Beatles Let It Be Naked Genres:Rock, Classic Rock The Beatles have often spoken about how Phil Spector drowned their sound in orchestration on the original Let It Be release in 1970 and Paul McCartney has vowed to rewrite history by having the version originally intended ... more »finally released. Here it is...
Track listing
Disc One:
1. Get Back
2. Dig A Pony
3. For You Blue
4. The Long And Winding Road
5. Two Of Us
6. I've Got A Feeling
7. One After 909
8. Don't Let Me Down
9. I Me Mine
10. Across The Universe
11. Let It Be
Disc Two:
Fly on the Wall
A unique insight into the Beatles at work in rehearsal and in the studio during January 1969.« less
The Beatles have often spoken about how Phil Spector drowned their sound in orchestration on the original Let It Be release in 1970 and Paul McCartney has vowed to rewrite history by having the version originally intended finally released. Here it is...
Track listing
Disc One:
1. Get Back
2. Dig A Pony
3. For You Blue
4. The Long And Winding Road
5. Two Of Us
6. I've Got A Feeling
7. One After 909
8. Don't Let Me Down
9. I Me Mine
10. Across The Universe
11. Let It Be
Disc Two:
Fly on the Wall
A unique insight into the Beatles at work in rehearsal and in the studio during January 1969.
"The only way I listen to music is to convert the cd to an mp3 file and use it on my player.However, EMI has placed some kind of technology to prevent this conversion, so I guess I won't be listeniung to it.Thanks EMI, I'm sure that you will have lots more loyal customers after you screw them."
I LIKE IT, finally
Stuart M. Paine | Arlington, VA USA | 10/02/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I've never liked LET IT BE. It's an absurdity: some of the best material The Beatles ever recorded presented alongside... some of the worst.
LET IT BE failed in many ways, and not least because it highlighted the central problem in the band at the time - that John was in a creative tailspin while Paul was reaching his peak. What Spector desperately needed to do, he couldn't do. Given a long recording of the horrendous and embarrassing "Dig It", he thought he could minimize its damage to the album by cutting it shorter. No way. He should have dumped it into the nearest wastebasket and told John the truth - that it stank. He also thought he could lighten the mood with a bit of charming pub-song. Not! Before this project could work, both "Dig It" and "Maggie Mae" would have to go. Now they're gone.
LET IT BE... NAKED is essentially three successive groups of songs:
1) Paul, John and George blues-rock ("Get Back", "Dig a Pony", "For You Blue")
2) Lennon-McCartney retro numbers ("Two of Us", "I've Got a Feeling", "One After 909")
3) George, John and Paul "spirituals" ("I Me Mine", "Across the Universe", "Let It Be")
The sequencing of these songs by composer is palindromic - P J G / JP JP JP / G J P - a subtle tribute to John, who early on did some notable numbers utilizing harmonic ("Ask Me Why") or structural ("I'll Be Back") palindromes. Also, in that the playlist both begins and ends with Paul McCartney ("Get Back" and "Let It Be") the new album acknowledges Paul as the driving force behind the project and the principal composer in the Beatles at that time. Filling out the list and separating groups one from two and two from three are the two love songs - Paul's "Long and Winding Road" and the newly added alternate take of John's "Don't Let Me Down" (nice move!).
There are some revelations in the newly scrubbed sound. "I've Got a Feeling", for one. Prior to the release of this disc I had never enjoyed it at all, thinking it crude and uninspired and the enthusiasm contrived and unconvincing. Now however, with George's and John's guitar interplay evident, we have a window into what it was that the guys were responding to.
I'll admit I would have been happier with the girls' voices restored to "Across the Universe". I also wonder about the decision to keep the Spector extension of "I Me Mine", but now I'm just quibbling.
To those who might say that LET IT BE, as soundtrack to the film, shouldn't be tampered with, I'd ask whether there is not something oddly circular in that reasoning. LET IT BE is not A HARD DAY'S NIGHT. The guys didn't set out to do a film; they merely filmed themselves rehearsing in the studio. In 1970, the band, frustrated and out of patience with one another, tossed this stuff off onto Spector and allowed it to be released as a "soundtrack". This new disc is the welcome result of the survivors having given up that pretense, and now we have a beautifully edited album which can stand with their others.
