The Artful Dodger Posted December 16, 2021 Posted December 16, 2021 Just finishing this now. Brilliant, maybe a bit long for anyone but Beatles fanatics but enjoyable nonetheless. They never really seem at each other’s throats.
Dr. Gonzo Posted December 16, 2021 Posted December 16, 2021 On 14/12/2021 at 11:37, Mel81x said: So I finally finished it with short spurts of watching and to me its a journey from the "Lifeless TV studio" to "Casual Apple" to the "Lets get it on Roof session" to finally getting it out of their system to finish the LP. I will say that so many things were great in this documentary. I don't know about other people but when they get into their more rock-ish stuff during this particular set of songs I personally prefer Lennon over McCartney any day of the week. When he starts to change keys on "Dig A Pony" I thought to myself, "there's no way Paul does this better". This isn't a slight against Paul's work and vocals on "Get Back" but he just doesn't show that angst that John does on the music. Billy Preston is the model session musician in this entire documentary. Came, sat down, showed them all who's boss on the piano, smoked a shit ton, got to play some killer music and had a fun time through all of it. The best part of it all is that he just "happened" to be around. George leaving mid-take was the best thing that happened to the band. I think they'd have just ploughed through and done something they didn't truly enjoy because I believe Paul would have kept them committed to the cause. Leaving that TV studio did them wonders. On a more personal front, it just highlights how important it is for any musician trying to do any kind of studio work to have a working grasp of most instruments in a band to get the most out of your band members. It may not always be necessary but the fact that they all just literally jumped from their core instruments to others and more importantly supported each other playing other instruments is something I think most good bands do pretty easily. The only other band I have seen do this with easy swaps is Mr. Big but that is a bit skewed considering they were super skilled in the instruments they played. This sums up, so well, so much of what I was thinking when I watched it. I thought it was absolutely mental how the vibes changed once they left that TV studio and went to the real studio. And it made me question why the fuck they ever decided to go to the TV studio in the first place, or why they started without having the right equipment for Glyn Johns (it was also very interesting watching how he spoke to John Lennon regarding the Rolling Stones manager and how he thought he was an absolute prick because of the way he talked to him "because of who he is" - and I thought that was very interesting because Johns is possibly one of the most famous sound engineers of all time) to actually work... I'd actually be quite interested to watch a documentary about the life of Glyn Johns (he's still alive though so he might not like a "story of his life" without it having ended ). He's worked with some of the biggest legends in music and now we've got a certain interesting perspective of probably one of the most famous albums he's worked on because of Get Back.
Subscriber Mel81x+ Posted December 17, 2021 Subscriber Posted December 17, 2021 19 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said: I thought it was absolutely mental how the vibes changed once they left that TV studio and went to the real studio. And it made me question why the fuck they ever decided to go to the TV studio in the first place, or why they started without having the right equipment for Glyn Johns (it was also very interesting watching how he spoke to John Lennon regarding the Rolling Stones manager and how he thought he was an absolute prick because of the way he talked to him "because of who he is" - and I thought that was very interesting because Johns is possibly one of the most famous sound engineers of all time) to actually work... I'd actually be quite interested to watch a documentary about the life of Glyn Johns (he's still alive though so he might not like a "story of his life" without it having ended ). He's worked with some of the biggest legends in music and now we've got a certain interesting perspective of probably one of the most famous albums he's worked on because of Get Back. I'd be very interested to hear the kinds of issues he ran into and what he had to work with because this guy, as you said, has worked with some of the best in the industry. It may not light a fire under people considering sound engineering isn't exactly something that draws the crowds but a 2hr documentary would be something I'd watch. As for why the Beatles ended up in that TV studio? I think they were itching to do something grandiose and a TV show made sense. I think it was Paul who said that George eventually went back on his statement about videos so maybe they thought this was a way to recapture some of that like they did with Hey Jude. Idk if its out there but now I really want to see what Pink Floyd were like when they did Dark Side of the Moon because that's some very high-strung/ego-driven musicians in a space creating something even more wilder than what the Beatles did on this documentary.
