The Beatles "Let It Be" song question

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by eddiel, Jun 24, 2018.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. eddiel

    eddiel Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    I tried to find an existing thread to ask this in but none seemed the right one, so I decided to risk life and limb by starting a new Beatles thread... : )

    I was reading David Litz' biography of Aretha Franklin, Respect: The Life of Aretha Franklin. In it, he quotes Jerry Wexler as saying that Lennon and McCartney wrote "Let it Be" for Aretha Franklin. Unsure of whether to record it or not (she took issue with the Mother Mary line as she felt it might go against her religious upbringing as she was not catholic), Lennon and McCartney got tired of waiting and decided to record the song. Of course she later went on to record it.

    This is the first time I've heard this story and I'm surprised because, for such a famous song, I thought I'd have heard something like this by now. But I've been asleep before so who knows.

    Personally I find it hard to believe as it's a great song (even if I don't ever want to hear it again long with Hey Jude, sorry overdose during my years in England) that they would've have given it away like that, or allowed someone else to record it first. They must have known what they were sitting on.

    But I could be wrong, so what's the deal here? I'm sure The Beatles experts will have more information on this one.
     
    lightbulb and DK Pete like this.
  2. Arnold Grove

    Arnold Grove Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
    The song "Let It Be" was NOT specifically written for Arethra. But Paul did send her an acetate of the song and her version did actually come out first:

    As I posted in another thread:
    Aretha Franklin's version of "Let It Be" came out before the Beatles version. The Beatles version [recorded in January 1969] should have come out sometime in mid-1969, but they kept delaying the film and soundtrack. In the interim, Aretha was sent the song by Paul, and her version did come out first in January 1970 (on her This Girl's in Love with You album), while the Beatles 45 of "Let It Be" came out in March 1970.
     
    Suncola, dbone828, fogalu and 12 others like this.
  3. seacliffe301

    seacliffe301 Forum Resident

    While Aretha’s version may have been “commercially” released before The Beatles single was released, The Beatles version hit the streets before Aretha’s via “Kum Back” in the fall of ‘69. I know... we’re splitting hairs here.
     
  4. Arnold Grove

    Arnold Grove Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
    At the same time that Paul sent the song to Aretha, Paul also sent the song to JOE COCKER, who recorded a version in late 1969. BUT Joe's version never came out at the time. It turned up as a bonus track on Joe's second album, released a few decades later.
     
  5. Arnold Grove

    Arnold Grove Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
    Kum Back---I'll have to give that a spin later today!
     
    theMess and seacliffe301 like this.
  6. eddiel

    eddiel Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    Ah ok that sounds more plausible. Wexler must be remembering things differently. Must've been the Miami sunshine. :)

    It's interesting because Wexler is quoted as saying her delay meant the Beatles version became the more well known and definitive version, insinuating that had she not delayed recording and releasing it would've been considered the standard.

    (Note: in the book pretty much everything she records is mostly referred to as the best or definitive version!)
     
  7. DK Pete

    DK Pete Forum Resident

    Location:
    Levittown. NY
    To start, John had nothing to do with Let It Be. The song was written entirely by Paul which, according to the story he's told many times concerning the songs' "birth", was inspired by a dream he had about his mother (Mary). This was during the period in which conflicts had arisen within the band far as management, etc. Paul found himself often upset during these times and has said many times that his mother came to him in a dream one night comforting him that everything would turn out ok (just, "let it be"). As The Beatles were influenced by many musical artists pf their past and present (including their peers), I wouldn't doubt that Aretha Franklin may have been an influence in terms the songs' gospel flavor. I don't recall reading anywhere-including in Many Years From Now which Paul recounts the writing and inspiration for every Lennon/McCartney-that the song was written specifically for Aretha Franklin. There's audio of Paul playing the song for the others for the first time well as teaching John the bass notes. It doesn't appear as if it was written specifically to be given away.
     
    Last edited: Jun 24, 2018
    Suncola, qwerty, theMess and 6 others like this.
  8. Arnold Grove

    Arnold Grove Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
    Correct.
     
    theMess and Nick Dunning like this.
  9. DK Pete

    DK Pete Forum Resident

    Location:
    Levittown. NY
    Re: "Note: in the book pretty much everything she records is mostly referred to as the best version!"....for what it's worth, I'll take the Dionne Warwick recording of Say A Little Prayer over Aretha's any day. Warwick's actual singing may not be "powerhouse" like Aretha's but I think it's better suited for the song, melodically well as an overall arrangement. I'm not doubting Frankin's brilliance as a singer, but a stronger more resounding vocal doesn't always make for a "better" one in terms of the specific song. Just sayin'....
     
    Last edited: Jun 24, 2018
  10. Tom Daniels

    Tom Daniels Forum Resident

    Location:
    Arizona
    There is also a pretty cool version from Joe’s Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour. It was on a single, and I think in the movie, but not on the original album. It has been on expanded reissues. Heavy gospel influence, lots of Leon Russell feeling to it.
     
