'The Beatles on Record' not enough for hard-core fans
Photo credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS | This is a 1967 handout image from Parlophone of The British group, The Beatles. From left, are: Ringo Starr, John Lennon, Paul McCartney; and George Harrison.
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John Lennon and The Beatles
THE DOCUMENTARY "The Beatles on Record"
WHEN | WHERE Wednesday night at 10 on History
REASON TO WATCH The lads, in their own words.
WHAT IT'S ABOUT Covering their career from about 1962 through about 1968, voice recordings made by John, Paul, George and Ringo - and producer George Martin - are used to explain the genesis of certain songs, or albums. We learn Ringo "loved George Martin because no one else wanted to put us on the label," and that John believed Martin "taught us a lot and I'm sure we taught him a lot."
Martin judged the band "very nice people, but I was not sure they could write songs." Of songs, there are brief cuts from dozens. John explains that "Ticket to Ride" sprang simply from an offhand comment someone - Paul, probably - made, and that the Beatles were "the messenger" in a song like "She Loves You" - that is, they were conveying the message between lover and beloved.
Martin observes that as the Beatles became a more competent and interesting studio band, they had less interest in touring because great songs like "A Day in the Life" weren't designed for the crowds in places like Shea Stadium.
MY TAKE We love them, yeah, yeah, yeah, and with a love like that, you know darn well no little hourlong documentary with a few clips, sound bites and song snatches is going to satisfy us. The Beatles were the most important cultural force on the planet for a solid stretch of the last century. We have seen so much, read so much, absorbed so much that the first reaction to a documentary like this is, or should be: Well, anything new here? Sorry, but not much, or not enough. There are so many songs that the program never pauses long enough to explore any one of them in much detail.
BOTTOM LINE What's here is thoroughly enjoyable. There's just not enough here. If you're a hard-core Beatles fan who already knows everything, let it be.
GRADE B-
