Beatles '64

Greetings again from the darkness. It's been 60 years since 'Beatlemania' hit the United States. As impressive as Taylor Swift's ascendance has been, it pales in comparison to the cultural impact of the Fab Four those many years ago. Documentarian David Tedeschi, working with raw footage shot by brothers and renowned documentary collaborators, Albert Maysles and David Maysles, takes us back to those frenzied 14 days of The Beatles' first U. S. trip, including the infamous appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show".

The footage is fascinating not just because it includes the band performing live on Sullivan, at the Washington Coliseum, and at Carnegie Hall, but rather because it puts us in the Plaza Hotel room where they stayed, and in the backseat of the cars as they are transported. We hear interviews and conversations, and gain some perspective on what these young men went through physically and emotionally and musically on their first trip across the pond. Girls were hyped for this group of four lads who certainly didn't fit the mold of traditional masculinity, while parents were caught off-guard.

What I found most thought-provoking of all was Tedeschi's presentation as history intertwined with one of the most impactful moments in U. S. history. President John F Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963. The plane carrying The Beatles touched down on February 7, 1964. In plain language, Beatlemania struck as a nation mourned. You may view these as unrelated, but music is known to heal. Perhaps the frenzied young fan reactions to "I Want to Hold Your Hand" that caused the rift with parents and older Americans was just the diversion needed to help a country move forward. That first appearance on the Sullivan show took place on February 9.

Tedeschi supplements the video with a multitude of interviews. We hear from fans, other musicians, and the band members themselves ... even Marshal McLuhan. Surviving members Paul and Ringo were involved in the film's production, as were the estates of John and George. Archival interviews are included here - George from his own lawn, and John on a couple of TV talk shows. Paul is shown at the museum that featured Beatles photography. Yet, the interview that packs the biggest punch is likely that of Ronald Isley of The Isley Brothers. He acknowledges the impact of sales when The Beatles recorded "Twist and Shout", and he punctuates this with the fact that it did not lead to an invitation for The Isley Brothers to perform on the Sullivan show.

It's clear how much respect these four young lads had for black musicians and how much their music influenced The Beatles. They were excited to meet with and learn more about the key black musicians such as Little Richard or the Ronettes. Ronnie Spector is interviewed here and offers her recollection of the band, the music, and the times. Tedeschi's (and the Maysles') work offers an inside glance at what was happening at the time, and when we hear the wisecracking and see the raw energy of the boys, it helps to know that George (the youngest) would not turn 21 until the band returned to England. We get the feeling they believed this happened to them, not that they caused it. Perhaps they were at least partially right ... as the times, they were achangin'.

Streaming exclusively on Disney+ beginning November 29, 2024.

It wasn't a bad documentary, but I didn't walk away feeling like I learned all that much. I was really looking for something that dove deep into the concert by concert of the 1964 tour. I was hoping to see a little bit of footage from each show and behind the scenes in each location. However, a lot of the focus was on New York and Washington with little to no focus on any other places that the Beatles traveled to. I would've loved to see their time in Seattle, San Francisco, Las Vegas, LA, Canada, the list goes on! It would've been interesting to learn more about the issues with segregation in Jacksonville, Florida, meeting Bob Dylan, and the 1.5 million dollars offered to them to perform an extra show in Kansas City. Instead the documentary is mostly about New York and Washington, featuring full length clips of a woman's fantasies with the Beatles, a man crying about the emotional connection to She Loves You, and a full length clip of Smokey Robinson's band performing a sssslllllooooowwww version of Yesterday. Why do I need to see this? I came here to watch something about the Beatles, and while it's OK to have guest speakers talk, they need to be short and RELEVANT. Martin Scorsese is a weird guy, which is probably why he made this weird documentary with some actually boring clips of the Beatles. There was far too much focus on Beatlemania (including the gory details of people's love affair of the boys), which is something that has been covered, like a million times. I don't think this whole thing is bad, I just wanted a focused and interesting watch, but there's not a ton here that I haven't already heard or seen. What is new is actually a little boring.

