Ron Howard's Beatles Documentary Feature Film About The Band's Touring Years, "Eight Days a Week"*

It felt like a documentary made many many years after the band's heydays. Sort of a footnote, "Hey, there was this popular music group from a long time ago." It wasn't made for lifelong fans. It wasn't made to illuminate little known facts. It wasn't made to be the final word on the topic. It was made for folks born long after the fact.

It bored me too. But I don't think I'm their market since I am a lifelong fan. I did, however, enjoyed the Shea Stadium concert footage shown in theaters after the movie. I wish that was included on the DVD/blu-ray. I would have bought it then.

 

I got a hell of a migraine during the main film (not the movie's fault, but ok, maybe we could pretend it was...) and I tried my best to sit it out, but it got to be too much for me and I had to leave halfway through the Shea footage. The bits I did see looked absolutely fantastic though, but I wasn't going to pay to watch the main feature again just to see the last part of Shea. Was really bummed when it was announced to not be on the home release...

 

I loved it too.

After the Shea footage, I heard a lady quietly talking.

I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but it became apparent that she was at that concert, and had seen herself in the footage.

She also mentioned that she'd seen Paul walk across the field, and afterwards, noticed an impression in the grass. She grabbed a handful, and said she'd kept it for years.

These are the stories that really bring it home for me. I was born too late - 1965 - so I appreciate them all the more.

Cheers,
Paul

 

I finally watched this last night. My main point of interest was the sound.

Did anyone else notice the stereo remix of "Tomorrow Never Knows"?

Someone on this forum* (sorry forgot who) said they think Giles has everything remixed and ready to go on his hard drive. I think this may be the case!

*Edit: it was coniferouspine, in this very thread, above.

 

You also missed the part that described that the audio engineers in 1965 were not the ones who recorded the 1964 concert. No one told the new guys not to mix in the audience.

Apparently mixing in the sounds of the audience was SOP back then. It worked for Judy Garland etc, but the audience noise at a Beatles concert was way loud!

 

I enjoyed it.

jerol

 

I knew the engineers were different - the names are on the 1977 LP credits - but one would have thought that someone listened to the tapes and wrote a memo. (Which obviously didn't happen.) And there were two shows in 1965; the engineers on the 30th would have remembered the 29th. Baffling.

 

I agree with you here, while there may have been an audience mic, if so it wasn't needed much.
The audience was no doubt picked up by every mic on the stage.

I really like the HB album... Amazing they performed as well as they did under the circumstances.
The on stage versions differ ever so slightly from the studio. For years I preferred the way John sang "A hard day's night" over the studio version. That slightly more behind the beat vocal.

The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl - Wikipedia
Good info, album recorded in 3 track! Obviously more than mic per track..

 

The Capitol engineers didn’t actually engineer the mix. That was done by the Hollywood Bowl staff who were used to polite orchestral performances with audience and venue ambience hard coded into the audio mix. They used the same approach for the Beatles shows. And it’s not true that every mix would have picked up the screaming. The presenter shows photos of the mix set up. Directional mics placed right up against Speaker cabinets. Any audience intrusion would have been minimal. Probably some leakage via the drum mics but again the presenter says that the vocal tracks are clean.

 

Yeah I could see that happening with guys setting up mics with orchestra experience...
That said, normal common sense would dictate not recording the audience on every track..
Still, I think it sounds great for a 3 track recording. I know Martin flew in some stuff to make performances and sound complete, but according to Wiki not a lot. I would be very curious what was on each track as recorded at the venue..

 

That's allowed.

 

For almost every movie I've seen during the past several years, the sound has been intolerably loud.
When I went to the theater to see The Touring Years - a film about rock concerts, the film volume was incredibly low. Yes, you could hear it, but you expect and want a concert film to be loud. The Shea Stadium film was similarly low in volume. Now I'm sure this was just at this theater, by why oh why would they have turned the volume down?

 

Watched this last night. Cant say it was anything real special, but it was well done. For someone who hasnt seen Anthology or the other various Beatle documentaries, it is a good thing. Me? Id rather have have 2 hrs of concert footage on the big scream with scenes of screaming fans in between concerts. There were a few snippets here and there I hadnt seen before. The colorization was pretty atrocious in parts. Not sure what they were thinking in that area.

B- to B for me.

 

I watched it for the first time last night on television. I found it mostly fun but quite unfocused.

 

Maybe you should get your tv checked. HA!

 

I enjoyed it at the theatre when it was released, mainly because they showed the Shea Stadium footage. It's been shown on the local PBS stations several times lately but I have no desire to see it again.

 

That sums it up nicely. It’s allegedly about their live performing but takes all these inexplicable detours to discuss things like the butcher cover (of all things) and their post-tour focus on elaborate studio productions.

 

She just sounds so disingenuous...I don't believe anything she has to say. And then you have somebody like Ronnie Spector, relevant and substantive, relegated to the bonus disc. It makes absolutely no sense.

 

I agree, and after watching Ronnie I was blown away that they left her out. Whoopie was fantasizing...Ronnie was reliving it...

 

UK TV premiere on Channel 4 at 9 pm tomorrow night (Friday 5th).

 

I liked the Whoopie Goldberg part. The Beatles appealed to everyone.

 

it was OK, got a bit repetitive towards the end.

 

I know. Beatles this, Beatles that. Beatles, Beatles, Beatles.

 

Same when I saw it in London.

Volume was far too low. Very odd.

 

sort of, but we get that touring became quite tedious halfway through the movie.