Disney+ The Beatles: Get Back exclusively on Disney+ (1 Viewer)

[Wayne_j]

I watched the first part. It starts with an overview of where the Beatles were at the time these sessions happened then they go day by day into the first 7 days of rehearsal at Twickenham. At one point they talk about some TV show that was on the night before and Jackson inserts the TV listing for that day for the BBC and put a clip of the program in. Around lunch time George quits the band (I still don't see where that came from) and tells the rest that he will see them around the clubs. John said they should give him until Tuesday and then get Clapton. A few days later the documentary says that the Beatles all met at Ringo's house and it didn't go well. There is a nice section where the band is playing music, they show Linda taking a photo during it and they then insert her photo on the screen.

Most of the more outrageous ideas for what to do with the concert came from the documentary film crew. Paul suggested breaking into parliament and have the concert end with the cops pulling them away. He also suggested renting a ballroom and promoting a dance-off. The Beatles would be the band.

Interestingly Get Back started out as a pro immigration song where Pakistanis and Puerto Ricans keep being told to go back to where they once belonged.

 

[Nelson Au]

Thanks Wayne. I’m not a Disney subscriber, good to read the synopsis! I hope this comes out on blu ray after the exclusivity period!

 

[Wayne_j]

This is an in depth discussion of part 1.

 

[RICK BOND]

Thanks Wayne. I’m not a Disney subscriber, good to read the synopsis! I hope this comes out on blu ray after the exclusivity period!

I never subscribed to Disney until today for $7.99 for 1 Month only. It's so easy with a 4K Firestick. Just to watch The Beatles Get Back. It's worth every penny ! I Loved Part 1. Can't wait to see Parts 2 & 3 Friday and Saturday morning. I can watch it as many times as I want and the PQ & Audio on this is Excellent !

 

[The 1960's]

I don’t believe I’ve ever watched anything where I was so transfixed from beginning to end. Like looking into a High Definition time portal!

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[Neil S. Bulk]

I just watched part 1. The image is strange looking. I'm guessing it was shot on 16mm, but sometimes it looks like AI upscaled video. The whole thing has a strange color rendition, sort of a two-color Technicolor or dare I say colorized look to it.

The fly on the wall aspect and seeing the creation of familiar songs is priceless though. I'll watch the other two parts this weekend.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

The image is strange looking. I'm guessing it was shot on 16mm, but sometimes it looks like AI upscaled video. The whole thing has a strange color rendition, sort of a two-color Technicolor or dare I say colorized look to it.

It reminded me of the treatment Peter Jackson gave the footage in They Shall Not Grow Old. I think we’re looking at 50 year old 16mm footage blown up from a 1.33:1-ish frame to 16x9 and then heavily processed to make it look more like modern digital capture than vintage film, with some color work to smooth over any inconsistencies in the original footage as well as any age related damage or fade. Definitely seems a deliberate choice to make everything seem more immediate and current rather than a vintage artifact from a past time.

 

[David Deeb]

In a couple of years, we'll get another version of this without the treatment. The Beatles Get Back, Naked.

 

[Neil S. Bulk]

It reminded me of the treatment Peter Jackson gave the footage in They Shall Not Grow Old.

That occurred to me as well.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Around lunch time George quits the band (I still don't see where that came from) and tells the rest that he will see them around the clubs. John said they should give him until Tuesday and then get Clapton. A few days later the documentary says that the Beatles all met at Ringo's house and it didn't go well.

Mostly George seems at the end of his rope with Paul and to a lesser extent with John being attached at the hip with Yoko. Paul does consistently tell George how and what to play. One thing you see clearly in all of this footage is Paul and John run the show and George and Ringo basically do what they are asked to do. It is not a democracy by any stretch. George also comes across as the most concerned with the cost of things and all the time they are wasting...which costs them money.

The interplay in all these hours is interesting. While Paul is constantly telling George and Ringo what or how to play he never says a word to John. John is often just noodling and vamping (Paul says this at one point but in a funny way as a criticism of how George's playing is not mixing with John's vamping) and is not adding much in his playing. In fact his playing seems to often intentionally be just mucking about. However, Paul says nothing to him.

There is the hidden mic moment where Paul says to John that he always treats John as the boss among them. John really says nothing in terms of acting like a boss though. He says basically nothing to the other band members except for joking with them all. Except for the hidden mic conversation where John does take up the idea that Paul is driving George nuts.

Also the songwriting dynamic very much comes into play here. The four of them have not been writing songs together for a while it seems. So each member comes in with songs they have been working on. Paul obviously displays the most accomplished songs while John seems to be coming up with more rough edged pieces with sort of half baked lyrics. George contributes his tunes, which are guitar based and even Ringo shows up with Octopus's Garden and George helps him structure it to move the song forward.

