Ringo Starr: 'Let It Be' Film Overshadowed by 'Downer Incident'

When the Beatles' Let It Be film premiered in May 1970, it was met with negative reviews and painted a bleak portrait of the world's biggest rock band on the brink of destruction. But as a restored version of the documentary arrives on Disney+ this week, it's poised for a reappraisal — including from Ringo Starr.

"I was always moaning about the original film, because there was no real joy in it," Starr told the Daily Beast. The drummer cited a heavily dissected scene between Paul McCartney and George Harrison, where they snipe at each other while trying to work out a song arrangement.

"It was all based on this little downer incident," Starr said of the argument. "But that's just how it was; four guys in a room, you know? You're bound to have a few ups and downs."

The drummer also credited McCartney for keeping the Beatles active during periods of turmoil. "It was always Paul who would want to get back to work," he said. "I lived near John [Lennon], 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.'"

Ringo Starr Says 'Get Back' Adds Context to 'Let It Be'

Beatles fans finally got a close look into the ill-fated Get Back / Let It Be sessions with the release of Peter Jackson's six-hour Get Back docuseries in November 2021. Starr said that, viewed together, Get Back and Let It Be offer a more complete picture of the band during its most fraught period.

"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," he said. "I love it. But I'm in it, of course, so six hours is never long enough."

Starr also looks back fondly on the Beatles' final rooftop concert at the Apple Corps headquarters, the culmination of the Let It Be sessions and a joyous final bow for the band. "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 recalled. "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."