I can't find a thread on this, so here goes.... ... I do remember that almost simultaneously with the LIB movie release in LA, across town in West LA was a 'Beatles' film (?) called "Away With Words" which very quickly disappeared. (I saw Let It Be first and missed it). It took years before I finally heard the soundtrack (opens with 50's rock icons, then the bulk is Beatles stock tunes, and finished with a Lennon interview about Woodstook being "a spiritual event" and mentioning David Crosby). It took me several more years to piece together that "Away With Words" had been a Beatles slideshow/multi-media presentation. Anyone remember that???? Can you tell us about it??
Hmm...they spelled "unforgettable" wrong. A search of the internet returned the description "A slide show with Beatles songs and naked women." http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1990934/posts and "Four thousand slides and thousands of feet of historic film were combined for The Beatles...A Way With Words [sic], a three-night show at the Hartford Civic Center." http://www.wdrcobg.com/beatles2.html
I went to see it and it made no lasting impression on me whatsoever. As a matter of fact it had completely left my memory until I saw this thread title. I suspect it was just a crass attempt to further exploit the Beatle's catalog.
One would think there might've been some kind of Beatle licensing to nationally tour such a relatively high profile show (Boston Music Hall?), but maybe not. I definitely remember that I had to chose between Away With Words and the recently released Let It Be movie at the time (it was advertised in LA Free Press). The website mentioning the Beatles music with "slides and naked ladies" (certainly worth delving into, IMHO), dates that show at 1975, and the above estimates 79-80. Perhaps it was shut down after the initial tour, and occasionally re-emerged over the years whenever the 'owners' could assemble some movie and slide projectors, a hall and some ticket buyers. Just guessing from the Kennedy and other faces on the ticket stub, it sounds like the 50's to Beatles to spirituality soundtrack might have been complimenting slides of the turbulent '60's? Anyone else?
It's nothing to get very excited about. Maybe then, but not now. It was a hodge-podge visual collage of 60's images, with Shea Stadium footage and Magical Mystery Tour performances. I think they also threw in some of the Washington Colleseum performances also. Low-fi audio loudly pumped thru theatre speakers. Certainly not authorized by anybody, and certainly not the Beatles. Just your typical college movie-house/midnight show production. But at the time certainly something to see because you never got to see any Beatles films anywhere.
I saw it at the Masonic Temple in Davenport, Iowa. My main recollection is that the sound was very loud and really, really bad. Some parts sounded muddy and muffled, while other parts, using different source material, were tinny and bright. Almost all of the visuals were very poor quality, too. Blurry, with washed-out colors... And there was no reason for some of the stuff to sound that bad. After all, a lot of it was just newsreel footage somebody synched to officially released records. I was only 11 or 12 years old, but even at that age I knew there was no excuse for some of the material sounding that wretched. The whole thing struck me as really low-tech, even by early-1970s standards, and the projectionists appeared to be a couple of stoned-out hippies. As for the content, the show did feature a lot of great, rare (for the time) performance clips, such as the "Hey Jude" and "Revolution" promos. There also was some footage (I think) from Shea Stadium. For me, though, the highlight was the stuff from "Around The Beatles." The picture and sound quality were passable for that particular segment and I was blown away by the footage of them performing "Shout!" (I was totally unfamiliar with the song at that time.) I clearly remember that during "Can't Buy Me Love" from "Around The Beatles," there was a camera shot showing one of the male dancers on the riser behind the stage, kicking up his legs in a way that made him look like he had kicked the dancer next to him right in the crotch. That got a huge laugh from everybody in the audience... (Watch for it at the 1:36 mark here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMwZsFKIXa8) At the end of the show, I heard several people comment about the really poor audio and video quality. In fact, I saw several people walk out early into the showing, presumably to demand their money back. I think we all expected it to be high-quality stuff simply because there was so much hype about the various projectors and slides that were used... They promoted it as some sort of technological wonder, but it looked and sounded awful. The concept behind the whole thing was solid. The execution, though, was terrible. The thing is, that was my only exposure to some of those peformance clips. I wouldn't see most of that stuff again, in any sort of quality, for at least another 12 years. So, as bad as it was, I would have gladly paid to see it again!
Thanks guys; I think we're getting the picture! The above blogspot gives some numbers to crunch about the numbers of projectors used, etc. It also mentions the notorious 3 lp box unofficial soundtrack lp from the mid-70's. The "sound sensation" refered to on the cover was the opportunity to hear tracks taken from Beatle records, pumped through a PA in a hall, re-recorded by a dodgy hand-held mic in the audience, then put onto hopelessly inferior DISH-shaped lp pressings bearing the moniker "Made in Kingston Jamaica". To make the scam even more intriguing, many titles were mislabelled (like "Scottish Lock"="Norwegian Wood", "Rhymes & Lessons" = "Glass Onion", "Ain't No Cherry" = "Ballad Of John & Yoko", etc).
