In lieu of a Full Album or Full Concert Friday, this is a concert/movie review. Just saw The Beatles "Get Back" documentary, streaming on the Disney+ platform. Yours truly has seen myriads of concert DVD's or movies, not the least of which is The Band's "The Last Waltz" recorded on November 27th, 1976, Thanksgiving Day, 1976, at Winterland in San Francisco, California. While that is a great live concert, "Get Back" is probably the best overall music documentary I have witnessed. Going inside The Beatles' preparations for what would become their final performance, and seeing what their world looked like, the tension between Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, proves that while musicians are capable of great things, they are indeed human, just like everyone else.
Seeing inside the walls of the studio, the process they went through to make sure their songs were exactly right, was very intriguing. Surely, everyone is familiar with The Beatles' repertoire of so many timeless songs. But seeing them working through the arrangements and doing things that every band on the planet goes through to get their show right, to get their recordings to be spot on, is a very cool experience, especially for people such as myself, who do work in that industry, within a studio setting. The tension in the studio at first, when they cut tracks trying for the live album at Twickenham Studios, not feeling entirely comfortable and confident in that space. Then, of course, they take their ideas entirely to a new studio at Apple Studios.
It seems that they are far more confident of what their musical objectives are when they transition from Twickenham to Apple, and once at Apple, they start hitting a real groove, bringing in keyboard master, Billy Preston to assist with the sessions and play primarily on Rhodes piano. This documentary, if you've not seen it, though long and drawn out, is definitely worth your time. It will open the eyes of those who may be music fans, Beatles fans, who may not entirely be familiar with how being in a band, or making records, works. This documentary, "Get Back" is an incredible display of not only The Beatles' musical prowess in songwriting, and in musicianship, but is also an illustration of the experience of what it is like to be in a studio.
Definitely go through the whole thing and watch closely what happens. You'll be pleasantly surprised at the quality of this documentary. Again, of the musical documentaries I have seen that profile performances by major rock bands of the golden era, this has to be the best of the lot. It is definitely worth your time. It is indeed worth a look, and you may be so into it, you'll want to watch it again and again, for all the music diehards out there.
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