Let It Be

As a life-long Beatles fan don't expect objectivity here - I first saw this in the early 70's and found it riveting … and got the same feeling tonight. This was an early ordinary rockumentary about 4 ordinary yet very talented blokes in their late 20's at the peak of their creative powers, in the process of readjustment to being mere hairy bickering mortals again after experiencing a few years of quasi-godhood. "Mr. Epstein" was long dead although Paul was trying to fill his shoes, and their Apple Empire was shrinking. The Beatles almost on their own created intelligent pop/rock music, which imho has not moved on since 1969 where they left it. There have been many excellent innovative and intelligent rock bands that have come and gone since, many borrowing and adapting from the Beatles back catalogue – however I don't count the many cash-in rip-off bands such as Oasis. Has anyone since not ripped them off at some point? I've lost count of the number of times over the decades I've heard a "new" piece of music and said to myself "I've heard that before somewhere – ah yes, such and such by the Beatles". Apart from the quantum leaps in sound technology since then nothing of any lasting musical value has been added – there has been no progression. Led Zeppelin filled stadia – but did they fill billions of hearts? Queen was popular – but did they rule the world? Pop and rock music may have always been ephemeral, but along with Louis Armstrong, Bix Beiderbecke, Lata Mangeshkar, Frank Sinatra and Jimi Hendrix the Beatles weren't. Never mind about their timeless music, they even managed to look timeless while everyone else around them in here looked dated by the early '70's. God works in mysterious ways. John, Paul, George and Ringo got together first in Twickenham Studios then in the Apple basement in January 1969 to rehearse some new songs with the assistance of almost-5th Beatle Billy Preston (and occasionally actual-5th Beatle George Martin) and with the hope of playing live again sometime soon. Yoko (definitely not 5th Beatle) would have probably been on stage with them. As it turned out on they only made it to the Apple roof on 30th January, disturbing the peace of the police on the streets of London below. The Rolling Stone review of the film from 9th July 1970 that I remember so well was typically over-reverential but had some telling points – the first being how deliberately grainy the photography was which still can take some getting used to and that there was over 800 hours of footage from 4 cameras to edit down to the brief 80 minutes we got. How on Earth can it ever be properly remastered and will more ever be officially available in our lifetimes? Maybe we should also bear in mind that the film was to be called Get Back as a return to simplicity for the band, and that McCartney originally penned racist lyrics for this sublime song which thankfully weren't incorporated into any of the final versions. There's a lot of classic pop music in here – from their own then new stuff to rock'n'roll standards from the '50's, which the Beatles were in an ideal and unchallengeable position to translate for listeners both of the Old World of pop and the New World of rock that they left behind them. Highlights: A splendid cod version of Bessame Mucho from McCartney; a loving version of You Really Got A Hold On Me from Lennon; the videos for Two Of Us, Let It Be, Long And Winding Road; and Get Back, Don't Let Me Down up on the freezing roof; so many others. Overall: to a fan, a beautiful and sad account of a unique group of individuals struggling and failing against disintegration; this should also be essential viewing to fans of intelligent pop/rock music who might have sometimes wondered where U2, Bon Jovi, Kings Of Leon et al came from – so far though, this was the artistic pinnacle.

As everyone knows, "Let It Be" shows The Beatles making that album and we all get to observe the group falling apart before our eyes. That of course, is very sad. But really....not to go on a subject spoken about a billion times, but really, one has to wonder why all those guys allowed Yoko Ono anywhere near the recording studio. I say "all those guys" because John, while turning into a major wuss with Yoko, isn't all to blame. Paul, George, and Ringo should have demanded Yoko leave the work area immediately the first time John brought her around....maybe they did and they all had numerous huge fights? As a musician myself, this may sound "sexist" but I don't care because it isn't, when your band is recording music, you don't let your girlfriend or your wife hang around in the middle of everything, all the time. A visit here and there, fine...but really, it's sickening seeing photos and footage of the utterly talentless Yoko Ono with The Beatles as they record, produce at the board, etc. I read in Linda McCartney's photo book, that when she called The Beatles over to photograph them for the single sleeve, she was shocked that Yoko also joined in on the picture. She was so shocked, she didn't say anything. But the question is, why didn't The BEATLES do anything about all this? John obviously had no idea how whipped he had become and how foolish he was looking. Every so often when Yoko wasn't around, John from the late 60's onward would sometimes slip back from "serious and deep" John to the lovable, playful John of earlier times in various photos from the era for instance. But when Yoko's influence was around, John suffocated. The sad thing is, he probably really believed she was good for him. When the other Beatles weren't having classic fights with John about Yoko (fights no one really knows details about but them, but you know they happened) they were probably laughing at him behind his back, at what a wuss he had become. John was much better at being a human clown genius then a deep serious one - with his overrated "Imagine" song being the possible low point of John's deepness. How can he sing "Imagine no possessions, I wonder if you can," when he wrote the song on a huge $50,000 grand piano, in his mansion, on countless acres of beautiful land? I wonder if JOHN can ever "imagine" no possessions? Probably not. After all, he did answer "count the money" when asked what he'd do after The Beatles ended. Did he change? He maybe wanted everyone to think he did...but the glimpses of old, happy-go-lucky John are the best. Best musical sequence (before the rooftop concert) is "Two of Us," a great song and a good showing of how easily The Beatles just do their thing and play. As a film, "Let It Be" is nothing special at all, but anyone into or interested in The Beatles will love it, because those people (as I am) would love anything The Beatles are on, just for the sake of seeing them. And the famous George and Paul scene...just because George didn't tell Paul where to go, don't think he *never" told him....

