Althouse: "I put my hand over the phone and talked to my brother and said 'Who are The Beatles? Are they any good?'"

March 7, 2015

"I put my hand over the phone and talked to my brother and said 'Who are The Beatles? Are they any good?'"

"Fortunately, he was the one that knew about that kind of music... He said, 'Yeah, they're great," so we both got on the phone and made a deal and rushed out to the airport," said Albert Maysles.

"These guys, The Beatles, they were almost like from another planet."

"Albert Maysles, the pioneering documentary filmmaker who frequently collaborated with his brother, David, died Thursday at 88. His influential career spanned nearly 60 years."

Clips at that link. Full obituary here.

For more than 10 years, my blogger profile has had the same 12 movies list as my favorites. The Maysles brothers' "Grey Gardens" is one of them.

11 comments:

Heartless Aztec said...: Lester lifted a Hard Days Night from their film of the Beatles first visit. The pacing, the setting and probably some if the dialogue too. What a great filmmaker. RIP.; 3/7/15, 7:59 AM
amie lalune said...: Good Lord, will the Beatles worship EVER end? Not just you, Professor, but most of your generation. Ick.; 3/7/15, 9:15 AM
m stone said...: "Who are The Beatles?"

Kids say that today.; 3/7/15, 9:21 AM
Heartless Aztec said...: No they don't. My inner city school kids new who they are if not who they were. I credit it to Michael Jackson licensing their songs for commercials. They would even sing along to son of the songs. Had one 15 year Afghan girl tell me that "She's Leaving Home" was the most beautiful song she had ever heard when I played it for the class one day (after Handel's Water Music) during seat work time.; 3/7/15, 9:58 AM
FleetUSA said...: Yes, Professor, you have mentioned Grey Gardens before, so I put it at the top of my Netflix list at last. tks.; 3/7/15, 10:12 AM
Heartless Aztec said...: Addendum - knew not new. I need a senior phone with big letters on the typing screen.; 3/7/15, 11:11 AM
eddie willers said...: Good Lord, will the Beatles worship EVER end? Not just you, Professor, but most of your generation. Ick.

Just as soon as the world forgets Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms and Bach.

Every century or so there a few music creators that so transcend what was previously 'the norm', that they are remembered through the ages.

My vote for the 20th century:

The Beatles
George Gershwin
Hank Williams; 3/7/15, 2:24 PM
Ann Althouse said...: This post isn't just another post about The Beatles.

It is about a great filmmaker, whom I've loved for decades, who just died.; 3/7/15, 5:37 PM
Ann Althouse said...: The Beatles movie isn't his most important work, but the clip shows him talking about how he ended up being in that place at that time and getting a significant job at an early point in his career.; 3/7/15, 5:38 PM
Ann Althouse said...: To say "Good Lord, will the Beatles worship EVER end? Not just you, Professor, but most of your generation. Ick." as your reaction the death of Albert Maysles makes you seem — in my world — like a clod, an ignoramus.; 3/7/15, 5:40 PM
George M. Spencer said...: Love to see someone make a movie about George Harrison's pre-Sullivan solo visit to relatives in West Virginia during which time he got on stage and played with a local rock band.

True. Look it up in your Funk and Wagnalls.; 3/8/15, 6:59 AM