October 5th and 6th

I intend to attend the premiere .. George is one of my big idols...

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9/30/2011
GEORGE HARRISON DVD DETAILS
A bonus CD of rare material will be included in the DVD edition of Martin Scorsese's new documentary, "George Harrison: Living in the Material World." The film, which was co-produced by the late Beatle's widow Olivia Harrison, premieres on Sunday (October 2) in Harrison's home town of Liverpool, England, then shows in two parts on October 5-6 on HBO. The DVD is due for release on October 10 in the U.K. but reportedly won't be out on these shores until spring of 2012. Among the songs on the bonus CD are demo version of "My Sweet Lord," "Run Of The Mill," "Behind That Locked Door" "All Things Must Pass" and "The Light That Has Lighted The World" as well as Bob Dylan's "Mama You've Been On My Mind" and the Everly Brothers' "Let It Be Me," and alternative takes of "I'd Have You Any Time," "Woman Don't Cry For Me" and "Awaiting on You All." A lavish coffee table book companion to the documentary has already been published.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2011-10-03 13:31 by tatters.

The London premiere for 'Living In The Material World' took place yesterday and was attended by a plethora of famous faces. Apart from Paul, Ringo, Yoko and Olivia Harrison, there was Dhani Harrison, Sean Lennon, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Michael Palin, Pattie Boyd accompanied by Ronnie Wood, Fearne Cotton accompanied by Jesse Wood, Noel Gallagher, Neil Innes, Nick Mason, Billy Connolly, Ben Kingsley, Bill Wyman, Bob Harris, Mike Rutherford and of course...Martin Scorcese.

Photos can be found here..... [www.wireimage.com]

Fantastic! Thanks for posting the link to the London premiere pix.
George was always my favorite Beatle.

Ringos kids show up ?

I set my DVR. This companion book was just published:

I very much enjoyed watching the fist half of the documentary this evening. I strongly recommend this to everyone. Extremely well done. Can't wait to watch part two tomorrow. I always viewed George to be a cool guy from when I was all of 10 years old back in 1962. We kids back then loved the Beatles, and then of course the curtain rose and gave us tada!!THE ROLLING STONES. The great pity is that Scorcese did not bring similar care and treatment to his project about the Stones. Shine A Light was entertaining, but didn't rise to the heights it should have given the directors love of the Stones music.

Anyway catch Living in the Material World. Great vibe, but heh that was George.

George was a good egg.

I watched this doc and have to admit - it made George seem about as interesting as a block of wood. Slate had a fantastic article on this:

The Boring Beatle
Martin Scorsese's new documentary neuters George Harrison.

We're living in the age of the schlockumentary. Ideally, a documentary should have an arm's-length distance between subject and chronicler. And one hopes that the director is there in service of the viewer, not the subject. In the arts world, that ideal is getting harder and harder to find. A vast cottage industry has sprung up around the making-of documentaries for movies and even CDs. They sport a professional patina and are often enjoyable to watch. But they aren't real documentaries: There's never anything in them that any of the interested parties (stars, director, the producers, the studio) don't want in them—and in the end, they're being used to sell product.

It's worse when you get into the real world. Consider Pearl Jam Twenty, the new documentary on Pearl Jam, by director Cameron Crowe. Back in the 1990s, Crowe, a friend of the band's, wrote the Rolling Stone cover story on the group, one of the only substantive interviews Vedder and Co. gave during their early stardom. Here we are almost two decades later, and Pearl Jam has the same friend do a "documentary" on them. Pearl Jam Twenty is a fun movie with lots of great early footage, but Pearl Jam's corporation is listed as a producer, so you know there's not going to be anything in it that doesn't jibe with the band's image of itself...

...Scorsese made Shine a Light, a filmed concert movie about a pair of Rolling Stones shows at the Beacon Theater in New York City in 2006. The beginning of the film sees Scorsese seemingly in a frenzy about getting the setlist for the show, which is delivered to him at the last second. Scorsese knew that the Stones had started most of their last 60 or 70 concerts with "Start Me Up," and that men the Stones' age rarely do anything radically new. Scorsese later admitted he'd had the setlist hours before the show, but that didn't stop him from ginning up a fake drama that allowed him to insert himself into the film.

