Beatles Get Back 22: January 31

With seven minutes left of Part 3, today’s calendar is marked “LAST DAY”. At the sound of the clapper the music starts (a cover of the railroad tune “Take This Hammer”) and we go to split-screen to accommodate the credits.

Anything would be an anti-climax after the complete rooftop gig, but that shouldn’t suggest their work today was less than important. With appropriate mood lighting in the Apple basement studio, this day was devoted to capturing usable takes of “Two Of Us”, “The Long And Winding Road”, and “Let It Be”, which were not performed on the roof. Paul sings each of these songs directly to the camera, in the same spirit as the “Hey Jude” promo. (A complete take of each will be featured in the Let It Be film, sequenced before the rooftop portion.)

For “Two Of Us”, Paul is standing with his acoustic, while George is seated on the amps in front of Ringo’s drums, now on a riser. We can also see that Paul’s Rickenbacker bass has been sanded down to the bare wood, removing the psychedelic design we saw only days earlier. He’s even sanded away some of the horn on the body, much closer to how it would look onstage throughout the ‘70s with Wings. John is seated on the floor facing Paul, Yoko at his side. There’s a lovely split-screen effect that shows John and Paul harmonizing on the verse. (As the captions confirm, this is the same take of “Two Of Us” that will open the Let It Be album.) In between takes we get jokey snatches of “Ten Feet High And Rising”, “Friendship”, and “Run For Your Life”.

For “The Long And Winding Road”, George is back in his usual chair near to Paul at the piano, while John is in the same spot on the floor but now playing the Fender VI bass. Billy is across at the electric keyboards. We don’t see or hear a complete take of this—tellingly, George is still fuzzy on the chords—though one of them was included on Let It Be… Naked in 2003.

They’re in the same positions for “Let It Be”, and the wine has come out. We observe several false starts and reel changes; at one point John asks, “Are we supposed to giggle in the solo?” Paul replies, “Yeah.” The visuals show us that such ribbing was good-natured, as they’re all smiling at each other. That said, for the take that will be used for the single and eventual album (in different mixes), John is shown comically mouthing the words to the first verse along with Paul, who can’t see him from where he’s sitting. By now John has also removed his denim jacket, and we can even see Ringo swaying his arms dramatically along with John and George’s “ooh”s before the drums start. (It’s also nice to finally have the film synced to the sound, so the notes George plays match up with his fingers—unlike the major glitch in the Let It Be film.)

As the final notes fade, George Martin and Glyn agree that that was the take. Paul wants to “do one more, just to cover ourselves… ‘cos we know we’ve got it now.” We fade to black, and John gets the last word: “We’ve got so many of the bastards.”

Beatles Get Back 21: January 30

The onscreen calendar is circled for today, with “ROOFTOP CONCERT” written in pen. The captions explain the camera setup: five on the roof, one across the street, three at street level, and one said to be “hidden” in the lobby of the Apple building. Hilariously, George Martin sees this camera as soon as he walks in and smirks at it. He will be down in the basement control room with Glyn, connected to the rooftop via recording cables and a closed-circuit television camera—high-tech sh-t for the time.

While all this is being set up, the captions explain that the Beatles are in a meeting, still undecided about playing on the roof. They also introduce receptionist Debbie Wellum and doorman Jimmy Clark—sporting quite the mod hairstyle—who will be prominent throughout today’s footage. Down in the street it’s lunch hour, with heavy automobile traffic and pedestrians moving about. Being January in London it’s cold, and windy, but not frigid; reports say it was a relatively mild winter.

Suddenly, Paul appears in the doorway leading onto the roof, which is covered with long wooden planks to support all the people and equipment. He’s followed shortly by Ringo and Maureen, then Billy. Ringo gets to work moving his drums, suggesting that Mal “nailed me down in the wrong place” as George and John appear. The onstage setup is slightly different from how they used to do concerts, and even from the “Revolution” promo clip; Paul is basically in front of Ringo, with John to his left and George on the other side of John. Billy is at the electric piano to Paul’s right, by the door. Yoko is seated at the side next to Maureen, Chris O’Dell, and Apple Records exec Ken Mansfield. (Apple “house hippie” and press liaison Richard DiLello’s fuzzy head can be glimpsed briefly in the doorway.) There is a Hohner keyboard set up behind George, but it will not be used.

