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Post by hoffa_nagila on Dec 3, 2021 20:34:07 GMT
Off the Beatles for a moment, I listened to Jesse Ed Davis' debut album this morning. He of course was Taj Mahal's guitarist (and ended up in the solo Beatles/Nilsson crowd for a little while in the drugged out 74-75 years.) The songs are hit or miss but it's a charming record all the same.
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Post by Chicken in Black on Dec 3, 2021 20:48:28 GMT
Davis was part of Taj Mahal's band in 1987 and played on the set by George Harrison, Bob Dylan and John Fogerty which happened in a LA club, aka the "Silver Wilburys" stuff.
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Post by Boozin' Susan on Dec 3, 2021 22:39:54 GMT
Off the Beatles for a moment, I listened to Jesse Ed Davis' debut album this morning. He of course was Taj Mahal's guitarist (and ended up in the solo Beatles/Nilsson crowd for a little while in the drugged out 74-75 years.) The songs are hit or miss but it's a charming record all the same. Your comment made me think of Taj Mahal’s Rock & Roll Circus performance (with Jesse Ed Davis on guitar): This might be the best thing to have come out of the R&RC.
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daved
Better than Steve
Posts: 10,648
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Post by daved on Dec 3, 2021 23:25:50 GMT
Sad he died so soon. They don’t get much tastier.
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Post by Boozin' Susan on Dec 4, 2021 11:16:10 GMT
I just watched Part 1.
IMO, Peter Jackson did the impossible: he had me sit through two hours of Twickenham material and I didn’t hate it.
First of all, the restoration process was pretty effing remarkable. I was impressed how modern technology was able to take grainy 16mm film and make it look as good as it does. I’ve tried to sit through Get Back bootlegs and can never last too long with them.
My biggest takeaways:
1) Yoko Ono was not the dragon lady history (and most SHites) has painted her to be. She usually just sat next to John and kept to herself. She wasn’t intrusive nor much of a distraction.
In fact, a few times she even demonstrated the very feminine cultural thing many Japanese women do of covering her mouth when she either laughed or yawned. It’s hard to think a woman is a bold and bossy bitch when she demurely covers her mouth like that.
2) George Harrison taking off was perfectly understandable. He seemed to abhor confrontation (a trait I share), so just leaving a situation where his ideas were largely ignored was the path of least resistance.
George was also the only one who wasn’t entertaining Michael Lindsay-Hogg’s whackadoodle concepts for the project.
I probably identified with George the most.
3) Michael Lindsay-Hogg started getting under my skin. Just shut the fuck up about the goddamn amphitheater idea already! My god, how many times does George Harrison have to say he doesn’t want to leave the country? (Kudos do go to MLH for shooting the original material…)
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Post by respiratoryproblems on Dec 4, 2021 11:23:29 GMT
I just watched Part 1. IMO, Peter Jackson did the impossible: he had me sit through two hours of Twickenham material and I didn’t hate it. First of all, the restoration process was pretty effing remarkable. I was impressed how modern technology was able to take grainy 16mm film and make it look as good as it does. I’ve tried to sit through Get Back bootlegs and can never last too long with them. My biggest takeaways: 1) Yoko Ono was not the dragon lady history (and most SHites) has painted her to be. She usually just sat next to John and kept to herself. She wasn’t intrusive nor much of a distraction. In fact, a few times she even demonstrated the very feminine cultural thing many Japanese women do of covering her mouth when she either laughed or yawned. It’s hard to think a woman is a bold and bossy bitch when she demurely covers her mouth like that. 2) George Harrison taking off was perfectly understandable. He seemed to abhor confrontation (a trait I share), so just leaving a situation where his ideas were largely ignored was the path of least resistance. George was also the only one who wasn’t entertaining Michael Lindsay-Hogg’s whackadoodle concepts for the project. I probably identified with George the most. 3) Michael Lindsay-Hogg started getting under my skin. Just shut the fuck up about the goddamn amphitheater idea already! My god, how many times does George Harrison have to say he doesn’t want to leave the country? (Kudos do go to MLH for shooting the original material…) There’s some parallels with what you’ve written and this Guardian article. It’s nice to read a perspective from someone other than the Hoofy fanatics. www.theguardian.com/music/2021/dec/02/the-beatles-get-back-peter-jackson-documentary
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daved
Better than Steve
Posts: 10,648
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Post by daved on Dec 4, 2021 11:27:56 GMT
Imagine WANTING the film to look as as shitty as it once did.
