Beatles - Get Back new book

I have the UK version(?) of the book:




I came across it in Blackwell's bookshop in Oxford round about 2000. I had the same reaction to it as when I came across Lewisohn's Recording Sessions book in 1988 - wow, this is for extreme obsessives and certainly not for me! However, I must have been a hardcore obsessive as I very soon returned to the shop and bought it, read through it very quickly and found it pretty mind-blowing.

I started collecting the Day-By-Day series version of the Nagra tapes round about the same time and the book was invaluable in helping me to make sense of what I was hearing. I also liked the cover, as it seemed to perfectly incapsulate the prevailing narrative of the Beatles having a miserable time back in January 1969. Even now, from time to time I pick it up and have another read through parts of it, including last week when I listened to the first couple of Nagra discs for the first time in several years.

I'm very grateful for all the many hours of work Ray S and Doug put into this fascinating book, which for me is definitely one of the handful of key Beatles-related books.

 

That’s the one. The US paperback cover looks like this:



IMHO you have the best version. It’s a revised edition of Drugs, Divorce… incorporating new information and suggestions from readers of the earlier edition. To my mind, it’s the definitive (and most enjoyable) version of any of the editions.

 

I think we will all be going crazy in 4 weeks when the film come out, this is probably just a moment to catch our breath.

I'm as big a Beatles fan as anyone, but I usually need to stop listening to them for months a time every so often.

I know their music so well it can become like "aural wallpaper" to me where I hardly notice it, and like a drug, I need to reset my tolerance.

The Get Back threads have been fascinating to me, because I guess like a lot of people here, it was my least listened to Beatles album.

 

Pretty much the same with me. I have noticed lately, probably since this past Spring, I've been really centering more on the 1968-1969 Beatles period and appreciating it way more than I have before.

And when I got a 3-CD set off Amazon that I thought was another version of Beatles 1964-1966 concerts, it turned out to be Get Back sessions! So that became great listening for me, as I've never really listened to all of the bootlegs before. But that, Anthology 3, ...Naked and their last 3 albums have become part of my regular rotation for listening.

 

I suppose I'm still bright eyed and bushy tailed about them because, not being a long time fan, they're still new and exciting to me. I wonder how long it takes before the novelty wears off? I still don't know their early music thoroughly as I like that period the least. For instance, the other day I had to go and look up I'll Follow the Sun after reading Paul reference it in the book. He was joining the dots and saying there was a story from that to Two Of Us and so on. I'd never heard it. It's a pretty song. I can see the connection.

 

Interesting, as I have gotten older, its their 62-66 time period that interests me the most.

 

Hopefully not for many years yet!

I've been a Beatles obsessive since I was a young kid in the 70s. I still enjoy listening to their albums fairly regularly (most recently Help! and, of course, Let It Be) and still get excited when I listen to the outtakes in these reissues I haven't heard before.

 

This is probably my favorite book in my whole Beatles book collection.

 

I'm still only about half way through the book and I've only listened to one CD from the box set. I want to have time to enjoy them when I'm not tired from work. I'm really looking forward to the upcoming documentary.

 

The book is fascinating ...a more gripping read than I had anticipated. John raving about Allen Klein ...Paul’s skepticism about playing on the roof
Really nice quality book too great photos

 

John encouraging George to do his solo album!

 

I found that whole exchange interesting. Maybe I'm off base, but I thought the subtext was that George was kind of appealing to John and John was completely oblivious. George had been desperately trying to get his songs heard, was being literally ignored by John and Paul, and then the vibe is like...well, you know, I think I'm going to have to do a solo album at this rate because that's the only way I'm going to get my songs out. And you know, there are other people who will have these songs. And rather than say, wow, you've written 14 songs, that's great, let's hear a few, we'd rather have first pick of your songs than other people, John is all, yeah, you should really go do a solo album, that'll give you a creative outlet. lol! I was thinking to myself, I don't think that's what George wanted to hear from John? I could be wrong. What did you make of it?

