No, it isn't. This is confirmed on the podcast When They Was Fab with Tedeschi as their guest and he confirms the pronunciation as "Tah-Des-ki": podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/2024-51-director-david-tedeschi-beatles-64/id1063469747?i=1000680476142 There are secondary sources in recent interviews where he is introduced as Tah-Des-ki, like here on Good Morning America: th-cam.com/video/GEUHLRSal5s/w-d-xo.html Sorry Phil.
@@popgoesthe60s52 Sorry Pop. I thought for sure I heard that name pronounced the other way. But who in their right mind would use Good Morning America as a source? Hahahaha! Here's definitely one you and everyone else missed: It's pronounced "MAY-els, the first "S" is silent. And that's from seeing them interviewed 25 years ago about their film What's Happening, I don't care what Wiki says. Oh, and the folks who knew the Maysles brother who lived in Camden, Maine always pronounced it like that. So we're even, LOL! Please don't think I'm trying to be an ass, I'm really only trying to help. I really LOVE your podcast, wasn't trying to be mean at all.
@@philkaiser6025 No problem. Many youtubers pronounced it wrong and I did some quick research to double check. Glad I did. I didn't know that about the Maysles, so thank you for that. I appreciate the feedback Phil.
Spot on review, Matt. My mother greatly admired JFK and was devasted when he was assassinated. I was 10 and my brother Matt was 12 on February 9, 1964. That night truly changed our lives. We became aware of rock 'n' roll as something exciting and meaningful. Our love of the Beatles had absolutely nothing to do with JFK's assassination. Yes, we were sad, but we had moved on by February. The next day at school everyone was talking about The Beatles. I don't recall a single mention of how our gloom over JFK was now lifted. Matt and I became life-long Beatles fans. At Matt's memorial service the first song on my mix tape was I Want to Hold Your Hand. Everyone there knew why. I also agree with your take on recent Apple products. The deluxe box sets are nice, but Giles' remixes are underwhelming and unnecessary. I buy them for the outtakes, demos and alternative takes, which are increasingly fewer in number. Revolver and Let It Be were big disappointments in this respect. Terry
@@drummer78 that video does NOT contain all of the Maysles Bros footage. To get all of it you need to find "What's Happening; The Beatles in the USA" which is the ORIGINAL documentary the Bros did back in '64. IT is OUTSTANDING, but it is very hard to find now. My copy is on VHS and is horribly bass-heavy.
I chuckled when you mentioned contemporary Paul's groundbreaking new insight about the early Beatles singing directly to their fans. I love the Maysles brothers documentary and am (now even more) confident that I will never see this latest product. Thanks for doing the dirty work for us! In light of recent events in each of our lives, I appreciate your videos even more and consider you a virtual pal. 🙏
Wow! Thanks, Matt, for your review of Beatles '64. I had been looking forward to this release, but based on your review (and other critical reviews I've seen), I think I'll skip this one. I was 10 years old when the popular president John F. Kennedy was killed, and I remember it well. Around 2 PM on Nov. 22, my 5th grade teacher walked into our classroom with tears in her eyes, announcing that President Kennedy had died, and sent us home. What followed was 4 days of mourning. The downbeat mood of the country lingered for weeks. However, by early February 1964 we'd mourned enough, and the country needed to move on. As luck would have it, this roughly corresponded with the Beatles first appearance on the Ed Sullivan show, and for many people (including myself) this was the antidote (or excuse) we needed. Seeing the Beatles perform on TV for the first time was a memorable moment for me -- akin to watching astronauts walking on the moon some years later! I remember the whole family (including my father who didn't even like the Beatles) huddled around our black-and-white TV set watching "the four mop-tops" perform. Priceless!
A lot of Beatles films understandably focus on the music. Having lived through that period, it's impossible to understate how much they changed the culture. This film really captures that. I was pleasantly surprised.
Did the Beatles change the culture or was it already changing, and they were just at the forefront? I think putting all this change on the Beatles is unfair to them, especially considering how much has gone downhill since then. I get some things that changed were great, but the West is not in a good place right now and that catalyst for it all was the 60s and the Beatles
Ha. Hahaha. You think the 50s was better? You're nuts. Racism, sexism, free speech, technology, the draft, poverty, even the threat of war -- today has obvious problems but the 50s were far far worse.
All I remember about Terence Trent D'Arby was an interview he gave around the time of his only hit, in which he proclaimed he would be "bigger" than the Beatles.
I followed his career for a bit into the 90s, playing his next 2 releases quite a bit. He overreached. He believed he was the greatest artist around, even comparing himself to Michael Jackson and Prince. That turns American audiences off, which is most likely why he moved to Europe where they're more receptive to grandiosity like that.
A restored and possibly re-edited Maysles documentary would have been far better. As a bonus a restored Sullivan/DC concert could have made this a great project. Of the little bit we got to hear, I was blown away by the restored sound.
I have heard that people were complaining that Terence Trent D’Arby was interviewed. They said he was only two years old when the Beatles came to America in 1964. What the hell would he know firsthand about the visit?
The only Beatles connection I can recall is back in the 80's when D'arby claimed his debut album is better than the Beatles' debut album. Of course, his career then tanked. 😁
@michaelrochester48 With all the people connected to the Beatles still around, that's such a random artist for them to come up with. I guess Howard Jones wouldn't return their calls. 😂
A good interview subject would’ve been George Harrison’s sister who was actually in New York at the time helping her brother who was suffering from a cold or pneumonia. But she died two years ago. The big problem is going to be this Matt, many of the principles from that time are deceased now. There’s no way getting around it.
Hadn't positively condidered passing on this, but you convinced me. I guess I'll wait for "The Rutles, As It Happened". 😉 It's good (for you & all of us) that you are keeping busy. Hope you're well. 🤗
George Harrison said in 1994 after the anthology that everthing else would be called "scraping the barrel" and he was RIGHT. Also, by contrast with these mere mortals involved in the projects , when the Beatles had to rush a project out, they'd do so with such riff raff as, say, Rubber Soul (just kidding about riff raff). They were just on a whole different level of creativity, productivity, and quality.
Rubber Soul was already made. The Beatles just sang the songs. The couldn’t have created ( writing songs of that caliber, rehearse, VERY few takes, recording, mixing and preparation to cut the vinyl and the order of the songs in such a short time) all that. Wake up.
So true, Matt; I was on the playground when a classmate came running out, saying "Kennedy's been shot!!" There was a teacher at our 1thru 12 school named Kennedy. "The teacher?!!" .... "No, the president"... "Oh, that's good, it wasn't the teacher!" We never connected the magic of The Beatles with Kennedy in any way! I had just turned nine that November. Thanks for this analysis!
Exactly, my advice is to find a copy of “The Beatles: The First U.S. Visit”. It perfectly captures the excitement of that visit in February of 1964. No need for talking heads and a narrative being crammed in.
They could've made a documentary of all the footage from the 1964 visit. They could've made a documentary of people talking about what the arrival of the Beatles meant to them. They could've made a documentary of Paul and Ringo going through 1964 artifacts from their archives. Instead they made a documentary that was less than the sum of its parts. The silver lining is that the peeks at unseen Anthology footage suggests a huge new Anthology anniversary project next year
Thanks for your review, Matt. I was expecting this to be like the "Get Back" documentary where we just see day by day footage of The Beatles during their 64 Amercia tour. I don't care much of hearing from a bunch of nobodies that had nothing to do with The Beatles in 1964 telling me about how much of a fan they are.
With the pre-release hype on this project wasn't enough to make me want to see the actual documentary. For me, this era was covered completely well in the ANTHOLOGY series from 1995.
BINGO!!! You nailed it Matt-Scraping the bottom of the barrel is right with your review of Beatles 64, and once again Apple drops it big time with this trite documentary, it has NONE of the excitement captured on the Maysley brothers film The Beatles First U.S. Visit - Hopefully now that Jeff Jones (Apple CEO) gone, and someone new steps in with fresh ideas instead of same stale product that Apple has been releasing lately . As for this documentary the only good interviews were from Ronnnie Spector and Smokey Robinson-other than that its ALL Blah,Blah,Blah. This Beatles 64 makes Ron Howard's movie Eight Days A Week far superior (and I for one hated all those talking heads) - All that was needed for this Beatles 64 was a complete remastered Washington Concert and Ed Sullivan show performances, and this movie would have been sooooo much better, in the end its all about the music - Great review Matt, take care - cheers 🍻
There are many sources for music information from "my" time.🙄 I'm 78. BUT, you are the one who gives me what I need to hear and I hear you a lot! Thank you, Matt, for this, so that I did not waste what little time I have left with something that does not fit my memories.😉 (Well I hope I have a lot of time left.) I was 18 in February 1964 and an admirer of JFK, The Beatles, Dave Clark Five, The Beach Boys, and on, and on ... I was sad for our country's loss and on a high for the music. For me, they did not mix!
Spot on, Matt, about the Beatles - JFK assassination trope. I'm now 70 years, so I was 9 at the time, and you are right: We kids had some vague sense of the gravity of the JFK shooting, but, as you said, by three weeks later our little sensibilities had moved beyond JFK. At that time, I was especially fired up that Santa would be bringing me a passel of Beatles 45s. In my mind there was never a connection between the two, and there never has been.
