Tweet
Had time to take it all in and have to say, it was a masterpiece.
Being an ardor fan of the Get Back sessions from numerous years and reading books on first and second hand accounts, it is refreshing to finally see what actually happened in those sessions.
Yes, what was displayed is what the Beatles wanted the public to see because they all knew they had to save face for the band and Apple. Meaning they can't make it appear the band was falling apart, when it was and it was show in Get Back. Body language was obvious so there were obvious tensions.
One scene that was not brought up was when Yoko went and took a digestive biscuit from George's amp, which angered George who then confronted John about it. This is what lead to the argument claiming they got into fisticuffs. Surprised that wasn't included and it was simply glossed over.
What was obvious was the wild card of John Lennon, not being super cooperative and hence why Paul confronted him and let him know the band needs to be serious about memorizing the songs and "straightening them" out so they presentable and stop goofing around with prolonged rehearsal sessions of the same songs and not making and advancement. Being in several bands I know that feeling and frustration when other band members just don't care.
It was obvious John was not invested and there were times where he was straight faced stoned and zoning out. Not caring. I've in bands with people with this personality. I felt empathy for Paul. But Paul was way in over his head with this project to bring on board artsy newbies.
Michael Lindsay-Hogg was a terrible director in this and is ideas were ridiculous. Not even asking the band before hand to get their thoughts and input. This is where a Brian Epstein as Executive Producer would come in and wrangle the director and band to make it cohesive.
It is hard to direct or control 4 big egos and no one could do it other than Brian. When this became evident was when they were in disagreement with George Martin about the acoustics and mic placement. John and Paul were TELLING George about acoustic properties and proximity effects of microphones. As an audio engineer, I was livid and even knew Paul and George where in the wrong and mansplaining to George Martin, their audio engineer and producer. And yet George Martin took it and backed down.
I kinda had respect for Glyn Johns prior to this but after seeing this, he is a terrible producer and engineer for this project. But to his credit he was rushed but then he didn't control the sessions since he too was afraid of the Beatles and confronting them, as was evident on how they treated him. No respect. Martin was present to help him and you could see at times Glyn asking help from Martin. Martin was in these sessions and it was clear. And didn't get credit which is BS. He gave advice and guidance on what to do as witnessed in the writing and recording of Let It Be.
One thing is clear, there is no definitive Let It Be or Get Back album. Poor versions were selected for Get Back by Glyn Johns and I don't understand why he didn't use the better takes and why the "F" did he pour massive reverb on the entire album? It sounds like s**t. When you hear the actual take of the versions used on the that album, they sound clear and tight, thanks to Giles Martin. As for the Let It Be, I really do not like what Phil did with Let It Be and Long and Winding Road, the latter my top 3 Beatles fav song. But he did do justice on the other tracks. Then there is Let It Be...Naked which fixes the Macca discrepancies and does wonders for the rooftop tracks. My vote would be to have a new Get Back album made with sourcing all three albums into a cohesive album, including the overdub FIXES to make it right. Martin and Macca overseeing it.
Now the rooftop, I will not lie, this made me cry. Got chills. Felt super elated. This is the masterpiece in the masterpiece for me. Being able to witness the entire performance and in it's best sound...priceless for me. Although I need to listen to it in surround 5.1 atmos. After decades trying to get the best sources from bootlegs audio and video, I was happy to see it all in it's splendor. This is a piece of musical history and glad to see it preserved. worth the 7 plus hours wait.
Overall, this was a great series and better than Anthology for me but then I LOVE these sessions. I've already pieced together my version of the Get Back album that is better sequenced to my liking. And one side is the Rooftop performance with the best versions and is cohesive. I hope to see more material remixed and remastered released. At least the Glyn Johns Get Back album remixed and remastered.
Lastly, many people are fixated on Yoko. Not sure why. It didn't bother me and most of the time she got lost in it. She was no more a distraction than having camera men, APs, gaffers, and boom mics in the way, which were more a problem than Yoko. Plus everyone brought in loved ones, family, business associates. Yoko was definitely no a distraction for me. If anything, John Lennon being a lose cannon.
George Harrison was indeed the one more dedicated to the music out of all of them. First thing he asks, "Where are the 8-track machines?" That is a serious musician. And to bring in his own 8-track recorder...damn. MAD RESPECT!
Being an ardor fan of the Get Back sessions from numerous years and reading books on first and second hand accounts, it is refreshing to finally see what actually happened in those sessions.
