Get Back Oh God. Now we've reached the Get Back/Let It Be sessions, aka the worst month of the Beatles' career. So, the Beatles spent most of summer and fall, 1968, bickering while making the White Album. It's an incredible piece of work (I actually would go so far as to call it my favorite Beatles album, and thus favorite album, period. But then I hem and haw, cause Revolver, Sgt. Pepper, Rubber Soul and Hard Day's Night exist). But after recording nearly 30 songs, they were artistically spent. A long vacation was in order. They didn't get it. Barely two months later, McCartney was raring to go and convinced the boys to record again. His idea: write a new album of back-to-the-roots material, and record it live. They would give a concert of all-new songs no one had ever heard before. This was actually a pretty interesting idea, but one of the last good ones they had in January, 1969. Paul also felt it was smart to film their rehearsals for a possible TV special that would go with a film or TV show of the concert itself. That was the first mistake. They got together on January 3rd at 8 AM at Twickenham film studios, the early time owing to the fact that film crews would not work the late hours when the Beatles usually recorded. But needless to say, the Beatles were not thrilled to shlep themselves to a cold studio at the crack of dawn to create magic. John Lennon was not in a good state. He was secretly experimenting with heroin, which left him at times in a state of semi-bored detachment. He could stare silently even when directly asked a question. He also had next to no new material of any value. George was coming up with lots of stuff, but he was still being ignored or dismissed when he tried to present it. Paul was gung ho as usual, but his (comparative) enthusiasm quickly grated on the others. Then there was Yoko. A constant presence at the sessions, she was (needless to say) not welcomed by anyone other than John. Constantly being filmed made things even worse. The film stage was large and empty and cold in the mid-Winter. The guys had gotten to the point where they could barely communicate. Weeks went by, and nothing much was accomplished. When they got bored, which was all the time, they would jam on oldies and ancient Lennon-McCartney songs, but these were by and large abysmally performed. The newies were all right, but for the most part not up to Beatles standard. You know you're in trouble when you think One After 909 is a viable song for 1969. If they were going to dredge up the distant past, better they re-record a song people knew, but when they tried versions of Love Me Do or Please Please Me, they were so terrible that there was not even a chance they could be used. Get Back the song developed out of one of their many seemingly pointless jams. Paul came back to it later, and slowly formed it into a song about immigration. At this time, there was a lot of controversy in the UK about Indian and Pakistani immigrants coming into the country, provoking several jams/"songs" from the Beatles at these sessions. Get Back's original lyrics included a verse which made fun of the attitudes of some members of the Parliament ('don't dig no Pakistanis taking all the people's jobs'), but one suspects they would have been misconstrued not as satiric but as actually anti-immigrant were they retained. Another verse made up on the spot started to do the same thing for Puerto Ricans, but was quickly dropped. Get Back was one of the few songs that all the band seemed to really dig that month. They came back to it again and again, and eventually found the galloping beat that made it work. There are recordings of both John and George singing the lead vocal (probably just for fun, but it showed they both liked the song). Later in the month, they moved their recording activities to the basement of the Apple HQ, where 'Magic Alex' had been tasked to create a 32-track recording studio. Instead, he had made a horrid mess, so EMI sent some equipment there so the recording could continue. The basement studio was far more conducive to music making, and the band finally got down to business more or less. Another thing that helped was when George brought Billy Preston into the sessions. The boys first met Preston back when he was touring with Little Richard in the early sixties. His good attitude and piano prowess gave the sessions a needed kick in the pants. He was rewarded with his own solo on Get Back, a contract with Apple Records, and a credit on the Beatles single of Get Back, the only time in their history they gave another artist such a credit (Get Back is credited as 'The Beatles with Billy Preston'). So the only problem remaining now was what to do about the concert they had been planning. The band couldn't agree on any of the many ludicrous ideas for the staging of this concert, from playing on a boat, to dragging themselves to the Roman Colosseum, to Yoko's idea of playing in front of an empty theater (Paul rightly pointed out that it would make it look like no one wanted to attend. Yoko's response: have one audience member in the otherwise empty stands (!!)). Finally, they just decided to go up on the roof and play for whomever happened to be walking by. Amazingly, this bizarre idea really worked, and the Beatles final live concert is one of the most memorable moments of their career. As for Get Back itself, it's always been one of my least favorite Beatles' singles. The beat is memorable, and I like the lyrics, but it just seems to go on about a minute and a half too long, and just when you think it's over, it starts up again. Amazingly, it was a huge hit, proving the Beatles were still the band to beat, even when they could barely be bothered to try.
I neglected to "clearly" say that the album version (minus the spoken parts at the beginning and the end) and the 45 were the same track, at least up to that point in the 45 recording. That is what I meant to say. I did not say anything about the "rest" of the 45 track, after the false ending, but that has nothing to do with the LP version.
