It all started with Mary McCartney’s curiosity about a photo of her parents crossing Abbey Road with a small horse.
Soon we will learn that the horse in question actually spent time inside Abbey Road Studios (still known as EMI Studios at the time) along with countless musicians over the years.
Mary starts and ends the 90 minute film with her Dad, Sir Paul McCartney, but this is not a Beatles doc, per se. It’s about the specific experiences that well-known luminaries had while inside that building.
Virtually every interview subject contributes nuggets I’d never heard before, including Paul and Ringo who have both spent the past 60 years talking about an 8 year slice of their lives. You’d think there were no more stories to tell that haven’t already been heard, but the beauty of If These Walls Could Sing rests in the unfamiliar or even untold stories coming out.
What I particularly enjoyed were world famous stars mentally reverting to their wide-eyed, innocent youths and their first experiences with Abbey Road Studios. I mean, take Elton John, for example – not a shrinking violet, but his low voice and almost reverence with which he recounts his time there changes the whole shape of his face.
I think the common theme from Jimmy Page to Elton to Pink Floyd and Oasis and even The Beatles was a sense of humility that came over them all, to a man. To see guys like Roger Waters and Noel Gallagher, who can be very prickly in interviews, tell stories with a humble tone that they haven’t used in years? Very special, indeed.
Not to take anything away from Mary, but the players obviously know who she is, and one suspects she was able to get a level of cooperation that you or I would’ve missed while sitting in the interview chair.
I hesitate to recount the specific stories but from Cliff Richard to Stars Wars soundtrack composer John Williams, the tales are captivating. A short segment featuring then world-renown cellist Jacqueline Mary du Pré in some of her last sessions before Multiple Sclerosis shortened her brilliant career was particularly moving.
Elton’s story as a session player on the famous single He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother is a kick and Jimmy Page talking about his session on Shirley Bassey’s Goldfinger was completely new to me.
If These Walls Could Sing is on or soon will be on Disney+ | 3 ½ out of 4 stars
