What does it take to be a die hard Beatles fan?
I am the first to admit that I am a Beatles fan. And might even say that I am die hard. A recent film and recent album has me questioning the latter.
Peter Jackson's film "Get Back" and the 2022 "de-mixed" release of "Revolver" were both somewhat over the top for even a long time Beatles fan.
I had difficulty getting through both the film and the album.
Yes, it was pretty cool to get an inside look at the prep for the famous rooftop concert. But it became tedious to listen to all the "bla bla" in the studio and the endless fiddling of non Beatles songs.
Not to mention all that time "practicing" in the studio to come up with 3 or 4 songs.
And it was cool to hear the de-mixed versions of Revolver material, but 63 tracks with much relatively meaningless stuff took me 2 days to get through.
I certainly can appreciate the attraction to the behind the scenes things.
But neither the film or the album gave me much insight into who these guys are were/are.
The film was especially disappointing.
@bdp24 the way you are trashing all 4 of them (but mostly 3) is painful and pathetic. I know we should try to be objective but e.g. Paul never stopping writing and recording music every decade and still going, as good as or way better than his contemporaries. No need to argue with me, I don't play any instruments, and I was never on a first name basis with Eric C. or Tom P. I JUST enjoy their music, written together, apart, rooftop, studio or whatever.... |
@stuartk "his" meditation garden in Encinitas is still a paradise to all who live nearby |
@mikelavigne perfectly said! My all time favorite is Abbey Road and until I learned that Let It Be wasn't their last album I used to be confused. Their evolution heard through their albums is pure magic. |
The most interesting part of the movie to me is hearing George say that the best band he’s ever heard was that of Ray Charles. Levon Helm was of the same opinion. @stuartk’s mention of George’s gardening is apt. George talked about not practicing guitar anymore after a certain point (i.e. when he picked up the sitar, from where came my comment about his interest in and focus on that obnoxious-sounding instrument---imo---ruining his guitar playing), and of not being motivated to keep progressing like his pal Eric was (not everyone agrees with that assessment of Clapton). Harrison’s guitar playing in The Beatles is a model of musical taste, of playing for the song. As I said, his solo in "Nowhere Man" is a very favorite of mine. That style of guitar playing unfortunately became passe in the latter half of the 60’s, ironically because of the rise in Rock music of the style in which Clapton himself played: Blues above all else. But after The Beatles? George was indeed more interesting in gardening than anything else, including music. At least he went out well, The Traveling Wilbury’s being delightful. Actually, in his latter years it was ukulele George was playing, not guitar. Ya know, Lennon was not shy of expressing his opinion of Harrison’s singing, which was rather brutal. I’d rather listen to George’s post-Beatles singing than Lennon’s, and yes I realize that is a minority opinion. In his defense, at least George didn’t call his wife "mother". Now THAT is pathetic.
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