Get Back Session - January 2, 1969

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Event
Date January 2, 1969
Short description First "Get Back" session.
Location Twickenham Film Studios

The first session of rehearsals for Get Back, an album later re-titled Let It Be. They rehearsed new and old songs while constantly being filmed. On this date, John began writing a diary entitled "John's Diary - The Diary of a Working Man." On this date, the entry read, "Got up. Went To Work. Got Home. Went To Bed." Glyn Johns oversaw the recording, while Michael Lindsay-Hogg directed the film. These sessions were full of arguments and disagreements. As George recalled, "After the White Album, I worked on an album with Jackie Lomax and spent a long time in the States and I had a good time working with all these different musicians and different people. Then I hung out at Woodstock for thanksgiving and, you know, I felt really good. But when I got back to England for Christmas and we started working on this thing, straight away, it was just weird vibes. You know? I just found that I was starting to be able to enjoy being a musician again, but the moment I got back together with The Beatles, it was just too difficult. There were just too many limitations based upon our being together for so long. Everybody was, sort of, pigeonholed. It was frustrating." George was frustrated because other musicians around him, such as Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton were praising him and his work, while The Beatles themselves were ignoring him and pushing him around. At the time, Paul seemed to be the only one who really cared about the project. As Doug Sulpy said, "The common portrayal of Paul as an excessively bossy, egocentric bully during this period is simply erroneous and unfair. It’s only the moribund behaviour of the other Beatles that makes Paul’s assertiveness stand out." It was decided that the sessions would be filmed for a one-hour TV special, which would proceed a live show, which they were still deciding where to hold. One idea was to have them play at a torchlight ampitheatre in front of two thousand Arabs. Ringo did not like this idea and refused to travel in order to play the live gig. Jokingly, they suggested bringing in Jimmy Nicol to replace him. Many other ideas were around, such as playing at a deserted four-mill, playing on a boat, and in Liverpool Cathedral. Jokingly, John suggested playing in an insane asylum. Because of Ringo's refusal to travel, it took a long time to decide on where to play the live concert.

[edit] Recorded On This Date

[edit] Sources

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