Paul had an idea to record an album called Get Back. This was a back-to-basics sort of thing, with little-to-no overdubs. He wanted to recapture the raw feeling of the first few Beatles LPs. He also wanted the sessions filmed, for a television special to coincide with the release of the album. This would show the world what the recording process was like for The Beatles. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out this way.

The Beatles began rehearsing for the album/special at Twickenham Film Studios on January 2, 1969. After a month, the sessions were abandoned and the tapes were shelved for over a year.

The next year, John and George recruited veteran producer Phil Spector to go through the tapes and make an album out of them. On May 8, 1970, a month after the breakup of the band was officially announced (and two weeks after the release of Paul’s first solo LP), the result of Spector’s work was released. Retitled Let It Be, the album contained twelve tracks:

Side One:
Two Of Us (Lennon/McCartney)
Dig A Pony (Lennon/McCartney)
Across The Universe (Lennon/McCartney)
I Me Mine (Harrison)
Dig It (Lennon/McCartney/Harrison/Starkey)
Let It Be (Lennon/McCartney)
Maggie Mae (Traditional)

Side Two:
I've Got A Feeling (Lennon/McCartney)
One After 909 (Lennon/McCartney)
The Long And Winding Road (Lennon/McCartney)
For You Blue (Harrison)
Get Back (Lennon/McCartney)

Here's Richie Unterberger's review of Let It Be from The All Music Guide:

The only Beatles album to occasion negative, even hostile reviews, there are few other rock records as controversial as Let It Be. First off, several facts need to be explained: although released in May 1970, this was not their final album, but largely recorded in early 1969, way before Abbey Road. Phil Spector was enlisted in early 1970 to do some post-production mixing and overdubs, but he did not work with the band as a unit. And, although his use of strings has generated much criticism, by and large he left the original performances to stand as is: only "The Long and Winding Road" and (to a lesser degree) "Across the Universe" and "I Me Mine" get the wall-of-sound treatment. The main problem was that the material wasn't uniformly strong, and that the Beatles themselves were in fairly lousy moods due to intergroup tension. All that said, the album is on the whole underrated, even discounting the fact that a substandard Beatles record is better than almost any other group's best work. McCartney in particular offers several gems: the gospelish "Let It Be," which has some of his best lyrics; "Get Back," one of his hardest rockers; and the melodic "The Long and Winding Road," ruined by Spector's heavy-handed overdubs. The folky "Two of Us," with John and Paul harmonizing together, was also a highlight. Most of the rest of the material, by contrast, was going through the motions to some degree, although there are some good moments of straight hard rock in "I've Got a Feeling" and "Dig a Pony." As flawed and bumpy as it is, it's an album well worth having, as when the Beatles were in top form here, they were as good as ever.

Previous albums:
Please Please Me (http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?threadid=100547) (1963)
With The Beatles (http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?threadid=101481) (1963)
A Hard Day's Night (http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?threadid=102404) (1964)
Beatles For Sale (http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?s=&threadid=102919) (1964)
Help! (http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?s=&threadid=103610) (1965)
Past Masters Volume One (http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?s=&threadid=104326) (1988)
Rubber Soul (http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?s=&threadid=105066) (1965)
Revolver (http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?s=&threadid=105824) (1966)
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?s=&threadid=106820) (1967)
Magical Mystery Tour (http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?s=&threadid=107263) (1967)
Yellow Submarine (http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?s=&threadid=107978) (1969)
The Beatles (http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?s=&threadid=108635) (1968)

See also:
Past Masters Volume Two (http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?s=&threadid=110082) (1988)
Abbey Road (http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?s=&threadid=110655) (1969)

Beatle Facts (http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?s=&postid=1686371)

Paul McCartney wasn't satisfied with what Phil Spector did to Let It Be (more on that later). In fact, he downright hated the added orchestrations on "The Long And Winding Road."

The remaining Beatles (including George, who gave his thumbs-up on the project before his death in 2001) okayed a "de-Spectorized" version of Let It Be.

