Let It Be (film)
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| Let It Be | |
|---|---|
| Image:Film4.jpg | |
| Directed by | Michael Lindsay-Hogg |
| Produced by | Neil Aspinall Mal Evans |
| Starring | The Beatles Billy Preston |
| Music by | The Beatles |
| Cinematography | Anthony B. Richmond |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
| Release date(s) | May 20 1970 (UK release) |
| Running time | 1:21 |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Let It Be is a 1970 film about The Beatles rehearsing and recording songs for the album Let It Be in January 1969.
The original premise of the film was to show The Beatles 'live' in the studio, creating their next album (which would be a live album), followed by a concert. However, the band members had begun to drift apart, and the project documents some of the aspects leading to the band's eventual break-up.
Contents |
[edit] History
The Beatles assembled at Twickenham Film Studios on January 2 1969, accompanied by the film crew, and began recording. There were tensions and disagreements among The Beatles, and they disliked the conditions at the Twickenham studios and the working schedule. They started work in the morning rather than working late into the night as they had been accustomed to doing at Abbey Road Studios, where they usually recorded their songs.
George Harrison quit the sessions for a few days, although this is not documented in the film.<ref name="Twickenham">The Twickenham Sessions. The Get Back Rehearsals. Retrieved on October 29, 2006.</ref> Eventually the band left Twickenham and went to their own new basement recording studio at Apple's headquarters in Savile Row, London; and Harrison brought in keyboardist Billy Preston to play electric piano/organ.<ref name="Apple Sessions">The Apple Sessions. The Get Back Rehearsals. Retrieved on October 29, 2006.</ref>
The Let It Be film includes The Beatles performing finished versions of "Two of Us", "The Long and Winding Road", "Let It Be", "Get Back", "Don't Let Me Down", "I've Got a Feeling", "One After 909", and "Dig a Pony".<ref name="Rooftop">The Rooftop Concert. The Get Back Rehearsals. Retrieved on October 29, 2006.</ref><ref name="Apple Performance">The Apple Studio Performance. The Get Back Rehearsals. Retrieved on October 29, 2006.</ref>
[edit] The rooftop performance
The original concept for the film project called for the documentary to end with a live show, the first live public performance by the band since the end of their last tour, on August 29 1966, at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. However, agreeing on a format for the live show proved problematical. Paul McCartney suggested playing a small club, like the Beatles had in the early days. John Lennon suggested an overseas location such as Africa. Ringo Starr held out for staying home in England. George Harrison showed little enthusiasm for any live performance at all.
After failing to agree on any other venue, the band settled for an unannounced concert atop their own building, Apple's headquarters. The Beatles, accompanied by Preston, performed on January 30 1969 - intercut in the film with interviews of some rather surprised Londoners near the Apple headquarters as the music blasts out from the roof. The performance and the film close with the police arriving and shutting the concert down. The rooftop concert has been a popular bootleg ever since.
Five Beatles' songs were played during the rooftop performance: "Get Back" (three times), "Don't Let Me Down" (twice), "I've Got a Feeling" (twice), "One After 909", and "Dig a Pony". (The Beatles also played a brief version of the British national anthem, "God Save the Queen", while second engineer Alan Parsons was changing tapes.)<ref name="Rooftop"/>
After the final song, McCartney is heard to say, "Thanks, Mo!" acknowledging the enthusiastic applause and cheering from Maureen Starkey. Then Lennon closes with the well-known remark, "I'd like to say 'thank you' on behalf of the group and ourselves, and I hope we passed the audition!"<ref name="Rooftop"/>
TV's The Simpsons parodied the concert (as well as the Beatles' career) in the episode "Homer's Barbershop Quartet". As a character in the show, George Harrison observes the concert briefly from his limousine and remarked, "It's been done." Homer's last line in the show is, "I'd like to thank you on behalf of the group and I hope we passed the audition," in reference to John's closing line at the completion of the concert.
[edit] Songs in the Let It Be film
All songs credited as Lennon/McCartney, except where noted.
- "Paul Piano Intro"
- "Don't Let Me Down"
- "Maxwell's Silver Hammer"
- "Two of Us"
- "I've Got a Feeling"
- "Oh! Darling"
- "One After 909"
- "Jazz Piano Song" (McCartney/Starkey)
- "Across the Universe"
- "Dig a Pony"
- "Suzy Parker" (Lennon/McCartney/Harrison/Starkey)
- "I Me Mine" (Harrison)
- "For You Blue" (Harrison)
- "Bésame Mucho" (Consuelo Velázquez/Sunny Skylar)
- "Octopus's Garden" (Starkey)
- "You've Really Got a Hold on Me" (Smokey Robinson)
- "The Long and Winding Road"
- "Shake Rattle and Roll" (Jesse Stone (under his working name Charles E. Calhoun))
- "Kansas City" (Jerry Leiber/Mike Stoller)
- "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" (Lloyd Price)
- "Dig It"
- "Let It Be"
- "Get Back"
Other songs played during the Get Back sessions (but not featured in the Let It Be film) include: "Ain't She Sweet" (Milton Ager/Jack Yellen); "Love Me Do"; "I Want You (She's So Heavy)"; "All Things Must Pass" (Harrison); "Back Seat of My Car" (McCartney); "Child of Nature" (Lennon), which was later reworked to become "Jealous Guy"; "Every Night" (McCartney); "Gimme Some Truth" (Lennon); "Maybe I'm Amazed" (McCartney); "That Would Be Something" (McCartney); and "I Lost My Little Girl" (McCartney), which was the first song written by McCartney, when he was 14.<ref name="Twickenham"/><ref name="Apple Sessions"/><ref name="Rooftop"/><ref name="Apple Performance"/><ref>Watch the Lost Beatles. NPR's Online Music Show. Retrieved on October 29, 2006.</ref>
[edit] Premiere and awards
The film premiered at the London Palladium on May 20 1970; and The Beatles won an Oscar for Let It Be under the category 'Best Music, Original Song Score' and a 'Best Original Score' Grammy.<ref>Awards for Let It Be. Internet Movie Database. Retrieved on October 29, 2006.</ref>
[edit] Availability of the film
The film is out of circulation after being released on VHS video and RCA SelectaVision videodisc in the early 1980s. These copies were considerably poorer quality than the original theatrical release of the film due to rough conversion from 8-millimetre and 16-millimetre prints.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Let It Be at the Internet Movie Database
[edit] Further reading
- Get Back: The Unauthorized Chronicle of the Beatles "Let it Be" Disaster, by Doug Sulpy and Ray Schweighardt. New York: St. Martin's Griffin, 1999. ISBN 0312199813. An exhaustive analysis of all the surviving session tapes.
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