1970
ALBUM
RELEASED
Great Britain: May 8, 1970 / No. 1 on May 23, 1970, for 3 weeks
United States: May 18, 1970 / No. 1 for 4 weeks
After recording the White Album, the Beatles’ cohesion was threatened. John was with Yoko, who was with John all the time, and John was addicted to heroin. George was involved in the production of other Apple artists, and Ringo was considering film projects. Paul, the driving force for unity, assumed the role of leader. He suggested that the Beatles go back out on the road. In Paul’s view, touring was a way to bring the group together, as it had in the past. George and John vehemently opposed the idea. A compromise was reached: making a one-hour television show. They favored the Roundhouse Theatre in North London, and recruited director Michael Lindsay-Hogg, who then suggested an even more grandiose project: playing live in a Roman amphitheater in Tripoli! They eventually ended up at Twickenham Film Studios in Middlesex from January 2 to 17, 1969, where they had filmed A Hard Day’s Night and Help!
The project, called Get Back, was well defined: they wanted to record a new album live in front of the cameras—no sound effects, no overdubs. In other words, an absolute return to basics. It was John’s idea not to use any of the studio “tricks” they had used in the past. Glyn Johns was hired as a sound engineer. He had worked with celebrities like the Stones and other major groups, including the Who, the Kinks, and the Small Faces. On January 2, the camera crew filmed the Beatles rehearsing all day. John: “It was just a dreadful, dreadful feeling [in Twickenham Studio] and, being filmed all the time, I just wanted them to go away. We’d be there at eight in the morning and you couldn’t make music at eight in the morning, or ten, or whenever it was, in a strange place with people filming you, and colored lights.”1 The atmosphere was tense and the Beatles were under tremendous pressure. A famous altercation between Paul and George took place while the cameras rolled. George became irritated after Paul suggested changes to his guitar solo and walked out just as Ringo had done five months earlier during the recording sessions for the White Album. George returned on the insistence of his three bandmates, but George imposed conditions, including no more TV shows or concerts. They all agreed.
After two weeks of rehearsals at cold, drafty Twickenham, the Beatles decided to continue the project at Apple’s headquarters, 3 Savile Row, in the heart of London’s posh Mayfair district. Ringo said, “Twickenham just wasn’t really conducive to any great atmosphere.”2 They were seeking a more comfortable and warmer place to work.
In July 1968, they asked their friend, Alexis Mardas, nicknamed “Magic Alex,” to build them a studio in the basement of Apple. A mediocre inventor but a brilliant con artist, Alex told them he was going to build a revolutionary studio with a seventy-two-track facility instead of the eight-track tape recorder used at Abbey Road. “Magic Alex” won over the entire group, especially John. When they moved to Apple on January 20, they discovered that nothing was ready and Madras had been telling tales. Martin quickly ordered two mobile consoles and a 3M eight-track from EMI studios. Recording began on January 22. That same day, Harrison asked keyboard player Billy Preston to join the Beatles to help alleviate the tension in the group. They knew Preston from their early years in Hamburg when he had toured as part of Little Richard’s band. With the addition of Preston, the Beatles began to perform like a cohesive band again. Finally on January 30, based on John’s suggestion, according to Preston, they went to the rooftop of Apple’s building in order to resolve the live concert idea and bring a conclusion to the film. The music from the rooftop created quite a stir in the offices and streets around the building. People gathered in the street, surprised to hear the music. By the time the police interrupted their performance, the Beatles had taped only five songs. It was the very last live concert of their career. Out of ninety hours of recording, including the rooftop performance, Glyn Johns selected several songs to create the Get Back album. It had a raw sound, with no studio trickery, corresponding to their initial vision. Paul liked it, but his bandmates didn’t. The mixes remained shelved for several months until Allen Klein, the Beatles’ new manager as of February 3, 1969, asked Phil Spector, architect of the Wall of Sound, to work on what would become Let It Be. In Paul’s eyes, Specter committed a crime by adding over-the-top arrangements to songs like “Let It Be” and “The Long and Winding Road.” Paul tried to oppose the release of the album, renamed Let It Be, but in vain. On April 10, 1970, Paul McCartney publicly announced his departure from the group. This was the end of the Beatles.