Yes, what was displayed is what the Beatles wanted the public to see because they all knew they had to save face for the band and Apple. Meaning they can't make it appear the band was falling apart, when it was and it was show in Get Back. Body language was obvious so there were obvious tensions.
One scene that was not brought up was when Yoko went and took a digestive biscuit from George's amp, which angered George who then confronted John about it. This is what lead to the argument claiming they got into fisticuffs. Surprised that wasn't included and it was simply glossed over.
What was obvious was the wild card of John Lennon, not being super cooperative and hence why Paul confronted him and let him know the band needs to be serious about memorizing the songs and "straightening them" out so they presentable and stop goofing around with prolonged rehearsal sessions of the same songs and not making and advancement. Being in several bands I know that feeling and frustration when other band members just don't care.
It was obvious John was not invested and there were times where he was straight faced stoned and zoning out. Not caring. I've in bands with people with this personality. I felt empathy for Paul. But Paul was way in over his head with this project to bring on board artsy newbies.
Michael Lindsay-Hogg was a terrible director in this and is ideas were ridiculous. Not even asking the band before hand to get their thoughts and input. This is where a Brian Epstein as Executive Producer would come in and wrangle the director and band to make it cohesive.
It is hard to direct or control 4 big egos and no one could do it other than Brian. When this became evident was when they were in disagreement with George Martin about the acoustics and mic placement. John and Paul were TELLING George about acoustic properties and proximity effects of microphones. As an audio engineer, I was livid and even knew Paul and George where in the wrong and mansplaining to George Martin, their audio engineer and producer. And yet George Martin took it and backed down.
I kinda had respect for Glyn Johns prior to this but after seeing this, he is a terrible producer and engineer for this project. But to his credit he was rushed but then he didn't control the sessions since he too was afraid of the Beatles and confronting them, as was evident on how they treated him. No respect. Martin was present to help him and you could see at times Glyn asking help from Martin. Martin was in these sessions and it was clear. And didn't get credit which is BS. He gave advice and guidance on what to do as witnessed in the writing and recording of Let It Be.
One thing is clear, there is no definitive Let It Be or Get Back album. Poor versions were selected for Get Back by Glyn Johns and I don't understand why he didn't use the better takes and why the "F" did he pour massive reverb on the entire album? It sounds like s**t. When you hear the actual take of the versions used on the that album, they sound clear and tight, thanks to Giles Martin. As for the Let It Be, I really do not like what Phil did with Let It Be and Long and Winding Road, the latter my top 3 Beatles fav song. But he did do justice on the other tracks. Then there is Let It Be...Naked which fixes the Macca discrepancies and does wonders for the rooftop tracks. My vote would be to have a new Get Back album made with sourcing all three albums into a cohesive album, including the overdub FIXES to make it right. Martin and Macca overseeing it.
Now the rooftop, I will not lie, this made me cry. Got chills. Felt super elated. This is the masterpiece in the masterpiece for me. Being able to witness the entire performance and in it's best sound...priceless for me. Although I need to listen to it in surround 5.1 atmos. After decades trying to get the best sources from bootlegs audio and video, I was happy to see it all in it's splendor. This is a piece of musical history and glad to see it preserved. worth the 7 plus hours wait.
Overall, this was a great series and better than Anthology for me but then I LOVE these sessions. I've already pieced together my version of the Get Back album that is better sequenced to my liking. And one side is the Rooftop performance with the best versions and is cohesive. I hope to see more material remixed and remastered released. At least the Glyn Johns Get Back album remixed and remastered.
Lastly, many people are fixated on Yoko. Not sure why. It didn't bother me and most of the time she got lost in it. She was no more a distraction than having camera men, APs, gaffers, and boom mics in the way, which were more a problem than Yoko. Plus everyone brought in loved ones, family, business associates. Yoko was definitely no a distraction for me. If anything, John Lennon being a lose cannon.
George Harrison was indeed the one more dedicated to the music out of all of them. First thing he asks, "Where are the 8-track machines?" That is a serious musician. And to bring in his own 8-track recorder...damn. MAD RESPECT!
On the creative side I still have questions, because some of that stuff seem to come out of no where, which makes me think some of this might have been partially worked out before they started. There is a shocking amount of Abbey Road fully outlined here, including Ringo's intricate drumming pieces. Gotta believe there's another six hours of footage some of us diehards would love to digest on that (given there's 60 hours of total footage). I love the whole creation footage of Get Back, but again its a director's perspective told through editing, so we do not know if the contributions of others were left out. Its all completely fascinating. I really hope more of this footage sees the light of day.
Comment