Let It Be 50th Anniversary -Twickenham Rehearsals: What and how?

Can confirm - he answered my tweet to him last year regarding the panning of the drums in While My Guitar Gently Weeps.

 

Excellent! Thanks.

 

In 2003 –

11 Jan 2003 | The Telegraph | Lost Beatles tapes get back to where they once belonged

It would seem that there's a ton of material to pick from. NPR even did a podcast about about the recovery of the "Get Back" tapes. It's a most enjoyable 2 hour listen:

14 Mar 2003 | The Lost Beatles Tapes: All Songs Considered | NPR

I would hope that any "Let It Be" box would contain 4-6 discs of this material including the Glyn Johns' "Get Back" album.

That's all I can wish for.

 

Great idea ! I think most of us would love that ! Which is ' one of ' the primary' reasons They'll never give it to us like that.

Why feed them caviar when they are so happy with dog food Sir Joe?

 

Thn for posting..I worked at a PBS/NPR station for almost 30 years and somehow I missed this.

I'm not sure how they are going to handle this. While I find some of the moments to be interesting (song development) and some to be humorous (Scottish Two of Us and Obladi/I'm So Tired)...I'm not sure how much commercial appeal it has. I've never went thru all of A/B road...the farthest I've made is the Thirty Days series. The Fly on the Wall disc from Naked had an opportunity to at least present 75 minutes worth of Twickenham and it failed miserably.

It's my understanding (and I could be wrong...which I often am).but the Nagra deck which recording the sync "beeps" had the option or ability to transfer the tape without them. I don't remember the track layout anymore or how much space on the tape it occupied. I also don't know if there would be any crosstalk between channels. Now the announcement of slates..I don't know if that's across the entire tape or not. Someone with Nagra experience ..feel free to jump in and correct me on this. For the time period..it was quite an advanced portable recorder.

George Martin vetoed anything from the nagras for A3...as they were not properly recorded.

Bern

 

Luckly I've just found my notes of when assembling this version, so here are some sketchy details of what I used for assembling this version (with original DDSI numbers):

- Basic rehearsal take. DDSI 6.117 (upon an edit of this take I added the other elements)
- Fragments from DDSI 3.108 (acoustic guitar and keyboards), 3.113, 6.116 (some guitar, final chord), 6.117 (bridge or "middle eight"), 6.120 (verses) and 28.84 (some acoustic guitar), and 3.107 and 3.113 for the ending.
- Three part vocals for choruses made with: a couple of choruses from DDSI 6.119 (mixed to stereo, that is, one to the right and the other to the left), plus voices from DDSI 8.31 (George and Paul) + 3.104 (George) vocals mixed together (with reverb)
- Acoustic guitar and George's vocals from DDSI 3.108 for the middle eight (some of it with a sight effect and stereo echo)
- Some acoustic guitar for the verses from DDSI 3.101 (edited, compressed, EQ'd and with a tad of noise reduction)
- Some bass from 6.117 and 6.120
- Some drums from 3.26 (looped and with reverb added)

 

i predict let it be naked will be re-released separately, and it won’t be remixed or remastered. the super deluxe of let it be will have a remix of the original 1970 version, plus both versions of the get back album. i think we’ll get 3 cds of outtakes and rehearsals plus the rooftop concert.

 

Here it is the same tracklist with the DDSI numbers for each track, so you know where the raw material comes from:

Part 1

00'00" Madman (DDSI 14.31, 14.32)
02'12" Jam #1 (DDSI 7.133)
03'03" You Win Again (DDSI 8.42)
03'57" I’ll Wait Until Tomorrow (DDSI 3.67)
04'57" Jam #2 (DDSI 3.28)
06'46" She Came In Through the Bathroom Window (DDSI 29.12)
09'19" Jam #3 (DDSI 27.68)
10'10" River Rhine (DDSI 28.03)
13'04" Jam #4 (DDSI 26.77-80)
14’20” Jam #5 (Get Back) (DDSI 24.47)
14’57" Low Down Blues Machine (DDSI 7.14)
15’59" Maybe Baby (DDSI 29.50)
17’40" Slippin' and Slidin' (DDSI 9.115)
19’02" Let It Down (DDSI 29.28, 29.29)
21’39" Jam #6 (DDSI 27.32)
24’20" Won't You Please Say Goodbye (DDSI 3.70)
25’05" Jam #7 (DDSI 8.53)
25’51" Jam #8 (Blues) (DDSI 23.30)
29’52" You Won't Get Me That Way / The Walk (DDSI 27.83)

Part 2

00’00” All Things Must Pass (DDSI 6.117)
03’27” Tea For Two (DDSI 3.08/9)
04’26” Teddy Boy (DDSI 24.33)
06’47” Jam #9 (DDSI 6.17)
08’30” Deed I Do / In the Middle of an Island / All Together Now (DDSI 31.14, 24.47)
09’27” Take This Hammer / Long Lost John / Call Me a Dog (DDSI 31.04)
11’41” I’m Ready (DDSI 22.58)
12’14” High School Confidential (DDSI 26.20)
13’09” Jam #10 (DDSI 26.68)
15’36” Sticks and Stones (Billy Preston on vocals) (DDSI 28.67)
17’29” Jam #11 (DDSI 9.17/8)
19’24” You Wear Your Women Out (DDSI 6.23)
20’39” School Days (DDSI 24.101b)
21’48” Watching Rainbows (DDSI 14.33)
24’58” Jam #12 (I’ve Got a Feeling) (DDSI 27.85)
25’47” Unless He Has a Song (Billy Preston on vocals) (DDSI 28.66)
28’05” Jam #13 (DDSI 26.70)
28’39” The Midnight Special (DDSI 3.86)
29’31” Jam #14 (DDSI 6.15)
31’04” Fools Like Me (DDSI 8.41)
32’43” Third Man Theme (DDSI 3.43)

 

I really don't think LIBN will be re-released at all, but maybe you're right.

