As arguably the most important rock and pop band in music history, The Beatles (and their individual members) have understandably been the subject of several documentaries over the decades, from contemporary accounts at the height of their fame in the late 60s, to recent biographies and retrospectives by some of the movie world’s most acclaimed filmmakers. Some have taken deeper dives than others into the lives, history, and music of the Fab Four, with varying results overall—both critically and commercially, and among reviewers, musicians, filmmakers, and fans alike. Ten of the band’s most interesting and worthwhile documentary features are listed here, ranked by critical and commercial performance, and their place in both the band’s canon and cinema history.

All Together Now (2008)
Meeting the Beatles in India (2020)
Imagine: John Lennon (1988)
The Beatles Revolution (2000)
Let It Be (1970)
The Compleat Beatles (1982)
The Beatles: Get Back (2021)
The Beatles Anthology (1995)
Eight Days a Week: The Touring Years (2016)
Beatles ’64 (2013)

All Together Now (2008)

In the early 2000s, George Harrison and his friend Guy Laliberté began working on a collaborative project that would utilize the Beatles’ music as the soundtrack to an extravagant live show by the Cirque du Soleil (of which Laliberté was a cofounder). After three years of fraught negotiations between the band’s surviving members, their representatives, and record executives, the show, entitled Love, at long last went into production and debuted in 2006. Directed by Adrian Wills, the acclaimed 2008 documentary All Together Now charts this entire creative process, including the early meetings between the Cirque and Apple Corps creative teams, plus interviews with the likes of Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and Yoko Ono. The following year, it won the Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video.

Source: mentalfloss.com/Nitya Rao

Read More<<<

Right up until near the end, when things got a little dicey, The Beatles mostly projected an air of harmony to the public. Only after the breakup did we find out that there were occasionally severe arguments. But they kept these mostly hidden from the public.

One of those dustups concerned the first song they released after the death of manager Brian Epstein in 1967. And it came down to which of the Lennon/McCartney songwriting pair was going to get the A-side.
Goodbye, Brian

For most of 1967, The Beatles rode an incredible wave that carried them to heights that few artists have ever experienced. Before the summer was over, they had delivered a spellbinding two-sided single (“Strawberry Fields Forever”/”Penny Lane”), a masterpiece album (Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band), and an acclaimed worldwide performance of a song (“All You Need Is Love”) perfectly timed for the occasion.

But then fate intervened to put the brakes on the nonstop good vibes. Brian Epstein, the manager who brought the band from obscurity to the pinnacle of stardom, was found dead in his London home on August 27, 1967.

Source: americansongwriter.com

Read More<<<

Neil Aspinall’s name is not one commonly heard when talking about the purported “fifth” Beatles that were close to the Fab Four. Many consider the band’s manager, Brian Epstein, to be a fifth Beatle. Others consider producer George Martin and collaborator Billy Preston to be fifth Beatles.

However, Aspinall played an important role in The Beatles’ rise to fame and subsequent management of their legacy after they disbanded in 1970. And Aspinall passed away on this day, March 24, 2008, at the age of 66. Let’s look back at the legacy of one of the movers and shakers who helped make The Beatles the biggest band of the 20th century. Remembering Neil Aspinall’s Work in the Wake of The Beatles’ Breakup.

Neil Aspinall was born on October 13, 1941, in Prestatyn, Wales. Shortly after the early iteration of The Beatles formed, Aspinall formed a friendship with original Beatle Pete Best. Once the band started to get more successful, traveling by bus to gigs was no longer doable.

So, they contracted the help of Aspinall and hired him as a part-time road manager. He would drive a grey Commer van and take the band around town from gig to gig.

Aspinall was there when the band fired Best, when they hired Ringo Starr, when they blew up into massive fame, and when they inevitably broke up. His dedication to The Beatles was really something to behold. In the early years, he would work closely with Brian Epstein and relay information about concerts to the band.

Source: americansongwriter.com/Em Casalena

Read More>>>

Paul McCartney and his wife Nancy were in a world of their own as they enjoyed a romantic beach day in St. Barts on Sunday.

