James Beaty: OPINION: RAMBLIN' REWIND: The Beatles: New film ready to show them 'Getting Back' (copy)

Jun. 22—EDITOR'S NOTE — Former Managing Editor James Beaty died May 12, 2024. Over the next few months, the McAlester News-Capital is rerunning some of his more memorable Ramblin' Round columns. This first published June 2021.

The Beatles are not going to let it be.

At least Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, the two surviving Beatles are not. Neither are Olivia Harrison and Yoko Ono, the spouses of George Harrison and John Lennon — and that's a good thing for music fans.

They've all on board for the release of a new film "The Beatles: Get Back," directed by Academy Award-winner Peter Jackson, whose previous works include "The Lord of the Rings" Trilogy: and "The Hobbit."

Jackson has been working from 60 hours of footage originally shot by Michael Lindsay-Hogg, from which Lindsay-Hogg put together The Beatles' 1970 documentary film, "Let It Be."

Fans of the group were disappointed last year when the planned theatrical release of the "The Beatles: Get Back" ended up being postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Producers scheduled a new theatrical release date set for Aug. 17, 2021.

Now, that's apparently been put on hold, because Disney+ and Apple Corps, along with WingNut Film Productions, issued a joint statement June 17 saying "The Beatles:Get Back" is now set to air over three days — Nov. 25, 26 and 27 — on Disney+. Yep, that's the Thanksgiving weekend.

While the bad news for Beatles fans is another delay, the good news is there will be a lot more to see. Each of the three airing dates is set to feature separate two-hour long episodes, with end result being a film that's six hours long — obviously much longer than would have been screened in a movie theater in August.

While the 1970 film captured footage of the band playing together and recording in the studio, it also had a lot with doing away with The Beatles' sunny image at the time, showing them sniping and arguing among themselves in the studio.

During the "Let It Be" sessions, things got so intense both Starr and Harrison separately stepped away from the sessions for a time, although they both later returned.

One of the segments I most remember is when McCartney wanted Harrison to play a lead guitar part a certain way, not liking the fills Harrison was adding to the song, now thought to be "Two Of Us" — although from the film it appears it could be "I've Got a Feeling."

Harrison replied sarcastically (or maybe diplomatically) with: "I'll play anything you want me to play, or I won't play at all if you don't want me to. Whatever it is that would please you, I will do it."

Shot inside what like like a darkened studio, the scene kind of set the ambiance of the film. Apparently, The Beatles weren't fans. It was briefly available for home viewing in a few formats before being pulled in the 1980s, and never being re-released. The Beatles have never authorized any more releases of the movie, in any format.

Which is why Beatles fans are so looking forward to the release of "The Beatles: Get Back." Apparently Peter Jackson, in his eagerly-anticipated version, chose much different scenes among the 60 hours of available footage.

Now, what is called a "sneak peak" of "The Beatles: Get Back" shows the lads having a ball in the studio, joking and clowning, not only with each other, but with whoever else happened to be around as well. Check out a preview at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UocEGvQ10OE.

It also shows the band recording songs, with lots of interplay with each other. Due to modern technology, the new film has a much more vibrant look.

The best thing about the original "Let It Be" movie had been The Beatles famed final performance as a band, when they went outside on the roof of a building on London's Saville Row to play their famed rooftop performance, drawing crowds on onlookers — or onlisteners — who heard the band from the streets and sidewalks below.

It lasted until some London bobbies — aka the police — went to the rooftop and pulled the plug. The new movie promises to show the London Rooftop performance in its entirety, including some never-before-seen scenes.

"Let It Be," the 1970 movie had a running time of 80 minutes, while "The Beatles" Get Back" will have a total running time of 360 minutes over the three episodes set for airing.

On a related musical note, ask any rock music fan about The Beatles last album and you might get two different answers — and they could both be right.

That's because "Abbey Road" is the last studio album The Beatles recorded — but "Let It Be" is the last studio album the group released. Among most fans and critics, "Abbey Road" is considered one of the enduring band's masterpieces, a fitting swan song for the group that many still consider the greatest rock band of all time — even though fans of others groups such as the Rolling Stones, the Who, Led Zeppelin or dozens of other groups may differ.

At the time of its original release however, the album "Let It Be" — while containing some great songs, such as "Let It Be," Get Back," "The Long and Winding Road," "Across the Universe and "Two of Us" — was largely seen on the whole as a less-than-fitting end for The Beatles. Instead of a mood-sustaining album, like some of The Beatles' other works — it sounded more like a hodge podge collection of songs. Two of the tracks, "Dig It" and "Maggie Mae," are only 50 and 40 seconds long, respectively.

Much of the blame went to producer Phil Spector — yes, that Phil Spector — who massively overproduced some parts of the album, while underproducing others.

He nearly overwhelmed McCartney's song "The Long and Winding Road" with a heavenly-sounding background choir and slick orchestrations without McCartney's knowledge or permission. He even dropped Lennon's song "Don't Let Me Down" from the album in favor of another track.

McCartney finally won a rerelease of the album in 2003 with all of Spector's overproduction embellishments stripped away, fittingly titled "Let It Be... Naked."

Many listeners believe it helped in setting a clearer record of what The Beatles were doing in the studio than did the original "Let It Be" album.

Here's hoping "The Beatles: Get Back" film will have a similar result when compared with the "Let It Be" movie — and we can watch The Beatles get back to where they once belonged.

Contact James Beaty at jbeaty@mcalesternews.com.