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As a complement to Peter Jackson’s docuseries, The Beatles: Get Back, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, OH is opening a ground-breaking exhibit: The Beatles: Get Back to Let It Be. Fans will experience The Beatles’ creative journey through the exhibit’s original instruments, clothing, and handwritten lyrics used by The Beatles and seen in the film, including items loaned directly by Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and the estates of George Harrison and John Lennon. The exhibit will feature high-definition film clips, audio, and custom projections, transporting fans into The Beatles’ vibrant world of January 1969.
Like Jackson’s Get Back docuseries, the exhibit shows how The Beatles composed and recorded many of their iconic songs from scratch. The exhibit’s three screening rooms feature a selection of footage from each location from the docuseries: Twickenham, Apple Studios, and the Apple Corps rooftop. The footage from the recording sessions and conversations turn the clock back to 1969, showing the intimacy, joyousness, and humour as The Beatles write and record songs for Let It Be and some songs featured on Abbey Road and future solo albums.
Some of the exhibit’s unique items include:
Paul McCartney’s black and gray shirt that was worn in the studio and handwritten lyrics for “I’ve Got A Feeling.”
Ringo Starr’s maple Ludwig drum kit and his borrowed red raincoat from the rooftop performance.
John Lennon’s iconic eyeglasses, Wrangler jacket, an Epiphone electric guitar, and handwritten lyrics for “Dig A Pony.”
George Harrison’s pink pinstripe suit and handwritten lyrics for “I Me Mine.”
Fans will also enjoy audio engineer, producer, and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Inductee Glyn Johns’ record acetate from the sessions and iconic photography by Linda McCartney and by Ethan Russell, who documented the band’s January 1969 rehearsals, sessions, and rooftop performance, and whose photos are featured in the Let It Be album art.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has housed many priceless Beatles artifacts over the past quarter-century, including John Lennon’s handwritten lyrics to “In My Life,” Paul McCartney’s blue Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band uniform, and even the blood-stained glasses that Lennon was wearing on the day of his murder in New York City. But their new exhibit The Beatles: Get Back to Let It Be is the first time they’ve focused on a single era in the Beatles’ history, and the first time they had the full cooperation of the band.
“We’ve been wanting to do something like this for a decade,” says Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Vice President and Chief Curator Nwaka Onwusa, who worked on the exhibit alongside longtime Hall of Fame curator Craig Inciardi. “It’s extremely special.”
The centerpiece of the 2,000-square-foot exhibit, which is housed in the Cleveland museum’s main hall, is footage from the 2021 docuseries The Beatles: Get Back. Visitors can watch the footage in three state-of-the-art theaters. “These are immersive experiences,” says Onwusa. “In the first one, you get the Twickenham Studios experience. The second one is the Apple studio, and then you get the rooftop performance in the final one.”
The documentary is nearly eight hours long, but the museum worked with director Peter Jackson’s team to cut it down to about 25 minutes that focuses largely on the creation of key songs and the climactic live performance that wraps up the film. “It’s so much better than watching it at home,” says Onwusa. “You just can’t beat the theater experience. You feel like you’re in the studio with them.”
Outside the three theaters are artifacts from the Let It Be era that were loaned to the museum by the Beatles and engineer Glyn Johns, including the red jacket Ringo wore during the rooftop concert, George Harrison’s handwritten lyrics to “I Me Mine,” and Johns’ day-by-day notebook from the sessions.
“As chief curator here, I’m always pinching myself, but this one really has me speechless,” says Onwusa. “I can’t wait for other Beatles fans to experience this exhibit as well.”
The Beatles will be celebrated in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for an entire year through to March 2023, with a special calendar full of events.
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Michelle is a musician and composer from the UK. She has performed across the UK and Europe and is passionate about arts education and opportunities for women and girls.
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