THE BEATLES: LET IT BE!

With the recent birthday of Sir Paul McCartney, I felt this would be a good time to choose a special film I had on my Movie List! Released back in 1970, this is a documentary showing both how the Beatles made music together, and the dynamics behind their split up. Hundreds of hours of raw footage were cut down into the making of their "next to last" album (the last one was actually "Abbey Road" and you'll see and hear "The Boys" reheasing some of the music that made it onto "Abbey Road"). I watched this recently with an ex-girlfriend of mine and I told her that the tension between "The Fab Four" was undeniable. George Harrison's argument with Paul McCartney is unfortunately caught on film.(It wasn't a "blow up" but it did make me uncomfortable). Harrison, sufficiently angered, leaves the session and goes home. Pauls' perspective and hopes throughout the film was for the band to return to live performing. A prospect that John so obviouly detested and it is quite plain to the viewer that he was cold to the whole idea. There were days when Ringo and George alternately would phone the studio and advise producer George Martin that they would not be in. While Yoko Ono was ever-present (and blamed for years for the band's breakup) an argument could be made that it really wasn't so much her presence as John's clash with Paul's bubbly enthusiasm and the sense one feels (as John did), that Paul was "taking over" the sessions that was behind the group disbanding. Touring was also a prospect that sat poorly with George Harrison after the 1966 Candlestick Park performance in San Francisco that understandably was iritating to him. That was the final concert The Beatles played in the U.S. and who could blame them? To George, that concert was more of a commercialized nightmare than a true musical performance. In fact, my oldest brother caught The Beatles 1964 swing through Cincinnati at the now razed Crosley Field. He told me the audience was screaming so loud that they actually drowned out the crude P.A. system. So, the set was virtually inaudible.

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The tensions in "Let It Be" were also felt "behind the scenes". Filming began at England's Twickenham Studios the first week of January 1969; a rehearsal area was set up on a soundstage, and the band was expected to arrive at around 8 A.M. to meet the shooting schedule. After several days freezing on the barely-heated, cavernous set, and hating the early-morning hours, the location was changed to the Beatles' own "new recording studio", set up in the basement at Apple. The Beatles arrived there in the second week only to discover a largely empty room, featuring none of the technical innovations promised them, or even normal studio features, such as a patch-bay or an intercom system. I know if it were me, I'd be mightily pissed! Recording equipment had to be rented, cables run under the door, and the building's central heating (also located in the basement) had to be shut off while they worked! If this wasn't enough of an annoyance, the new location proved as cramped as the first location had been overlarge, with band, recording crew, camera crew, Yoko Ono and the late Linda McCartney all together in the same room! Gads! When tensions are thick enough to be cut with a knife, being cramped together in a small room is just over-the edge!

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The decision to release "Let It Be" was purely a financial one; Apple's accountants assured the band that, with so much money spent on the project, they couldn't afford to simply bury the results, much as the Beatles wanted to. A movie release would recoup the expenses more effectively than the planned television special. So it was turned into a movie. But trouble continued. George Martin and the independent producer Glyn Johns prepared mixes of the soundtrack album, neither of which satisfied anyone. By now, totally fed up, Martin quit working with the band, when criticisms started turning personal. But he returned to make "Abbey Road" after the Beatles promised to work with him "like in the old days", with Martin calling the shots in the studio. One could easily see this was the best solution to the old "Too many Chiefs" issue delaying the project. A second remix by Johns was also rejected, and with Martin finally walked out! So, Phil Spector was brought in to replace Martin and to complete the soundtrack.

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In many respects, this was a sad movie detailing the internal turmoil each band member was plainly feeling. But the gems far outweigh the heavy-laden break-up of the band. Ringo Starr, for the most part remains the silent but intelligent observer who goodnaturedly goes along with whatever is called for. Some bright spots are Paul and John's acoustic performance of "Two of Us". George gets a rare chance to sing lead on "For You Blue". Billy Preston, who sadly passed away more than a week ago, sat in as keyboardist with the band and we see him trying hard to inject some enthusiasm to diffuse the baggage of bitterness, personal and creative differences that by this point in time simply overwhelmed any chance of the band reconciling. Other high points include: "The Long and Wnding Road", and the title track "Let It Be". The January, 1969 impromptu performance of the band on the roof of the Apple Record Building during the mid-afternoon business day was a grand surprise to those on the sidewalk and in adjacent office buildings. This was, indeed, their final performance together. English Bobbies were called out to break up the performance during "Get Back"--a controversial point for Yoko Ono who claimed during a much later interview in New York that she interpreted Paul as indicting her during the performance by looking directly at her during the Chorus. This was featured in a Playboy Magazine interview wherein John interrupted and said "No, Yoko it wasn't like that". She replied that it was. John was being very kind in letting the issue drop, This film is a piece of Rock and Roll history and we become as viewers, the proverbial "fly on the wall". But overall this film is quite a joy and very insightful for millions of Beatle fans worldwide! I hope you truly enjoy it! Directed by: Michael Lindsay-Hogg; Winner of The Oscar Award, Best Music, Original Sound Score (Quincy Jones accepted the Award for The Beatles). Winner of the Grammy Award, Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or TV Special.

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Happy Belated Birthday to Sir Paul McCartney and God Bless the late Billy Preston!