I haven't yet seen the three-part "Get Back" documentary, directed by Peter Jackson, that recently aired on the Disney+ streaming service. I have seen several clips of the program on YouTube, however, and have watched and read a few long reviews of it. Not having Disney+, I settled for getting out my DVD copy of the 1995 Beatles Anthology, which featured many extracts of the "Let It Be" film.
This caused me to realize that I'd never properly watched the 1970 "Let It Be" movie from beginning to end -- not surprisingly, given its lack of availability (never having had an official DVD release, for example). I was familiar with many of the performances in the movie, however, having seen them on TV even before the "Anthology" was done -- for example, in the 1980s documentary "The Compleat Beatles." (And even The Rutles, back in 1978, parodied the rooftop concert that closes the film.)
Yesterday I looked online to see if the Let It Be movie was available to watch anywhere and found a link to this Vimeo page where a poor-quality print of the film had been uploaded. The running times listed below refer to the times shown in that video. (Edited to add: I've since been informed that a better copy of the film can be viewed at the Internet Archive, so check that one out instead.)
Although the Peter Jackson documentary has been widely praised as an alternative to the gloomier 1970 movie directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg, I found much to enjoy in the earlier film despite its uneven quality. The second half of the movie is nearly perfect, and its 80-minute runtime may offer a more attractive alternative for casual viewers to the 8-hour Jackson version.
The LET IT BE movie (1970):
"Paul's piano instrumental" (0:32 -1:53)
Accompanying the opening credits, this sad-sounding melody perhaps creates the first impression that these recording sessions will be depressing to watch.
"Don't Let Me Down" (1:54 - 2:47)
Less than a minute of the song, made difficult to enjoy due to the twanging guitar sound here.
"Beatles chatter" (2:48 - 3:11)
Paul wants them to "move on."
"Maxwell's Silver Hammer" (3:12 - 5:27)
Song begins with Paul calling out the chord changes, then cuts (at 3:47) to the take where a delighted Mal Evans is banging on the anvil.
"George getting shock on his microphone" (5:30 - 6:25)
Nearly a minute wasted on this scene of George at the microphone.
"Two of Us" (6:26 - 8:01)
John & Paul singing together at the microphone. A goofing-around rehearsal version, looks like they are having fun.
"I've Got a Feeling" (8:02 -8:59)
Rehearsal take that begins with an overhead camera shot of Paul that zooms out to show the band. Includes the brief shot of John singing "oh yeah" that was used in the 1995 "Real Love" music video.
"Beatles chatter" (9:00 -9:48)
Paul explains that the guitar in "I've Got a Feeling" is "coming down too fast" and demonstrates by descending his arm as John runs through the notes on his guitar a few times. Nearly a minute wasted here, too.
"I've Got a Feeling" (9:49 - 11:05)
They continue work on the song as they try to get the guitar parts right. A bit of a lively version, albeit somewhat hard on the ears due to that same twanging guitar sound (by George apparently) that marred "Don't Let Me Down" earlier.
"Beatles chatter" (11:06 -11:09)
John's line "Queen says no to pot-smoking FBI members," which appears on the finished LET IT BE album, is inserted here.
"Oh Darling" (11:10 - 11:26)
A snippet of Paul running through the ABBEY ROAD song on piano. Someone says it's "lovely."
"Beatles chatter" (11:27 - 12:32)
Paul talks about "The One After 909" being one of the first songs they ever did, mentions the title of another early song ("Too Bad About Sorrows") and briefly sings a few lyrics from another early Lennon-McCartney song, "Just Fun." He then sings a few lines from "The One After 909" which cuts to:
"The One After 909" (12:33 - 13:34)
The band rehearses the song, again with the annoyingly twanging lead guitar.
"Paul & Ringo at the piano" (13:35 -14:35)
Ringo & Paul say good morning to each other, then Ringo joins Paul at the piano to play together. The movie's Wikipedia entry gives this song the title "Jazz Piano Song," credited to "McCartney/Starkey" (i.e. Starr's real name). Has a Jerry Lee Lewis vibe to it.
