If These Walls Could Sing

Abbey Road is the music studio in London most famous for the Beatles final recorded album. Let it Be waas recorded earlier but released later.

As someone old enough to remember the music of the 1960's, seeing the four Liverpool lads creating their unforgettable music made the documentary by Mary McCartney worth the watch. Her father Paul is the star but Roger Waters and others provide additional good material.

Two of my favorite albums are Abbey Road by the Beatles and Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd and listening to Paul and Roger Waters recall their magical days at the studio made the film worthwhile for me.

Unfortunately, one of the final segments includes Kanye West. Given recent events, Ye belongs on the cutting room floor.

If These Walls Could Sing is a fine viewing for any music lover.

Filmmaker Mary McCartney does a solid job showing the breadth of legendary musicians who recorded at Abbey Road Studios, but it's no surprise that the Beatles provide the gravitational pull to this 2022 documentary, especially since Mary is Paul's daughter and an accomplished photographer in her own right. Paul is prominently interviewed as is Ringo Starr. While they share that it was a special space for them during their salad days, the film doesn't delve that much into why it was special other than the association with the Beatles. There are nice archival clips of recording sessions stretching almost seven decades, and this will clearly hold interest to musical historians, but the sum felt more episodic than revelatory.

Although this is pitched as a documentary about Abbey Road, I think it is much more "simply" a documentary about how music is made. And it is a very informative documentary about how music is made. So if you have an interest in music, but no specific interest in Abbey Road, do give it a go. I doubt you will be disappointed.

Even at "only" 90 minutes, this documentary is perfectly paced, with unrushed recollections from many musicians.

I'm not sure it's worth subscribing to Disney+ purely to see this, but I found it to be one of the more interesting things they had to offer in January 2023. Hope you enjoy it too, if you decide to give it a go.

An entertaining documentary that fails to really get under the skin of the subject; it's a fairly superficial overview that spends too much time covering well-worn topics (specifically The Beatles, in particular songs like 'A Day in the Life' and 'Blackbird', which have been covered to death). Rather than telling a linear story of the studio's up and downs over the decades, it jumps around to just profile a handful of big names that McCartney has access to, spending as much time discussing their general achievements as their time at Abbey Road. Other documentaries telling the stories of iconic studios, like Muscle Shoals or Sound City, managed to tease out what made the studios special: be that the time, the place or the specific technical aspects of the equipment; Mary McCartney seems to land on the Abbey Road staff being the key to its enduring success, so it's a shame they aren't better profiled. Who were these talented "boffins" who could bring the artists' ideas to life? This film feels like it only scratches the surface, delivering some facts and a few new interviews, but no great insight.

After attending an advance screening of Mary McCartney's If These Walls Could Sing, I was reminded of that old adage "the recording studio doesn't make the artist, the artist makes the studio."

While that isn't strictly true - there are numerous excerpts regarding the unique timbre of Studio 2 - it is the unique cast of characters who recorded at Abbey Road which make it the name it is today. The Beatles, Cliff Richard, Pink Floyd to name a few.

It is to McCartney's credit as a director that she gives ample focus to the players, both through interviews and archival footage/recordings, while also reminding viewers of the omnipotent force that is the studio itself.

She uses beautiful shots of the studio rooms empty in modern times, which flow nicely into the archival footage. The interviews were especially popular with the audience, with a Liam Gallagher segment regarding Oasis' ill-fated Be Here Now recording sessions drawing a lot of laughs.

The one complaint I have is that at 90 minutes, it almost felt too short. McCartney stated in a post-viewing audience Q&A that her initial rough cut was two and a half hours long. I said to her afterwards that I would love to see more of this material released. (Maybe a podcast is in the cards?)

If Walls is about crediting artists for making the most of their surroundings and drawing influence from those that came before, then I think we must credit Mary McCartney for making a great film using the same methods. I can only hope that this is just the first in a series of music films from McCartney, and not a one-off. If These Walls Could Sing premieres on December 16th on Disney+