Why disdain for "Let It Be... Naked?"

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Strat-Mangler, Jul 11, 2014.

  1. Chuckee

    Chuckee Forum Resident

    Location:
    Upstate, NY, USA
    Here's a mention from Beatles Bible:

    Allen Klein

    Klein's action gave The Beatles a hit and some much-needed income. He also helped resurrect the abandoned Get Back project, which became Let It Be. Klein brought Phil Spector to England to work on it, a move which led to years of resentment from Paul McCartney.



    See similar things elsewhere. When Paul wrote a letter of complaint about the production, it was to Allen Klein.
     
    theMess likes this.
  2. Paul P.

    Paul P. Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle, WA, USA
    Spotify just posted the 2013 remaster of Let It Be... Naked. Prior to this it was unavailable.

    Now - this isn't a super scientific listening shootout. But - I'm not hearing a ton of difference between the Spotify 2013 remaster and my own MP4s of the original.

    It may just be that the remaster tag indicates the digital release for iTunes that happened about that time.

    Cheers,
    Paul
     
    Last edited: Jul 12, 2018
  3. BDC

    BDC Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tacoma
    I consider the Spector version to be the real one, but consider Naked a must own. I agree with a lot of the comments here on sound quality to varying degrees. My bigger thing is that some of the takes were better on the original. The Long and winding road on Naked went from overdone to underdone on the instruments. Paul's less than great piano playing is indeed naked.

    I'm also a fan of the original cover, it's simple but good photos of the band members from the time frame. The simple font and Black on the cover is cool as well.... All fine since I view the Spector as the real deal and naked as an alternative...
     
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  4. Paul P.

    Paul P. Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle, WA, USA
    Hi everyone,

    While I'm thinking about Let It Be... Naked in general and The Long And Winding Road specifically, I thought I'd bring up a few extra facts. Some of you know may know these already, but they're important to keep in mind.

    One of the reasons for the "big orchestra" on the Phil Spector version is that he used an earlier run through from 26 Jan - the same take that Glyn Johns had chosen for his Get Back(s). You can hear the unadorned version on Anthology 3. The version on Let It Be... Naked is from the "in studio" performance done after the rooftop concert on 31 Jan.

    If you compare the 26 Jan to the 31 Jan, you can see why Phil might have kept it from Glyn's choices (vocal feel, more spontaneous) - but also why he might have felt the need to bolster it a bit. It's pretty stark in comparison to the 31 Jan version.

    The Jan 31st version was performed by the Beatles after the rooftop concert as an adjunct, since they deemed it unsuitable for the roof.

    So - basically - we have 5 versions

    26th Jan:
    • Glyn's original mix - lots of echo, but otherwise unadorned.
    • Phil's drier mix - but with strings and overdubs.
    • The Anthology 3 version - the basic raw take.

    31st Jan:
    • Naked version
    • Film Version

    Also - although Paul did send a note complaining about Phil's overdubs on The Long And Winding Road, it's important to note: (from Wikipedia: The Long and Winding Road - Wikipedia )

    "On 2 April, Spector sent each of the Beatles an acetate of the completed album with a note saying: "If there is anything you'd like done to the album, let me know and I'll be glad to help … If you wish, please call me about anything regarding the album tonight." All four of the band members sent him their approval by telegram."

    Obviously, Paul is allowed to change his mind - but it shows how fraught that time was for all four Beatles.

    Cheers,
    Paul
     
    anth67 likes this.
  5. theMess

    theMess Forum Resident

    Location:
    Kent, UK
    I listened to the McCartney interview from 1986 recently, where he discusses many Beatles related topics, including the “Get Back” sessions. He mentions how sort of avant-garde and “out there” it would have been to release the sort of genuinely stripped down album that Glyn was trying to compile. Seeing as Paul was promoting the stripped down version by the 80’s as superior and seeing as he never cared for Spector’s production on the album, I am surprised that he agreed to any tinkering on the “Let It Be...Naked” project and that it came out like it did.

    It would have been much simpler to release it as the “Get Back” sessions box-set, allowing for the many different performances and versions to be released, and it would also have been a good time to create a new film from the sessions, a sort of “Director’s Cut”, including many more of the positive and exciting music moments and moments of happiness from the sessions, not just the negatives. It would also be true to the initial concept of the sessions, inspired by the Picasso documentary where Picasso painted onto clear glass whilst being filmed.

    I think that it would have been received much more positively than “Naked” was, and I say that as someone who prefers “Naked” to the released studio album from 1970.