Let It Be... Naked was produced by Paul Hicks, and released on November 18, 2003. It contained eleven tracks:

1. Get Back (Lennon/McCartney)
2. Dig A Pony (Lennon/McCartney)
3. For You Blue (Harrison)
4. The Long And Winding Road (Lennon/McCartney)
5. Two Of Us (Lennon/McCartney)
6. I've Got A Feeling (Lennon/McCartney)
7. One After 909 (Lennon/McCartney)
8. Don't Let Me Down (Lennon/McCartney)
9. I Me Mine (Lennon/McCartney)
10. Across The Universe (Lennon/McCartney)
11. Let It Be (Lennon/McCartney)

Here's Stephen Thomas Erlewine's review of Let It Be...Naked from the All Music Guide:

Of all the Beatles albums, none has garnered as much controversy and speculation as Let It Be. Released as their final album in May 1970, the record began its life as a back-to-basics affair called Get Back, which was intended to show the Beatles as a stripped-down rock & roll band after the excesses of Sgt. Pepper and The White Album. They weren't just going to record an album — they were going to tape a documentary of the rehearsal and recording of the album, which would conclude with their first live performance since 1966. To facilitate filming, the band abandoned the home turf of Abbey Road Studios and hunkered down at Twickenham Film Studios, where Michael Lindsay-Hogg filmed endless hours of the band jamming, bickering, recording, and fighting. Throughout it all, the Beatles recorded so much material — with much of it being no more than sloppy rehearsals and unfinished takes — that neither the group nor its longtime producer, George Martin, had any desire to cobble together a releasable album, so the task was handed over to engineer Glyn Johns. As the group was recording Abbey Road, Johns crafted a Get Back sequence that captured the raw, unfocused nature of the sessions by splicing conversational asides between new songs, revived songs, covers, and brief, jokey tunes. This pretty much mirrored the feel of the Get Back sessions, and the record got fairly close to release — including an airing of an acetate on a Boston radio station — before it was scrapped at the last minute. Soon, the Get Back project mutated into Let It Be as Phil Spector, who had been working with John Lennon on solo projects, was brought in to finalize the project. By and large, he retained the original spirit behind the project, right down to the inclusion of dialogue and jokes, but he did overhaul three songs significantly, most notoriously Paul McCartney's "The Long and Winding Road," which he wrapped in syrupy strings and choirs. This is the version of Let It Be that was released as the Beatles' final album, and McCartney made his displeasure with the final product, particularly "The Long and Winding Road," known. Over the years, fans pined for an official release of Get Back while McCartney rumbled about revising Let It Be (even after a string-less "The Long and Winding Road" appeared on 1996's Anthology 3), and when the Beatles announced the release of Let It Be... Naked it seemed that the desires of both camps would finally be satiated. Unfortunately, that wasn't quite the case.

As the title should make clear, Let It Be... Naked is not Get Back. Where Get Back was designed to be deliberately loose, complete with ragged performances and spoken asides, Naked is a deliberately professional piece of work, with all of the rough edges smoothed down. Consequently, it's not so much an archival release, but more like the audio equivalent of George Lucas' Star Wars special editions, complete with controversies along the lines of Han Solo not shooting Greedo first. Let It Be is recognizable in its Naked form, but it's been cleaned up, mixed up, and altered, gaining the superb "Don't Let Me Down" at the expense of "Dig It" and "Maggie Mae," as the song sequence has been shuffled and the dialogue has been cut out completely (perhaps Paul wasn't too keen on John's mock "and now we'd like to do 'Hark the Angels Come' preceding "Let It Be"). Those are merely the obvious changes, too. Throughout the record, there have been edits, splices, and polishes, some of which are a little disarming, such as the lack of the coda on "Get Back" (including no "hope we passed the audition" from John) and a different guitar solo on "Let It Be" (a solo different than either the single or album version). Most of the changes are subtle — a correction there, an added lick here — but they usually can be felt, even if the overall sound of most of the tracks hasn't changed all that much. The exceptions, of course, are the three songs Spector overhauled: McCartney's "The Long and Winding Road," Lennon's "Across the Universe," and George Harrison's "I Me Mine." Paul's song does indeed sound better and less saccharine in this arrangement, and it is a marked improvement. John's tune — now in its third distinct incarnation, the most of any Beatles song — is also different and an improvement, benefiting from the simpler arrangement, but it isn't a revelation along the lines of "Road." George's song is fine in this version, but in Spector's hands, it felt like a harbinger for All Things Must Pass, and is arguably just as good on the original album as it is here. The rest pretty much sounds very close to how it did on the original album, only with much better fidelity — so much better that it raises the questions why the Beatles' entire catalog hadn't been remastered yet (ideally, it would be released as hybrid SACDs mastered with DSD, much like how the catalogs of the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan were).