And now we have Scorsese's George Harrison: Living in the Material World on HBO, an exhausting but not exhaustive look at the life of the Quiet Beatle. It is a signal work in the age of the schlockumentary. The film, all three-and-a-half-hours-plus of it, is, as you'd expect from Scorsese, a handsome presentation. It's stately, respectful, at times touching, and bears the marks of his typically exhaustive research. But in the end, the documentary contains nothing that the subject, were he still alive, would have found objectionable...


Full article here: [www.slate.com]

Keep in mind this review is from Bill Wyman (the writer, not bass player with the Stones). I am almost positive this is the same guy who did quite a few music reviews in Chicago years ago. In my opinion almost everything he wrote seemed to be over the top negative, provocative. This review has a similar bent to it. Consequently, I would say consider the source when reading his review.

From what I saw in the first half of this program, Scorcese obviously chose to take a positive path to his presentation. Were their dark times in the life of George Harrison? I am sure of it, yet why dwell on negatives and make that the focus when there was such a wealth of positives in the guys life. While I have not seen the second part of the film yet, if it moves as well as the first half I won't have anything to complain about how this was put together. I still encourage IORR's to watch Living in the Material World. Beatles fans will really enjoy it.

I thought that Part 1 was great, with photos and videos of George and the Beatles that I've never seen before! He really uncovered some rare footage. I'll buy this, for sure. George was a unique talent, one musician that I really miss. I can't wait for part 2 tonight.

I love George, but part 1 was kind of boring. As a matter of fact if you didn't have a working knowledge of George and The Beatles it would have made little sense...I was hoping that it would get to the heart of the man. Instead it was like a scrap book of the Beatles career. I was very disappointed.

Most reviews say part 2 is much better and has more of the stuff I was looking for.

Part I was terrific....George's music was used beautifully in the documentary...loved the Jagger clip where he doesn't speak but says so much while snickering and lighting up...

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James Kirk
I love George, but part 1 was kind of boring. As a matter of fact if you didn't have a working knowledge of George and The Beatles it would have made little sense...I was hoping that it would get to the heart of the man. Instead it was like a scrap book of the Beatles career. I was very disappointed.

Most reviews say part 2 is much better and has more of the stuff I was looking for.

George is my favorite Beatle. I would much rather agree with RIP THIS than James Kirk, but I tend to agree with the latter. I'll be glued to the set for part II tonight, but I was hoping for a better product - more focus on the music and less on his personal life.

Wish I had HBO. I will have to wait for the DVD to see this. Can't wait!

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Shawn20

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James Kirk
I love George, but part 1 was kind of boring. As a matter of fact if you didn't have a working knowledge of George and The Beatles it would have made little sense...I was hoping that it would get to the heart of the man. Instead it was like a scrap book of the Beatles career. I was very disappointed.

Most reviews say part 2 is much better and has more of the stuff I was looking for.

George is my favorite Beatle. I would much rather agree with RIP THIS than James Kirk, but I tend to agree with the latter. I'll be glued to the set for part II tonight, but I was hoping for a better product - more focus on the music and less on his personal life.

You cannot deal with the early part of George's career without dealing with the Beatles, and although that story is very familiar, there was lots of previously unseen footage, and the interviews were quite good, especially with people like Astrid, talking about the Hamburg days. Looking forward to Part 2 tonight.

You'll love it STONES62 because Marty did his research and it shows in the footage he uncovered. George was very soft spoken but very intellectual and especially well-read on religions of the world. He was brought up Catholic, which I wasn't aware of, and because he questioned the teachings of Catholicism, he ended up meeting Ravi Shankar and the rest is History, as they say. ( It also shows unusual footage of the Mahareshi.) Through meeting Shankar, he learned the sitar which added a whole new dimension to the Beatles' sound...which I loved!! I know you know that, just a recap of the first part of this documentary.

Good grief! The Beatles again. The other day I watched that PBS American Masters show, Lennon in NYC. Absolutely wonderful. Much of it had to do with the U.S. trying to kick him out of the country and the shameful behavior of the government. At one point Lennon says "I love NYC that is why I want to stay here. Why can't they ban me from Ohio?" There's a point where you hear Sean singing his favorite song...a Beatles song, With A Little Help From My Friends. He asks his Dad if that was him singing. John says it's Ringo, but Paul and I are singing with him. John has trouble recalling the name of the song. At another point he talks about Double Fantasy. He said he hopes 16 year olds dig it, but that is not who he is writing for. He is writing for his contemporaries. He just turned 40. He is saying where he is at, where he came from, where he is going. Here I am. How are you? Did you make it? It's a mature work that rings of truth.

