I hadn't planned to have a Beatles post quite yet this year, but when I saw the new release announcement for Get Back (Rooftop Performance,) I couldn't help myself.
This recording is from their live January 30, 1969 performance atop their Apple Corps headquarters in London. It commemorates the 53rd anniversary of this event. There's also an accompanying theatrical debut exclusively in IMAX that I hope to see in the ensuing weeks.
As a huge Beatles fan for nearly thirty years, I was excited at seeing the news of a new release. I promptly stopped what I was listening to Friday, and switched over for a listen. This is my review of Get Back (Rooftop Performance).
First things first: I am not a fan of live albums for the most part. The album scale for me tips heavily in favor of studio albums over live albums. However, there are some exceptions which I hope to write about in the near future.
Secondly, if it is going to be a live album for me, I need it to be lean and free of filler: cleanly capturing the musicians playing along with their instruments.
The majority of this album is filled with alternate takes which makes me wonder whether this was a partial laziness experiment on behalf of Giles Martin and Sam Okell for the listener to decide which takes they like rather than decisively making the cuts before releasing the album:
These alternate track takes, while of a high caliber, are overall unnecessary even if arguing from a standpoint that it was an attempt to capture the sound of the band from different points of view on these tracks. It also seems like they needed to round out this recording as a baseline standard '10-track album'. The album itself is only 38 minutes, 32 seconds. Even with the alternate takes cut, this would make for a super lean, live album which, in my opinion, falls short for the sake of content. I dock the responsible parties several points for putting themselves in this half-baked predicament.
On a positive note, the songs and recording methods (including the alternate takes) sound excellent. The Beatles, in their final public appearance, are at the top of their game musically and instrumentally. Billy Preston, sometimes known affectionately as the "Fifth Beatle,” is heard on a number of tracks here when he accompanied the Fab Four on electric piano.
I've heard these songs many different times throughout the years and it is good to hear them here again even if in a live and 'documentary' environment. I won't go into griping detail of how this is another effort of Apple to commercialize on re-releasing their material. However, Apple is a business at heart and if they have the goods to back it up (which I think they do,) they have the rights to release what they want and consumers can choose to buy or not to buy.
Finally, The Beatles' relevance even today is a testament of their musical influence commercially, culturally, and musically. There's a reason why kids in the 90s were discovering and liking their parent's Beatles records after 30 plus years: it's good music and stands the test of time even over multiple generations. My crotchety Grandpa mentioned to me that The Beatles have "...a few pretty good songs." An unexpected statement from self-professed “hippie hater.” I'll never forget the time I was walking through our local mall in the mid-90s and saw a teenager wearing a black Beatles t-shirt. This same kid probably had a Nirvana shirt as well in his repertoire.
Readers: Are you a Beatles fan? Have you heard this release yet? Do you have a favorite Beatles album? Leave your response in the comment section here.
I maybe have only listened to one Beatles album all the way through, St. Pepper's. I clearly have more to listen to. Perhaps the March album choice for the Album Listening Club should be a Beatle's album?
ReplyDeleteI’d be up for that! I also have another pick as well.
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