something else.
You can see that Paul was ready (whether he would admit it or not) to be the leader of his own band and was tired having to keep up the charade of "four members, equal voting" when he was the only one 100% committed to music making by then.
I read about “magic Alex” in that George Martin book I just read. He was a crackpot with all kinds of ideas that would never work. But the Beatles all fell for it every time. They gave him tons of money for harebrained schemes. That Apple company was supposed to make everything from movies to electronic gadgets. George Martin hated him but couldn’t get rid of him cause the guys liked him
The way he kept trying different words in such rapid fire fashion. You could see him running the different choices through the musical supercomputer that is McCartney’s brain. That was special to witness
I like how they just casually call out things they want brought to them. “Let’s have a packet of ciggys Mal”. “I need one of those black bow ties brought in”
Finished the first part and got into the second part. Was never a huge Beatles fan but always appreciated the catchy-ness of their songs even when I was little. Could appreciate what they accomplished even if I was never a huge follower. I never had any knowledge of their group dynamic. But one guy said it best that it was always John and Paul vs George in band decisions and song writing. Even if George was sub par, I can imagine what it would be like always feeling ganged up on. Also for Paul, must be difficult having a vision for a song a wanting to to sound a certain way and another guy not wanting to play it in a specific manner. His work ethic was supposedly unreal and must've been tough being around him at times. John and Ringo seem almost catatonic at times playing while Paul is coming up with shit. Lol at the mic in the flower pot With everything said, this has been amazing. Reminds me of Metallica's Some kind of monster doc. Always being Lars vs James.
THought it was weird in the "I've Got a Feeling" that Yoko was sitting right there, but now after watching the first episode, hell, you've got hare krshnas in the corner, roadies bringing silver trays of booze, Mal Evans' crotch in every shot.... you hardly even notice Yoko, except for when she gets up for a little toast and jam.
Yeah I know she got a lot of shit for the break up, but it really didn't seem like anyone really had an issue with her being there. It was really weird that she was literally right next to John basically all the time tho.
I mean, yeah. Still very weird. But even looking at something as awkward as this: It doesn't seem so strange once you find out who the photographer was: Spoiler
George looks so miserable in this the entire time At least Paul and John seem to give each other energy at certain points
Paul sitting down and creating Get Back out of thin air on the fly gave me chills. Amazing that was caught on film. George and Ringo over there sitting on the stage hungover as shit and yawning. Then you can see their facial expressions change when they realize he has something and they start getting to their instruments.
All the guy on the street quotes were great. Have people figured out the names and harassed the cops that broke up the final Beatles concert?
she's literally sitting there at the start sewing a hole in the pocket of John's fur coat. it's surreal shit. she goes about it as mundanely as such a task demands, too.
NOW... I will say it was slightly hilarious when George quits and in the next scene, lookit who's perched on the blue pillow!
Crazy how the boys become 100% more productive the moment Billy Preston enters the room. He brought such a positive vibe.
You rarely see someone songwriting with a bass guitar. It's usually guitar or piano. That's another thing that made this moment cooler, wouldn't have guessed he composed it with bass
listened the fuck out of the beatles anthology when it came out. definitely give it a spin if you’re into this doc
I think the most amazing thing about this documentary is how it chronicles the band at their absolute worst period. Paul was still churning out hits like a fucking machine and George had a backlogue a mile long, but John was totally checked out, and other than a few spurts of cohesive creativity, the band was pretty splintered and at wits end with each other. This was their nadir from a creative output standpoint. And yet it shows how fucking amazing they were at creating hits and just casually being the greatest ever. Imagine if we had cameras rolling for the making of Rubber Soul, Revolver, and Sgt. Peppers. I don't think my brain could handle it.
Finished it. It's everything I ever wanted as a Beatles lover and wish there was more for Sgt. Pepper's etc.
Finally started part 3. Watching George jump at the chance to help Ringo work out Octopus Garden was so heartwarming.
Just wanted to say that Paul messing around on the piano on long and winding road gave me chills. Incredible piano melody that you can’t really hear on the studio cut with all the backing instruments. I’d love to find a recording of just the piano part with vocals
Listen to “let it be: naked”. It’s on Spotify That was one of my favorite songs when I bought the Beatles acoustic guitar book. It works really well that way too
I know exactly what you mean from the doc. The way he was arpeggiating the chords a little more, playing the individual notes. It’s a stunning chord progression
The part about “long and winding road” from the yesterday movie is amazing too. When he beats Ed Sheeran in the songwriting contest
When I first read your post, I thought it was just let it be the song and not the entire album. Great find
Finally finished. Man what a final hour that was. Paul spent that final day before the concert telling them they needed a big finish and that they always knew how to nail it when the spotlight was on...that was so prescient. They took those songs they had barely figured out onto the roof and just fucking nailed them. It was absolutely magical. And then the police show up, Paul looks back and spots them...the look of excitement on his face is perfect. It's like he knew "there's our big ending." I loved seeing how the Apple employees down below kept stalling the cops. They're the real heroes.