The Beatles Anthology (1995) s01e08 Episode Script

[audience cheering]
-[Beatles vocalizing]
-["Help!" playing]
Now I find I've changed my mind,
I've opened up the doors ♪
Help me if you can, I'm feeling down ♪
And I do appreciate you being 'round… ♪
[music fades]
It's my pleasure to introduce
now in their first live appearance,
for goodness knows how long
in front of an audience, The Beatles.
Hey Jude, don't make it bad ♪
[piano playing]
Take a sad song and make it better ♪
Remember to let her into your heart ♪
Then you can start to make it better ♪
Hey Jude, don't be afraid ♪
You were made to go out and get her ♪
The minute you let her under your skin ♪
[Beatles vocalizing]
Then you begin to make it better ♪
And any time you feel the pain,
hey Jude, refrain ♪
[Paul] I was driving out to John's house
after John and Cynthia had got divorced,
and I was just going out
to say hello to Cynthia and Julian,
and I started coming up
with these words, in my own mind it was--
I was kind of talking to Julian,
"Hey Jules, don't take it bad,
take a sad song and make it better."
You know, "It'll be all right."
So, I kind of got the first sort of idea
on the way out there with this,
"Hey Jules",
as I thought it was gonna be called.
It seemed a little bit of a mouthful
so, um, I changed it to "Jude".
And then I liked the song a lot,
and I, I played it to John and Yoko,
when I'd finished it all,
or I actually had finished
but I thought there was a little more
to go, 'cause I was--
There was just one bit of the words,
which was,
"The movement you'll need…
the movement you need
is on your shoulder." And I'm playing it,
and I just looked at John and said,
"I'll fix that. I'll fix that."
He said, "What?" I said, "Well, you know,
'The movement you need
is on your shoulder.'
I've used the word
'shoulder' once
and anyway it's a stupid expression,
it sounds like a parrot, you know.
I'll change that." He said,
"You won't, you know."
He said, "That's the best line
in the song," you know.
"What?" He said, "I know what it means,
'the movement you need
is on your shoulder'.
It's great, it's kind of…"
So, that was the great thing about John,
whereas I would've definitely knocked
that line out, he'd say, "It's great."
I could see it through his eyes
and go, "Oh, okay."
Hey Jude, you'll do ♪
The movement you need
is on your shoulder ♪
So, that is the sort of line now,
when I do that song,
that's the line
when I think of John, you know.
Sometimes get a little emotional
during that moment, you know.
Hey Jude, don't make it bad ♪
Take a sad song and make it better ♪
Remember to let her
under your skin, ah ♪
Then you begin to make it better ♪
[George Martin] "Hey Jude" was
a long one, and I timed it, and I said,
"You know,
this is going on for seven minutes.
You can't make a single
that's seven minutes long."
And John said, "Why not?"
And I couldn't think
of a good answer really,
except for the pathetic one,
"Well, disc jockeys won't play it."
He said, "They will if it's us."
And, of course, he was absolutely right.
[Paul] We had this sort of chanty thing
at the end.
I remember going, taking it down a club
when it was first--
taking an acetate of it down a club,
a real late night
sort of three-in-the-morning,
sort of dossing-around-on-beanbags
type club,
and I met Mick Jagger down there.
I said, "Here, I've got this,
I'm gonna put it on."
Got the DJ to put it on.
I remember Mick coming up to me,
he says, "It's like two songs, man."
'Cause it is. It's got the song, and then
that whole "Na-na-nah-nah" at the end.
Um, yeah, and it was longer
than any single had been.
But we had a good bunch of engineers,
and we'd say, "How long can a 45 be?"
He said, "Well, it's really supposed
to be like, four minutes is about
all you can squeeze in those grooves
before it seriously starts to lose volume,
you know, and everyone's gotta turn up."
But they did some very clever stuff,
some clever work, sort of squeezing
this bit that didn't have to be loud,
and then allowing this bit. And somehow
they got seven minutes on there,
which was quite an engineering feat.
[all] Na, na, na,
na-na-na-nah ♪
-Na-na-na-nah ♪
-Oh yes, now, Jude ♪
-Hey Jude ♪
-Come on and make it, Judie ♪
-Na, na, na ♪
-Yeah, yeah, yeah ♪
Na-na-na-nah, na-na-na-nah ♪
-Hey Jude ♪
-Yeah, yeah, yeah ♪
[George Martin] They were going through
a very revolutionary period at that time.
And… they were trying to think
of something new.
They did actually come up
with a very good idea,
which I thought
was well worth working on.
They wanted to write an album completely
and rehearse it,
and then perform it
in front of a large audience,
and for that to be a live album
of new material.
And, um, we started rehearsing down
in Twickenham Film Studios,
and I went along with them.
I think the original idea was Paul's idea
to rehearse some new songs,
and then we were gonna pick a location
and record the album
of the songs in a concert.
I suppose, kinda,
like they do these days on Unplugged
except, you know,
it wasn't to be unplugged.
-Just to do a live album.
-[soft music playing]
-[indistinct chatter]
-[Paul] The original idea was
that you'd see the Beatles rehearsing,
jamming, making up stuff,
getting their act together,
and then finally we'd perform somewhere
as the big end-of-show concert,
kind of thing.
And, uh, Michael Lindsay-Hogg
was gonna direct it.