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Post by coddiwomple on Dec 4, 2021 11:34:29 GMT
Now I know what I want to do even less than watching 6 hours of a 50 year old band record one of their worst albums. Reading 6 hours of posts about it.
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Post by hoffa_nagila on Dec 4, 2021 17:30:01 GMT
Davis was part of Taj Mahal's band in 1987 and played on the set by George Harrison, Bob Dylan and John Fogerty which happened in a LA club, aka the "Silver Wilburys" stuff. He played on records by Harrison, Dylan, Lennon, and Ringo too. Just thought I'd highlight his solo album. It's a nice little lost gem from a guy best known as a sideman.
There's a CD called Red Dirt Boogie that compiles his first two albums (minus one song!!) plus two outtakes.
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Post by hoffa_nagila on Dec 6, 2021 21:51:45 GMT
I just watched Part 1. IMO, Peter Jackson did the impossible: he had me sit through two hours of Twickenham material and I didn’t hate it. First of all, the restoration process was pretty effing remarkable. I was impressed how modern technology was able to take grainy 16mm film and make it look as good as it does. I’ve tried to sit through Get Back bootlegs and can never last too long with them. My biggest takeaways: 1) Yoko Ono was not the dragon lady history (and most SHites) has painted her to be. She usually just sat next to John and kept to herself. She wasn’t intrusive nor much of a distraction. In fact, a few times she even demonstrated the very feminine cultural thing many Japanese women do of covering her mouth when she either laughed or yawned. It’s hard to think a woman is a bold and bossy bitch when she demurely covers her mouth like that. 2) George Harrison taking off was perfectly understandable. He seemed to abhor confrontation (a trait I share), so just leaving a situation where his ideas were largely ignored was the path of least resistance. George was also the only one who wasn’t entertaining Michael Lindsay-Hogg’s whackadoodle concepts for the project. I probably identified with George the most. 3) Michael Lindsay-Hogg started getting under my skin. Just shut the fuck up about the goddamn amphitheater idea already! My god, how many times does George Harrison have to say he doesn’t want to leave the country? (Kudos do go to MLH for shooting the original material…) If you don't mind, I wanna respond to this point by point (makes it easier to gather my thoughts!)
1) Having previously only listened to this session, it is so incredibly easy to forget that she was even there, save for a few exceptions where she did speak up. Otherwise, her presence is really not more notable than all the other crew and krishnas all around. It was also fun seeing her dance a bit in her chair. I've seen her perform some forty plus years after and she still moved the same way.
2) On some level, I can relate to McCartney. It's fucking difficult getting things done when not everyone is pulling their weight or following the lead. But why is he directing it at George when John is the one who deserves it. It's not necessarily apparent in the doc, but Paul's songs were so undeveloped at this point. Two Of Us, I've Got A Feeling, they didn't have a set structure. We get to see what it's like a bit during the scene where they are working on Let It Be and Paul plays parts a bit too fast to match the rest of the band. Well that's how all the songs were at this point and playing them through a dozen times wasn't working since they would come out a dozen different ways, none really an improvement over the last. This is the same band that used to learn a new song right before a session and walk away with a finished record. Now they can't figure out 5 or 6 songs over a week?
George couldn't possibly flourish in this set up. Paul is practically telling him not to play at all, never gives him much of a chance to develop and craft his bits. Another example pulling from the very last day of the sessions is when, after finishing Let It Be, there is audio of George messing around on guitar and his starts playing some bits that are far more exciting than the original solo. Thankfully he did do his overdubs later because the solo he originally performed is so unremarkable.
3) MLH is so wonderfully annoying. He adds to the already serious tension tremendously. He becomes more of a background character once they move to Apple. By that point, all the traveling abroad stuff is very nearly put to bed, moods are improved, deadlines and performances aren't as big of a concern, and the band is back to making a record. His youthful and twerpy pretentiousness is such a stark contrast to Glyn Johns, a hip and in touch guy who is damn near a rock star in his own right.
I loved seeing the Yoko jam, however brief the included part was. The handheld, wild footage suited it perfectly. Plenty of other little moments where I laughed or smiled. Sure, there were a few small bits that I wished were included, like when Lennon demonstrates how Don't Let Me Down takes from Send Me Some Lovin', or him declaring that Dick James is a fascist bum. But otherwise I think the first 7 days were well represented! The pacing was just right, never feeling like anything important was being rushed or glossed over.