So, the big question: was the whole Let It Be... Naked endeavor worth it? The answer is, yes...kind of. There's little question that this was an avenue worth pursuing, since neither Get Back nor Let It Be really were finished, and both fans and the band desired to set the record straight. But Naked doesn't set the record straight; it further clouds the waters by presenting a third version of the sessions, one that is no more accurate than the original album. It could be argued, in fact, that without Lennon's wiseass remarks and larks like "Dig It" it feels less like the sessions, which were ramshackle (in fact, they were directionless, as the bonus "Fly on the Wall" disc reveals). But it is also true that Naked is a finished album, with polished intros and outros, and is overall slightly stronger on a track-by-track basis. These changes make it a sleeker, slicker album, but it's hard not to miss the off-the-cuff aura of Let It Be, which contained more character and revelations than this revised version. After all, even with the changes and edits, the biggest differences boil down to the resequencing, the lack of joviality, and the de-Spectorized three. And since Let It Be was initially an unfinished album, cobbled together by associates of the Beatles, not the bandmembers themselves or their producer, it doesn't make a great deal of difference if the order is changed, especially since this was also mixed and produced by associates of the band, not Paul himself, and the main takes are those on the original album, which themselves weren't all that different than what was on Get Back. It all boils down to interpretations of an unwieldy session that was abandoned out of frustration at the end. This is a valid, entertaining interpretation of the Let It Be sessions. But, contrary to the sticker selling the album, this is not necessarily "Let It Be...as it was meant to be. The band's cut from the original sessions." The dogged seriousness of Naked contradicts the let-it-all-hang-out intent of the sessions or the warts-and-all Let It Be film. Though it is still faithful to much of the feel of Let It Be, the presentation of Naked, including the slight bits of modern-day editing, reveals that it is revisionist history, not the final word. Which doesn't hurt it as a record — these are great songs, after all — but it is a bit disappointing that this long-awaited project wasn't executed with a little more care and respect for the historical record.

Original Get Back cover art:

Get Back Loretta!:D

Alternate versions of songs from Let It Be and Let It Be... Naked (these will look different than usual, as these are mostly rehearsals and have no take numbers):

Beatles:
"Two Of Us"
-January 24, 1969 (G.B.No. 23.36) - The Beatles Anthology 3

"Dig A Pony"
-January 22, 1969 (G.B.No. 22.51) - The Beatles Anthology 3

"Across The Universe"
-"Wildlife Version" (same take as album version, but sped up slightly with added sound effects), 1968 - Past Masters Volume Two
-Take 2, 1968 - The Beatles Anthology 2

"I Me Mine"
-January 3, 1970, take 16 (pre-Spector edit extension) - The Beatles Anthology 3

"Let It Be"
-Original single version (with different guitar solo and sans Spector tinkering on hi-hat), 1969 - Past Masters Volume Two
-January 25, 1969 (G.B.No. 25.44) - The Beatles Anthology 3

"I've Got A Feeling"
-January 23, 1969 (G.B.No. 23.36) - The Beatles Anthology 3

"One After 909"
-March 5, 1963 ("false starts" version combinging takes 3, 4 and 5) - The Beatles Anthology 1
-March 5, 1963 (edit of takes 4 and 5) - The Beatles Anthology 1

"The Long And Winding Road"
-January 31, 1969 (G.B.No. 31.20; same recording as album version, but without Spector tinkering) - The Beatles Anthology 3

"For You Blue"
-January 25, 1969 (G.B.No. 25.19) - The Beatles Anthology 3

"Get Back"
-Single version (same recording as on album, but with added coda at the end), 1969 - Past Masters Volume Two
-January 30, 1969 (on the rooftop) - The Beatles Anthology 3

"Don't Let Me Down"
-Single version, 1969 - Past Masters Volume Two

Solo:
"Let It Be"
-Live; Miami, 1989 - Paul McCartney - Tripping The Live Fantastic
-Live; New York City, 2001 - Paul McCartney - The Concert For New York City
-Live; venue unknown, 2002 - Paul McCartney - Back In The U.S., Back In The World

"Maggie Mae"
-Home recording, 1979 - John Lennon - The John Lennon Anthology

"The Long And Winding Road"
-Live; venue unknown, 1976 - Paul McCartney & Wings - Wings Over America
-Studio recording, 1984 - Paul McCartney - Give My Regards To Broad Street
-Live; Rio de Janeiro, 1989 - Paul McCartney - Tripping The Live Fantastic
-Live; venue unknown, 2002 - Paul McCartney - Back In The U.S., Back In The World

"For You Blue"
-Live; London, 2002 - Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr - The Concert For George

"Get Back"
-Live; Tokyo, 1990 - Paul McCartney - Tripping The Live Fantastic

Let It Be!peacesign:

Guest musicians on Let It Be:
Billy Prestion - electric piano on "Dig A Pony," "Let It Be," "I've Got A Feeling," "One After 909" and "Get Back;" organ on "I Me Mine," "Dig It" and "Let It Be."

Let It Be vs. Let It Be... Naked

Here are my thoughts, song-by-song.