Well, it's a musical. Musicals are contrived by their nature, and sometimes it's hard to get past that. I think some people are willing to give a pass to obvious musicals like the old MGM ones from the fifties or even the bloated ones from the sixties, because they are so obviously fake. You walk in expecting that. The more recent ones also get a pass because we have gotten so used to CGI that we expect a certain amount of artificiality. But Hair comes from the 70s, when film was at its grittiest/most "realistic". There's something jarring about seeing people burst into song in the middle of a film set in the real world (even something like Cabaret relegated most of its songs to the stage in the cabaret). That's my theory, anyway. Across the Universe. I didn't completely hate it. I guess that's a small victory. Anytime Jim Sturgess opened his mouth, I wanted to scream. But I liked some of the restagings of the older songs. I've Just Seen a Face and the sad, slow version of I Want to Hold Your Hand really worked for me. But the late 60s songs were hopelessly butchered for the most part (Happiness is a Warm Gun was OK, Strawberry Fields was definitely not).
There were a lot of radio stations in the US that refused to play Ballad of John and Yoko specifically because of the Christ line. Hence it's relatively low chart position. I've heard (not sure I believe it) that a few stations even tried reversing the word 'Christ' whenever it happened, which, if they were even able to do that (how?), must have sounded like someone hitting the turntable every 30 seconds or so.
Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In I'm a fan of the Fifth Dimension to be sure, but I've always thought of them as being somewhat bland and a bit too Las Vegas; dare I say, 'white'? I've always thought there was room in the sixties for a funky black take on the Mamas and the Papas, but the 5D seem just a tad too 'prepackaged' for lack of a better term. More Motown than Stax if you get my drift. And though I like songs like Up, Up and Away, was that really the best song of 1967 like the Grammies opined? My take is: no, not even in the top hundred. So their safe-for-the-parents appeal garnered them success that they might not have had so easily. Not that they weren't really talented. Their harmonies were stellar, Billy Davis was a great front man, and Marilyn McCoo could not only sing, she was right up there with Michelle Phillips and Veronica from the Archies as one of the most gorgeous woman pop singers of the decade (I'd include Ann-Margret, too, but she was way more Vegas and less pop singer). Like Michelle, Marilyn is almost too good looking; I find myself watching what she's up to most of the time in their videos, even if it means she is doing one of those semi-dorky dance routines they sometimes did. The 5D also lacked true songwriting (at least as far as I'm aware; I listen mostly to their hits). They didn't have a John Phillips to contribute amazing new songs. But what they were good at was selecting songs to perform (or perhaps their producer was good at it; not sure). They did especially well raiding the Laura Nyro song library. Save the Country is a wonderful and quite moving song, and Stoned Soul Picnic is another fave of mine. And how convenient was it that Nyro wrote a song about marrying a guy named Bill? The 5D not only had a singer with that name, but he would go on to marry Marilyn. Perfect! That song, Wedding Bell Blues, is another nifty number in their canon. I really love Aquarius, too. It starts with a dreamy introduction that sounds a little to me like a slowed down version of the beginning of the Jetson's theme. Marilyn does a fine job of presenting the spacey lyrics, and the harmonies buffer her beautifully. I don't think this bit is too "adult contemporary", personally. I'm not hearing Perry Como here. Just when we are being lulled into a blissful psychedelic nap, BAM! In comes the second part, Let the Sunshine In! I've mentioned I like the movie Hair, but when they play this song near the end, I always wait for Treat Williams or someone to sing 'come on sing along with the Fifth Dimension!', and am always disappointed. Davis really rips it up. I love the looooong fade to Hey Jude and Let the Sunshine In similarly never gets old for me. There's only one problem. I really like 'The Flesh Failures', the whole song, and the 5D only uses the end bit. I think their arrangement works as is and I wouldn't change it, but I would love to hear someone cover the entire song, because it really is quite good in its own right.
I had to post this video of the Fifth Dimension doing Wedding Bell Blues. For a guy about to marry Marilyn fricking McCoo, Billy seems a bit too reluctant! But it's a fun video of a great song:
I've never really cared for Get Back, either. Kind of rubs me the wrong way, like Mrs. Robinson, which I never particularly liked either. The Ballad of John & Yoko, on the other hand, seems like drek. Or at least average. It doesn't sound like a Top 10 hit.
I'm late on responding to this because I was in the UK for 10 days and was not online much, mostly by necessity (no access to it) but also, when I did have access, by choice (too much to do, and I didn't go to the UK to surf on the Internet!). I also like "Dizzy". I also like the B-side "The You I Need".
In an interview with Billy and Marilyn it was revealed that Marilyn was the one reluctant to get married. It seems she came from a family rife with divorce and was leery of messing up their friends/lovers relationship. Billy, who was already a divorced man, had parents who stayed together and so had a more positive view despite his own divorce. I'm sure the fact that Marilyn was drop dead gorgeous also had something to do with it!
Again - I'm a little late here -- but I suspect that after it having been a #2 hit by Knight in 1967, and a #1 hit for Gaye in 1968-1969, that the braintrust behind CCR figured it would be too much to ask the same song to be a hit 3 times in 3 years. It's not like 1970 was the same as the mid '50s, when multiple versions of the same song were on the charts at the same time.
