FEATURE:
Four of Us
Looking Ahead to the Get Back: The Beatles Film and Book
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YESTERDAY…
PHOTO CREDIT: Apple Records/Press
there was a lot of excitement online, as director Peter Jackson shared a trailer for the approaching documentary/film, The Beatles: Get Back. The film was due to come out this year but it has been pushed back to 27th August, 2021. There is an accompanying book that I would urge people to pre-order but, in such a bad year, it is nice to have an extended clip where we get to see The Beatles in the studio! There is this misconception that they were fighting all of the time when the sessions for Let It Be were happening. There were some debates and clashes but, as the film will show, the general mood was upbeat and positive. I think the perception of fighting and warring in the final year or two has followed The Beatles for decades. So many people are looking forward to having the film and book out and, after the delayed release, it will be something we can all love in 2021. I am not sure whether there will be an album tied to the film/documentary and there is going to be recordings of demos and in-studio chatter. Back in June, Udiscovermusic documented what we know so far about the exciting The Beatles: Get Back:
“It was made with the full co-operation of the band
Both Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr have sung the film’s praises, while John Lennon’s widow, Yoko Ono Lennon, and George Harrison’s widow, Olivia Harrison, have also offered their full support of the project.
It will be the ultimate fly-on-the-wall experience
“It’s like a time machine transports us back to 1969, and we get to sit in the studio watching these four friends make great music together,” Peter Jackson has said. The footage used in Get Back was originally shot for Michael Lindsay-Hogg’s 1970 documentary, Let It Be, which captured intimate moments in the studio while the band rehearsed and recorded the songs for what would be their final album. The footage, now revisited by Jackson in a new light, is the only material of note that documents The Beatles at work in the studio.
It will feature the famous rooftop performance in its entirety
On 30 January 1969, The Beatles played a surprise performance on the roof of their Savile Row studio. Though footage of the live set has been well documented over the years, it has never been shown in its entirety. Jackson’s film will include the entire 42-minute performance”.
The band’s true relationship is revealed
While Lindsay-Hogg’s feature film offered an in-depth look at The Beatles’ sessions, it also revealed some of tense moments in the studio. In many ways, it documents a band on the verge of a break-up. Get Back, in contrast, looks at the footage as a whole, and paints a very different picture of the band’s time together. In a recent interview on The Howard Stern Show, Paul McCartney said, “We’re obviously having fun together. You can see we respect each other and we’re making music together, and it’s a joy to see it unfold.”
Meanwhile, Starr recalled, “There was hours and hours of us just laughing and playing music… There was a lot of joy, and I think Peter will show that. I think this version will be a lot more peace and loving, like we really were.”
“The reality is very different to the myth,” Jackson himself revealed. “After reviewing all the footage and audio that Michael Lindsay-Hogg shot 18 months before they broke up, it’s simply an amazing historical treasure-trove. Sure, there’s moments of drama – but none of the discord this project has long been associated with.”
“The film creates a cheerful counter-narrative to the Beatles’ 1970 swan song “Let It Be” film, which essentially documented the group’s breakup and is a rather downbeat experience. The new film feels completely different, with the four members laughing and clowning around in classic moptop fashion,” writes Variety, who were able to view segments of the film”.
A Christmas present has come in the form of this trailer; Paul McCartney has seen the film - and he has said that it showed the boys loved each other! The four of them (five if you include producer George Martin) were putting together music and, whilst there was tension and times when everything could have fallen apart, the vibe and overall sensation is one of love and togetherness. I hope people reassess albums like Let It Be knowing this and, as I said, maybe we will get a new album or re-expanded edition of Let It Be. Over fifty years since The Beatles split up and we are still learning things about…
THE Liverpool legends!