WIWS Banner

The Second Disc

Expanded and Remastered Music News

  • Home
  • News
    • Classic Rock
    • Rock
    • Pop
    • Jazz
    • Popular Standards/Vocal
    • R&B/Soul
    • Country
    • Folk
    • Cast Recordings
    • Soundtracks
    • Everything Else
      • Classical/Opera
      • Disco/Dance
      • Funk
      • Gospel
      • Rap/Hip-Hop
  • Features
    • Release Round-Up
    • Giveaways!
    • Interviews
  • Reviews
    • Classic Rock
    • Rock
    • Pop
    • Jazz
    • Popular Standards/Vocal
    • R&B/Soul
    • Country
    • Folk
    • Cast Recordings
    • Soundtracks
    • Everything Else
      • Classical/Opera
      • Disco/Dance
      • Funk
      • Gospel
      • Rap/Hip-Hop
  • Release Calendar
    • Coming Soon
    • Now Available
  • About
  • Second Disc Records
    • Full Catalog
  • Contact

/ Reviews

The Beatles "Get Back" In New Hardcover Book Chronicling the "Let It Be" Sessions

October 27, 2021 By Joe Marchese 5 Comments

Beatles Get Back

BUY NOW FROM AMAZON.COM

A book about a film about an album?  The new coffee table book from Callaway Arts and Entertainment and Apple Corps, The Beatles: Get Back, is essentially that: a hardcover, 240-page tome based on the film footage shot in the buildup to The Beatles' final album, 1970's Let It Be.  Get Back was, of course, the name of the first version of Let It Be.  It's also the name of director Peter Jackson's upcoming three-part, six-hour documentary (the first part of which premieres November 25 on the Disney+ streaming service) to which the book serves as a companion.  The story of this period is one that's been often-told: a mere two-and-a-half months after sessions conclude for The Beatles (a.k.a. The White Album), John, Paul, George, and Ringo regroup in the New Year to stage a live, televised concert in which they'll "get back" to basics.  Director Michael Lindsay-Hogg is engaged to film rehearsals at London's Twickenham Film Studios for use in a potential documentary about the making of the concert.  But matters quickly go south, and chaos and creativity ensue in equal measure.  But this tried-and-true story about the most-written-about-band-ever hasn't been told before in quite this manner.

The Beatles: Get Back, the book, is almost exclusively told in the Fabs' own words via the dialogue captured by Lindsay-Hogg first at Twickenham (January 2-16, 1969) and then at Apple Studios (January 21-31) including the Rooftop Concert of January 30.  It reads like a series of vignettes from an as-yet-unproduced play blending the absurdity of Harold Pinter, the subversive humor of Joe Orton, and the kitchen sink drama of John Osborne.  These sometimes angry, sometimes cheerful young men are at a personal and professional crossroads, and Get Back vividly brings this period to life on the printed page.  The visual element of the book is provided by the stunning photographs of Linda McCartney and Ethan A. Russell (displayed with rectangular borders) and original 16mm film stills (displayed with round-corner borders).  All that's missing is the music, which will likely ring in one's head while reading.  This non-traditional approach turns out to be the book's greatest strength.

Editor John Harris has shaped the text as a three-act play with the settings of Twickenham, Apple Studios, and the Rooftop of 3 Savile Row.  While the four Beatles are the key players, there's a strong supporting cast (director Lindsay-Hogg, recording engineers Glyn Johns and Alan Parsons, producer George Martin, roadie Mal Evans, and musician Billy Preston just a few of the other "characters") and even some cameos (chameleonic actor and Ringo's co-star in The Magic Christian, Peter Sellers, music publisher Dick James).  Peter Jackson and playwright Hanif Kureishi offer introductions, and a text piece by Harris sets up each act.  But the lion's share of the story is told through The Beatles' "scenes," if you will.

