The Beatles: Get Back

But it’s gonna be such an incredible sort of comical thing, like, in 50 years’ time, you know. “They broke up ’cause Yoko sat on an amp.” –Paul McCartney

Why do you think people give her such a hard time? Because she can’t sing? –Patty (Bess Armstrong), My So-Called Life

I mean they were just babies when the band started, weren’t they? John and Paul were fifteen and George was fourteen when they founded The Quarrymen. “Love Me Do” was released a hair over five years later. They’d been part of one another’s lives for well over a decade at this point. Think about your best friend from when you were fifteen. Think about who you’d become in ten years and who they’d become in ten years. And while I still love most of my best friends from those days—one is, in fact, a godmother to my daughter—it’s still a lot to consider spending those fourteen or so formative years basically unable to step away for five minutes without being hounded by the media.

The year was 1969. They hadn’t performed live in about two years, but when they made a demo for “All You Need Is Love” in a studio full of people, something resonated for them, and they started making noises about doing a live concert. This became recording a live album, which naturally would involve writing a whole new album. And because Ringo was to star in The Magic Christian, which was scheduled to begin filming at the end of January, they had [checks notes] two weeks. This later got extended by a week but still. It was decided that the rehearsals would also be filmed; this was a fashionable thing to do in those days and indeed the biggest musical documentary possibly of all time would be that year’s Woodstock.

And so roughly sixty hours of footage were recorded that ended up documenting the last days of The Beatles. Let It Be was their last studio album; the concert that provides a finale here would be their last public appearance. Peter Jackson was given access to the footage and recordings and even some still images, including those taken by Linda Eastman as she still was, and pieced them into a whopping 468 minutes spread over three episodes. Each episode covers a week in the twenty-two days from the minute they walked into Twickenham Studios to when they finally called the album complete.

Nobody set out to make a documentary about The Month The Beatles Broke Up, though the Let It Be movie would emphasize the acrimony of those weeks to the point that it apparently made them all fairly uncomfortable. Jackson includes some of that, including George’s walking out on the band at the end of the first week, because you can’t tell the story without it. But he also includes happier moments. There is a lot of joking around, and there is a lot of musical respect among them. These are talented young men, and they became friends because they were aware of one another’s talent. When Billy Preston is brought into the group, it’s in part because they need a neutral party and in part because they respect his talent, too.

I mean I won’t say I don’t find Yoko annoying in this. She’s recording something at one point, and Linda’s daughter Heather, who was something like nine at the time, is shown wrinkling her nose. I cannot blame her. There are many examples of her trying to take John’s attention when he’s clearly working. But I also agree that it’s clear the problems are nothing like all her fault. While there is a serious discussion in the stretch when George has left the group about how Yoko was speaking for John at their meeting over the weekend and how Paul would be happier if she weren’t there, it’s also clear that the problems are deeper.

They’re definitely not all on John, either. George was apparently frustrated that Paul was overruling him and ignoring him and several times trying to silence him. It’s clear George wanted something more collaborative. Paul and John talk about it, to a certain extent. George actually discusses making a solo album, not because he isn’t happy as a Beatle but because he’s written a lot of songs he’s proud of. Implied is that everyone thinks of The Beatles as Lennon and McCartney songs, no matter how many George writes.

I’d also say that it seems as though Paul and John are going in different directions personally. John was married first, and if I were Sean, I’d be a bit annoyed at basically never getting mentioned, but he meets Yoko and that’s where his life is now. Meanwhile Paul is seen being a dad to a child who was born before he met her mother. And, okay, maybe the other three are a bit annoyed when their recording session has become a Bring Your Daughter To Work Day. But Paul has become a dad type, and John has become an avant-garde artist type, and they would probably have found it easier to be friends if the spotlight weren’t on them all the time.

One thing I like that Jackson included is discussion of other musicians. Billy Preston, of course; they have great things to say about him. But Fleetwood Mac, too, among others. Sure, a ton of the songs used in the documentary are by one or more of the lads. But there are classics, and Dylan songs, and the theme from The Third Man, and Hank Williams, and Ray Charles, and on and on. These were men steeped in music. Maybe they were also starting to go in different directions musically, and my Gods did John have some rude things to say about Paul’s later music, but they all loved music and musicians.

It’s also worth noting that they have all by this point picked up multiple instruments, and the main reason they invite Billy Preston in is the idea that they’re going to be performing live and will therefore not be able to just add one of them playing keyboards later. They will need someone to be there at the time. There are about eight or ten guitars and a bass or two around the place, and everyone takes a turn on the drums it seems, and there’s both a grand piano and an electric piano. And we see most of them playing pretty much everything but bass, which remains Paul’s department. And they all have songwriting credits on the album, even if not exactly at the same rate.

I think Yoko is one of the reasons. And Paul’s wanting Linda’s father to represent them. And George’s resenting Paul’s occasional bossiness. And all their musical diversity. And the pressure of always being in the public eye. (The scene where Paul provides a dramatic reading of a column detailing a false version of their falling out is a lot.) And simply growing up in a way that was more or less growing apart. And probably a bunch of other reasons that you’d only learn if you talked to Paul or Ringo or Yoko or Ringo’s ex-wife Maureen. Or any of the other people who were around in those days; Heather McCartney might know a few things. It was time. Sometimes, it is.