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

[Ronald Epstein]

Question: Is there anything that this new documentary left out that was included in the original cut? I would think not, but thought I would ask.

Finished this a few days ago. Took me several days to get through.

Surprised by how much I loved it given the fact I never liked the original. But then again, the last time I saw the 70s release was on crappy VHS and I was in my 20s.

While I am not a fan of Yoko Ono, I do have a better impression of her in that I don't think she was in any way responsible for splitting up the group.

Additionally, this doc kind of lays to rest the hidden meanings in Beatles songs. As you watch their songwriting process it's just a matter of finding words that rhyme with or flow into each other.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

While I am not a fan of Yoko Ono, I do have a better impression of her in that I don't think she was in any way responsible for splitting up the group.

I saw things a little differently. While I wouldn't say that Yoko was the primary reason the group split up, from what I observed she was one of many contributing factors to the group's ultimate demise. There were comments about her constant presence a couple of times when John and Yoko were late arriving, and Paul even mentioned once that they probably should be leaving the girls at home.

I saw many other things that contributed to tensions within the group, too, and think they would have eventually split regardless of whether Yoko was a part of John's life or not. George felt like a third wheel and left out because of the tight collaboration process that existed between Paul and John. Paul wanted to take control at times, which seemed to put the others off. Each of the four members were feeling the pull of domestic life, and were at that stage in life (late 20's) where that will often cause friends to drift apart. Each of the members had their own creative interests outside of the group. There were probably a few other things that I am forgetting.

 

[Bryan^H]

I saw things a little differently. While I wouldn't say that Yoko was the primary reason the group split up, from what I observed she was one of many contributing factors to the group's ultimate demise. There were comments about her constant presence a couple of times when John and Yoko were late arriving, and Paul even mentioned once that they probably should be leaving the girls at home.

I saw many other things that contributed to tensions within the group, too, and think they would have eventually split regardless of whether Yoko was a part of John's life or not. George felt like a third wheel and left out because of the tight collaboration process that existed between Paul and John. Paul wanted to take control at times, which seemed to put the others off. Each of the four members were feeling the pull of domestic life, and were at that stage in life (late 20's) where that will often cause friends to drift apart. Each of the members had their own creative interests outside of the group. There were probably a few other things that I am forgetting.

George Harrrison mentioned on the Dick Cavett show that he had hundreds of songs, and on Beatles albums was only allowed to release one or two. He looked at the split in his favor to release more of his material.

 

[TravisR]

I have to say that a wonderful outcome of this documentary is that I've heard a substantial increase in Billy Preston songs on The Beatles channel on Sirius XM.

 

[Angelo Colombus]

Question: Is there anything that this new documentary left out that was included in the original cut? I would think not, but thought I would ask.

Finished this a few days ago. Took me several days to get through.

Surprised by how much I loved it given the fact I never liked the original. But then again, the last time I saw the 70s release was on crappy VHS and I was in my 20s.

While I am not a fan of Yoko Ono, I do have a better impression of her in that I don't think she was in any way responsible for splitting up the group.

Additionally, this doc kind of lays to rest the hidden meanings in Beatles songs. As you watch their songwriting process it's just a matter of finding words that rhyme with or flow into each other.

After i viewed the documentary i did look at my only bootleg dvd of the original Let It Be movie and did notice a few scenes that were in the original film but not in the new documentary. By the way i never buy bootlegs but i won't pay over $500 for a laserdisc of Let It Be.

 

[Capt D McMars]

Travis, this is all speculation but your fears are mine. With this going exclusively to streaming Disney will not want to release this to disc anytime soon if they can capitalize on its exclusivity.

I agree, but also Disney is greedy enough to understand the opportunity that a BLD/4K box set would deliver, once up for grabs!!! I opted for D+ just for this series!!! They can keep Baby Yoda, LOL!!!!

 

[Capt D McMars]

I don't really think it was ment for theatrical release...unless you released it a either in a 2 part 3 hr or 3 part 2hr releases. No one wpould go see the minumised 2 hr version, knowing that a 6 hr more fully fleshed version exsisted. This seems to be a perfect canadate for a mondo Box Set release + all the bells and whistles that would be availble...but that's just me, LOL!!!

 

[RICK BOND]

I hope it gets a 4K UHD release ! Also ...... the original Let it Be 1970 Academy Award Winner for Best Original Song Score.

 

[Randy Korstick]

I saw things a little differently. While I wouldn't say that Yoko was the primary reason the group split up, from what I observed she was one of many contributing factors to the group's ultimate demise. There were comments about her constant presence a couple of times when John and Yoko were late arriving, and Paul even mentioned once that they probably should be leaving the girls at home.

