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Post by gravesnumber9 on Nov 29, 2021 16:20:10 GMT -6
Did anyone else get driven crazy by the obvious continuity breaks on the day when Billy Preston shows up? I know they only had so much video, but there are times when they switch from footage taken with the KM56s up for vocals to shots where the skinny Neumanns have been set up in their place later that day, often several times within the conversation or performance being “filmed”. If it were up to me, I would've just paused video when there was none...Sometimes it feels like you're being tricked when they lips don't sync up with the dialogue. I found that off-putting as well at first. Eventually I got used to it but yeah, just cut to another shot of a cigarette squeezed between two guitar strings. Haha. Seems to be an endless amount of cigarette close-ups available.
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Post by phantom on Nov 29, 2021 16:37:52 GMT -6
I think Yoko gets too much hate, and the "she broke the Beatles", never seemed true to me, and the documentary for sure shows other things that could have resulted in the end of the band. The Yoko thing feels very unimportant. But it's very funny seeing them create a bunch of the most beautiful popular songs in history and Yoko on her cellphone like it was the most boring thing ever. They talk about her in that first episode...not very flattering. I'll tell you this - I'd have a problem with my band member if he insisted having his pet girlfriend by his side the whole time. Paul was nicer about all this stuff than I ever would have been. Sure, that bothers me a lot as well in my personal experience in bands and studios. But they were all doing that. George brought 2 monks to sit on the floor, which was very silly, Paul brought Linda to "work" as a photographer. Ok, Linda had something to do there, but I bet there were a gazillion other photographers to hire and stay more focused and professional. In my opinion that was a way for them to mix their previously life (The Beatles) with their actual life. They were moving on. This documentary is a picture of this process of break up, that's the most powerful thing about it, imo.
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Post by Martin John Butler on Nov 29, 2021 17:00:24 GMT -6
Yoko's presence was much different. Linda showed up occasionally and stayed mostly during playback. Yoko was literally attached to John while the band were trying to work out parts and discussing the music and very personal matters too.
It was unnerving and I'm with John, that would have lasted about one minute if I'd been in the room. Paul was incredibly accommodating and still he gets called out.
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Post by phantom on Nov 29, 2021 17:12:25 GMT -6
I agree. Yoko was much more annoying. But look, that's what 99% of human beings agree. We are born learning that Yoko is annoying. They teach that in school even.
What I'm saying is that looking at the big picture, all 3 were already taking different roads. And all 3 were having a hard time to connect to the band and disconnect to their priorities at the time. Paul less because The Beatles was like his personal project, he had complete control of everything.
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Post by Johnkenn on Nov 29, 2021 18:00:00 GMT -6
Don't know if it's a companion release, but there's a 2021 remix of Let It Be that sounds fantastic...just going through a bunch of the albums and man, what an amazing catalog and legacy.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 29, 2021 18:18:48 GMT -6
They talk about her in that first episode...not very flattering. I'll tell you this - I'd have a problem with my band member if he insisted having his pet girlfriend by his side the whole time. Paul was nicer about all this stuff than I ever would have been. Can't help but be reminded of the scene in "Spinal Tap" where the girlfriend complains about Dobly.
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Post by kcatthedog on Nov 29, 2021 19:05:40 GMT -6
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Post by Martin John Butler on Nov 29, 2021 19:35:05 GMT -6
He takes a wonderfully positive view of their process. After being in bands for decades, I kind of disagree. I think Paul wanted to get down to work and he was good natured enough to go along with all the screwing around.
I'd bet dollars to dimes they didn't do the same thing making Abbey Road. I think Paul asked them if they would would come in and make an album like they used to, as they all knew Get Back was a mess.
I would imagine they knew it was their swansong and their being truly great artists, it became one of the the greatest albums of all time.
