Help. I need somebody. Help. Not just anybody.

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Jersey Girl
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Re: Help. I need somebody. Help. Not just anybody.

Post by Jersey Girl »

MeDotOrg wrote:
Fri Nov 26, 2021 5:06 am
Jersey Girl -

I watched the first episode tonight. And Beatle fan that I am, I was somewhat disappointed. There are some great 'fly on the wall' moments. The most interesting thing is watching the creative chemistry at play, especially McCartney. The man seems to be oozing music and creativity the whole time.

But this is not a joyous group of musicians. They have to come up with a lot of songs in a short period of time, and the strain shows. Paul is clearly the creative driving force in the group. John seems a bit withdrawn into his relationship with Yoko, showing up to rehearsals late, being a little bit of passive-aggressive with Paul. George is the most disaffected, feeling like the third wheel behind Lennon/McCartney, George gets frustrated with Paul telling him how to play. Ringo seems the steadiest member, but the least involved in the creative process. Things are not going well. The group is sort of stumbling to the finish line.

I remember how disappointed I was when the Beatles broke up. After watching the first episode, you understand why. When Lennon and McCartney are on the same musical page, you can still see some magic sparks, but the creative process seems like a long hard slog.

I'm curious if anyone else saw the show and what they thought...
I just watched the first installment. I freakin' loved it. It's exactly what I expected to see.
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Re: Help. I need somebody. Help. Not just anybody.

Post by Some Schmo »

We watched the first episode and half the second last night. Man, it is brutal, but I have to say it's the best Beatles documentary I've seen by a country mile (and I watch them all). It's the first time we've really gotten to see the band's interpersonal dynamic. I think I learned more about them personally than I've ever known before.

One of the things I mentioned to my wife was how when I was young, I was like everyone else, exceptionally disappointed they broke up. Watching this, however, I can't help but think they did what they really needed to do at the time. They weren't happy campers any more. They had to break up for their sanity. It was kind of comforting to know they made the right choice for them personally.

Another thing that occurred to me watching it is how blasé they'd all become about producing classic music. They're sitting around discussing set design while Paul's on the piano banging out the beginnings of Let It Be. He's sitting there making history and none of them are really hearing it. Seeing the evolution of songs deeply imprinted on everyone's consciousness was the best thing about it for me. Watching McCartney come up with Get Back was awesome.

The whole thing was like deep fried ice cream: a festival of contrast between warm and chilly.
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Jersey Girl
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Re: Help. I need somebody. Help. Not just anybody.

Post by Jersey Girl »

I've only seen the first installment but I think I can comment based on the fact that I have historical knowledge and experience with the Beatles as do many others here.

I think we (public) sucked the life out of the Beatles. Recall I had written on a previous thread about the historical context in which they emerged? JFK had been assassinated in Nov 1963. The world was in mourning, and perhaps we here in America were scared and confused. Sense of doom and all. The dark cloud hanging over all of us.

It was just three months after the assassination, that the Beatles landed in the U.S. for their first appearance on the Ed Sullivan show. They gave America a reason to celebrate, something to turn our collective mindset towards something positive and exciting...something NEW.

They gave us a reason to be happy.

A new style of music, a new sound, and a new look. They were young, handsome, energetic, funny, and charismatic. They lifted us UP.

We mobbed them, shoved them, clawed at them, and screamed at them. We ate them alive. A band of once happy boys became a corporation, the four headed monster as Jagger referred to them. They were over exposed to the world until they totally burned out, couldn't take it any more, and they pulled back.

They weren't even in their 30's when they broke up!

Think about all that they did in what, something like 10-12 years. They were teens when they started playing the clubs. The produced musical compositions, albums, played the largest concerts the world had ever seen at that point, television appearances, interviews, and films. They lived out their 20's on the world stage. It's normal for humans during those years of development to begin discovering who they really are as individuals, to become truly autonomous, and in this case, apart from the four.

I honestly think they could have survived as a group if they hadn't been treated like meat in the early years. I think they could have continued as a group while pursuing their interests and talents as individual artists. They could have found a way to be autonomous while still being the Beatles. If their managers, producers, promoters could have just pulled back...just a little. Instead they were shot out of a cannon with no place to land.