Get Back
Why do both album versions not include the coda? How very, very lame. At least with the Let It Be version, you get the ad-libbing from the rooftop thrown in, complete with John's famous "I hope we passed the audition" quip. For me, though, the single version from 1969 wins, hands down. Honorable mention: the rooftop version from The Beatles Anthology 3.

Dig A Pony
They both cut John's "all I want is you" from the beginning, but I hear that's due to that portion of the multi-tracks being damaged. Whatever. Even though they used pro-tools on John's vocals (a practice I detest), the Let It Be... Naked version is the winner here.

For You Blue
Not much difference between the two, but I like the new mix better. There's just a lot more clarity, and I like how the piano has been brought up in the mix.

The Long And Winding Road
For Let It Be Phil decided to and add strings and a choir. This was also the version of the song that was released as a single (in the U.S. only). Paul absolutely hated what Mr. Spector did to his song. For Let It Be... Naked, producer Paul Hicks went with a version from the same day. The Let It Be version makes me want to hit the "skip" button on my player, but the new version is very good. I especially like the fact that you can actually hear Billy's keys. Another point awarded to Let It Be... Naked.

Two Of Us
There really isn't much difference between the Let It Be and Let It Be... Naked versions of this song, besides the mix. But I like the new remix much better.

I've Got A Feeling
The Let It Be... Naked version has much more punch. It also brings out a lot of things Spector buried.

One After 909
See "I've Got A Feeling."

Don't Let Me Down
They used the two rooftop versions for this, seamlessly edited together. This is due to the fact that John mucked up the lyrics in two different spots during both run-throughs. Great effort from the Let It Be... Naked folks, but I'm going to have to go with original "Get Back" b-side version. I'm glad it has been added to Let It Be... Naked, though. It's a much better representation of John than "Dig It" or "Maggie Mae" (which are not heard on the new album).

I Me Mine
I never like artificial lengthening. Ever. If the song is 1:36, let it be 1:36, for god sakes. I feel the same way about the album version of "Taxman". So, for "I Me Mine," it's all about the version on The Beatles Anthology 3.

Across The Universe
On the "Wildlife" version, it was sped up. On the original Let It Be album, it was slowed down. The recording is presented here at its correct speed for the first time since its 1968 recording, but some weird reverbing has been added to the end, as has an electric processing on the tamboura that sounds awkward to me. For me, nothing beats the version on The Beatles Anthology 2.

Let It Be
Ah, yes, the coveted title track. I hate the echo Phil added to cymbals on his version, but I love the guitar solo used there. At the same time, the guitar solo on the new version is suberb, as well, but there are key guitar spots missing toward the end. I NEED to hear a guitar riff between "Shine until tomorrow/Let it be" and "I wake up to the sound of music" For me, the original George Martin single version wins, hands down.

Let It Be.

"Let It Be" is actually the best song on the album of the same name, but "Across the Universe:" came out slightly better in postproduction, so I give that song the nod. :)

I think Phil Spector added all those strings to "The Long and Winding Road" because Allen Klein told him that Apple was going to release it as a single in the U.S. on account of it being the perfect swan song single for the American market, so Spector concocted a version that would give you the idea of the Beatles riding off into the sunset or whatever. That's my theory, anyway.

"Naked" comes across slightly better than the original 1970 release, and I'm glad it doesn't have "Maggie Mae" on it. :p (That ditty isn't even in the movie!)

John and George tried to keep the release dates of Let It Be and McCartney (Paul's first solo album) as far apart as possible, to prevent oversaturation and sales conflict. Here's a letter they wrote to Paul:

March 5!

Dear Paul,

We thought a lot about yours and the Beatles' LPs – and decided it’s stupid for Apple to put out two big albums within 7 days of each other (also there’s Ringo’s and Hey Jude). So we sent a letter to EMI telling them to hold your release date til June 6th (there’s a big Apple-Capitol convention in Hawaii then).

We thought you’d come round when you realized that the Beatles’ album was coming out on April 26th.

We’re sorry it turned out like this – it’s nothing personal.

Love,
John and George

A Mantra a day keeps MAYA! away

Paul's reaction to hearing Spector's version of "The Long And Winding Road":

14th April, 1970

A. Klein, Esq.,
Apple Corps Limited,
3 Savile Row,
LONDON, W.1.

Dear Sir,

In future no one will be allowed to add or subtract from a recording of one of my songs without my permission.

