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

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

  1. beatleroadie

    beatleroadie Forum Resident

    Just looked up Let it Be Naked on Amazon, and apparently (I had no idea) this CD was remastered in 2013???

    Anyone have the original and the remaster? Is the remaster a better sound? The brick walling of the original seems to be a major complaint from those who dislike LIBN...

    And yes a longer remix of "Dig It" right between "The Long and Winding Road" and "Two of Us," and "All Things Must Pass" after "Across the Universe" would have improved this record a lot.
     
  2. Hardy Melville

    Hardy Melville Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York
    I don't agree with that. As they neared the end they seemed to be running out of gas, with some arguing Abbey Road was a sort of comeback. For example on John's stuff, that best song I referred to, Across the Universe, was written, and an early recording made, in early 68. John's other stuff on Let it Be was lesser, imo. For George the stuff on Abbey Road was MUCH better, on that comeback angle, and stuff he ended up holding for All Things Must Pass was also categorically better. Some may think Paul's contributions were very good, but for example I think Get Back is a rather mediocre effort.
     
  3. Hardy Melville

    Hardy Melville Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York
    Better. As much as I love Julia.

    The thing about Universe to me is that it's an interesting and imo relatively more complex chord progression, but the overall concept of the song (the melody and lyrical subject, among other things going into that) very much calls for a simple presentation. Spectorizing it was inappropriate.
     
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  4. tinnox

    tinnox Senior Member

    Location:
    Maryland
    I enjoy it and wish I had it on vinyl.
     
  5. StateOfTheArt

    StateOfTheArt Beatle Know-it-all

    Location:
    Greenville, SC
    tinnox likes this.
  6. blutiga

    blutiga Forum Resident

    Really, why all the criticism for Let It Be. Three duets between John And Paul. Two Of Us, I've Got a Feeling, One After 909. When was the last time we heard that on a Beatle's record. Beatles For Sale?
     
  7. tinnox

    tinnox Senior Member

    Location:
    Maryland
  8. seacliffe301

    seacliffe301 Forum Resident

    It's been documented that George made a conscious decision early on in the project only to offer "throw away" types of songs rather than have John complain that his songs had too many chords and just offer perfunctory input & support. Hence "For You Blue" & "I Me Mine".
     
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  9. beatleroadie

    beatleroadie Forum Resident

    Ironically, "I Me Mine" is quite the emotional/deep "throwaway" that also rocks pretty hard, and becomes the final song officially recorded by the band.

    And by all accounts, the "For You Blue" session was one of the most joyous/fun/communal among the four of them out of the whole Get Back effort.

    So maybe George chose very wisely.

    Still, "All Things Must Pass" would have been magical. With John's decreased output, this LP should have been one where they all decided that, like Revolver, George would get 3 songs instead of just 2.
     
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  10. StateOfTheArt

    StateOfTheArt Beatle Know-it-all

    Location:
    Greenville, SC
    Honestly - I never listen to mine. I wanted to hear it and now that I have - I find the difference not necessarily an improvement, just a different flavor. I find the concept in the same vein as the new Pepper.
     
  11. Diamond Star Halo

    Diamond Star Halo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Vancouver
    I think the real problem was that there wasn’t enough time between the White Album and Let It Be. It was ridiculous that they even considered embarking on a new project so quickly.

    John was ultra-prolific in 1968, and as a result was the dominant Beatle on the WA. Although heroin and Yoko were distractions, and likely hampered his songwriting, it simply wasn’t reasonable to expect John to deliver even more classics in the six week break between the WA and LIB.

    Paul, on the other hand, was less prolific in 1968, but 2 of his standout songs on Let It Be (the title track and TLAWR) were actually written and demoed during the WA sessions. I’ve always wondered why he held these two songs back, especially considering the fact that they both practically scream “hit single.” Perhaps Paul realized this, and, hoping to maximize their commercial potential, strategically saved them for the next album.

    If not for Paul’s decision to hold on to those two monster hits, his contributions to LIB would look rather slight, not unlike Lennon.

    We all know Paul was the driving force behind the LIB project. I’ve sometimes wondered if having those two songs in his back pocket gave him the confidence and motivation to proceed, dragging the others along with him. Unlike John, he didn’t have to scramble to come up with material for LIB. He just pushed through, without giving a thought to the ramifications of not taking a much-needed vacation.
     
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  12. Hardy Melville

    Hardy Melville Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York
    Interesting and quite plausible analysis. I wonder then why John and the others agreed to the schedule, rather than asking for some time to get ready with new songs and the like. Of course John did have Across the Universe ready to take a crack at it, but on the whole not much for the album.
     