I agree with your review but I did think there were some bright spots with the interviews. I really enjoyed Ronnie Spector's stories about hanging out with the Beatles, I don't know if she's spoken about it before but it was new to me. I also enjoyed Smokey Robinson, including talking about how pleased he was that the Beatles covered one of his songs.
Some were passable. Ronnie's was older but I was shocked that they used part of Smokey's where he said he saw the Beatles in Liverpool "before they were the Beatles" in the cavern. The Miracles first went to the UK in 1965 so this was horribly wrong. Maybe Smokey mis-remembered it but as a film maker, I never would have used something so blatantly wrong.
@@popgoesthe60s52 How do you know he didn't visit England on his own? We shouldn't assume we know everything about stars' lives. Appreciate your review, tho. I was a teen back then & I can tell you from experience that the idea that everyone was over JFK being murdered in a mere 2.5 months is ludicrous. My large extended family certainly wasn't as we all loved the Kennedys. That Christmas was the worst I can recall. The Beatles definitely gave us something to be happy about. Even my parents who were into country music were glad to see a spark of joy in their kids again. My mom remembered that well in her later years. This revisionist history by folks who weren't even there is more than annoying.
Thanks Matt and as usual an outstanding critique on the Beatles’64 documentary! Wishing you a most happy New Year and looking forward to more exciting programs from you in 2025.
“…Every Baby Boomer’s Wet Dream…” Seriously? Otherwise, an excellent review. I especially liked Ronnie Spector’s Stories with The Beatles; which also appear in her autobiography “Be My Baby.” In my experience, most adults were ambivalent about The Beatles or were won over by the songs from 1964-1965. Adults weren't a homogenous demographic, 21+, 30+, 40+, 50+, 60+. There was a negative shift by 1966 as The Beatles had evolved and America splintered. Matt, Happy Holidays! 🎁
Magical Mystery Tour is a better film. Hopefully we will get a physical release of the Remastered/Remixed complete version of the DC and Sullivan shows from this missed opportunity. GREAT to see you back at work Matt!
It’s good to have you back and you’re officially back with a Beatles’ project review. It sounds like something that we don’t need to be in a rush to see.
Interesting perspective on Apple in general, and boy I must’ve been sucked in by all the old footage, because I totally missed how bad the rest of it was. Looking back now, you’re so right! Happy and healthy new year, Matt.
I joined Disney for the Jackson stuff but won't be doing so for this. It might all be updated quality wise but you can see the original material on TH-cam. Interestingly, having recently watched The Sopranos I came across Stevie Van Zandt's Beatles interviews. He is a total fan, is 74 and was around then and would have been a great interviewee! Thanks for the review Matt and best for 2025.
It's probably a few years too late to make this doc properly. Too many figures have passed away by this point without having been properly interviewed. The actors from Hard Days Night, Sid Bernstein, George Martin, the record executives, Ronnie Spector (I wish that story was told), Cynthia Lennon etc. That said, it would have been easy to at least create a doc with some authenticity. Jimmie Nicol is out there somewhere. Mal's daughter must have photos and some stories. Mark Lippidos probably has some video footage from the various people he brought into Beatlefest. Maybe John's half brothers have some undiscovered info on Alf Lennon's trip to see John. I'm sure some of the flight attendants are alive from their flight into JFK. Jackie DeShannon, Tommy Roe, Bill Medley... they are all alive and opened for them in 1964. That was just off the top of my head in a few minutes. Who's running that network?
The documentary didn’t need any modern interviews. The Maysles footage and the live performances from Sullivan and DC would have been enough. They tell the story better than any modern interview ever could.
@mjanovec I don't disagree, but clearly they felt the need for fresh content. I'm just saying they could have spent 15 minutes and come up with better ideas.
It seems to be the nature of historiography, that a previously unconsidered narrative can take hold and everyone treats it as though it has always been there. The whole 'JFK assassination black cloud being lifted by The Beatles arrival 11 weeks later' thing was never really mentioned years ago (in either JFK assassination documentaries nor Beatles ones). It's the same when Pet Sounds was gaining a lot of (re-evaluation) attention from the 90's onwards and it was seen as part of this furious rivalry between the Beach Boys and Beatles, and that was definitely an overblown, trumped up narrative that was never really mentioned before. Anyway, rant over, good to see you back Matt and hope you had as good a Christmas as can be expected.👍
Brian Wilson has LONG said that he was competing with the Beatles. Brian said that Rubber Soul (US version) inspired him to make what became Pet Sounds. Although Brian can be an unreliable historian, he has stuck with this narrative for decades. Who would know better?
I really wish they mostly just had footage of them in the US. This is basically the Beatles version of the beach boys documentary that came out on disney plus earlier this year. Where 80% of it is other people talking lol
Great review Matt and as others have said spot on. The only thing I did actually think was ok was Paul’ flying****” moment- it made me smile, partly perhaps from my own experiences of Embassies….. Wishing you all the best for the New Year
Just finished watching it just to comment on your comments. Spot on. Apple signed a deal to churn out content to Disney not unlike a band from the 60s would sign a multi-year contract to put albums despite having any creative juice left.
I sincerely hope you are doing well sir, and God bless you 🙏! I have been subscribed 2 years , and thoroughly enjoy your channel. God bless you sir 🙏. Joey in Cleveland
Leonard Bernstein's daughter did have a small but important part in the appreciation of the Beatles' music in that she brought their music to the attention of her father, repeatedly as they progressed, and he mentions that in one of his music analysis TV shows. His comments on his own show go a long way to explaining the continued popularity of the Fab's music, sixty years later. So this new film could have run with that idea, but I guess not. Some of my friends who are also fans have liked the film, but I've decided not to bother.
Matt, I'm glad you enjoyed the dopes who talked about the "Let there be light" quality of Beatlemania for them as much as I did. Man, I can't imagine being that vacuous. I just had a look at the Billboard Hot 100 for 1963. I questioned the absence of one recording, but it's possible that either I missed it or it came out in 1962. It's a fascinating list, and confirms my memories ( I was eleven in 1963 ) that the radio was filled with great stuff in that pre - Beatles year. And remember, most of this is "kids'" music. I'm sure the chart for "easy listening/adult/contemporary" was at least as distinguished. ( Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Broadway, and so on. ) But on the "kids" chart, there are all sorts of treats, Motown and Motown influenced stuff being most noticeable. That was when the folk music vogue was at its peak and about to plummet ( Dylan ), and there are a significant number of folkie recordings. Burt Bacharach was gearing up to be a melody juggernaut in 1963. It's horsesh*t that there was no rock. There was a good bit of it, guys like Dion and Roy Orbison. I remember that at Christmas in 1963 my church had had a particularly beautiful service. Early in 1964, I was reading H.G. Wells' "The Invisible Man," and smarting over Vicki K.'s lack of interest in me, something I thought might change when we were grown up. ( It did. ) But the idea that the Earth was without form and void and would have remained that way without The Beatles? Pathetic.
Well put, Bob. The legacy building has become and exercise in self aggrandizing for the generation who "were there." They have over stepped their bounds and have offered us a vacuous (to use your excellent term) narrative which undercuts the credibility of greatest music catalog of the 20th century.
They could have talked to some of the Beatles contemporaries, who were already established stars in America, to get their initial reactions to when the Beatles came here in Feb. '64. There's a recent interview clip of Al Jardine of the Beach Boys (On TH-cam), who says the Beach Boys were touring in Australia at the time (Feb. '64). He says they were asked if they had heard of this new British group who had just come over to America. He said they hadn't, then they were played the Beatles second album and asked their reaction. Al said that the group thought the songs were different, but he joked about the Beatles matching haircuts, and said "What kind of a name for a group is the 'Beatles' ". Think the Beatles British special Around The Beatles could be touched up and released. Don't know if it's even available as an import.
Your candid and complete comments ring very true . All those same thoughts rattled around in my own head but you manage to organize them into a cohesive video . Very well done, mate !
I agree with most of your criticisms and I think you summed it up best by saying it was a rushed job. I lot of wasted time with fan testimonials we don't care about. After viewing the Washington DC show multiple times I was struck by The Beatles professionalism under extremely stressful circumstances.The microphones that didn't work. Ringo's rotating drum platform. Weak security. If the fans wanted to storm the stage , there wouldn't be much to stop them. If I were directing I would find as many people as possible who are still alive who were there to get a behind the scenes look. That would be interesting!! Glad your back Matt.👍
While some of the interviewees were oddly chosen/featured, overall I enjoyed the "film." I did, connect with the interview with Joe Queenan's "Like a light went on" comments. And, I think you'd hear that comment from thousands that experienced that Ed Sullivan performance first hand. It had nothing to do with JFK, though the country did feel a real darkness immediately after the assassination. The dark which the Beatles extinguished was a musical darkness. And the change in attitudes toward music between pre and post Beatles was transformative, at least for us Teens. I turned 14 shortly after the Ed Sullivan Show. I got an electric guitar, that I still have, for that March '64 birthday. This was a 100% by product of the Beatles in 1964.
