New Get Back book postponed

The old “Get Back” book, printed before the album changed name, accompanied the “Let It Be” album in the U.K., Canada (fewer pages) and lots of other countries in 1970. It featured transcribed dialogue taken from the film footage, as well as photographs by Ethan Russell.

The new “Get Back” book, which was supposed to be published 1 September in USA and 15 October in the U.K. has been pushed back to 2021 and the new publishing date is now set to 31. August 2021 in both countries.

Here is the publisher’s description of the book:

The Beatles: Get Back Hardcover – August 31, 2021
by The Beatles (Author), John Harris (Editor), Ethan Russell (Photographer), Linda McCartney (Photographer), Hanif Kureishi (Introduction), Peter Jackson (Foreword)

The most anticipated book in more than a decade by the legendary band, “The Beatles: Get Back” is the official account of the creation of their final album, “Let It Be”, told in The Beatles’ own words, illustrated with hundreds of previously unpublished images, including photos by Ethan A. Russell and Linda McCartney. Half a century after the 1970 “Let It Be” album and film, this milestone book coincides with the global release of Peter Jackson’s documentary feature film, “The Beatles: Get Back”.

The book opens in January 1969, the beginning of The Beatles’ last year as a band. The BEATLES (The White Album) is at number one in the charts and the foursome gather in London for a new project. Over 21 days, first at Twickenham Film Studios and then at their own brand-new Apple Studios, with cameras and tape recorders documenting every day’s work and conversations, the band rehearse a huge number of songs, culminating in their final concert, which famously takes place on the rooftop of their own office building, bringing central London to a halt.

This book tells the story of those sessions through transcripts of the band’s candid conversations. Drawing on over 120 hours of sound recordings, leading music writer John Harris edits the richly captivating text to give us a fly-on-the-wall experience of being there in the studios. These sessions come vividly to life through hundreds of unpublished, extraordinary images by two photographers who had special access to their sessions―Ethan A. Russell and Linda Eastman (who married Paul McCartney two months later). Also included are many unseen high-resolution film-frames, selected from the 55 hours of restored footage from which Peter Jackson’s documentary is also drawn.

Legend has it that these sessions were a grim time for a band falling apart. However, as acclaimed novelist Hanif Kureishi writes in his introduction, “In fact this was a productive time for them, when they created some of their best work. And it is here that we have the privilege of witnessing their early drafts, the mistakes, the drift and digressions, the boredom, the excitement, joyous jamming and sudden breakthroughs that led to the work we now know and admire.”

The new “Get Back” book – due out August 2021

Half a century after their final performance, this book completes the story of the creative genius, timeless music, and inspiring legacy of The Beatles.

Peter Jackson’s “Get Back” documentary should have premiered 4 September in USA and Canada but because of Covid19 it has been set to premiere on 27 August 2021. Meanwhile, Bruce Spizer’s new book about the Let It Be album, “The Beatles Finally Let It Be” was published as planned, 4 September 2020.