I've been a Beatles fan for 25 years now, and today marked a special and long-awaited occasion: I finally got to see Let it Be. The movie that the Beatles are apparently keeping suppressed, that I've been looking for forever to no avail. It's on YouTube, divided into 9 separate parts, which was good enough for me. I could care less about video quality, or special DVD extras -- I've been wanting to see this movie for a long long time, having heard all about it and seen all the famous clips from it.
My impressions:
I feel I understand the Beatles just a little more than I did before I saw the film.
* Everyone talks about how this movie is a document of a band breaking up; a great band that doesn't get along anymore. I think that element is a little over-exaggerated. The only onscreen argument is the famous Paul-George conversation where George is obviously a little peeved at the way Paul is trying to 'direct' George's playing on a song. In another scene, Paul has a similar conversation with John, but John seems so apathetic to the whole thing (heroin?) that there's no real drama in this non-confrontation. As a viewer I was unmoved.
* And that apathy comes across in watching this project take place. My take is that the Beatles (or Paul, because he was pretty much running the show) weren't in the Twickenham studios to record a new album; they were there to rehearse material, replay a lot of old stuff (like Besame Mucho, Lawdy Miss Clawdy and One After 909 -- stuff they wouldn't be playing if they were recording a new album) and jam together in preparation for a concert, which would be the climax of this film. Unfortunately the concert never materialized -- probably because they didn't have Brian Epstein there to coordinate that. So instead they lugged their equipment to the roof and played up there until the cops told them to stop.
I was expecting more arguments, more tension.... but instead what I got was apathy. Aside from Paul, the other guys (and I can't believe I'm referring to John, George and Ringo as 'the other guys,' but when you watch this movie, it fits) seemed to be there out of obligation. It wasn't that they now hated each other. They just didn't care any more.
It's truly "The Beatles, Warts and All." A far cry from the Ed Sullivan, "Hard Day's Night" days.
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Glyn Johns' original "Get Back" album has much the same feel, and isn't a bad substitute for the film. The complete Apple rooftop performance is worth having, too. Maybe Apple would consider releasing these along with the Let It Be film one of these days? (All right, stop laughing you in the back.)
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I think I waited about 25 years to see Let It Be. I still think it takes away a lot of the myth, almost as if by then, thats what they wanted. Still a proper treat though.
On a couple days reflection after seeing it, my feeling is that Let it Be is not (to use a word that may be getting overused lately) 'organic.'
It's not a real Beatles recording session. They'd just released the White Album less than 3 months before, so they really had no reason to traipse back into the studio for more of the same, but Paul apparently was insistent that they needed to 'get back,' even after the ups and downs of recording the White Album. And they were recording in a foreign environment. And there was no Brian Epstein to arrange the blockbuster concert which the movie was meant to lead to. And it wasn't really meant to be a recording session for a new album -- they weren't really ready yet; a lot of what they were rehearsing was stuff that ended up on Abbey Road (Oh Darling, Maxwell's Silver Hammer, Octopus's Garden).
I found it interesting that in the movie, we got a whole version of "Dig It," but on the album, we got a severely abbreviated version of it.
With the different recording environment, and the attitude of the band during the session, it was obviously not a real Beatles recording session, a la Revolver, Pepper, White Album, Abbey Road, etc.
It's not a real Beatles recording session. They'd just released the White Album less than 3 months before, so they really had no reason to traipse back into the studio for more of the same, but Paul apparently was insistent that they needed to 'get back,' even after the ups and downs of recording the White Album. And they were recording in a foreign environment. And there was no Brian Epstein to arrange the blockbuster concert which the movie was meant to lead to. And it wasn't really meant to be a recording session for a new album -- they weren't really ready yet; a lot of what they were rehearsing was stuff that ended up on Abbey Road (Oh Darling, Maxwell's Silver Hammer, Octopus's Garden).
I found it interesting that in the movie, we got a whole version of "Dig It," but on the album, we got a severely abbreviated version of it.
With the different recording environment, and the attitude of the band during the session, it was obviously not a real Beatles recording session, a la Revolver, Pepper, White Album, Abbey Road, etc.
It was never intended to be a recording session, but a rehearsal for a concert. After just 9 days at Twickenham, they moved to Apple HQ, thus making it a recording session rather than just a rehearsal.
I'm not sure that Brian Epstein would have made any difference. He made some pretty awful decisions for them in his time.
I just want you to reassure him - talk to him, make him see the error of his ways. Then I'll hit him.
I remember seeing LIB as a midnight movie in the theater back in the 80's and thinking, "God, what a depressing, boring movie." Except for the rooftop concert, of course,
To me, the movie shows four bored guys who just don't care anymore. They probably shouldn't have gone back to work so soon after finishing the White Album. Plus, working in a place like Twickenham Film Studio didn't help; you can see how big the room is and it must have been freezing in there. That and all the people staring at them just made them even more miserable.
I vaguely remember reading somewhere that at one point, Apple was considering taking out the rooftop show from the movie and releasing it on its own. Then again, I might just be confused.
And it is available on "non-commercial" DVD, but I don't know where you'd find it.
Its on google video complete for free veiwing folks! I love it personally......i also really like the black and white footage available of the sessions.....where Macca shouts at the control room when they make a mistake...hey f**kheads,we're big stars ya know! ha ha anyone else watched this?
I vaguely remember reading somewhere that at one point, Apple was considering taking out the rooftop show from the movie and releasing it on its own. Then again, I might just be confused.
Dr Ebbetts has compiled a good audio version of this performance:
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DM's Beatles forums › Beatles forums › Films, TV Shows, Interviews › Today, I finally saw Let it Be....