The Beatles: Get Back

 Last night I finished watching the three-part series on Disney+, “The Beatles: Get Back”. I’m really impressed by the work that Peter Jackson did with the 60 hours of unused footage from the old “Let It Be” movie. He showed those sessions, long described as acrimonious and destructive, as what they were: happy, sad, exciting, boring, productive, unproductive. In short, completely different than what was depicted in the original film. What follows are some of my personal highlights.

The first big highlight for me was when Paul McCartney was simply stunning his bass guitar trying to come up with a lick, and it morphed into the beginnings of the song “Get Back”. To see one of rock’s most famous songs being conceived from scratch was jaw-dropping and amazing.

Part I ended with George Harrison leaving the Beatles, and the filming at Twickenham studios ended abruptly, which really lent an air of seriousness to the situation. Even though us hard-core Beatles fans knew that George was eventually coming back, this created a cliff-hanger effect - how was this going to be rectified?

Billy Preston being added to the sessions immediately changed everyone’s attitude, and he brought new life to the songs they were working on. It really says something about someone’s talent when 4 guys in their late 20’s are suddenly reenergized by a 22-year old keyboardist. 

I really enjoyed the snippets where the Beatles would tool around with their “oldies”. At different points, we got parts of “Please Please Me”, “I Feel Fine”, “Strawberry Fields Forever”, and “Martha My Dear”, among others, even though some of these were only a year or two old at the time. Apparently, The Beatles were constantly moving forward musically after ending their touring, so the “oldies” didn’t get touched again.

The rooftop concert of 30 January 1969 being shown in it’s entirety in real-time was a real treat. Mr. Jackson spliced together different camera shots in a Woodstock-like presentation, and it gave the viewer a perspective of almost being there. 

And finally, the end credits, where “Let It Be” was coming together was a sad but effective conclusion to the series, and in a few months, to The Beatles themselves. Seeing some of the songs being performed, with the subtitle, “This version appeared on the ‘Let It Be’ album”, was fascinating, to see songs I’ve been hearing in recordings for 50 years as they were actually performed.

An interesting side story was seeing Mal Evans, their long-time road manager. He appeared to be well-loved by all the lads, and his level of enjoyment at being in the center of it all was refreshing to see. And his amusement at playing the anvil on “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” was another highlight of Part I.

What was annoying, though, was not only Yoko Ono’s daily presence in the recording studio, but her almost being an extra appendage to John Lennon throughout the series. I’m not sure if that reflects her quest for control over John, or John’s insecurities, but it was disturbing, and still an important part of the band’s history in 1969.

I read that Peter Jackson had between 16-18 hours of material that he cut down to about 8 hours for the series. I would love it if there would be may be a Director’s Cut release of this on DVD. Fanatics like me would eat that up, as I was craving for more at the end of Part III.

This series was long overdue for Beatles überfans like me, and makes a great companion piece to the “Let It Be” movie from 1970.