50th Anniversary Cinematic Special
Let It Be
Directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg
Starring The Beatles
Premiered May 13, 1970
Winner of 1971 Academy Award for Best Music, Original Song Score; and 1971 Grammy Award for Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or a Television Special
Wiki said:
Let It Be is a 1970 British documentary film starring the Beatles and directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg. The film documents the group rehearsing and recording songs for their twelfth and final studio album Let It Be, in January 1969. The film includes an unannounced rooftop concert by the group, their last public performance. Released just after the album in May 1970, Let It Be is the final original Beatles release.
The film was originally planned as a television documentary which would accompany a concert broadcast. When plans for a broadcast were dropped, the project became a feature film. Although the film does not dwell on the dissension within the group at the time, it provides some glimpses into the dynamics that would lead to their break-up.
I always found this film difficult to get through. This would owe in part to the low audiovisual quality of the copy in my possession and the vintage home video editing. The film was originally shot in a television aspect ratio, so the theatrical version cropped the top and bottom of the footage. Rather than restore it for home video back in the day, they did the usual pan and scan thing, so that what you're getting in this release is cropped on all sides and blown up to fill the screen.
The first segment of the film, during which the others besides Paul were infamously miserable, has the Beatles attempting to rehearse material at Twickenham Film Studios, completely out of their element in this strange environment and working normal filming hours rather than from evening to the wee hours of the morning, as had become their recording studio routine.
Songs include "Get Back" B-side "Don't Let Me Down," during which Yoko's presence is established;
Abbey Road track "Maxwell's Silver Hammer," reminding me of how Paul reportedly drove the other's crazy with endless takes of it--longtime Beatles assistant Mal Evans is shown banging the titular instrument; "Two of Us," a song that's supposed to be about Paul and Linda, but always had a John and Paul vibe to me, accentuated here by the sight of the two of them sharing a mic--the song is heard here in a more electric version than the one used on the album; "I've Got a Feeling," a personal favorite from the LIB album that sounds close to final, and during which John seems to be enjoying himself. John's line "Queen says no to pot-smoking FBI members," heard before "For You Blue" on the album, falls here in the film. Then we hear a bit of another
Abbey Road track, "Oh! Darling," before a segment of Paul talking about his early days writing songs with John, which serves as a prelude to "One After 909," one of those earlier compositions, which the Beatles had attempted to record in the studio back in '63,
as heard on Anthology 1.
Paul and Ringo improv a piece playing on the same piano, which is followed by another take of "Two of Us". Then occurs the infamous bit during which Paul and George get into a bit of a spat on camera.
Wiki said:
At one point, McCartney seems to criticize a guitar part played by Harrison on "I've Got a Feeling". During a mildly tense conversation, Harrison responds: "I'll play whatever you want me to play, or I won't play at all if you don't want me to play. Whatever it is that will please you, I'll do it."
The infamous exchange between McCartney and Harrison occurred on Monday, 6 January. Around lunchtime on Friday, 10 January, tensions came to a head and Harrison told the others that he was leaving the band. This entire episode is omitted from the film....Rehearsals and filming continued for a few more sessions; the finished film only used a small amount of footage from this period, namely a boogie-woogie piano duet by McCartney and Starr, although it was included in a way such that Harrison's absence was not apparent.
At a meeting on 15 January, Harrison agreed to return with the conditions that elaborate concert plans be dropped and that work would resume at Apple's new recording studio. At this point, with the concert broadcast idea abandoned, it was decided that the footage being shot would be used to make a feature film.
For the film's purposes, we get a bit more footage at Twickenham, including "Across the Universe"; "Dig a Pony"; an apparently improvised rockabilly/electric blues number called "Suzy Parker," credited to all four Beatles; and George's "I Me Mine," which will be the song recorded during the Beatles' last studio session in January 1970, specifically because it would be featured here in the film. John and Yoko are shown waltzing during the song.
Wiki said:
Filming resumed on 21 January at the basement studio inside Apple headquarters on Savile Row in London. Harrison invited keyboardist Billy Preston to the studio to play electric piano and organ. Harrison recalled that when Preston joined them, "straight away there was 100% improvement in the vibe in the room. Having this fifth person was just enough to cut the ice that we'd created among ourselves." Filming continued each day for the rest of January.
As I recall reading, the Beatles had been promised a state-of-the-art studio at Apple by resident con-man and John hanger-on Magic Alex, and were horrified to find a room with a bunch of tiny speakers on the wall. They ended up renting portable equipment from EMI.
The proper recording sessions, as shown in the film, begin with George's "For You Blue". Following this is John's "I dig a pygmy" announcement, which opens the album preceding "Two of Us". Then there's a segment in which Paul talks about home movie footage he's been watching of the Beatles in India, from which he seems to have derived some insight into what was happening at the time.
Next we see the boys enjoying an old favorite, "Bésame Mucho," which they recorded as part of their rejected Decca audition
and as part of their first session at Abbey Road. Then Ringo and George work on
Abbey Road track "Octopus's Garden," with George Martin present.
At about this point Paul brings in his six-year-old soon-to-be stepdaughter Heather, who shares a cute moment with Ringo. The Beatles revisit another old favorite, "You've Really Got a Hold on Me". This is where I first noticed Billy Preston in the film, though with the extreme picture cropping, who knows?
