Did The Beatles' 'Let it Be' Album Deserve "Octopus's Garden" More Than 'Abbey Road'?

The Beatles worked up "Octopus's Garden" in early 1969 while filming Let it Be. Unfortunately, The Beatles hastily harvested it for their penultimate studio album. That was a missed opportunity, for a few reasons other than the fact that the band featured it in the film.

Let Be is only 35 minutes long. Abbey Road as released lasts 47 minutes, undoubtedly causing inner groove distortion on vinyl LPs.

Some of the great early Capitol and Parlophone albums draw the listener in with Ringo's down to earth charm, like:

• Meet the Beatles
• Beatles For Sale
• Yesterday and Today (2 Ringo deep cuts on one disc).

To leave Ringo off of their final album after brightening up so many of their 1962-68 albums made it seem as if Ringo were less important than he actually was.

The A Hard Day's Night soundtrack includes Ringo with his theme song. Including him on the Let it Be soundtrack via "Octopus's Garden" would also have been the right move to display Ringo's effervescent personality.

Had the Beatles added this jovial Ringo song to their final studio album we would be talking about a more appropriate way to follow up the still otherwise strong and whimsical (see "Maxwell's Silver Hammer") Abbey Road. Let It Be, their final studio album deserved the same kind of magic from Ringo.

 

Given that the fate of the Get Back project was up in the air, it makes sense to me that it was on Abbey Road.

 

then ringo wouldn't have been represented on Abby Road (arguably one of their very best albums, though not due to that song) and we'd be complaining the other way

 

No album deserved it.

 

It's an interesting thought process..... I actually like both albums and it had never even occurred to me that Ringo was vocally absent on Let It Be ....

If they knew they were going to dissolve the partnership, would it have been better to release a final album as a double album? To tie up the loose ends

 

Ringo was well represented on the Let It Be LP. His "hold it!" at the start of "I Dig A Pony" is almost as iconic as his "I got blisters on my fingers".

And don't forget he got a quarter songwriting credit for "Dig It".

 

Side 1
"Get Back" 3:09
"Two of Us" 3:36
"Something" 3:02
"I Me Mine" 2:26
"Maxwell's Silver Hammer" 3:27
"Oh! Darling" 3:27

Side 2
"Come Together" 4:19
"Across the Universe" 3:48
"Octopus's Garden" 2:51
"For You Blue" 2:32
"One After 909" 2:54
"Let It Be" 4:03
"Maggie Mae" 0:40

Side 3
"The Long and Winding Road" 3:38
"I've Got a Feeling" 3:37
"Dig a Pony" 3:54
"Dig It" 0:50
"I Want You (She's So Heavy)" 7:47

Side 4
"Here Comes the Sun" 3:05
"Because" 2:45
"You Never Give Me Your Money" 4:03
"Sun King" 2:26
"Mean Mr. Mustard" 1:06
"Polythene Pam" 1:13
"She Came In Through the Bathroom Window" 1:58
"Golden Slumbers" 1:31
"Carry That Weight" 1:36
"The End" 2:05
"Her Majesty"

idk, maybe a bad idea.
I wouldn't be able to alter side two of Abbey Road, it works too well for me, but a Beatles II may have worked and Ringo is on every album.

 

I tell you what that would be one expensive box set 50 years later.

 

Misses the point. The 'Get Back' sessions had to conclude by Jan 31st, 1969 because Paul & John had other commitments. Once they both got married and f-ed around a bit, they were able to give the next LP(and last) more time.

 

Actually it was Ringo who had the commitments. He had to start filming The Magic Christian film. The other 3 could have continued full time into February, but Ringo could not.

 

Paul got married in March, so there is some logic to that.

 

I wonder how the song would have worked in a 'Live' setting.

Would Ringo be able to play drums and sing it, and do a perfect take?

Maybe Ringo didn't have any Let It Be songs to focus on drumming and not singing and playing drums at the same time?

 

No disrespect my friend, but Ringo's voice did not brighten any Beatles album...Ringo's voice was tolerated and an annoying contrast to the other 3...

 

Octopus Garden features a synthesizer, as do many songs on Abbey Road. There are no synths on Let It Be. Therefore, we must conclude that Octopus Garden should remain on Abbey Road.
Thank you.

 

That was one afternoon in March at the local registry office. Not much commitment was needed in this case.

 

LOL

 

Octopus's Garden fits a lot better with the polished high-tech sound of Abbey Road, no?

 

I think Octopus Garden works well on Abbey Road. My beef will always be with Maxwell's Silver Hammer being recorded by The Beatles full stop.

 

Octopus Garden is too high polished for Let It Be. All of the instrumentation and heavy backing vocals wouldnt fit on Let It Be.

 

The February-April sessions that produced I Want You, Something and Octopus's Garden were originally meant to complete the Get Back album (Mark Lewisohn commented on this in a recent discussion). Only later was it decided that these tracks should be saved for the next LP instead.

 

In the Let It Be film, it's clear the song is still being written. I haven't seen any evidence that the song was even finished and ready to record during those sessions.

 

It's incredible that Abbey Road is still a great album given that its side 1 includes Maxwell and Octopus' Garden, separated by only one song.

 

Thank heavens we have a cluster of talented observers not connected with the band, the label, or management in any way, to second-guess the decisions of what we already consider to be the world's greatest musical act, 50 years after the event!
Huzzah!

 

Post of the day, this might even apply to a few other Beatles threads

 

So had they followed through, presumably there would've been footage of I Want You and Something in the finished film.