Get Back

blondy28 wrote:The Beatles documentary, Get Back, is excellent.  Episode one could get a little slow, and it's 2-1/2 hours, so definitely had to watch in shorter chunks.  That also kept me from yelling at the screen "WHY DOES SHE HAVE TO SIT RIGHT THERE!"  I know the big revelation to come out of this docuseries is that Yoko didn't break up the Beatles, but why does she need to sit in the circule with the band...reading the paper, cutting coupons, or whatever the hell else she was doing.  I thought I was going to lose my mind.

I'm halfway through episode 2, which is less tedius.  It's excellent.  A definite must see.

blondy28 wrote:The Beatles documentary, Get Back, is excellent.  Episode one could get a little slow, and it's 2-1/2 hours, so definitely had to watch in shorter chunks.  That also kept me from yelling at the screen "WHY DOES SHE HAVE TO SIT RIGHT THERE!"  I know the big revelation to come out of this docuseries is that Yoko didn't break up the Beatles, but why does she need to sit in the circule with the band...reading the paper, cutting coupons, or whatever the hell else she was doing.  I thought I was going to lose my mind.

I'm halfway through episode 2, which is less tedius.  It's excellent.  A definite must see.

SoxIlliniRob wrote:

blondy28 wrote:The Beatles documentary, Get Back, is excellent.  Episode one could get a little slow, and it's 2-1/2 hours, so definitely had to watch in shorter chunks.  That also kept me from yelling at the screen "WHY DOES SHE HAVE TO SIT RIGHT THERE!"  I know the big revelation to come out of this docuseries is that Yoko didn't break up the Beatles, but why does she need to sit in the circule with the band...reading the paper, cutting coupons, or whatever the hell else she was doing.  I thought I was going to lose my mind.

I'm halfway through episode 2, which is less tedius.  It's excellent.  A definite must see.

It's funny.  Your take is the same as my Pam's take.  "Why is she there?  What is she doing?"  She keeps pointing out "she's doing a word find puzzle.  she's clipping coupons....."  I find myself completely unaffected by her presence.  She seems to be a calming influence on Lennon, and it's pretty clear they're happy together. 

How about when she was singing?!!!  What in the hell was that?  At least she never really says a word.  She's like just a harmless prop in the room, like an ashtray or a chair.  

It's clear Yoko surely didn't break them up.  I get the impression John wouldn't even be showing up to these sessions if not for Yoko.  I get the sense she is bringing John to these sessions.  

Episode 2 was incredible.  I'm letting it breathe for a couple days before #3.  I love it so much.  I would watch it if it were 50 hrs.  Ringo is a huge surprise for me.  What a Mr. Nice Guy.  Just a salt of the earth dude.  I also had no idea what a fucking NUT Lennon was.  He's hilarious and a total ham.  I find that I cannot take my eyes off of him.  I have a total man crush on the guy after watching 5.5 hrs of this thing.  McCartney is the Michael Jordan of that crew.  Lennon was Pippen.  Harrison and Ringo are Horace and Paxson.  Another surprise is what an amazing guitar player Lennon was.  I had no idea.  I thought he was a rhythm guitar guy but he had significant chops!  What's with how much toast these mofo's eat?

blondy28 wrote:


I thought the same thing.  I texted my friend and said "I did NOT expect Lennon to be so damned funny.  I expected him to be kinda buttoned up, but he's hilarious!".  I'm glad he finally changed out of the outfit that he wore for a week in episode 1.  Paul is the guy who has to herd the cats.  Pull everyone together to accomplish what they're there for.  The clip that's going around of Paul going from strumming and humming, and within 2 minutes, you hear what will be Get Back.  

https://twitter.com/tedgioia/status/1465049482933030913?s=20

I had no idea Get Back was a response to the anti-immigration movement in the UK.  

Yeah, what's with the toast???  And it's clearly cold.

SoxIlliniRob wrote:As for this Beatles thing....it's had a deep effect on me.  I see that band so much differently now.  Vastly more respect for them.  I always considered them my #2 behind Zeppelin, but they've blown way past Zep after watching this.  I can't stop thinking about how engrossing and intoxicating it is to watch such greatness in action.  And they are nice guys who really love each other.  Hilarious when they're reading gossip columns about how they are coming to blows and punching each other and yet these guys are practically best friends, save for some strange animosity from Harrison, who is a peacefully unhappy guy.  It was touching when Harrison had left and then Lennon had left and it appeared they might never return, and Paul had what looked like a tear in his eye and a true sense over overwhelming grief coming over him.  I wanted to cry with him.  And I don't think he was sad because the band might be broke up.  I thought he was upset because he loves those guys and felt bad that they might be upset and that he may have had a role in it.  

