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

Entirely over my head sir. (Lol)

 

LOL...

 

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

Who cares.

 

The Octopus as he would have to relocate his garden.

 

The "Let It Be" LP deserved to have...... "Jazz Piano Song", a McCartney/Starkey composition shown in the film "Let It Be". With spectral editing, a stereo version of the performance with the left handed half of the piano keyboard being represented in the left channel and the right handed half of the piano keyboard being represented in the right channel could be a highlight of a Let It Be Super Deluxe Edition.

 

I have always loved Octopus's Garden, and it belongs on Abbey Road, much much more than Maxwell's Bloody Hammer.

 

This is the type of sentiment that I have seen on the forum a few times. Let It Be feels like some kind of "funereal" album to some people. Part of that feeling is that it was the band's last album. Adding "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" or even "Don't Let Me Down" probably wouldn't have helped to balance out that feeling, but adding "Octopus's Garden" just might have been the touch that the album needed to not feel so "funereal".

No one multitracked "I Me Mine" in 1969 either that I'm aware of, but the band approved its use for the soundtrack album, regardless. I'm talking about a song that would have made Let It Be better, "Octopus's Garden". The band made a mistake in not saving it for the soundtrack album.

 

What's so wrong with that feeling regarding "Let It Be?" It was released when everybody knew The Beatles were dead, but the wounds still fresh. It has written "This is a new phase Beatles album" to clarify things had changed - goddam, it was even CALLED "Let It Be"!
The world was sad, The Beatles were no more - if that doesn't justify a funeral feeling, then what does?? And "Abbey Road" is a fantastic album, even if me too could do without "Maxwell's Silver Hammer".
It's The bloody Beatles!

 

I always thought it was John saying "Hold it!"

 

You're missing the point of my post, and the chronology here.


The Octopuss sequence you see in the film was filmed on January 26th. The band DIDN'T RECORD the song on tape, then. (multitrack tape, as they did with other songs). They are just rehearsing the song a little, trying to make it up*. It was recorded by the camera crew on the Nagras (printing the sound for the cameras), but not on real multitrack studio tape. Therefore the version of Octopuss from January 69 you're imagining suitable for the Let it be album simply DOESN'T EXIST

The band started to properly record the song in April 69, at the time they were working on a new album (Abbey Road) and when the actual 'Let it be' album wasn't even considered, and when no-one knew what would appear in the movie in the first place (in terms of footage selection).

*Just watch the clip again: Ringo is on piano, George on acoustic next to him, they are no microphones set up anywhere, and John is fooling around on the drums. it's clearly not a recording session.

 

Wrong. The band decided to release an album with the recordings done in January. There's a big difference. Not the songs worked up in January.
I think that's where you're being mislead.

And as I just said on the previous post, Octopuss just wasn't recorded in January

There is the case of I me mine recorded AFTER the January sessions, but that was a decision taken way after Abbey Road was finished and released. And I me mine wasn't used (nor recorded) on the Abbey Road album. As I said, by the time they started the Abbey Road recordings they couldn't know that Octopuss would be in the movie so they just couldn't begin the think they should save it for later because "it will be in the movie."

 

The band didn't approve its use, three of them went back to the studio a year LATER and recorded it for the first time. Octopus's Garden was recorded and released on the album it was intended for. This is all kind of silly. Oh Darling would have made Let It Be stronger too.... so would have Something, I Want You, She Came In Through The Bathroom Window and most of the other songs rehearsed during the Get Back sessions. It just wasn't meant to be. Sort of like saying the White Album would have been better if Let It Be (the song) was included. At the time it was unfinished and tentatively played at that. More a busk than anything else. Ron

 

I don't know if that's true, I never thought a band could be so dissected as the Beatles but here we are, I was around for Beatle mania in the 60's and they were never discussed in this detail even then.

 

Were not people busier having independent lives and conversing face to face?

 

Now try imagining if there was an Internet in the Sixties.

 

"
'Cause you know what, the musicians that made all that great music that's enhanced your lives throughout the years were rrreal ****ing high on drugs. The Beatles were so f**king high they let Ringo sing a few tunes.” -Bill Hicks

 

Scutt Farcus?
I love any and all Jean Sheperd references!

 

A lot of people actually like Ringo's voice.

The Beatles were right about letting him sing a few. They were right about most everything.

 

Agree except that "Don't Let Me Down" should have been included on "Let it Be."

The album was only 35 minutes long, so length was certainly not an issue -- Abbey Road was 47 minutes long.

Has there ever been any explanation why "Don't Let Me Down" wasn't included on the LP and was only relegated to the B-Side of the "Get Back" single?

I think "Don't Let Me Down" was at the very least one of the best four or five songs from the sessions.


@brainwashed you're certainly in the know about Fabs' details, can you shine any light on this?

.

 

I don't think they wanted to put a year old B-side on their new LP, which meant it was available for the Hey Jude LP.

I'm sure Lewisohn will eventually straighten it all out.

 

You’re right.

 

Sure. It was included on the recently released (February 1970) Hey Jude album. The album was an Allen Klein special project, compiled and released because Let It Be was delayed yet again. Of course they could easily have included one of the rooftop takes... or even done a little pseudo live edit (as they did with Get Back) on the single mix. Just a short-sighted decision and one that baffles me to this day that John and others agreed with. Ron

 

What was so “special” about the Hey Jude record?

 

Nothing "special". But it was an album compilation specially put together by Klein (and Al Steckler, who worked at ABKCO) in order to start earning big $$$ for the Beatles as Klein had renegotiated terms with Capitol to generate much more favorable royalties for the band (and himself, of course). I believe that Klein pulled in more monies for the band in 1969-70 than in all of their previous years combined.

 

No. It’s fine on Abbey Road, which is a perfect album.