Best of '21: Kris Bowers' Top 3 reasons to watch The Beatles: Get Back on Disney+ this Thanksgiving (Exclusive)
After mounted anticipation, the long-awaited ‘The Beatles: Get Back’ Disney+ docu-series exclusive is finally here - or at least nearly here with the premiere officially set to go down before everyone carves into their Thanksgiving Day meals. With a jaw-dropping and mind-blowing trailer showing previously unreleased footage, an up-close look at the ‘Fifth and Black’ Beatle Billy Preston playing a crucial role and at the direction of filmmaker Peter Jackson, it’s only right we celebrate the premiere by talking to high-profile music composer and pianist Kris Bowers about the must-see special.
While ATC will save another Q&A to have Mr. Bowers speak on composing scores and working on projects with JAY-Z, Kanye West, Ava DuVernay along with having massive attachments to new films including RESPECT and King Richard - we’re focusing on Kris’ top three reasons ‘The Beatles: Get Back’ is an absolute must-watch, finding out what impact the iconic group played on his own life and much more.
Kris’ Top 3 reasons to watch The Beatles: Get Back:
1. It’s a rare look into the past
I feel like just being able to see any sort of intimate footage of a band like that at this time is like always incredibly exciting to me just because you feel like you’ve seen everything and when you’re able to find more information to get an even closer look at people, there’s already been so much we’ve been able to explore, it feels really special to see something new and to be given an even clearer picture of who they are. I think just in general having this perspective on it feels pretty special. I think that’s one big reason for sure.
2. All hail a filmmaking legend
I feel like Peter Jackson in general, he’s such an incredible director. I feel like just having him involved in this is pretty special.
3. Get a chance to watch the Fifth Beatle shine
I feel like Billy Preston, the impact he had in music in general but being able to see how that crossover happened with him and the Beatles is pretty fascinating as well.
The Beatles had a real impact on Kris Bowers’ life
For me, it’s really just the ability they had in balancing the complex with the incredible simple. I think for me, my favorite musicians and composers or artists in general find some sort of way to convey a really complex idea or a really complex emotion or really complex aspect of life and convey that in a really simple way and they’re geniuses at that. There are so many times where I didn’t really become a fan of the Beatles until like college and adulthood. My parents didn’t really listen to Beatles very much and I just had this period in college where I would pick a band and a director to study and I would kind of just go into their catalogue.
So when I would go into the Beatles, there were so many times I would pick apart some of their songs and learn some of their songs where on the surface sound incredibly simple but all of a sudden, I would notice, ‘Oh - this is a different time signature.’ The musicality is so incredibly woven into the songwriting that I feel like it’s not only one of the things I love about them so much but also feel has influenced my own approach to composition where I try to take something simple and make it slightly quirky so it feels a little more especially unique or vice versa. If I have something that’s really complex, continuing to try to find a simpler way to say it and I feel like a lot of it comes from studying them.
Feeling a deep connection to some of the legends
I definitely felt a connection to Billy Preston just thinking about him being this node between genres where he was so prolific in the R&B genres and all the bands he was playing with at the time whether it was Ray Charles or Little Richard or whoever else it was, for him to then exist in the space playing with the Beatles, it shows just how universal music is. I think that’s really the kind of band they were.
I feel like I have lot of connection with him and it’s weird because I kind of go back and forth between both Paul and John because there’s a part of me that has always liked being like - the friendly guy and very charismatic and then you have that yin to that yang with the energy. I feel like there were definitely times where I kind of see the world.
Check out the full ATC Q&A with Kris Bowers where he also talks about his music career flourishing over the past 12 to 18 months and keep scrolling for more details on ‘The Beatles: Get Back.
Directed by three-time Oscar®-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson (“The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, “They Shall Not Grow Old”), “The Beatles: Get Back” takes audiences back in time to the band’s January 1969 recording sessions, which became a pivotal moment in music history. The docuseries showcases The Beatles’ creative process as they attempt to write 14 new songs in preparation for their first live concert in over two years. Faced with a nearly impossible deadline, the strong bonds of friendship shared by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr are put to the test. The docuseries is compiled from nearly 60 hours of unseen footage shot over 21 days, directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg in 1969, and from more than 150 hours of unheard audio, most of which has been locked in a vault for over half a century. Jackson is the only person in 50 years to have been given access to this Beatles treasure trove, all of which has now been brilliantly restored. What emerges is an unbelievably intimate portrait of The Beatles, showing how, with their backs against the wall, they could still rely on their friendship, good humor, and creative genius. While plans derail and relationships are put to the test, some of the world’s most iconic songs are composed and performed. The docuseries features – for the first time in its entirety – The Beatles’ last live performance as a group, the unforgettable rooftop concert on London’s Savile Row, as well as other songs and classic compositions featured on the band’s final two albums, Abbey Road and Let It Be.
An exciting new collaboration between The Beatles and Jackson presented by The Walt Disney Studios in association with Apple Corps Ltd. and WingNut Films Productions Ltd., “The Beatles: Get Back” is directed by Peter Jackson, produced by Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono Lennon, Olivia Harrison, Peter Jackson, Clare Olssen (“They Shall Not Grow Old”) and Jonathan Clyde (“Eight Days a Week”), with Apple Corps’ Jeff Jones (“Eight Days a Week”) and Ken Kamins (“The Hobbit” trilogy) serving as executive producers. Jabez Olssen (“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”) serves as the film’s editor, the music supervisor is Giles Martin (“Rocketman”), Michael Hedges (“The Adventures of Tintin”) and Brent Burge (“The Hobbit” trilogy) serve as the series re-recording mixers, and the music is mixed by Giles Martin and Sam Okell (“Yesterday”).