With no new product other than a few singles made from a cassette of Lennon's out takes over the years (decades), it makes it hard to tell / sell the same story to fans again and again and again. Peter Jackson gave us new (unseen) footage and sounds but even George Martin said that they had scraped the bottom of the barrel with what there is to release while making Anthology.
I agree with you Matt about everything regarding Beatles 64. I was almost 6 when JFK was shot and I remember crying, but 2 months later when The Beatles hit big I don't remember anyone being so down and out. Also the interviews were all a waste of time and I wish they provided more concert footage. Overall I somewhat enjoyed it but I'll never watch it again.
I was 2 weeks shy of my 13th birthday and deeply inspired by the persona of JFK. At 13, I stood between childhood and the promising future ahead. The shock of that moment served as a pivotal benchmark, marking the end of one chapter and the beginning of another. While it didn’t compare to the loss of a parent, it was still a profound awakening of sorts. Still, as you correctly assumed, I did not mourn that long. By Christmas my friends and I moved on. The arrival of the Beatles in February put that horrible event in the rearview window. It brought a wave of excitement that guided me into a thrilling yet daunting new world. Suddenly, girls became more significant than my comic books and baseball card collection. Yet the date, November 22nd, never passes without notice. I always have to look up the date of the Beatles on Ed Sullivan.
Apple Corporate. A very secretive organization. Great to see you back in the saddle Matt after all the challenges and difficulties of the past several weeks.
Nail. Head. The one thing I would say is that the audio from the concert sounded great - they should release a full remix of that stuff. You are quite right about everything seemingly rushed - the Blue and Red album fiasco was an obvious example.
Thanx, Matt. You've spared me from signing up for a month of Disney+ to watch the thing. 🙂 And in return, I'll tell you that the recent Brian Epstein biopic was *terrible*. Let's start with how they pronounced his name wrong throughout it! But their Beatles - with a 6'4" George and a 5'1" John - were at least amusing in their badness. But if you haven't seen it, don't rush to do so.
As a Canadian I couldn't understand the whole JFK thing. We got to hear a few Beatles songs early on as unlike the pinheads at Capital USA, Capital Canada had Love me Do and the rest from the start. Have to agree with you on your review. I would rather have had a remastered Washington concert.
Another great episode on the Beatles and I was born in October of 1964 so a lot of great stuff happened during 1964 thank you and have a great upcoming New Year Matt.🎶🎶📻🎶🎶
We don't need one frame of anything other than what was filmed at the time. There is *plenty* of such contemporaneous material from which to edit a two-volume film that would be as funny, entertaining and would stand up to repeat viewings on par with A Hard Day's Night.
Such a great point you make there regarding The Beatles vs JFK. Never really thought of it like that, and me being from a younger generation _and_ from a different cultural sphere, I never really questioned that narrative. Thanks!
Matt, I would like to object to your saying that adults didn’t like the Beatles. My mother was 22 when the Beatles first came to America. She said that she really enjoyed the music. She was just not one of the “screamers”…, in other words I think fans over the age of 20 to maybe 25 admired the music and thought they were talented if they enjoyed them, they may have thought the haircuts were silly, but they really did like the music they just were not part of the mania section of the fan.
In Matt's defense he did acknowledge that some adults liked the Beatles, but said they were "very much in the minority." I believe he is correct there. My father was a musician from the big band era of the 30's and he had many complimentary things to say about the Beatles and often defended them. But, in my personal experience, he was in the minority. Most of my parent's friends did not like the Beatles or understand why I (as an 11-year-old at the time) liked them.
Nothing is 100%, but Matt is basically correct. I still remember James Bond (Sean Connery) saying in "Goldfinger" that listening to the Beatles without earmuffs should not be done. And that's self-described hip London/Hollywood talking
@@wyliesmith4244 many people over 35 let’s say didn’t like rock ‘n’ roll in general. Not just the Beatles. They even thought the clean cut beach boys were subversive.
Early comment, but older stars and celebs would have been interesting, I am thinking of Teri Garr. She actually went to England to meet with them in person, I would have loved to hear from her, and I'm sure there is some interviews of her around. I would also like to hear something from Micky Dolenz as he met with them as well (edit) Great job Matt, finished watching last night.
Your review of Beatles '64 was spot on with my assessment of it after watching it. You said basically everything I want to say. One future Beatles project Id love to see, in the Peter Jackson style, Id call "Beatles '66". How they morphed from the beginning of the year (playing teeny bopper atadium shows) to the end ("Strawbwrry Fields and laying foundation for "Sgt Pepper"). Hope your doing ok. Wishing a happy holiday and happy new year!
Actually, Apple is a four-way democracy and all have to agree. It's not set up to be ruled by a solitary entity. My guess is Apple comes up with all these half baked ideas and the 4 estates just give a stamp of approval. It's getting late in the game for either Paul or Ringo to give a shit about the actual product.
@@popgoesthe60s52Agreed. Paul and Ringo didn’t even give dedicated interviews for this documentary. The filmmakers had to use table scraps from interviews both gave for their vanity book projects.
Thank You Matt ! Great review of Beatles '64. I agree with every word. I'm old enough to remember the unbelievable excitement of the Beatles arrival in '64 and this film does not capture the times at all. The JFK footage with "All My Loving" sung dirge like at the beginning of the film had me rolling my eyes and it was mostly downhill from there. Huge disappointment for me. Watched "The First U.S. Visit" DVD after to cleanse my palate and experience Beatlemania '64.
Excellent review, Matt. I was with my girlfriend and was excited to have her see it, so my review sucked, ha ha. I agree with everything you said. It could have been better and we needed more live footage from Washington and the Ed Sullivan Show.
The perspective of how the arrival of the Beatles to America affected people and the culture is a good idea, but this was a scattered, unfocused film. I would have thought a basic examination of events told in a timeline, with more performance clips, and more of film examples from the two weeks, and more interviews with people who recall their reaction to that first arrival would be more focused.
I think the film worked when it was doing that, the 'on the street' interviews etc. Even though the Betty Friedan interview was in retrospect, I felt it held value and would have kept it. The later music and jumbled timelines were problematic, but I didn't have a problem with later interviews that discussed the impact of the Beatles.
I think most of us agree with you about this one. It's so unfocused and I still boggle my mind trying to figure out who it's for. When I heard about it, I was expecting (and I think we've been spoiled by Get Back in this regard) a deep dive into what the Beatles did in 1964 (which would've been an epic and excellent story, as we all know). Despite the confused mess that it was, there was gold in there. The late, great Ronnie Spector's interview was fantastic and on-point and I was baffled there wasn't more along those lines. David Lynch's interview was good enough (he was actually there, after all) and so was Smokey's. I can't believe they went to all the trouble of restoring the footage and remastering/MAL-ing the audio only to have highlights of the actual footage... and also only snippets of the Washington concert and the Ed Sullivan appearances. I get that the Sullivan footage may in fact still be owned by Sullivan's estate (or a successor company), but if it's Apple themselves, I'm shocked they couldn't secure the whole thing and upscale the best TV tape copy they could find. I was expecting at least a Get Back-style revisit of their visit, with the itinerary shown from time to time to keep us on track. Honestly, this is literally one of those terrible third-rate docs (Alf the Chauffeur's doc is one) from the early home video days.... just without the awful "Beetle" stock music and in 4K HD and music remixed by Giles Martin. It's beneath being an actual Apple release and is quite forgettable.
I would have preferred some kind of background as to how “I want to hold your hand” became a hit record. In spite of opposition by people like Dave Dexter at capital records blocking it. Plus they could have shown George Harrison’s visit to see his sister in September 1963. And his experience in America would have been an interesting prelude to the documentary.
Well I rather enjoyed it. Looking forward to next years "Beatles 65. The Shea Stadium Years". Narrated by Holly Johnson from Frankie Goes To Hollywood.
I agree with so much of what you say here. Only that comparing to 64, Eight Days a Week is Oscar category. They had so much they could do!! Showing how Beatlemania was in Europe compared to what they encountered in the US. They could have include Paris leading to NY- it was so exciting and they managed to make it dull. The interviews save for very few were usless and disconnected from the narrative. For me to watch a Beatles documentary and not FEEL anything, felt very strange. If they would have just put Maysles brothers footage together with the concert footage- cut the screaming girls footage in half and place the live performances all in sequence would have made an amazing film. This is a total mess.