I also enjoy watching them work on lyrics where they often just sing sounds when they don't have words to add and then add the words based on the sounds they were singing. It is also kind of fun to see how basic and simple most of their songwriting is here. They don't display a lot of wonderful musicianship and they sound awful much of the time. Particularly when they obliterate a lot of rock 'n' roll standards. Obviously much of the time John is doing a lot of this with a sarcastic edge.

It is clear to me why much of this footage was not used until now. It shows how rough around the edges these sessions were with them really struggling to find their groove. I think for the film Let it Be they used mostly just takes where they sounded good. Here we get hours of them sounding awful, which is fun but there is certainly no fear of showing them warts and all here.

 

[Tony Bensley]

Disney+ Canada is also airing this documentary. Above rant post removed!

CHEERS!

 

[RICK BOND]

I just watched Part 3 and was Disappointed with how the Jan.30 Rooftop show was shown in different screen size with Multiple small screens. Also the last day Jan.31 the 3 songs ... Two of Us, The Long and Winding Road, and Let it Be were only shown in clips over the End Credits ! ??? That made NO Sense to me at all. I hope the 4K UHD or Bluray release has all this included and corrected. I canceled my 1 month $7.99 Disney+ subscription and got Refund from Amazon ! I watched it once, that's enough. The End disappointing.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

I just watched Part 3 and was Disappointed with how the Jan.30 Rooftop show was shown in different screen size with Multiple small screens.

It seems Jackson is taking the Woodstock approach to the roof concert. I was alright with it in that he is trying to give you a full grasp of the moment rather than a musical performance.

Basically, I think you could provide an edit of the roof concert that just stays on The Beatles, even if just as a special feature.

One thing I will say about the rooftop concert, they were not kidding when they said they tend to deliver when their backs are against the wall. John gives all of his best performances on the roof and the band delivers their best takes on the songs once they are on the roof.

 

[AlexF]

I also enjoy watching them work on lyrics where they often just sing sounds when they don't have words to add and then add the words based on the sounds they were singing.

There was a Metallica documentary a few years back that showed the band doing something similar with James Hetfield filling in for words he didn't have with random sounds/etc.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Bono does it too when U2 are writing new songs (the music and structure usually come first, the lyrics last) and band members call it “Bongloese”.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

George also says in Part 3 that he would like to do a solo album. I know there was always this talk of whether Paul or John were the first to leave and break-up The Beatles but it is obviously here in these 9 hours that George seems most to want to get out of the group. John questions George on how that would go if he went off and did a solo record. George says that he wants to "go do him" for a while.

It was interesting to me to watch these guys at this moment in time. While there is a straining of their relationships to me it seems John and Paul seem fine with continuing as Beatles. George seems burnt out and wants to do his own thing.

Ringo says very little and he also seems the most beloved of the Beatles among those that know them and the other three Beatles seem to love him. Everybody loves Ringo. Probably because he says very little, goes along with whatever is happening, and does not spend time complaining. Ringo seems the one Beatle that takes every moment in stride. There is a funny moment where Ringo is asked if he likes the Maharishi and Ringo says "No, I don't." which made me laugh. It was just so direct and he did not hesitate.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

It seems to me having watched the 8 plus hours of this that Billy Preston's arrival as the fifth Beatle is what saved these sessions. Preston brought his stellar musicianship and added the texture these songs really needed. His presence also seemed to immediately ease the tension in the room and redirected them back into creativity.

Basically, this was such a deep dive that if you are a fan of their music so much is revealed here. It also makes that final rooftop concert all the more magnificent when you see the general chaos from which it sprang.

 

[Wayne_j]

I always thought I heard that George bought Billy into these sessions. From this documentary it seems like he just stopped by and they asked him to stay.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

I always thought I heard that George bought Billy into these sessions. From this documentary it seems like he just stopped by and they asked him to stay.

Preston was in London doing something. It may have been George that asked him to stop by the studio. There is some funny conversation about having Preston play on the sessions and how it would cost them a lot less than hiring Nicky Hopkins. George seems the most financially concerned in all this footage, something I would have expected more from Paul. However George brings up money many times and so if George pushed to get Preston at a lesser cost or free it would not surprise me.

 

[TravisR]

It seems to me having watched the 8 plus hours of this that Billy Preston's arrival as the fifth Beatle is what saved these sessions. Preston brought his stellar musicianship and added the texture these songs really needed. His presence also seemed to immediately ease the tension in the room and redirected them back into creativity.

Yeah, other people have been called the fifth Beatle but for Let It Be, that slot was definitely filled by Billy Preston in my mind. Not to discount the contributions of the band proper but I think Billy Preston's playing is why LIB is my favorite Beatles record they made post-Sgt. Pepper's.