I had considered orchestrating "The Long And Winding Road" but I decided against it. I therefore want it altered to these specifications:

1. Strings, horns, voices and all added noises to be reduced in volume.

2. Vocal and Beatle instrumentation to be brought up in volume.

3. Harp to be removed completely at the end of the song and original piano notes to be substituted.

4. Don't ever do it again.

Signed,
Paul McCartney

c.c. Phil Spector
John Eastman

"Let It Be' was the first and only Beatles album produced by Phil Spector. The album recorded a year after it was shelved., so they gave it to him to make the finished album. The bootlegs are the lost sessions on "Let It Be". I have the album "Get Back to Toranto" on tape. The long version of "Dig It!" might be in a number of bootlegs. I love the song "Get Back". It came out in '69 before the album was released a year later featuring Billy Preston on piano. Remeber Billy Preston? He did so many songs in the 70's including "It's the Way God Planned It", "Outta Space", "It Will Go 'Round in Circles", "Nothing's for Nothing" and "With You I'm Born Again" featuring Syreeta. "Let It Be" was a classic album. I have the movie on VHS.:) I also love the title song and "The Long and Winding Road".:)

The original Get Back tapes were produced by George Martin, with Glyn Johns as a balancing engineer - sometimes taking on Martin's role as a producer. Martin was not present at every session; when the single "Get Back" came out, the record didn't carry a producer's credit because of the confused roles of Martin and Johns. Phil Spector reworked the Get Back tapes, reproducing them for disc. So it essentially took three producers to get this LP finished!

(Four, if you count Paul Hicks and Let It Be. . .Naked.. :confused: )

George Martin also produced the "Let It Be" single, which has a significantly different mix than that of Spector's tinkered album version.

Various Let it Be covers:

The only covers I can think of are of songs that appear on Past Masters, Volume Two in slightly different form, so I'll save them for that thread.

There is one other cover, now that I think of it. Peter Frampton covered "The Long and Winding Road" - not too well, I'm afraid - for the godforsaken Sgt. Pepper movie. But the music was at least beter than Phil Spector's orchestra.

More Let It Be and Let It Be... Naked covers:

"Two Of Us"
Nancy Wilson
Aimee Mann and Michael Penn

"Across The Universe"
Cilla Black
David Bowie
Fiona Apple
Rufus Wainwright

"Let It Be"
Aretha Franklin
Joan Baez
Ray Charles
Billy Preston
Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
Nick Cave

"I've Got A Feeling"
Pearl Jam

"One After 909"
The Smithereens
Willie Nelson

"The Long And Winding Road"
Aretha Franklin

"Get Back"
Al Green
Ike & Tina Turner
Billy Preston
Rod Stewart

"Don't Let Me Down"
Julian Lennon
Matchbox Twenty
Zwan

Pheobe Snow covered "Don't Let Me Down," too!

Elton John covered "Get Back" on his live 11-17-70 Lp.

Claudia Linnear sang "Let It Be" on Joe Cocker's Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour, as seen in the documentary movie.

Let It Be and Let It Be... Naked recording dates and locations

Let It Be
"Two Of Us"
January 31, 1969; Apple Studios

"Dig A Pony"
January 30, 1969; Apple Studios Rooftop

"Across The Universe"
February 4, 1968; Abbey Road Studios
Overdubs added February 8, 1968
Remixed by Phil Spector in March, 1970

"I Me Mine"
January 3, 1970; Abbey Road Studios
Remixed by Phil Spector on March 1, 1970

"Dig It"
January 26, 1969; Apple Studios

"Let It Be"
January 31, 1969; Apple Studios
Overdubs added April 30, 1969 and January 3, 1970
Remixed by Phil Spector in March, 1970

"Maggie Mae"
January 24, 1969; Apple Studios

"I've Got A Feeling"
January 30, 1969; Apple Studios Rooftop

"One After 909"
January 30, 1969; Apple Studios Rooftop

"The Long And Winding Road"
January 31, 1969; Apple Studios
Remixed by Phil Spector on April 1, 1970

"For You Blue"
January 25, 1969; Apple Studios

"Get Back"
January 27, 1969; Apple Studios

Let It Be... Naked
"Get Back"
January 27, 1969; Apple Studios

"Dig A Pony"
January 30, 1969; Apple Studios Rooftop

"For You Blue"
January 25, 1969; Apple Studios

"The Long And Winding Road"
January 31, 1969; Apple Studios

"Two Of Us"
January 31, 1969; Apple Studios

"I've Got A Feeling"
January 30, 1969; Apple Studios Rooftop

"One After 909"
January 30, 1969; Apple Studios Rooftop

"Don't Let Me Down"
January 30, 1969; Apple Studios Rooftop

"I Me Mine"
January 3, 1970; Abbey Road Studios

"Across The Universe"
February 4, 1968; Abbey Road Studios

"Let It Be"
January 31, 1969; Apple Studios

"The Long and Winding Road" is one of my favorite Beatles's songs.

