The Beatles: Get Back--Inspiring, frustrating, and could Paul not get a left hander?

[LakewoodM32Fan]

First of all Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

For all who are Beatles fans and have Disney+, the first part of The Beatles: Get Back dropped. I am about an hour into it and as my thread title indicates, I find what I've seen so far a combination of inspiration, frustration and wonder: could Paul not get a left handed acoustic (all the times I've seen so far of him playing an acoustic has the pickguard upside down so it's clearly a right handed guitar).

To keep this thread from derailing, please know in advance when I saw "frustrating" and "could Paul not get a left handed guitar" I say this all in good humor and jest. Clearly he could get a left hander if he wanted to, it's just funny that he didn't bother for a lot of these filmed shots.

The inspiring part is how as they show the band creating/rehearsing, just how raw the sound is. Which to me is inspiring because so often we just hear the polished final product and I know I get frustrated when I'm trying to write and am stuck in the very early, raw stages, having trouble coming up with lyrics, or a bridge, etc. To see one of my favorite bands also have this part of the songwriting process is inspiring me to just keep trying, keep pushing through, and while I will likely never write a Hey Jude or A Day in the Life, I'll at least persevere and write the best song I'm capable of at the time.

The frustrating part is just the sheer amount of musicality that drips out of the Fab Four seemingly like a water from a tap. Even when they're just mucking about and playing throwaway stuff, I'm like "I'd kill to have come up with that".

And with regards to the "couldn't Paul get a left handed guitar" joke (and the relatively modest instruments they all had in terms of cost at the time) it really drives the point home that most of us here believe: 90% of the tone/musicality comes from within each of us.

I'm more guilty than most in pursuing tone in the instruments I buy, but it's a humble reminder that we just all need to keep plugging along and while we may never write our Abbey Road albums, we all will make the music we're meant to for the people in our lives.

And so again: Happy Thanksgiving to all, and may we all be blessed with many more years of blissful music playing!

[Bob from Brooklyn]

Happy Thanksgiving to you too!

We are far bigger equipment nerds than The Beatles ever were. They sent their roadie Mal out to buy a couple of Stratocasters and the only requirement was that they be matching colors.

Enjoy your day!

[Rosewood99]

Just finished watching the first episode. Can’t wait to see the rest. Made me want to pick up my acoustic guitar and start learning Get Back. Found a pretty good tutorial on YouTube.

[coyote95667]

Originally Posted by LakewoodM32Fan

First of all Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

For all who are Beatles fans and have Disney+, the first part of The Beatles: Get Back dropped. I am about an hour into it and as my thread title indicates, I find what I've seen so far a combination of inspiration, frustration and wonder: could Paul not get a left handed acoustic (all the times I've seen so far of him playing an acoustic has the pickguard upside down so it's clearly a right handed guitar).

To keep this thread from derailing, please know in advance when I saw "frustrating" and "could Paul not get a left handed guitar" I say this all in good humor and jest. Clearly he could get a left hander if he wanted to, it's just funny that he didn't bother for a lot of these filmed shots.

The inspiring part is how as they show the band creating/rehearsing, just how raw the sound is. Which to me is inspiring because so often we just hear the polished final product and I know I get frustrated when I'm trying to write and am stuck in the very early, raw stages, having trouble coming up with lyrics, or a bridge, etc. To see one of my favorite bands also have this part of the songwriting process is inspiring me to just keep trying, keep pushing through, and while I will likely never write a Hey Jude or A Day in the Life, I'll at least persevere and write the best song I'm capable of at the time.

The frustrating part is just the sheer amount of musicality that drips out of the Fab Four seemingly like a water from a tap. Even when they're just mucking about and playing throwaway stuff, I'm like "I'd kill to have come up with that".

And with regards to the "couldn't Paul get a left handed guitar" joke (and the relatively modest instruments they all had in terms of cost at the time) it really drives the point home that most of us here believe: 90% of the tone/musicality comes from within each of us.

