Remembering The Beatles' Rooftop Gig, 50 Years Later, With Someone Who Was There :

"It was a tense time for The Beatles, having just completed a 30-song double album (the self-titled "White Album") and then jumping into making a film with hardly a break. But as Ken Mansfield says in our conversation, the performance made everyone forget everything, if only for a while. "John [Lennon] looked over at Paul [McCartney] and Paul looked over at John — and I saw this look on their face it was like, 'This is us. It doesn't matter what's going down and all the problems and everything that's happening, this is who we are. We're mates. We've been together for so many years, we've been through things no body else has experienced. We are a good rock and roll band and that's what we are and that's what we're doing right now.' And you look at that performance, and man, they started having a good time, like a live show. John's throwing out these one-liners and they're just rocking out.""

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Remembering The Beatles' Rooftop Gig, 50 Years Later, With Someone Who Was There : All Songs Considered : NPR