I think that the title implies that people are just going to have to accept that the Beatles will not be together much longer. You can certainly see it in this documentary about the making of the album. John and Paul are really getting on each other's nerves, while George and Ringo look as though they are nearly burnt out. We might interpret the documentary's final scene on the roof as the Beatles' last attempt to recoup their unity that had once existed. "Let It Be" is a good look at the end of the '60s. With the Beatles breaking up, things will be changing soon. But among other things, I don't blame Yoko for breaking up the band.

The Beatles were not only a group that challenged the recording industry, and of course, the world of entertainment. They acted also as avant-gardè multi-media artists. Not only they helped improving the pop music marketing with their innovative LP packages and stuff but also created new kind of media that would become a mania in the XXI century: the reality show. Yes, almost 100% of the scenes shown on Let It Be are cine realitè - the bare truth captured by the lens of cameras directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg. In fact, although the band was working on the edge of their break-up, almost 90% of the scenes are cheerful and enjoyable. The main bulk of the footage shows Paul McCartney trying to find ways of enhance the Beatles performing and figuring out what to do in the future. Although John Lennon seems to be distracted by his future wife presence, Yoko Ono, he also looks to be happy playing and having fun - even dancing around to the sound of I Me Mine, sung by George. By the way, George Harrison the most "unhappy" character also appears on the film having a ball singing rock and roll tunes. The lowest point (or highest, depending on the way you look at it) seems to be a row he had with Paul, but it only consumes about 5 minutes of the whole picture. At last but not the least, Ringo Starr is shown for the first time ever playing a song - Octopus's Garden - that would later take part of Abbey Road - the LP that marked the end of the Fab Four as a group, but the begining of the Beatles as an universal legend.

Yes the film is poorly edited--the sound sometimes doesn't exactly sync...but hey its the Beatles. Finally playing themselves in a film designed to show off their musical roots and working toward an album stripped of the "hee, hee, hee" and "blowing bubbles through straws". I saw the film when it was released 37 years ago. I have a VHS copy. I watch it at least two times a year. I still to this day do not see a film about a group breaking up. Albeit--there were some tense moments...but what "family" doesn't have tense moments. I remember the scene between Harrison and McCartney over George's guitar playing for "I've Got A Feeling"/I remember the scene between Lennon and McCartney discussing George's reluctance to "going out on the road". Tense/Uptight--sure--but what shines the most is the music. The rooftop concert shows just how hot a band the Beatles actually were. I actually find the album to be a joy...they actually get a chance to rock out just like they did in the early days. And with a nod to Lennon, they actually had a bite to these new songs. To dismiss this film is a big mistake. If anything--it should be looked upon as a historical document. I am all in favor of the film coming out on DVD. It would be a blast to see the unused footage and more.

OK, so let me get this straight: Magical Mystery Tour, which I've yet to see but have heard is quite bad and pretentious and dated, is allowed to be on DVD, but *this* is banned by the 1/2 Beatles? Why? Because at one point Paul and George have a little argument over a song? As the British would say, bullocks! What they show in the film of arguments and sulking is what happens in ANY band, and in fact is usually much worse - I was almost surprised there wasn't more of the taped back-and-forth exchanged in the film, given what's been said how bad it got amongst the fab four during their final year in recording, particularly on Let it Be aka Get Back (the most chilling thing overall is the presence Yoko, who keeps popping up looking like she could duke it out with Bergman's Seventh Seal Death dude and probably win). While I watched it on a reasonable if as a given muddy and slightly scratchy transfer online on bootleg, it was pretty much the film intact as it played almost 40 years ago. What makes it a must-see is not the direction, which is at best competent and at worst the weakest thing going for it - sadly, Al Maysles was already taken by the Stones, as his eye would have been perfect - but the Beatles and the music. I'd argue after watching this and listening to Let it Be... Naked that the majority of the songs are as great as the main tracks on Abbey Road. Indeed a few of the songs in the movie here, Maxwell Silver Hammer, Octopus Garden, wound up on that album, and are practically interchangeable from the rest of the output. We see the Beatles do what they do best, be Beatles, play and work out the kinks in classic songs, and also the camaraderie that shows what underneath the image given by the other goofier movies that they were simply incredibly talented musicians. This is evidenced by the scenes where they don't actually play or rehearse their own songs but goof around, play rhythm and blues tunes and even at one point a mariachi number sung by Paul! There's not a lot of time spent with them just talking or shooting the s**t - at most we get some reminiscing between Paul and John about the Maharishi or some noodling around here and there between takes. It's not even entirely accurate to say it's documentary, as it's more like an all encompassing, authentic home movie with some extra cash to spare on cameras and editing. It all leads up to that rooftop concert that is still one of those big bad-ass moments in rock and roll history (if, again, not filmed with the best lenses or cameramen, it was perhaps a given that they had to shoot it on the fly). The energy and fun comes through all the way, and contrary to the film's reputation Let it Be shows the Beatles as having fun and doing what they do best even in what was their darkest, near-end period. Maybe there's a longer cut out there that shows more of the arguments, more bickering back and forth and maybe some of Yoko leering on like a supernatural delusion. For me, at least, I'd rather not see it: what remains, and what should for God sakes be shown to a wider and more receptive Beatles audience, is very good stuff. 8.5/10

