Looking back 50 years now, I'm glad that this was done as it wraps up
everything nicely and leaves a good, happy taste to remember the four
lads from Liverpool and just how important they were, at that point in
time which was basically the entire 1960's.
Edit:
I just remembered that I forgot to mention the impact that Billy
Preston had on The Beatles in this phase of the band. That was perhaps
the greatest revelation I gained from listening. He became the
foundation or soul of the band in its final years. He added that
tangible intangible to their music. Taken for granted at the time but
now fully appreciated, at least by me looking back now.
The Billy Preston (at age 22) injection was huge.
What I never realized until reading the past few days was that Let It Be was recorded before Abbey Road. Like I said before... I like the music, but was obviously never a real "fan" per se.
What I'm looking forward to the most is seeing them play. I've always thought of them as a band, but the documentary looks like we'll see each of them as musicians, and apparently, they're pretty good.
I've always "liked" the Beatles, but their ubiquity sort of pushed me away as a small kid in the 70's. Having seen a trailer for the new Peter Jackson documentary, I'm really looking forward to watching it over Thanksgiving weekend.
It is a cold January morning in 1969, and three of the four Beatles are assembled in a cavernous film studio in London, with cameras rolling and microphones everywhere. “Lennon’s late again,” Paul McCartney says matter of factly, as he plugs in his bass guitar.
With Ringo Starr and George Harrison sitting groggily before him, a tray of toast and jam by their side, McCartney starts to strum and sing, searching for inspiration. Within minutes, a mid-tempo groove takes shape and a familiar vocal melody emerges. “Get back,” he sings in a faint howl. “Get back to where you once belonged.” Almost like magic, a Beatles classic begins to form out of nothing.
...
I've have the movie Let It Be from a youtube download which is from the same source material for the Jackson documentary and it was most insightful for someone who live through Beatlemania from start to finish. I also now have the 50th anniversary vinyl box set of the Let It Be album which is an absolute delight.
Knowing what I already knew from having lived through it with the added insight from the movie, the box set with the original album, the unreleased version of the album Get Back and all the outtakes, hearing the music again put a nice cherry on top of all things Beatles for me. It is now clear that by the time of this effort, the Beatles were coming to an end, in a natural way. They had run their course. But what this album, et al shows is that they were trying to go out on a happy note and more importantly show the world that they could play their music live as a band. Before this, due to the circumstances of their popularity, they just could not go out and tour like other bands and were relegated to just being a studio band with the material becoming heavily dependent on technology to put the albums together and were written off as just another isolated studio band. Along with that it became somewhat assumed that the music was just too complex to play live, at that time. Let It Be put's that thought to rest, but we just did not know it at the time. Everyone was too upset with the breakup of the band to notice.
If you have seen the full Roof Top concert, you have seen how tight the band could be live, and also how much they were into performing live. I obviously don't know how this new documentary will paint this picture, but having seen the Let It Be movie, that was my conclusion.
To quote Paul from the forward from the 105 page book enclosed with the Let It Be box set ...
" The constant filming began as a minor irritation, but we eventually forgot the cameras were there, and the footage that was gathered turned out to be the film Let It Be. Now the material has been looked at carefully by the film director Peter Jackson and he has restored its quality to look like it was filmed yesterday and edited it into a new film called Get Back.
I always thought the original film Let It Be was pretty sad as it dealt with the break-up of our band, but the new film shows the camaraderie and love the four of us had between us. It also shows the wonderful times we had together and, combined with the newly remastered Let It Be album, stands as a powerful reminder of this time. It is how I want to remember The Beatles."
Paul McCartney
The last paragraph is the same conclusion I reached after having listened to the whole box set and I was glad to see upon reading Paul's statement that I came to the right conclusion just from listening before I cracked open the book and saw the above. I would say that the box set would be a must for anyone who still remembers and cares about The Beatles and the times they represent. The album as a stand alone is just that. The box set puts it all into context. I imagine that the CD set will accomplish the same thing. Looking back 50 years now, I'm glad that this was done as it wraps up everything nicely and leaves a good, happy taste to remember the four lads from Liverpool and just how important they were, at that point in time which was basically the entire 1960's.
Edit: I just remembered that I forgot to mention the impact that Billy Preston had on The Beatles in this phase of the band. That was perhaps the greatest revelation I gained from listening. He became the foundation or soul of the band in its final years. He added that tangible intangible to their music. Taken for granted at the time but now fully appreciated, at least by me looking back now.