-[indistinct chatter]
-This should totally be built
like those film sets,
so that you can glide
all over the place on tracks and
everything with your cameras.
Go places that TV cameras don't go,
you know?
Mmm.
So that you can come down
out of that roof on one long shot,
right from the back there
and just come down on a thing.
Slowly like a chair lift. Right down,
right into Ringo's face on the one shot,
you know, from right back there.
That's, you know,
it's like the old films.
And then have all sorts of cranes
and lifts, and stuff,
for your cameras
to float around us, you know.
And just all that flowing movement,
and then the songs.
["I've Got A Feeling" playing]
-I've got a feeling ♪
-Everybody had a hard year ♪
-A feeling deep inside ♪
-Everybody had a good time ♪
Oh yeah ♪
-Everybody had a wet dream ♪
-Oh yeah ♪
Everybody saw the sunshine ♪
-I've got a feeling ♪
-Everybody had a hard year ♪
-A feeling I can't hide ♪
-Everybody put their socks down ♪
Oh no ♪
Everybody pulled their socks up ♪
-Oh yeah ♪
-Everybody put their foot down ♪
-Everybody put their foot down ♪
-Oh yeah ♪
I've got a feeling ♪
-Oh yeah ♪
-Oh no ♪
-Oh yeah ♪
-Oh no ♪
-Oh yeah ♪
-Oh yeah ♪
Oh yeah ♪
Whoa… ♪
[George] The idea was just to, you know,
learn the tunes and play 'em,
and so that we'd be able to record them
without loads of overdubs.
[music concludes]
And I thought, "Okay, you know, well,
it's a new year
and we've got some,
a new approach."
But it soon became apparent
that it wasn't anything new,
it was just…
it was just gonna be painful again.
I mean, you know, the days were long
and, uh, it could get boring, you know.
And Twickenham just wasn't
really conducive to any great atmosphere,
-we were just in that big barn.
-[music playing]
[John] It was just a dreadful,
dreadful feeling,
and being filmed all the time,
you know, like that.
[music concludes]
I just wanted them to go away.
And we'd be there at eight in the morning
and you couldn't make music
at eight in the morning, or ten,
or whatever it was, in a strange place
with people filming you,
and colored lights.
[Paul] On our way back home ♪
What are you doing there?
Like-- [vocalizes]
-[vocalizes]
-[Paul hums]
[George] As everybody knows,
we never had much privacy. [chuckles]
And, you know,
this thing that was happening
was they were filming us rehearsing.
There was a bit of a, uh,
a row going on
between Paul and I, you can see it,
where he's saying,
"Well, don't play this," or something,
and I'm saying, "Well, you know,
I'll play what you want,
or I won't play if you don't want it,
you know, just make up your mind."
That kind of stuff
was going on. [hesitates]
And they were filming and recording us
having a row, you know,
it was like, it was terrible, really.
-[Paul] But it's complicated in the bit…
-It's not complicated.
Even-- I mean, you know.
I mean, I'll play just the chords
if you like and then--
[Paul] No, come on.
All I'm trying to do,
I'm trying to find…
[Paul] You always get annoyed when
I say that. I'm trying to help, you know.
But I always hear myself
annoying you, and I'm trying to--
[George] No, you're not annoying me.
-[Paul] I get so I can't say…
-[George] You can't say
-you annoy me, Paul.
-But you know what I mean?
-I know, but, you know…
-[George] 'Cause it'd take even longer…
-Okay. Look, I'm not trying to say that.
-[George] No?
I'm not trying to say that.
You know, you--
you're doing it as-- again,
as though I'm trying
to say that.
And what we said the other day, you know,
I'm not trying to get you.
-[George] Oh, well…
-I really am trying to just say,
"Look, lads, the band, you know.
Shall we… try it like this, you know?"
It's funny, though, how it only occurs
when we-- the, um…
[Paul] I know, it, it's
this one. It's like,
"Shall we play guitar
all through 'Hey Jude'?"
-Well, I don't think we should.
-Yeah, okay, I don't mind.
I'll play, you know,
whatever you want me to play,
or I won't play at all
if you don't want me to play.
You know, whatever it is
that will please you, I'll do it.
[George] I thought, "I'm quite, um,
capable of being
relatively happy on my own,
and I'm not able to be happy
in this situation,
you know. I'm getting outta here."
I'd just spent, like,
the last six months producing an album
of this fellow, Jackie Lomax,
and hanging out with Bob Dylan
and The Band in Woodstock,
and having a great time.
And for me to come back into the winter
of discontent with the Beatles
in Twickenham, was, um…
it was very unhealthy and unhappy.
[Ringo] So, George decided to leave,
but he didn't tell John or I,
or Paul. We all went for lunch.
[indistinct chatter]
And we were looking for George,
and he'd gone. He'd gone home.
But the interesting part about that,
I mean, besides what him
and Paul were into,
was that when we came back,
we just started jamming,
-and Yoko jumped in.
-["Jam feat. Yoko Ono" playing]
[vocalizes]
[Ringo] We really played,
sort of, violently.
You know, Paul was doing his bass stuff
into the amp, and John was off,
and, you know, I was playing sort of
this weird drum stuff that,
you know, I hadn't played.
I don't play like that as a rule.
[Yoko continues vocalizing]
So, our reaction, I think, was really, uh,
really interesting at the time.
We should get like, uh, say,
the editor of the Daily Mirror.
