The Beatles 1 Video Collection is out now. Available on: www.thebeatles.com/
Hey Jude topped the charts in Britain for two weeks and for 9 weeks in America, where it became The Beatles longest-running No.1 in the US singles chart as well as the single with the longest running time.
The Beatles did not record their promotional film until Hey Jude had been on sale in America for a week. They returned to Twickenham Film Studio, using director Michael Lindsay-Hogg who had worked with them on Paperback Writer and Rain. Earlier still, Lindsay-Hogg had directed episodes of Ready Steady Go! And a few months after the film for Hey Jude he made The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus TV special that featured John and Yoko but wouldn’t be shown until 1996
To help with the filming an audience of around 300 local people, as well as some of the fans that gathered regularly outside Abbey Road Studios were brought in for the song’s finale. Their presence had an unlikely upside for The Beatles in their long-running saga with the Musicians’ Union in that the MU were fooled into believing the band were playing live, when in fact they were miming for the vast majority of the song. Paul, however, sang live throughout the song.
The video was first broadcast on David Frost’s Frost On Sunday show, four days after it was filmed. At that point transmission was in black and white although the promo was originally shot in colour. It was first aired in America a month later on 6 October 1968, on The Smotheres Brothers Comedy Hour.
On Set and Behind The Scenes stills taken from the Fox Bohemian Rhapsody Movie.
Greg Brooks, Queens’ Official Archivist was part of this process and he worked with the band and the movie production team on a daily basis for months to re-create every tiny detail of each scene and to make it as authentic as possible.
«My role was to give the Fox ‘Props’ team access to authentic Queen tapes, notes, handwriting, memorabilia, costumes and photographs — anything and everything remotely useful — which they could then create replicas of, to dress various sets.»
«Working on this project with such a brilliant gathering of dedicated talented people, was a rare privilege. Fox have created a Queen universe that is scarily convincing. It is real in every way that it could reasonably be.»
Bohemian Rhapsody is a foot-stomping celebration of Queen, their music and their extraordinary lead singer Freddie Mercury, who defied stereotypes and shattered convention to become one of the most beloved entertainers on the planet. The film traces the meteoric rise of the band through their iconic songs and revolutionary sound, their near-implosion as Mercury’s lifestyle spirals out of control, and their triumphant reunion on the eve of Live Aid, where Mercury, facing a life-threatening illness, leads the band in one of the greatest performances in the history of rock music. In the process, cementing the legacy of a band that were always more like a family, and who continue to inspire outsiders, dreamers and music lovers to this day.
Lyrics
[Verse 1]
Its always around me, all this noise
But not nearly as loud as the voice saying
«Let it happen, let it happen (Its gonna feel so good)
Just let it happen, let it happen»
[Chorus 1]
All this running around
Trying to cover my shadow
A notion growing inside
Now all the others seem shallow
All this running around
Bearing down on my shoulders
I can hear an alarm
It must be morning
[Verse 2]
I heard about a whirlwind thats coming round
Its gonna carry off all that isnt bound
And when it happens, when it happens (I wont be holding on)
So let it happen, let it happen
Its gonna feel so good
Its gonna feel so good
[Verse 1]
Its always around me, all this noise
But not nearly as loud as the voice saying
«Let it happen, let it happen (Its gonna feel so good)
Just let it happen, let it happen»
Its gonna feel so good
[Chorus 2]
All this running around
I cant fight it much longer
Somethings trying to get out
And its never been closer
If my take-off fails
Make up some other story
But if I never come back
Tell my mother Im sorry
[Bridge]
(Gibberish)
[Outro]
Baby, now Im ready, moving on
Oh but maybe I was ready all along
Oh Im ready for the moment and the sound
Oh but maybe I was ready all along
Baby, now Im ready, moving on
Oh but maybe I was ready all along
Oh Im ready for the moment and the sound
Oh but maybe I was ready all along