In November 2003, a new version was released with the name Let It Be … Naked, closer to the original version without tricks, sound effects, or Specter’s arrangements.
Even though Let It Be was recorded about six months before Abbey Road, it was the last Beatles record. The Abbey Road album was taped during the summer of 1969 and released the following September. Let It Be was finalized by Phil Spector and released on May 23, 1970.
Let It Be showed the Beatles breaking up, disenchanted, their magic lost. Long camera sequences revealing these four musicians alternating between original songs, older songs, and covers, joking, chatting, arguing, and being annoyed are rather disappointing. Clearly, the Beatles were not at their best, shut up inside an icy Twickenham studio with the ever-present Yoko Ono. Fortunately, they recaptured some of their old magic with their extraordinary concert on the rooftop of the Apple building. Let It Be is still a valuable documentary, a moving film about the end of one of the most influential groups in the history of rock music.
In addition to the instruments used for previous albums, the Beatles used new instruments for Let It Be. George played an extraordinary Rosewood Telecaster prototype he had received from Fender. John used a “lap-steel” Hofner Hawaiian Standard to play slide guitar (on “For You Blue”); Paul played a Blüthner piano, and Ringo played on a Ludwig Hollywood maple-finish drum kit. A Fender Rhodes electric piano also appeared during the recording sessions.
WARNING
Recording session dates and the particular mixes for each song might not be accurate. Recording sheets from Apple are not as detailed as those at Abbey Road.
Lennon-McCartney / 3:34
1970
SONGWRITER
Paul
MUSICIANS
Paul: vocal, acoustic guitar
John: vocal, acoustic guitar
George: lead guitar
Ringo: drums
RECORDED
Apple Studios: January 24–25 and 31, 1969
NUMBER OF TAKES: UNKNOWN
MIXING
Olympic Sound Studios: March 10, 1969
Abbey Road: April 25, 1969 (Room 4) / March 25, 1970 (Room 4)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producers: George Martin, Phil Spector
Sound Engineers: Glyn Johns, Peter Bown
Assistant Engineers: Neil Richmond, Alan Parsons, Roger Ferris
Paul wrote this gentle acoustic ballad, under the title “On Our Way Home,” while he was with Linda Eastman. (In John’s interview with David Sheff, John curiously said “Mine” about the authorship of “Two of Us.”) As soon as she entered his life at the end of 1968, she pushed him to go on an adventure in the English countryside. They put Martha, Paul’s Old English Sheepdog, in the back of their Aston Martin and drove off without looking at any signs, trying to get lost. Paul: “We’d just enjoy sitting out in nature. And this song was about that: doing nothing, trying to get lost. It’s a favorite of mine because it reminds me of that period, getting together with Linda, and the wonderfully free attitude we were able to have.”1 Linda photographed Paul composing “Two of Us.” “I had my guitar with me and I wrote it out on the road, and then maybe finished some of the verses at home later, but that picture is of my writing it.”2
During a working session at Twickenham on January 10, 1969, George and Paul had an argument and George left the group. The altercation was recorded and filmed live by camera crews. Paul: “It’s complicated now. We can get it simpler, and then complicate it where it needs complications.” George: “It’s not complicated.” Paul: “This one is like, shall we play guitars through ‘Hey Jude’ … well, I don’t think we should.” George: “OK, well I don’t mind. I’ll play, you know, whatever you want me to play, or I won’t play at all if you don’t want me to play. Whatever it is that will please you, I’ll do it.”
