Beatles Documentary

Did anyone happen to catch the Beatles documentary on the tube last night....

I saw part of it... from the beginning until I shut it off due to other things going on..... (about 40 minutes or so )

It was amazing to see the basic (crude?) technology they used back then to record. And to see how rough and raw the first few albums actually were. I was listening to one tune they were shown recording and the guitar was slightly out of tune...... then later George was shown tuning by ear..... I guess they had to back then.... or use a pitch pipe.  Some of the most amazing and timeless music was recorded on 4 track tape.......

The show followed the progression from the beginning of the band through the Sgt Pepper days when they began to do stuff in the studio that was not possible for them to replicate in  a live show..... then as they returned to the roots of a "band sound" ... quite interesting to see that show.....

It was cool to get a peek into the songwriting aspect of arguably the best rock/pop songwriter team in the history of modern music. I would have loved to see a documentary on just that aspect of the Beatles.....

All in all, it was a good show.... I enjoyed it a lot and hope I get the opp to see the rest of it....

I just happened to click on it with about 5 minutes left.  Dammit.

Edit:  there is a great book by Geoff Emerick, the engineer, that details the techniques in those recording sessions. Well worth the read.  He was responsible for most of the techniques that George Martin gets credit for.

I just finished reading Recording the Beatles. Took me about a year of casual dipping into it, but I read the whole thing cover to cover.  Even if you're not particularly a Beatles fan, it's a terrific look into the recording tech of that period. It goes into terrific detail about all the gear, rooms, and instruments that they used. If you ever wanted an instruction manual on the REDD.51 mixer that was used on the Beatles recordings, it's in there.

Eotm


I just finished reading Recording the Beatles. Took me about a year of casual dipping into it, but I read the whole thing cover to cover.  Even if you're not particularly a Beatles fan, it's a terrific look into the recording tech of that period. It goes into terrific detail about all the gear, rooms, and instruments that they used. If you ever wanted an instruction manual on the REDD.51 mixer that was used on the Beatles recordings, it's in there.

I bought that book too, but sadly I have not started reading it yet. I perused it for about an hour one day. I need to do what you did. Start at the beginning and just read a little each day. Mooch says I won't get any smarter reading it but I should like the pictures.

Thanks!

I did a search and found that show will be on 11/27 at 7pm.

At 2 am Friday morning I have Ancient Aliens showing on the History Channel. This is EST.

Not sure why the difference.

Nope. That's the History Channel for ya. AKA The Hitler Channel.

The 2 am Ancient Aliens is titled: Aliens & The Third Reich.

I love this stuff.

Guitarhacker


THE HISTORY Channel.....

Looking up the schedule on their web site... looks like they will run it again at 2am in the morning.... followed by John Lennon at 3am....

The show is called:  The Beatles on Record.

 
Thanks, Herb.  It's on Sat. night at my home, and all I can say is that adds one more thing to be thankful for: remote programming of one's DVR.

I don't have the history channel. I just get good ol OTA TV. But I do have netflix, and last night I streamed Composing The Beatles Songbook: Lennon and McCartney 1966-1970.  Ugh. Don't bother with that one. Unless you think that Paul was the driving force of the Beatles, John was lost in his self-absorbed drug-induced stupor, and Ringo and George were... irrelevant?

Hopefully "The Beatles on Record" is a lot better than that one.

Very cool..thanks for the heads up Mr Mook...I'll tune in tomorrow.

blueoneblue


Very cool..thanks for the heads up Mr Mook...I'll tune in tomorrow.

You are welcome!

Tonight, 7 pm, ET.

Channel 269 for those of us with DirecTV. Also, in HD.

Thanks, Mooch.