The Beatles are likely the most documented, examined and celebrated musicians in books, film and TV of the last 60 years. This fall will bring Paul McCartney’s book “The Lyrics” and the Peter Jackson Disney+ docuseries “Get Back.” Still, when iconic producer Rick Rubin started talking to Paul McCartney, they found the impetus for a new project: “McCartney, 3, 2, 1,” a six-part docuseries on Hulu premiering July 16 in which Rubin and McCartney take apart some of the songwriter’s classics to look at the parts that made up the whole.
“They had sort of a musicology geekfest conversation that led to this project,” says Zachary Heinzerling, who Rubin brought in to direct. “Rick has a desire to discover what makes something magic and timeless. It’s chance and trial and experimentation but also advanced knowledge of music – the intersection of skill and that ineffable quality is where this project lands and every aspect of shooting and designing it is in service of showing both sides of the creative process.”
Heinzerling, who was nominated for an Oscar for his documentary “Cutie and the Boxer,” says McCartney and Rubin sorted out the content while he and Rubin plotted out how to film the production. It hinged on getting access to the original Beatles’ masters. “The official stems used to create these songs haven’t really been released from Abbey Road Studios; they’re held under lock and key,” he says.
“The premise of this was to take those stems and dissect them and translate the magic behind the songs. Where did this bass line come from, who played that instrument? You make assumptions about how songs are created but you’ll be surprised by the randomness that comes into it. It’s so much stranger than we imagined.”
The docuseries jumps around in time – the Beatles’ Hamburg days and McCartney’s composition of “Yesterday” come up in the final episode – but not surprisingly it emphasizes the Beatles’ seven years of recording with only a few nods toward McCartney’s 50-year post-Beatles career, even though it produced 15 top 5 studio albums (including eight number ones) and 15 top 5 singles (including nine number ones).
In both catalogs, there is an emphasis on classics like “Here, There and Everywhere” and “Live and Let Die,” but time devoted to underrated songs too, like “And Your Bird Can Sing” and “Waterfalls.”
McCartney indulges in timeworn stories that every Beatles fan has heard a thousand times, like “Yesterday” coming to him in a dream, but also talks enthusiastically about an obscure R&B singer, James Ray.
“Paul was appreciative of Rick going into a solo song like ‘Check My Machine’ at the level of detail he would a Beatles song,” Heinzerling says.
And, of course, throughout the series, McCartney oozes charm and charisma but he also revels in the music, singing and playing air guitar to the tracks like any fan.
Heinzerling, 36, spoke recently by Zoom about meeting McCartney, filming in black and white and trying to find the right balance to appeal to the casual fans and the diehards. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Q. You directed Beyoncé [for the “Self-Titled” web series for her album, “Beyoncé”]. Who were you more excited about meeting or more intimidated by?
I was more intimidated by Beyoncé. The thing about Paul is he showed up in his Bronco, drove up alone and walked on set. At the end of the day, he grabbed his guitar threw it in the back of his Bronco and just peeled off. His manager was there but there was no crew of protectors surrounding him. One day we were filming and Jimmy Buffet just showed up and they started talking. There was no sense of layers of glass between you and Paul. He has a casualness and he very much appreciates life and these opportunities he gets. It was the most fun I’ve ever had on a shoot in my entire life.
Q. How did you design the shoot?
Rick is all about creating a great vibe. We set up the production to be as unintrusive as possible. It was shot like a live performance with multiple cameras with long lenses following the action and lighting cues so that when Paul walked from the center console to the piano we didn’t have to cut and re-set, the lights would just change and the cameras would dolly over. Paul never had an interruption or needed to repeat anything.
Q. Why film in black and white?
It eliminated some design and style factors that might date the project. We took a very minimalist approach to the design, with no titles and labels and few bells and whistles to create distractions from the sound. The black and white felt right. We had this idea that the sound represents color.
Q. What is the organizing principle for each episode?
That was one of the hardest tasks. We didn’t do it chronologically. We thought about it thematically: These are the songs where the bass was really important, these are the ones about experimentation, these are more about composition. But then it felt we were categorizing things when we really wanted the songs to organically connect to one another and to really be a discovery.
There is a title to each episode that is somewhat emblematic, but we did not want to make it formulaic or to know exactly how these songs connected – that’s part of Rick’s placing importance on the unknowable. There’s somewhat of a theme or thesis that can be gleaned from some episodes but exactly what that is is a question mark for everyone to decide on their own.
Q. Who is the audience for this – the hardcore fan fascinated to hear Rick and Paul discuss the isolated bass track to “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” or the casual fan who might not know the story of the “Band on the Run” demos being stolen in Africa?
That’s a good question. You want something everyone can watch, but you also want something where Beatles aficionados can learn something new. The way Rick and Paul play off each other and the intimacy of the conversation, the spark and joy in the way Paul is answering the questions can make it universally watchable.
But I think our audience is primarily people who are fans and this is an opportunity to dig further in and see the real musicology. There’s the story about the Beatles wanting to increase the treble of “Nowhere Man” so much it would go past the red on the console. [McCartney explains how they persuaded the engineers to experiment.] They wanted that buzz inside of you, an emotional response to that sound. Stories like that are the pride of this project.
We wanted to capture the essence of a genius musician who has the ability to feel the magic in a moment and to capture it and infuse it with music that touches so many others.
