Ringo Starr Responds to New Beatles Documentary: I Love It

(Terry Wyatt/Getty Images)

The new Beatles documentary was released on Disney+ today and Ringo Starr has admitted, while initially having mixed feelings about the film, he had nothing but praise for it.

For several decades “Let It Be” has been locked away from the public. Originally released in May 1970, after the band’s breakup that same year, the film has not been officially in circulation in any form since the early 1980s, according to Variety. A restored version of “Let It Be” was made available to watch today.

The documentary chronicles the journey of The Beatles as they make their Grammy-winning album, “Let It Be,” along with its Oscar-winning title song. It culminates with their final performance as a band.

“I was always moaning about the original film, because there was no real joy in it,” Ringo Starr told The Daily Beast.

The documentary also delves into how Paul McCartney took on the role as the band’s leader following the death of their manager, Brian Epstein, in 1967.

“It was always Paul who would want to get back to work,” Starr recalled. “I lived near John, and so I’d be at his place, lounging and having a bit of a smoke in the garden, and the phone would ring. We’d know even before we answered that it was Paul, saying, ‘C’mon, let’s get in the studio and make a new record.’”

Overall, the film was impressive, Starr said.

“Now it’s got a start, a middle, and a finish. The start is very slow, and then we get into creating, and then we’re at it and then we’re out. I love it. But I’m in it, of course, so six hours is never long enough,” he said.

During the interview, Starr also revealed how The Beatles ended up on top of the Apple Studios in London to deliver their final performance.

“Always, the Beatles were going to go to Turkey somewhere, or up Everest, or in a desert, or Hawaii. And then, suddenly, ‘Let’s just walk across the road,’” he said.

“With this one, it was just, ‘Let’s do it on the roof.’ And that’s what we did. And it was great. I mean, the police played a huge part. Not that they did anything. But they were moaning at us. And they look really silly in the film now.”