The Beatles' 1968 “Blackbird” Rehearsal Footage Offers Rare Look At Paul McCartney At Work

A remarkable reconstruction of The Beatles’ June 11, 1968 “Blackbird” rehearsal session brings together surviving film and audio from across decades of archival releases, offering an unusually intimate look at Paul McCartney working through one of the most enduring songs from ‘The Beatles,’ better known as the White Album.

The footage captures McCartney inside EMI Studios during the period when the band were deep into sessions for the sprawling double album. “Blackbird” itself was recorded on June 11, 1968 and later appeared on the White Album when it was released that November. The official Beatles site lists the song as a McCartney composition credited to Lennon-McCartney, with George Martin producing.

What makes this reconstruction particularly compelling is the amount of material that has gradually surfaced. The version shared online incorporates clips from the original Apple promotional film and its outtakes alongside footage used in ‘Get Back,’ ‘Now and Then – The Last Beatles Song,’ ‘The White Album’ mini-documentary, ‘McCartney 3, 2, 1,’ ‘If These Walls Could Sing’ and later editions of ‘The Beatles Anthology.’ Material newly included in the 2025 ‘Anthology’ project added roughly another 90 seconds to the reconstructed session.

Source: thatericalper.com/Eric Alper

Read More>>>