GET BACK: THE ROOFTOP PERFORMANCE

After years of releasing ridiculously contrived compilations of music that every BEATLES fan already owns in abundance, finally in 2022 fans are getting something that is actually worth shelling out some hard earned hyper-inflated currency to obtain and that would be the official audio release of THE BEATLES symbolic farewell tour that ended on 30 January 1969 on the rooftop of their Apple Corps headquarters at 3 Savile Row in London. While this particular moment is legendary as the unofficial disbanding of one of pop music's greatest acts, this particular event has never seen an official release. Until now! It is head scratching as to why the record execs didn't take advantage of this live show's 50th anniversary in 2019 but who knows and who cares. Here it is at last.

True that many have heard most of the material here and seen the videos but there is something satisfying about having all the material presented on a single official release that can sit proudly in the company of official studio albums and other BEATLES releases. While hardly a world tour, this spontaneous sounding jam session features the great John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr playing their first public performance in several years. Joining in as keyboardist was Billy Preston who luckily joined the Fab Four at this magic moment that everyone alive surely remembers and for those who weren't exists as one of those mythical turning points in 60s pop culture as the 1970s were lurking around the corner.

While intended to be a box set, the record company wisely decided to keep things simple and release this concert of nearly 40 minutes as a stand alone however the ten tracks have all been lovingly remastered and spruced up to sit comfortably in our technologically advanced modern era. The results are quite satisfying as not only are we reminded exactly why THE BEATLES were so magical and had a charisma unlike any other artist in all of history but the sound quality from engineer Alan Parsons and producer Glyn Johns sparkles like a precious gemstone displayed in full sunlight. For those not familiar with THE BEATLES at a deeper level, these tracks had never been played live due to the fact THE BEATLES stopped touring and playing live gigs as far back as 29 August 1966 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco meaning any of the albums of the more production years of THE BEATLES were studio gems only.

Officially titled GET BACK: THE ROOFTOP PERFORMANCE, this live archival release is a nice surprise in the crowded musical world of 2022 when micro-niches have usurped any industry standard and the world is radically different than in 1969 when this performance took place. Given that there are three takes of "Get Back" and two of "Don't Let Me Down" and "I've Got A Feeling," it does feel like one of those forced compilations that under normal circumstances wouldn't warrant all the attention it has received however this is THE BEATLES and any lost artifacts of previously unreleased material is well worthy of the hype surrounding it. The tracks presented here may not be substantially different than the studio versions on their respective albums of origin however this album perfectly evokes the zeitgeist of the era and for that reason alone this album's worth of rooftop performances is well worth the tracking down simply to revive those long lost sounds of half a century ago.