I'm quite shocked by the negative reactions to the single version of "Get Back". I figured it would easily be one of the most favorite Beatles songs to grace the #1 spot. You guys scare me. Except for Paul's vocal delivery and Ringo's signature drums, the song sounds nothing like a typical Beatles record. That's what I like about it. The bass is deep and driving, the guitar has some funk in it, and Billy Preston's organ solo is fantastic.
"Get Back" was still huge on the radio when I was a tyke, and I always loved it. You're right that it sounds little like a typical Beatles record, particularly the stuff they'd been putting out for the past 3 years or so, harking back to their rootsier early incarnation where the R&B (and country) influences were more pronounced. Even still, this is a much more earthy, authentic read on those roots. The whole album is really tinted similar shades, and I think it was hugely influential on the rest of the pop scene. I don't think you'd have seen the massive commercial success of the R&B-inflected singer songwriter movement in the early '70s - and blockbuster releases like Carole King's Tapestry and its stream of hit singles - if Let It Be and hits like "Get Back" hadn't greased the skids first. I think it would have all been about bubblegum and hard rock.
I don't think "Get Back" was as influential as you do. But, I do think The beatles felt freer to embrace the more R&B flavor of the music coming out in 1969. British rock from the likes of Creem, Joe Cocker, and Led Zeppelin was very popular. If you wanted to go pop, well, that was getting a bit too bubblegummy for an aging rock audience, and was left to Tommy Roe and The Archies. I can see that this thread is going to get very interesting, if not downright contentious by 1973 because there are people on this forum who dislike R&B. Brace for it! Pop will take over next year. That's going to be fun.
How can a song that a song that harkens back to a band's older R&B roots be a musical step forward? I don't get that. I like the song, but it can't be called innovative in any way. You're going to have to explain to me how this song relates to the singer/songwriter movement. If you could go into more detail, maybe I could follow your train of thought here, but I just don't hear this at all.
Listen to the production. It's rooted in R&B, but sounds much more authentic than their earlier takes on it (in part due to the incredible keyboard work by Preston, but also that beat, which has a lotta genuine soul). It's a step forward because it synthesizes their sorta Goon Show lyrical sentiment with sold R&B-based hooks - it's not just covers of old R&B classics or mere imitation, but a combination of distinct influences. There's also - in spite of Spector's occasional added bombast - genuine tenderness in the staging of these tracks on Let It Be, a tinge of folk rock but again tempered by soulful and country influences. "Two Of Us" is a great example, not a million miles removed from James Taylor or whoever. Abbey Road also featured more than a smattering of that sound. It had a huge influence on the pop charts - the industry is always chasing yesterday's success. Again, a ton of early singer songwriter stuff - in particular King's Tapestry - sounds a lot like Let It Be and that's surely no accident, as it was a massive seller and the labels were willing to open their wallets for similar-sounding stuff once they realized it could move millions of units.
I'm surprised more people didn't do it, I've got versions from Free Design and Carla Thomas. Nothing surprises me. I like the song, I liked this one especially when I first heard Let It Be as a kid.
Thanks for posting this. I hadn't seen it since I saw the movie during its initial theatrical release, and I'd forgotten just how electrifying this sequence is.
Many stations that did play it bleeped "Christ," so what you heard was "____ you know it ain't easy." Even at the ripe old age of 13 I thought that was ridiculous.
I neglected to mention when this was first posted by Applebonkers that, much as I absolutely love the 5D version of Aquarius, if I could only hear one version, it would be this one by Ren Woods. It indeed was a fantastic opening to a movie that failed to sustain it's momentum.
Pretty, romantic snooze-fest in the same vein as Our Winter Love or Last Date. Call it a mid-summer palette cleanser for the second half. I like all of these instrumentals, just don't need to hear them all that much. Also sure the pretty young actors in the movie helped goose this along. At any rate, it hit big in this version and spawned several vocal turns so all that's left is how much Grammy love will we see? Stay tuned.
I can live without this particular "love theme". The one in the '70s by the Love Unlimited Orchestra, on the other hand, I liked.
Statistically for a label its size, RCA held its own against the competition in 1969. Of the seventeen #1 hits that year, three were on RCA for a combined nine weeks. In 1970 that number dwindled to one #1 hit for the label that spent three weeks atop the chart. RCA management belatedly realized what Clive Davis had realized a few years earlier at Columbia, that pop styles had changed and to succeed the label must adapt to the changes. No label could survive on lightweight instrumentals from movie soundtracks. RCA had Elvis Presley, a marketable name, and little else that was guaranteed. Jefferson Airplane scored no hits higher than the #60s in 1968-1971, indeed for the rest of their career. RCA had to sign rock acts to maintain market share, among them the Guess Who, who would succeed quickly, and a bit later, David Bowie, who functioned as a prestige signing for a few years.
