If the end of the Beatles was, as John characterised it, a "slow death", then here was where the patient really started vomiting uncontrollably. There had certainly been a fair bit of puke in the preceding months, and Ringo may have lost control of his bowels on a couple of occasions, but... no, I've completely lost control of this metaphor.
Let's begin again: Stage 1 at Twickenham had seen plenty of Fabs action over the years (HDN, Help!, the Intel promos, and, perhaps best of all, the promos for Hey Jude and Revolution), all of which yielded more or less pleasant memories/results. So it would have seemed like a reasonable idea to return for the Get Back sessions in January, 1969.
Unfortunately, partly due to the stripped back ethos behind the exercise, and partly because 3/4 of them didn't give much of a shit anymore, little effort was made to actually construct a set, and thereby ameliorate the ipso-facto depressive-fug-inducing effects of being stuck in what looks like a huge garage with no natural light, in the depths of a British winter, when 3/4 of you don't give much of a shit anymore.
Still, there they were for the fortnight in 1969 which broke the band (more or less). And here is how it looked in 2003: much the same.
In the film, you can occasionally see beyond the screen (which served as a set), to the bare studio walls beyond: the same corner 34 years later:
Here's said screen during the filming in '69, and the wall behind in 2003:
...and again, both sides:
Little wonder they got a bit narked, when you get a glimpse of the darkness beyond. (Take that as another stupid metaphor if ye must.)
I am indebted, as are we all, to Christopher Bourke for the very interesting 2003 pics.
I happily stumbled upon your blog while searching for photos of John at Kenwood, great stuff you have here! You might be interested in something I recently posted over at my blog, the sound the past makes, about the possible origin of the song "And Your Bird Can Sing".
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