All-In [29860]
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Posts: 8837
Joined: 10/31/10
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Beatles Report
Nov 28, 2021, 10:24 PM
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Saw the Disney Beatles special (part 1 of 3) last night and enjoyed it. I thought I'd share what it is and isn't for the interested.
It's not a performance. At least not part one. It's purely studio sessions. There's nothing really to spoil, but without getting too detailed it's the candid footage of them preparing for a 1969 show, with only 3 weeks to do so. That means picking a location, writing the music, developing the theme, costumes, stage sets, rehearsing...EVERYTHING it takes to present the most famous band in the world to the public for a knock-down-the-walls concert.
There aren't really any surprises, but it is an incredibly granular look at making music. You get the impression these guys were just oozing with talent. They could pick a guy off the street, ask him to say a sentence, then weave a song around it in 20 minutes. Just amazing talent, and you have a front row seat. Their biggest problem was not making music, but deciding which of their fantastic ideas to develop. Sort of like standing on a pile of diamonds and deciding which ones to pick up and cut. Far, far too much talent for one band.
The camerawork is fairly active...it's not like a fixed camera watching them hash stuff out. Close ups, conversations, side-bars, etc. You really get to feel like you know their personalities intimately after a while. There are humorous moments, some friction, up time, down time, all skillfully edited by Peter Jackson into an engaging story. Lots of personal interaction with them chatting, smoking, drinking tea, discussing chords, lyrics, etc. We had subtitles on because they do speak English, not American, and it was sometimes hard to understand them through their accents.
But at its heart, the show is them making their music. An interesting look at riffs and choruses being worked into full songs, with different lyrics than you know that were sometimes altered and sometimes cut and changed altogether for all your favorite songs.
I can't say I've learned anything new yet...Paul comes off as the incredibly, incredibly talented band driver (at least in 69), Lennon as the equally talented but slightly less driven counterweight. George as the capable but clearly lesser genius (Sorry George, I do love My Sweet Lord and your other tunes), and Ringo. Well, I did learn that Ringo was more jovial than I thought.
Anyhow, if the thought of seeing the musical sausage you love so much being made appeals to you, and seeing what was going through the minds of the four 28 years olds (that does blow my mind) as they were making it, I think you will enjoy it. I am.
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