 

This version was made using the basic track, DDSI 14.33 (edited), plus elements from DDSI 2.48, 9.105, 25.06, 28.04, 28.06, 28.09 and 28.14.

 

I'll Wait Until Tomorrow has always intrigued me. Even Lennon seem to remember the lyrics all those years later.

Bern

 

Here's my guess:

CD1: Let It Be Remix + Singles
CD2: Twickenham Rehearsals
CD3: Apple sessions + Rooftop (condensed)
BLU-RAY: New edit of film + Hi-Res
BLU-RAY: Original edit of film + Original mix
BOOK

Hopefully they make use of the time within a CD format.

 

Expecting a limited release of the original "Get Back" album on vinyl

 

That looks pretty good. But I wonder if the original edit of the film will be included in the event that the new edit overlaps all or most of the old one. I mean, let's suppose Jackson includes most of the footage featured on the original film, and only leaves out the infamous row between George and Paul and a couple of scenes here and there. Will it still make sense to watch the original cut of the film? The new version will probably credit Lindsay-Hogg somehow, and my guess is it will render the original one pointless.

 

The original LIB (imo) is one of the worst edited films ever. Can't believe the Beatles signed off on it.

 

No, I think differently. Peter Jackson's film should take (and hopefully will take) a completely different approach to the material and footage that was presented in the original Let It Be film. From what I gather, Jackson POTENTIALLY could be a very powerful director who won't settle for something less than perfect. (Unlike Ron Howard, who did a relatively professional job, on Eight Days A Week, but did not dig deep enough and just adhered to the party line in relating his film of the touring years).

Now, with regard to the original Let It Be film, Lindsay-Hogg did not feel that he had to tell a story---or if he did, I failed to notice one. He was making a film from the viewpoint of a "fly on the wall". Plus he was filming a contemporary film, since the band was a still-active band and everyone knew their story in the present tense (so to speak). It was a sort of "Here are the Beatles. They are human; they are good, bad, confident, unsure, bored, and inattentive; and they never wash their hair! But sometimes they can light a spark and magic happens, like on the roof." And Lindsay-Hogg was a product of the 1960s, playing to an audience from the 1960s---so he films in shadows and dreary colors, and he doesn't have to be cohesive, because he rejects the false pretenses of celebrity culture and their sycophantic documentaries.

BUT Peter Jackson, I think, NEEDS to tell a story because he has 50 years of hindsight to include. Unlike Lindsay-Hogg***, Jackson should be making a true documentary. Telling the audience what these sessions were supposed to accomplish; how they failed or succeeded; how the music was great despite the swirling problems dealing with their business and interrelationships.

But if Peter Jackson ONLY shows 90 minutes of up-tempo, happy footage, then his film will be just as flawed as Lindsay-Hogg's, except that Jackson's film will be obviously exaggerating the positiveness of the sessions (while Lindsay-Hogg seemed to overemphasize the negativity of the sessions). He needs to EXPLAIN the sessions through footage and music. I just hope that there is truly enough ALTERNATIVE footage to accomplish what is necessary. Jackson will only fail (like Lindsay-Hogg) if he too makes a boring film, although this time with happy Beatles.

***It should be pointed out that Lindsay-Hogg was NOT hired to make a true documentary of the sessions in January 1969. He was hired mostly to film a full concert of mostly new material to be performed by the Beatles at some undecided location. His initial footage at Twickenham was just shot to provide a short bit of introduction (maybe 20-30 minutes) that would be shown prior to the full-length film of the concert. So in Lindsay-Hogg's defense, he never knew that he was going to make a full documentary of sessions that never resulted in an actual full-length concert in front of an audience. He sort of had to "invent" a documentary after the fact from incomplete footage that never was intended to be the basis of a film. So in many ways, Lindsay-Hogg was not to blame.

 

Agreed!

 

I for one am excited to have an "alternate view of January 1969" with cleaned up and "new" footage. The "1" Blu-ray showed that a major restoration of the "LIB" footage is badly needed. Jackson has worked wonders in the past with older footage.

Like Arnie I agree a "white washing" by Jackson is not needed just a more "full" picture of the entire month and what the Fabs were trying to do and what was done.

I really hope that other than the "rooftop show" or the studio footage of "Two of Us", "Let it Be" and "Long and Winding Road", that was have no overlap from the original movie.

 

I think Twickenham is only worth one disc, but the sessions at Savile Row need at least two.

 

I agree with you, and I'm really looking forward to see what Peter Jackson comes out with. I think the new take on this footage will be de definitive statement on this subject because, as you said, it is now possible to tell a story, and it will be told from a 2020 perspective for us all to enjoy it now. Regarding the original version, I'm in doubt as to whether someone other than the "old" diehard fans will want to see it at all. Let's remember it was a film neglected by the four Beatles themselves, and rightly put out of print many years ago. Apple may just do a low profile release for that, since it's become just a collector's item, IMO.

 

Just demix George's aimless guitar noodling and everything will sound fine.

 

Gonna be tuff to top that 8 CD set of "The Twickenham Sessions", for the "50th Let It Be".

There's even a lot of Abbey Road on those CD's. Curious to see how many of these outtakes will be on the "50th Abbey Road".

 

Let It Be... Naked should be included, great opportunity to hear the remixes without any edits and noise reduction.

 

I agree this should be in the box set. (Geh Raus!!)