I watched the documentary and I didn't feel it added or illuminated anything I already didn't know about the Beatles. The choice of interviews were odd, particularly the former Terrence Trent Darby. I'm his age and when he was talking about the Beatles, I kept thinking, "WTF? You were an infant! I certainly don't remember the Beatles in '64. How could you?" There is one thing: I don't agree with you and others who downplay the importance of the JFK assassination in contextualizing the great timing of the Beatles arrival in the US and appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show." I do think that timing was a fortuitous factor in the Beatles' breakout success and I have an example I can cite. Granted, I don't remember the JFK assassination--I was a infant--HOWEVER, I do vividly remember 9/11 (my equivalent to the JFK assassination in terms of its seismic impact on me and colleagues). I was living and working in NYC at that time. We were walking around in a fog of grief and PTSD for a year and during that time, trust me when I tell you, we were ALL desperately looking for a laugh, any kind of escape valve that could make us forget the tremendous sadness that was so palpable you could feel it. I'm not sure these kids who became Beatlemaniacs felt that kind of grief and shock in the aftermath of the JFK assassination, but I'm sure their parents felt it and their teachers felt it--and they felt it as well but perhaps not as keenly. In this vein, I do think the JFK assassination played an indirect role in the Beatles phenomenon. Yes, I think they would have become a success but I do think timing (as with EVERY great success story) played a role here.
They're not only pushing rushed product, they're directly ignoring the requests from the fans. They're so desperate to cultivate a "new generation of fans" that MIGHT buy product, but it's a generation of fans that don't buy product to begin with. Meanwhile they're ignoring the generations of fans that DO buy product and WANT to buy specific things that they just won't give us!
@popgoesthe60s52 basically trying to tell them about the band by jumping around a lot, hence the non-64 content for this film, and the poorly made vinyl reissues but not finishing the Capitol versions CD sets.
As ever, nailed it Matt. Sometimes barrel scraping can deliver some interesting bits and pieces but with so many contemporaries having moved on, we’re almost guaranteed schlock. Apple are in danger of screwing the legacy up. The bad feeling surrounding Apple over the Lewisohn magnum opus is probably symptomatic of the mess things are getting into.
Apple is the exact antithesis of Lewisohn. My guess is that Beatles 64 will be quickly forgotten and designated to the scrap pile of Beatles projects to avoid, where as Lewisohn's work....
I was also under-whelmed by the project, that had been hyped-up for a few months before release. I guess if you had never seen any of the other Beatle documentaries about their first US visit, this may have been more enjoyable. The remastered/remixed soundtrack did sound good, so that is something. Great review, and thanks for sharing.
I think you hit upon what wasn't working: many of the interviews. I watched it. And something felt....off. I couldn't pinpoint it. The documentary just didn't feel like a legit part of the Beatles lore. Just like with Doctor Who, I wish the Beatles could get a rest. We don't need a continuous rollout of products. There's more than enough to tide people over for years until some love and care could be put into something new and fresh--whatever that may be. On a side note, it's good to see you posting again. Welcome back after what I'm sure was a very emotional holiday season.
Hi Matt, totally in agreement with you. For me, the only thing worth the price of admission here is the restored Washington DC footage, of which, I felt there should have been more. This project smacks of desperation; a get it while you can money grab, while the two remaining Beatles, and the first generation fans are still alive. After that, who knows how the Beatles legacy is going to fare?
Great review! The Maysles footage was great fly-on-the wall stuff worth seeing, but the rest, not so much! Why not interview other groups coming up with the Beatles in '64 - fellow artists creating the Mersey sound instead of just interested outsiders? My dad always said "If you can say 'so what?' at each section of a given story, they haven't told their story well". I was thinking this phrase a lot when watching this.
I hope you are doing well. The only clips of the documentary I enjoyed were of the Washington DC concert. When playing Long Tall Sally the band really knocked it out of the park. Ringo is much aligned but in that concert he was killing it. The rest of the documentary was boring.
You articulated all the thoughts I was keeping suppressed in the back of my mind. I was focused on all the stuff I did like while watching it. I was bored at times, and I think I was looking at my phone through most of the contemporary yakking. But I was generally grateful for the documentary showing me all the Mayseles footage, which I hadn't seen except for what might have been in Anthology. Overall though, you're right, it was a poor assemblage, and I wondered (though forgave at the time) all the non-64 stuff being in there. They should have just titled it Beatles in America.
10:42 My man, Paul said something very similar in the Beatles Anthology (in Part 5 as a lead-in to Rubber Soul and writing more creatively thereafter).
Everything, EVERYTHING, you said in this video is SPOT ON! When I was a kid in the sixties, there were Beatles cards, Beatles cotton candy, Beatles dolls, Beatles ice-cream, Beatles wigs, Beatles this, Beatles that! That's basically what Disney (and its fall guys) are trying to hit people over the head with... Beatles paraphernalia... and for the same reason that entrepreneurs of the 60s were doing so... EASY MONEY!
I take it big Beatleheads like me DID NOT like this "documentary" at all 😂😂😂 makes one feel less alone in a strange world. Thanks Matt, liked your POV, very similar to mine. Hope Apple starts taking better note(s).
Spot on Matt! I tried to be as kind as I could in my take, but this doc was such a let down on so many levels for me. My own fault, I had built my excitement up for it too much. I had a vision of what it would be, and it wasn’t, not by a long shot. Loved your insights Matt. Cheers 🎉⛄️🍻🎶❄️🎼🎊
Ok, I will ponder your work here a little bit more. There are, in addition to film criticism, many reasons which explain the success of the Beatles in their time. Some young people may just like the music, but I can understand how they could totally miss what was important about them and how we felt about their emergence. Maybe I’ll lay those ideas out on a channel someday. Good luck.
Hi Matt. Interesting take about the over-hyping of the JFK connection. I think there was a link between the two events, but not as much as people have said and continue to say. I agree with the hodge-podge of interviews and the lack of attention to timing. I love Smokey and the Miracles, but the clip of Yesterday is not relevant here. And even though I loved the Jack Douglas story about the Liverpool newspaper article.....it bears no relevance to Feb 1964. Bottom line: I didn't hate this documentary, but I was disappointed overall. Great video once again! Happy New Year!
Your review is reminding me of a documentary on Apple TV about Charlie Brown. It was disappointing because the interviews were of Hollywood celebrities standing in front of these artsy hipster backgrounds. Not only that, but their interviews sounded very scripted and wooden. They seemed extremely phony . Now had they interviewed other comic strip artists or something like that, it would’ve came off as far more genuine.
THANK YOU MATT! THANK YOU!! This is why you are THE MAN!! History is not lineal... events happen that are disconnected, or only connected temporally... I am so tired of hearing how "The Beatles got us over JFK"... I wasn't there but I'm sure the two events had nothing to do with one another... its just like how "The Miracle on Ice" got us over Vietnam... NO IT DIDN'T... the same feelings about Vietnam and inflation and the hostages were there the day after the US Hockey team won the gold... and that Star Wars somehow "made us feel better because of Vietnam and the 70s"... "Star Wars" was good because the world was hungry for an epic and George Lucas hit on the magic of the post-modern pastiche, a gold mine which Tarantino has been tapping into his whole career
His name is pronounced Tah-DESH-e
No, it isn't. This is confirmed on the podcast When They Was Fab with Tedeschi as their guest and he confirms the pronunciation as "Tah-Des-ki": podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/2024-51-director-david-tedeschi-beatles-64/id1063469747?i=1000680476142
There are secondary sources in recent interviews where he is introduced as Tah-Des-ki, like here on Good Morning America: th-cam.com/video/GEUHLRSal5s/w-d-xo.html
Sorry Phil.
@@popgoesthe60s52 Sorry Pop. I thought for sure I heard that name pronounced the other way. But who in their right mind would use Good Morning America as a source? Hahahaha!
Here's definitely one you and everyone else missed: It's pronounced "MAY-els, the first "S" is silent. And that's from seeing them interviewed 25 years ago about their film What's Happening, I don't care what Wiki says. Oh, and the folks who knew the Maysles brother who lived in Camden, Maine always pronounced it like that. So we're even, LOL!
Please don't think I'm trying to be an ass, I'm really only trying to help. I really LOVE your podcast, wasn't trying to be mean at all.
@@philkaiser6025 No problem. Many youtubers pronounced it wrong and I did some quick research to double check. Glad I did. I didn't know that about the Maysles, so thank you for that. I appreciate the feedback Phil.
Tedeschi is an Italian name, a derivation from "tedesco", which is Italian for "German"
Spot on review, Matt. My mother greatly admired JFK and was devasted when he was assassinated. I was 10 and my brother Matt was 12 on February 9, 1964. That night truly changed our lives. We became aware of rock 'n' roll as something exciting and meaningful. Our love of the Beatles had absolutely nothing to do with JFK's assassination. Yes, we were sad, but we had moved on by February. The next day at school everyone was talking about The Beatles. I don't recall a single mention of how our gloom over JFK was now lifted. Matt and I became life-long Beatles fans. At Matt's memorial service the first song on my mix tape was I Want to Hold Your Hand. Everyone there knew why.
I also agree with your take on recent Apple products. The deluxe box sets are nice, but Giles' remixes are underwhelming and unnecessary. I buy them for the outtakes, demos and alternative takes, which are increasingly fewer in number. Revolver and Let It Be were big disappointments in this respect.
Terry
Perfectly said, Terry! I'm the same age as you and had largely the same experiences you describe, so I don't think there's much more I need to say. 😅
I appreciate the comments, Terry.
This is the review I was waiting on above all others.
Ditto.
Me too.