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Post by gravesnumber9 on Nov 29, 2021 19:46:07 GMT -6
He takes a wonderfully positive view of their process. After being in bands for decades, I kind of disagree. I think Paul wanted to get down to work and he was good natured enough to go along with all the screwing around. I'd bet dollars to dimes they didn't do the same thing making Abbey Road. I think Paul asked them if they would would come in and make an album like they used to, as they all knew Get Back was a mess. I would imagine they knew it was their swansong and their being truly great artists, it became one of the the greatest albums of all time. I mostly agree. Although I would add that I'm sure Paul went along with the screwing around partially to just get to playing again. Flex the muscles. Get stretched out and used to making music in the same room. But you can definitely tell when he's like "ok, enough screwing around, let's play." Or, on the other hand, when the screwing around is at the end of a session like when George leaves and it's like "eff it, let Yoko have the mic, gimme that guitar!"
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Post by phantom on Nov 29, 2021 20:06:37 GMT -6
Yeah, Rick Beato has a completely different comprehension of the movie. I don't agree at all.
But altought there was tension all around, and the eminent break up, they still had a lot of fun playing, and still had a huge synergy to make music.
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Post by Ward on Nov 30, 2021 5:47:53 GMT -6
I think Yoko gets too much hate, and the "she broke the Beatles", never seemed true to me, and the documentary for sure shows other things that could have resulted in the end of the band. The Yoko thing feels very unimportant. But it's very funny seeing them create a bunch of the most beautiful popular songs in history and Yoko on her cellphone like it was the most boring thing ever. Well maybe she gets the right amount because a LOT of people feel she doesn't get 1% of the amount of disdain she deserves . . . being a garden variety parasite and sucking the life, energy and joy out of John. But maybe that's just the way it was, and nobody could have changed that. Honestly, to me, her presence makes the whole thing somewhat difficult to watch. But I respect people who can tolerate her.
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Post by kcatthedog on Nov 30, 2021 5:54:35 GMT -6
Well It was John who fell for her and wanted her around.
A really interesting factoid is after basically doing LIB in a month, 3 weeks later, they started Abbey Road, one of their best albums.
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Post by timcampbell on Nov 30, 2021 7:17:32 GMT -6
Well It was John who fell for her and wanted her around. A really interesting factoid is after basically doing LIB in a month, 3 weeks later, they started Abbey Road, one of their best albums. And they had just finished the White album weeks before starting Let It Be. What prolific output. They wrote Let It Be from scratch and had it completed in a little more than two weeks. It also is awesome seeing how LIB is live performances with a few overdubs.
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Post by kcatthedog on Nov 30, 2021 8:30:46 GMT -6
Ya, for all the birching and moaning, all their experience playing live and their rapport on the roof is perfectly obvious: something to be said for 8 hour gigs night after night in the Reeperbahn I guess .
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Post by bossanova on Nov 30, 2021 8:55:40 GMT -6
Well It was John who fell for her and wanted her around. A really interesting factoid is after basically doing LIB in a month, 3 weeks later, they started Abbey Road, one of their best albums. And they had just finished the White album weeks before starting Let It Be. What prolific output. They wrote Let It Be from scratch and had it completed in a little more than two weeks. It also is awesome seeing how LIB is live performances with a few overdubs. And there's a price they paid for it. I don't remember we're in the series it is exactly but I think it's in the first episode where one of them mentions how long it's been since they had a real vacation.
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Post by jcgriggs on Nov 30, 2021 9:55:10 GMT -6
But it's very funny seeing them create a bunch of the most beautiful popular songs in history and Yoko on her cellphone like it was the most boring thing ever. I haven't seen any of this other than clips on YouTube. Cellphone? Not in 1969...
Regards, John
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Post by phantom on Nov 30, 2021 12:27:23 GMT -6
But it's very funny seeing them create a bunch of the most beautiful popular songs in history and Yoko on her cellphone like it was the most boring thing ever. I haven't seen any of this other than clips on YouTube. Cellphone? Not in 1969...
Regards, John
Oh really? "on her cellphone" is clearly not literally speaking, c'mon.
