Backbeat (1994) - Trivia - IMDb (original) (raw)
Backbeat
As seen in the movie, The Beatles are given "uppers" pills so they can keep performing when they're getting tired. Also, as seen in the shot after John accepts the pills for the first time, The Beatles are performing "Long Tall Sally" like crazed maniacs with eyes bulging and sweating profusely. The reason for this is that the uppers were actually prescription-strength "speed" pills. According to all of The Beatles in various interviews (most prominently in the "Beatles Anthology" film and book), the band was forced to perform up to eight hours a night, far and away more than a band can possibly play given the normal fatigue that sets in from singing and playing. Whenever they grew tired, the bartenders or the waitresses would often give them (and other performers) uppers to keep them going. Because of this, and their horrible living conditions in the Kaiserkeller Club's back room, The Beatles were often sweaty, smelly, pale and shockingly thin (speed pills back then doubled as diet pills) because they rarely bathed, hardly ever washed their clothes or, more importantly, ate healthy meals. However, after Stuart Sutcliffe began dating Astrid Kirchherr, she would feed the band and wash their clothes and allow them access to her bathroom for bathing. All of The Beatles have said that Astrid, more or less, kept them alive and healthy.
Punk-rock musicians and techniques from the 1990s were used to create the film's soundtrack, instead of the precise styles of the period, to better convey the way the music felt to the early fans of The Beatles: "it was the punk of its day". Ringo Starr has been quoted as saying that the movie's music reflects exactly the punk band that The Beatles were back then.
The only appearance of Ringo Starr in the film, laying sick on Stuart's bed, is not the only encounter that The Beatles had with the man who would eventually become their drummer. In reality, they had known Ringo back in Liverpool and he was a part of The Beatles' chief rivals, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes (which many have said was a superior band to The Beatles at the time). They even hung out with Ringo in Hamburg and he sat in on jam sessions late at night when the club was nearly empty. Their time spent together in Hamburg would actually start the ball rolling on Ringo replacing Pete Best as the drummer.
When Klaus Voormann introduces himself to The Beatles, he mentions that he's an artist, and lays a stack of album covers on the bar. Voorman would later go on to create the covers for The Beatles albums "Revolver" and "The Beatles Anthology" (one large painting cut into thirds for the three volumes).
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By what name was Backbeat (1994) officially released in India in English?