"
A mistake
David J. Pannell | Australia | 10/30/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I've given it four stars because no album with these songs on it could score lower, but in the context of the Beatles history, it was a mistake, in my view. It would have made sense to release the original Get Back album in it's original sleeve. That way we would have been able to own Glyn Johns' original interpretation of Paul's concept, warts and all, and with some other unreleased songs. There were two versions of Get Back prepared by Johns. Perhaps we could have had both of them in one package. That would have been great for the countless number of serious Beatles collectors.
As it is, the Get Back episode remains unresolved, and instead we have something that feels much too close to the original Let It Be album. The rationale of freeing the orchestrated tracks from their Phil Spector over-production also is irrelevant since they were already released in naked form on Anthology 3 (and 2 in the case of Across the Universe).
To add insult to injury, the cover is dreadful (surely money is no object for the Beatles - is this the best they can come up with?) and the title is worse. I know it's a "Ringo" like "Hard Day's Night" but it just doesn't work. Even the bonus disk feels like a huge missed opportunity. Why not pack it with the dozens of otherwise unreleased tracks that they played during the sessions. That would have been interesting. This is just dull.
I adore the Beatles with a passion. But this is really their biggest mistake.
"
Possibly the Most Under Rated Album Ever!!
John C. Link | Canandaigua, NY USA | 12/27/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"It doesn't get any more 5 star than this folks !!! If this had really been released during the year it came out, it would have easily been the best album of the year; with the possible, and I stress possible, exception of "Abbey Road". As far as the comparisons with the original go... I love that "Don't Let Me Down" is included here, as it should have been on the original. While it is great to have this live rooftop version, I still prefer the other original studio cut. The new stripped down "Across the Universe" may be the best version yet (there are now 4 versions out there of what I consider as high a water as the greatest band of all time ever reached), and it stands out as the albums most shining moment. I did like Spector's arrangement on the "Let it Be" version; especially his choice of slowing it down about 5-10%. "I Me Mine" is greatly improved here without all the string/horn overdubs (which was Spector's worst work on this project), while still retaining it's artificial lengthening; which was a very clever Spector move. "Let it Be", and "The Long and Winding Road" are both stripped down here as well, and come off great. Those two tracks, and McCartney's lasting resentment about them, are the real reason for this release. I certainly understand preferring the barer versions. Spector's choices for the McCartney tunes could be called a bit heavy handed, but to my ears they really were melodic and truly worked very well in both cases. It is quite ironic that McCartney complained so vehemently about this, when you take into consideration McCartney's own terrible rearrangement of Long & Winding on his awful Broad Street soundtrack album (truly inappropriate ond disasterous; sounding like Macca Las Vegas style), and the fact they he also chose a similar arrangement during the "Wings Ove America" version from 1976. My only complaint about those two Macca tracks is that I miss the ripping, non-effects laden solo that appeared on the "Let it Be" album version of "Let it Be" (though not the single version that is on "Past Masters Vol.2) version of the title track. George initially recorded both of them overdubbed, and that combination has never been released. This is what I'd hoped they'd finally do here, alas...-this remains a project for the bootleggers, or some talented cyber remixier to take on.
The rest is pretty darn similar, some minor differences version wise/sonically, but no as severe as the aforementioned tracks that received the Spector treatments. I confess that I like having the little humerous asides, and shorter goofy works, that peppered the original: "Maggie Mae" & "Dig it" and all the funny chatter at song starts and finishes- especially from Lennon. While I appreciate having them, "Naked" does feel more like a proper album now.
"Magical Mystery Tour" was a collection of "the other stuff from '67" and film soundtrack songs. Song for song it certainly stands up well to Sgt. Pepper, but it was an oddity, and not considered a "proper" release by many, so it too remains overlooked in comparison' especially if you take it track for track. "Let it Be" Like the aforementioned, MMT, has been overlooked by many, because of the particular circumstances surrounding it shelving, and stalling of it's final release; not to mention it being handed off to Phil Spector. Again, taking it song for song, track by track, it certainly is the equal of what came before, (The White Album), and after (Abbey Road)it.
