Why disdain for "Let It Be... Naked?"

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Strat-Mangler, Jul 11, 2014.

  1. CoryS

    CoryS Forum Resident

    It was an interesting idea, but poorly executed. seems like they could not resist the urge to throw too many toys (oh look we found an unused LIB guitar solo, and NR, and the ability to fly **** in for no good reason) and ideas in that had nothing do with the concept.

    I dont regret having it as an alternative to nothing bit a missed opportunity.

    I think the sessions lend themselves to at least two approaches: a soundtrack to accompany the film, lets call it Let It Be, in which case all the extra dialog, interludes and rough bits make sense, and an album, lets call it Get Back, that is a more polished, but "live-in-the-studio" return to the form of their first couple of albums.

    What we got in both cases wasnt consistent with either theme.

    There is no rewriting history at this point but the long-awaited dvd/bluray release of the film would be an opportunity to address both projects in a more suitable manner.
     
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  2. Kim Olesen

    Kim Olesen Gently weeping guitarist.

    Location:
    Odense Denmark.
    Don't mind me. I'm just going through a period of finding the occasional rhetorics here a bit hard to stomach...
     
  3. GlassOnion

    GlassOnion Well-Known Member

    Location:
    pgh,pa,us
    I like that theres no tape hiss.why would i want the tape hiss to remain?
     
  4. CoryS

    CoryS Forum Resident

    Love was an example of tasteful application of NR, assuming there was any. Im not sure and the result shows the fidelity of the multi tracks.
    Libn was so heavy handed that you can hear the artifacts and pumping in an attempt to remove an evidence the material originated from living people playing live in a room let alone on analogue tape.
     
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  5. botley

    botley Forum Resident

    It seems like McCartney was more in love with the idea of tackling this piece of 'unfinished business' than fans were with the results of his engineer/producers' collective labours. I don't mind it, for what it is, but there is just no way to make these sessions into a palatable album that stands up along with their finest. In '63, they knocked out ten brilliant master takes in a single day — by '69, it had gotten so bad that they couldn't get a single usable master most days, and had to tinker endlessly afterwards with mediocre results.

    If Glyn Johns couldn't do it, and the Abbey Road boffins circa '03 couldn't, then who could? A lost cause, if you ask me.
     
    Beech likes this.
  6. John Buchanan

    John Buchanan I'm just a headphone kind of fellow. Stax Sigma

    Because it sounds terrible - simple.
     
  7. dewey02

    dewey02 Forum Resident

    Location:
    The mid-South.
    It isn't the sound of hiss that we like, it is what happens to the sound of all the rest of the music when electronic gizmos are used to completely remove all the hiss.
     
  8. sons of nothing

    sons of nothing Forum Resident

    Location:
    Illinois
    It is worth the price of admission just for Across the Universe, which might be Lennon's Greatest Song.
     
  9. GlassOnion

    GlassOnion Well-Known Member

    Location:
    pgh,pa,us
    Ok,that answered my question to tape hiss.I still prefer it without...just like prefer let it naked over let it be..i prefer let it be. But i like both a lot
     
  10. SixtiesGuy

    SixtiesGuy Ministry of Love

    With the unique circumstances and infamous history of the entire Get Back-Let It Be project, and the bootlegged availability of hours of session recordings, no one would ever be able to come up with an album that would satisfy most people. Maybe that is the lasting legacy of the project - to be as unsettled and unsatisfactory to the world as it was to the Beatles themselves.
     
  11. andy75

    andy75 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sweden
    Love both Spectors original remix and this naked version. Would have been fantastic if it was remastered sometime soon! Naked can sound so much better than it does.

    It took me almost ten years to "get" or like the different vocal lines in TLAWR, but now I like it as much as the version on the 1970 album! Before I wondered why they picked it when Paul, during concerts and on Give My Regards sings the song like it's presented on the original LP. Now I know. He's in much better voice here!

    Can never get enough of the Let It Be material. IMO the tracks that came out of these sessions are great!
     
    alchemy likes this.
  12. Arnold Grove

    Arnold Grove Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
    Overall, too many of the songs were futzed with for no apparently good reason (except that the compilers could do these edits). For example, the version of the song "Let It Be" on the Naked CD is chock full of unnecessary editing. Here is what Slane wrote in another thread, showing how ridiculous this song was "Frankenstein-ized":

    *27A = Take 27A with the overdubs added on January 1970. Released version.
    *27B = Take 27B. Film version

    <intro>
    27B

    <1st verse>
    When I find myself in times of trouble Mother Mary comes to me
    Speaking words of wisdom, let it be/ 27B
    And in my hour of darkness she is standing right in front of me
    Speaking words of wisdom, let it be/ 27A

    <chorus>
    27A

    <2nd verse>
    27A

    <chorus>
    27A

    <chorus: repeat>
    Oh, let it b(e)/ 27B
    (b)e, let it be, let it be, let it be. Whisper words of wisdom, let
    it be/ 27A

    <instrumental break / riff>
    27A (note: only George's guitar is switched to 27B at the last beat
    where the solo starts)