I just can't get over the absolute incredibleness of this thing.

SoxIlliniRob wrote:

blondy28 wrote:


I thought the same thing.  I texted my friend and said "I did NOT expect Lennon to be so damned funny.  I expected him to be kinda buttoned up, but he's hilarious!".  I'm glad he finally changed out of the outfit that he wore for a week in episode 1.  Paul is the guy who has to herd the cats.  Pull everyone together to accomplish what they're there for.  The clip that's going around of Paul going from strumming and humming, and within 2 minutes, you hear what will be Get Back.  

https://twitter.com/tedgioia/status/1465049482933030913?s=20

I had no idea Get Back was a response to the anti-immigration movement in the UK.  

Yeah, what's with the toast???  And it's clearly cold.

I wondered if maybe they edited out another hour or two of his creation of "Get Back" or if we watched it in real time taking only a couple of mins before it went from a beat and a phrase to an actual song.  Hard to tell for certain.  I'm betting Paul is eternally grateful for the easy going and willing attitude of Ringo.  One less cat to heard.  Ringo is just game for anything, which I guess is a good approach when you aren't really creating the songs for the most part.

I always thought of the Beatles as a bit of a hippy/political edge kind of band, but I think they probably had more of that than we actually realized.  I know Blackbird is supposed to be a response to the civil rights issues we were having in the States and the passing of the Civil Rights Act around that time.  I suppose Tucker Carlson would have told Paul to just "shut up and dribble."

blondy28 wrote:

SoxIlliniRob wrote:

blondy28 wrote:


I thought the same thing.  I texted my friend and said "I did NOT expect Lennon to be so damned funny.  I expected him to be kinda buttoned up, but he's hilarious!".  I'm glad he finally changed out of the outfit that he wore for a week in episode 1.  Paul is the guy who has to herd the cats.  Pull everyone together to accomplish what they're there for.  The clip that's going around of Paul going from strumming and humming, and within 2 minutes, you hear what will be Get Back.  

https://twitter.com/tedgioia/status/1465049482933030913?s=20

I had no idea Get Back was a response to the anti-immigration movement in the UK.  

Yeah, what's with the toast???  And it's clearly cold.

I wondered if maybe they edited out another hour or two of his creation of "Get Back" or if we watched it in real time taking only a couple of mins before it went from a beat and a phrase to an actual song.  Hard to tell for certain.  I'm betting Paul is eternally grateful for the easy going and willing attitude of Ringo.  One less cat to heard.  Ringo is just game for anything, which I guess is a good approach when you aren't really creating the songs for the most part.

I always thought of the Beatles as a bit of a hippy/political edge kind of band, but I think they probably had more of that than we actually realized.  I know Blackbird is supposed to be a response to the civil rights issues we were having in the States and the passing of the Civil Rights Act around that time.  I suppose Tucker Carlson would have told Paul to just "shut up and dribble."

 
FOR SURE The Beatles evolved into a hippy/political edge kind of a band.  Not sure they were that when they were writing/singing I Wanna Hold Your Hand.  I just wasn't aware that Get Back was about the anti-immigration movement in the UK.

I'm sure there was a lot cut out of the process in writing Get Back, but I was still fascinated.  I never imagined that they write songs sounding like me singing in my car when I don't know the words.  And were you like me when they would mumble and say " left his home in (mumble) Arizona"...for HOURS.  I'm screaming "TUSCON".  It was like a lightbulb going off when someone finally came up with Tuscon!

blondy28 wrote:

SoxIlliniRob wrote:As for this Beatles thing....it's had a deep effect on me.  I see that band so much differently now.  Vastly more respect for them.  I always considered them my #2 behind Zeppelin, but they've blown way past Zep after watching this.  I can't stop thinking about how engrossing and intoxicating it is to watch such greatness in action.  And they are nice guys who really love each other.  Hilarious when they're reading gossip columns about how they are coming to blows and punching each other and yet these guys are practically best friends, save for some strange animosity from Harrison, who is a peacefully unhappy guy.  It was touching when Harrison had left and then Lennon had left and it appeared they might never return, and Paul had what looked like a tear in his eye and a true sense over overwhelming grief coming over him.  I wanted to cry with him.  And I don't think he was sad because the band might be broke up.  I thought he was upset because he loves those guys and felt bad that they might be upset and that he may have had a role in it.  

I just can't get over the absolute incredibleness of this thing.

It really is amazing.  I was struck by the comments about being banned from the U.S. because of John's comment about The Beatles being bigger than Jesus.  You can't get a better example of actual "cancel culture" than trying to ban The Beatles.  As it was, it was the cause of them deciding to stop touring.  

