The documentary goes into a brief history of rock, and how the skiffle craze hit the UK. All teenagers, including the Beatles got into it, including John, frontman of the Quarrymen, and Paul and George, who later joined him. It's a wonder they survived the indifferent clubs and six hour sets in Hamburg's red-light district, and I suffered along with them, but lo and behold, when "Please Please Me" became a hit, I cheered along--yes, you got it made! It's more or less in two parts--from their birth to Rubber Soul, and their creative time from Revolver to Abbey Road.
If anything, George Martin is given prominence here, as he played a vital role in turning them from mop-top pretty boys to artists unafraid to experiment with new sounds. He tells how he recorded a string quartet around Paul's "Yesterday," how he got the LSO piccolo trumpet player to play on "Penny Lane" after Paul saw a concert with the instrument, and the swirling organ sound in "Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite." My favourite bit was how "Strawberry Fields Forever" became the tune it was, and I've appreciated that song ever since. He sheds so much light on the Beatles and the recording process, it's incredible! Incidentally, "Strawberry Fields" and "Penny Lane" became the first Beatles song to be accompanied by "promotional film." And this a full fifteen years before MTV. Wow! Sgt Peppers is given its proper due here, as "attitude, graphic design, fashion, language and the recording business itself changed" as a result.
It's when the subject turns to the Let It Be sessions that it becomes painful. The bickering that had begun from the White Album sessions had heightened and even Billy Preston couldn't salvage it. Abbey Road was the final redemption that the Beatles could still rock and roll, even though it was very polished. As Lenny Kaye put it, "it's all four of them working together as a band as if they knew it was to be their last hurrah." It was.
When Paul sings "Let It Be" from the movie, it's intercut with scenes from their earlier days. As George Martin put it, "they were of their time, their timing was right,... and they left their mark in history because of it." Nicholas Schaffner, author of The Beatles Forever, and guitarist Lenny Kaye add useful commentary to the programme. This was Beatles 101 for me and a great place for those who want to be clued in on why they are a universally-loved group.
I can watch this over and over again and feel elated, entranced, and ultimately sad, but I come out of feeling glad I got to love their music so much. For John and George. And for the living, Sir Paul, Ringo, and George Martin.