I'm more guilty than most in pursuing tone in the instruments I buy, but it's a humble reminder that we just all need to keep plugging along and while we may never write our Abbey Road albums, we all will make the music we're meant to for the people in our lives.

And so again: Happy Thanksgiving to all, and may we all be blessed with many more years of blissful music playing!

If an acoustic guitar is built right handed in the factory and played that way initially, then the molecules in the guitar are biased toward the bass vibrations being on one side and the treble vibrations on the other.

When you switch them later on, the result is magic. It's just obvious physics. Suddenly a part of the bridge and nut that us used to bass vibrations is being presented with treble vibrations. It creates a tonal complexity that is IMPOSSIBLE to replicate in a guitar that is built left handed in the first place.

[Winkyplayer]

Originally Posted by Brooklyn Bob

Happy Thanksgiving to you too!

We are far bigger equipment nerds than The Beatles ever were. They sent their roadie Mal out to buy a couple of Stratocasters and the only requirement was that they be matching colors.

Enjoy your day!

Yep. See also their choice of Epiphone Casinos, rather than one of the more expensive Gibson semi-acoustics. (Nothing wrong with a Casino, of course.)

[guitar12]

Originally Posted by Brooklyn Bob

Happy Thanksgiving to you too!

We are far bigger equipment nerds than The Beatles ever were.

True, when asked what strings he used on his guitars Paul said 'thin, silver ones'.

Rob

[AcousticDreams]

Originally Posted by LakewoodM32Fan

The inspiring part is how as they show the band creating/rehearsing, just how raw the sound is. Which to me is inspiring because so often we just hear the polished final product and I know I get frustrated when I'm trying to write and am stuck in the very early, raw stages, having trouble coming up with lyrics, or a bridge, etc.
The frustrating part is just the sheer amount of musicality that drips out of the Fab Four seemingly like a water from a tap. Even when they're just mucking about and playing throwaway stuff, I'm like "I'd kill to have come up with that".

it's a humble reminder that we just all need to keep plugging along and while we may never write our Abbey Road albums, we all will make the music we're meant to for the people in our lives.

Great post my friend. I will subscribe to Disney for just one month in order to see this.

Once in a lifetime comes four such musicians that could work in sync... write amazing complex beautiful melodies, that will be remembered centuries from now.

Like you, I struggle in the writing department. That is the curse of writing alone. When I was with a band...things moved quickly. Now I will spend months trying to perfect lyrics and melodies.

Yes, have a happy thanksgiving to all of the Beatles fan Brothers!

[EZYPIKINS]

MADE ME SICK TO SEE THE 1960 LES PAUL FALL FROM THE AMP, HIT THE STAGE TO THE FLOOR.

[flatfinger]

Originally Posted by LakewoodM32Fan

The inspiring part is how as they show the band creating/rehearsing, just how raw the sound is. Which to me is inspiring because so often we just hear the polished final product and I know I get frustrated when I'm trying to write and am stuck in the very early, raw stages, having trouble coming up with lyrics, or a bridge, etc. To see one of my favorite bands also have this part of the songwriting process is inspiring me to just keep trying, keep pushing through, and while I will likely never write a Hey Jude or A Day in the Life, I'll at least persevere and write the best song I'm capable of at the time.

The frustrating part is just the sheer amount of musicality that drips out of the Fab Four seemingly like a water from a tap. Even when they're just mucking about and playing throwaway stuff, I'm like "I'd kill to have come up with that".

And with regards to the "couldn't Paul get a left handed guitar" joke (and the relatively modest instruments they all had in terms of cost at the time) it really drives the point home that most of us here believe: 90% of the tone/musicality comes from within each of us.

I'm more guilty than most in pursuing tone in the instruments I buy, but it's a humble reminder that we just all need to keep plugging along and while we may never write our Abbey Road albums, we all will make the music we're meant to for the people in our lives.

