Palama wrote:I’m in the midst of watching too but for various reasons, only able to view it in 30-45 minute segments. Wifey thinks it’s booooring as hell too but she’s obviously wrong.
I like to focus on George and Ringo to see how the discord between John and Paul affected them. George’s “I will play what and how you want, or I will not play at all if that’s what you want” outburst must have been building up for some time. And Ringo quit the group once before, did he ever feel that he should have stayed an ex-member?
Mine feels the same way too. 15 minutes in and she was like, "Where's the concert?". I've been watching this in about the same time constraints too but only because I back them up and rewatch a lot of little pieces to catch them. So far I've been able to pick about 8 songs in rough state that went on to become Beatles songs or solo material for them.
George was severely underused in the Beatles. The "Teapot" segment details how both John and Paul would relegate him to do their bidding...when and where...at least John had the guts to admit it and Paul said they should stop it. The damage was already done in George's mind though. He was through and his earliest solo work was a logjam of his ideas that were NEVER going to see the light of day with the Beatles. Kind of reminds me of the same mistake another iconic 70's band would make...and later regret...in believing their own hype and thinking other band members didn't contribute as much...hint, Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley.
To me the dynamics were right there for all to see, including the Beatles. They had done everything. Once you climb Mt. Everest what pinnacle do you seek to ascend? They pretty much did it through skill, hard work (circa the Hamburg years) and dogged determination. They KNEW they were good. They just needed a megaphone to announce it to the world.
The Beatles for me take many stages...Pop, Rock and Psychedelic Rock and a case could be made for Heavy Metal with "Helter Skelter". That's an awful lot of ground to cover and they did it masterfully. Sometimes, I read the lyrics alone as poetry and it stands up to some of the all time greats just in that regard. To watch behind the scenes interaction between them all was my Christmas gift watching this. It answered a lot of what I knew of them and it begs questions I've NEVER heard anyone ask any of them. They were breaking up and that's clear from this. It was just a matter of who's "shoulders" they were going to pin it on. John dragging Yoko to recording sessions (which Paul states NEVER happened before...only band members 8 hours a day) was used as the excuse. Nobody said no to John and John didn't put a lid on it when it was just plain obnoxious. Almost in the same manner nobody told Elvis to stop taking pills. Nobody was going to stop the insanity. The train has to go off track. I've now gone back to the 1st episode because I'm still finding little crumbs here and there. I put subtitles on even. I've always admired Peter Jackson's dogged perfection in his work and I think nobody but him could've put all of this down like he did.