-[Michael] Mm.
-You'd have to get someone as good as him.
-[Michael] Okay.
-A real hard news nut,
rehearsing a team
of really hard incredible news men…
-[Michael] Mm.
-…with films, writing, and so on,
and so on,
and so on, and so on.
So that on the night
of the show,
in between all our songs, is news,
but the fastest and the hottest,
from every corner of the earth,
and "We've just heard the news, there's
been an earthquake" and so on, and so on,
you got film, and, you know, just, like,
incredible news in between each thing.
-[Michael] Yes.
-So it's like a red-hot news program.
And, um, and at the end,
the final bulletin is the break--
"The Beatles have broken up!"
-[Michael] Hmm. Nice.
-[Linda] Nice, but who wants to hear that?
-[Paul] Nice, but not nice!
-[indistinct chatter, laughter]
Thanks, but no thanks. [chuckles]
I mean, it's, it's kind of important
to state, I suppose, that,
you know, a lot of water
went under the bridge
and that, like, at this point in time,
as we talk now, everybody's good friends
and has a better understanding
of the past.
But talking just about what was happening
at that time, it was, like, strange.
[John] The whole pressure of it
finally got to us.
So, instead of, you know,
like people do when they're together,
they start picking on each other.
You know, it was like,
"It's because of you,
you'd got the tambourine wrong,
that my whole life is a misery,"
you know, it became petty.
But the manifestations were on each other
'cause we were the only ones we had.
But it was like, "No, no, no,
wait a minute, wait a minute.
George has left and, you know,
we can't have this,
this isn't good enough, you know."
So, we-- I'm not sure what happened,
but I think maybe Neil or one of the--
you know, who looked after us,
would probably ring George up
and say, you know, "They're real sorry,"
or whatever, "It was a mistake
and it was like…"
[Michael] Is he joining us?
-We don't know.
-I haven't spoken to him.
[George] I remember
being called to a meeting
that was out in Elstead in Surrey,
it was at Ringo's house,
and it was decided that it would be better
if we just got back together
and finished the record.
[indistinct chatter]
And that also, you see,
Twickenham Studio was, uh,
was very cold
and not a very nice atmosphere,
so we decided to abandon that
and go to Savile Row
into the recording studio.
And in the end we recorded
in the Apple Studios in Savile Row,
because there was a guy called Magic Alex,
which, everybody knows about,
who was a great friend of John's,
and John thought he was the bee's knees
because he used to give John
little presents of electronic toys,
and Magic Alex said
that EMI was no good
and he could build a studio much better.
Well, he didn't.
[devices whirr, beep]
Hello. I'm Alexis, from Apple Electronics.
I would like to say hello
to all my brothers around the world,
and to all the girls around the world,
and to all the electronic people
around the world.
And that is Apple Electronics.
[George] But he didn't do anything.
When we finally got him
to do a recording studio,
we had a 16-track studio,
and we walked in there, it was chaos.
We had to rip it all out and start again.
He had, like, 16 little speakers
all around the room.
You know,
there wasn't anything he ever did,
except he had like a toilet
with a radio in it, or something.
So, we used the same portable,
and we just took
the portable equipment in there.
But the studio itself,
the actual room to play in, uh,
was much nicer and much cozier
and, uh, much more at home, you know.
["For You Blue" playing]
Because you're sweet and lovely,
I love you ♪
Because you're sweet and lovely,
girl, it's true ♪
I love you more than ever, girl, I do ♪
I want you in the morning,
girl, I love you ♪
I want you at the moment I feel blue ♪
I'm living every moment, girl, for you ♪
I think everyone was getting
a little tired of us by then,
because we were taking
a long time
-[music concludes]
-and there was many discussions
going on by then, many heated discussions.
[John] And it's not what Paul wants,
like, you know, it was--
It's like if it's his-- Say,
it's his number, this whole show,
well, it's turned, he's compromised,
so as it's actually turned into our number
more than his number, that's all.
-Yeah, I know.
-[John] And--
-And that's all right, you know.
-[John] It's all right, but,
I mean, that's what's
bugging you, really.
[Paul] But it's just funny to sort
of realize that, after this is all over,
you'll be off in a black bag somewhere,
on the Albert Hall, you know.
-[John] Yes.
-And sort of doing shows and stuff…
-[John] Yeah, but…
-…digging that thing a bit.
[John] But I would dig
to play on stage, you know.
-Yeah.
-I mean, if there was,
everything was all right
and there was no messing, and we were
just gonna play on stage, you know.
[Paul] Yeah. But it's only that,
it's only that
-I'd like to see Ringo do his…
-That's why I said yes to the TV show.
-…you know, doing all that. But, I mean.
-I didn't want the hell of,
of doing it.
It's interesting to see
how people behave nicely
when you bring a guest in,
because they don't really want everybody
to know that they're so bitchy.
And this happened back in, uh,
the White Album
when I brought Eric Clapton in to play
on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps",
suddenly everybody's
on their best behavior.
I went also with Eric Clapton
to see Ray Charles play
at the, the, um, Festival Hall.
And I saw this guy who was on stage
playing the organ,
and dancing across the stage
and before Ray Charles came on.
I thought, "God, that guy looks familiar."
And it turned out it was Billy Preston.
-So, I put a message out…
-[indistinct chatter]
…to find if Billy was in town and told him
to come into Savile Row, which he did.
