Customer Reviews

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

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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 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.")

It's fascinating to have a look inside the Beatles' creative process, especially at such a contentious time. However, this was hardly one of the Beatles' great moments musically. If only we could have a similar view inside the creation of, say, "Sgt. Pepper." The scattershot, disinterested attitude of the Beatles themselves in this case turns what would otherwise be an asset-- the book's structure of listing, bit by bit, exactly what the Beatles recorded each day --into a serious liability. Do we really need to know how many times they went through half-hearted rehearsals of already-written songs? The authors' dull reportorial style would be a problem in any case. And is it really necessary to know about every conversation any of the Beatles had? (And it's all in paraphrases. Is there some legal reason why the authors couldn't use direct quotes?) By giving everything equal weight, the authors miss the forest for the trees. A thematic overview, fortified with quotes, might have meant more. All in all, the book is useful for Beatles diehards like me, but hardly essential.

Be forewarned: this is not light reading for the casual Beatles fan. What it is is one of the most stunning examples of scholarship yet exhibited on the Beatles: a finely crafted piece of detective work, one that reconstructs an entire month of Beatles recording sessions and places the available bits and pieces of tape in their proper historical perspective. The focus is tight and meticulous, and so is the research. Far from being a "mere paraphrase of available bootlegs," the authors spent hours upon hours piecing together the "Get Back" puzzle from what was previously a jumbled mess of fragmented bootlegs. The bootlegs are still jumbled and fragmented, but they are no longer a mess. Indeed, the entire Beatles collecting community has quickly adopted this book's method of cataloguing the sundry performances, and you cannot refer seriously to a moment from these sessions without quoting Sulpy and Schweigardt. That, to me, is the most simple and eloquent testimony to the worth of this book. In short, the book is a dense and sometimes tedious micro-examination of one month of the Beatles' lives. But that month was, by its very nature, dense and tedious. The authors cannot change the monotony of that history, they can only explain it. They do it eloquently, with a book that not only serves the collector's community by helping identify stray performances, but one that contains an identifiable dramatic arc as the tensions between the bandmembers flare and fizzle, as the group literally disentegrates before our ears. If you are a die-hard, hardcore Beatles fan, you cannot find a more entertaining way to get to know "the boys" better than to obtain a large number of "Get Back" bootlegs and listen while you're reading this book. It is an experience that will never be forgotten.

This was a big part in why they broke up, but it was a couple of events, Paul going behind the band's back, not signing to have Allen Klein represent them, then suing them that really caused a rift.

You hear Paul trying to keep things together as he had been since Brian died, but it just comes across that they're in a place that isn't giving them much inspiration, and John and George are barely there. George Martin is nowhere to be seen, someone who had been their sounding board and pushed their creative buttons.

The friction with Paul against George and John is heard on the bootleg tapes. None of which made it on to "Let It Be...Naked" but is pretty important stuff. Hearing John yelling at Paul "it's you who's doing it" and George cursing and unplugging his guitar is classic. Paul was known to grab George's instrument and talk down to him, and had gotten on Ringo's kit.

Regardless of what happened at these sessions, it wasn't really over, but it was set in motion. In the coming months they would work on "Abbey Road" and finish up some of the "Let It Be" mixes. The promo for "Something" and the final photo shoots (Abbey Road and Hey Jude album covers) showed 4 very different people ready to move on.

Even when they broke up, they were all known to defend each other against the press and even close friends and associates even if they bad mouthed each other up to when Lennon died.

I do agree that the book is better read when you're listening to the tapes.

This book offered a unique glimpse inside the "Let it Be" sessions, covering far more ground than the documentary film. The authors document each rehearsal session, and describe how songs were crafted and the individual writing styles of each Beatle. The conversations during these sessions are also documented in the book. These were quite illuminating in deciding why and how the Beatles broke up. You will not find this information anywhere else but in this book. As a reader of over 25 books on The Beatles, I can recommend this book as a truly fresh look on a well-covered subject.

When I got this book, my wife became a Beatles' widow for two weeks. I spent many happy hours combing through all of the session details. The "Get Back / Let It Be" period was the best-documented period of the Beatles' recording career. However, until the release of this book, most of the material was hidden on obscure bootlegs. The authors put in innumerable hours of detective work to piece together this coherent picture of a great band being destroyed by drugs, divorce, and a slipping image.

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 :)

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.

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.