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The Beatles · S10 E1
The Get Back Sessions
Twickenham Film Studios, January 1969. Cameras rolling, tensions exploding, George walking out. An attempt to get back to basics that nearly destroys them
January 2, 1969. The Beatles arrive at Twickenham Film Studios on a freezing Thursday morning, cameras already rolling, with a plan to rehearse fourteen new songs, perform them live on television, and film the whole thing for a documentary. Within ten days, the project is falling apart.
"I've Got a Feeling" (The Beatles, rooftop concert, 1969). Five floors above Savile Row, wind blowing through their hair, the Beatles play one of their last songs together. Paul's exuberant verse and John's weary "Everybody had a hard year" section crash into each other, two songwriters telling completely different stories over the same music. It's the entire relationship in three minutes.
I've Got a Feeling, The Beatles (1969)
The song is actually two separate fragments welded together: Paul's half is a driving, optimistic rock song about Linda Eastman, while John's half, "Everybody Had a Hard Year," is a weary litany of personal pain. In the rooftop performance, the two halves collide in the final section, with Paul and John singing different lyrics simultaneously over the same chord progression. Listen for how the band locks in during those final bars: four musicians who can barely stand to be in the same room playing with total telepathy.
Sources
Lewisohn, Mark. "The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions." Hamlyn, 1988.
Jackson, Peter. "The Beatles: Get Back." Apple Corps/Disney+, 2021.
Twickenham
The idea comes from Paul: get back to basics, no overdubs, no studio tricks, just the four of them playing live like they used to. Film it, broadcast it, prove the Beatles are still a real band. The problem is the venue: Twickenham is a massive, cold film soundstage with no atmosphere, and the cameras capture everything.
Sources
Jackson, Peter. "The Beatles: Get Back." Apple Corps/Disney+, 2021.
Sulpy, Doug and Schweighardt, Ray. "Get Back: The Unauthorized Chronicle." St. Martin's Griffin, 1997.
“If we don't get back together, it's like the school holidays. You know, it's like going back to school. We've got to accept that we're individuals.”
— John Lennon
TAP TO REVEAL: Why did George Harrison walk out?
Twickenham Film Studios, London
The cold, cavernous soundstage where the Get Back sessions began in January 1969, and where the cameras captured the Beatles at their lowest point as a functioning band.
The Get Back Sessions
The Long and Winding Road, The Beatles (1970)
Paul wrote this at his Scottish farm during one of the lowest points in the band's relationship. The original Get Back session version was sparse and beautiful, just Paul on piano with the band backing gently. When Phil Spector later overdubbed a full orchestra and choir without Paul's knowledge or consent, McCartney was so furious he cited it as one of the reasons for leaving the Beatles.
The Long and Winding Road, The Beatles (1970)
"The long and winding road that leads to your door will never disappear." Paul has always said the song is about a literal road near his Scottish farmhouse, High Park, on the Mull of Kintyre. But the lyric reads like a letter to someone who's already gone, and it's hard not to hear it as Paul mourning the band while they're still technically together. The 2003 Let It Be... Naked album finally restored Paul's original stripped-down vision, without the Spector strings.
Which musician joined the Get Back sessions and was so good John wanted to make him a Beatle?
January 30, 1969. Someone suggests playing on the roof. Within an hour, the Beatles are setting up their equipment five floors above Savile Row, and for 42 minutes they give London the most unexpected concert in rock history.
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