224A: The Making of Get Back part one with Peter Jackson

Well, it’s finally here. Worth the wait? Oh, we think so! But before we get into discussions on SATB about what we thought about it, we thought it would be worthwhile to discuss the making of it – the intent behind it; the goals; the challenges; the nuts-and-bolts – with someone who worked on it. To that end, a listener in New Zealand offered himself up as a guest who could offer an insight or two.

My co-host for this one is Dan Rivkin (They May Be Parted), who of course is one of the leading scholars on this material, presented on his blog. Normally, Dr. Duncan Driver would be part of the discussion too, but he had beg off with such short notice. (We’ll have him back next time…)

Meanwhile, we hope that this – presented in three parts (in the grand tradition of Peter Jackson)  – will suffice.

0 thoughts on “224A: The Making of Get Back part one with Peter Jackson”

  1. Great interview with Peter Jackson, thank you!

    My question is if there is no extended cut, as Disney does not think extended cuts sell, there are rumors of an 18 hour director cut. How will that become available? If Disney owns all of the film and rights, will Apple be able to sell this?

  2. Fascinating conversation here, and great to hear the some of the reasoning behind Jackson’s editorial decisions. In respect of the “alcohol” intake, I think Sulpy didn’t always appreciate the use of the word “pissed”; as Englishmen, the Beatles would say “pissed” meaning drunk, but if they said “pissed off”, that would be more in line with the American meaning of “pissed” ie I’m angry. Paul (on day 2) is drinking Pale Ale whilst going through All Things Must Pass and he looks like the booze is sending him to sleep !! I am a little confused regarding the point at which George left. I always thought all 4 Beatles went off to lunch together, and, upon their return, George left at that point. It’s interesting the way Lennon reacts to George’s departure; he’s almost defiant about it, almost like a “so what if he’s gone, we’ll survive without him” !! Peter Jackson did say that his first cut he completed was 18 hours long but subsequently he edited down to the final cut of under 8 hours. Personally, I’d love to see the 18 hour cut !.

  3. Fascinating conversation here, and great to hear the some of the reasoning behind Jackson’s editorial decisions. In respect of the “alcohol” intake, I think Sulpy didn’t always appreciate the use of the word “pissed”; as Englishmen, the Beatles would say “pissed” meaning drunk, but if they said “pissed off”, that would be more in line with the American meaning of “pissed” ie I’m angry. I am a little confused regarding the point at which George left. I always thought all 4 Beatles went off to lunch together, and, upon their return, George left at that point. It’s interesting the way Lennon reacts to George’s departure; he’s almost defiant about it, almost like a “so what if he’s gone, we’ll survive without him” !! Peter Jackson did say that his first cut he completed was 18 hours long but subsequently he edited down to the final cut of under 8 hours. Personally, I’d love to see the 18 hour cut !.

  4. I have now watched all 3 episodes of Get Back twice! The second time going slowly and makng notes. This is the best music documentary I have ever seen! The fact that its the BEATLES , makes it that but the way we get to watch their creative process is a fantasy come true for me. Just incredible. Thank you Peter Jackson for giving us the privilege! And thanks the Michael Lindsay-Hogg and his crew for the incredible footage kept in storage all these years. Love SATB! Great interview I will be listening for more.

  5. Hi, I am loving the Peter Jackson interviews and loved the documentary.
    Yes, I would enjoy an extended version.
    Did anyone catch the “typo” in episode one?
    When the doc opened with a retrospective of the Beatles’ career. It mentioned Ringo joining the band and then Brian Epstein came on board.
    My understanding was that Brian joined the fray while Pete Best was still the drummer. In fact, I believe it was Brian who had to actually fire Pete.
    A minor point but, hey.

  6. Robert mentioned that Lennon re-sang his vocal for Don’t Let Me Down. So, the title card in the film that that version was the single version was actually a bit wrong.

    However, Lewisohn has no record of Lennon going in and redoing his vocal. In fact, as explained on some website, his vocal was improved by bringing in some vocal bits from other takes (probably from the same day).

    Paul didn’t like the way the Get Back single was sounding. So he went in and changed that with Glynn Johns on April 7 at Olympic Sound Studios. At the same time, they remixed the Don’t Let Me Down. I imagine Paul and Glynn did the remix of Don’t Let Me Down together. If you listen to the separated vocals, yes, there is some double tracking and Lennon does scream over himself too.

    And it may actually be Paul who sings that extended “Heeee-eeee” thing instead of “Don’t Let Me Down” in the last chorus (before the Billy solo ending). If you listen to the separated audio (band camp), it isn’t exactly clear who is singing that.

    So if Robert did say Lennon re-sang it, he needs to be corrected as well. If I’m misremembering this, apologies.

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