McCartney 3,2,1

Exhaustive and somewhat exhausting, incredibly jam-packed with behind the scenes Beatles lore and analysis of musical composition and arrangements, Macca's interviews with record mogul Rick Rubin come across very relaxed and conversational, making the viewer feel. As much as possible, that they are also in on the conversation. Bits of historical contexts are included, but I think the more you are familiar with the material discussed, the better oriented you'll feel to absorb it all..,

Paul McCartney must have carried out hundreds of interviews over his professional career and I believe I've seen, heard or read quite a lot of them, being a big Beatles / McCartney fan myself. I must admit that I know very little about Rick Rubin other than that he first came out producing rap and hip hop music, before much later producing critically acclaimed and commercially successful albums very late in their careers by the likes of Johnny Cash and Neil Diamond to name but two. I wouldn't automatically have had him sharing much in common musically with McCartney, but clearly he knows and loves Paul's work especially the Beatles years. Coupling this with his obvious knowledge of studio technology, we here get a very detailed and in-depth analysis of McCartney's music as this extended interview is carried out with just the two of them standing in front of a production console in a darkened studio. You could argue it's a metaphorical duplication of his production work with Cash in particular, i.e. Honest, stripped back and black and white, but whatever it is, it works, making for one of the best, most revealing interviews ever with the ex-Beatle, in fact it's almost poignant given his obviously advancing years.

Of course as I said, McCartney has been doing this for a very long time and yes, one or two of his old anecdotes do get repeated that we've heard before, but on the whole I found this a fascinating and insightful conversation between two very obviously experienced music men.

I particularly appreciated McCartney giving kudos not just to Lennon as is to be expected but also to Harrison, Starr and indeed George Martin for their contributions to the Beatles, and with the latter, his solo years too.

So what we get is Rubin I presume selecting certain songs and then isolating instruments and vocals in an attempt to analyze the magic that went into so many Beatles recordings. I counted just three songs from McCartney solo years and none of them past the year of 1980 while the remainder were all from the Beatles songbook. Even so, some of the Beatles songs chosen were a little off the beaten track such as "Another Girl" from "Help" and "And Your Bird Can Sing" from "Revolver", although the usual biggies such as "Yesterday" "Hey Jude" and "Eleanor Rigby" naturally get a look-in too.

Combined with some rare, never-seen before vintage photographs and video clips, this whole three-hour interview was compulsive viewing for this particular Beatlemaniac. The only slight downside was that whenever he tried to sing along to his old records, it's very obvious, as it has been for some years, that Paul's once golden voice just isn't there anymore. That and his slightly rude habit of chewing gum throughout the interview.

Otherwise I was only curious as to how many other songs that were selected for dissection in this way perhaps ended up on the cutting-room floor, although I suppose this leaves a small hope for an extended version with more conversation and discussion if a subsequent DVD release ever comes out.

I have to admit that I watched this after viewing Peter Jackson's marathon production / reduction job on the massive "Get Back" / "Let It Be" sessions released late last year, but I do think this entertaining and informative interview goes with it very well and I would recommend all Beatles or McCartney fans to set aside about half a day to watch both these fascinating projects.

You'll not be disappointed.

Amazing how there is still things we can learn about The Beatles. Fun to watch Paul looking so genuinely happy to be listening back to the songs and telling the stories.

I loved this show. Lennon and McCartney were both geniuses. McCartney pays great homage to the influence of George Martin and the impact he had on the Beatles. It's interesting to hear isolated parts of some of their most famous songs played. It shows how musically gifted they were. There are lots of lovely little anecdotes and the interviewer has a great rapport with McCartney. I saw him perform in Sydney a couple of years ago, 44 songs. He still has it, the voice is a lot thinner but he surrounds himself with the best musicians in the business.

The only annoying thing about this documentary is that Paul chews gum virtually all the way through it. It gets a bit tedious after a while. It's beautifully shot in glorious black and white. Highly recommended.

You don't have to be a Beatles fanatic to enjoy this documentary, but it helps. Paul McCartney joins legendary producer Rick Rubin in a large studio and goes through various Beatles songs, albums, memories, as well as moments from the Wings and his solo career, in non-chronological order. The format is simple - and filmed in black and white. Rubin asks McCartney a leading question or plays a bit of a classic song through a mixer (sometimes removing the instrumentation so you only hear McCartney's voice, or removing the voices so you only hear the instrumentation). And then he just lets Sir Paul talk. And we're talking the Beatles here so there are many fascinating stories to be told.

Rubin also has access to original tracks from Abbey Road so you hear previously unreleased versions of many classic tracks. For someone who is credited for bringing rap music and hip hop into the mainstream, Rubin is a certified music historian for all genres, and McCartney is totally at ease with him and even feels humbled by his role as the interviewer.

Some viewers who just want to hear music without all the "background" may get bored with the documentary. The documentary is 3 hours long, but is presented in 30-minute episodes. The recent Bee Gees documentary directed by Frank Marshall would have benefited from this approach.

As these legendary musicians are entering their twilight years (but McCartney amazingly is still putting out albums of good to great material), it is critical to get these documentaries made now. I would love to see a similar documentary on Bob Dylan. I tried to get into the various documentaries on Dylan and couldn't. This simple, stripped down approach in McCartney 3, 2, 1 should be a new template for other music documentarians.