I saw many other things that contributed to tensions within the group, too, and think they would have eventually split regardless of whether Yoko was a part of John's life or not. George felt like a third wheel and left out because of the tight collaboration process that existed between Paul and John. Paul wanted to take control at times, which seemed to put the others off. Each of the four members were feeling the pull of domestic life, and were at that stage in life (late 20's) where that will often cause friends to drift apart. Each of the members had their own creative interests outside of the group. There were probably a few other things that I am forgetting.

I would say watching this 8 hours Yoko's presence was a tiny or even microscopic reason for the bands breakup at best. Paul's controlling during this session was a much much bigger reason and the bands disagreements financially and on their future manager were all the main reasons as well as George feeling squeezed and underused as a songwriter. Its clear that Yoko was not trying to control or interfere with the band as we had been led to believe. She sat quietly next to John, hardly ever speaking. Many times she was just reading a magazine or taking notes for John. If she never went to the sessions the band still would have broken up for all the major reasons and John more than likely would have been less productive without Yoko there.

 

[TravisR]

I would say watching this 8 hours Yoko's presence was a tiny or even microscopic reason for the bands breakup at best. Paul's controlling during this session was a much much bigger reason and the bands disagreements financially and on their future manager were all the main reasons as well as George feeling squeezed and underused as a songwriter. Its clear that Yoko was not trying to control or interfere with the band as we had been led to believe. She sat quietly next to John, hardly ever speaking. Many times she was just reading a magazine or taking notes for John. If she never went to the sessions the band still would have broken up for all the major reasons and John more than likely would have been less productive without Yoko there.

I get that John and Yoko were in love and just had to be near each other but honestly, I found it odd that she was there and almost never spoke. It's respectful of the band that she didn't decide she was now a member and tried to start contributing but it just made me wonder why she even came along if she was basically going to just sit there.

 

[Randy Korstick]

I get that John and Yoko were in love and just had to be near each other but honestly, I found it odd that she was there and almost never spoke. It's respectful of the band that she didn't decide she was now a member and tried to start contributing but it just made me wonder why she even came along if she was basically going to just sit there.

Because John wanted her there. That was clear. As a musician I can relate to John wanting her there.

 

[TravisR]

Because John wanted her there. That was clear. As a musician I can relate to John wanting her there.

I guess that's it and I essentially answered my own question but I had always figured that she had pitched in an idea or a "Hey, that's pretty good" every now rather than being nearly silent for the entire time they recorded.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Just finished watching this interview and if true (according to Paul it is), Yoko brought a bed into the recording studio.

Not sure why that tidbit was not filmed for the documentary, or if it was, the footage was not included.

 

[David Deeb]

I haven’t seen this much smoking on TV since Mad Men!!! Every take apparently deserved a new cig.

 

[RICK BOND]

I Never understood Smoking, Alcohol, & Drugs ! All it does is Shorten your Life, Age you, and Kill you. I Never touched any of it. George Harrison was the youngest Beatle and only made it to 58. Lung and Throat Cancer.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Question: Is there anything that this new documentary left out that was included in the original cut? I would think not, but thought I would ask.

Yes, I believe there is but I don't think anything really significant. Essentially Get Back blows the Let It Be film out of the water. I can see why Jackson was so blown away when he saw all this footage. I also find it fascinating that there is even more that could end up on a Blu-ray release.

I have a bootleg of Let It Be on Blu-ray. The footage from the film is quite obviously ripped from the laser disc but whomever it was that made my supposedly "super deluxe edition" Blu re-edited the film cutting in mostly a lot of audio segments over random video clips in horrid shape of the band. I call it Let It Be: The Most Depressing Cut because all the added stuff is each of them complaining about the others.

Get Back is the one to watch in pretty much every way. Plus you really see the impact of the arrival of Billy Preston on these sessions as he saves the whole damn thing.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

I would say watching this 8 hours Yoko's presence was a tiny or even microscopic reason for the bands breakup at best. Paul's controlling during this session was a much much bigger reason and the bands disagreements financially and on their future manager were all the main reasons as well as George feeling squeezed and underused as a songwriter. Its clear that Yoko was not trying to control or interfere with the band as we had been led to believe. She sat quietly next to John, hardly ever speaking. Many times she was just reading a magazine or taking notes for John. If she never went to the sessions the band still would have broken up for all the major reasons and John more than likely would have been less productive without Yoko there.

Yes, I agree Yoko did not break-up The Beatles nor was she much of a factor in that happening. I thought this was known before Get Back was released on Disney. Fans of The Beatles did not like Yoko and did not want John to be with her but the other band members did not share those feelings. John was the "big brother" of the group and basically I think they all wanted him to be happy and he was with Yoko. So, that was not a reason nor a factor in their break-up.

In Get Back I think we get some pretty clear snapshots of why they broke up. I would consider these and you will see them in the documentary:

1. At this stage they were not much of a band anymore. They were all off doing their own thing and writing their own songs. They brought their songs into the session and the band worked on them together but each member essentially laid out how they wanted the song to go.