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  13. Chuckee

    Chuckee Forum Resident

    Location:
    Upstate, NY, USA
    The George Martin version was also overproduced, with the bird sound effects at the beginning. Actually prefer the Spector version. LIBN version isn't bad, but sounds like a demo.
     
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  14. Hardy Melville

    Hardy Melville Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York
    I didn't mean to imply that the George Martin version is one I like.
     
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  15. muffmasterh

    muffmasterh Forum Resident

    Location:
    East London U.K
    AS WE All know Spector was brought in by John & George to rescue something for a looming deadline, yes the band still all did work on the project throughout the first few weeks and months of 1970 but because they were not a properly functioning unit by then there was no longer any vision, as you say the original vision had probably died a death by then with the Glyn Johns versions which were then unreleasable ( you could release them now though say for a 50th anniversary project with original artwork ), however Naked does restore some of the original vision as it tries to sound like it was originally was meant to sound had the band played well enough on any single take on all the tracks, so the spirit of the vision is restored even of the actual visions ship had sailed.

    Spectors Let it Be did have some Beatle involvement in that John & George gave it to him and said do your best ( and i'm not sure if he called any of them in for any further overdubs ? ) but it's the only example of a Beatle album during their lifetime as a band where there wasn't unanimity.
     
  16. muffmasterh

    muffmasterh Forum Resident

    Location:
    East London U.K
    no for me one of the best treatments for any track on Naked was across the universe, stripped back but not sounding like a demo, the anthology version - which is largely the same as Naked i believe - however for some reason does sound like a demo. On Naked the beauty of the track shines through.
     
  17. Chuckee

    Chuckee Forum Resident

    Location:
    Upstate, NY, USA
    I've always read it was Allen Klein who brought in Phil Spector, altho he probably got their approval.
     
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  18. Chuckee

    Chuckee Forum Resident

    Location:
    Upstate, NY, USA
    I quite like the Anthology version, prefer the Spector version slightly, none are perfect.
     
  19. Isamet

    Isamet Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York
    I don't disdain it. I like it. But you get used to the original version for years and years that it takes time to get used to an old dog with new tricks
     
  20. muffmasterh

    muffmasterh Forum Resident

    Location:
    East London U.K
    i got a feeling, Winding Road Let it Be to me a really strong tracks as is Don't Let me down and of course i think Get Back is a very strong track too but i have also ignored Universe as it pre-dates the project. I also like Dig a Pony Two of Us & one after 909 and even I Me Mine even though that is little more than a song fragment filled out. The only track i think is not very good is For you Blue.
     
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  21. muffmasterh

    muffmasterh Forum Resident

    Location:
    East London U.K
    we can get a citation for that, John and George certainly spirited the tapes away on the sly, was that under the instruction of Klein ? don't know.
     
  22. anth67

    anth67 Purveyor of Hogwash

    Location:
    PNW USA
    The starker Naked version is beautiful, indeed. I do find myself missing the pretty little "ah"s between the "nothing's gonna change my world" phrases...and I really like the harmony Paul sings on the jai gurus in the movie. My ideal mix might keep some of that.... (And I'll take Spector's over the '68 mix any day.) But the Naked version's pretty hard to beat.
     
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  23. Chuckee

    Chuckee Forum Resident

    Location:
    Upstate, NY, USA
    I don't think John was doing much Beatles by then, there's a lot of references out there of Allen bringing Phil in, I'll see if I can find where they originate from. Supposedly George & Ringo were the only 1 to visit Phil while he was working on it, with only Ringo contributing.
     
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  24. anth67

    anth67 Purveyor of Hogwash

    Location:
    PNW USA
    George, Paul, & Ringo returned in January '70 to record I Me Mine, which was slated to appear in the movie but didn't have a proper studio version. Not sure if that was at the film director's request or Spector's, but reportedly he did call members in for some further overdubs in the early months of that year. The finished album didn't reflect a band vision, but each member was involved to some degree in salvaging it for release.
     
    Last edited: Jul 12, 2018
  25. Marty T

    Marty T Stereo Fan

    Location:
    NM - North of ABQ
    That's a good point. Transference could definitely be an issue. I've always loved the original "Let it Be" album art. I see why the label didn't give "Naked" the very original "Get Back" cover art as it is now identified with the "Red" and "Blue" compilations but what they did produce was very lackluster.
     
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