Below is an extract from a larger feature on Peter Jackson's The Beatles: Get Back – originally published in Hot Press in 2021, and available to read in full here.

The Beatles perform on the Saville Row roof of the Apple headquarters on January 30, 1969 and if this was all Peter Jackson, Apple and Disney released into the world, it would still be the greatest thing ever.

Michael Lindsay-Hogg set up five cameras on the rooftop, one on a rooftop across the street, three in the street itself to capture the reactions of passers-by, and one hidden in reception. Against the odds, given the shaky start of the whole endeavour, it’s glorious. The Beatles – and Billy Preston – are rockin’ and they know it. The performances of ‘I’ve Got A Feeling’, “One After 909’ and ‘Dig A Pony’ are good enough to warrant inclusion on the finished album. The reactions from the people in the street – both for and against – are priceless, and the icing on the cake is the arrival of some impossibly young looking Bobbies to shut it all down.

When they appear on the roof, you can see it on Paul McCartney’s face; he knows this is going to look great on film. John Lennon finishes with his famous remark about passing the audition, and you can see the smiling relief on all involved during the playback; they know they have it.

This is just another example of the immortal, eternal magic of The Beatles. Has there ever been any other phenomenon in recorded history that had such an innate ability to just make everybody feel better?