"Get Back" (14:45 - 15:01)
The band attempts a run through of "Get Back" but it quickly breaks down.
"Beatles chatter" (15:02 - 16:39)
The famous scene of Paul and George arguing, where George eventually offers not to play at all if it will please him.
"Across the Universe" (16:40 -18:22)
Rough band run-through of the song. George's guitar still sounding really twangy here.
"Dig a Pony" (18:23 - 19:19)
Rough attempt, with John seeming to forget where he's at in the song at times, ending abruptly with him asking if "anyone's got a fast one." Cuts to:
"Suzy Parker" (19:20 - 20:09)
An old rock & roll-sounding number, which Wikipedia credits as an original song to all four Beatles.
"I Me Mine" (20:10 - 21:12)
George demonstrates his new song on the guitar by himself while others (especially Ringo) listen to him play it. This is missing the bit of Lennon saying dismissive things about it, which is shown in the Peter Jackson documentary.
"I Me Mine" (21:13 - 22:56)
George leads the band in playing the song, except for John who dances a waltz with Yoko around the studio. (A snippet of their waltz was used in the 1995 "Free as a Bird" video.)
"For You Blue" (22:57 - 25:41)
Scenes of the Beatles arriving at Apple headquarters at 3 Savile Row, with the song playing in the background, and then showing George playing the song in the studio. Lennon plays slide guitar, with Paul on piano. It was unusual to have two George songs back-to-back like this, which never happened in the running order of any Beatles album.
"Beatles chatter" (25:42 - 27:17)
The audio of John saying "I dig a pygymy by Charles Hawtrey," etc., which appears at the beginning of the finished album, is inserted here. This is followed by Paul talking about how he has films he took when they were in India with the Maharishi, and how it was like "school" and they weren't really themselves. He also mentions the anecdote (which he repeated decades later in "The Beatles Anthology") about how Lennon went up in a helicopter with the Maharashi, hoping he would slip him "the answer."
"Besame Mucho" (27:18 -29:13)
A rough take of the song, sounding more jokey and faux-foreign than the version that they recorded in 1962.
"Octopus's Garden" (29:14 - 32:45)
George helps Ringo with the composing of the song. Halfway through this, John & Yoko arrive, and John sits behind the drums, adding a beat to the song. Paul then arrives with Linda's daughter Heather, and we see Heather make the facial expression that is seen in the Peter Jackson documentary that she makes while looking at Yoko singing (although that doesn't happen here).
"Beatles warming up" (32:46 - 33:23)
The band is noodling around on their instruments, in preparation of playing a song. John briefly sings a lyric mentioning Isadora Duncan. Heather is shown banging on Ringo's drum (to his feigned surprise) and seen briefly at the microphone with Paul at the piano. Billy Preston is performing with the group right after this scene, but no introduction of him is ever given. (In "The Beatles Anthology," the scene is shown of him arriving and John telling him they need someone to play the keyboard parts, but that scene is not shown in the movie.) The Peter Jackson documentary was wise to include captions about song titles and personnel, not to mention additional text about what was happening, in order to give the audience some context about what they were witnessing. In the 1970 film, unfortunately, viewers are on their own when trying to figure it out.
"You've Really Got a Hold On Me" (33:24 - 35:58)
Like most of the songs performed so far, it's a loose effort with fluffed lyrics and missed cues that ends abruptly. One's enjoyment of this perhaps depends on one's enjoyment of hearing the Beatles playing and singing together, no matter how shambolic. Billy Preston plays on keyboards for the first time in the film here.
"The Long and Winding Road" (35:59 - 37:17)
Begins with a loose calypso type version of the song, then Paul stops it saying that they don't have all day, and cuts to them attempting a more serious take at the song, but this quickly breaks down as Paul puts on a silly deep voice.
"Rock n' roll medley" (37:18 - 41:52)
This is the much-bootlegged string of old rock & roll covers that the group performs, all of them sounding loose and rough: "Rip It Up," "Shake, Rattle & Roll," "Kansas City," "Miss Ann" and "Lawdy Miss Clawdy."
