And In The End — Part 3
Thx Suzan Koc of the mock-up!
Ringo is plunking out the beginnings of “Octopus’s Garden” on the piano. George sees that his friend is struggling. He has a verse. Where to go from there?
George eyes P&J to see if they’ll come to his aid but they don’t. George takes his guitar over to the piano. Try going here…he demonstrates and he moves to a different chord progression…and then go back to the verse.
Voila!
Ringo is relieved.
I want to hug Ringo. I want to hug George. Ringo wants to hug George.
If that’s all that was “Part 3” it would have been enough for me. What a moment.
What’s also notable is that George takes no song credit for this collaboration. Maybe George thought…this song has no chance — an octopus? — why bother? That said there were a lot of improbable song titles/concepts that emerged victorious from this band. So maybe George was just being George — generous and kind. A friend.
Sandwiched in between “Octopus” and the culminating rooftop performance is miles of footage of the four of them mucking it up, muddling though in creative fits and starts. Songwriting foreplay has never been sillier, more turbulent, contemptuous, BETTER. We really don’t know (except we do) if they’ll be able to pull it off when they get to the roof.
But they do. It’s like there was never any dysfunction. Talk about being on your game when it matters. In fact after all those hours in the studio 3 or 4 takes from the roof are the takes they ultimately use on Let It Be.
And what of those cops who were sent to shut them down? Do you think they really wanted to do their job that day? Of course not. They wanted up on that roof! Where are those cops now? I’d love to hear from them.
I don’t know about you but my husband and I were bleary-eyed for days after this series. A similar-eyed friend texted suggesting we curate a support group so we can debrief, vent, commiserate, celebrate. We’d sit in a circle and pass around a talking piece. Because, we need to get it out of our system.
But The Beatles will never be out of our system. Half of them are gone but they don’t go anywhere. Name your favorite modern band and ask yourself if you think there’ll be a 6 hour series dominating an entertainment space 50 years after their dissolution.
In the words of Paul David Menser — a fellow Beatles aficionado who I ‘met’ on this platform years ago — ”they were only together for seven years. That's amazing. Not to upset anyone, but it's almost as long as it took Adele to put out her latest LP.” (I’m not upset, Paul.)
If George and John were still alive I don’t think we’d feel so precious. But with half of them gone it feels like they’re slowly slipping away. But there is no end. The music will endure and the conversation will continue until those of us who speak of it are no longer.
When SiriusXM unveiled a Beatles Channel I thought I died and went to heaven. All Beatles all the time. But after a few months I realized I was denying myself other musical experiences. And I want other musical experiences. And that’s ok! Even though there will never be anything better. No matter what anyone says. And those of you who feel the same know exactly what I mean. :)
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