New Version of the Beatles ‘Let it Be’ Film to be Released!?

Let It Be Egypt Station

 

I sure hope they don't use some godawful negative cover like "Let It Be Naked." I prefer my Beatles well dressed.

 

Disrespectful? Lindsay-Hogg was hired by the group to make a film. It was a business relationship. What he came up with was not a well-crafted product. The group (what's left of it) has every right to take the footage of them and try to make a better film. Did you consider it disrespectful to Glyn Johns when they rejected both of his proposed albums and gave the job to Spector?

As to revisionist history, well, reality is in the eye of the witness, so to speak. Who is to say that Lindsay-Hogg's representation of the history of those sessions acurately captured the full tenor of the sessions from start to finish? From a read of the "transcripts" it appears they weren't in constant misery or continuously fighting... or floundering, either. So, I'm happy to see what can be done with the footage from a fresh perspective. Besides, as is often argued by fans of remixing the group's recordings, we'll always have the original cut for the purists.

 

Phil Spector it.

FREE PHIL (to work on this project).

 

Maybe not a great 'film', but great footage and music we'd all like to have.

 

I think Paul has the least problem with the film, the Lennon and Harrison camps the most. So, no.

 

Here we go again!

 

can't we have both ???

 

It was originally going to be a half hour television show and was shot as such, then turned into a movie. Re edit it with a movie in mind from the beginning and I think we'd have an excellent product.

 

Good news for Beatles fans. But I'm afraid that I don't understand this viewpoint at all. There is never one version of any history. History was made to be re-written.

 

There are people still not holding their breath for "Carnival of Light", now they have another reason not to hold their breath for!

I think Paul is doing a gazillion interview these days, in earlier press tours he announced collaborations with Paul Simon, Bob Dylan and Brian Wilson.
Let's wait for that press-announcement for the 50th anniversary edition of 'The White Album' and see what happens after that...

 

It's a great bit of history and I'd love to have a non bootleg version of it.

 

I can see us Beatles fans 2020 moaning as the thing is out. Unexpectedly different from any expectation.

 

It's not like they are going back and re-filming. By 'bad scenes' if you mean the 10 minute scene where Paul is talking to John, with John's back to the camera and he never seems to move or even acknowledge anything that Paul is saying, then yes, please airbrush.

Anyone who has listened to outtakes from these sessions know it wasn't all doom and gloom. There was a lot of fun and laughter going on as well, but none of that is included in the original edit of the film and very little made it to the albums (original & Naked). I think Lindsey-Hogg tried too hard to make it an 'artsy' film and lost the plot.

I say bring it on.

 

Good thing Dylan didn't have creative control over Don't Look Back...........I guess you could say it would look like Eat The Document, but the point is, the tension and conflict is why it works. You can't take an accurate depiction of a moment, change it and it still be a documentary. The fans who really want Let it Be out, know what really happened.

 

Bring it on in any form, especially with additional footage.

 

Great idea. Can’t wait.

 

A more relevant statement could be that ' History is written by the Victors'. Or in this case, by the survivors. What we have here is that, in the absence of John, Paul is producing an edited version of history.. not just Let It Be Naked, but to my ears all the re-issues seem to boost the sound of Paul's bass at the expense of the other instruments. I find this with the recent '1' reissue, and certainly last year's Sgt Pepper travesty. Yes I know modern technology means we can get a better representation of the bass sound.... who asked for it, who is getting it, and who signs off the new sound?

So I am with Beamish... lets have the original release of the Let It Be film...it told a story, and a version of the truth at the time. . If someone wants to tell a different story that is their right..but don't pass it off as Let It Be....

 

As is so often the case with The Beatles, it's possible for the more dedicated fans to "roll their own" if any eventual release turns out to be disappointing in some way. In the case of Let It Be, I've long since put together a boxed set that I consider more than comprehensive for my taste from readily available material...