"Dig It" (41:53 - 45:20)
Lennon's made-up on the spot lyrics as the band jams, a minute of which ended up on the finished album. The take ends with the high-pitch spoken intro that preceded the song "Let It Be" on the album. The band appears to be enjoying this meandering, pointless tune more than it really deserves, though.
"Paul talking to John" (45:21 - 47:07)
This is the scene where we see the back of Paul's head as he babbles uninterrupted for nearly two minutes straight, about how George doesn't want to play live, etc. John just listens and stares at Paul throughout this uncomfortable scene.
We are now over halfway into the movie, and so far we've experienced a lot of loose, rough performances by the band and a smattering of random chatter -- a far cry from the polished sound and cohesive vision that audiences expected from the Beatles based on their studio albums. Rather than the fleeting moments of acrimony that made the film a depressing watch for most viewers, I think it's probably the rough quality of the band's performances (up to this point) that turned people off. The Beatles are playing like they don't really care all that much about sounding great.
The "warts and all" motto of the project has shown more "warts" (in terms of audio production) than the average listener would enjoy hearing. There are a lot of short, unfinished takes in the film's first half, which creates a feeling of repeated frustration for the viewer; just when the song ought to take flight, it comes to a crashing halt for no apparent reason.
Fortunately the second half of the film offers a much more satisfying experience, as the band pulls the songs together, plays them seriously (instead of for giggles) and gives them a beginning, middle and end. If the movie had started with the rock n' roll medley, it may have been a better film.
"Two of Us" (47:08 - 50:38)
A fine complete take of the song with Paul standing at the microphone playing acoustic guitar and John whistling the melody at the end.
"Let It Be" (50:39 - 54:38)
The classic performance of the song with Paul at the piano, looking directly at the viewer, "Hey Jude"-style (the video for which Lindsay-Hogg had directed the year before).
"The Long and Winding Road" (54:39 - 58:13)
Another classic performance, performed in the same manner as "Let It Be" above, a fine companion piece.
"Going onto the roof" (58:14 -59:18)
The band gets a view of the rooftop, Paul jumps on the floorboards, Ringo complains that Mal set his drum kit in the wrong spot, they all then get ready to play. The rest of the movie consists of the fabled "rooftop concert." Although fans have long clamored to view the "full" concert, the film gives us nearly the whole thing, and what we see lasts nearly as long as most Beatles concerts did in the 1960s (under 30 minutes).
"Get Back" (59:19 - 1:02:23)
Classic performance of the song.
"Don't Let Me Down" (1:02:30 - 1:05:52)
Another classic performance, marred only once by Lennon flubbing a lyric.
"I've Got a Feeling" (1:06:00 -1:09:40)
The reaction of the crowd below is intercut with the group's performance, which sounds good.
"The One After 909" (1:09:50 - 1:12:40)
A solid performance of this lesser Lennon-McCartney song. The police arrive at Apple HQ to shut them down. Fortunately no crowd commentary cutting into the audio on this one. Ends with John singing a snippet of "Danny Boy," as on the finished album.
"Dig a Pony" (1:12:40 - 1:16:40)
Includes the false start and sniffing sound (it was cold on the roof in January), as heard on the finished album. (The "All I want is..." was removed by Phil Spector later on.) Someone kneels in front of Lennon holding a sheet of paper with the song's lyrics on it so that he doesn't forget the words, ensuring a usuable take. The police are shown entering the building and making it to the roof.
"Get Back" (1:16:41 - 1:20:00)
A second, rougher take of the song, with the police observing them in the doorway and Paul adding the lyric about getting arrested. Ends with Paul's "Thanks, Mo" (Maureen) and John's comment about how he hoped they passed the audition, both of which appear at the end of the released album. The Beatles put down their instruments and head for the door.
"End credits" (1:20:01 - 1:20:20)
The audio of another take of "Get Back" briefly plays over "The End" title. Movie ends.
It's been said that the Peter Jackson documentary has caused a re-evaluation of the Get Back sessions, that they were much more fruitful and enjoyable than their reputation suggested. Perhaps the same could be said for the 1970 Let It Be film as well, that it is better than its reputation suggests -- or that its decades-long suppression deserves.
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