2. Harrison has had it with being a Beatle. I believe to him everything had crumbled and his primary focus was not the band nor the music, it was how things would go financially. He talks a lot about financials during this documentary. He seems the most concerned with this and he is the one that talks about what things cost the most. He has become much more of a songwriter and John and Paul are not really that interested in his songs. Harrison quits the band, he tells them he wants to make his own records, and he appears not to care at all what he plays on the others songs. He tells Paul just tell me what you want and I will play it. He has the recording equipment the band is using to make their record. He essentially, does not need them and the frustration of dealing with them is not what he wants.

3. John had been the leader but had backed off that position. He seems like he is mostly enjoying his life with Yoko and he lets Paul lead. This switch actually increases the tension. John is mostly screwing around during the sessions but none of the other members call him on it. Paul goes after George though and I am certain George is miffed at this because George is all business and trying to make something of these sessions. Time is money to him and he is bringing in the equipment to record these sessions. John goofing around and Paul coming down on George leads to that big moment where John and Paul have a private meeting which the filmmakers listen in on with a microphone hidden in a flower pot. In this meeting you hear Paul tell John he has always thought of John as the leader and we hear that Paul is now trying to fill that role. This is the one time in the documentary where we hear John sound like he is the guy that they all looked up to. He seems uninterested in leading at this stage though and is letting Paul play the bad guy.

4. Paul attempting to be the new leader. Not sure this was a role Paul wanted but obviously he had to assume it. This sits horribly with George and I think George is waiting or hoping for John to step in but John does not and his joking often makes it worse. I don't know if John is actually testing Paul here, letting him run things to see the difficulty in it, but John does not help intentionally I would say. Paul is also writing the most complex songs and I am not sure any of the other Beatles are that into them. The suite of songs that Paul wrote for side two of Abby Road I believe John openly called rubbish. Obviously they are not but John and George are writing more sort of rock 'n' roll songs while Paul is writing all kinds of things. This drifting in different directions as songwriters is making it harder for one guy to lead the band. Paul is stepping into that role at a difficult moment.

5. Quite obviously The Beatles are the John and Paul show. Ringo and George are treated as secondary by them. Yes, they contribute but George is allowed two songs per album and seems to have a hard time getting Paul and John to listen to two of his songs. Ringo is silent and goes along with whatever happens. Obviously, he knows not to make waves and that John and Paul will call the shots. George however is feeling his oats as a writer and as a musician. With their management issues kicking in at this time as well and John seeming to back out of his leadership role, George has had it with things being the John and Paul show. John and Paul fairly callously suggest they can just get Clapton if George is really done. This moment really does show an attitude in the group that as long as John and Paul remain they are The Beatles.

We also see that it takes Billy Preston to bring these sessions together. Once he shows up the "bullshit" mostly ends and they start creating and playing music. I think he inspires them all and they needed him because they are kind of sick of and bored with each other.

I think these are the reasons they split up not any of the women in their lives. George's all business attitude conflicts with John screwing around, Paul trying to run things, and their management issues. It was coming and probably only Ringo had nothing to do with the end of The Beatles.

 

[Wayne_j]

Just finished watching this interview and if true (according to Paul it is), Yoko brought a bed into the recording studio.

Not sure why that tidbit was not filmed for the documentary, or if it was, the footage was not included.

The Bed was bought into the Abbey Road sessions after John and Yoko were in a car accident.

 

[TonyD]

Okay. I just finished part one.
Never was a Beatles guy but I’m watching this for the history and it’s simply amazing to see what these guys were doing together to create this music.

Some observations.

Paul was clearly in charge of these sessions and the reason for that was explained very well by Pike up above.

I obviously don’t know how credits work with music and albums and so forth as it looked to me like all 4 of them were putting a lot of creative information into all of the music but not the lyrics.
I bring it up because nearly everything is credited to Lennon and McCartney.
Ringo doesn’t get credit for all the drumming he creates?
George doesn’t get credit for the music he creates on his guitar?
Sure looked like they had plenty of input on the music.

The blurring of nearly the entire film was super distracting.
Much of the spoken dialog didn’t quite match to whomever was saying it due to the way the film was blurred and smeared.
Very odd to my eyes and ears.

I did get a good laugh towards the end of part 1 after George quit we had Yoko was making noises into a mic but the subtitles said “wailing” and sometimes repeated that word over and over and once said “continues wailing”.

Would have given anything to see this type of show of The Who putting together a record.

 

[Wayne_j]

You generally get credit for writing lyrics and the chords / melody. There was an early Quarymen song that was credited as McCartney / Harrison because Paul thought you get credit for writing a guitar solo. You don't.