Amazon.com.au:Customer reviews: The Beatles: Get Back

Top positive review

Watch the doco, read the book

Reviewed in Australia on 23 January 2022

I am not one of those people who collect books for coffee table display reasons......I read the books (gasp). Do watch the doco, and read this book either alongside or after. Great photos, though Linda's were not that flash compared to the other photographer.

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Mr. Denis J. O'Leary

It is OK

Reviewed in Australia on 28 November 2021

Nothing much new and a bit boring.

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Makara

An excellent, weighty tome but not quite what I thought it would be…

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 13 October 2021

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With all the hype surrounding the impending Peter Jackson film ‘Get Back’ (a substantially reworked, far more flattering version of the legendarily infamous Let It Be film) building amongst casuals and hardcore Beatles fans alike this sizeable, luxuriant hardback book provides a welcome starter before the gloriously HD main course later this year.

Originally scheduled for 2020 to coincide with Let it Be’s 50th Anniversary certain ‘viral’ themed difficulties delayed the project to 2021 - and naturally this book with it. Regardless, the prospect of a wealth of previously unreleased photographs and hours of never before seen footage from the sessions is a tantalising one that’ll undoubtedly be well worth the wait. Hopefully now, over half a century later the Beatles’ twilight months and final album (Let it Be was released after Abbey Road) can now receive the long overdue reappraisal it so obviously deserves…

The book itself was an automatic purchase for this longtime Beatles fan and, having now received it, I’m pleased that I did. Well for the most part. Indeed, I was relishing the promised surfeit of glossy photographs and accompanying text meticulously chronicling the album’s development… and the former at least has been amply fulfilled.

Unfortunately though the bulk of ‘Get Back’s’ text comprises copious transcripts of Beatles’ chatter recorded throughout the album’s strained genesis. Now no disrespect to John, Paul, George and Ringo but these snippets of rough, spontaneous dialogue weren’t always insightful, pithy or else informative!

Some will of course justifiably argue that contemporary band discourse presents a far more authentic account than research conducted by a professional author years after the fact ever could. I for one though would’ve definitely preferred a more cohesive, conventionally told story than morsels of inane dialogue.

On tangentially related note another reviewer has taken issue with the decision to utilise Hanif Kureishi to compose the book’s lengthy introduction. Well unlike him I have actually heard of the highly respected playwright (!) but have to echo his scepticism over Kureishi as a contributor and not someone closer, more qualified or else synonymous with the band. A strange, seemingly random choice though otherwise a very minor and inconsequential grumble all things considered.

CLOSING THOUGHTS:

For those familiar with the lavish 1970 Let it Be box set resplendent with glossy presentation book ‘Get Back’ presents itself as very much the latter’s spiritual (and substantially expanded) successor. It also has the added bonus of being made of more robust materials that won’t disintegrate after being opened more than twice, unlike the notoriously fragile original!

FINAL WORD:

The vast majority of Beatles fans won’t be disappointed with ‘Get Back’, the companion book, but just be mindful of what you’re buying…

9 people found this helpful

TOOLDFORTHIS

Top quality.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 11 November 2021

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Everything about this book oozes quality. The paper, the photographs...everything is top class. Apart from the forwards, the text is transcripts of what the fab four were filmed saying to each other and other assorted people so it reads a bit like a script. I'll see how I get on with it. A reference book that details the writing and performance of the songs it is not.

One person found this helpful

stephen

Thanks good book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 10 January 2022

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Nice book got for good price

simon.fiveash

Worth the money

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 15 October 2021

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Another good book full of loads of stuff.

Gilson Roberto de Oliveira Azevedo

O livro é bem feito e para fãs.

Reviewed in Brazil on 29 January 2022

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As duas bordas superiores vieram com dois amassados que não aconteceram no transporte, pois o livro veio muito bem protegido na sua embalagem.

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Richard Lamontagne

La beatlemanie est toujours active

Reviewed in Canada on 1 November 2021

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On se croirait en 1970 lorsque Let it be est sortie avec le livre photo.
Ce livre est plus complet mais il aurait dû sortir en même temps que le film de Peter Jackson dans un coffret
incluant les 3 films.

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Emiliano Aspas López

Me equivoqué. Quería la edición en castellano y la compre en ingles

Reviewed in Spain on 16 December 2021

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Hubiera querido devolverle el envío y recibir la edición en casywllano

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Paul Wetor

A Mixed Bag

Reviewed in the United States on 13 October 2021

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The book arrived today and I read it, skimming half of the text. While I am a huge Beatles fan, the transcript of conversations is a tough read. Maybe it's because they knew they were being recorded, or maybe it's group-speak that means little to outsiders. Or maybe it's because they were stoned half the time. Either way, if you are looking for a book where people speak in whole sentences, this is not that book. Much of the talk is trivial or filler. And this is the "good" stuff - imagine what they left out.