    Arnold Grove likes this.
  11. Arnold Grove

    Arnold Grove Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
    Paul must have been so fed up with the delays for the film and soundtrack album. He definitely knew that it was a special song and yet the Beatles couldn't release it until the film and accompanying soundtrack was ready (and which took 14 and 16 months after the song's recording for the Beatles single and album to finally come out---an eternity back then). He made a good call to send it to Aretha and Joe Cocker in the interim. That was the right style for them. Ray Charles also covered it a year or so later too.
     
    theMess and Tom Daniels like this.
  12. Tom Daniels

    Tom Daniels Forum Resident

    Location:
    Arizona
    Yes. And Joe also got Something and Bathroom Window.
     
    seacliffe301 and Arnold Grove like this.
  13. Arnold Grove

    Arnold Grove Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
    May as well post Aretha's version:

     
    Shak Cohen, theMess, ispace and 3 others like this.
  14. DK Pete

    DK Pete Forum Resident

    Location:
    Levittown. NY
    Excellent for what it is. I just don't happen to be a fan of Gospel-type arrangements. This, for me, is what makes The Beatles' original version so good; it takes what would potentially be a heavily Gospel "tinged" song and gives it their unique Pop flavor. This was one of the ways in which their natural appeal took lots of people-myself included-into styles of music they'd never otherwise care for. Whether it was Country flavored, Folk, Classical...they made it all their own. I can say without any doubt with a world of respect (no pun intended) for Aretha Franklin, if this was *her* song I'd never give it the time of day. But that's just me.
     
    DTK likes this.
  15. the pope ondine

    the pope ondine Forum Resident

    Location:
    Virginia
    85 percent true



    now we can debate which is better, organ solo, guitar solo or sax solo!
     
  16. Arnold Grove

    Arnold Grove Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
    At the Fillmore West in March 1971:

    Aretha and Ray AND Billy Preston in the background. They didn't do "Let It Be", but Aretha sang "Eleanor Rigby" and Billy got to sing "My Sweet Lord":

    [​IMG]
     
  17. Mike Visco

    Mike Visco Forum Resident

    Location:
    Newark, NJ
    I'm surprised Elvis didn't take it on. At least I don't think he did.
     
  18. muffmasterh

    muffmasterh Forum Resident

    Location:
    East London U.K
    if she was sent an acetate then its understandable that Wexler was acting under a misapprehension. However if it was only released by Aretha as an Album track then it would never likely even got the traction to be the definitive version. And even if she had released it as a 45 it still probably wouldn't be the definative, the Beatles so dwarf the popular music landscape that few of those acts who released a Beatles track as a 45 before the Beatles ever covered it - and even those who had a massive hit ( Marmalade, Overlanders ) - still do not have the definitive version as once the Beatles recorded the track the other version tends to be forgotten.

    Of course Aretha was a much more substantial artist than most of the others who released a Beatles track first , but there are very few definitive Beatles song versions that their version is not regarded as definitive, one of the few exceptions that immediately springs to mind is Joe Cocker although that was with a version recorded over a year afterwards which just shows even more how seminal his cut was.
     
  19. NumberEight

    NumberEight Came too late and stayed too long

    In the meantime, Billy Preston brought this out in June 1969:



    ...to the extent that, when I first heard the Beatles’ Let It Be in 1970, I thought they’d ripped off Billy Preston, not the other way around.
     
  20. slane

    slane Forum Resident

    Location:
    Merrie England
    That's The Way God Planned It has something in common with What Is Life. Don't know which was written first, but the descending riff (in the verse of WIL, and the chorus of TTWGPI) is the same on both songs.
     
    NumberEight likes this.
  21. ToneLa

    ToneLa Forum Resident

    They all ripped off Pachelbel, but brother, it is HOW you rip him off that counts!
     
  22. NumberEight

    NumberEight Came too late and stayed too long

    Pachelbel had a couple more judiciously placed minor chords than either of them.

    In any case, this particular ripoff/tribute is my favourite:
     
    ToneLa likes this.
  23. ToneLa

    ToneLa Forum Resident

    Haha, a good take on it!

    Comedian Rob Paravonian had the best, and musically very enjoyable, take on it! (One of my musician friends even slates Let it Be for this chord progression, I warned him that's a waddle too far... Content over musicality surely)

     
  24. NumberEight

    NumberEight Came too late and stayed too long

    Very nice!

    And then there are these two (relatively!) early adopters from the UK:

    (1) Al Stewart (written and recorded in 1967):

     
    Shak Cohen and ToneLa like this.
  25. NumberEight

    NumberEight Came too late and stayed too long

    ... and (2) Ralph McTell (written in 1967):

     
    SmellTheHorse likes this.
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine