Beatles ’64, a documentary capturing The Beatles‘ 14-day trip to America in February of that year, is streaming now on Disney+. While there have been several docs about this particular chapter of Beatles history, this one has plenty of new stuff for fans to enjoy.
“A big goal for us with this film is to try to bring something new to a beloved story that has been oft-told,” producer Margaret Bodde [BOW-dee] told ABC Audio.
Among those new things: 17 minutes of never-before-seen footage shot fly-on-the-wall style by Albert and David Maysles, who followed the band over those 14 days. That footage “has so many intimate moments with the band, and also really intimate and revealing moments [with fans],” says Bodde.
Plus, the audio from The Beatles’ live performances during that time has all been restored. “For the first time, you can hear how great the band is. They have so much energy. They’re such great musicians,” she adds.
Martin Scorsese is a producer on the film and, according to director David Tedeschi [tuh DESK ee], the film legend was “beyond happy” to interview Ringo Starr on camera, as he shows off some of the memorabilia he has from that time period.
“It was very exciting. … You can’t quite believe that this is Ringo’s drum kit and this is what he played on [The Ed Sullivan Show],” Tedeschi says.
Tedeschi’s other favorite moments in the film include a scene where George Harrison confuses a reporter by naming “White Christmas” as his favorite “rock” song, and footage of a fan who brought a monkey to greet the band in Miami.
Tedeschi notes, “It gave me a real sense of the chaos … as George said [in the film], they were normal, and everybody around them went crazy.”
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