The Twickenham rehearsals are the foundation on which the Get Back/Let It Be story has been built, and there's plenty of the tension that Peter Jackson has reportedly sought to downplay in his upcoming film.  One might say that the arc of the Twickenham rehearsals builds to Harrison's temporary departure on January 10; the seeds of his discontent are evident in many of his exchanges, particularly with McCartney.  At one point on January 6, Paul optimistically states, "We've got to improve on that [take of 'Don't Let Me Down']" to which George acidly replies, "If we had a tape recorder now and just taped that and played it back, you'd throw that out straight away."  (Of course, it was all being recorded.)  The next day, Harrison and McCartney acknowledge what's changed in the group: "Ever since Mr. Epstein passed away...it's never been the same," George acknowledges.  Paul agrees, "We've been very negative since Mr. Epstein passed away."  Such candid, even touching, moments linger far longer than the tense ones.  Mal Evans stands in for the reader when he chimes in after some tense back-and-forth that "I'd just like to say that you are needed, you know.  The Beatles are needed, like, to so many people."

Without the Fabs' inflections and clear intentions, the reader can "direct" the dialogue.  Often humor and drama go hand-in-hand, as during a January 8 confrontation between Lennon and McCartney:

PAUL: [theatrically] We're gonna be faced with a crisis, you know.

JOHN: [equally theatrically] When I'm up against the wall, Paul, you'll find I'm at my best.

PAUL: [shouting] Yeah, I know, John, I know, but I just wish you'd come up with the goods!

JOHN: Well, look, I think I've got Sunday off!

Harrison's departure is captured in just a few lines ("I think I'll be...I'm leaving," he says.  "What?" John replies.  "...the band now."  "When?"  "Now.") without much evident provocation beyond the band's seeming lack of purpose direction as the omnipresent cameras and the two Nagra tape recorders roll.  John, Paul, and Ringo carry on with nervous laughter ("Just pretending nothing's happened," Lennon quips) as they attempt to resume work.

The exchanges of Monday, January 13 are among the most affecting, not to mention prescient.

PAUL: It's going to be such an incredible sort of comical thing like, in fifty years' time, you know: 'They broke up 'cos Yoko sat on an amp,' you know [laughs] or just something like that.  What? 'Well, you see, John kept bringing this girl along.'  What?  It's not as though there's any sort of earth-splitting rows or anything.

Linda McCartney makes another wise observation: "You make good music together, whether you like it or not."  John replies, "I like it."  Even during the most uncomfortable moments, a bond of affection, respect, and camaraderie is evident.

Things lighten considerably in Act Two once the boys move to Apple Studios following a near-weeklong break. George returns (though his reappearance was not captured on the tapes) and at his insistence, the ideas of a live concert and TV show are placed to the side.  Instead, the band focuses on crafting an album.  George Martin becomes a key player in this act, and Billy Preston drops by to make music with the band.  Both prove to be calming influences; Martin even observes the morning of January 23 that "you're working so well together now...let's keep it going."  The tapes capture songs beginning to take shape alongside mundane events like the Beatles ordering lunch and John making playful banter with six-year-old Heather McCartney.  While the more famous exchanges have been quoted in the past, it's likely that all but the most dyed-in-the-wool Beatles fans won't have heard or read everything as presented here.

There are delightful shout-outs to Fleetwood Mac (John asks Paul, "Did you see [them] on Late Night Live?  Oh, they were so sweet, man!") and Randy Newman (the "stage directions" read: "Led by George, the band fall into Randy Newman's 'Love Story (You and Me)' before playing Duane Eddy's 'Cannonball' and the bluegrass and skiffle standard 'Last Train to San Fernando' before calling it a day") as well as fleeting references to "Da Doo Ron Ron" and "I Say a Little Prayer." It's clear reading just how much the Fab Four enjoyed what they did, and what their contemporaries did, as well.  There are dark portents, for sure, including the first mentions of the controversial Allen Klein:

GLYN: Have you met Allen before?

JOHN: I met him the other day over here, and I met him at the [Rock and Roll] Circus.

GLYN: Strange guy, isn't he?

JOHN: I know.  He's fantastic, though.

Get Back culminates in the staging of the rooftop concert, as surely an actual dramatic presentation would build to this historic moment.  An array of impressive photos dominates this section and the script shifts to the man-on-the-street interviews being conducted and the arrival of policemen to the scene.  There's something undeniably magical and manic about this improbable afternoon, so the scenes that follow (the band listening to the rooftop playback that afternoon, the following day's recording sessions) are anticlimactic, and John Harris completes the story with a brief text epilogue.

