Get Back and then some

 

Before we get into the details of this extraordinary endeavour Sir Peter Jackson threw the world into at the tail end of 2021, let us recap just a little bit what the key milestones were during the final years of the world’s most famous band, The Beatles:

• in 1966, the group stopped touring because they reportedly “couldn’t hear themselves play anymore”;
• in 1967, they released Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, to this day considered a pivotal creation in popular music;
• in 1969, they released Abbey Road, their second to last album, although it was actually the last one to be recorded;
• in 1970, they released their final album, Let It Be, before famously parting ways.

Peter Jackson’s documentary is about that last bit, the recording of Let It Be, the majority of which effectively took place in January 1969, at a tense moment in the group’s history. There were many widely known factors that were contributing to that tension: the untimely passing of manager Brian Epstein in 1967, the fact that fame had somewhat taken its toll on the (still) young musicians, whose individual aspirations were meanwhile taking them gradually away from each other… and the fact that “Yoko sat on amp”, as Paul McCartney ironically puts it in the documentary, irrefutably implying that the real reason was not quite there to be found.

The are many incredible aspects to this documentary and the context that it came out of:

• This is in effect a documentary about a documentary: Martin Lindsay-Hogg actually directed one entitled Let It Be and released in 1970 along with the album, for which he recorded nearly 60 hours of video footage (plus 150 hours of audio recordings). This footage forms the basis for the 2021 Peter Jackson-hailed series, a much deeper look into the inner workings of those sessions…
• The reason those sessions were so contracted — most of the album being written, rehearsed and recorded within a three-week period — came from the fact that the group had recently made a TV special with an audience for the first time in years, liked the experience and wanted to replicate that “live” element. The idea was therefore to rehearse — and record — together in a near-live setting (meaning, without extensive in-studio overdubbing) that would culminate in some sort of performance. Also, drummer Ringo Starr was set to play in a film right after that…
• When the four members gathered up at the beginning of January, they actually had very little to show for. McCartney and Lennon had each composed a few songs, as was customary, although not enough to form a full album — and many were not quite finished yet. You get to listen to early versions of an incomplete “Let It Be” that are quite fascinating to hear: you suddenly remember there was a time Paul McCartney himself didn’t know what the second verse of that legendary song would sound like… You also get to witness the same McCartney creating another classic, “Get Back”, out of thin air, starting with a rudimentary bass riff that he was toying with one morning, waiting for John Lennon, who was late to the party. Less than 3 weeks later, “Get Back” was recorded for posterity…
• Another remarkable takeaway from this project is the incredible artistry John, Paul, George and Ringo truly had. After only a few tries, you can hear those four outstanding musicians jamming together on brand new songs, boasting near-perfect arrangements, guitar solos, vocal harmonies… the whole lot. Well, there were actually 5 outstanding musician in the room most days: accomplished keyboardist and friend of the group Billy Preston happened to drop by the studio one day and ended up playing on most of the record, as Lennon and McCartney realized an extra member was needed, a fifth Beatle if it were, to play piano while those two stuck to their respective instruments, rhythm guitar and bass respectively.
• The series ends on the famous rooftop concert the group performed on top of Apple studios in London, totally unannounced — and obviously lacking any sort of authorization. The show was meant as the culmination of these studio sessions, as well as an integral part to the overall project: several songs played up there did end up on the final LP. We now also know that this event was truly historic, as it was the very last time the Fab Four performed publicly in any way, shape or form… Knowing that, and with the full context of the weeks leading up to the show, you are bound to have a lump in your throat watching that footage. Here are four insanely talented musicians doing something truly remarkable — performing songs that barely existed weeks prior, with the weight of their worldwide fame and accompanying expectations resting tightly on their shoulders. And they still manage to joke about it: at the end of the impromptu concert, John Lennon quips: “I’d like to say thank you on behalf of the group and ourselves and I hope we’ve passed the audition”. Talk about timing…

All in all, this deep-dive into the inner workings of the biggest musical group there ever was is absolutely unique and utterly fascinating to watch. In the end, you are left with an inevitable feeling of nostalgia at the way things ended up, with the band parting ways soon after, John Lennon tragically getting shot and George Harrison passing away from cancer before there was a chance at any sort of reunion. You are also left with the opposite feeling of gratitude having been privy to such greatness, in this documentary and beyond: decades later, the music The Beatles left us still very much lives on, and will still very much continue to do so…