The Long and Winding Road to the Beatles Anthology: 1970
By Sara Schmidt
The
Beatles’ Anthology project of the mid-1990’s was considered to a second wave of
Beatlemania. However, the origin of the
project dates back to the times of original Beatlemania of the 1960’s.
As early
as 1968, the head of Apple Films, Denis O’Dell, had been collecting records,
interviews, film clips and newsreel shots of the Beatles to be used in a future
film documentary about the band. John
Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr had long felt a need to
inform the public and their fans the truth behind their story. In 1968, Hunter Davies wrote the only official
Beatles’ biography. While this book had
the blessing of the four Beatles, it still was a watered-down version of the
Beatles’ story. The boys were not very
pleased with the outcome of the book and wanted to make a film of their story
told by them.
That is why Denis O’Dell’s job as head of Apple Films came into existence. The Beatles gave the project the title “The
Long and Winding Road,” named after a new Beatles song written by Paul
McCartney. Dennis kept all of the film
footage to use used in the film in canisters in a locked room that the Beatles
themselves had decorated by making a college of Beatles photographs taken from
newspapers and magazines located in the Apple building on Savile Row in London.
 | |
| The room with the film canisters. Notice the wall the Beatles decorated. |
Copyright: Sara Schmidt DO NOT TAKE THIS PHOTO!
The
fate of the Beatles as a band was not
very clear as 1969 turned into 1970, but it WAS clear that the Beatles still
had plenty of projects to offer. In
February 1970, the New York Times reported
that there were two upcoming Beatles films, “Let it Be” and “the Long and
Winding Road.”
Neil
Aspinall was officially in charge of the “Long and Winding Road project.” The film archives were moved to a building in
Boston Place. This building was originally
purchased for Magic Alex and Apple Electronics.
When that division of Apple closed, Neil Aspinall moved all of the
Beatles’ archives from Savile Row to the new location. He found a researcher named Nell Burley and
the two of them worked through most of 1970 gathering as much information as
they could. The two then edited it all
down to a little under two hours long and Neil put the ending credits from the
Magical Mystery tour movie to signify the end of the documentary.
 |
| Neil Aspinall |
April
10, 1970 is considered to be officially the day the Beatles broke up because on
that date Paul McCartney announced the band’s break up in the self-interview
that was included in his self-titled solo album. However, this announcement did not change any
plans on “The Long and Winding Road.” In
fact, on that date George Harrison watched that early version of the film at
his Apple office on Savile Row.
 |
| George being interviewed on the day of the break up announcement. Not sure if that was before or after he watched the documentary |
Apple
announced shortly after Paul’s self-interview was released that the “Long and
Winding Road” was going to be shown in a split screen format just as the
successful Woodstock documentary has been and the Beatles’ documentary was set
for cinema release during the Christmas season of 1970. In the October 1970 issue of the Beatles’ official
magazine, Beatles Book Monthly, it
was written that Neil Aspinall was close to finishing his work on the official Beatles’
history documentary and Apple still hoped to release it for Christmas. The article also stated that the film would
include footage form the Beatles’ home movies that included shots taken during
the Beatles’ time in India with the Maharishi, live performances from Shea
Stadium, promo films from the Beatles’ songs and news footage. Apple also stated that there was hope to have
a new Beatles’ album released alongside the documentary which would contain
extracts from the “Let it Be” session.
Fans in
1970 were very excited about the chance to see this footage again. In the days before VCRs and DVD recorders,
most fans had not seen things such as the Ed Sullivan show since it originally
had aired six years earlier. But sadly
for fans (and typical for Apple), Christmas of 1970 came and went without the
Beatles’ “Long and Winding Road” documentary.
very nice Sara - I remember the excitement we felt as we were awaiting TLWR to come to our movie theaters. By the way that photo of George is just great!
ReplyDeleteFirst off: Sara, Fantastic job. The picture of the film canisters? Holy Toledo! Great detective work, and great writing, Beatle Writer!
ReplyDeleteOne thing: I saw that mentioned in the Keith Badman book, that George supposedly watched "The Long And Winding Road" the day of the breakup. But I must say....even aside from the fact that Badman's facts are often in question....I find it dubious. George doesn't seem particularly sentimental about the Beatles during this period, or in that interview. Or maybe he was already going to stop in and take a look.
Is there any other source for that piece of information other than Badman's book? Just wondering!
Either way, fantastic post. With an exclamation point!