A new song to eventually appear on the album then gets some attention, future #1 "The Long and Winding Road," before we see the band jamming to a medley consisting of a couple more old favorites, "Rip It Up" and "Shake Rattle and Roll"; followed by another medley consisting of "Kansas City," "Miss Ann," and "Lawdy Miss Clawdy".
Next up we see more of "Dig It" than the brief excerpt that will be featured on the album...both being part of a larger 15-minute improvised jam. This is followed by another somewhat infamous bit that has Paul babbling about making films and the band getting over their nervousness to play a live show, while the camera focuses past the back of his head on John, who looks bored to tears.
The following clips of "I've Got a Feeling" and "Get Back," not shown in the film, use video from these sessions:
This segment of the film climaxes with three full performances that were actually shot the day after the film's conclusion...
Wiki said:
On the 31st, the last day of filming and recording, the Beatles reconvened in the Apple building's basement studio. They played complete performances of "Two of Us," "The Long and Winding Road," and "Let It Be," which were included in the film as the end of the Apple studio segment, before the closing rooftop segment.
The film shows us the final studio take of "Two of Us"...
Wiki said:
The clip was also broadcast on The Ed Sullivan Show on 1 March 1970 as the final appearance by the Beatles on the program.
...an alternate take of "Let It Be," recorded the same day as the one that was used for the single and album, and an alternate studio take of "The Long and Winding Road".
Both of the videos below use footage from the sessions, but neither of them matches the film edit.
A hard transition takes us into the film's final segment, the iconic rooftop performance.
Wiki said:
Trying to come up with a conclusion for the film, it was suggested that the band play an unannounced lunchtime concert on the roof of the Apple building. On 30 January, the Beatles and Preston played on the rooftop in the cold wind for 42 minutes, about half of which ended up in the film. The Beatles started with a rehearsal of "Get Back," then played the five songs which are shown in the film. After repeating "I've Got a Feeling" and "Don't Let Me Down," takes which were left out of the film, the Beatles are shown in the film closing with another pass at "Get Back" as the police arrive to shut down the show.
The footage of the "Get Back" rehearsal shows onlookers beginning to gather on adjacent rooftops and crowd gathering on the street below. The version of "Don't Let Me Down" shown in the film is different from the one used in the below video, and includes lots of cutting to the street below and John briefly slipping into nonsense lyrics.
During "I've Got a Feeling," an older fellow on the street seems to be complimenting the band, though I can't understand what he's saying; while another respectable citizen complains of the performance being an imposition. The version of "One After 909" shown in the film seems to be the same one that was used on the album, complete with the bit of "Danny Boy" at the end. During this number, the police start to gather and try to get into building. During "Dig a Pony," which also appears to be the version used on the album, the bobbies find their way into Apple and Mal shows them up to the roof.
The film concludes with the second performance of "Get Back". The police are on the roof at this point, but Mal seems to be stalling them so the band can finish the song. I recall some amusing bits in the
Anthology film with Paul and Ringo each expressing their disappointment that they weren't actually arrested, which would have been a great way to end the film.
The film actually ends with John's famous "I hope we passed the audition" line, following which a bit of "Get Back" plays over the frozen "The End" frame.
Wiki said:
Let It Be has not been officially available on home video since the 1980s, although original and bootleg copies of the film still circulate, while early attempts to release the film on DVD and Blu-ray did not come to fruition.
In lieu of a restoration of the original film or a 50th anniversary edition of the album, the Beatles are planning to release a completely new version of the film later this year, drawing from the same source footage and directed by Peter Jackson.
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Probably not a great idea, since Gilligan's island seems to be the only one in the area not inhabited by headhunters.
That'll teach him not to help the castaways!
Fun fact about the singer: He was in Hair on Broadway.
Ah, that ups his cred a bit. Still couldn't find it.
I considered going off-list to get the
Hair original cast recording last year, but never got around to it as I have so much other album business going on. Maybe I still should.
No, I watched it first run. It was a Friday-night staple, along with Room 222, and other stuff I can't think of right now.
Wiki said:
For the 1971 and 1972 seasons, it was a part of an ABC Friday prime-time lineup that also included The Brady Bunch, The Partridge Family, Room 222 and The Odd Couple.
RJDiogenes said:
I never watched a single episode when it was on the air (well, maybe the pilot), so I don't remember what it was like, but it sounds gloriously bad.
More cheesy than bad...and it fairly reeks of Shat dealing with midlife crisis, playing action hero and surrounding himself with scantily clad young blondes. I think I watched its original run for about 5 minutes before entering a period when I generally stopped actively following primetime TV.
I neglected to mention in this thread that there was an episode with Nimoy as the guest. And that James Darren became a regular cast member as an officer named Jim Corrigan...that name mean anything to you?
What the hell good does he think he's gonna do on the hood of that car...maybe obscure their vision a little? Does he think he's Superman or something?
But yeah, the 3+ minute spoken intro is a bit...indulgent. When they get to the song, it's a cover of one originally recorded by the Chantels (charted Jan. 20, 1958; #15 US; #2 R&B; #195 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time):