Now I look forward to catching up with Scorcese's George documentary. George is a subtlely interesting guy. What did Palin (I think it was him) say about him? "He was the quiet Beatle that never shut up." I admire anyone who can question and ultimately reject broad mass pop appeal while pursuing his art on a personal and smaller scale.

I do not think Scorcese had much to work with with his ill-conceived SAL project. As a concert film it came much too late in the band's career. As a documentary SAL was a very feeble effort. It is not that Jagger and Richards' life is without interest. But they are not very interesting people outside of the band context. SAL had every feel that Scorcese realized that too late. I expect his George project to be a bit more inspired.

Remember those writing assignments you got in school? These three projects would be a good basis for the assignment: Compare and contrast The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.

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pmk251
Good grief! The Beatles again. The other day I watched that PBS American Masters show, Lennon in NYC. Absolutely wonderful. Much of it had to do with the U.S. trying to kick him out of the country and the shameful behavior of the government. At one point Lennon says "I love NYC that is why I want to stay here. Why can't they ban me from Ohio?" There's a point where you hear Sean singing his favorite song...a Beatles song, With A Little Help From My Friends. He asks his Dad if that was him singing. John says it's Ringo, but Paul and I are singing with him. John has trouble recalling the name of the song. At another point he talks about Double Fantasy. He said he hopes 16 year olds dig it, but that is not who he is writing for. He is writing for his contemporaries. He just turned 40. He is saying where he is at, where he came from, where he is going. Here I am. How are you? Did you make it? It's a mature work that rings of truth.

Now I look forward to catching up with Scorcese's George documentary. George is a subtlely interesting guy. What did Palin (I think it was him) say about him? "He was the quiet Beatle that never shut up." I admire anyone who can question and ultimately reject broad mass pop appeal while pursuing his art on a personal and smaller scale.

I do not think Scorcese had much to work with with his ill-conceived SAL project. As a concert film it came much too late in the band's career. As a documentary SAL was a very feeble effort. It is not that Jagger and Richards' life is without interest. But they are not very interesting people outside of the band context. SAL had every feel that Scorcese realized that too late. I expect his George project to be a bit more inspired.

Remember those writing assignments you got in school? These three projects would be a good basis for the assignment: Compare and contrast The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.

I think Scorsese - knowing his love for the group - would have loved to give the full "No Direction Home" docu treatment to Shine A Light, but Jagger was not interested in that, and so we got yet another concert movie.

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71Tele

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Shawn20

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James Kirk
I love George, but part 1 was kind of boring. As a matter of fact if you didn't have a working knowledge of George and The Beatles it would have made little sense...I was hoping that it would get to the heart of the man. Instead it was like a scrap book of the Beatles career. I was very disappointed.

Most reviews say part 2 is much better and has more of the stuff I was looking for.

George is my favorite Beatle. I would much rather agree with RIP THIS than James Kirk, but I tend to agree with the latter. I'll be glued to the set for part II tonight, but I was hoping for a better product - more focus on the music and less on his personal life.

You cannot deal with the early part of George's career without dealing with the Beatles, and although that story is very familiar, there was lots of previously unseen footage, and the interviews were quite good, especially with people like Astrid, talking about the Hamburg days. Looking forward to Part 2 tonight.

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mickschix

You'll love it STONES62 because Marty did his research and it shows in the footage he uncovered. George was very soft spoken but very intellectual and especially well-read on religions of the world. He was brought up Catholic, which I wasn't aware of, and because he questioned the teachings of Catholicism, he ended up meeting Ravi Shankar and the rest is History, as they say. ( It also shows unusual footage of the Mahareshi.) Through meeting Shankar, he learned the sitar which added a whole new dimension to the Beatles' sound...which I loved!! I know you know that, just a recap of the first part of this documentary.