DVD:
Let It Be [1970 theatrical cut]
The Rooftop Concert
Session Highlights [montage of Twickenham rehearsal and Apple studio footage]
Making Of [mini-documentary from 2009 remastered CD]

CD1:
Let It Be [original 1970 album, 2009 remaster]
Get Back [bonus track - single version, from Past Masters 2009 remaster]
Don't Let Me Down [bonus track - single version, from Past Masters 2009 remaster]
The Ballad Of John And Yoko [bonus track - single version, from Past Masters 2009 remaster]
Old Brown Shoe [bonus track - single version, from Past Masters 2009 remaster]
Across The Universe [bonus track - single version, from Past Masters 2009 remaster]
You Know My Name (Look Up The Number) [bonus track - single version, from Past Masters 2009 remaster]

CD2:
Get Back [combination of tracks from both Glyn Johns album assemblies]

CD3: Fly on the Wall, Disc 1 [assembled from Twickenham rehearsal tapes]

CD4: Fly on the Wall, Disc 2 [assembled from Twickenham rehearsal and Apple studio tapes, including tracks from Anthology 3 2011 remaster]

Of course, you could quite easily push the boat out even further by sourcing the entirety of the circulating Nagra tapes, though I find a selection of their very best contents is more than enough for the average listener!

Is that really too much to ask for, Apple? All you'd have to do is produce a new edit of the main feature to keep certain people happy, and I'm sure the rest could be approved without any problems.

 

^I like your list/post and list. But I think a 2020 Let it Be box will not include "The Ballad of John & Yoko" or "Old Brown Shoe" — The Abbey Road era seems to start in mid February with basic tracks for "Something" and "I Want You" worked on, and those tracks were done after that, so—but I think a Let it Be box will go back and include more "Across the Universe" outtakes from early '68--I think Apple and the Beatles are now really proud of this song, and we will get EVERY unique version basically (Anthology 2, Past Masters, Hums Wild, and probably another one we haven't heard like just John on guitar or something..) and hopefully a new promo video for Across the Universe!

Plus "Don't Let Me Down" (studio and rooftop versions), and "You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)" belongs to a Let it Be box, too, and there are at least two different mixes of that.




On the film, my best guess is that with a 50th Anniversary Let it Be box set in 2020, there will be a Blu-ray included with a newly edited version of the Let it Be documentary. I don't think the original film will be included at all.

I think all the footage (original film and hours of outtakes) has been cleaned up and even now some person or team is working on a re-edit that all at Apple will approve of, Olivia and Yoko included.... and they'll leave the classic Let it Be film--which has been blocked by some party or parties at Apple for years--out of print.

That's just my guess. And it'll be spun as an upgrade with never before scene footage, etc, and they may even get Michael Lindsay-Hogg to give it his blessing or release a quote about the new version, etc., and of course Paul and Ringo will praise it...

But even with that, and that'll upset some purists for sure, what I think we will get in the end might exclude a few moments from the original film, but it'll have much more added in than taken away.

 

At the very least, a 50th anniversary reissue needs to include the complete rooftop set, which I can't imagine anyone objecting to the inclusion of. Saying that, much like the album as it was originally released, the theatrical cut of Let It Be is very much a product of its time, and for all Paul's efforts to have its musical content stripped down, it's a shame certain parties won't allow the same for its corresponding documentary - for better or worse, its 1970 presentation did happen and should ideally be given the same respect as a piece of history. Sure, you can rewrite certain aspects by editing out scenes and inserting new footage, but it would be great to have the choice. Besides, isn't Apple a business? Surely they'd prefer money wasn't still going to bootleggers if there's even slight continued demand for this product? Why not just put this out as a digital-only archival title for those who care enough?

 

MLH directed and edited a really lousy movie. He deserves all the disrespect that comes his way with regard to his efforts on Let It Be issued in 1970. My opinion only, you may view it differently.

 

Buy popcorn, and good film

 

I agree the best thing would be to have both the classic Let it Be documentary as well as a new, longer and better edited version on one Blu-ray together. I just have my doubts. They might be thinking "We went through all this trouble to make a new version we all like and agree on, why put out the old one we disagree on right beside it?"

Was MLH out of his depth with the Let it Be documentary? Yes I think so. He was a very talented "music video" guy, but a feature length documentary is a different type of project all together.

I do think it would be appropriate for someone else like Scorsese to go into all the footage and re-edit it into something more effective. This is a documentary after all. What was filmed was filmed. It actually happened. Re-editing a documentary is not the sacrilege that re-editing Help or A Hard Day's Night would be.

 

How is it revisionist to edit a movie with original footage?
If there is plenty of footage of the guys having fun, why was it never used?
Either the producer/director decided to make it a miseryfest, or the fact that the band broke up lead the director to make a miseryfest.

Personally, if there is footage of the band having fun, i want to see it. One of the few things i enjoyed about the first version was the rooftop concert.

That being said, ideally, if this actually happens, we would get the original misery movie and a rejuvenated "well it really wasn't all misery" movie.
Unlike many on the forum i love the let it be album. Great batch of songs.