The Beatles on Billy Preston

From The Beatles Anthology (2000; Chronicle Books)

GEORGE: When I went with Eric Clapton to see Ray Charles play at the Festival Hall, before Ray came on there was a guy on stage playing the organ, dancing about and singing “Double-O Soul.” I thought, “That guy looks familiar,” but he seemed bigger than I remembered. After a while Ray came on and the band played for a few songs and then he reintroduced… Billy Preston! Ray said, “Since I heard Billy play I don’t play the organ anymore – I leave it to him.” I thought, “It’s Billy!” Since we had last seen him in Hamburg in 1962, when he was just a little lad, he had grown to be six foot tall.

So I put a message out to find out if Billy was in town, and told him to come into Savile Row, which he did. He came in while we were down in the basement, running through “Get Back,” and I went up to reception and said, “Come in and play on this because they’re all acting strange.” He was all excited. I knew the others loved Billy anyway, and it was like a breath of fresh air.

It’s interesting to see how nicely people behave when you bring a guest in, because they don’t really want everybody to know they’re so bitchy. This happened back in the “White Album” when I brought Eric Clapton play on “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.” Suddenly everybody’s on their best behaviour.

Billy came down and I said, “Remember Billy? Here he is – he can play the piano.” He got on the electric piano, and straight away there was 100% improvement in the vibe in the room. Having this fifth person was just enough to cut the ice that we’d created among ourselves. Billy didn’t know all the politics and the games that had been going on, so in his innocence he got stuck in and gave an extra little kick to the band. Everybody was happier to have somebody else playing and it made what we were doing more enjoyable. We all played better and that was a great session. It was more or less just as it is on the record.

RINGO: I don’t think Billy Preston made us behave a bit better. I think we were working on a good track and that always excited us. His work was also a part of it, so suddenly – as always when you’re working on something good – the bulls--t went out of the window and we got back down to doing what we did really well.

“Get Back” was a good track, I felt. This is a kick-ass track. “Don’t Let Me Down” also. They were two fine tracks. Quite simple and raw – back to basics. I’d done a hook to the track in “Get Back” which sounded good and it’s been copied since – by myself, in fact, in “Back Off Boogaloo.” That’s perfectly allowed by me!

PAUL: Billy was brilliant – a little young whiz-kid. We’d always got on very well with him. He showed up in London and we all said, “Oh Bill! Great – let’s have him play on a few things.” So he started sitting in on the sessions, because he was an old mate really.

It might have helped us all behave better with one another on the sessions. I think it also created problems, because as The Beatles we’d always just been four people in the band. We were very much a unit – the Four-Headed Monster, I’ve heard us referred to.

So when Billy came in, I think that though we did have to behave ourselves a bit – because it was like having a guest in the house, someone you put your best manners on for – there was a slight worry in the background also that maybe he was joining the group. That kind of thing was happening. So we couldn’t tell whether it was a crack in the whole thing or whether it was going to be good. It was a little bit puzzling.

But he played great and we all had a great time, so it worked out fine in the end.

GEORGE MARTIN: Billy Preston was a great help and a very good keyboard guy, and his work on “Get Back” alone justified him being there. He was an amiable fellow too, very nice and emollient. He helped to lubricate the friction that had been there.

The Beatles as nature intended

"Get Back" is the Beatles' new single. It's the first Beatles record which is live as can be, in this electronic age.

There is no electric whatchamacallit.

"Get Back" is a pure spring-time rock number.

On the other side there's an equally live number called "Don't Let Me Down."

Paul's got this to say about "Get Back": "we were sitting in the studio and we made it out of thin air... we started to write words there and then... when we finished it, we recorded it at Apple Studios and made it into a song to roller-coast by."

P.S. John adds, it's John playing the fab live guitar solo.

And now John on "Don't Let Me Down": John says "Don't Let Me Down" about "Don't Let Me Down."

In "Get Back" and "Don't Let Me Down," you'll find the Beatles, as nature intended.
Get Back/Don't Let Me Down (Apple 2490)

John on Let It Be

In this portion of a massive a December, 1970 interview with Rolling Stone editor-in-chief Jann S. Wenner, John discusses the excrutiating period in early 1969.

So what happened with Let It Be?
Well, it was another one like Magical Mystery Tour that… [sigh] well, sort of—this is—it’s hard to say. In a nutshell, Paul wanted to make—it was time for another Beatle movie or something, and Paul wanted us to go on the road or do something. As usual, George and I were going, “Oh, we don’t want to do it, f--k,” and all that. He set it up and there was all discussions about where to go and all that. I would just tag along and I had Yoko by then, I didn’t even give a s--t about anything. I was stoned all the time, too, on H, etc. And I just didn’t give a s--t. And nobody did, you know. Anyway, it’s like in the movie when I go to do “Across The Universe.” Paul yawns and plays boogie, and I merely say, “Oh, anybody want to do a fast one?” That’s how I am. Year after year, that begins to wear you down.