Paul on the piano knocking out a classical piece; George helping Ringo compose Octopus's Garden on the piano; John and Yoko dancing to George's I, Me, Mine; John doing the slide guitar on his lap for George's For You Blue; Paul and Ringo pounding out some blues on the piano; Paul doing the beautiful un-Phil Spectorized version of The Long and Winding Road with a strong assist from the group and Billy Preston which was preceded by a gorgeous version of Let It Be; And it all culminates with the concert on the roof that frankly defies description. For all the things that I've read about the difficulty of these sessions, and some of that comes through in the movie, once they got going they sure all seemed to be enjoying themselves. If you're a fan this is a must. Even if you're not, it's great to revisit the late 60's Beatles. I'd have given it a 20 if I could!

We endured all six hours of this documentary, and if we didn't know that the Beatles were and still are for us the most important musical artists of rock and roll, we would have quit after the first hour. The editing was horrendous! So much footage of them interrupting one another, messy camera work, repeated playing of the songs, and way too much Yoko Ono! What was the matter with that sycophant? Why couldn't they insist that she leave them to create the way they were meant to? And then suddenly the rooftop concert abruptly appeared in the last part but didn't show the gradual appearance of curious people wondering where the music was coming from. I've seen another version where just two young women walked outside, then a trickle of others slowly building up. Why did it show repeated playing of their songs on the rooftop? It was a rehearsal, but the filmmaker didn't have to make it tedious for the viewers by hearing "Get Back" over and over. Our advice: erase this awful film from your memory and continue loving what the Beatles accomplished and how they enriched your lives.

There are many opinions on the movie itself and how it comes across. Personally, I think it's great because you get a look into the Beatles creative process. There isn't any other album they recorded where we get film footage of them creating their music. It wasn't a good time for the group. They already had a lot of friction during the making of The White Album. Paul gets a lot of flack for coming across as being bossy, but think about it, if Paul wasn't the driving force behind keeping the group going, they would have split up during the making of the White Album. We wouldn't have had any of the music that came after, and there would definitely be no Abbey Road, their masterpiece. If there is any concerns about how negative this film makes the group look, they could always alter it slightly, by putting an epilogue indicating that the group decided they would set their differences aside to record one final album with all of them fully participating, and that album would be Abbey Road. Now if the legal issues that keep holding this film up could be put aside and a blu ray with extra footage be released! Anything the Beatles release sells well, they know that, and this movie will not be any exception. They could also increase revenue with a limited theatrical release just prior to the blu ray's release. So many possibilities with this movie. Stop arguing over how to put it out and just Let It Be!

Having never seen any VHS copies of this last Beatles movie and since it will probably be a very long time before it gets on DVD, I was stoked when I found out YouTube had this uploaded since the later part of summer 2007 and it was still there. All the things director Michael Lindsay-Hogg filmed were fascinating to me especially when Ringo played some piano with Paul or when John and Yoko danced or when Heather-a young pre-teen who's Paul's future wife Linda's daughter from a previous marriage-hung around the Apple Studios. (Oh, and while I did know of George's argument with Paul over George's guitar playing from an outtake that was used in "The Beatles' Anthology", only Paul's explanation to him about that is in here.) Then there's organ pianist Billy Preston who might have officially become the fifth Beatle had the group not split up some time after this film. The real exciting part was the legendary rooftop concert that caused some traffic and had Paul ad libbing some lines about getting arrested at the end of "Get Back"! What a way to end the film and loved hearing mostly positive comments from the crowd below. So on that note, Let It Be is very essential viewing for all Beatles fans or just any that loves good music performed live on film.