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Post by bentley on Nov 30, 2021 12:44:08 GMT -6
Paul: Get Back, Let it Be... John: Dig a Pony, One after 909 Harrison: I Me Mine, Something Ringo: "I've farted"
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Post by robschnapf on Nov 30, 2021 14:43:29 GMT -6
Some background and food for thought. John and Ringo seem pretty smacked out at times. And hence their reluctance to leave town for filming. George had just come off a very enjoyable tour with Delaney and Bonnie with Clapton. Then back to the drudgery of the Beatles. Yoko had had a miscarriage a month or two before the filming and probably had something to do with their attachment Amongst other things. Paul is in a tough spot by becoming defacto manager while trying to be an equal band member. Also in total command of his game… My main take away was there are no bad guys and no good guys. They seemed very decent to one another even in dispute.
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Post by Quint on Nov 30, 2021 15:01:42 GMT -6
As for some of the comments posted here about who is right/wrong, good/bad, screwing around/working, instigating distractions, etc., I'd just point out that, as some others in this thread have said, the film is basically a documentation of a band on the verge of break up.
Regardless of the reasons why they might have been on the verge of breakup, and the reasons seem to be numerous, I think some of the comments about who is in the right or in the wrong here ignore the fact that this is a snapshot in time, the end times, no less, and shouldn't be taken as an indication of how things were in the band all along.
Having been in bands through the years myself, breakups are always the unpleasant part at the end, and things have a way of unravelling, much in the same way you see in the film. I don't think anybody should walk away, after having watched this film, with the notion that, throughout the band's history, Paul always did all of the work, or that Lennon was always strung out, or whatever.
Also, say what you will about Yoko, but I think she is moreso a symptom of the state of affairs in the band (and Lennon's general stage in life) rather than the cause of said state of affairs.
Also x 2, Plastic Ono Band is one of my favorite albums ever and stands right up there with a lot of the Beatles work, different as they may be, at least in my opinion. So I don't think the presence of Yoko is some kind of automatic indictment on what Lennon was or wasn't capable of with her around.
I've always felt like Yoko got assigned a lot of the blame by fans because people didn't know where else to place blame. I think this film shows that the blame ultimately lies with a simple fact. The band had run its course and the breakup was inevitable. I think it's just hard for some people to accept that, given the quality of output that the band produced right up to the end. There never was any sort of "oh, yeah, they haven't done anything good in a while" flame out to point a finger at.
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Post by phantom on Nov 30, 2021 15:29:10 GMT -6
I think the last two posts sums up the movie for me.
And just to highlight that one of the things that I took the most from watching the movie is how decent they were to each other, even being on the verge of break up and not wanting to be there a lot of the times.
They really respected each other, and that was awesome to see.
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Post by gravesnumber9 on Nov 30, 2021 15:42:11 GMT -6
John and Ringo seem pretty smacked out at times. Ringo especially. I mean maybe he was just tired... but the dude is literally nodding off for the entire first half of the documentary. I agree on your other point as well, they all seem like genuinely polite and pretty nice people at this stage of their lives. Maybe it's just the "British" way but if I didn't know the actual end of the story I would say this band seems to have a pretty much average level of disfunction.
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Post by Tbone81 on Nov 30, 2021 15:45:15 GMT -6
Went to my parents house for thanksgiving and when I walked in it was playing on the tv.
Me: Hey dad, what movie is this? And damn, how did they get those actors to look so much like the Beatles?
Dad: Um…that’s because those ARE the Beatles.
Me: (face palm)…well damn, that footage looks great!
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Post by jcgriggs on Nov 30, 2021 16:35:34 GMT -6
I haven't seen any of this other than clips on YouTube. Cellphone? Not in 1969...
Regards, John
Oh really? "on her cellphone" is clearly not literally speaking, c'mon. Sorry - did not mean to sound catty. As I say I've only seen clips, so assumed this referred to something actually in the film...
Regards, John
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Post by christophert on Nov 30, 2021 16:46:50 GMT -6
People diss Yoko, but she was a great artist in her own right. Lennon had huge respect for her as an artist. They were a creative team.
Watch the recording of the Imagine album, and you see her tell John to tell the band that they are overplaying, he does, and the song comes perfectly together. Yoko is quiet, but is taking everything in, and really understands what makes potent art.
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