Start with as great a Lennon song as there ever was, "Across the Universe", and then add as moving and soulful a ballad as can be imagined, "Don't Let Me Down". "Dig a Pony" is a psychedelic rocker standout that feels very White Albumish to me, and would've been a highlight there as well. I do wish they had restored the "All I want is you" beginning like they did on "Anthology III". They stressed how important that was on one project, and then ignore it altogether here? The Lennon-McCartney collaborations, "One After 909" (mostly all Lennon actually), and "I've Got a Feeling" (more McCartney but with a gorgeous Lennon interlude) are both scorching rockers, albeit of very different stripes, and the live versions here are incredible proof of just how vital and powerful a band these guys were. McCartney gives us two sweeping unforgettable ballads, "Let it Be" and "The Long & Winding Road", a classic rocker, "Get Back", and the wondrously unique "Two of Us" (which may be my favorite of his here). Harrison's "I Me Mine" (later covered by Elliot Smith no less) is just fantastic, and "For You Blue" is a nice enough tossed off rocker with some fine slide work by John (great Lennon solo on "Get Back" too). Throughout the album the guitar interplay is on par with the albums that surround it (meaning a peak of peak in that era), as is the absolutely perfect rhythm section work. They had a huge amount of material to sort through, during the Winter of their collective discontents, but it would have been amazing if Harrison's "All Things Must Pass" (one of a number of eventual solo tracks that were tried by the full ensemble), which appears on "Antholgy III" in full demo form, has made it here as well. It would have made a nice bonus cut, and would have put Harrison's contributions more on par with Lennon & McCartney's. As his White Album, "Abbey Road", and solo "All Things Must Pass" tracks prove, George was certainly working on level with anyone at that time, and it was only the breakup that kept him from becoming as prominent as voice as John and Paul with the group.
There is also some griping about Lennon having less material ready ("One After 909" being from '63, and "Across the Universe" from early '68 really) but there were enough other tracks by him attempted here, and what is on the final album here is nothing short of amazing. It's wise to remember that lots of tracks get recycled, or lay about until it's "their time". The Beatles ran through "Child of Nature", a White Album era outtake which appears on the "Fly on the Wall" disc here in abbreviated form, and that didn't come out until 1971, when it was reworked into "Jealous Guy" for the "Imagine" album. It's also worth noting that he released no less than 3 solo singles in 69-70 ("Give Peace a Chance", "Cold Turkey" & "Instant Karma"). Further proof that this was a project that was cut short, was that there was no Ringo feature either; though her was working on some numbers- one of which is featured in this sets second disc.
While this isn't as big a deal as it's being hyped to be, as far as how great the differences are...It is a big deal, a huge deal actually, because it takes what was (and still is) a criminally underrated, and overlooked work by the greatest band of all time, and brings it back to light. That is a welcome fact, and this is certainly worth a listen in any incarnation.
Some final notes...1)Remember this was originally titled "Get Back" (plus "Don't Let Me Down" and 9 other songs), which mimics their first album "Please Please Me" (plus "Love Me Do and 12 other songs). The cover for "Please Please Me" is the same as the "Red Album" or "Beatles 1962-1966". The "Get Back" cover parody was supposed to be the same as the cover for the blue album, or "Beatles 1967-1970". Why they didn't use that cover is just an amazing missed opportunity. 2) The "Fly on the Wall" disc is a frustrating missed golden oppurtunity. They could've released so much more, and in such better form...yeah there are neat conversations, and funny asides, but the snippets of songs are such a terrible tease, when you know there is so much more. Hopefully we'll see better work done with the outtakes concerning the, "always just about finished and ready to be released any day now" "Let it Be" DVD project. I"m hoping that there will be a proper box set soundtrack with the complete rooftop concert, and loads of full outtakes."
