by Ray Keating
Review
DisneyBizJournal.com
November 28, 2021
Plenty of reasons exist to watch The Beatles: Get Back documentary that has just premiered on Disney+. I’d like to touch on five.
First, this three-part, nearly-eight-hour-long docuseries, directed by Oscar-winner Peter Jackson, is a unique, immersive look at The Beatles – Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. Jackson taps more than 60 hours of unseen footage (originally shot by director Michael Lindsay-Hogg) and 150-plus hours of audio created in January 1969. Not only is Jackson’s masterful restoration fascinating to watch, but to his credit, he lets The Beatles during these sessions, in effect, tell their own story.
Second, if you love music history and/or rank as a fan of The Beatles, this documentary series is a “must see.” There’s so much here in terms of the relationship between the band members as they work and create together, have disagreements, but mainly, appear to enjoy their time and work together. The close relationship, including creative trust, between Lennon and McCartney is evident, even at this late stage of their collaboration. Keep in mind that these sessions, which wind up producing material appearing on the group’s last two albums – Abbey Road and Let It Be – come not long before the band breaks up.
Third, watching the interactions of the group, including their entire rooftop concert on London’s Savile Row (and the amusing response of local police), I couldn’t help but be perplexed at The Beatles coming to an end not that long afterwards. For example, we see George Harrison go from briefly quitting the band to eventually talking about each member doing their own thing on occasion, while also still regularly working together as a group – and how that could help The Beatles continue.
At another point, John Lennon talks about how much he likes the new Apple studio that they just moved into and is looking forward to working there, saying it felt like “home.” Yet, Lennon would be the one who brings The Beatles to an end. And in that light, Yoko Ono’s presence in the sessions comes across as strange, as she seems to just sit next to Lennon for hours on end, doing little else. One is left wondering – as has been the case for more than five decades now – how much of that was real-life foreshadowing regarding her role in Lennon’s ending the band?
Fourth, Paul McCartney clearly has taken the reins as band leader at this point. He is the driving force. It’s also interesting to hear him talking about the need for discipline, and how they needed a manager who could instill such discipline, something that hadn’t occurred since their former manager Brian Epstein – who the band members still refer to as “Mr. Epstein” – had died. McCartney understands what’s needed, but also knows his own limitations, including as a band member, and that he could not fill that position.
Fifth, all creators – whether musicians, songwriters, book authors, filmmakers, painters or so on – should watch The Beatles: Get Back documentary. Getting to watch Paul McCartney at the keyboard working through the creation of songs that we will all come to know and love is invaluable. Not only is it fascinating, but it is informative and inspirational.
Indeed, this entire documentary, rather than feeding a voyeurism of how this band broke up, instead fuels an admiration for the incredible creativity and talent of all four members of The Beatles. This is a band that has become legendary over the decades, and this documentary, while in no way hagiography, confirms the status of The Beatles among the very greatest artists of the rock ‘n’ roll era.
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Ray Keating is the editor, publisher and economist for DisneyBizJournal.com, and author of the Pastor Stephen Grant novels and assorted nonfiction books. Have Ray Keating speak your group, business, school, church, or organization. Email him at raykeating@keatingreports.com.
The views expressed here are his own – after all, no one else should be held responsible for this stuff, right?
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