I’d like to see the original documentary with both the Sullivan and the DC concerts restored in their entirety. That would have been worth watching.
It’s available..it’s called “The Beatles: The First U.S. Visit”. You can probably get an old DVD copy of it.
@@drummer78I have a VHS copy of it. Bought it years ago.
@@drummer78 that video does NOT contain all of the Maysles Bros footage. To get all of it you need to find "What's Happening; The Beatles in the USA" which is the ORIGINAL documentary the Bros did back in '64. IT is OUTSTANDING, but it is very hard to find now. My copy is on VHS and is horribly bass-heavy.
I chuckled when you mentioned contemporary Paul's groundbreaking new insight about the early Beatles singing directly to their fans. I love the Maysles brothers documentary and am (now even more) confident that I will never see this latest product. Thanks for doing the dirty work for us!
In light of recent events in each of our lives, I appreciate your videos even more and consider you a virtual pal. 🙏
Thank you Geoffroy - don't mind rolling up my sleeves and getting a little dirty.
Wow! Thanks, Matt, for your review of Beatles '64. I had been looking forward to this release, but based on your review (and other critical reviews I've seen), I think I'll skip this one. I was 10 years old when the popular president John F. Kennedy was killed, and I remember it well. Around 2 PM on Nov. 22, my 5th grade teacher walked into our classroom with tears in her eyes, announcing that President Kennedy had died, and sent us home. What followed was 4 days of mourning. The downbeat mood of the country lingered for weeks. However, by early February 1964 we'd mourned enough, and the country needed to move on. As luck would have it, this roughly corresponded with the Beatles first appearance on the Ed Sullivan show, and for many people (including myself) this was the antidote (or excuse) we needed. Seeing the Beatles perform on TV for the first time was a memorable moment for me -- akin to watching astronauts walking on the moon some years later! I remember the whole family (including my father who didn't even like the Beatles) huddled around our black-and-white TV set watching "the four mop-tops" perform. Priceless!
I had a feeling this was going to be recycled garbage and celebs lamenting on blah, blah, blah.
Great review as always.
Nice to see you Matt.
Apple should employ you to give these projects some serious credibility.
Keep on Shining mate
Apple couldn't afford me.
Whycouldn't they just release the cleaned up footage of the Washington Concert?
That makes sense to me!
I just saw that yesterday on you tube.
A lot of Beatles films understandably focus on the music. Having lived through that period, it's impossible to understate how much they changed the culture. This film really captures that. I was pleasantly surprised.
Did the Beatles change the mood of the country from the Kennedy assassination? I was 6 months old in February 1964. I doubt Matt was even born.
Did the Beatles change the culture or was it already changing, and they were just at the forefront? I think putting all this change on the Beatles is unfair to them, especially considering how much has gone downhill since then. I get some things that changed were great, but the West is not in a good place right now and that catalyst for it all was the 60s and the Beatles
Ha. Hahaha. You think the 50s was better? You're nuts. Racism, sexism, free speech, technology, the draft, poverty, even the threat of war -- today has obvious problems but the 50s were far far worse.
All I remember about Terence Trent D'Arby was an interview he gave around the time of his only hit, in which he proclaimed he would be "bigger" than the Beatles.
I followed his career for a bit into the 90s, playing his next 2 releases quite a bit. He overreached. He believed he was the greatest artist around, even comparing himself to Michael Jackson and Prince. That turns American audiences off, which is most likely why he moved to Europe where they're more receptive to grandiosity like that.
I didn't know about that interview. The nerve to have that guy in this documentary!
@@popgoesthe60s52 I think it was a Rolling Stone cover interview. The title was "Legend in his own mind"
A restored and possibly re-edited Maysles documentary would have been far better. As a bonus a restored Sullivan/DC concert could have made this a great project. Of the little bit we got to hear, I was blown away by the restored sound.
I have heard that people were complaining that Terence Trent D’Arby was interviewed. They said he was only two years old when the Beatles came to America in 1964. What the hell would he know firsthand about the visit?
The only Beatles connection I can recall is back in the 80's when D'arby claimed his debut album is better than the Beatles' debut album. Of course, his career then tanked. 😁
I don't even remember who he is.
@@MrKeychange he had a number one hit in the 80s called wishing well I remember it very well
@michaelrochester48 With all the people connected to the Beatles still around, that's such a random artist for them to come up with.
I guess Howard Jones wouldn't return their calls. 😂
@@michaelrochester48 - My favorite was his follow-up single called "Sign Your Name". I actually thought it was one of the best singles of that year.
A good interview subject would’ve been George Harrison’s sister who was actually in New York at the time helping her brother who was suffering from a cold or pneumonia. But she died two years ago. The big problem is going to be this Matt, many of the principles from that time are deceased now. There’s no way getting around it.
Which leads to the conclusion that it's best left undone.
Gotta milk it $$$$
Hadn't positively condidered passing on this, but you convinced me. I guess I'll wait for "The Rutles, As It Happened". 😉 It's good (for you & all of us) that you are keeping busy. Hope you're well. 🤗
Thank you Bob!
George Harrison said in 1994 after the anthology that everthing else would be called "scraping the barrel" and he was RIGHT. Also, by contrast with these mere mortals involved in the projects , when the Beatles had to rush a project out, they'd do so with such riff raff as, say, Rubber Soul (just kidding about riff raff). They were just on a whole different level of creativity, productivity, and quality.
Rubber Soul was already made. The Beatles just sang the songs. The couldn’t have created ( writing songs of that caliber, rehearse, VERY few takes, recording, mixing and preparation to cut the vinyl and the order of the songs in such a short time) all that. Wake up.
So true, Matt; I was on the playground when a classmate came running out, saying "Kennedy's been shot!!" There was a teacher at our 1thru 12 school named Kennedy. "The teacher?!!" .... "No, the president"... "Oh, that's good, it wasn't the teacher!" We never connected the magic of The Beatles with Kennedy in any way! I had just turned nine that November. Thanks for this analysis!
Exactly, my advice is to find a copy of “The Beatles: The First U.S. Visit”. It perfectly captures the excitement of that visit in February of 1964. No need for talking heads and a narrative being crammed in.
They could've made a documentary of all the footage from the 1964 visit. They could've made a documentary of people talking about what the arrival of the Beatles meant to them. They could've made a documentary of Paul and Ringo going through 1964 artifacts from their archives. Instead they made a documentary that was less than the sum of its parts. The silver lining is that the peeks at unseen Anthology footage suggests a huge new Anthology anniversary project next year
Well said, Nick.
Well I enjoyed it. Looking forward to Beatles 65. The Shea Stadium years. Narrated by Holly Johnson from Frankie Goes To Hollywood.
Thanks for your review, Matt. I was expecting this to be like the "Get Back" documentary where we just see day by day footage of The Beatles during their 64 Amercia tour. I don't care much of hearing from a bunch of nobodies that had nothing to do with The Beatles in 1964 telling me about how much of a fan they are.
With the pre-release hype on this project wasn't enough to make me want to see the actual documentary. For me, this era was covered completely well in the ANTHOLOGY series from 1995.
Another great review. Thanks,! I was 10 years old in 1964 and remember watching The Beatles on Ed Sullivan.
I was 10 also and our family watched Ed Sullivan every Sunday night, but I don't remember this event . 😢
@@josephblue4135 The reason I remember is that my older sister, age 15, was very interested in watching that Sunday night.
BINGO!!! You nailed it Matt-Scraping the bottom of the barrel is right with your review of Beatles 64, and once again Apple drops it big time with this trite documentary, it has NONE of the excitement captured on the Maysley brothers film The Beatles First U.S. Visit - Hopefully now that Jeff Jones (Apple CEO) gone, and someone new steps in with fresh ideas instead of same stale product that Apple has been releasing lately . As for this documentary the only good interviews were from Ronnnie Spector and Smokey Robinson-other than that its ALL Blah,Blah,Blah. This Beatles 64 makes Ron Howard's movie Eight Days A Week far superior (and I for one hated all those talking heads) - All that was needed for this Beatles 64 was a complete remastered Washington Concert and Ed Sullivan show performances, and this movie would have been sooooo much better, in the end its all about the music - Great review Matt, take care - cheers 🍻
Thank you, Ernie!
There are many sources for music information from "my" time.🙄 I'm 78. BUT, you are the one who gives me what I need to hear and I hear you a lot! Thank you, Matt, for this, so that I did not waste what little time I have left with something that does not fit my memories.😉 (Well I hope I have a lot of time left.) I was 18 in February 1964 and an admirer of JFK, The Beatles, Dave Clark Five, The Beach Boys, and on, and on ... I was sad for our country's loss and on a high for the music. For me, they did not mix!
I appreciate your support Dennis. Thank you for sharing!
Spot on, Matt, about the Beatles - JFK assassination trope. I'm now 70 years, so I was 9 at the time, and you are right: We kids had some vague sense of the gravity of the JFK shooting, but, as you said, by three weeks later our little sensibilities had moved beyond JFK. At that time, I was especially fired up that Santa would be bringing me a passel of Beatles 45s. In my mind there was never a connection between the two, and there never has been.