After a quick count-off, they launch into a quick rehearsal of “Get Back”, intercut with crowd reaction. The people on the street can hear the music, and see some of the light towers at the top of the building, but they can’t see the band from that angle. However, spectators are gathering on neighboring buildings to watch.

Here Jackson’s edit begins to switch in and out of split-screen to utilize as many camera angles as possible, on the roof as well as in the street. John impatiently says, “Come on, youse idiots,” and George counts off the first full performance of “Get Back”. Before the first chord change, Paul breaks into a wide grin that stays for the entire song. We can see Kevin digging the sound too, and Maureen is happily bopping her head, just as she likely did back when they played the Cavern every lunchtime.

They cut filming on the roof to adjust sound levels, and the cameras on the street capture reactions from pedestrians, which are mostly positive. The sound presumably sorted out, and the band suitably warmed up—except for John, who blows on his chilled fingers any chance he gets—they go into another performance of “Get Back”. They’re all smiling, even George, and moving to the rhythm.

A terrific performance of “Don’t Let Me Down” with full three-part harmonies is arguably marred when John completely garbles the first line of the third verse. The split-screen shows George and Michael both laughing at this, and then Ringo. John recovers for the next line, in perfect sync with Paul’s harmony. (This remains our absolute favorite performance of this song.) We also hear the first negative comment on the street, specifically about the volume of the music, and two policemen make their way up the steps to the Apple lobby. One is identified as PC Ray Dagg; the Internet tells us that his official title was Police Constable 574C, and that he was all of 19 years old. The other is PC Ray Shayler, PC 637C and a veteran at 25.

The band goes straight into “I’ve Got A Feeling” as the police knock on the front door of the building; it is, after all, private property and they can’t just barge in. While the song plays on the left frame, in the right frame PC Dagg explains to Jimmy that there have been “30 complaints in the past half-hour”—which is odd because they’ve only been playing for ten minutes—about the alleged “breach of peace”. He doesn’t realize that they’re on the roof; he thinks they’re just being loud. Debbie the receptionist plays dumb, saying they’re trying to find Derek Taylor. (This is the take of “I’ve Got A Feeling” that will open side two of the Let It Be album, which is one thing Phil Spector got right.)

Paul acknowledges the cheers from across the street, and John, George, and even Ringo approach the edge of the roof to see all the people gathered on the pavement below. In the background, we see Jimmy talking with Mal, Michael, and Peter Brown, who’s been lurking in the doorway. In the street, a vicar gives his endorsement, while younger folks express their varying approval and disapproval, and one older woman straight out of a Monty Python sketch complains she was woken from her sleep.

Tony works the clapper for the cameras, and it’s right into “One After 909” as Apple exec Ron Kass appears in the background; George Martin can be seen at one point as well. This take is one of the very few of all the versions, in 1969 as well as 1963, where John didn’t screw up the bridge back to the verse. Glyn chose it to open his proposed Get Back LP, and Phil Spector would include it on the Let It Be album, directly after “I’ve Got A Feeling” and with the closing “Danny Boy” ad-lib intact.

Down in the lobby, PC Dagg is on the phone to the police station for reinforcements, while John looks for the words to “Dig A Pony”. They’re on a clipboard, but there’s no music stand available, so Kevin will be immortalized on film kneeling at John’s feet holding the lyrics for him to see. Before the song starts, Mal is down in the lobby appealing to the police, and only after this do the bobbies realize the band is on the roof in the open air, and PC Dagg gets back on the phone.

After a false start because Ringo hasn’t put out his cigarette, they kick into “Dig A Pony”. When included on the Let It Be album, this false start will be included, as well as John’s closing comment about his hands getting too cold, but the sung “all I want is” intro will be edited out. Meanwhile, more pedestrians in the street express their enjoyment, and Mal tells the police in the lobby that he’s lowered the PA volume. (Apple publicist Jack Oliver can also be seen briefly in the roof doorway.)