Funny that this thread should pop up. I was just reading the following this morning- http://www.ctpost.com/entertainment...te-concert-in-New-Haven-New-London-687231.php Theatrical concert celebrates Lennon's music, life Before "Beatlemania" ever came to Broadway, before there were Beatles conventions in Connecticut and before downtown New Haven had its "revitalization," there was a show called "The Beatles: Away With Words." It was a multi-media presentation that was staged at the Shubert Theater. That was the mid-'70s and John Lennon was very much alive. His spirit is still alive. On Oct. 9, Lennon would have turned 70. On this date, a theatrical concert event, "Remember Lennon: Imagine 70," will be at the Shubert Theater in New Haven and the next day in New London. "Remember Lennon" features a Lennon impersonator, a backing band and a multi-media presentation with rare video footage. The Shubert Theater is at 247 College St., New Haven. Saturday, Oct. 9, 7 p.m. 203-562-5666, 888-736-2663, www.Shubert.com. The Garde Arts Center, 325 State St., New London. Sunday, Oct. 10, 3 p.m. 860-444-4410, www.gardearts.org. $12-up, with special optional VIP packages also available. Proceeds benefit Ethnic Heritage Center. www.RememberLennon.com.
I saw this in Chicago way back when - VERY disappointed. I thought it was A way with words, as in they had a great way with words. Instead it was away with words. I felt completely ripped off. Never gave it another thought until I saw this thread.
What year was this? I saw a Beatles multi media slide show in 1977 or 1978 in White Plains NY. It was an interesting experience, and I remember that I was amazed that the word "THINK" appeared on the screen at the exact moment that it was heard in the soundtrack during The Ballad of John and Yoko.
That's the question that intrigues me the most now. Most posts are putting their recollections at '77-'78-ish. I get the impression it ran (and possibly evolved) for years. I contend that at least an early version of it ran in LA opposite the theatrical release of Let It Be. I know it was YEARS before I heard the boot sountrack which was reliably dated as 1975, which is completely consistant with my memories. The soundtrack had Hey Jude and the boot of Teddy Boy and nothing from Let It Be which could also suggest a 1970-ish beginning. However, the boot also featured a single mislabelled track of George's "Give Me Love", so are my memories wrong, or was a track added as the show evolved? I think the latter. I'm still curious about Beatle licencing involved, as this was obviouly something high profile, at least on the US East Coast in the later mid-70's.
I mentioned this in a recent Let It Be thread, but I saw the Away With Words production at a local community college around 1975. I remember the auditorium having a pretty decent PA and the show was the first time I saw many of the film clips and interviews. Now it would probably come across as a mess, but at the time it was revelatory for your average Beatle fan.
I saw this around late '73 or the first half of '74. I'm 99% sure of the time frame as I was working for a radio station that presented it, and my fiance/wife saw it with me. It was shown at a civic center in Wichita, Kansas with a capacity of 3,000-4,000. I don't recall audio or visual quality issues, but that could be because I was just excited to see anything related to The Beatles. In fact, I thought one of the cool things about the sound was during Blackbird the sound of Paul's foot tapping kind of reverberated around the auditorium making it seem almost live. I only remember still photos being shown on the screen, with no film or video footage in the presentation. I saw some Beatles "film festivals" in the 70s with Around the Beatles, the Washington concert, and promo videos for Hey Jude and Revolution being shown, but those weren't packaged as "Away With Words". I agree that there was likely nothing "licensed" about this. I just think it was easier to get away with stuff back then. Additionally, I ended up with a couple of dozen cheap unlicensed "Away With Word" t-shirts that all had different low quality designs on them. Those never worn shirts have been saved in a trash bag in my attic for many years.
I was informed by a friend in the late 60's or early 70's about a Beatle movie "Away with words" and later my friend said the Beatles didn't like it so I guess they ceased to promote it though the original intent was that they were tired of words at the time. I always wondered about it and thank you for informing me, it came out I think just after the art movie of John Lennon sitting for a short time about a minute and the time frame lengthened to an hour. Its purpose was a slow moving painting to show on the wall for friends or a loved one. It premired in Chicago but we got a second screening at the Edison Exposure. Thank You.
Nowadays, Apple would kill them on the publishing, and it couldn't be shown. The slides may or may not be public domain, but I bet the original photographers would claim some rights.
I saw it in 1978/1979. Like others had said, there was no other way to see anything Beatles back then. I had never seen most of the performances including Sullivan or Shea or anything related to Let It Be. So it really was a thrill for me. But what I saw was definitely a hodge-podge mess with little to no editing done. A friend that was with me was ready to leave when they started singing Twist and Shout for probably the 8th time. I remember it being really long too - maybe 2-1/2 to 3 hours (?). I did manage to get one of the posters shown in the first post and I still have it.
I was a student at Kansas State University in 1974 when an almost cartoon-like Texan in a big white Caddie drove into town and sought out the Student Union Program Council (where I was a volunteer member). The guy was promoting The Beatles Away With Words and he talked the Union Program Concerts Committee into presenting the event at the new Campus performing arts theater. I wish I had a recording of the guy, because he was one of those true bigger-than-life salesmen and he dressed flamboyantly. He convinced everyone this was THE state of the art Beatles multimedia show and the council promoted it heavily. The guy took me aside and gave me a hundred bucks (big time money back then) and a poster I was to get printed and plastered all over campus. I got 1000 printed and gave a couple buddies $10 to help me paper the town. The promoter told me he'd pay me more depending on how many posters he saw the day of the performance. Naturally, I didn't get any more money and the show was less than awe inspiring (although, in fairness, it had enough novelty so that it wasn't a total disappointment.) The guy made a bundle and the Concerts Committee made out pretty well too.
I saw this in 72 or 73 t the Carnegie Music Hall in Pittsburgh. One thing that stands out most was slide show for 'Happiness Is A Warm Gun'. Just viewed that song on You Tube, so many people saying the song has nothing to do with heroin, but that is what I most remember of that tune in the presentation.