    It could have done to the “Get Back” sessions something similar to what the Beach Boys “Smile” box-set did for them, allowing fan interaction with creating their own perfect versions whilst also showing how the Glyn versions would have worked.

    I’m sure it would improve the critical reception of the period; if people like Lou Reed praised the bootlegs from those sessions then I’m sure that there is worthwhile material primed for some positive re-evaluation. The songs and performances needed for yet another great Beatles album were there, they just weren’t released properly.
     
  6. NumberEight

    NumberEight Came too late and stayed too long

    Maybe Lindsay-Hogg, but not Spector. Glyn Johns’ final stab at a Get Back album included the song before Spector got involved:

    [​IMG]
     
    anth67 likes this.
  7. anth67

    anth67 Purveyor of Hogwash

    Location:
    PNW USA
    Thanks for the info, I wasn't aware of this final (apparently 4th?) Glyn Johns track list! Can't believe he was still going with that Save the Last Dance/Don't Let Me Down absurdity. Which mix was he using for Across the Universe?
     
  8. A well respected man

    A well respected man Some Mother's Son

    Location:
    Madrid, Spain
    Brick walling? I think that term is used too freely around these parts. The CD is a little hot, but not brickwalled at all.


    Well, with involvement I meant active participation. Only Ringo seems to have recorded some overdub at the request of Spector.


    As someone already said, the sessions to record I Me Mine and overdubs for Let It Be ocurred before Spector was brought in. Apart from some overdub from Ringo, no other Beatle contributed anything to Spector's sessions.
     
    Hardy Melville likes this.
  9. anth67

    anth67 Purveyor of Hogwash

    Location:
    PNW USA
    Sigh. The I Me Mine session was still deliberately undertaken for the release of the Let It Be record in 1970, just four short months before said release and specifically for its release. They were involved, thus, in salvaging the record for release, and quite late in the game, as I stated. You'd stated Spector's work was long after the band's involvement. It wasn't.
     
  10. Crimson Witch

    Crimson Witch Roll across the floor thru the hole & out the door

    Location:
    Lower Michigan
    a bit heavy on the NR though, to the point of harming the music, imo.
     
    Shak Cohen likes this.
  11. JFSebastion

    JFSebastion Forum Resident

    Location:
    Maricopa Arizona
    John's Hark the Angels Come was meant to be there, but I am not sure Paul approved it. I like it. It's funny the Beatles themselves can't agree on this album. The original "Get Back" album that was not released, can be heard on bootlegs. Glyn Johns picks were all over the map. A few better than what ended up on Let It Be, some inferior. I like that the Spector stuff was excised on all but Let It Be, the song itself. George's solo although dubbed in takes the song to another level. Long contended by McCartney is the song, The Long and Winding Road and the strings Spector added. The song sounds better without them. Across the Universe, One After 909 sound wonderful, energetic and alive. Yes for me anyway, the official release of the song Let It Be and the rest off LIB...Naked. IMHO.
     
  12. NumberEight

    NumberEight Came too late and stayed too long

    This seems to have been gone though in some detail elsewhere in Help me sort out the Across the Universe mixes.

    According to Post #2 on that thread, it features just John and his guitar, but with "You all right Richie?" at the start.
     
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  13. A well respected man

    A well respected man Some Mother's Son

    Location:
    Madrid, Spain
    No, I said Spector's work was long after the band had ceased to work as a unit (when John announced he was leaving, in 1969). And actually, John was not present in those sessions, Paul had recorded his solo album... The January 1070 threetle sessions (two days) were intended to salvage the Get Back project (as t was still titled then), but that doesn't mean The Beatles were still together as a band. And certainly they didn't know that Spector would take over the project and would do what he did.
     
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  14. mbleicher1

    mbleicher1 Tube Amp Curmudgeon

    Location:
    Washington, D.C.
    John complained about Paul writing his songs, then calling John and saying "it's time for an album," leaving John to scramble to write a handful of tunes to match. While this version of events neglects to mention that John could have been using his time off writing, or at least working on, songs, just like Paul (was it a surprise that another album would be upcoming?), the complaint rings true in 1969, especially for Let it Be. John had just contributed the most, and the strongest songs, to a double album, and had left some in the can (Child of Nature, Look at Me, Mary Jane, etc.), and after just six weeks, Paul was demanding enough material for a new album. Who told Paul to leave Let it Be and Long and Winding Road off the White Album?

    Without LIB and LAWR, Paul's 1969 contributions pre-medley are not actually much more impressive than John's. His half of I've Got a Feeling is stronger than John's, and Two Of Us is a classic. Otherwise, Oh! Darling and I Want You kind of feel like each composer's variation on a similar theme; Maxwell is not that great, and Get Back is not a better song than Don't Let Me Down; it's just more commercial.
     