Bill Wyman is a bit harsh in his criticism of George's admittedly uneven output, giving him credit for two undisputed classic songs, Something and Here Comes The Sun, and then saying he had only a half-dozen really good songs after that. But the case he lays out for the film shortcomings is compelling. Music-wise, Scorsese's interest in George's albums apparently stops at All Things Must Pass. There's only passing mention of the love-triangle between Clapton, and Harrison and his wife Patti, and little to no mention of George's darker emotional tendencies.

I know many here frown on the tabloid side of things, and prefer a white-washing of their idols lives. I don't like it when things go too far in that direction either, but I also like a well-rounded story that shows all aspects of a person's life and personality, and this film apparently doesn't do that. I'm not saying Scorsese had to include such details as Harrison telling Clapton to seduce Patti, so he could have a go at Patti's sister Paula, who was Clapton's then girlfriend. But it would be nice if the film gave some insight as to how Harrison and Clapton remained such good friends despite all the drama between them. I've always wondered that, and this film apparently doesn't go into it at all.

Another gripe Wyman had is that Harrison's tendency towards a dark and depressing outlook isn't really discussed much. The recent Rolling Stone article promoting the film quoted Olivia speaking about how he would go through long periods of meditation and spirituality, which he would then follow-up with a coke binge. That dichotomy of light and dark within Harrison is fascinating to me, but it's not really covered in this film.

I'm not saying the film needs to be all about the dirt in Harrison's life, and I know many here say that has nothing to do with the music. But those same people seem to want to only see the good side of their idols, and how much that is responsible for their best music, and then don't want to even hear, much less acknowledge, that they have a dark side, and that it is often equally responsible for their best music. They just want to keep their head in the sand about the bad stuff, but that's as much a part of who a person is as the good.

I enjoyed Part 1 and agree that Scorcese did a much better job on this than with the Stones. His editor is the key. This man also did the Dylan documentary.
Enjoyed the footage with George and Ravi Shankar and also Ali Akbar Khan, another great musician. And even the giggling Maharishi whom I met when he made "his LA tour." He soaked up the attention.

Expect Part 2 will be more interesting and also musically exciting with Concert for Bangla Desh etc. There was that lovely side of George and a darker side. Can't imagine they will go into that. Thought Pattie Boyd added a lot and was her usual ladylike self.

The stuff with Yoko talking about how encouraging George was of her music was somewhat hard to swallow.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011-10-07 04:01 by stonesrule.

Interesting! I can't wait to see. I am surprised about Yoko. George was one of her harshest critics and had very little patience with here. I the director's cut of the Anthology he talks about how he told her that he had herd from New York that she had a lot of bad karma about her. He also made a point of inviting Lennon to perform at Bangladesh, and when Lennon asked about Yoko George said only Lennon was welcome, which infuriated Lennon.
And yes, the dark side of George would be interesting to hear more of. His affair with Ringo's wive, his heavy drug use in the mid 70's and how he got hepatitis. But I am sure this is a great movie and I can't wait to see it!

Yeah I read or heard somewhere George called yoko a bad vibe.

Also George's affair with Ringo's first wife has been panned.

Oh well.

Was he really The Beatle Who Changed The Most? "Go away, leave me alone, don't bother me", he wrote when he was twenty. Wasn't he always that guy?



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2011-10-07 05:17 by tatters.

Agree with you, Tatters.

Saw Part 2 - Olivia, what a woman. Really dug her.
Surprised by how profound Jackie Stewart was.
I thought the whole thing was well done (although I don't see why it had to be done by Scorsese); a good documentary.

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Palace Revolution 2000
Saw Part 2 - Olivia, what a woman. Really dug her.
Surprised by how profound Jackie Stewart was.
I thought the whole thing was well done (although I don't see why it had to be done by Scorsese); a good documentary.

Ditto for me...The part where Ringo breaks down is very moving. They glossed over a few things, of course, but this wasn't an expose, it was a documentary, and given the fact that Olivia was one of the producers, I thought it was very candid.

Tele why does Ring break down? What happens?

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whitem8
Tele why does Ring break down? What happens?

He is discussing the very last time he saw George. Ringo had to leave to attend to his own daughter in Boston, who had a brain tumor. George (who couldn't even stand up) asked Ringo if he wanted him to go with him. These were the last words they spoke to each other.