How long did those sessions last?
Oh, f--kin’—God knows how long. Paul had this idea that we were going to rehearse or… see it was all more like Simon And Garfunkel [laugh], like looking for perfection all the time. And so he had these ideas that we’ll rehearse and then make the album. And of course we’re lazy f--kers and we’ve been playing for twenty years, for f--k’s sake, we’re grown men, we’re not going to sit around rehearsing. I’m not, anyway. And we couldn’t get into it. And we put down a few tracks and nobody was in it at all. It was a dreadful, dreadful feeling in Twickenham Studio, and being filmed all the time. I just wanted them to go away, and we’d be there, eight in the morning. You couldn’t make music at eight in the morning or ten or whatever it was, in a strange place with people filming you and colored lights.

How did it end?
So the tape ended up like the bootleg version. We let Glyn Johns remix it and we didn’t want to know, we just left it to him and said, “Here, do it.” It’s the first time since the first album we didn’t have anything to do… we just said, “Do it.” Glyn Johns did it, none of us could be bothered going in and Paul… nobody called anybody about it. The tapes were left there, and we got an acetate each, and we’d call each other and say, “Well, what do you think? Oh, let it out.” We were going to let it out with a really s--tty condition, disgusted. And I wanted… I didn’t care, I thought it was good to go out to show people what had happened to us. Like this is where we’re at now, we couldn’t get—we can’t get it together and don’t play together anymore. Leave us alone [laugh]. Glyn Johns did a terrible job on it, 'cause he’s got no idea, etc. Never mind. But he hasn’t, really. And so the bootleg version is what it was like. Paul was probably thinking, “Well, I’m not going to f--king work on it.” It was twenty-nine hours of tape, it was like a movie. I mean, just so much tape. Ten, twenty takes of everything, because we’re rehearsing and taking everything. Nobody could face looking at it.

So when Spector came around, it was like, “Well, alright, if you want to work with us [laugh], go and do your audition, man.” And he worked like a pig on it. He’d always wanted to work with the Beatles and he was given the s--ttiest load of badly recorded s--t—and with a lousy feeling to it—ever. And he made something out of it. It wasn’t fantastic, but I heard it, I didn’t puke. I was so relieved after six months of this black cloud hanging over, [that] this was going out. I thought it would be good to go out, the s--tty version, because it would break the Beatles, it would break the myth. That’s us with no trousers on and no glossy paint over the cover and no sort of hype. “This is what we’re like with our trousers off. So would you please end the game now?” But that didn’t happen, and we ended up doing Abbey Road quickly and putting out something slick to preserve the myth.

Why?
To preserve the myth.

That was Paul…
It’s not like that. If it’s suggested, I will go along. I’m weak as well as strong. I wasn’t going to fight for Let It Be. Because I really couldn’t stand it.

"Get Back"

I went to New Paltz Rhino Records over the weekend that I got an album called "Let It Be". It was a great album. Mine doesn't have an Apple label in red if you have the original LP copy at home. Mine is the mid-80's Capitol label with a revived 50's style colorband. That's cool.

I voted for the song "Let It Be". Although, I think it's a song that puts out a message about how you have to accept what you go through in life, I also like the song
"I Me Mine". I think George Harrison wrote the "I Me Mine" song. I think it's cool to put those nouns together in a song.

Just a couple of tidbits for you.

Originally posted by AKA
Let It Be and Let It Be... Naked recording dates and locations

"Across The Universe"
February 4, 1968; Abbey Road Studios
Overdubs added February 8, 1968
Remixed by Phil Spector in March, 1970

There was an overdub on February 8 of tone pedal guitar, maracas, piano and vocals. Spector added an orchestra and choir on April 1, 1970. "Naked" retains the lead vocal and 2nd guitar overdubs from February 8.

"I Me Mine"
January 3, 1970; Abbey Road Studios
Remixed by Phil Spector on March 1, 1970

Spector added an orchestra and choir on April 1, 1970.

"Let It Be"
January 31, 1969; Apple Studios
Overdubs added April 30, 1969 and January 3, 1970
Remixed by Phil Spector in March, 1970

The April 30 overdub was the guitar solo, which was only used on the single version. Background vocals overdubbed January 4, 1970. Bass guitar overdub date unknown. (Both of the latter were retained for "Naked").

"The Long And Winding Road"
January 31, 1969; Apple Studios
Remixed by Phil Spector on April 1, 1970

The Spector take was actually take 1, from January 26.