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  15. A well respected man

    A well respected man Some Mother's Son

    Location:
    Madrid, Spain
    I remember an interview with Paul about Naked, he was asked about that track order, and he said: yes, he assumed it was John's idea to try and have a dig at him; and no, he didn't feel offended by it. He considered it typical Beatle taking the piss at each other, and used as an example the "Opportunity knocks!" when George introduced him the first time he sang Yesterday in public.
     
  16. Paul P.

    Paul P. Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle, WA, USA
    The same recording as the WWF (sped up) and Let It Be (slowed down).

    "This is the same performance that was mixed in October 1969 for
    the No One's Gonna Change Our World LP. That mix couldn't be used for Get Back so Glyn remixed the
    song to sound as though it was recorded during the "Get Back Sessions"."

    (From THE SOURCE - "Get Back" - Glyn John's Compilation 4 )

    Cheers,
    Paul
     
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  17. MCK57

    MCK57 Forum Resident

    Location:
    East Northport NY
    John and George brought Spector in to go over the tapes not Klein.McCartney knew Spector was being brought in because he also approved of the move to bring him in to go over the tapes.
    If Paul could have done a better job than Spector why didn't he? He went through all the multi-tracks in '69 so he knew what was on the tapes.He could have sat down with Glyn and maybe come up with something that met his approval and also the other three.
     
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  18. seacliffe301

    seacliffe301 Forum Resident

    My recollection followed this sequence: Harrison had brought Phil Spector to the "Instant Karma" session, encouraged him to jump in and "produce". John was subsequently impressed with Spector to the point that he brought Phil in to look at the "Get Back" tapes to see what could be salvaged.
    The rest they say, is history.
     
  19. muffmasterh

    muffmasterh Forum Resident

    Location:
    East London U.K
    yes thats my understanding, it was J&G not Klein although Klein may have been consulted/approved or may have not been directly involved at all, Paul addresses his letter to Klein as head of Apple, but i will credit Spector with one thing, in going thru the tapes he seems to have found some superior takes that seemed to have alluded Johns, had they not a Get Back LP may yet have surfaced during 1969. Maybe it just needed fresh ears, i just wished he'd then not go on to crap over some of it !
     
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  20. numer9

    numer9 Beatles Apologist

    Location:
    Philly Burbs
    Paul wasn't a producer.
     
  21. muffmasterh

    muffmasterh Forum Resident

    Location:
    East London U.K
    He had actually already produced several records , however it is probably academic as i doubt the other Beatles would have let him assume such a role although he could have, if had wanted to or had the time, worked more closely with Johns but maybe it was passed to Johns to let him get on with, just as it was then passed to Spector to get on with.

    I think we should take into account that the recordings carried a lot of bad vibes and memories for all if them, it is therefore understandable if the Beatles left it to others as like anything, if something gives you a downer its not something you become keen on revisiting, you move on as they did with Abbey Road luckily.
     
  22. DRM

    DRM Forum Resident

    LIBN is what John was talking about when he bemoaned the "dead Beatles sound." John's solo albums were more live sounding, had more air to them, compared to some of the later Beatles albums like Abbey Road. Let It Be has better dynamics and more life than LIBN, listening to both of them this week. They denoised the life out of LIBN, although I really like Across The Universe. LIBN's songs, as separate entities, may somewhat resemble the presentation of songs on the White Album. But I happen to like the live chatter and spontaneous feel of Let It Be. The White Album could use more of this live chatter and spontaneous feel. I've underappreciated Let It Be as an album...but it's starting to grow on me. After almost 50 years.
     
    Last edited: Jul 13, 2018
  23. NumberEight

    NumberEight Came too late and stayed too long

    That's only true for Plastic Ono Band. Almost everything after that was overproduced, with flux fiddlers, horns, echoed vocals, etc. The un-overdubbed tracks on Lennon Anthology bear this out.
     
    DaveJ, Tristero, DRM and 1 other person like this.
  24. DRM

    DRM Forum Resident

    Yes. I agree that his earlier solo work exemplifies this. Even echoed vocals are okay for me, they add movement and vibe. Same with reverb. However, overproducing with too many extraneous and intrusive instruments can often be problematic.
     
    Last edited: Jul 13, 2018
    NumberEight likes this.
  25. DRM

    DRM Forum Resident

    The "dead sound" is like all of the air has been drained. Everything trapped and enclosed in a self contained block of sound that can't escape. That's LIBN.
     
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