“The Beatles: Get Back” brings Beatles back to life
Peter Jackson’s “The Beatles: Get Back,” released between Nov. 25 and Nov. 27 and named after the beloved track from The Beatles’ 1970 record “Let It Be,” is a wonderful inside look at the second to last album The Beatles ever recorded. Methodically edited from 60 hours of footage and over 150 hours of audio, the three-part series takes place at first in Twickenham Studios, then moves to the band’s Apple Studios in London for their iconic rooftop performance.
At one point in the documentary Paul McCartney can be seen with Ringo Starr and George Harrison sitting silently beside him while he strums his bass like a guitar. Soon the iconic “Jojo” emerges amidst a stunning string of developing lines, and “Get Back” is truly born. From there the band performs this track, along with others like the “I’ve Got A Feeling” and “One After 909,” rehearsing and tweaking and suggesting until each song is perfect. Masters in spontaneity, The Beatles are also careful craftsmen, and “Let It Be” is the proof in the pudding.
The band worked tirelessly almost every day, and though tensions were running high between members, the quality of the music was never sacrificed. Tracks from “Abbey Road” like “Something” and “She Came In Through The Bathroom Window” are briefly rehearsed as well. “Attracts me like a cauliflower,” John Lennon jokingly suggests as a line in the former, Harrison responding, “Attracts me like a pomegranate.” A good half of the documentary is the band goofing off and covering bits of other songs; everything from “Rock and Roll Music” by Chuck Berry to Tommy Tucker’s “Hi-Heel Sneakers” is exuberantly played, and it is this lack of rigidness that makes you feel as if you are right there with them. The recorded version of “Two Of Us” is phenomenal, but nothing beats Lennon and McCartney gritting their teeth ventriloquist style and singing it to each other.
Seeing the unmistakable glimmer in Harrison’s eye when he gets a guitar solo just right, watching Starr become more inventive as a drummer by the second, witnessing McCartney birth some of the most gorgeous songs of all time, and laughing the entire time because of Lennon’s impeccable wit feel like reconnecting with a long lost loved one. Reaching the end of the documentary is like saying a bittersweet goodbye once more to the greatest band of all time, but fans all over the world know that though the band has broken up, their music will never die.
Very few bands reach true immortality, and “The Beatles: Get Back” is further proof that The Beatles are a band for all time.