In early performances of “Two of Us” the Beatles used electric guitars with a fast tempo. Unsatisfied with this style, they reworked the song on acoustic guitar. They developed the song at Twickenham, giving it a folk style on January 24 and 25 at the Apple studios, where they had just started working two days earlier. However, it was only on January 31, after the legendary concert on the rooftop, that the final version was recorded. Paul and John are both on their acoustic guitars and vocals just as the Everly Brothers had done. George played his rosewood Telecaster, while Ringo played bass drum. On March 25, 1970, Phil Spector made the final mix with some changes to the song. During the mixing session, Specter added an excerpt of film dialogue before the song.
FOR BEATLES FANATICS
When George walked out on January 10, 1969, he composed “Wah Wah” to clear his head. The song is included on his triple solo album All Things Must Pass, released in 1970.
Lennon-McCartney / 3:53
1970
SONGWRITER
John
MUSICIANS
John: vocal, rhythm guitar
Paul: bass, backing vocal
George: lead guitar
Ringo: drums
Billy Preston: electric piano
RECORDED
Apple Studios: January 22, 24, 28, and 30, 1969
NUMBER OF TAKES: UNKNOWN
MIXING
Apple Studios: February 5, 1969
Olympic Sound Studios: March 10, 1969
Abbey Road: March 23, 1970 (Room 4)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producers: George Martin, Phil Spector
Sound Engineers: Glyn Johns, Peter Bown
Assistant Engineers: Neil Richmond, Alan Parsons, Roger Ferris
“Dig a Pony” was one of John’s last songs with nonsense lyrics, phrases strung together in what he referred to as a Bob Dylan style. In the film Imagine, he said, “I was just having fun with words. It was literally a nonsense song. You just take words and you stick them together, and you see if they have any meaning. Some of them do and some of them don’t.”
He took pieces of several songs to make one, and the lyrics were completed in the studio. The song was influenced by Ono and the chorus reflects his love to her: All I want is you. The chorus constituted the only meaningful part of the song. He inserted some references like I pick a moondog, referring to Johnny and the Moondogs, one of the early names for the Beatles. John had perfectly mastered the art of giving meaning to meaningless words. He teased the audience with an endless string of references. In 1980, John commented on his song as “another piece of garbage.”1
FOR BEATLES FANATICS
In the documentary Imagine, John discussed a slightly disturbed hippie who believed the lyrics to “Dig a Pony” and “Carry That Weight” (from Abbey Road) were addressed to him.
On January 22, the Beatles recorded for the first time in their new studio on Savile Row. They worked on several titles, including, “Dig a Pony,” then under the working title “All I Want Is You.” Two days later, several takes of Get Back were recorded. On January 28, they recorded additional takes and, during the lunch break, they discussed how to best play the song. It was not until January 30, during the famous concert on the rooftop, that they recorded the final version. After a false start, the performance of each of the Beatles was perfect, amazing because the song was difficult to play live. The Beatles enjoyed the technical challenge, and despite the freezing temperature, they succeeded admirably in recording it. The performance ended with John saying, “Thank you, brothers… Hands getting too cold to play the chords.” Billy Preston was at the keyboard, John sang and simultaneously played rhythm guitar, Paul sang backing vocals and played bass, George was on lead guitar on his sublime Telecaster (he assumed a rock ’n’ roll stance by kneeling at John’s feet, laughing), and Ringo was on drums. At the beginning, we can hear Ringo shouting, “Hold it!” to stop his bandmates because he was still holding a cigarette. Based on the performance, it was clear that the Beatles enjoyed playing the song. Glyn Johns recorded the performance live from the studio in the basement of the building on the 3M eight-track machine. Phil Spector mixed the track on March 23 and deleted the phrase All I want is you, which was at the beginning and at the end of the song.
