Originally posted by: Molly
At least part of it appears in the movie "Let It Be".
At least part of it appears in the movie "Let It Be".
In January 1969 the Beatles wanted to return to their Rock 'n' Roll roots and do a live concert show for fans that would just be them playing the songs live without any of the studio tricks that had dominated the Beatles music for a number of years. A T.V. film was commissioned to show the Beatles getting ready for the live show. The final BIG SHOW had also been planned to be filmed. But... The vibe and energy were just not with the Beatles at this point in their story, and the plans for the BIG SHOW (as well as the band itself) fell apart shortly after the filming began at the rehearsals. In an effort to come up with an ending to the existing film footage that had been shot at rehearsals, the group decided to quickly put together a makeshift live concert on the "Apple" office rooftop. So that's what they did, and it was the last time they played together in a public setting.
There are a few great books that document the "Let It Be" recordings and filming, and it's a very interesting story.
Some alternate shots of the roof top show had also been used in a few of the "Promo Films" (Music Videos) that had been seen on T.V. music shows back in 1969 when the original "Get Back and "Don't Let Me Down" single was first released. The Anthology Series also has some fantastic restored rooftop segments. For the filming of what became "Let It Be", the crew used 16mm film because the project was meant as a T.V. show not feature film. Then in 1970, the powers at "APPLE" had the film edited together as the movie "Let It Be" to satisfy
a 3 movie contract deal made with United Artists in the early 60's. The other 2 films being "A Hard Days Night" and "Help!"
A completed 16mm print of the finished "Let It Be" film was then blown up to 35mm so it could be show in movie theaters. These blown up prints are cropped and with that, some of the film's picture information is lost around the edges, and also the blow-up process had made the released film look blurry and dirty. The official VHS and Laserdisc from the early 1980s was transferred from one of these horrid blown-up prints. There is also a version of "Let It Be" floating around the fan underworld that is a transfer of an unmodified 16mm master. This version looks much better, but the person who did this transfer did not take care, and some digital glitches exist on all known copies. One of the other drawbacks on all the versions of "Let It Be" is the poor sounding audio soundtrack. Thankfully, there are some very good sound recordings of the entire project, and this includes the audio of the full rooftop show (minus a few seconds of between song chatter during a reel to reel tape change). These sound recordings may still be floating around the eBay and or the torrents. There is rumor that the film is still being restored and a possible complete re-edit may be in the works for DVD, but I would not hold my breath. None of The Beatles ever liked the released edit of the film, and this is one of the main reasons it's stayed officially unreleased on DVD format.
Send me a P.M. if you want more info about what is out there for us fans to enjoy from this project.
FF
It was so cold on that roof, that Ringo and George had to borrow extra outerwear from their wives!