Straight away,
it just became 100% improvement
in the vibe in the room.
[George Martin] Billy Preston was
a great help.
He was a very good keyboard guy,
and he was an amiable fellow too,
very nice, and he was a kind of
an emollient, if you like,
he helped to lubricate the… the friction
that had been there.
-[laughs]
-[indistinct chatter]
[John] 'Cause every number's got
a piano part, or …
and normally we overdub it, you know?
-But this time we wanna do it live.
-Yeah.
[Paul] We did have
to behave ourselves a bit
because it was sort of like
a guest in the house.
But I think it was a slight worry
at the-- in the background also
that maybe he was joining the group.
["I've Got A Feeling" playing]
[Paul] You couldn't tell whether it was
a crack in the-- in the whole thing.
It was just a little bit, um, puzzling,
I think, you know.
But he played great, and we all had
a great time playing with him.
-[music concludes]
-I think it works okay
with just the two verses
about "sweet Loretta Martin,"
the first verse.
-[John] Just have two for now, you know…
-Yeah.
[George] Well, I mean, I don't mean really
how many verses…
[Paul] Okay,
I'll just sing it through.
How many times
would you do a verse?
[Paul] I'll sing it through
and sort of shout
where it, um, where I think it should go,
and then if you don't agree, remember,
-and I'll change it.
-Well, maybe if we had an intro
-or a verse, a chorus of "Get Back".
-[Paul] That's right, yeah.
And then there's a bit
-which is like a chorus…
-[Paul] Solo.
-…that goes into the solo, and then--
-[Paul] Yeah. Solo.
["Get Back" playing]
Jo Jo left his home in Tucson, Arizona,
for some California grass ♪
Get back, get back ♪
Get back to where you once belonged ♪
Get back, get back,
get back to where you once belonged… ♪
[Ringo] Suddenly, you know,
when we were working…
-[Paul] Watch it, pal!
-…something good,
-the bullshit went out the window.
-[Paul] Hey…
[Ringo] And we got back down to doing…
-[Paul] Hey, boss… watch it!
-…what we did really, really well.
Go home… ♪
[Paul] To me, the Beatles
were always a great, little band…
nothing more, nothing less,
you know, for all our success.
When we sat down to play,
-we played good…
-[music concludes]
…from the very beginning
from when we first got Ringo
into the band, and before.
But when we first got Ringo into the band
it really gelled. We played good.
And we'd never had too many of those times
where it's just not working.
We had 'em like any other band,
but often, you know,
just for a great, little
rock and roll band,
we could just play, play any little,
you know, blues,
little rock and roll things,
and it seemed to work, it seemed to gel.
-["One After 909" playing]
-My baby says she's travelling ♪
On the one after 909 ♪
I said, move over, honey,
I'm travelling on that line ♪
[Paul] "One After 909",
it was our childhood coming back to us.
It was sort of raw energy from our youth.
And I think it reminded us
of those teenage years.
And so it surfaced, as did "Maggie Mae"
and a few things like that.
During the Let It Be sessions,
we were just dredging up anything.
["Maggie Mae" playing]
Oh, dirty Maggie Mae,
they have taken her away ♪
And she'll never walk down
Lime Street anymore ♪
Oh, the judge, he guilty found her,
for robbing a homeward bounder ♪
That dirty, no good, robbing
Maggie Mae ♪
[music concludes]
They were quite good sessions,
uh, once we got into Apple.
I remember, you know,
sitting around quite enjoying the music.
It was interesting music to play.
["The Long And Winding Road" playing]
Ah, ah-ah, ah-ah ♪
But still they lead me back ♪
To the long, winding road ♪
You left me waiting here ♪
A long, long time ago ♪
Don't leave me standing here ♪
Lead me to your door ♪
[George] The idea being
that we were gonna--
-Originally, we were gonna rehearse…
-[music concludes]
…all these new songs,
and then make an album in a live show,
never really happened because
the album became us in the studio,
as we rehearsed the songs,
they were recorded.
You know, they were talking
about doing a concert on a boat,
or a concert in an amphitheater in Greece,
or, you know, maybe
at the Roundhouse in London.
There was lots of different ideas
about where they should, uh,
maybe do a concert
and, uh, nothing was ever really agreed.
[Michael] We ought to figure out
what we're gonna do.
Well, I'll tell you what then let's--
What we're doing then is,
we're still rehearsing,
and we'll get it together.
-[Michael] Right.
-So, then…
you know, you-- you must just
sort of collect--
Well, we'll collect
our thoughts on it,
you must collect yours,
on what you think we-- you want.
You mean, you still are expecting us
to be on the chimney
with a lot of people,
or something like that?
[Michael] Or even a stage
at the Savile or anything, yeah.
-Couldn't you just, uh…
-[indistinct chatter]
-[Michael] George, George…
-Well, anyway, so we won't worry
about that. Don't give us that one.
[Michael] "Expecting" is not
a word we use anymore, uh,
-"thinking about"--
-Praying?
-[laughs]
-[Michael] Praying. Hoping.
Uh, now, what about
the roof tomorrow?
Do you want to collectively
do it, or not?
No, well, let's-- let's just decide on
that sort of… a bit later.
-[Michael] Yeah.
-Let's-- Let's us keep off that.
You know, 'cause that's it, we're getting
into too diverse… let's us…
-We'll do the numbers, you know.
