Just wondering if it is good and any thoughts you have on the episodes?
First episode was a slog for me. It took two sessions to get through it. Not fun.
Second episode was wonderful, like a reward for enduring the first.
The third was ice cream and cake and all that is pleasant.
Now I am on kick to learn as much as I can about Billy Preston and Glyn Johns.
Thanks for asking!!!
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Billy was so cool and funky the whole time. Attentive!
I slept through partsâŚjust like George and Ringo while Paul pulls âGet Backâ out of thin air.
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I watched all three episodes over the weekend. Although I have read a lot of complaints about the first episode, I actually enjoyed all of them.
I was at my brotherâs place for the holiday, and we all watched the first two episodes, but my wife and I had to leave before we could see the third one. Trying to decide now on whether I should sign us up for D+ just to watch it, then cancel.
Episode one was a slog to get through - by turns boring and emotionally uncomfortable, and thatâs coming from an avowed fan. Two was practically raucous in comparison. Clearly Johnâs cafeteria conversation with Paul got through to him, and he decided to let George be George and not tell him what to play moment by moment. And it was very enjoyable seeing John have actual fun, acting like a kid, even to the point of him saying how nice it was to âjust be the guitar playerâ for a change.
Iâm with Al. He did better than I! It took me 3 times to get thru the first I still havenât watched 2 or three. I will do that now. I know Peter Jackson is trying to immerse us into the Beatles universe I felt episode 1 needed a little extra editing. IMO.
Also watched the entire miniseries over the weekend.
My thoughts as follows :-
- Everyone smokes.
- Paul is a musical genius. All the major songs on Get Back are Paul, Get Back, Let it Be and Long and Winding Road. During studio interludes Paul was playing his new material, John just old standards.
- (Paul recently said John broke up the Beatles, I can understand that, if Iâd been John I would have
felt inadequate listening to Paulâs songs.) - Ringo didnât have a lot to do, seemed to be hanging around a lot, great drumming when he was actually called upon though.
- George was frustrated with Paul, Paul knew how he wanted his songs to sound.
- The Live concert on the roof was great.
- I was surprized how competent they all were, especially John, I wasnât aware of his guitar prowess, shown by the Get Back solo.
Glad I watched it but couldnât sit through it again.
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âGet Backâ was one of the few rooftop performances that made it into the final cut of the original Let It Be film. When I saw it on its theatrical release way back when, I recall being equally astonished to learn all those tasty little fills in the song were Johnâs and not Georgeâs.
There will be a Disney Blu-Ray release. I read it was in the making.
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You made a lot of great observations. Just to addâŚ
By this time, George feels very disrespected by Paul & John, which led to him walking out on the band. However, George wrote some of The Beatles best songs with Something, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Here Comes The Sun, & Taxman.
It was not discussed in detail, but many of the songs in the Get Back sessions wound up on Abbey Road released in 9/69 and Let It Be was not released until 5/70. Probably confusing viewers with the recent re-release of Let It Be being promoted along side the Get Back sessions.
One thing I did pick up on was there were numerous mentions of their time in Hamburg. Although it had been nearly a decade by then, it was very important time in their life to John, Paul and George. Of course, Ringo was not a member of the band at that time.
Yoko got a lot of airtime, but hardly said a word. For all the talk of her being a big distraction to John and the band, it was not evident during the sessions as the band carried on as if she was not there. It may have been creative editing since Yoko was listed as a Producer on the film, but she was seen but not heard for the most part. John & Yokoâs off camera distractions and drug use were a big problem.
Yokoâs screeching/singing performance during the Get Back sessions were a prelude to the Plastic Ono Band. A moment in history we could have done without.
The 3-part series was only about 15% of the video recorded. I would imagine there was a lot of good stuff left out. Hopefully, we will get to see more of it someday.
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And smokes, and smokes, and smokes. God.
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Yes, it always surprises me how many people think Abbey Road was recorded before Let It Be, since it was released first. But Let It Be sat in the can forever while the band fought over the production. So it seems incongruous to some to hear the lads workshopping material that would end up on Abbey Road in these sessions.
Good news that a disc is planned as Iâm not going to paddle down the Disney stream.
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Interesting bits on the smoking.
I think Yoko must have taken to smoking late in life.
I never saw her smoke once during the Get Back programs but John and her did a âfilmâ around the âImagineâ album time at a mansion somewhere in England and she smoked every bit as much as John.
I noticed George was chain smoking on several occasions so I suppose no surprize he eventually succumbed to lung cancer.
Paul and Ringo both smoked a lot but both of them are still with us, Paul is 79 and Ringo 81, lucky guys. I believe Paul stopped sometime in his sixties but Iâm not sure about that?
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I really liked the unvarnished nature of it. I found this on YouTube and thought it might be interesting to those of you who hadnât seen it.
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Welcome to the 60s and smoking. Seemed like everyone smoked in those days, so we really cannot judge them by todayâs standards. I was child at that time, but I clearly remember my parents and all of my friends parents smoking. In those days cigarettes and alcohol were even advertised on TV. It was a different world.
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A review:
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Nothing in the whole doc brought me greater joy than hearing the first few songs played with Billy Preston on the Fender Rhodes. Transformative
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Recently inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
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It was, wasnât it? What an innate talent at playing in support of the song, and apparently at just a momentâs notice, with little or no prep. His little fills and flourishes in "Donât Let Me Downâ just fleshed it out so completely, and it was presented in the film in such a way that even though weâre used to hearing the song with him on it, itâs still attention-grabbing on first hearing, and you canât help but think, yes, now thatâs what this song is supposed to sound like.
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