George suggests they play “Dig It”, of all things, while the camera shows more support from Beatle fans of all ages at street level. To accommodate a tape change in the basement, the band jams on “God Save The Queen”, heard (and seen) here for the first time ever. Once film and sound are in sync again, they have another pass at “I’ve Got A Feeling”. George is more vocally audible on this one, and he adds some extra guitar flourishes to John’s jumbled verse. There’s a wonderful moment where we see the band playing from six angles simultaneously, just like a Zoom call. John sings “everybody must get stoned” over the similar closing chords, and adds a line from “A Pretty Girl Is Like A Melody” after the last beat.

The band starts “Get Back” again, but John wants to do “Don’t Let Me Down”, so they start that again just as Mal leads the policemen onto the roof. The boys notice them, and it’s a raucous performance, but John’s voice is starting to go. Downstairs, Sgt. David Kendrick walks across Savile Row and knocks on the door. Once inside, the politest police officer in the history of the free world asks if some of his colleagues are about. When told they’re on the roof, he asks everyone in the lobby if they’d object to him joining them up there. They don’t, and he heads for the lift.

As soon as the final chord fades, George charges the band right into “Get Back” again. Mal makes his way behind Ringo and switches off George’s amp, then John’s, while Ringo, Paul, and Billy keep playing. Presumably some choice words are exchanged, and George leans over to turn his amp back on. Seemingly defeated, Mal turns John’s amp back on as well, and the song continues interrupted.

Downstairs, the man who says he owns the building across the street is complaining about the camera crew on his roof. By now several people are gathered in the doorway on the Apple roof, and we’ve only just noticed Ethan taking photos over by George. Paul ad-libs lyrics about Loretta’s mother having her arrested for playing on roofs again. As soon as the song ends, Paul removes his bass and the others follow suit. Maureen can be heard cheering, spurring Paul to say, “Thanks, Mo.” John intones his immortal line about passing the audition to much laughter. (This quip would close both the Let It Be album and film; Glyn would include it at the close of “One After 909” on his proposed Get Back album lineup.)

The captions tell us this was their final live performance. It lasted approximately 38 minutes.

The band and entourage crowd through the doorway to leave the roof, while Michael instructs the cameras to get more shots of the environment. Meanwhile, the police work on dispersing the crowd in the street.

Linda has joined them in the control room, as they discuss the possible legal ramifications they may have had to face. George Martin is pleased with the performance, and thinks it’s a good “dry run” for further events. George Harrison suggests they start putting rock groups on top of every building in London “playing the same tune.” The scene cuts to a montage of those gathered listening to a playback of the gig, including an edit to the middle of the first “Don’t Let Me Down” where John blew the lyrics; George’s reaction to this moment is priceless.

Everyone is energized, and they intend to break for lunch, then gather in the basement to attempt to continue the show by recording the songs they didn’t get to. However, as the captions tell us, it would take far too long for the necessary equipment to be brought all the way downstairs from the roof, so they decide to do those songs tomorrow.

Beatles Get Back 20: January 29

Michael begins the day by asking how many songs the band thinks they’ll be able to play on the roof; Ringo estimates six. John continues to enthuse about Allen Klein, a man Glyn calls “very strange” and doesn’t appear to trust. Ringo calls Klein “a con man who’s on our side for a change.”

Paul’s not part of this conversation, but we do see him in the studio space discussing The Big Show with Michael, who still thinks they need an actual audience to perform at their best, while Ringo kindly informs those assembled that he’s passed gas. Paul still seems hesitant to commit to a rooftop performance, as he’s afraid that once they’ve done that, the group will dissipate into their own corners again. Basically, he doesn’t want it to end—he’d like the performance for the show to be the start of further, similar performances, rather than just churning out albums every year. He even seems to snap at George Martin when the producer tries to mollify him.