I agree with your review but I did think there were some bright spots with the interviews. I really enjoyed Ronnie Spector's stories about hanging out with the Beatles, I don't know if she's spoken about it before but it was new to me. I also enjoyed Smokey Robinson, including talking about how pleased he was that the Beatles covered one of his songs.
Some were passable. Ronnie's was older but I was shocked that they used part of Smokey's where he said he saw the Beatles in Liverpool "before they were the Beatles" in the cavern. The Miracles first went to the UK in 1965 so this was horribly wrong. Maybe Smokey mis-remembered it but as a film maker, I never would have used something so blatantly wrong.
@@popgoesthe60s52 How do you know he didn't visit England on his own? We shouldn't assume we know everything about stars' lives. Appreciate your review, tho. I was a teen back then & I can tell you from experience that the idea that everyone was over JFK being murdered in a mere 2.5 months is ludicrous. My large extended family certainly wasn't as we all loved the Kennedys. That Christmas was the worst I can recall. The Beatles definitely gave us something to be happy about. Even my parents who were into country music were glad to see a spark of joy in their kids again. My mom remembered that well in her later years. This revisionist history by folks who weren't even there is more than annoying.
Hey, Matt! Glad you've put the kibosh on that JFK/Beatles nonsense. That will likely become accepted "wisdom" when it just ain't so!
Thanks Matt and as usual an outstanding critique on the Beatles’64 documentary! Wishing you a most happy New Year and looking forward to more exciting programs from you in 2025.
Thank you, Tony.
“…Every Baby Boomer’s Wet Dream…” Seriously?
Otherwise, an excellent review. I especially liked Ronnie Spector’s Stories with The Beatles; which also appear in her autobiography “Be My Baby.”
In my experience, most adults were ambivalent about The Beatles or were won over by the songs from 1964-1965. Adults weren't a homogenous demographic, 21+, 30+, 40+, 50+, 60+. There was a negative shift by 1966 as The Beatles had evolved and America splintered.
Matt, Happy Holidays! 🎁
Excellent analysis, Matt. I felt like I was watching a different movie than those TH-camrs who praised it. Hope you're doing well.
Thank you, Craig. That is a chronic problem with most Beatle youtubers, everything is awesome!
They might just be bots created by the movie company to fluff it up.
Magical Mystery Tour is a better film. Hopefully we will get a physical release of the Remastered/Remixed complete version of the DC and Sullivan shows from this missed opportunity. GREAT to see you back at work Matt!
It’s good to have you back and you’re officially back with a Beatles’ project review. It sounds like something that we don’t need to be in a rush to see.
I would just check out The Beatles 1st US Visit instead.
@ Thank you for the recommendation and have a Happy New Year.
I say make up your own mind.
Interesting perspective on Apple in general, and boy I must’ve been sucked in by all the old footage, because I totally missed how bad the rest of it was. Looking back now, you’re so right! Happy and healthy new year, Matt.
I kept saying "YES! THANK YOU!" again and again as I watched this review. 100% spot-on all points. Thank you, Matt!
Thank YOU!
Matt, you hit the nail on the head! Great job & Happy New Year!
I joined Disney for the Jackson stuff but won't be doing so for this. It might all be updated quality wise but you can see the original material on TH-cam. Interestingly, having recently watched The Sopranos I came across Stevie Van Zandt's Beatles interviews. He is a total fan, is 74 and was around then and would have been a great interviewee! Thanks for the review Matt and best for 2025.
It's probably a few years too late to make this doc properly. Too many figures have passed away by this point without having been properly interviewed. The actors from Hard Days Night, Sid Bernstein, George Martin, the record executives, Ronnie Spector (I wish that story was told), Cynthia Lennon etc.
That said, it would have been easy to at least create a doc with some authenticity. Jimmie Nicol is out there somewhere. Mal's daughter must have photos and some stories. Mark Lippidos probably has some video footage from the various people he brought into Beatlefest. Maybe John's half brothers have some undiscovered info on Alf Lennon's trip to see John. I'm sure some of the flight attendants are alive from their flight into JFK. Jackie DeShannon, Tommy Roe, Bill Medley... they are all alive and opened for them in 1964.
That was just off the top of my head in a few minutes. Who's running that network?
The documentary didn’t need any modern interviews. The Maysles footage and the live performances from Sullivan and DC would have been enough. They tell the story better than any modern interview ever could.
@mjanovec I don't disagree, but clearly they felt the need for fresh content. I'm just saying they could have spent 15 minutes and come up with better ideas.
It seems to be the nature of historiography, that a previously unconsidered narrative can take hold and everyone treats it as though it has always been there. The whole 'JFK assassination black cloud being lifted by The Beatles arrival 11 weeks later' thing was never really mentioned years ago (in either JFK assassination documentaries nor Beatles ones). It's the same when Pet Sounds was gaining a lot of (re-evaluation) attention from the 90's onwards and it was seen as part of this furious rivalry between the Beach Boys and Beatles, and that was definitely an overblown, trumped up narrative that was never really mentioned before.
Anyway, rant over, good to see you back Matt and hope you had as good a Christmas as can be expected.👍
You put it very well Benjamin. It's good to be back and Christmas was tough but still plenty of high moments with my family.
Brian Wilson has LONG said that he was competing with the Beatles. Brian said that Rubber Soul (US version) inspired him to make what became Pet Sounds. Although Brian can be an unreliable historian, he has stuck with this narrative for decades. Who would know better?
I really wish they mostly just had footage of them in the US. This is basically the Beatles version of the beach boys documentary that came out on disney plus earlier this year. Where 80% of it is other people talking lol
Great review Matt and as others have said spot on. The only thing I did actually think was ok was Paul’ flying****” moment- it made me smile, partly perhaps from my own experiences of Embassies…..
Wishing you all the best for the New Year
Just finished watching it just to comment on your comments. Spot on. Apple signed a deal to churn out content to Disney not unlike a band from the 60s would sign a multi-year contract to put albums despite having any creative juice left.
I sincerely hope you are doing well sir, and God bless you 🙏! I have been subscribed 2 years , and thoroughly enjoy your channel. God bless you sir 🙏. Joey in Cleveland
Thanks for the support, Joey!
Leonard Bernstein's daughter did have a small but important part in the appreciation of the Beatles' music in that she brought their music to the attention of her father, repeatedly as they progressed, and he mentions that in one of his music analysis TV shows. His comments on his own show go a long way to explaining the continued popularity of the Fab's music, sixty years later. So this new film could have run with that idea, but I guess not. Some of my friends who are also fans have liked the film, but I've decided not to bother.
Matt, I'm glad you enjoyed the dopes who talked about the "Let there be light" quality of Beatlemania for them as much as I did. Man, I can't imagine being that vacuous.
I just had a look at the Billboard Hot 100 for 1963. I questioned the absence of one recording, but it's possible that either I missed it or it came out in 1962. It's a fascinating list, and confirms my memories ( I was eleven in 1963 ) that the radio was filled with great stuff in that pre - Beatles year. And remember, most of this is "kids'" music. I'm sure the chart for "easy listening/adult/contemporary" was at least as distinguished. ( Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Broadway, and so on. )
But on the "kids" chart, there are all sorts of treats, Motown and Motown influenced stuff being most noticeable. That was when the folk music vogue was at its peak and about to plummet ( Dylan ), and there are a significant number of folkie recordings. Burt Bacharach was gearing up to be a melody juggernaut in 1963. It's horsesh*t that there was no rock. There was a good bit of it, guys like Dion and Roy Orbison.
I remember that at Christmas in 1963 my church had had a particularly beautiful service. Early in 1964, I was reading H.G. Wells' "The Invisible Man," and smarting over Vicki K.'s lack of interest in me, something I thought might change when we were grown up. ( It did. )
But the idea that the Earth was without form and void and would have remained that way without The Beatles? Pathetic.
Well put, Bob. The legacy building has become and exercise in self aggrandizing for the generation who "were there." They have over stepped their bounds and have offered us a vacuous (to use your excellent term) narrative which undercuts the credibility of greatest music catalog of the 20th century.
They could have talked to some of the Beatles contemporaries, who were already established stars in America, to get their initial reactions to when the Beatles came here in Feb. '64. There's a recent interview clip of Al Jardine of the Beach Boys (On TH-cam), who says the Beach Boys were touring in Australia at the time (Feb. '64). He says they were asked if they had heard of this new British group who had just come over to America. He said they hadn't, then they were played the Beatles second album and asked their reaction. Al said that the group thought the songs were different, but he joked about the Beatles matching haircuts, and said "What kind of a name for a group is the 'Beatles' ". Think the Beatles British special Around The Beatles could be touched up and released. Don't know if it's even available as an import.
Thanx for an honest review. No documentary or movie can really explain Beatlemania. I say that because I lived it. Good to see you back Matt.
Your candid and complete comments ring very true .
All those same thoughts rattled around in my own head but you manage to organize them into a cohesive video .
Very well done, mate !