Dr. Gonzo Posted December 17, 2021 Posted December 17, 2021 3 minutes ago, Mel81x said: I'd be very interested to hear the kinds of issues he ran into and what he had to work with because this guy, as you said, has worked with some of the best in the industry. It may not light a fire under people considering sound engineering isn't exactly something that draws the crowds but a 2hr documentary would be something I'd watch. As for why the Beatles ended up in that TV studio? I think they were itching to do something grandiose and a TV show made sense. I think it was Paul who said that George eventually went back on his statement about videos so maybe they thought this was a way to recapture some of that like they did with Hey Jude. Idk if its out there but now I really want to see what Pink Floyd were like when they did Dark Side of the Moon because that's some very high-strung/ego-driven musicians in a space creating something even more wilder than what the Beatles did on this documentary. I've learned Johns wrote a book about his life - so I'll have to read that at some point because I bet it's very interesting. I suppose the idea of something grandiose like a TV show makes sense for what The Beatles were probably picturing in their minds. But it also seemed like they absolutely hated being in the TV studio as a place to write/record. But I wonder how much of that was really them starting the work there without being quite ready for it. Whereas in the music studio, while they weren't 100% ready to record everything when they started... they were infinitely better set up. To me the big takeaway there was if you're trying to create something, it's best to be in an environment you feel comfortable in. Because The Beatles were still brilliant in that TV studio (they're The Beatles after all)... but everything really kicked into gear once they were in an environment they visibly were much more at home at. I'd also love to see a Pink Floyd documentary about the making of Dark Side of the Moon (or the Wall, tbh). I dunno if there's anything with the same sort of "fly on the wall" footage for those albums - but I really enjoyed seeing a bit of the creative process for Get Back... I think it'd be incredible to get similar experiences from other great bands.
Subscriber Mel81x+ Posted December 17, 2021 Subscriber Posted December 17, 2021 1 minute ago, Dr. Gonzo said: I'd also love to see a Pink Floyd documentary about the making of Dark Side of the Moon (or the Wall, tbh). I dunno if there's anything with the same sort of "fly on the wall" footage for those albums - but I really enjoyed seeing a bit of the creative process for Get Back... I think it'd be incredible to get similar experiences from other great bands. Watch Coldplay do one now. I was thinking who would want to do something like this and I instantly thought about them. Or better yet .... BTS.
Dr. Gonzo Posted December 17, 2021 Posted December 17, 2021 Just now, Mel81x said: Watch Coldplay do one now. I was thinking who would want to do something like this and I instantly thought about them. Or better yet .... BTS. I'm sure shitloads of bands will be recording fly on the wall footage now in the hopes of making their own "Get Back." Sadly, I think I'm less interested in some of the bigger names of today doing something similar...
Subscriber Mel81x+ Posted December 17, 2021 Subscriber Posted December 17, 2021 6 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said: I'm sure shitloads of bands will be recording fly on the wall footage now in the hopes of making their own "Get Back." Sadly, I think I'm less interested in some of the bigger names of today doing something similar... If Ozzy did one I think it would be a riot. I even bet he would make fun of the beatles and call it Got Back or something similar.
Dr. Gonzo Posted December 17, 2021 Posted December 17, 2021 1 minute ago, Mel81x said: If Ozzy did one I think it would be a riot. I even bet he would make fun of the beatles and call it Got Back or something similar. According to his autobiography, Paul's his hero so I don't know that he'd make fun of the Beatles. But I would absolutely love to see an Ozzy one. I think he's retiring from making music though on account of the parkinsons.
Subscriber Mel81x+ Posted January 3, 2022 Subscriber Posted January 3, 2022 Sometimes you just have to appreciate sound engineering. What they did for its time was superb and I am not talking about The Beatles.
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