Let It Be

The Beatles

Alan started in the tape libraries and began to shadow recording sessions. He was quite quickly promoted to the role of tape operator, and his first assignment as a tape op for EMI you ask? Of course, it was the Let it Be sessions taking place over at Apple Records. He walked into a room occupied by John, Paul, George, Ringo, George Martin, Yoko Ono and Linda Eastman. Also amongst the legends was Glyn Johns and the infamous “Magic Alex” who, with Alan’s help, ran the cables up to the roof for the rooftop concert - The Beatles' final live performance.
- From the Article, "The Genius of Alan Parsons As Told By Abbey Road's Cameron Colbeck" by Cameron Colbeck


Parsons was a tape operator for the Beatles during the Get Back (Let It Be) sessions. His job at the time, as "a very green tape operator," was to capture everything the Beatles did on tape. "So when a tape ran out, you had to try to get a new reel on as soon as you could," he says. "And they were playing the songs that we all know and love, but they were also playing all kinds of Chuck Berry and Elvis songs in between, so I had to log all that on the tape boxes and it was very difficult because the tape machine back then didn't have a tape counter. You had no way of telling where you were on the tape." On the "Get Back" sessions, he says, "I was there to change tapes and keep everything working."
- From the article, "At 19, Alan Parsons recorded the Beatles. How that 'life-changing' experience shaped him" by Ed Masley

The rooftop session was the highlight, he adds, despite the chaotic logistics that surrounds it. "It was a last-minute decision," says Parsons. "I think it was only decided the day before that we would pass cables to the roof and plug in all the microphones. There were a series of cables that went down the stairs from the ceiling to the basement where the main studio was. He was placed on the ceiling, hidden near the team, but he was still caught by the film crew and the photographers of director Michael Lindsay-Hogg on the spot. "I was having a lot of fun," says Parsons. "I already knew all the songs because we had been making versions of them in the studio in the days before the roof. They acted much better when there was an audience there to appreciate them than in the basement. They were really having a good time on the roof.
- From the article, "The Beatles: Get Back: Alan Parsons advances possible cameo" by Hector Muñoz

The Beatles: Get Back (documentary by Peter Jackson) - Timestamps
Watch The Beatles: Get Back here on Disney+

Episode 2
2:22:55 — first appearance of Alan Parsons — with title card — close-up, in his orange shirt, although according to Mark Lewisohn he started two days earlier, on Jan. 23rd.
2:28:30 — take 2 of For You Blue
2:28:50 — 20 yr old Alan Parsons in orange shirt & black tie in control room with Yoko Ono (not pictured in this frame), John Lennon, George Martin, Ringo Starr, George Harrison, Glyn Johns, Paul McCartney (Left to Right) 
Episode 3
20:19 — John seen jumping around, crunched down, t-shirt over knees.
Alan Parsons in pinstriped suit jacket in control room.
33:10 — The film & studio guys goof around on the instruments — Alan Parsons on Billy’s electric piano. 
36:02 — 20-year-old Alan Parsons seen in control room – then again at 37:20, 38:26, 39:55, 42:30, 42:42, 42:56, 1:04:40.
1:04:30 — John & Paul tight face-to-face conversation.  Glyn sitting right next to them.  (Alan Parsons sitting a few feet away)

 Timestamps & Annotations from - the-beatles-get-back-time-coded-and-annotated 

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