Customer Reviews

Get Back: The Unauthorized Chronicle of the Beatles' " Let It Be" Disaster

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Doug Sulpy and Ray Schwieghardt captured The Beatles during their demise. There appears no doubt that the group no longer shared the passion they shared in the beginning. Through hours of tapes, Suply and Schwieghardt dissected and attempted to get every nook and cranny of the Beatles'conversations. The authors show how the Beatles attempted to resusitate a musical entity that could no longer breath despite numerous attempts.

Indeed, Get Back: The Unauthorized Chronicle of the Beatles' Let it Be Disaster, did not offer any information that has not already been documented in fragments from various authors and publications. And the one thing that Sulpy and Schwieghardt do not dirctely do is answer their question of who or what broke up the Beatles. It is obvious that Yoko Ono played a major role in the breakup (Sulpy and Schweighardt's observations show her overbearing control over John's creativity and attempt at the Beatles' as well, which will play out during the Imagine sessions)along with how John, Paul, George, and Ringo changed and matured as individuals during time in which the Get Back or Let it Be sessions occurred.

The most insightful aspect of the book had been Sulpy and Schweighardt's method of chronologically showing how each track developed and evolved. What the book does is show an inkling on how the Beatles'quickly directed their musical endeavors toward being solo artists. As you read each synopsis of each song that each member was attempting to collaborate lyrically or musically, you also see several of the songs, which will eventually become solo works by each respective member down the road. One unfortunate thought comes to mind, "hey, that could have been a Beatle song." Nevertheless, it was written by a Beatle.

Despite that thought, the Beatles possessed a diverse musical heritage. This was displayed in various parts of the book describing sessions where two or all four members jammed to songs dating back to their youth, and to artists of their time --Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, Elvis, Bob Dylan, The Band, and various standards. They would later intertwine the melodies of those songs into the songs in which they were working on.

Get Back should not be considered a record of the Beatles' "swan song", but rather a representation of their love for various musical genres and collaboration as four individuals, which contributed to what the Beatles were and always will be: a part of Rock and Roll history and culture.

the authors did a wonderful job of recording the happenings of the tapes available to them at the time. however, even since 1994, many new tapes have surfaced and are easy to come by in bootleg circles. i found this out by following along with a 17-disc set and realizing that i had a complete version of "bye bye love" that the author's hadn't heard (at the time). so, the book needs a new edition, certainly.

however, as one other reviewer already stated, the author's need to take a break from reading beatles' minds. it's not so much that they take sides (though Yoko seems to get bashed just because the author's feel obligated to), it's more that they actually believe they know what's going through the beatles' minds. and then sometimes they contradict themselves so obviously that you wonder if the book was ever edited.

for instance, for some reason they decided to say that paul "enthusiastically" reherses everyone's songs, even george's. first of all, several pages earlier, the authors mentioned paul yawning while george explined the chords of "all things must pass." then, one page after they claim how much more enthusiastic paul was, they say how bored paul is with someone else's song and that he really wants to just play his piano numbers. a stupid mistake.

still, get this book and get some GB sessions bootlegs. you'll become a more intelligent beatles fan :)

I read this book and enjoyed it immensely, with a few reservations. As a Beatles fan, I did not find it boring at all, and in fact, I was saddened it had to end so soon. I really enjoyed reading what happened, how they rehearse, and the creation process, even if this is the worst example of the Beatles doing so. There are a few revelations, as well. Yoko does not seem quite as intrusive as I believed she was, and she is quite humorous sometimes with her off-the-wall comments.

From the look of it, it does seem like a few myths are debunked, though not the one the authors seem to think. John often complained he was not able to contribute new material because of Paul "hogging" the later records. For this session, at least, Paul appears to keep asking John to bring in new material to work on. Paul seems honestly wanting Lennon to contribute. It is Lennon himself who doesn't seem to want to. The other myth seems to be the common complaint of John that "Across the Universe" was not properly paid attention to. It DOES seem a little like Lennon himself was not that interested in working on the tune as well, so blaming the other Beatles seems a little harsh.

Having said that, I want to explain how there is HUGE flaw in this book committed by the authors. They inject into the book what the Beatles are "thinking" when they do things, something they cannot possibly know. They also give REASONS for actions for Beatles which is plainly just an opinion, but which they treat as a fact.

Case in point; They say that Paul backs up Lennon and agrees with Lennon on some things because he is scared if he does not, Lennon will leave the group. At one point, Paul does appear to not want to confront Lennon about Yoko because he perhaps fears John will just pick Yoko over the Beatles, but they use this blanket statement over all of Paul's actions toward John, something they cannot possibly know. I mean, every single thing Paul agrees with Lennon on should not be assumed to be because of this one angle. I mean, this goes way beyond the bounds of what they can know.

This book also assumes to show that George left the group because of John and not Paul and treat this as if it is indeed some sort of fact. But the truth is, the tapes that lead up to George leaving are missing, so it is impossible for them to simply assume this because of the actions of Lennon against Harrison, which are very evident, but which did not cause Harrison to immediately leave. They state that Paul is helpful, cheerful, etc., in the tapes, so he must not have really been the cause, ignoring the very real fact that Harrison himself said Paul was the reason he left. Just because Paul acted better than John in the tapes that people have does not mean he did not do something atrociously inappropriate in the missing tapes that preceeded George leaving. They say the myth is debunked, and I see no such thing. I've never heard McCartney ever say that it was John and not him that caused Harrison to leave, which is something he would seem to say since he is the always the culprit in the story.