It is a cold January morning in 1969, and
three of the four Beatles are assembled in a cavernous film studio in
London, with cameras rolling and microphones everywhere. âLennonâs late
again,â Paul McCartney says matter of factly, as he plugs in his bass
guitar.
With Ringo Starr and George
Harrison sitting groggily before him, a tray of toast and jam by their
side, McCartney starts to strum and sing, searching for inspiration.
Within minutes, a mid-tempo groove takes shape and a familiar vocal
melody emerges. âGet back,â he sings in a faint howl. âGet back to where
you once belonged.â Almost like magic, a Beatles classic begins to form
out of nothing.
Some people in Liverpool, however, were not convinced about the bandâs academic value. In interviews around Penny Lane, two locals said they thought the course was an odd idea.
âWhat are you going to do with that? Youâre not going to cure cancer, are you?â said Adele Allan, the owner of the Penny Lane Barber Shop.
âItâs an entirely silly course,â said Chris Anderson, 38, out walking his dog, before adding that he thought almost all college degrees were âentirely silly.â
Others were more positive. âYou can study anything,â said Aoife Corry, 19. âYou donât need to prove yourself by doing some serious subject,â she added.
The Beatles - Get Back (2021) Peter Jackson, the director pulled out montages from 56 hours of unseen Beatles footage from the movie Let It Be. The Beatles: Get Back is an upcoming documentary film directed by Peter Jackson that covers the making of the Beatles' 1970 album Let It Be, which had the working title of Get Back. The film draws from material originally captured in director Michael Lindsay-Hogg's 1970 documentary of the album.
Release date: 27 August 2021
Finally ! The last Beatles album is done and ready.
Let It Be Presented with New Mixes in Stereo, 5.1 Surround, and Dolby Atmos; Expanded with Never Before Released Session Recordings, Rehearsals & Studio Jams; And the Previously Unreleased 1969 Get Back LP Mix by Glyn Johns
I saw this was available and was sort of "eh," but Justine fired it up and OH it's Rick Rubin doing the interview. His ability to get musicians to drop the bullshit and really talk shop is amazing. Paul is impressed with him too: I wish I had you as a teacher back in school." Rick told the musical genius things about songs he wrote that he didn't understand until Rick said it. Amazing.
Rick does a lot of the interviews on Broken Record podcast. Don't try to pick and choose or you'll miss the really interesting ones like Don Was.
Modern Renaissance man Steven Wilson claims to not particularly like the Beatles.
For context, Wilson said the same thing about Genesis, implicitly early Genesis. His fans appear to believe that he was heavily influenced by early Genesis. Wilson does admire Peter Gabriel's solo work. I am a fan of some early Genesis but not most of it. I believe that mid-60s Beatles was pathbreaking material even if some of it simply reflected new directions in contemporary music at the time.
All that to say, I find Wilson's claim odd. When I listen to early Porcupine Tree, I hear mid-60s Beatles all over it. In particular, the albums Even Less and Lightbulb Sun. Must be my hyper-active imagination.
It's here and been played. This new mix is a real treat. Nearly all of the glitches in the original mix have been fixed also. It seems that Preston's organ tracks in the original mix were subject to tape wow and flutter with noticeable speed changes in the organ parts. This has been corrected and it is now smooth and brought forward and more into the mix.
I played Here Comes The Sun on the 50th, a 1970 3rd UK press, a 1976 US Capitol press and the 1979 MFSL press and the CD to be complete. For the old mix, the UK was the best on vinyl and the CD was pretty damn good. If this is just another Beatles album to you, stick with the CD. If it is one of your favorite Beatles albums, then this is an awesome mix and worth getting. Vocals are now centered, clear as a bell, the drums are crisper and again the organ is steady and now more involved which fills out things even more, even though it was always there to begin with. Very well balanced and smoother, yet because of the clarity, the fuzzy guitar parts are even more fuzzy and sharper at the same time. You can even distinguish the tambourine that someone was banging along with on some of the tracks. And on one track that I forget which, I now here someone playing a banjo if I'm not mistaken.
The songs now sound pretty(er) and engage you in a whole new way. This new mix is what I will listen to when I play this album from hereon in.
Someone else is going to have to review the CD. I hope that it is as nice as the vinyl and with all things Beatles, it should be.
:format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-14183308-1569743127-2363.jpeg.jpg)