Paul keeps bringing up their club days, and the drive they had then. John reiterates that they’ve only got about six songs ready at this point, and that they’d need more time to get up to the fourteen he feels is the ideal number for an album, and enough for a set in a concert setting. George, who has also started smoking cigars, agrees by pointing out that such preparation would “take months”. It’s mentioned for the first time in several days that Ringo will shortly be tied up filming his movie away from the others, so that’s why there’s this deadline for the rooftop show—if they’re really going to do it, that is.

Paul finally confirms that the original idea for the project was to be a TV show promoting the White Album, but somehow it evolved into being filmed rehearsing all new songs. Once again their own ambition has thrust them ahead of themselves.

George asks how many songs are considered “good enough” at this point, to which John replies, “None.” While his oversized sunglasses detract from the gravitas, Glyn insightfully points out that their own approach to the grind of playing the songs over and over clouds the fact that they’ve already done the songs well.

It’s interesting to see that John accepts their differing perspectives as beneficial to the project, and the band, as a whole, while Paul is still itching for some kind of structure to keep them on track. And after all this, Ringo says he’d like to play on the roof, and that’s what incites Paul and George into deciding to do it after all, for now anyway. (John was already keen to play up there.) George Martin hands over a list of the songs they’ve been piling up, and they realize just how much they truly have under their belts—enough for an album already.

We cut to a jam on “Dig It”, where the lyrics consist of the very song titles they’ve amassed. We see Paul’s brother Michael—sometimes known as Mike McGear—reading a copy of Billboard while “playing” the closed lid of the grand piano. The brothers head out for lunch together, but stop in the control room so Mike can hear some of the tunes that have been mixed so far. This means Paul doesn’t hear George float his idea of doing a solo album of the songs he’s piled up, to “get them all out the way” and not try to fob them off for other people to do, so he can continue to contribute to the Beatles without trying cram his songs in. John is all for it; Billy and Yoko agree.

Paul has returned from lunch and is playing the Hawaiian while John and Billy jam on the “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” chords with lyrics around the “I have a dream” theme of racial equality. It’s a fun jam, and Billy switches from electric piano to organ and back while stopping to light cigarettes. “Two Of Us” is rehearsed with John and Paul singing through comically clenched teeth a la bad ventriloquists. (Also performed today but not included in Jackson’s edit were “Besame Mucho”, as seen in the Let It Be film, and a plodding cover of Buddy Holly’s “Mailman Bring Me No More Blues”, which was mixed for the aborted 1985 Sessions LP of Beatles outtakes and officially included on Anthology 3.)

As they pack up to leave, Paul still seems wary about playing on the roof tomorrow. John suggests they play the Albert Hall, which Ringo agrees to. They say goodbye to Mike, who’s looking through one of the cameras, while George chats with Jackie Lomax.

Beatles Get Back 19: January 28

As the camera catches Linda unawares in the control room, Michael asks George Martin his opinion on which songs could be best performed on the roof, under the assumption that Paul’s piano songs won’t be among them. Meanwhile, in the studio the boys are still ruminating whether they should be concentrating on songs they could perform for The Big Show or focus on making an album. John, who appears to have finally washed his hair, feels today they should work on “the ones that are all in pieces” and also “do one of George’s.” George, wearing one of his new bow ties, launches into what he has so far of the song that would become “Something”. While the band is already familiar with some of the changes, George asks for input on lyrical ideas, specifically in what she attracts him like. For their part, the others seem familiar with the song in progress and play what there is of it well.

There could be a continuity glitch here, as the wine bottles and glasses have already come out, but after a snatch of “Love Me Do” similar to that heard in the closing credits of Part 2, Paul leaves to attend his 1:30 meeting. Imbibing this early in a session didn’t usually fit their work ethic, but anything is possible.