"For You Blue"
January 25, 1969; Apple Studios

Lead vocal overdub on January 8, 1970.

"Get Back"
January 27, 1969; Apple Studios

Most records have this pegged as being from the 28th.

Originally posted by AKA
[B]
"The Long And Winding Road"
-January 31, 1969 (G.B.No. 31.20; same recording as album version, but without Spector tinkering) - The Beatles Anthology 3

The "Anthology" booklet was wrong on this one. It is indeed the same as the Spector take, but it's from January 26th. (Take 1).

Originally posted by AKA
Let It Be vs. Let It Be... Naked

Here are my thoughts, song-by-song.

Get Back
Why do both album versions not include the coda? How very, very lame.

Well, because that coda was recorded later on in the session and tacked on during mixing. Still, I feel your pain.

Dig A Pony
They both cut John's "all I want is you" from the beginning, but I hear that's due to that portion of the multi-tracks being damaged. Whatever. Even though they used pro-tools on John's vocals (a practice I detest), the Let It Be... Naked version is the winner here.

I miss the screwing around at the beginning and end, myself.

For You Blue
Not much difference between the two, but I like the new mix better. There's just a lot more clarity, and I like how the piano has been brought up in the mix.

Well, the main difference is that the guitar--which Spector completely omitted--has been added to the mix.

The Long And Winding Road
For Let It Be Phil decided to and add strings and a choir. This was also the version of the song that was released as a single (in the U.S. only). Paul absolutely hated what Mr. Spector did to his song. For Let It Be... Naked, producer Paul Hicks went with a version from the same day. The Let It Be version makes me want to hit the "skip" button on my player, but the new version is very good. I especially like the fact that you can actually hear Billy's keys. Another point awarded to Let It Be... Naked.

I don't know about this one, myself. There was a funny review of "Naked" that claimed this version sounded like it was being played in a hotel lobby. Then again, this is one of my least favorite Beatles songs, in any incarnation.

Two Of Us
There really isn't much difference between the Let It Be and Let It Be... Naked versions of this song, besides the mix. But I like the new remix much better.

I miss the extended whistling at the end.

I've Got A Feeling
The Let It Be... Naked version has much more punch. It also brings out a lot of things Spector buried.

This is a composite of the two rooftop takes, but for my money, the original, unadulterated first take (as heard on "Let It Be") is still the best.

One After 909
See "I've Got A Feeling."

I hate the fadeout.

Don't Let Me Down
They used the two rooftop versions for this, seamlessly edited together. This is due to the fact that John mucked up the lyrics in two different spots during both run-throughs. Great effort from the Let It Be... Naked folks, but I'm going to have to go with original "Get Back" b-side version. I'm glad it has been added to Let It Be... Naked, though. It's a much better representation of John than "Dig It" or "Maggie Mae" (which are not heard on the new album).

I'm with you, on all counts.

I Me Mine
I never like artificial lengthening. Ever. If the song is 1:36, let it be 1:36, for god sakes. I feel the same way about the album version of "Taxman". So, for "I Me Mine," it's all about the version on The Beatles Anthology 3.

I think I'll have to go with Spector's version, myself. I like the orchestra.

Across The Universe
On the "Wildlife" version, it was sped up. On the original Let It Be album, it was slowed down. The recording is presented here at its correct speed for the first time since its 1968 recording,

Thank goodness someone finally got this right! You don't know how many people I've run into who've claimed the "Naked" version was "slowed down."

For me, nothing beats the version on The Beatles Anthology 2.

I'd have to agree.

Let It Be
Ah, yes, the coveted title track. I hate the echo Phil added to cymbals on his version, but I love the guitar solo used there. At the same time, the guitar solo on the new version is suberb, as well, but there are key guitar spots missing toward the end. I NEED to hear a guitar riff between "Shine until tomorrow/Let it be" and "I wake up to the sound of music" For me, the original George Martin single version wins, hands down. [/B]

Again, I'd agree.

All in all, I feel "Naked" could have been a lot more. They could have just issued the "Get Back" LP mixes or complete rooftop concert if they wanted to present a fresh take on those sessions. I'll admit, I don't miss "Dig It" or "Maggie Mae," but I do miss the chatter and Spector's more raw sound on the rock tracks. I also don't really care for the way the vocals were mixed (in the center of the stereo picture for every track), especially on "I've Got A Feeling."

Not to mention the title is a misnomer, as it isn't "naked" at all...

I chose "Two of Us."

Originally posted by laceyinthesky
I chose "Two of Us." Ditto

This time I chose "Get Back."

I just noticed that I was so busy posting tidbits the first time around, I forgot to cite my favorite song.

I'd probably have to say "I've Got A Feeling."