-[George Martin laughs]
We're the band. [chuckles softly]
-[Michael] And we're the…
-Oh, I-- You know, I'm-- You know,
whatever, I'll do it, if we've got to go
on the roof, but, you know, I mean…
[Michael] You're the band, we're crew,
and never the twain shall meet.
-But I… I don't wanna go on the roof.
-[Paul] No, I know.
Of course, I don't wanna go
on the roof, you know.
[Ringo] I would like to go on the roof.
-[Paul] You would like to? [chuckles]
-[John] Yes, I'd like to go on the roof.
-Very diverse people. One second--
-[John] But, I mean, if-- See, I--
That's all right.
Anyway, we won't discuss it.
[John] I don't like to if anybody
doesn't wanna go on it, you know.
-That's it, we won't worry about it.
-[John] And I wanna record 'em
as tracks if you wanna record 'em
when we're going to…
-Yeah.
-[John] And I wanna do it, 14 numbers,
-when you wanna do it.
-Yeah.
[John] 'Cause to me it's all…
[Michael] Do it at the Savile
or in Africa.
-Any time is paradise when I'm with you.
-[John] Yeah.
-Any time.
-[Paul] Yeah.
[John] Any time at all.
[Paul] That was, uh, looking for an end
to the film, really,
and it was one of those,
"Well, how are we gonna finish this then?
There's not gonna be
a big concert."
'Cause by then it was really,
you know, looking like,
"Well, you know, can we-- can we do this,
finish this in two weeks' time?"
And, uh, so then it was suggested
that we go up on the roof…
-["Don't Let Me Down" playing]
-…and do a concert there,
then we can all go home.
Don't let me down ♪
Don't let me down ♪
Don't let me down ♪
Don't let me down ♪
Nobody ever loved me like she does ♪
Ooh, she does, yes, she does ♪
And if somebody loved me ♪
-Like she does ♪
-Like she do me ♪
-Ooh, she does ♪
-Ooh, she do me ♪
Yes, she does ♪
Don't let me down ♪
Don't let me down ♪
Don't let me down ♪
Don't let me down ♪
I'm in love for the first time ♪
Don't you know it's gonna last? ♪
It's a love that lasts forever ♪
It's a love that has no past ♪
Don't let me down ♪
Please ♪
Don't let me down ♪
Don't let me down ♪
Don't let me down ♪
And no-liv-ri-shi-gobli-bluchi-gu ♪
Ooh, she does, yes, she does ♪
I guess nobody ever really done me ♪
-Ooh, she done me ♪
-Like she done me ♪
She done me good ♪
Don't let me down ♪
Don't let me down ♪
Don't let me down ♪
Don't let me down, uh! ♪
Plee-ease ♪
[Paul] And in the end, uh,
it started to filter up
from our roadie, Mal,
who'd sort of come, creep in,
trying to keep out the cameras.
He said, "Police are complaining.
You've gotta stop."
We said, "We're not stopping.
Keeping going."
He said, "The police…"
He'd come up to me and he said,
"Police are gonna arrest you."
"Good end to the film.
-Let 'em do it. Great!" You know?
-[music concludes]
And we thought,
"Well, that's an end," you know.
-["Get Back" playing]
-"Beatles Busted On Rooftop Gig!"
Jo Jo was a man
who thought he was a loner ♪
But he knew it couldn't last ♪
Jo Jo left his home in Tucson, Arizona ♪
For some California grass ♪
Get back, get back ♪
Get back to where you once belonged ♪
Get back, get back ♪
Get back to where you once belonged ♪
Get back, Jo Jo ♪
Go home ♪
Yeah ♪
Get back, get back ♪
Get back to where you once belonged ♪
Get back, get back ♪
Get back to where you once belonged ♪
Well, get back, Jo ♪
Sweet Loretta Martin
thought she was a woman ♪
But she was another man ♪
All the girls around
they said she's got it comin' ♪
But she gets it while she can ♪
Well, get back, get back ♪
Get back to where you once belonged ♪
Aw, get back, get back ♪
Get back to where you once belonged ♪
Get back, Loretta, ooh! ♪
Yeah, go home ♪
Your mommy's waiting ♪
In her high-heel shoes
and her low-necked sweater ♪
[Ringo] The thing on the roof
that always I feel
let down about were the police,
you know, because someone
in the neighborhood called the police.
And the police came up, and I was
playing away, and I said, "Oh, great!"
You know, "I hope they drag me off!"
You know, I wanted the cops
to drag me off,
"Get off those drums," you know,
'cause we were being filmed,
and it would've been really great.
But they didn't, of course.
They just came bumbling in,
"You've got to turn
that sound down." [chuckles]
-[music concludes]
-You know, so…
It could've been fabulous.
-[applause]
-[Paul] Thanks, Mo.
I'd like to say thank you
on behalf of the group
and ourselves,
and I hope we've passed the audition.
[crowd laughing]
Are we supposed to giggle in the solo?
-[Paul] Yeah.
-Okay.