As the release date of the Peter Jackson documentary approaches, the book makes for an entertaining and compelling appetizer.  It remains to be seen how much of its contents will be echoed in the lengthy documentary but even if all of the dialogue is heard in the film, the book will still remain a valuable addition to any Beatles library to which a reader can return.  It also proves a fine companion to The Beatles Anthology, a very different kind of "in their own words" volume.  Some might want to devour this book now and others might rather wait until Jackson's film arrives and then get back to relive favorite moments.

The book ends on a quiet note as the foursome have recorded the version of "Let It Be" that will be used as the basis for both the LP and single releases:

PAUL: One more time.

GEORGE: Fair, very fair.

PAUL: Very fair.  One more...

They play the take of 'Let It Be' that will make it into the film.  The tape ends.

And in the end, The Beatles would go on to record the triumphant Abbey Road before getting the divorce that George Harrison joked about in Twickenham.  Over fifty years later, though, we collectively remain anxious to revisit the world of The Beatles and recapture that magic.  One more time...

The Beatles: Get Back, the book, is available now at Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada.

Categories: Reviews Formats: Books Genre: Classic Rock, Pop Tags: George Harrison, George Martin, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, The Beatles

Avatar photo

Joe Marchese

JOE MARCHESE (Editor) joined The Second Disc shortly after its launch in early 2010, and has since penned daily news and reviews about classic music of all genres. In 2015, Joe formed the Second Disc Records label. Celebrating the great songwriters, producers and artists who created the sound of American popular song, Second Disc Records, in conjunction with Real Gone Music, has released newly-curated collections produced by Joe from iconic artists such as Johnny Mathis, Bobby Darin, Laura Nyro, Melissa Manchester, Chet Atkins, and many others. He has contributed liner notes to reissues from a diverse array of artists, among them Nat "King" Cole, Paul Williams, Lesley Gore, Dusty Springfield, B.J. Thomas, The 5th Dimension, Burt Bacharach, The Mamas and the Papas, Carpenters, Perry Como, Rod McKuen, Doris Day, Jackie DeShannon, and Andy Williams, and has compiled releases for talents including Robert Goulet and Keith Allison of Paul Revere and the Raiders. Over the past two decades, Joe has also worked in a variety of capacities on and off Broadway as well as at some of the premier theatres in the U.S., including Lincoln Center Theater, George Street Playhouse, Paper Mill Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, and the York Theatre Company. He has felt privileged to work on productions alongside artists such as the late Jack Klugman, Eli Wallach, Arthur Laurents, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. In 2009, Joe began contributing theatre and music reviews to the print publication The Sondheim Review, and in 2012, he joined the staff of The Digital Bits as a regular contributor writing about film and television on DVD and Blu-ray. Joe currently resides in the suburbs of New York City.

Connect With Joe: FacebookTwitter

You Might Also Like

  • George Harrison Box CoverGot My Mind Set on George: BMG Acquires Rights to Harrison's Discography
  • George Martin A Painter in SoundGoodness Gracious Me: Cherry Red Collects Early George Martin Productions on "A Painter in Sound"
  • gold cd2The Year In Review: The 2022 Gold Bonus Disc Awards, From A to Z - Part Two
  • Neil Sedaka All You Need Is the MusicWhat a Surprise: Neil Sedaka Reissues His Four Elektra Albums on New 2-CD Set

Comments

  1. John F says

    October 27, 2021 at 3:20 pm

    The book sounds pretty fab, a truly wonderful review. I'll be watching when the show begins.

    Reply
  2. Michael Grabowski says

    October 27, 2021 at 9:19 pm

    It doesn't take much wishing to... imagine... the Beatles having gone on to record some of each other's solo songs as Beatles instead. Maybe working together they would have reined in some of each other's musical excesses, while each developing healthy individual careers. But I'm happy that they didn't stick together long enough to record any disappointing albums. Reading between the liner notes of the box sets, there is definitely an attempt to rehabilitate the perception of their late period into that of a band that really clicked together, but the record also shows that being a Beatle had become a pretty demanding job they weren't always happy to do anymore, and which, Mal's plea notwithstanding, they didn't need to do anymore. Mac, Floyd, Zep, were ready to take that ball and run with it.

    Now that the final albums have been thoroughly deluxed, I sincerely hope we can look forward to a 60th anniversary edition of Please Please Me that deeply documents that single-day recording session. February 11, 1963: The day the music was reborn.