Also, the authors seem to suggest Paul was much nicer than John in this respect, but that fails to explain if he was, why Harrison was brutal in referencing to Paul after the Beatles broke up, with quotes like he would join a band with Lennon anytime but would never join a band with McCartney. So since the tapes leading up to the quitting are missing, and Harrison himself said it was Paul, and his anger about Paul after the Beatles, I think it is safe to assume there was a big blow-up in the missing tapes between Paul and George. The authors try to excuse McCartney, making Lennon the villian. And it is true, Lennon is quite nasty in "Let It Be" to George, but that is no reason to say Paul is innocent. They both are not too nice. But Harrison's attitude is just as well to blame. Lennon could not have missed the dagger thrown at him in "I Me Mine," and we all know how Lennon reacts to such things, as we saw when Paul did the same thing to John in "Too Many People" a few years later.

But if you take out the authors' opinions and read it just as a document of sorts, it is incredibly interesting and I enjoyed every

This book would be absolutley useless to anyone (Beatles fan or not) if they do not have the bootlegs to go along with them. I recommend Thirty Days or Day By Day Series. They go along very very nicely with the book. When you're reading this book and listening to the tapes at the same time, it's really great. It explains a lot of 'inside jokes,' along with talking about the conversations and songs themselves. Highly recommended...if you have the tapes to go with them.

Four stars for the research and dedication to this project on the parts of the writers. Impressive work. Where did they get all the bootleg recordings? Why does the "available tape" always seem to be running out mid-sentence or mid-song? Many unanswered questions. No quoted conversation or lyrics just paraphrasing, which is frustrating for the reader who wants more exact information. Still, you trust these guys because they did such thorough research. One of the few books that are not viciously anti-Lennon to write, if indirectly, about his heroin addiction through this period. Perhaps the only book to really show how creatively alive Harrison was and how little the others seemed receptive to his new songs and musical input. (How many Harrison compositions are rehearsed here that later appear on All Things Must Pass?) Reading this book, you are listening in to The Beatles breaking up in January 1969. Keep in mind that the film crew, the ever-present microphones, being in a film studio sound stage, working a "normal" work day/week routine, etc., all contributed to making the four of them more self-conscious than they would have been alone at Abbey Road studios with Mal Evans and George Martin and the usual engineers. A good read for those who want more than Let It Be depicts.

This book has some interesting information-but the approach of the authors is too clinical. Information is presented rather lifelessly and anecdotes are related but with no real information-as in "John quotes from such and such song by Bob Dylan to sarcastically answer George"--but we are never given the quotes. From the information contained-it is easy to see why George quit the group at one time--but it was Paul that it was reported that he refused to play with again after the actual breakup--while from all the information presented it should have been John that he wanted nothing to do with and would have written "Wah Wah" about. Ringo is pretty much a disinterested observer, while Paul tries to hold things together and John has actually become the "Nowhere Man" This book has an interesting premise-but the style of writing is tedious. I enjoyed parts of it--but it could have been so much better.

The Get Back sessions that were filmed and eventually surfaced as the Let It Be movie and soundtrack are often marked as the beginning of the end of the Beatles. Although they had arguments and outbursts (Ringo actually quit during the White Album sessions) before, this project brought all of their ill feelings to a head. Doug Sulpy and Ray Schweighart extensively detail practically every minute of the project. We get some of the ideas the band were floating around at the time with the possible return to the concert stage being the most interesting. The one problem with the book is that it is unauthorized and you don't get any real first hand recollections from the major players. That aside, you can tell that the two authors are devout fans and their enthusiasm shines through the darkest period of the band.

This book is not for the faint hearted, it is a book by Beatles fans for Beatles fans.

It chronicles the month or so that was known as the "Get Back" Sessions in which the Beatles were trying to prepare themselves for a live televised concert which would have a movie documentary screened beforehand. Due to the documentary there were camera's, sound recorders and people all around the Twickenham Sound Stage that the Beatles put themselves in to prepare.

Though a great idea originally, the Beatles clearly were pulling apart in different directions, and this is shown clearly.

Without spoiling the book by going in too much detail I would say that if you do not have any Beatles bootlegs from this era you are probably better off skipping this book.

If you have the bootlegs, you'll no doubt end up spending many happy hours trying to sort them in to some sort of chronological order like I have!!!

Buy it if you have the bootlegs!!!

I've read some of the other reviews on this book and I was surprised how badly some people rated it.

This was one of my favorite books ever. I love learning from the tapes about the creative process of the Beatles. WOW! It blows away the Rolling Stone Magazine myth that John Lennon was the Beatles and that McCartney broke up the Beatles. Its disturbing to see that John Lennon decline from his relationship with Yoko Ono and how she created havoc in the recording studio. Yoko screaming at the top of lungs during the taping of songs and so on. Yoko looks bad here--a nightmare on most recording dates. The latest Lennon books also shows her negative impact.

This book is a must for any more-than-casual Beatles fanbecause it sheds a great deal of light on the breakup and clears up anumber of misconceptions. Although the literary style is pretty dry, it does lend the book a measure of objectivity: the authors are simply presenting what happened, with very little interpretation or commentary. So what did happen? Well, the Beatles seemed to be facing two major interpersonal problems in early 1969. One was John's use of heroin and consequent unwillingness to communicate. He generally used Yoko as his mouthpiece, to the understandable consternation of the others. The other was George's frustration at the shoddy treatment of his material by John and Paul- and as the book shows, John bears the brunt of the responsibility, since Paul was enthusiastic about all the material in his effort to motivate the band to work. In short, there is really no way to understand the breakup of the greatest group of all time without reading this book. (And incidentally, I would not call these sessions "ill-fated"- they produced some wonderful music: "Let It Be," "Get Back," "The Long and Winding Road," "Two of Us" and "Across the Universe.")