I appreciate that
I agree with most of your criticisms and I think you summed it up best by saying it was a rushed job. I lot of wasted time with fan testimonials we don't care about. After viewing the Washington DC show multiple times I was struck by The Beatles professionalism under extremely stressful circumstances.The microphones that didn't work. Ringo's rotating drum platform. Weak security. If the fans wanted to storm the stage , there wouldn't be much to stop them. If I were directing I would find as many people as possible who are still alive who were there to get a behind the scenes look. That would be interesting!! Glad your back Matt.👍
While some of the interviewees were oddly chosen/featured, overall I enjoyed the "film." I did, connect with the interview with Joe Queenan's "Like a light went on" comments. And, I think you'd hear that comment from thousands that experienced that Ed Sullivan performance first hand. It had nothing to do with JFK, though the country did feel a real darkness immediately after the assassination. The dark which the Beatles extinguished was a musical darkness. And the change in attitudes toward music between pre and post Beatles was transformative, at least for us Teens. I turned 14 shortly after the Ed Sullivan Show. I got an electric guitar, that I still have, for that March '64 birthday. This was a 100% by product of the Beatles in 1964.
Thanks for the comments, Paul. Much appreciated.
With no new product other than a few singles made from a cassette of Lennon's out takes over the years (decades), it makes it hard to tell / sell the same story to fans again and again and again. Peter Jackson gave us new (unseen) footage and sounds but even George Martin said that they had scraped the bottom of the barrel with what there is to release while making Anthology.
I agree with you Matt about everything regarding Beatles 64. I was almost 6 when JFK was shot and I remember crying, but 2 months later when The Beatles hit big I don't remember anyone being so down and out. Also the interviews were all a waste of time and I wish they provided more concert footage. Overall I somewhat enjoyed it but I'll never watch it again.
Thanks Matt. Glad to see this. Hoping you have a happy new year.
I was 2 weeks shy of my 13th birthday and deeply inspired by the persona of JFK. At 13, I stood between childhood and the promising future ahead. The shock of that moment served as a pivotal benchmark, marking the end of one chapter and the beginning of another. While it didn’t compare to the loss of a parent, it was still a profound awakening of sorts.
Still, as you correctly assumed, I did not mourn that long. By Christmas my friends and I moved on.
The arrival of the Beatles in February put that horrible event in the rearview window. It brought a wave of excitement that guided me into a thrilling yet daunting new world. Suddenly, girls became more significant than my comic books and baseball card collection. Yet the date, November 22nd, never passes without notice. I always have to look up the date of the Beatles on Ed Sullivan.
Good to see you back in shape again, Matt!
Apple Corporate. A very secretive organization. Great to see you back in the saddle Matt after all the challenges and difficulties of the past several weeks.
Thanks Spyder. Good to be back.
Nail. Head. The one thing I would say is that the audio from the concert sounded great - they should release a full remix of that stuff. You are quite right about everything seemingly rushed - the Blue and Red album fiasco was an obvious example.
Thanx, Matt. You've spared me from signing up for a month of Disney+ to watch the thing. 🙂 And in return, I'll tell you that the recent Brian Epstein biopic was *terrible*. Let's start with how they pronounced his name wrong throughout it! But their Beatles - with a 6'4" George and a 5'1" John - were at least amusing in their badness. But if you haven't seen it, don't rush to do so.
I will be skipping that one. Thanks Pete!
As a Canadian I couldn't understand the whole JFK thing. We got to hear a few Beatles songs early on as unlike the pinheads at Capital USA, Capital Canada had Love me Do and the rest from the start. Have to agree with you on your review. I would rather have had a remastered Washington concert.
Another great episode on the Beatles and I was born in October of 1964 so a lot of great stuff happened during 1964 thank you and
have a great upcoming New Year Matt.🎶🎶📻🎶🎶
We don't need one frame of anything other than what was filmed at the time. There is *plenty* of such contemporaneous material from which to edit a two-volume film that would be as funny, entertaining and would stand up to repeat viewings on par with A Hard Day's Night.
Such a great point you make there regarding The Beatles vs JFK. Never really thought of it like that, and me being from a younger generation _and_ from a different cultural sphere, I never really questioned that narrative. Thanks!
Matt, I would like to object to your saying that adults didn’t like the Beatles. My mother was 22 when the Beatles first came to America. She said that she really enjoyed the music. She was just not one of the “screamers”…, in other words I think fans over the age of 20 to maybe 25 admired the music and thought they were talented if they enjoyed them, they may have thought the haircuts were silly, but they really did like the music they just were not part of the mania section of the fan.
Yes, but she would have been in the minority. The Beatles certainly won people over time as well.
In Matt's defense he did acknowledge that some adults liked the Beatles, but said they were "very much in the minority." I believe he is correct there. My father was a musician from the big band era of the 30's and he had many complimentary things to say about the Beatles and often defended them. But, in my personal experience, he was in the minority. Most of my parent's friends did not like the Beatles or understand why I (as an 11-year-old at the time) liked them.
Nothing is 100%, but Matt is basically correct. I still remember James Bond (Sean Connery) saying in "Goldfinger" that listening to the Beatles without earmuffs should not be done. And that's self-described hip London/Hollywood talking
@@wyliesmith4244 many people over 35 let’s say didn’t like rock ‘n’ roll in general. Not just the Beatles. They even thought the clean cut beach boys were subversive.
Early comment, but older stars and celebs would have been interesting, I am thinking of Teri Garr. She actually went to England to meet with them in person, I would have loved to hear from her, and I'm sure there is some interviews of her around. I would also like to hear something from Micky Dolenz as he met with them as well (edit) Great job Matt, finished watching last night.
Those are good options.
Your review of Beatles '64 was spot on with my assessment of it after watching it. You said basically everything I want to say.
One future Beatles project Id love to see, in the Peter Jackson style, Id call "Beatles '66". How they morphed from the beginning of the year (playing teeny bopper atadium shows) to the end ("Strawbwrry Fields and laying foundation for "Sgt Pepper").
Hope your doing ok. Wishing a happy holiday and happy new year!
Thank you, adm.
The problem with Apple today can be traced back to the person at its highest level: Paul McCartney.
Actually, Apple is a four-way democracy and all have to agree. It's not set up to be ruled by a solitary entity. My guess is Apple comes up with all these half baked ideas and the 4 estates just give a stamp of approval. It's getting late in the game for either Paul or Ringo to give a shit about the actual product.
He's in charge?
@@popgoesthe60s52Agreed. Paul and Ringo didn’t even give dedicated interviews for this documentary. The filmmakers had to use table scraps from interviews both gave for their vanity book projects.
So glad to see you are back :)
Thank You Matt ! Great review of Beatles '64. I agree with every word. I'm old enough to remember the unbelievable excitement of the Beatles arrival in '64 and this film does not capture the times at all. The JFK footage with "All My Loving" sung dirge like at the beginning of the film had me rolling my eyes and it was mostly downhill from there. Huge disappointment for me. Watched "The First U.S. Visit" DVD after to cleanse my palate and experience Beatlemania '64.
That is a good palette cleanser!
Thank you Matt. You're video's are always so interesting and educating. Glad to see you're back. Hope you and your dog are doing a bit better.
I appreciate that! Thank you.
Awesome work! Thank you.
Totally agree with your take. Well, we got 17 minutes of unseen Maysles footage. It's sadly scraping the bottom of the barrel.
Excellent review, Matt. I was with my girlfriend and was excited to have her see it, so my review sucked, ha ha. I agree with everything you said. It could have been better and we needed more live footage from Washington and the Ed Sullivan Show.
Thanks Larry!
Always spot on! Thank you Matt.
The perspective of how the arrival of the Beatles to America affected people and the culture is a good idea, but this was a scattered, unfocused film. I would have thought a basic examination of events told in a timeline, with more performance clips, and more of film examples from the two weeks, and more interviews with people who recall their reaction to that first arrival would be more focused.
I think the film worked when it was doing that, the 'on the street' interviews etc. Even though the Betty Friedan interview was in retrospect, I felt it held value and would have kept it. The later music and jumbled timelines were problematic, but I didn't have a problem with later interviews that discussed the impact of the Beatles.
I think most of us agree with you about this one. It's so unfocused and I still boggle my mind trying to figure out who it's for.
When I heard about it, I was expecting (and I think we've been spoiled by Get Back in this regard) a deep dive into what the Beatles did in 1964 (which would've been an epic and excellent story, as we all know). Despite the confused mess that it was, there was gold in there. The late, great Ronnie Spector's interview was fantastic and on-point and I was baffled there wasn't more along those lines. David Lynch's interview was good enough (he was actually there, after all) and so was Smokey's.
I can't believe they went to all the trouble of restoring the footage and remastering/MAL-ing the audio only to have highlights of the actual footage... and also only snippets of the Washington concert and the Ed Sullivan appearances. I get that the Sullivan footage may in fact still be owned by Sullivan's estate (or a successor company), but if it's Apple themselves, I'm shocked they couldn't secure the whole thing and upscale the best TV tape copy they could find. I was expecting at least a Get Back-style revisit of their visit, with the itinerary shown from time to time to keep us on track.