Lennon-McCartney / 3:45
1970
SONGWRITER
John
MUSICIANS
John: vocal, guitar
Paul: bass, piano, backing vocal
George: tambura, sitar, maracas, backing vocal
Ringo: drums
Lizzie Bravo, Gayleen Pease: backing vocals
Orchestra: 18 violins, 4 violas, 4 cellos, 1 harp, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, 2 acoustic guitars, 14 female vocalists
RECORDED
Abbey Road: February 4, 1968 (Studio Three), February 8, 1968 (Studio Two) / April 1, 1970 (Studios One and Three)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 9
MIXING
Abbey Road: February 8, 1968 (Studio Two) / October 2, 1969 (Room 4) / March 23, 1970 (Room 4) / April 2, 1970 (Room 4)
Olympic Sound Studios: January 5, 1970 (Studio One)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producers: George Martin, Phil Spector
Sound Engineers: Martin Benge, Geoff Emerick, Ken Scott, Jeff Jarratt, Glyn Johns, Peter Bown
Assistant Engineers: Phil McDonald, Richard Lush, Alan Parsons, Roger Ferris
“Across the Universe” was not written in Rishikesh, as Barry Miles claimed in Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now. The first recording sessions for the song started on February 4, 1968, eleven days before John flew to Madras. The link to the chorus, Jai guru deva om, a Sanskrit phrase meaning “Victory to God Divine,” is misleading. John was inspired by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, whom he had discovered the previous year. Pete Shotton, John’s close friend, commented that the song had “perhaps the most eloquent testament to John’s feelings about [transcendental mediation].”2 Paul confirmed that Lennon had borrowed the change-the-world theme from the Maharishi’s philosophy.
The words come to John unexpectedly. He was lying in bed next to Cynthia, his first wife, and thinking about her reproach. “I was lying next to my first wife in bed, you know, and I was irritated. She must have been going on and on about something and she’d gone to sleep and I’d kept hearing these words over and over, flowing like an endless stream. I went downstairs and it turned into sort of a cosmic song rather than an irritated song; rather than a ‘Why are you always mouthing off at me?’ or whatever, right?” Fortunately, “The words stand, luckily, by themselves. They were purely inspirational and were given to me as boom! I don’t own it, you know; it came through like that.”3 John regretted that the Beatles did not spend more time on the song. He even accused Paul of having more or less subconsciously sabotaged the song. He was disappointed with the recording sessions in February 1968 and gave the song to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) of Great Britain for a charity drive on December 12, 1969. Later, in March 1970, Phil Spector revived “Across the Universe” and released it as part of the Let It Be album.
Across the Universe
For the fiftieth anniversary of NASA and in commemoration of the fortieth anniversary of the song’s recording, “Across the Universe” was transmitted into space. The transmission was aimed at the North Star on February 4, 2008. Paul commented on the event: “Amazing! Well done, NASA! Send my love to the aliens. All the best, Paul.”1
When John recorded “Across the Universe” for the first time on February 4, 1968, he did not know “how to capture on tape the sounds he was hearing in his head.”4 The first take was the rhythm track, John on acoustic guitar, George on tambura, and Ringo on tom-toms, all three instruments fed through a revolving Leslie organ speaker and subjected to flanging. Then John recorded his lead vocal and added another guitar, and George created a splendid sitar intro, which Ken Scott enhanced by flanging. After a second vocal take, with the tape recorder running slightly slowly for faster playback, John and Paul suddenly came upon the idea of recording falsetto harmonies. However, finding vocalists on a Sunday without prior arrangements was not easy, even for the Beatles. Paul came up with a solution by simply stepping outside the studio to recruit two girls from among the fans who stood out front. The two lucky girls were Lizzie Bravo, a sixteen-year-old from Brazil, temporarily living in London, and Gayleen Pease, seventeen, a Londoner. After their performance, backwards bass and drum tracks were recorded and then erased, and various sound effects, including some humming, were added and similarly deleted. On February 8, Geoff Emerick, absent during the previous session, found the performance superb: “He put so much feeling into the song, and his vocal was just incredible.”5 But John hesitated. He was still unsure what the song needed in the way of instruments. George Martin played an organ and John added a Mellotron piece, both were immediately erased and replaced by a tone wah-wah pedal guitar (John), piano (Paul), and maracas (George). John finally recorded several vocals, encouraged by his bandmates. In vain! Frustrated, he decided to shelve the song. Later, he offered the song to the comedian Spike Milligan for use on a charity album for the World Wildlife Fund, No One’s Gonna Change Our World, compiled on October 3, 1969, by George Martin, who, at the last minute, added some bird sounds from Abbey Road’s sound effects library at the beginning and end. The song was sped up slightly (see Past Masters 2). Two years later, on April 1, 1970, Phil Spector expanded the version of February 8, 1968, by adding an orchestra of strings, brass, and female vocalists. The speed of John’s vocal was slowed by nearly a semitone, and the final mix was made on April 2. “Across the Universe” never did find its proper form. It remains one of the Beatles’ few failures.