["Let It Be" playing]
When I find myself in times of trouble,
Mother Mary comes to me ♪
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be ♪
And in my hour of darkness,
she is standing right in front of me ♪
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be ♪
Let it be, let it be,
let it be, let it be ♪
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be ♪
When all the broken-hearted people
living in the world agree ♪
There will be an answer, let it be ♪
For though they may be parted ♪
There is still a chance
that they will see ♪
There will be an answer,
let it be-ee ♪
Let it be, let it be,
let it be, yeah, let it be ♪
There will be an answer,
let it be ♪
Oh, let it be, let it be,
let it be, let it be ♪
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be ♪
Yeah, let it be, let it be,
let it be, let it be ♪
There will be an answer, let it be ♪
[John] By the time we got
to Let It Be,
we couldn't play the game anymore,
we couldn't do it anymore.
It had come to a point where it was
no longer creating magic,
and the camera sort of…
being in the room with us
made us aware of that,
that it was a phony situation.
In fact, what happened
was when we got in there,
it-- we showed how the break-up
of a group works
'cause, you know, we didn't realize
that we were
actually sort of breaking up,
you know, as it was happening.
You know, it was quite obvious
that the Beatles became…
You, know, I mean, the thing
that it started out being, it gave us…
a vehicle to be able to do so much
when we were younger,
and then we grew right through that.
But it got to a point
where it was stifling us,
there was too much restriction.
You know, it had to self-destruct.
The energy for the Beatles was waning,
you know.
We put in a thousand percent.
And then it was
dwindling now to like,
"Oh, dear, do we have to turn up?
We have to do that thing again?
I want to do this,
and John wants to do that."
And, you know,
George was off, and…
you know, people would…
You know, we had families.
[John] There were times
when I spent as much time
with George, Paul and Ringo
as I did with Yoko.
I mean, I slept with them
in the same room on tour,
and I lived and breathed with them
for five or ten years.
Let it be-ee-hee-hee-hee ♪
[George Martin] The Beatles were bigger
than any one of them.
-[music concludes]
-So, they were always a prisoner of that.
And I think they just
eventually got fed up with it.
And I remember thinking of it
like Army buddies.
One of the songs we used to love
in the past was "Wedding Bells".
Those wedding bells are breaking up
that old gang of mine ♪
And this idea that you'd been
Army buddies, but one day
you have to kiss the Army goodbye
and go and get married,
and act like normal people.
It was a bit like that for the Beatles.
We always knew that day had to come.
[indistinct chatter]
[reporter] London, weepy time down south.
The last bachelor Beatle
was no longer a bachelor.
Paul McCartney married
New Yorker, Linda Eastman.
He'd gone and been and done it
at Marylebone Register Office.
Paul's new step-daughter, Heather,
was among the advance guard
who battled their way
through the shrieking,
sobbing press of devoted fans,
who surged round the newlyweds
as they made for their car.
Paul's plan for a quiet wedding
had gone drastically wrong
somewhere along the line.
Exit the McCartneys, a very popular group.
They wanted to live a life
like you and I do, you know, where the…
where your wife is more important
than your partner.
And it wasn't in those days.
But, and… [clears throat]
…as Yoko came along, and as, eventually,
Linda came along,
so that they were more important
to John and Paul
than John and Paul were to each other.
And the same went for the other boys too.
They wanted the freedom
of living a real life.
[John] It takes a lot
to live with four people
over and over for years and years,
which is what we did.
And we called each other
every name under the sun.
["The Ballad
Of John And Yoko" playing]
We'd got to blows.
We'd been through the whole damn show.
Standing in the dock at Southampton ♪
Trying to get to Holland or France ♪
The man in the mac said,
"You've got to go back" ♪
[John] We wanted to get married
on the Cross Channel ferry.
-[Yoko] Mm-hmm.
-[John] That was the romantic part
when we went to Southampton,
and then we couldn't get on
because she wasn't English and she
didn't get that Day Visa to go across,
and they said,
"Anyway, you can't get married,
the captain's not allowed
to do it anymore."
So, we were in Paris,
and we were calling Peter Brown,
and we said, "We wanna get married.
Where can we go?"
And he called back and said, "Gibraltar's
the only place." So, "Okay, let's go."
And we went there, and it was beautiful.
Peter Brown called to say,
"You can make it okay ♪
You can get married
in Gibraltar, near Spain" ♪
Christ, you know it ain't easy ♪
You know how hard it can be ♪
The way things are going,
they're gonna crucify me ♪
Drove from Paris
to the Amsterdam Hilton ♪
Talking in our beds for a week ♪
The news people said,
"Say, what you doing in bed?" ♪
I said, "We're only trying
to get us some peace" ♪
Christ, you know it ain't easy ♪
You know how hard it can be ♪
The way things are going ♪
They're gonna crucify me ♪
The way things are going ♪
They're gonna crucify me ♪
[music concludes]
[John] It's easy after the fact,
you know, people always saying
about Apple and the Beatles' business,
"Why didn't you? Why didn't you?"
You sit in there with millions of dollars
floating around and try and work it out.
It's so easy after the fact to say,
"Why didn't you?"
You know, the thing with Apple
was that we were great creators
and we could do all of that,
but we were no--
nobody had half an idea about a budget.
So, you know,
what we were spending,
I think, was more than
what we were earning.
There was nobody managing Apple.
It was…
going… you know,
wasting away all this money.
Nobody had any ability to, um,
to be a business manager.
And so, it was-- it was a question of, uh,
who was gonna do it?
'Cause I was doing it,
but I was doing it on the basis
that I'll do it until you find somebody
who you want to do it,
'cause I didn't want to do it,
you know?