Honestly, this is literally one of those terrible third-rate docs (Alf the Chauffeur's doc is one) from the early home video days.... just without the awful "Beetle" stock music and in 4K HD and music remixed by Giles Martin. It's beneath being an actual Apple release and is quite forgettable.
Thanks for the feedback Dr. Robert!
The series finale of What We Do in the Shadows had a little homage to the Maysles.
Spot-on review.
I would have preferred some kind of background as to how “I want to hold your hand” became a hit record. In spite of opposition by people like Dave Dexter at capital records blocking it. Plus they could have shown George Harrison’s visit to see his sister in September 1963. And his experience in America would have been an interesting prelude to the documentary.
There are plenty of untold stories out there, but they insist on treading old ground and cementing the tired narrative.
Well I rather enjoyed it. Looking forward to next years "Beatles 65. The Shea Stadium Years". Narrated by Holly Johnson from Frankie Goes To Hollywood.
I agree with so much of what you say here. Only that comparing to 64, Eight Days a Week is Oscar category. They had so much they could do!! Showing how Beatlemania was in Europe compared to what they encountered in the US. They could have include Paris leading to NY- it was so exciting and they managed to make it dull. The interviews save for very few were usless and disconnected from the narrative. For me to watch a Beatles documentary and not FEEL anything, felt very strange. If they would have just put Maysles brothers footage together with the concert footage- cut the screaming girls footage in half and place the live performances all in sequence would have made an amazing film. This is a total mess.
I watched the documentary and I didn't feel it added or illuminated anything I already didn't know about the Beatles. The choice of interviews were odd, particularly the former Terrence Trent Darby. I'm his age and when he was talking about the Beatles, I kept thinking, "WTF? You were an infant! I certainly don't remember the Beatles in '64. How could you?" There is one thing: I don't agree with you and others who downplay the importance of the JFK assassination in contextualizing the great timing of the Beatles arrival in the US and appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show." I do think that timing was a fortuitous factor in the Beatles' breakout success and I have an example I can cite. Granted, I don't remember the JFK assassination--I was a infant--HOWEVER, I do vividly remember 9/11 (my equivalent to the JFK assassination in terms of its seismic impact on me and colleagues). I was living and working in NYC at that time. We were walking around in a fog of grief and PTSD for a year and during that time, trust me when I tell you, we were ALL desperately looking for a laugh, any kind of escape valve that could make us forget the tremendous sadness that was so palpable you could feel it. I'm not sure these kids who became Beatlemaniacs felt that kind of grief and shock in the aftermath of the JFK assassination, but I'm sure their parents felt it and their teachers felt it--and they felt it as well but perhaps not as keenly. In this vein, I do think the JFK assassination played an indirect role in the Beatles phenomenon. Yes, I think they would have become a success but I do think timing (as with EVERY great success story) played a role here.
I appreciate the comments, Iris.
They're not only pushing rushed product, they're directly ignoring the requests from the fans.
They're so desperate to cultivate a "new generation of fans" that MIGHT buy product, but it's a generation of fans that don't buy product to begin with. Meanwhile they're ignoring the generations of fans that DO buy product and WANT to buy specific things that they just won't give us!
I don't understand how this appeals to new fans!
@popgoesthe60s52 basically trying to tell them about the band by jumping around a lot, hence the non-64 content for this film, and the poorly made vinyl reissues but not finishing the Capitol versions CD sets.
As ever, nailed it Matt. Sometimes barrel scraping can deliver some interesting bits and pieces but with so many contemporaries having moved on, we’re almost guaranteed schlock. Apple are in danger of screwing the legacy up. The bad feeling surrounding Apple over the Lewisohn magnum opus is probably symptomatic of the mess things are getting into.
Apple is the exact antithesis of Lewisohn. My guess is that Beatles 64 will be quickly forgotten and designated to the scrap pile of Beatles projects to avoid, where as Lewisohn's work....
I was also under-whelmed by the project, that had been hyped-up for a few months before release. I guess if you had never seen any of the other Beatle documentaries about their first US visit, this may have been more enjoyable. The remastered/remixed soundtrack did sound good, so that is something. Great review, and thanks for sharing.
I think you hit upon what wasn't working: many of the interviews. I watched it. And something felt....off. I couldn't pinpoint it. The documentary just didn't feel like a legit part of the Beatles lore. Just like with Doctor Who, I wish the Beatles could get a rest. We don't need a continuous rollout of products. There's more than enough to tide people over for years until some love and care could be put into something new and fresh--whatever that may be.
On a side note, it's good to see you posting again. Welcome back after what I'm sure was a very emotional holiday season.
Thank you, Kenneth.
Hi Matt, totally in agreement with you. For me, the only thing worth the price of admission here is the restored Washington DC footage, of which, I felt there should have been more. This project smacks of desperation; a get it while you can money grab, while the two remaining Beatles, and the first generation fans are still alive. After that, who knows how the Beatles legacy is going to fare?
Intelligent and thoughtful commentary.
Great review! The Maysles footage was great fly-on-the wall stuff worth seeing, but the rest, not so much!
Why not interview other groups coming up with the Beatles in '64 - fellow artists creating the Mersey sound instead of just interested outsiders?
My dad always said "If you can say 'so what?' at each section of a given story, they haven't told their story well". I was thinking this phrase a lot when watching this.
I hope you are doing well. The only clips of the documentary I enjoyed were of the Washington DC concert. When playing Long Tall Sally the band really knocked it out of the park. Ringo is much aligned but in that concert he was killing it. The rest of the documentary was boring.
You articulated all the thoughts I was keeping suppressed in the back of my mind. I was focused on all the stuff I did like while watching it. I was bored at times, and I think I was looking at my phone through most of the contemporary yakking. But I was generally grateful for the documentary showing me all the Mayseles footage, which I hadn't seen except for what might have been in Anthology. Overall though, you're right, it was a poor assemblage, and I wondered (though forgave at the time) all the non-64 stuff being in there. They should have just titled it Beatles in America.
Thanks Michael!
10:42 My man, Paul said something very similar in the Beatles Anthology (in Part 5 as a lead-in to Rubber Soul and writing more creatively thereafter).
Everything, EVERYTHING, you said in this video is SPOT ON!
When I was a kid in the sixties, there were Beatles cards, Beatles cotton candy, Beatles dolls, Beatles ice-cream, Beatles wigs, Beatles this, Beatles that!
That's basically what Disney (and its fall guys) are trying to hit people over the head with... Beatles paraphernalia... and for the same reason that entrepreneurs of the 60s were doing so... EASY MONEY!
Apple has become Seltaeb!
@@popgoesthe60s52 Ha! Nailed it.
I take it big Beatleheads like me DID NOT like this "documentary" at all 😂😂😂 makes one feel less alone in a strange world. Thanks Matt, liked your POV, very similar to mine. Hope Apple starts taking better note(s).
Spot on Matt! I tried to be as kind as I could in my take, but this doc was such a let down on so many levels for me. My own fault, I had built my excitement up for it too much. I had a vision of what it would be, and it wasn’t, not by a long shot. Loved your insights Matt. Cheers 🎉⛄️🍻🎶❄️🎼🎊
Ok, I will ponder your work here a little bit more. There are, in addition to film criticism, many reasons which explain the success of the Beatles in their time. Some young people may just like the music, but I can understand how they could totally miss what was important about them and how we felt about their emergence. Maybe I’ll lay those ideas out on a channel someday. Good luck.
Hi Matt. Interesting take about the over-hyping of the JFK connection. I think there was a link between the two events, but not as much as people have said and continue to say. I agree with the hodge-podge of interviews and the lack of attention to timing. I love Smokey and the Miracles, but the clip of Yesterday is not relevant here. And even though I loved the Jack Douglas story about the Liverpool newspaper article.....it bears no relevance to Feb 1964. Bottom line: I didn't hate this documentary, but I was disappointed overall. Great video once again! Happy New Year!
Your review is reminding me of a documentary on Apple TV about Charlie Brown. It was disappointing because the interviews were of Hollywood celebrities standing in front of these artsy hipster backgrounds. Not only that, but their interviews sounded very scripted and wooden. They seemed extremely phony . Now had they interviewed other comic strip artists or something like that, it would’ve came off as far more genuine.
THANK YOU MATT! THANK YOU!! This is why you are THE MAN!! History is not lineal... events happen that are disconnected, or only connected temporally... I am so tired of hearing how "The Beatles got us over JFK"... I wasn't there but I'm sure the two events had nothing to do with one another... its just like how "The Miracle on Ice" got us over Vietnam... NO IT DIDN'T... the same feelings about Vietnam and inflation and the hostages were there the day after the US Hockey team won the gold... and that Star Wars somehow "made us feel better because of Vietnam and the 70s"... "Star Wars" was good because the world was hungry for an epic and George Lucas hit on the magic of the post-modern pastiche, a gold mine which Tarantino has been tapping into his whole career
Well said!
The Miracle on Ice wasn't even the Gold Medal Game. Sure, they went on to win the gold, but these are the things on which myths are created.
Happy New Year!!!
Good to see you back doing reviews/videos. 👍 Your review is spot on. All that hype for this? 😢