And so again: Happy Thanksgiving to all, and may we all be blessed with many more years of blissful music playing!

Well said!

[flatfinger]

Originally Posted by Winkyplayer

Yep. See also their choice of Epiphone Casinos, rather than one of the more expensive Gibson semi-acoustics. (Nothing wrong with a Casino, of course.)

Love my ‘65 reissue. Been stuck on it lately

[Heroditus]

Watched the first installment last night. Came away with mixed feelings about it. I have to say first off that I’m a huge Beatles fan. Their music (along with Dylan) has been much of the soundtrack of my life these 67 years.

Was kind of cool seeing their creative process. Coming into rehearsal with a barely there idea of a song or even just coming up on the spot with one. As the two and a half hours went on I got the idea that while they might be the most influential band in the history of rock music (IMHO), they’re really just four guys working out songs like everyone has to do. Seeing them go from having almost nothing to over the seven rehearsals having stuff that we’ve come to know and love was very cool.

It was very obvious watching this how Paul had almost completely taken over the creative direction of the band by this point—-oftentimes to George’s annoyance. And I can see where he was coming from. While John and George contributed, it was mostly Paul and his style of leadership definitely rubbed George the wrong way. John had his moments but to me he seemed kind of out of it a lot. Yoko was a constant presence and I get the feeling John just didn’t care much by this point. Maybe I’m wrong but that was the feeling I got.

The episode ends with George quitting the group. Of course, we know he comes back (and of course Abbey Road is in the future too) but there’s a fracture in the band that can’t be healed. While we are REALLY getting a complete picture of these sessions, I’m wondering if I’m going to stay interested for five more hours.

[jdinco]

Boy, it's torture not seeing this now, I've been waiting a long time. I can't get Disney+ without buying a Roku or what have you. I'm waiting to buy the Blu-ray DVD. And I hope it's SOONER than LATER !!

[LakewoodM32Fan]

Originally Posted by Heroditus

Watched the first installment last night. Came away with mixed feelings about it. I have to say first off that I’m a huge Beatles fan. Their music (along with Dylan) has been much of the soundtrack of my life these 67 years.

Was kind of cool seeing their creative process. Coming into rehearsal with a barely there idea of a song or even just coming up on the spot with one. As the two and a half hours went on I got the idea that while they might be the most influential band in the history of rock music (IMHO), they’re really just four guys working out songs like everyone has to do. Seeing them go from having almost nothing to over the seven rehearsals having stuff that we’ve come to know and love was very cool.

It was very obvious watching this how Paul had almost completely taken over the creative direction of the band by this point—-oftentimes to George’s annoyance. And I can see where he was coming from. While John and George contributed, it was mostly Paul and his style of leadership definitely rubbed George the wrong way. John had his moments but to me he seemed kind of out of it a lot. Yoko was a constant presence and I get the feeling John just didn’t care much by this point. Maybe I’m wrong but that was the feeling I got.

The episode ends with George quitting the group. Of course, we know he comes back (and of course Abbey Road is in the future too) but there’s a fracture in the band that can’t be healed. While we are REALLY getting a complete picture of these sessions, I’m wondering if I’m going to stay interested for five more hours.

What's funny about everything you note, is that it is exactly those things that I'm sure will keep me interested for five more hours.

[Rosewood99]

Originally Posted by LakewoodM32Fan

What's funny about everything you note, is that it is exactly those things that I'm sure will keep me interested for five more hours.

Just watched the second episode and I am still interested. Wish it was even longer. Maybe it’s only for diehard Beatles fans which I am obviously one of.

[tj_mangum]

I was struck by the lack of guitar stands and how instruments were left on the floor, leaning on things or with John's casino, left laying across the seat of his chair. Then again, these were their tools and while they favored them, they knew they could be repaired or replaced.
Loved it when they were wondering if George would come back after he walked out and John said something like "Well if he's never coming back, let's split up his instruments!"