Speaking of work ethics, John, George, Ringo, and Billy continue to hone “I’ve Got A Feeling” in Paul’s absence, John singing Paul’s parts. During a break, John starts to tell George about the meeting he had with Allen Klein the night before. He says he wants to wait until they’re all together, but he also seems to be hesitant to say too much while the cameras are rolling. Regardless of the others’ inclinations, John says, “he’s gonna look after me,” he says, having been fully won over by Klein’s promise to deliver all the financial windfalls the organization needs, including funding a relief package for the war-torn region of Biafra via the Rolling Stones’ Rock And Roll Circus TV special. (This likely did not occur, as the TV special stayed in limbo for decades, but it’s also a subtle foreshadowing of the Concert for Bangladesh two-and-a-half years later, which resulted in one of many occasions where Klein attempted to get around tax laws and failed.)

For now, though, John wants to keep working on music, and suggests some songs they haven’t perfected yet. The scene cuts to “Old Brown Shoe” with George on piano and Billy on the six-string bass. (Perhaps on the same topic, George asks Mal to find him some “ordinary black leather shoes” since he’s never in shoe shops himself. Kevin says he’ll bring someone over, and we learn that George is a size 8.) Seemingly struggling with some of the parts, George cedes the piano bench to Billy and continues singing the song while standing next to him. Then they’re distracted by John’s new Stylophone, a tiny electronic keyboard played with a stylus, which would become famous in about six months via its prominent use by David Bowie on “Space Oddity”.

Paul has returned, and they work on “Don’t Let Me Down” some more. In a bit of foreshadowing, we see Linda poking at the keys of the Lowrey organ. George Martin suggests they tune their instruments, and John responds in joking indignance: “I’ve had some wine, you know. Remember Bob Wooler?” This is a reference to an incident some six years earlier when John reacted to a friend’s teasing about his close relationship with Brian Epstein by breaking the man’s ribs. The tuning was effective, as the take that follows would be used for the B-side of the “Get Back” single. (Though not included in Jackson’s edit, the end portion of “Get Back”, with the lines about “high-heeled shoes and low-neck sweater,” is also recorded today. While faded for the record, the very end of this version will be heard over the final frames of the Let It Be film.)

We also get a snatch of a jam on what would become “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)”, and a silly busk called “Half A Pound Of Greasepaint”. It’s listed as a Lennon-McCartney composition, and if it’s spontaneous, Paul’s rhymes, delivered with the last two inches of a cigar, are inspired. The day’s work over, the band heads upstairs for their first group meeting with Allen Klein.

Beatles Get Back 18: January 27

This segment begins with a montage of footage, some from the day before and some from today, as the band listens to Glyn’s mixes of some of the music from Sunday, specifically the jams. In addition to the band shots, we also see lots of Heather twirling. This is all part of Jackson’s thesis that the sessions were a lot of fun, despite what we’ve been led to think all these years.

John says he was in a very good mood the night before. George replies that he went to bed “very late” because he was up writing a new song, remembering John’s advice to not walk away from an idea, but to get it down right away so you don’t lose it. John agrees that’s a good method, even though he admits to not having as many ideas at all these days.

The song in question is “Old Brown Shoe”, which George proceeds to play at the piano. As he asks Billy what the actual names of some of the chords are, Paul sneaks over to Ringo’s kit and starts playing, while Ringo tinkers on the electric piano. Then we see Paul playing George’s Telecaster—upside down to accommodate his left-handedness—next to Billy on the six-string bass, and Ringo at the drums. John is shown helping the assistants move a Lowrey organ and Leslie speaker cabinet into the space. (Like most left-handed guitarists used to being around right-handed ones, Paul is rather adept at playing leads on an inverted instrument. Also, when the song is eventually recorded for a single in few months’ time, Paul will be on the drums as Ringo will be otherwise engaged.)

The action cuts to rehearsals of “Let It Be” and “The Long And Winding Road” as the band works on various aspects of the arrangements, honing the dynamics and harmonies. Paul is getting stuck on translating what he hears in his head, and they start blaming the volume of the instruments in the room and over the PA. Because they’re playing in a live setting, as opposed to a studio setup where there would be headphones and more separation to enable the individual instruments to be heard better, they have to maintain a balance between various microphones and speakers. Plus, they’re basically sitting in a circle facing each other, which unfortunately is the least ideal setup for pristine recording. George Martin explains this to them, and very patiently we must add.

