Saturday, December 04, 2021

The Beatles - Get Back - part 1

Yes of course I watched the Beatles Get Back and I have some thoughts about it.

They drank a lot of tea... and even more booze on the job.



Yes, Paul could be a pushy perfectionist.





But George could be such a buzzkill!



Beatles Get Back drinking game - drink every time George says something negative.




And Paul did his best to be self-aware and sympathetic. And the fact remains if he had not been so pushy, this film would probably not exist, and definitely not the rooftop concert.



Yes, Yoko did not break up the Beatles. But it is ridiculously rude to come to someone's job and sit right in the middle of their work space. And to make it worse, she would sometimes read while sitting there with the Beatles, as they were working on new songs. If you're going to read, you could go somewhere else, not demonstrate that you find what others are doing to be uninteresting. 

The other Beatles were undoubtedly annoyed by her - who wouldn't be in such a situation - but it would have been even worse had John not already brought her to the White Album sessions during 1968. But even though Yoko being there wasn't new, I think a lot of the Paul-George hostility was fueled in part by Yoko-induced irritation.

She didn't break up the Beatles but she was incredibly self-centered and presumptuous. 



Linda was not the most photogenic person, but she looked great in many shots in this film. And I really like what Peter Jackson did, interspersing footage of her taking photos and then showing the still photos of what she shot. And her presence was much less intrusive than Yoko's. 



This was really sweet, Ringo saying at this point "I'd watch an hour of him (Paul) just playing the piano."



Biiiiitch - they never going to Tripoli!



Some critics complained that Get Back had too many slow bits, but that's part of the charm. If you watch all three episodes back to back you come away with the feeling of having spent the entire day hanging out with the Beatles. What's not to like?

More thoughts soon.