The musician, 83, and his wife, 66, who are regular visitors to the Caribbean island, enjoyed a passionate kiss during a dip in the ocean.

Nancy couldn't keep her hands off her Beatles legend husband, pulling him in for hugs as they cooled down with a swim. The American businesswoman was well protected from the sun in a brown, long-sleeve swimsuit teamed with a wide-brimmed sun hat and shades.

Sir Paul donned a navy swim top and patterned shorts, beaming as he enjoyed the beach day with his wife of 15 years. Paul and Nancy got married in 2011 after meeting in 2007 and both have children from previous relationships.

Paul McCartney and his wife Nancy were in a world of their own as they enjoyed a romantic beach day in St. Barts on Sunday. The musician, 83, and his wife, 66, who are regular visitors to the Caribbean island, enjoyed a passionate kiss during a dip in the ocean.

Source: dailymail.co.uk/Joanna Crawley

Read More<<<

Paul McCartney has once again reflected on the breakup of The Beatles, one of the most analyzed episodes in music history. In an interview with Vanity Fair, the British artist acknowledged that John Lennon's decision to leave the group was "a great shock, very traumatic, a drama", marking a point of no return for the band.

Although Yoko Ono has been blamed for the breakup over the years, McCartney now qualifies his view. "When John met Yoko, that was the end of the Beatles," he admits, but adds that over time he has come to understand that relationship better: "In time it's easier to accept that they fitted in very well." According to him, the connection between the two went beyond the personal and responded to an artistic affinity: "She fitted completely with that experimental thing."
Paul McCartney on The Beatles' breakup: "I have absolutely nothing against it". The musician recalls how the meeting between Lennon and Ono took place at the Indica Gallery in creative 1960s London: "That's how John met Yoko... He went to see her. They met." Nevertheless, he acknowledges that her presence altered the internal dynamics of the group. "It was disturbing because it would separate the Beatles," he says, recalling moments of bewilderment such as when "she was sitting on one of the amps."

Source: marca.commarca.com/Blake Reynolds

Read More<<<

While the Beatles were certainly no strangers to alcohol, it appears that their backstage beverage of choice may not have had any booze in it. In a 1965 story for Playboy, journalist Jean Shepherd joined the Beatles for a stretch of shows in the UK, and often spent time with them in the dressing room. Every stop felt the same, he wrote, with the dressing rooms themselves having the same food items at every stop, including trays of French fries, steak, and pots of tea.

The lads were often seen enjoying a cuppa, so much so that there's even a zine, The Teatles, dedicated to compiling photos of them with tea. Comedian and Beatles historian Martin Lewis also found that tea just so happened to be the drink the Beatles mentioned the most in their lyrics. In fact, according to Lewis's study, the band wrote a total of five songs referencing tea in a span of just three months.

It makes a lot of sense that the Beatles would drink so much of it — they were as British as you could get, and tea is an integral part of their culture. While it isn't clear what specific tea they kept in their dressing rooms, odds are it was a type of black tea, since 71% of Brits prefer it over herbal or green teas (via World Tea News). Drinking black tea every day comes with numerous health benefits, so it's nice to know that the Fab Four likely always had access to it on the road.

As if needing pots of it backstage wasn't enough to prove the Beatles' appreciation for tea, Paul McCartney and John Lennon's friendship involved a fairly unusual experience with it. During an appearance on Aspen & Co. in 1984, McCartney shared a little about their oddball ritual of smoking tea leaves.

"We'd go to my house when my dad was out at work, and we'd just sit around in the front parlor of my house and smoke Typhoo tea in my dad's pipe," McCartney said. Typhoo is a British tea brand that's been around since 1903. "We were teenage fools, and we wanted to sit at home and do big grown-up things. So, I found my dad's pipe, and then we didn't have anything to load it with, so we got the Typhoo out."

Source: yahoo.com/Marco Sumayao

Read More<<<