The sound presumably sorted out, we cut to a rehearsal of “Oh! Darling”, with Paul on bass and Billy carrying the keyboard part. John is suddenly giddy after Yoko whispers to him, and he announces that “Yoko’s divorce has gone through,” launching into cry of “free at last” sung to the “Oh! Darling” chords. (This had been included on Anthology 3, 25 years ago, but with the visuals we can now see that the other Beatles were clearly happy for them.)

Further work on “Don’t Let Me Down” is made, John still struggling with the best way to phrase the off-tempo verses. Then, as the Beatles appear to break for lunch or a meeting upstairs or something, we get to see a jam involving Alan Parsons at the electric piano, “clapper man” Paul Bond at the drums, engineer Chris Thomas on the Fender VI bass, Glyn on George’s Telecaster, and a tall, slightly balding gentleman on Paul’s Hofner bass. They sneak off before the band returns to look over a montage of news articles about John & Yoko with Ivan Vaughan, who introduced John and Paul to each other back in 1957. (The original broadcast misidentified him as Apple art director Gene Mahon, who designed their distinctive record labels.) Paul plays “Strawberry Fields Forever” on the piano while John noodles on his guitar.

Michael wants to talk about the proposed rooftop show scheduled for two days away, but the boys are more concerned with recording a decent take of “Get Back”. After numerous attempts and the wine has come out, they do, as one of the takes will be used for the main part of their next single. Also, John’s “Sweet Loretta Fart” ad-lib will be included before the same take on the Let It Be album. After much time tuning, they get a mostly decent version of “I’ve Got A Feeling” down, but John has gone a bit sluggish for his sung section.

Glyn and George Martin confirm, with only the slightest weariness, that the band wants to keep playing each song again and again until they feel they’ve hit the perfect takes. This results in a lot of “this one was better than that one but not as good as the other one” discussion.

After the onscreen calendar moves off today’s date, the captions inform us that because of a bad weather forecast, the proposed rooftop performance is pushed back a day. It’s just as well, as both Paul and John have meetings they will need to attend mid-day on the 28th, so this will buy the Beatles more time to whip the songs they want to do into shape.

Beatles Get Back 17: January 26

Part 3 opens with the now-familiar disclaimer about swearing and cigarettes, and the captions remind us that the band has been rehearsing for “a live album… and possibly some kind of stage show.” With the end of January as a deadline, they aim to perform on the roof of the Apple building in three days’ time. Meanwhile, we hear George playing “Window Window”, which he’d go on to demo again for his 1970 solo album but ultimately abandon.

Ringo shows off his latest on the piano, which will become “Octopus’s Garden”. George is impressed that Ringo finally learned a fourth chord—A minor in this case—and comes over to help him finish the song, suggesting other chords to fill out the verse. Soon Mal is writing down the words, and George Martin is humming possibilities for an arrangement. John and Yoko arrive, and as soon as he can light a cigarette, John hops behind the drumkit, so now we’ve seen every Beatle on the drums. It really is a charming scene.

To add to the overall cuteness, Paul and Linda arrive with her five-year-old daughter Heather, who immediately endears herself to everyone present. Once Billy arrives, she’s already wearing Glyn’s furry coat, singing along with their rehearsal of “Let It Be”, and helping Ringo on the drums. A jam develops, and after hearing Yoko do her trademark wailing, Heather tries some of her own. This turns into an arrangement of “Twist And Shout” that evolves in meter to what we now know as “Dig It” from the Let It Be album. (Part of this was also seen in the Let It Be film, as was some of the oldies jam, which was also included on Anthology 3.)

A bossa nova “Long And Winding Road”, also seen in the original film, leads to a more serious rehearsal of same. These take a while, mostly due to John’s lack of aptitude on the six-string bass, but also because it’s one of the slowest songs they’ve ever done. Eventually they nail the performance that will be the basis, after much slathering of strings, choirs, and other elements bound to induce diabetic shock, of the song on the Let It Be album that would be their final #1 single. (Jackson’s edit includes a good deal of discussion, with input from George Martin and Glyn, about the track and possible arrangement ideas. Strings and brass are mentioned, as are the Raelettes from the Ray Charles band.)

