Beatles’ ‘Get Back’ Movie Will Feature Complete Rooftop Concert
The entire concert performed by the Beatles on the rooftop of their London offices will be included in the upcoming The Beatles: Get Back film.
Performed at lunchtime on Jan. 29, 1969, on top of Apple Corps' headquarters at 3 Savile Row, the rooftop concert consisted of nine takes of five songs. There were three stabs at "Get Back" -- the last taking place as police came to shut down the performance -- and two attempts at both "Don't Let Me Down" and "I've Got a Feeling." They also played "One After 909" and "Dig a Pony."
Roughly half of the 42-minute set, which included Billy Preston on keyboards, made its way into the original Let It Be movie. Take one of "I've Got a Feeling," "One After 909" and "Dig a Pony" made their way onto the Let It Be album, while the final version of "Get Back" was released on Anthology 3.
The decision to include the full performance was announced in a press release revealing details about the Peter Jackson-directed documentary, an expansion of the 1970 Let It Be movie, which has been out of circulation for years. Through restoration of footage and using unreleased audio and video, Jackson, with the Beatles' approval, is reportedly trying to change the long-held narrative that the group was falling apart at the time.
"I’m really looking forward to this film," Ringo Starr said. "Peter is great, and it was so cool looking at all this footage. There was hours and hours of us just laughing and playing music, not at all like the version that came out. There was a lot of joy, and I think Peter will show that. I think this version will be a lot more peace and loving, like we really were."
The Beatles: Get Back will hit theaters on Sept. 4.