And, um… So, that's why, uh, you know,
somebody like Allen Klein
had the opportunity
to come in and, uh,
say he could do it,
but so did a lot of other people.
He engineered a meeting via Derek Taylor,
who was our publicist.
Apparently, he got hold of Derek and said,
"I wanna meet the Beatles," you know.
And I think Derek got him
to meet John and Yoko.
Within a couple of days,
John came bounding into Apple.
"Right! Okay, I don't care about the rest
of you. I'm giving Klein everything!"
"He's got me, and he's got Yoko,
and that's it!"
And it was more or less…
[chuckles] …all go from there.
Klein had been managing the Rolling Stones
and, I believe, Donovan,
and, uh, John had met him.
And he just came in one day and said…
"Well, I'm going to get
Klein to manage me…
and that's what's happening."
[John] And Allen was a-- a human being,
but the same as Brian
was a human being.
You know what I mean? It was
the same thing with Brian
in the early days, it was assessment.
And-- And I make a lot of mistakes
character-wise, you know,
but now and then I make
a good one, you know.
So, John arrived, said,
"Okay, that's it! I'm going with Klein!"
George and Ringo said,
"Okay, well, we're going with John."
And I realized I was sort of expected
to just sort of go along with it,
but, um, I didn't think it was
a good idea.
I'd put forward Lee Eastman,
uh, Linda's dad as…
possible sort of lawyer,
but, uh, they said,
"No, no, he'd be just too biased
for you and against us,"
which I could see.
Oh, yeah, we had
great arguments with Paul.
Well, the three of us felt,
"Oh, the three of us have gone this way,
you know, why don't you?"
So, there it was. And that then
was a three-to-one situation.
And in the Beatles, um,
if any one doesn't agree with the plan,
it was always vetoed,
very democratic that way.
So, the three-to-one
thing was very awkward.
What changed at Apple
after he arrived? Everything.
It was a completely
different situation, you know.
Number one, right,
first and foremost, Paul wasn't there.
[John] Because, uh,
there was a lot of tension
around the "Allen Klein coming in" days
and all that, you know?
And we had to be together all the time,
fighting and arguing, and listening
to all these different business things.
You know, and on a lot of days,
even with all the craziness,
it really worked still.
Instead of working every day,
it worked like two days a month, you know.
And then there--
there were still good days.
We were still really
close friends, you know.
Then it would split off again
into some madness.
And we were enough friends,
you know,
that even though
this undercurrent was going on,
even at the very worst points,
you know, I think we…
we still had some sort of respect
for each other. But it got-- it got…
It was getting fairly dodgy.
Let It Be was such
an unhappy record, really,
even though
there's some great songs on it.
I really thought that was the end
of the Beatles,
and I thought that I would never work
with them again.
I thought, "What a shame
to go out like this."
Well, I think the deal
was that, you know,
through Let It… Let It Be,
it was like we…
I left, and we got back on the basis
that we've gotta just finish it up,
and make it tidy.
So, I got back on that basis.
Then everybody decided,
"Well, we ought to do one better album."
So, I was quite surprised
when Paul rang me up and said,
"We're gonna make another record.
Would you like to produce it?"
And my immediate answer was,
"Only if you let me produce it
the way we used to."
And he said,
"We do-- we do want to do that."
I said, "John included?"
He said, "Yes, honestly."
So I said, "Well, if you really
want to do that, let's do it,
and let's get together again."
["Because" playing]
[Paul] I think,
before the Abbey Road sessions,
it was like,
we should put down the boxing gloves
and try
and just get it together,
and really make
a very special album.
-… on ♪
-[music concludes]
[John] One, two, a-one,
two, three, four ♪
-["Come Together" playing]
-Come together ♪
Right now, over me ♪
Shoot me ♪
Shoot me ♪
Shoot me ♪
[Paul] You tended to think,
"Well, if there was gonna be a single,
it would be John or me,
or John and me that would write it."
And then suddenly, George just came up
with this song, you know.
-Something in the way ♪
-["Something" playing]
Something in the way she moves ♪
Attracts me like no other lover ♪
Something in the way she woos me ♪
-[music concludes]
-[John] Stop it, you disgusting
middle-aged squares!
-["Here Comes The Sun" playing]
-Little darling ♪
I feel that ice is slowly melting ♪
Little darling, it feels like years
since it's been clear ♪
Well, here comes the sun ♪
Here comes the sun ♪
And I say, it's all right ♪
[music concludes]
-["Octopus's Garden" playing]
-I'd like to be under the sea ♪
In an octopus's garden in the shade… ♪
[Ringo] It doesn't matter what
we're going through as individuals,
you know, on the bullshit level.
When it gets to the music,
we all put in a thousand percent.
The last section
of Abbey Road,
-which is, you know, I still think is…
-[music concludes]
…for me, one of the finest pieces
we put together.
And, you know, it's like,
out of the ashes of all that madness, uh,
this really great piece came together.
-["Mean Mr. Mustard" playing]
-Mean Mister Mustard ♪
Sleeps in the park ♪
Shaves in the dark,
trying to save paper ♪
[Paul] We had lots
and lots of bits of things.
John had a bit of a song
called "Polythene Pam".
-["Polythene Pam" playing]
-[John] Oh, sorry, I fucked it!
-[music concludes]
-[Paul] I'm glad you did.
[John] Oh, good.
[Paul] 'Cause I had earlier,
but I wasn't gonna tell.