    <guitar solo>
    27B

    <chorus>
    Let it be/ 27B
    let it be, let it be, yeah let it be. Whisper words of wisdom, let it
    be/ 27A

    <3rd verse>
    And when the night is cloudy, there is still a light that shines
    on me. Shine on until tomorrow, let it be/ 27B
    I wake up to the sound of music Mother Mary comes to me/ 27B
    Speaking words of wisdom/ 27A with the bass of 27B staying
    let it be/ 27B with the bass switching to 27A (overdubbed bass)

    <chorus>
    Let it b(e)/ 27B with the bass (overdub) from 27A
    (b)e, let it be, let it be, yeah let it be. Oh, there will be an
    answer, let it be/ 27A

    <chorus: repeat>
    Let it b(e)/ 27A
    (b)e, let it be, yeah let it be, yeah let it be/ 27B with the backing
    vocals and bass (both overdub) from 27A
    Whisper words of wisdom, let it be/ 27A (vocals and bass) and 27B
    (other instruments) (note: the last piano fill is from 27A)

    <coda>
    27A, except the guitar and organ on the 1st half of the 1st bar


    Notice that Slane pointed out that there are parts in the song with John's original bass from January 1969 and Paul's overdubbed bass from January 1970 switching back and forth.

    Originally post #136 in: http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/let-it-be-naked-on-itunes.314143/page-6

    Arnie
     
    Last edited: Jul 11, 2014
  13. vinylman

    vinylman Senior Member

    Location:
    Leeds, U.K.

    This. But - importantly - they learned their lesson.
     
  14. cublowell

    cublowell Forum Resident

    Location:
    Pittsburgh, PA
    LIBN isn't great. It did make me realize that Spector's mixes were actually pretty good. A fast version of Two Of Us would have been nice.
     
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  15. Keith V

    Keith V Forum Resident

    Location:
    Secaucus, NJ
    Good call
     
  16. mpayan

    mpayan A Tad Rolled Off

    Good point. Maybe at the very least it served the purpose of letting them know the wrong way to master/mix/edit something.
     
  17. markbrow

    markbrow Forum President

    Location:
    Denver
    Anything from the Beatles vault is a good thing. Period.
     
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  18. markbrow

    markbrow Forum President

    Location:
    Denver
    Exactly.
     
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  19. Maidenpriest

    Maidenpriest Setting the controls for the heart of the sun :)

    Location:
    Europe
    Because it sounds 'Sterile' is 'auto-tuned' and 'Pro-tooled' and is a revision to what was intended, they should have just released the original 'Get Back' version of these songs, why call it 'Naked' the original was more naked than this LIBN monstrosity IMO, nothing wrong with 'Dig It' and 'Maggie May' at least they were 'real' unlike the LIBN version of 'I've Got A Feeling' or the version of 'Across The Universe', every song on LIBN there is a better version either on Anthology 3 or Let It Be, pointless vanity project from Macca !!
     
    Last edited: Jul 11, 2014
  20. rushed again

    rushed again Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Jersey
    A good alternative but this and the original is a low on the list of Beatles gems.
     
  21. Raf

    Raf Senior Member

    Location:
    Toronto, Ontario
    Last edited: Jul 11, 2014
  22. Maidenpriest

    Maidenpriest Setting the controls for the heart of the sun :)

    Location:
    Europe
    No its not !! Glyns Johns 'Get Back' is the original and 'Let It Be' is the original 'official' release, Naked is just a not very well done re-imagined album !!
     
  23. jfine

    jfine Forum Resident

    I like both LIBN and the original, heck I even like listening to the apple/twickenham sessions.
     
  24. wavethatflag

    wavethatflag God is love, but get it in writing.

    Location:
    SF Bay Area
    I would like to give folks the benefit of the doubt and say it's nostalgia that makes people prefer the original, or (how 'bout this?) they just like the original better. All the die-hard Beatles fans I know (all 2 of them) really like ...Naked, because they knew the history of Let It Be and at least what Macca's original intent was for that album.

    Me, I knew the history, but I also thought It was a big ego move by Macca, and pretty much dismissed it without listening to it. But this reaction was borne of ignorance, because when I finally heard ...Naked, I loved it. And then knowing the circumstances that preceded Let It Be made me appreciate Macca's original vision for the Get Back session or whatever they're called. I actually started to have sympathy for what Macca must have felt upon hearing Spector's record.

    So, I don't know, my opinion is that anyone who despises ...Naked doesn't really or fully understand the history that makes it an essential addition to the Beatles' catalog. And also, they may have at least a slight mental problem. I guess I should have read this whole thread first. but who actually despises this album anyway? Anyone?
     
  25. C6H12O6

    C6H12O6 Senior Member

    Location:
    My lab
    1. Yes.
    2. Yes, but I actually wish they used the alternate that found its way to Anthology 2.
    3. Yes.
    4. Yes.
    5. I actually miss the closing remark, "…I hope we passed the audition," they could've 'reprised' "Get Back" at the end as a way of including it.

    And one big disagreement: as mentioned the NoNoised mix sucks. If they had used vintage mixes where available, that would've been perfect.

     

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