The film "Let It Be" Laserdisc to DVD-R

[Dr. Winston]

Wonder how many folks on this forum would want a DVD-R from a mint Laserdisc----I don't own the disc but I know someone who has it---looks like it might be our best bet until the lawyers,wifes, and remaining Beatles settle. Let me hear your thoughts.

Doc

[njwiv]

I know I would!

[Uncle Al]

You can count me in - I have a bad bootleg VHS that sticks in my machine, absoultely unwatchable.

I can trade CD-R copies of the ABKCO Stones "Aftermath" or "Hot Rocks, Part 1 and 2" (not Hot Rocks 2 - Big Hits and Phazed Cookies) for them.....

[feinstein]

On E-bay, they are offering copies (probably from LaserDisc) from Japan. I happen to have the laserdisc and it also stinks to the point of being unwatchable. This is because they blew up the original 16 MM film to 35 MM for theatrical release (Let It Be was supposed to be a TV documentary and was thus filmed on 16 MM). The sound is also ghastly. The excerpts shown in Anthology prove that the original film masters are pretty good. It's too bad that no-one can bootleg these!

[thxdave]

Count me in too, Winston. I have a TON of laserdiscs but I missed my chance to pick up LIB years ago....still have the Anthology, though!

Dave

[Beowulff]

This is one I'd love to see. I bought a mint sealed factory Beta last year off Amazon auctions very cheap. As much as I wanted to see it, I didn't have the heart to open it I knew that if I held onto it, I'd end up opening it, so I sold it on ebay to a Beatles collector.

[Claviusb]

I'd be interested in that too!:)

[Jeff H.]

I know I'd love to have a copy of "Let It Be" on DVD. The problem with the laserdisc is that those discs seriously prone to laser rot. With that disc having been made over twenty years ago, I can imagine it must be tough to find a copy where the picture and sound quality hasn't started to deteriorate.

[Gary]

After much serious consideration and taking all the time I needed to make a decision on this (a heartbeat), I, too, would love a copy!

[Todd Fredericks]

Count me in for a DVD copy too. I have an old VHS version that was released in the early 80's (a few drop outs but still looks okay). I also think they will take forever to get this out ("A Hard Day's Night" is still on hold/the Anthology DVD set is still "Here, There & Nowhere").

Todd

[TommyTunes]

I would love one, please count me in. Can offer many unique CDR's in trade or or loans of obscure VHS videos.

[RetroSmith]

As has been mentioned here before, LIB was filmed on 16 MM elements, and was later blown up to 35 MM for all subsequent releases, including the laserdisk. The audio is also pretty crummy.

If you scour the undersground, you will find bootleg copies of LIB made from safety copies of the 16MM film. I would think this is a much better bet than anything else, strictly in terms of quality.

I had been reading that Yoko, Paul, Ringo and George were discussing making LIB the next Beatles DVD, as they were thrilled at the job done on Yellow Submarine, especially Paul.

[jkerr]

Yeah, I'd like one too. I know about the horrible x-fer, essentially a double crop, top/bottom & sides. But who knows if Apple will ever get around to releasing it? Could be quite a few years if we're lucky or maybe never!

Just curious - using a standalone dvd recorder or a PC drive? If on a PC there's the ability to do some tweaking with sound & video, and indexing.

[jkerr]

Originally posted by mikey5967
If you scour the undersground, you will find bootleg copies of LIB made from safety copies of the 16MM film. I would think this is a much better bet than anything else, strictly in terms of quality.


Of course the problem is finding a low-gen copy. I gave up on bootleg videos a long time ago because of lousy lossy quality. Now if someone made a dvd from a 16mm - that would really be something!

[reidc]

Well,
Maybe I should look at my VHS copy. I bought it at a record show gotta say 10-11 years ago. Cardboard sleeve was missing a side, and is in a plastic case instead.

I honestly haven't touched it since I bought(used), and never really knew what to expect for quality.

[TimM]

I would be thrilled to get a decent copy. For years I have made do with a bootlegged VHS.

[feinstein]

As I said before, there's a guy on E-bay selling DVD's made from the laserdisc (I presume, since he's duplicated the cover from the laserdisc on his DVD's). I don't know about the quality, but the laserdisc was not much better than the VHS or Beta copy.

[Jimbo]

I would love to get a DVD copy.

P.S. Dr. Winston: You're last name wouldn't be "O'Boogie" by any chance??;)

[thxdave]

As much as I'd like to have a copy of LIB (bootleg or otherwise), it still makes me sad to watch it...kinda like watching a good friend's marriage starting to unravel in front of you.
Dave

[PsychFan]

Originally posted by thxdave
... it still makes me sad to watch it...kinda like watching a good friend's marriage starting to unravel in front of you.


Yeah, it's true. I have a VHS dub of a VHS original, and I do watch it from time to time ... but I get the same feeling during those Twickenham scenes.

The clouds lift a little during the rooftop sequence at the end, which is the only part of the film in which Lennon seems to come alive a bit ...

Despite it all, I wouldn't be without my copy.

[Sckott]

Count me in. My VHS bootleg isn't that hot, and I think mine came from that RCA VideoDisc player from long ago. Please! I'll take one!

[Jeff H.]

Really Sckott? From one of those crappy RCA CED discs? That's pretty incredible when huge numbers of CED discs were shipped from the factory defective. RCA was never able to get it together and the format didn't catch on so they abandoned it. One other Beatles title I saw in that format was "The Compleat Beatles".

[Matt]

Do all the master tapes for all the recordings for "Let It Be" still exist? I always favored the version of "Long and Winding Road" in that film, and it would be a shame if the only source material left for that version was some crappy sounding film track or something.

[jkerr]

Originally posted by Matt
Do all the master tapes for all the recordings for "Let It Be" still exist? I always favored the version of "Long and Winding Road" in that film, and it would be a shame if the only source material left for that version was some crappy sounding film track or something.

This is from memory but I'm pretty sure that that version of LAWR is on Anthology 3.

All the multitracks (for the album) from the Apple sessions should still exist. For the film mono Nagra reels were used. The Twickenham sessions were recorded only on Nagra reels. A ton of bootlegs have been sourced from these mono reels.

[feinstein]

Actually, the version of "The Long and Winding Road" on both the overdubbed "Let It Be" album version and the raw "Anthology 3" version were taken from an earlier performance (I believe recorded on 24-Jan-1969) than the one in the film was (the one in the film with Billy Preston's beautiful organ solo was recorded on 31-Jan-1969).


IMHO, Glyn Johns and Phil Spector made a big mistake in their search of the tapes when they used the 24-Jan performance over the 31-Jan performance since the 31-Jan performance was much more fully realized than the one on the 24th.