Monday, February 12, 2007
Commentary: "Let It Be" on DVD ... sometime soon, please
The Beatles sing "Let It Be" in the movie of the same name. If we're lucky, we'll have a legit DVD of this sometime in this century.
Apple figurehead Neil Aspinall told Fox News' Roger Friedman over the weekend what we've been telling you for months -- that Beatle songs will be downloadable legally in the near future.
He also spilled another chestnut that we've also been reporting for some time and also wasn't really news -- that the "Let It Be" DVD everyone wants is still light years away. “The film was so controversial when it first came out. When we got halfway through restoring it, we looked at the outtakes and realized: this stuff is still controversial. It raised a lot of old issues.”
What a load of bullspin. The "controversy" is the four Beatles' egos bumping against each other. "Let It Be" was supposed to be an unadulterated look at the Beatles at work, but it ended up looking at the Beatles in disintegration mode. Paul was bossy, George was pissy, John was stoned and Ringo was Ringo.
In other words, everyone was working for themselves, not for the group.
The only thing keeping "Let It Be" from coming on legal DVD is the Beatles themselves. These events happened over 30 years ago. They're history. The only ones who really care a whit about what happened is Paul, Ringo, Yoko (for John) and Olivia (for George).
A word to all of them: Get over it. Whether you realize it or not, the Beatles are fading away into the sunset. Look at the Apple-Apple settlement, folks. As much as we still love them, their influence is fading.
Putting out "Let It Be" actually might boost the Beatles' visibility. The public seems to love fights, especially celebrity fights. The Beatles might not get the attention Britney or Paris get, but at least they'll be noticed a lot.
So put "Let It Be" out on legit DVD. And don't forget the outtakes -- like the backroom boxing matches that got left on the cutting room floor.
Don't let those be hidden forever in a film can locked in a vault.
The alternative: Don't put it out. Let the bootleggers continue to make the money with all the "Let It Be" bootleg DVDs so easily available.
And as Beatle fans have seen so often in the past, the Beatles let the world pass them by again.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
ABBEYRD'S BEATLES PAGE
http://abbeyrd.best.vwh.net
- The original site with the most up-to-date Beatle news on the Internet
http://abbeyrd.best.vwh.net/fabnews.htm
- Our new Collectibles Marketplace
http://abbeyrd.best.vwh.net/beatlesebay.html
- Check out our new virtual shopping mall
http://abbeyrd.best.vwh.net/shopmall.html
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
While it would be nice to have a legitimate copy of "Let It Be" on DVD (I currently have a bootleg copy), I have to admit I am not as hungry for it as other posters seem to be. I am currently reading "Get Back: The Unauthorized Chronicle of the Let It Be Disaster" and it, along with the film, doesn't make for positive emotions. Some commenters have suggested a whole new movie can be made from the hundred of hours of extra film footage that would show a more congenial side of the event. All I can reply to that is "happy hunting...!"
Post a Comment