Not Just Letting It Be
Today, we’re going full Beatles. Just to be clear, I’m not a huge Beatles maniac. I definitely like them, but I’ve always listened to other music more than rock. I love a great many Beatles songs, and it’s impossible to have grown up in their era and not had so much of their music a large part of the soundtrack of your youth. But I’ve not only never owned a Beatles album, I think the only Beatles albums I’ve ever listened to all the way through is Sgt. Pepper. Everything else I know is just individual songs.
(I’m sure this must horrify some of my friends, notably Adrienne Anderson and Shelly Goldstein who probably look at me as a sort of luddite who must be tolerated. And then there’s Wally Podrazik and Harry Castleman, who I went to Northwestern with, who together have not only written numerous books on The Beatles but also lecture on them.)
But I do like The Beatles. And ever since I read about the film, I have been looking forward to the upcoming 6-hour documentary on them directed by Peter Jackson (who did The Lord of the Rings films, and the King Kong remake as well as the great WWI documentary, They Shall Not Grow Old.)
For those who don’t know, Jackson was given access to the 56 hours of film that was shot for the 1970 documentary Let It Be, which basically showed the break-up of the group. The material has been locked away for 50 years, and what Jackson discovered from takes not used was a very different story – one with conflict, but far more of great laughter, close friendship and long bonds, not just in the recording session, but the famous rooftop, final concert afterwards. He’s shown his work to the surviving Beatles, and both Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr have said that this version fits their own memory of the events and both have been publicly enthusiastic about the film.
I haven't seen the original documentary Let It Be. (Hey, I told you there was a whole lot of Beatles material I've yet to see or hear... In this particular case, I wasn't terribly interested in seeing a story about the group breaking up.) So, I won't be able to compare how it all was presented before to what's on screen now. Though many millions of others will. Me, I just look forward to seeing what appears to be a really terrific movie about a fascinating, vibrant moment in important popular culture.
So, I have a bunch of videos related to this all. Starting with the official trailer for the documentary which was just released. The film is set to be released on Disney+ on November 25.
Next, here is a Sneak Peak of the film that Peter Jackson put together last year, after the film was supposed to be completed, but little things like the pandemic got in the way. It's a rough compilation of various material.
This a fun, interesting interview that Ringo Starr did with Stephen Colbert on the new documentary. And as I noted, you'll see how much he's enthusiastic about the upcoming work.
And finally, we have a short two-minute radio conservation with Paul McCartney on The Howard Stern Show, where he talks about the documentary -- and like Ringo, with great affection. That it tells the story he remembers.
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