-[John chuckling] A-one, two, three…
-["Polythene Pam" playing]
Well, you should see Polythene Pam ♪
She's so good-looking
but she looks like a man ♪
Well, you should
see her in drag ♪
[Paul] And we hit upon the idea
of medleying them all,
which gave the second side
of Abbey Road a kind of, sort of,
uh, like an operatic
kind of structure,
which was quite nice 'cause it got rid
of all these songs in a good way.
-[music concludes]
-["Carry That Weight" playing]
Boy, you're gonna carry that weight ♪
Carry that weight a long time ♪
[George] We didn't know,
or I didn't know at the time,
that it was the last Beatle record
that we would make.
It kind of felt a bit like
we were reaching the end of the line.
[Paul] I think it was, in a way,
the feeling that it might be our last.
So, let's just show 'em what we can do.
Let's show each other
what we can do,
and let's try and have
a good time doing it.
[George Martin] It was
a very, very happy album.
Everybody worked
frightfully well, and, um,
that's why I'm very fond of it.
-["Golden Slumbers" playing]
-Once there was a way ♪
To get back homeward ♪
Once there was a way
to get back home ♪
Sleep, pretty darling, do not cry ♪
-And I will sing a lullaby ♪
-[music concludes]
But I think at the point we'd finished
Abbey Road, it was really…
the game was up, you know,
and I think we all accepted that.
["Because (Instrumental)" playing]
[Ringo] It was magical.
Some really loving, caring moments
with-- between four people.
A really amazing closeness, just…
[sighs] We were four guys
who really loved each other. It was…
It was pretty sensational.
You know, they gave their money
and they gave their screams,
but the Beatles kind of gave
their nervous systems… [chuckles]
…which is, you know,
a much more difficult thing to give.
Well, I'm really glad that most
of the songs dealt with love,
peace, understanding.
You know, it really did. If you look back,
there's hardly any one that says,
"Go on, kids, tell 'em all to sod off!
Leave your parents!"
It's all very, "All You Need Is Love",
or John's, "Give Peace A Chance".
There's a very good spirit behind it all.
[John] I've read cracks about,
"Oh, the Beatles sang
'All You Need Is Love',
but it didn't work for them," you know.
But, uh, nothing'll ever break
the love we have for each other.
[music concludes]
["The End" playing]
And in the end, the love you take ♪
Is equal to the love
you make ♪
[vocalizing]
[Paul] Two, three, four!
-["I Saw Her Standing There" playing]
-[Paul] That's too fast.
-[Paul] And again.
-[music stops]
And again,
I'm sorry, you know.
[John] Shall we just do it
on the second verse, like we said?
-[Paul] Yeah.
-[engineer] Take 8.
[Paul] One, two,
three, four. Ha!
[music continues]
Well, she was just seventeen,
you know what I mean ♪
And the way she looked… ♪
[engineer] Take 9.
["Got To Get You
Into My Life" playing]
Got to get you into my life ♪
Oh, oh, oh, hear me, ooh, ooh, ooh ♪
[silly vocalizing]
[Paul] Do you want to do
-another one, George?
-[music concludes]
-[engineer] Take 3.
-I've lost her now for sure ♪
-I won't see her no more ♪
-She won't come back no more ♪
-It's gonna be… ♪
-[engineer] Five.
-[Paul] ♪… a dr-a-a-a-a-g ♪
-[music concludes]
-[John] It's these damn words.
-[engineer] Take 5.
[Ringo] Oh, I'm not holding
back, George. I'm giving my all.
-[engineer 1] German version.
-[engineer 2] Edit please. Take 10.
-["Sie Liebt Dich" playing]
-…wird sie verstehen ♪
Und dann verzeiht sie dir ♪
O ja, sie liebt dich ♪
[giggles]
-[music concludes]
-[engineer] Take 1.
-["And I Love Her" playing]
-And if you saw my love ♪
I'd love her… [blows raspberry]
[George] Here we go.
-Here we go, lads.
-[music concludes]
[George] We're not really
what we make out to be.
[laughs]
That's all I can say.
["Being For The Benefit
Of Mr. Kite!" playing]
For the benefit of… ♪
[John]
Oh, by gum! By golly! By gingai-jingo!
-[Paul singing]
-[John] Was ist los haben hier?
-[engineer] Take 8.
-[John] Wer ist goings?
-["Julia" playing]
-Julia, Julia ♪
[music concludes]
[John] It's very hard to sing this,
you know.
[George Martin] Well,
it's a very hard song, John.
[John] Yeah.
Maybe I should strum it first.
-["Here Comes The Sun" playing]
-Little darling, mm ♪
The smiles return… ♪
[music concludes]
-[engineer] Two.
-[George] One of me best beginnings that!
[Ringo] Turn me down a little bit,
if you don't mind!
-["All You Need Is Love" playing]
-Ba-ba-ba-boom ♪
There's nothing you can do
that can't be done ♪
[Paul] I believe you, Johnny.
There's nothing you can sing
that can't be sung ♪
[Paul] Sure isn't.
There's nothing you can say but you can
learn how to play the game ♪
[Paul] Johnny?
It's easy ♪
[Paul] You're right, boy.
You're right there, boy ♪
-[music concludes]
-[John] Hah!
[Paul] We haven't got anything
in the cans.
[John] I'm ready to sing for the world,
George, if you just give me the backing.