I've seen criticism regarding the poor syncing between audio and visual in part one. It was distracting at times and I'm glad to know that this issue apparently does not carry over into the next two parts.
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Post by antiram on Dec 7, 2021 2:16:56 GMT
I think that seeing this doc helped crystallize what I suspected about George Harrison all along. He just wasn't very good. The surprising thing was that he knew it (and Paul and John seemed to know it too). The evidence has always been out there; the best guitar playing on Beatles songs ("You Can't Do That", "Ticket to Ride", "She Said She Said", "Taxman", "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", "Good Morning Good Morning", "It's All Too Much", "Revolution", "Back in the USSR", "While My Guitar Gently Weeps") was by McCartney or Lennon (and Eric Clapton). At one point, George compares himself to Clapton and admits he can't improvise or do what Clapton does. He can't help McCartney with his arrangement because he can't play what McCartney is asking for.
I can feel for George (who was proficient enough on guitar to add something good to a song, but not good enough to contribute anything really original or striking), although again, by his own admission in the film he seldom practiced his guitar, so the blame rests mostly on him. He downplayed his own guitar playing for most of his solo career too, and what little there was was not especially inspiring. I do think he finally achieved a nice tone and shape in the late 70's that he didn't stick with unfortunately, but by then he was mostly a spent force.
I can also feel for McCartney, who really wasn't asking for a whole lot but was met by a rather petulant George. How about a little less whining and a little more guitar, George? Isn't that what you are here for?
One thing I found interesting was in the hidden mic recording where Lennon accused Paul of forcing his arrangements on Lennon, and Lennon saying he acceded to Paul's suggestions because he was "scared" to disagree. I do bet that working with McCartney is not easy (and departed Wings members and some of his producers have said as much), but I thought Lennon was the type to stand up to him. Instead Lennon sounded pretty insecure, and that little conversation really reshaped how I viewed their dynamic. So, I can see how George wouldn't have been able to deal with McCartney either by the end.
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bradman
Better than Steve
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Post by bradman on Dec 7, 2021 11:18:43 GMT
That dynamic completely changed, as well. What was once John's Band with him up front as the leader became Paul's Band almost overnight. Clearly, once the group was a big business and going concern, Lennon was in no way equipped for the Captain's Chair. So he retreated, disappearing into his mansion, consuming heroic amounts of drugs, and relinquishing all forms of command. By the timeframe of this documentary, he's merely a sideman, struggling to come up with his share of the work.
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Post by respiratoryproblems on Dec 15, 2021 11:53:28 GMT
Second episode is much better. The two standout moments are
I) watching that lad’s face as he’s stood by Paul playing the piano running through Martha My Dear and casually trying out Back Seat Of My Car, and he looks like he’s in heaven. He doesn’t ask him who sang the aaahs on A Day In The Life or dull shitey questions, he’s just happy to be there.
II) The moment Billy Preston starts playing. Everything just instantly clicks.
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bradman
Better than Steve
Posts: 5,159
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Post by bradman on Dec 15, 2021 12:57:03 GMT
Third episode is the best of the three.
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Post by hoffa_nagila on Dec 15, 2021 14:52:23 GMT
Second episode is much better. The two standout moments are I) watching that lad’s face as he’s stood by Paul playing the piano running through Martha My Dear and casually trying out Back Seat Of My Car, and he looks like he’s in heaven. He doesn’t ask him who sang the aaahs on A Day In The Life or dull shitey questions, he’s just happy to be there. II) The moment Billy Preston starts playing. Everything just instantly clicks. I've also gotten through part two and I continue to be impressed with how the doc manages to portray the sessions so well despite only featuring 10% of the audio. In particular, the mood at Twickenham while Harrison was gone is nailed perfectly. Peter Jackson and company did a great job.
I also got a kick out of the India section. Hearing Paul discuss the films he watched of them the night before play over the clips was a really neat bit. Adding in the "John Lennon Productions" title to go along with Lennon's joke was a cute touch too. I'd love to see an official sanctioned documentary of the Beatles in India. No need to be anything close to this Get Back doc but it'd be nice to see something done with the footage, and apparently audio too. I believe there was a TV doc done on their trip to India using newsreels and talking heads which was pretty forgettable. (There was also a TV doc on Lennon that almost certainly was the inspiration for the much better US vs John Lennon.)
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