Everyone, particularly Heather, is still in a good mood at the day’s end. It hasn’t been the most raucous Sunday, with less than 20 minutes devoted to it here, but it’s been productive. Again.

Beatles Get Back 16: January 25

Michael’s original Let It Be film included a scene where Paul is talking about the home movies he, John, and Ringo took during the Beatles’ Rishikesh jaunt of a year before. One coup of Jackson’s edit is that he was able to use some of this actual footage to illustrate the dialogue, along with putting it all in better context. The music used here includes the same mid-‘90s performance of George’s “Dehra Dun” from the Anthology soundtrack, plus a “Within You Without You” rehearsal from the Sgt. Pepper sessions. We even get the infamous shot of the copulating monkeys that inspired “Why Don’t We Do It In The Road?”, as one of Paul’s early takes from the White Album sessions plays under. Ringo’s timely choice to wear an Indian shirt to the studio space today notwithstanding, John and Paul have a more irreverent view of the experience than George, who would go back to India in a second. Paul feels the films show they were almost playing a role, and John agrees they weren’t being themselves. George finds that ironic, because finding themselves was the point of the excursion. They may have overcome the rift of two weeks before, but the boys are clearly growing up and apart.

Billy is still busy filming elsewhere, so the day starts with some busked covers before working on “Two Of Us”, specifically the harmonies, albeit via comedic Dylanesque, Scottish, and Jamaican accents and slight grammatical variations. George and Ringo aren’t as amused by the voices, but they gamely keep up. As a respite, George gets to revive his recent original “For You Blue”, which he plays on his acoustic, with John on the Hawaiian and Paul on the piano, the strings of which George Martin and Glyn have layered with newspaper to make it sound more honky-tonky. (One of these takes will the basis for the version eventually released on Let It Be.)

They’re still trying to figure out how to approach the songs, both as an album and as a potential live performance, with the switches between acoustic numbers and electric numbers. They could potentially have all the new songs ready in a few days. Glyn has changed his plans from leaving on Tuesday (three days off) to Thursday, though he says he’d like to have time to mix the tracks as well if it’s going to be an album as well as a show.

Meanwhile, they won’t be able to use the Primrose Hill site as mooted a few days before. John is still keen to a live show, with an audience, but without the BS needed to prepare it. George is happy with the organic development of the project, particularly with the atmosphere in the basement studio. It takes a while for Paul to say so, but whatever vision he had for a TV show has disappeared. He was hoping for something bigger, and a documentary of making an album isn’t it, because while they’ve had their fun, it’s not a catalyst to truly rejuvenate the band back to high-energy activity. His underlying hope, which is not voiced, is to get back to playing gigs, which isn’t going to happen for them. (Throughout these discussions, Ringo reads the newspaper and smokes.)

However, the captions inform us that Michael and Glyn have an idea for a suitable performance venue, so they bring Paul, Ringo, Mal, Kevin, Ethan, and at least one cameraman upstairs to the roof of the very same Apple building where they’ve been working in the basement. Presumably, provided they get the proper permission, as well as suficient structural support, the Beatles could play their show there.

Back downstairs, it’s tea time again, and the cocktails have come out while John plays “Mean Mr. Mustard”. Then Paul moves to the piano so they can work on “Let It Be”, George on his psychedelic painted Stratocaster. Robert Fraser is visiting again, and gets namechecked in the song. Also glimpsed today are Apple assistant Chris O’Dell and Alan Parsons, employed here as an engineer a few years away from launching his eponymous Project. Except for a moment showing painting Japanese characters on parchment, Yoko is merely there to smile at John and vice versa, or to stroke his hair when he lies in her lap.

As Part 2 ends, the captions inform us that the performance is penciled in for Wednesday, which gives them three full days to prepare. The credits roll and we hear a snatch of a rock jam featuring Billy on organ, and the old standard “Without A Song”, which he would re-record for an album in two years’ time. Sitting through the credits pays off, as we also get to hear a January 1969 performance of “Love Me Do”.