    Reply
    • Stephen Bruun says

      October 28, 2021 at 7:31 am

      While almost all the multi-tracks from 1964 onward still survive, a lot of the session tapes from 1962-63 are missing. Lewisohn's descriptions of those sessions come largely from documents rather than from tapes. I hope all the albums get the super deluxe treatment (including, perhaps, a catch-all "Summer of Love" set that encompasses material from "Magical Mystery Tour" and "Yellow Submarine"), but the box sets for the earliest albums might need to be bulked out with live recordings.

      Getting back on topic, I read and enjoyed the book. Highly recommended. I'm assuming there will eventually be a Blu-ray release of Jackson's film, because I don't intend to subscribe to Disney+ to watch one movie...

      Reply
  3. Peter Denmark says

    October 28, 2021 at 4:37 am

    I too am looking forward to the Super Deluxe treatment of the earlier albums, particularly "Rubber Soul" which in my opinion is their best by far - no duds on that one (with the possible exception of "The Word".

    Reply
    • Jarmo Keranen says

      October 29, 2021 at 5:00 am

      To me the worst track on Rubber Soul is "What Goes On". And "Michelle" has always sounded too cheesy to my ears!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Upcoming Releases

  • Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon SDE
    The Dark Side of the Moon / Live at Wembley 1974
    Pink Floyd
    March 24, 2023
  • Nancy and Lee Again
    Nancy and Lee Again [Various Formats]
    Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood
    March 24, 2023
  • Honky Chateau
    Honky Château (50th Anniversary Edition)
    Elton John
    March 24, 2023
See Full Calendar

Connect

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 4,570 other subscribers

Popular

  • Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane OJC
    In Your Own Sweet Way: Craft Announces Original Jazz Classics Relaunch with Miles Davis, Monk and Coltrane posted on March 16, 2023 | under News
  • Talking Heads Stop Making Sense Deluxe 2LP
    What a Day That Was: Talking Heads' 'Stop Making Sense' Expanded for Vinyl, Film Reissue posted on March 17, 2023 | under News
  • Songs of Surrender
    Release Round-Up: Week of March 17 posted on March 17, 2023 | under Release Round-Up

Comments

  • small faces here come the nice2
    Return To Itchycoo Park: Small Faces' "Here Come The Nice" Deluxe Box Set Arrives In January [UPDATED 12/3] 84 comments | by Joe Marchese | posted on December 3, 2013 | under News
  • the beatles u s albums box2
    British Invasion! The Beatles Unveil "The U.S. Albums" Box Set in January 69 comments | by Joe Marchese | posted on December 12, 2013 | under News
  • Rolling Stones in Mono
    Out of Their Heads: Stones Plan Mono Box Set 47 comments | by Mike Duquette | posted on August 10, 2016 | under News

Music Resources

  • Addicted to Vinyl
  • Crap from the Past
  • Discogs
  • Film Score Monthly
  • IMWAN Forum – From the Vaults
  • MusicTAP
  • Musoscribe
  • Pause & Play
  • Popblerd
  • Popdose
  • Record Racks
  • Slicing Up Eyeballs
  • Steve Hoffman Music Forums
  • Ultimate Classic Rock
  • Vintage Vinyl News
  • Viva La Mainstream
  • Wolfgang's Vault

Labels of Note

  • Ace Records
  • Analog Spark
  • Bear Family
  • BGO Records
  • Big Break Records
  • Blixa Sounds
  • Cherry Red Label Group
  • Craft Recordings
  • Demon Music Group
  • Friday Music
  • Funky Town Grooves
  • Iconoclassic Records
  • Intervention Records
  • Intrada
  • Kritzerland
  • La La Land Records
  • Legacy Recordings
  • Light in the Attic
  • Masterworks Broadway
  • Now Sounds
  • Omnivore Recordings
  • Real Gone Music
  • Resonance Records
  • Rhino Entertainment
  • Rock Candy Records
  • SoulMusic Records
  • Sunset Blvd. Records
  • Supermegabot
  • Varese Sarabande
  • Vinyl Me, Please
  • Wounded Bird
Copyright © 2023 The Second Disc. All rights reserved. · Site by Metaglyphics

The Second Disc is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com, amazon.ca and amazon.co.uk.

Terms and Conditions - Privacy Policy