I'm sure they were going for the money grab not knowing when it would fizzle out. The problem is that it never fizzled out. THEY fizzled out.

If you weren't living during that period of time, what you know is from watching clips and documentaries. If you actually witnessed what they were and how they were received by a frenzied world, then you know better the totality of it and you likely played a role in it. But no one could possibly know what it was like to be on the INSIDE of it. To be them.

I loved the first installment. I wasn't disappointed in the least. I think the single most thing I enjoyed about it was watching the music emerge and become formed. You could hear the beginnings of familiar songs before the Beatles even knew what they were. Watch them mold and construct them, until the piece had legs and could stand on it's own.

I think the most glaring example of that was watching McCartney give birth to Get Back and Let it Be. Not having seen the next installments yet, and just based on what I observed, the music seemed to flow primarily out of McCartney to the group. The man was on musical fire. It's his true genius. It's in his DNA. He's a brilliant artist. And recall that the Quarrymen was Paul's band, was it not? He brought in John and then George joined the band, and finally Starkey. My hunch is that virtually all of the music flowed from Paul. Not really all of it, of course, but my sense is that he acted as mentor to the rest of the members.

Anyway, I look forward to watching the rest of the docuseries and I am sure I will watch it repeatedly like I do everything else I become interested in.

Can anyone else tell time based on their recordings? If you hear a Beatles song, do you instantly know how old you were when it came out? I sure can.
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Re: Help. I need somebody. Help. Not just anybody.

Post by Some Schmo »

I finished it. I loved it, and will watch it again in time. It's like spending the day with the band.
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Re: Help. I need somebody. Help. Not just anybody.

Post by Jersey Girl »

Some Schmo wrote:
Sun Nov 28, 2021 11:30 pm
I finished it. I loved it, and will watch it again in time. It's like spending the day with the band.
I know that I will too. I'll watch the second installment shortly here. It's such a nice getaway from, well, everything. 8-)
Last edited by Jersey Girl on Wed Dec 01, 2021 6:54 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Jersey Girl
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Re: Help. I need somebody. Help. Not just anybody.

Post by Jersey Girl »

I ended up binge watching straight into the middle of part 3. I had to stop so I had something left for tomorrow night! :lol:
We only get stronger when we are lifting something that is heavier than what we are used to. ~ KF

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Re: Help. I need somebody. Help. Not just anybody.

Post by Doctor Steuss »

I'm not finished yet, but of all of the musician/band docs that I’ve seen, none of them so perfectly encapsulate what it’s like being in a band as this (speaking as a "Ringo," that is).

Can't wait until I'm finished, so I can go back and watch it again.


(On the topic of musician/band docs, the recently released Tom Petty, Somewhere You Feel Free is pretty fantastic too [for different reasons], in my opinion)
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Re: Help. I need somebody. Help. Not just anybody.

Post by Some Schmo »

Man, it's been two days since I finished watching this and it has really stayed with me. The song Get Back is stuck in my head. I can't help but feel like Yoko Ono was an even bigger scapegoat than I ever imagined. John Lennon was a bit of a douche. Ringo is the people pleaser. George wrote some of the best Beatles tunes.

The only person who wasn't a real surprise to me was Paul, but that's because he's the one I've really followed all along. I've always thought he was the real musical talent and driving force behind their success.
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Re: Help. I need somebody. Help. Not just anybody.

Post by Some Schmo »

Oh, here's another major theme... I was amazed at number the times they'd be working on a purported "Lennon/McCartney" tune when Lennon or McCartney weren't even there. I know they credited all their songs to the both of them, no matter who wrote them, but I had always imagined they at least collaborated a little earlier in the creation process.

Maybe they did more of that in the beginning of their relationship, and it sort of faded away by the time this phase of the band rolled around.
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Re: Help. I need somebody. Help. Not just anybody.

Post by Doctor Steuss »

Some Schmo wrote:
Tue Nov 30, 2021 11:24 pm
The only person who wasn't a real surprise to me was Paul, but that's because he's the one I've really followed all along. I've always thought he was the real musical talent and driving force behind their success.
I still remember the first time I listened to Ram. I had listened to All Things Must Pass, and Imagine quite a while before Ram. As I listened to Ram, I kept thinking “This IS the Beatles.”
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