Let It Be/Get Back 50th Anniversary Releases! (Content and Sound Quality Discussion Only)!

Absolutely. He was baked!

 

This masterpiece is not in the box set. What a shame.

 

John and Yoko were at the 1968 Xmas party in Santa costumes (see photo below). And Ringo and Maureen were there, at least early on (they brought their little kids).

But I do not think George or Paul was there.

 

I've always loved Watching Rainbows, never appears anywhere. I know it's derived from other songs, but still has its own feel.

 

Yeah - basically - what I got from the documentary is - they were in search of the perfect take. The rooftop was a concert, sure - but an additional goal was going up to the roof to see if that could bring a freshness to those songs missing from the studio versions.

So - going back to Glyn's assemblage, what's the real problem with it? In my opinion, it's the use of oddball takes here and there. You can see why Glyn liked them - but you can also see - from the documentary standpoint - why the Beatles might not.

Reading between the lines - we know that they signed off on the Get Back/Don't Let Me Down single and the Let It Be single mix - so those were in.

(Note: Glyn uses the Get Back single mix for '69 and '70, so no substitution required.)

What's left? Extrapolating further - since they didn't attempt roof remakes of Dig A Pony and I've Got A Feeling - they're in. And - based on that, the Apple Studio Performance of Two Of Us - since they presented it in the film, and it just sounds like a better take.

The only oddball here is The Long And Winding Road. Glyn and Phil both favored the same, earlier studio take over the Apple Studio Performance take. Phil's "Harp Set To Stun" version is out - that just leaves Glyn's embryonic version. It's too bad that Glyn/George Martin didn't do a single mix of The Long And Winding Road in the style of Let It Be. A quiet, tasteful string arrangement along those lines would have probably made the definitive version - Paul & George Harrison even mention that in the documentary.

I didn't put anything from Let It Be... Naked or Anthology 3 on purpose. This thought exercise was using materials and assemblages from '69/'70 only.

I gave it a spin last night - and the jokes/chatter from the Phil cuts almost fit in perfectly. Almost, anyway. Preserves that "Fly On The Wall" feel - without sounding like a rehearsal on the songs themselves.

Cheers,
Paul

 

We already have LAWR and LIB on 1+

 

True but not in the best quality possible..there are also “hairlines”.

 

Although LIB on 1+ is not the film take. It's an alternate promo assemblage using some of the footage shot on the same day. They had to do this because the audio is Take 27a, but the film uses Take 27b.

Only TLAWR is credited as being taken from Let It Be.

Cheers,
Paul

 

I sort of like this idea. I'm a fan of some of what Spector did. I'm not a total fan of Let It Be Naked. I think a good mix of ideas would have come out great. It's too bad the Glyn mixes are a little rough around the edges. A lot of them sound like early Beatles takes. Mistakes in playing, sloppy performance. Get Back being the exception, but I sort of like the rooftop concert of Get Back.

Plus for some reason and I'm not sure why, there seems to be a terrible tape hiss in the Glyn recordings that were included. Why so much hiss? They sound washed out and clouded. I can't imagine these are first generation masters. They sound like a backup of a backup.

 

How on earth wasn’t the “Castle” included on the SDE? Just ridiculous.

 

Not sure if this has been answered here, but are these two tracks from the box set Let It Be (Take 28) and Long and Winding Road (Take 19) both the exact takes from the original "Let It Be" film?

 

What was interesting about putting this together was that Phil basically used Glyn's work as a base - and, to my mind anyway, replaced the most sloppy takes. Maggie Mae, For You Blue, One After 909, The Long And Winding Road, Get Back, Let It Be, Dig It, I Me Mine, and Across The Universe are all the same basic takes. Sure - there's a change in some of the chatter, some different editing and mixing decisions - and we lost Don't Let Me Down and the Rocker/Save The Last Dance medley - but Phil seems to be using the 1970's Get Back as the reference.

Personally, I think Phil chose better versions of Two Of Us, Dig A Pony, and I've Got A Feeling. If he'd stopped there - and skipped adding strings to Across The Universe, The Long And Winding Road and I Me Mine - it's very possible we might be discussing Let It Be in a different light. But - then - Phil would have been a remixer - not a producer - and that's not what he wanted to do.

Cheers,
Paul

 

I'll answer it - yes they are. Mostly.

Let It Be in the film has a weird section flown in from an earlier filmed take. You can audibly hear the splice - about 1:33 into the song. It's not from 27a or 27b (aka 28).