 

For those interested- I interviewed John Harris who worked on the transcripts for this book for my podcast - John Harris - ‘The Beatles Get Back‘

 

it’s hard to say - George seems unsure about pushing his songs much during the sessions. At one point Paul seems to suggest doing Something as part of their performance and George dismisses it saying it is unfinished. I don’t get the sense in the book that George’s songs get regularly dismissed - more that he lacks confidence to push them forward? It is interesting that he is contemplating a solo album - maybe in recognition that there will never be enough room in the Beatles to satisfy his output.

 

Yeah, he definitely lacked confidence, but John and Paul weren't supporting him either. Like, they'd be sitting around trying to think of songs to make the quota, and George would say, I've got one. Or I've got 14, as he said on one occasion. And his remark went completely unacknowledged. They just kept talking round him. There are a couple of instances where he goes to say something and they just talk right over the top of him. So maybe it was a case of George not being forceful enough, and John and Paul not really paying him attention? That's my thinking on it. I guess a lot of this will be become clearer - hopefully - when we see the docuseries. Maybe they will come across differently.

 

If Martin really got to produce McCartney it would have a vastly different track list and be much better for it

 

There is also a bit on the Winter of our discontent where he implores John to listen to the new Jackie Lomax album he produced, and even implores him to help with a running order, but John kind of ignore him.

They are trying "All Things Must Pass" pretty early in the sessions, and seeming to spend some time on it, so they are not ignoring him completely.

And even though George pretty much ignores any suggestion Paul makes for his playing, he does seem to be giving a lot of attention to any song Paul proffers, like "Maxwell's Silver Hammer"

 

Worked on ATMP on at least 3 different dates with varying arrangements and instrumentation. The reason they didn't get thst one together IMO boiled down to George not having a clear vision he could direct others to follow, so they just try a lot of different things and none of them makes George happy enough to size on an approach and try to refine it.

Really that kind of musical leadership was a skill Paul and George Martin had more than anyone else in the band, and those two often applied it to John's tracks and even to some of George's as well. But in this case there was no George Martin, and Harrison was rebelling against Paul providing direction making Paul very reticent to try to direct arranging one of George's songs. So nothing much got done on this or any of George's other songs. They only successfully pulled of For You Blue, which was a rollicking blues without much of an arrangement.

As much as George resented Martin and McCartney - I'd say their leadership assistance was key to the success of most of his non-Indian Beatles tunes. And when he went solo George immediately hired another strong leader - Phil Spector - to direct his sessions. And unlike POB, which John tightly controlled the vision for, Phil truly provided that leadership in the ATMP sessions.

 

So...are we sort of coming to the conclusion that George was the difficult one? And that maybe John and Paul - ok they didn't ignore him completely - but gave him no more than the required amount of attention because he was making things awkward and difficult in general?

Totally unrelated, but Paul compares the arrangement of I'll Follow the Sun to Two of Us. I don't hear it. Anyone agree with Paul's assessment about that?

Edit: I'm still not entirely convinced by the George dynamic. I still get the feeling he was being sidelined...

 

Excellent points.

You really feel Martin missing here. You often get the feeling that they themselves (especially George & John) don't know if something is working or not. They need someone they trust, outside the four of them, to keep them focused and on track.

 

Yeah wondered that too. I think because they had slowed it down from the Twickenham version, he is trying to give them a musical reference point, without being overbearing, and telling them exactly what to play.

 

BTW, reading the book, I'm just wondering is there anywhere (online) where someone has typed out ALL the comments.

The book is good, but edited, and now I want to go over every line they said on these. Has anyone transcribed all of it?

I am seeing this, but is there any better?

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Not that I've seen. I've done it only for key Lennon/McCartney scenes, including the dialogue on pp.152 and 156 which I think is important in figuring out what was going on with them in terms of misunderstanding one another's intentions/talking past one another.

 

I just found this, the guy does a great job, if you click on any of the links, it takes you to the conversation or song

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