And that's coming from someone who loved: Get Back (10/10), Rooftop Concert (10/10), A Hard Days Night, and Help.

It provided a fantastic insight into what was going on during the US visit. The film showcased how the Beatles acted on and off stage, as well as providing information about what happened when they arrived in America and the impact their music had on the people. The quality of the archive footage was excellent. The soundtrack of the movie was outstanding and the interviews were interesting.

What it lacks is narration, but I believe they were trying for a "stock footage" approach and enabling you, the audience, to put it together. There was some storytelling in text form, but it wasn't enough for me, and it felt slightly "missing something".

Overall, the film is an 8 but I gave it a 9 cause I am a fan of the band.

A better title for this latest Beatles-featured movie would really have been "Beatles in America '64" when you consider that in that same year they elsewhere recorded two albums, an EP, and three singles, one of which which contained a non-album A and B-side. Then of course they made the "A Hard Day's Night" movie, toured the UK, Australia and Europe and made various promotional television appearances besides. Most acts today would struggle to do all that in five years I dare say.

The movie makes extensive use of the vérité footage shot by the Maysles Brothers at the time, interspersed with news bulletins and interview inserts with all four Beatles, naturally of the archive variety with John and George accompanying present-day pieces by Paul and Ringo.

Being the dyed-in-the-wool fan that I am I naturally enjoyed every minute of it, but I wouldn't say I saw anything here which really surprised me or didn't seem familiar in some way. The Beatles all come over strongly as individuals but what is clear is the tight collective unit they had already become, an inner circle if you will, which only a precious few got to really invade, people I suppose like Brian Epstein, Mal Evans, Neil Aspinall and George Martin of course, as well as the wives and girlfriends, although apart from a few fleeting glimpses of Cynthia Lennon, none of these people make much of an appearance, if at all.

There are also a predictable number of "talking head" interviews with contemporary artists, reminiscing and philosophising as is their wont, most strangely including the current incarnation of the artist once known as Terence Trent D'arby plus Leonard Bernstein's daughter and future Lennon producer Jack Douglas who at least has an interesting Beatles-related story of his own to tell.

The music is of course vintage moptop magic as you see and hear them perform their superb early repertoire on TV and live in concert, their playing and singing sharp and on point, before the screamers and jellybean throwers spoiled it for them.

It was nice to see now and then interviews with their predominantly young female fanbase which are contrasted at one point with some input from a bunch of cool, young on-the-street black dudes into Miles and Coltrane who respectfully resist any temptation to diss the new white kids on the block.

There were lots of nice moments but like I said not much fresh insight into the whole Beatlemania phenomenon which I guess may have been the point of the movie. The usual readacross is plied that timing was everything, given the band's arrival Stateside in the immediate aftermath of the Kennedy assassination. The comment that most caught my ear however was from the young McCartney who, when asked by a prescient interviewer if he thought that there was a wider cultural impact the Beatles were having on society, simply smiles and mocks the question, disarmingly stating that all they were doing was just having a laugh.

How wrong he was.

Beatles '64 might not be the most groundbreaking Beatles documentary, it's not Get Back, where newly unearthed Beatles footage is revealed in all its glory, instead, it serves more as a nostalgic throwback, revisiting an iconic and historic moment in the band's journey, while much of the footage has likely been seen by longtime fans, the upgraded quality offers a fresh perspective, the story that they told about the surrounding vibe and reaction was enough to keep the film going, i wish we could've got more of Paul and Ringo with Scorsese, that said, as a retrospective, it's still a fascinating look at a pivotal moment in Beatles history, as a fan, i thoroughly enjoyed it, though as a documentary, it's not the one that i would revisit nor the the one that i think was the most engaging, i would still much prefer the Eight Days A Week documentary by Ron Howard, but it's still nice to watch.