Cheers,
Paul

 

I've found myself playing those end credits of part 1 several times just to listen to that tune. Yes a little rough around the edges but its a nice piece of music that's ethereal in places which I'll be enjoying and listening to more than a lot of what was used on the SDE.

 

I didn't want to ask this on a new thread so I'm going to ask it here.
Is really Let it be naked the closest to the original Beatles intention with Let it be? I mean, even though we can't know what George and John would have thought of this release.

 

I would say Glyn Johns' "Get Back" is the closest, but it's not perfect. Glyn chose some rather inferior takes of songs. Personally, I think the best possible version of this material doesn't exist! You gotta mix and match from the original, new remix, Naked and Get Back to get the best version. Doing so would probably get you closest to what they intended.

 

Constructed my perfect version of the album for fun. I basically used the Naked track order because I think it works very well. I omitted all Spector overdubs and tried to limit as much overdubbing/editing as possible (there are some exceptions still).

1.) Get Back (2015 Single Version Remix)
2.) Dig a Pony (2021 Remix)
3.) For You Blue (2021 Remix)
4.) The Long and Winding Road (Take 19) [Apparently the same take in the original film]
5.) Maggie Mae / Fancy My Chances With You (From 2021 Box Set)
6.) Two of Us (2021 Remix)
7.) I've Got a Feeling (2021 Remix)
8.) One After 909 (2021 Remix)
9.) Don't Let Me Down (First Rooftop Performance) [From 2021 Box Set]
10.) I Me Mine (Naked Verison)
11.) Across the Universe (Glyn Johns Mix)
12.) Dig It (2021 Remix)
13.) Let It Be (Take 28) [Apparently the same take in the original film]

 

Yes - this is the conclusion I'm coming to as well.

My attempt at this mix and match is here: Let It Be/Get Back 50th Anniversary Releases! (Content and Sound Quality Discussion Only)!

It uses Glyn's 1970 version of Get Back as the base sequence.

For the non-Spotify crowd:

Side 1:

1. One After 909 - 1969 Glyn Johns mix
2. Medley: I'm Ready (aka Rocker)/Save The Last Dance for Me - 1969 GJ Mix
3. Don't Let Me Down - Past Masters/Blue Album
4. Dig A Pony - Let It Be
5. I've Got A Feeling - Let It Be
6. Get Back - 1969 GJ Mix (identical to Past Masters/Blue Album)
7. Let It Be - Past Masters/Blue Album

Side 2:

1. For You Blue - "1969" GJ Mix (actually 1970)
2. Two Of Us - Let It Be
3. Maggie Mae - 1969 GJ Mix
4. Dig It - 1969 GJ Mix
5. The Long And Winding Road - 1969 GJ Mix
6. I Me Mine - 1970 GJ Mix
7. Across The Universe - 1970 GJ Mix
8. Get Back (Reprise) - 1969 GJ Mix

My personal feeling is Let It Be... Naked is a little too clinical. It definitely is the most "album" experience of the three - there's no chatter - no silliness. But for me, there has to be some - it ties to the "live" in the studio feel - overdubs notwithstanding. Also - one might quibble with some of the takes chosen. e.g. the Let It Be... Naked take of The Long And Winding Road is technically more polished than the Glyn/Phil take - but I prefer the earlier take.

Cheers,
Paul

 

Yeah it goes a bit too far for me. That's my only problem with it. It's dry and boring in some parts. Not everything Spector did was bad.

For example the guitar solo and drums on the official Let It Be are superior to the take used on Let It Be Naked.

 

I'm very disappointed Get Back did not include full performances of Two Of Us, Let It Be, Long And Winding Road.

I wonder why those chose to keep them out? Could we be getting a HD release of the LIB film as well?

 

Yeah, I was disappointed as well. Peter Jackson has claimed several times he didn't want to include as much footage from the original film as possible. So, I guess he stuck true to his word. This new documentary has really made me crave for a full HD release of "Let It Be" more than ever.

On a positive note, those full performances of "Let It Be" and "Long and Winding Road" are on the 1+ Blu Ray in stunning quality.

 

So what's up with the Glyn Johns tapes? Why do they have so much tape hiss? They sound washed out and tired.

 

I believe that was during the summer of 1968 during the white album era.

 

Was anyone else disappointed that we didn't get the full "Save the Last Dance for Me" transition into the first line of "Don't Let Me Down" in the doc? They cut to another scene right at the moment they switch in Glyn Johns album mix. Or was that one of Glyn's seamless edits that didn't actually happen that way in real time?