The pictures are nice. The movie stills are small, but the larger images make the book worthwhile.

That said, it's still interesting to read this and get a feel for what their work was like in the studio. Which is not easy, since you're missing the songwriting part, the audio itself, and the sound mixing. A few lines made me laugh out loud. Until the movie comes out on Disney+ I can only imagine what some of these clips actually sound like.

I have the original "Let It Be" movie on a bootleg DVD, but it was so boring I didn't watch most of it. Hopefully Peter Jackson does a better job. As this book shows, much of what they said was dull stuff. If you are looking for profound insight, you will be disappointed. At least you can skim it, which is hard to do with an audio recording.

Part of me thinks that the Beatles must have been crazy to even think of documenting their music-making. On the other hand, it makes for a historical document that doesn't exist for their earlier albums.

One thing I realized while reading the book: What, they started filming in January and expected to do a concert on the 18th? And it got pushed back to the 30th. So they basically whipped an album together in a month?! Granted, some songs had already been started, but what kind of group can go from raw to ready in a month? The Beatles, that's who. And when they didn't like the results, they made "Abbey Road for a September release. HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?! Today's groups can barely get one album out per year.

Some comments are notable, like George talking about doing his own album. When he briefly left the group, the rest had no trouble naming possible replacements. It must have been a shock to John and Paul when "All Things Must Pass" came out. Too bad George's later work was rather dismal. But it goes to show how much creativity there was just from being in each other's orbit. Even Ringo wrote a song. What a great ride they had, and what a great legacy they left us.

112 people found this helpful

Stephen D. Rader

Amazing book, slightly damaged in shipping

Reviewed in the United States on 15 October 2021

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I got this for my daughter, who is a huge Beatles fan. The book is wonderful but it was slightly damaged in shipping and that's why the 4 star review. It was shrink-wrapped and placed directly in the sizable box with no bubble wrap. And so the corners are a bit bent, but not enough for us to return it. It should be wrapped in bubble wrap when shipped.

15 people found this helpful

Nina Szeven

A nicely produced book with beautiful pictures...But...

Reviewed in the United States on 3 December 2021

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Overall this is a lovely book. The pictures are large, bright and clear. Transcriptions from the film(show) are an interesting concept. ***

However, with all of the living resources still available (witnesses & participants like Glyn Johns, Paul, RIngo, Michael Lindsay-Hogg, etc... ) I think that some text describing the bits in between the edits would have supplemented the film/show better.

- How did they all manage to convince George to return? (Can't we reveal that now?)

- What were the meetings Paul alluded to? Did they effect is attitude towards the project or his future with the band?

- What was John's experience presenting on the Stones film? He obviously seemed up-beat about meeting Allen Klein, but he expresses nothing about his experience filming Rock and Roll Circus or interacting with any of the massive notables who played. (Clapton, The Who, Jethro Tull & Brian Jones who died only a short time later)

- Why is George Martin so (nearly) invisible throughout the filming?

- Did Harrison ever get his selection of shoes presented by a shoe shop? (LOL)

Obviously Lindsay-Hogg's vision was of a film to document the making of the album and the "pay-off" concert. But other than the joyous reactions we see at listening to the rooftop playback, we really have no sense of "what happened next". Is there more footage? Did they just stop filming after the "reaction segment"? Was there a meeting discussing their feelings about it after it was done? How did the Beatles feel about the original edit for the "Let it Be" movie? (A film I found rather dour myself).

Ultimately, while most of us felt the "Let it Be" film explained a lot about the breakup of the band,. The "Get Back" film reopens the question for me.

Yes, George expresses in the film that he wants to put an album together of "his songs". But, while many people have assumed that this was the primary reason for the breakup, he was not the first to have done so. Lennon and Yoko had released three albums by 1969, McCartney had done the music for "The Family Way" film in 1967 (as well as writing, performing & producing records for others), Harrison, himself, had already released "Wonderwall" (1968) & "Electronic sound" (1969). Ringo too was obviously working on his two releases from 1970, "Sentimental Journey" and "Beaucoups of Blues". Solo projects were not a rarity for the band members and there seemed to be no obvious friction as a result of them.

Yes, the absence of Epstein left them without a "firm hand". But in the studio, they could have allowed George Martin to fill that role (as he had done to great effect in their early, scruffy, days).

In 51 yrs we have yet to have definitive answers. I'd hoped the book would fill some of the mysteries. I suppose, in the end, we might get a little more insight into this period when the biography of Mal Evans is published in 2023 & his archive (including diary) released 2024. But time is surely running out for us to get eye-witness accounts.

***NOTE: The QR code on the sleeve claims, "Scan code for bonus features". However, the resulting link is merely an advert to buy the book. - Ugh)

One person found this helpful

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