January 8, 1969—At Twickenham Studios…
Shyamasundara Dasa, 1967 ACBSP: “I push open the heavy doors and enter. It’s dark, cavernous. Drum kits and sound equipment are massed in one corner of the huge space. It takes a minute for my eyes to adjust, but then I see George sitting under spotlights with his guitar and yakking with Paul, who’s standing beside him. George had an angry crease between his shadowed eyes, obviously upset about something. I hear harsh words—and then he looks up and sees me. He’s too intense to deal with me right now, I see, but he says, “Hare Krishna!” into a mic, then returns to the squabble he’s having over notes in a riff. John stands with his guitar in front of another mike, looking bored, Yoko beside him and seated on a folding chair with her arm around his legs. Ringo is perched above them at his drums. Wheeled cameras and wires and cables are all over the place. I tiptoe around to the darkest wall and sit down on the floor, a fly on the wall, and start chanting the mantra on my big red beads.”
Today is the release of the @thebeatles documentary Get Back, directed by Peter Jackson. Through Prabhupada’s magic and Krishna’s grace, I was blessed to be present during the Let It Be studio recordings for 2 of the 22 days and the rooftop performance.