The whole thing with George was so sad...and I knew he was going to come back!  Watching them, day after day, trying to decide who would replace George and how far they'd have to push back the live show...it was heartbreaking.  What I really loved was the audio of Paul and John talking, not knowing there was a hidden tape recorder in the plant.  They were just as genuine and professional as they were in front of the cameras.  They clearly cared very much for each other.

Recently I read an article about Jagger and McCartney taking public pot shots at each other...and, I believe, it was a long running joke.  Don't recall...I'm going from memory.  But they mention the Stones so many times in this documentary!

blondy28 wrote:

SoxIlliniRob wrote:

blondy28 wrote:


I thought the same thing.  I texted my friend and said "I did NOT expect Lennon to be so damned funny.  I expected him to be kinda buttoned up, but he's hilarious!".  I'm glad he finally changed out of the outfit that he wore for a week in episode 1.  Paul is the guy who has to herd the cats.  Pull everyone together to accomplish what they're there for.  The clip that's going around of Paul going from strumming and humming, and within 2 minutes, you hear what will be Get Back.  

https://twitter.com/tedgioia/status/1465049482933030913?s=20

I had no idea Get Back was a response to the anti-immigration movement in the UK.  

Yeah, what's with the toast???  And it's clearly cold.

I wondered if maybe they edited out another hour or two of his creation of "Get Back" or if we watched it in real time taking only a couple of mins before it went from a beat and a phrase to an actual song.  Hard to tell for certain.  I'm betting Paul is eternally grateful for the easy going and willing attitude of Ringo.  One less cat to heard.  Ringo is just game for anything, which I guess is a good approach when you aren't really creating the songs for the most part.

I always thought of the Beatles as a bit of a hippy/political edge kind of band, but I think they probably had more of that than we actually realized.  I know Blackbird is supposed to be a response to the civil rights issues we were having in the States and the passing of the Civil Rights Act around that time.  I suppose Tucker Carlson would have told Paul to just "shut up and dribble."

 
FOR SURE The Beatles evolved into a hippy/political edge kind of a band.  Not sure they were that when they were writing/singing I Wanna Hold Your Hand.  I just wasn't aware that Get Back was about the anti-immigration movement in the UK.

I'm sure there was a lot cut out of the process in writing Get Back, but I was still fascinated.  I never imagined that they write songs sounding like me singing in my car when I don't know the words.  And were you like me when they would mumble and say " left his home in (mumble) Arizona"...for HOURS.  I'm screaming "TUSCON".  It was like a lightbulb going off when someone finally came up with Tuscon!

sharpy wrote:Because I'm old, lived thru this and have read a lot about the Beatles, you guys are right, Yoko had very little to do with their breakup. Paul wanted a different managing partner than the other 3, who wanted Alan Klein who basically bankrupted them and Paul wanted his wife's relative (uncle of someone) to manage their money. George was pissed b/c they wouldn't put his songs on the albums and was tired of maybe getting one song per album. Ringo was scared they would break up b/c he viewed himself as having the least talent and musical ability and as he said many times in interviews, when they did break up, he was scared and depressed and wondered "what will i do now"?. So some of his actions and being a good guy was an attempt to appease everyone to get along. Some of that insecurity stemmed from the fact that george martin, their famous producer, wouldn't let Ringo play on their first recordings - they used a session drummer. Ringo had to prove himself first. 

SoxIlliniRob wrote:

blondy28 wrote:


I thought the same thing.  I texted my friend and said "I did NOT expect Lennon to be so damned funny.  I expected him to be kinda buttoned up, but he's hilarious!".  I'm glad he finally changed out of the outfit that he wore for a week in episode 1.  Paul is the guy who has to herd the cats.  Pull everyone together to accomplish what they're there for.  The clip that's going around of Paul going from strumming and humming, and within 2 minutes, you hear what will be Get Back.  

https://twitter.com/tedgioia/status/1465049482933030913?s=20

I had no idea Get Back was a response to the anti-immigration movement in the UK.  

Yeah, what's with the toast???  And it's clearly cold.

I wondered if maybe they edited out another hour or two of his creation of "Get Back" or if we watched it in real time taking only a couple of mins before it went from a beat and a phrase to an actual song.  Hard to tell for certain.  I'm betting Paul is eternally grateful for the easy going and willing attitude of Ringo.  One less cat to heard.  Ringo is just game for anything, which I guess is a good approach when you aren't really creating the songs for the most part.

I always thought of the Beatles as a bit of a hippy/political edge kind of band, but I think they probably had more of that than we actually realized.  I know Blackbird is supposed to be a response to the civil rights issues we were having in the States and the passing of the Civil Rights Act around that time.  I suppose Tucker Carlson would have told Paul to just "shut up and dribble."