George Harrison / 2:25
1970
MUSICIANS
George: vocal, guitar
Paul: bass, acoustic guitar, organ, electric piano, backing vocal
Ringo: drums
Orchestra: 18 violins, 4 violas, 4 cellos, 1 harp, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, 2 acoustic guitars
RECORDED
Abbey Road: January 3, 1970 (Studio Two) / April 1, 1970 (Studios One and Three)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 18
MIXING
Olympic Sound Studios: January 5, 1970 (Studio One)
Abbey Road: March 23, 1970 (Room 4) / April 1, 1970 (Studios One and Three) / April 2, 1970 (Room 4)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producers: George Martin, Phil Spector
Sound Engineers: Phil McDonald, Glyn Johns, Peter Bown
Assistant Engineers: Richard Lush, Richard Langham, Roger Ferris
George composed “I Me Mine” in five minutes in January 1969. He played it for Ringo during the film Let It Be. Both John and Paul had little interest in the song. John, who did not participate, preferred to waltz with Yoko while his bandmates rehearsed. However, “I Me Mine” is a beautiful song, melodious and subtle. George was inspired once again by Indian teachings and denounces everyone’s selfishness. He explained, “After having LSD, I looked around and everything I could see was relative to my ego, like ‘that’s my piece of paper’ and ‘that’s my flannel’ or ‘give it to me’ or ‘I am.’ It drove me crackers, I hated everything about my ego.”1 George was looking for truth, and asked himself, “Who am I? The truth within us has to be realized: when you realize that everything else that you see and do and touch and smell isn’t real, then you may know what reality is and can answer ‘who am I?’”2
FOR BEATLES FANATICS
When Phil Spector decided to extend the song, he copied the part between 0:31 and the end of the song (January 3 version), and inserted it at 1:20.
The short sequence of “I Me Mine” in the film Let It Be was not taped during the Get Back project in January 1969. Consequently, the Beatles needed to record the song. On January 3, 1970, Paul, Ringo, and George returned to the studio to work on the still unreleased Get Back album. John was vacationing in Denmark with Yoko, her ex-husband Anthony Cox, and their daughter Kyoko since December 29. George made fun of his absence just before launching into take 15: “You will all have read that Dave Dee is no longer with us. Micky and Tich and I would just like to carry on the good work that’s always gone down in number two!”3 (Number two refers to Studio Two at EMI.) (See Anthology 3.) “I Me Mine” was the last new song the Beatles recorded. Take 16 was the best rhythm track: George was singing a guide vocal and playing acoustic guitar, Paul was on bass, connected directly to the console (via a DI box), and Ringo was on drums. Overdubs were recorded at the completion of the basic rhythm track, George played electric guitar, and Paul the Hammond organ. George recorded his lead vocal, which he double-tracked in the last verse, and all provided backing on the bridges. After additional instruments were added—electric piano and lead guitar—Paul and George each played acoustic guitar in unison. The song was supposed to be completed at this stage, which was 1:34, but Phil Spector re-edited it on April 1. The final total time was 2:25. On this new master, he recorded strings and brass, arranged by Richard Hewson. Unlike the arrangement for “The Long and Winding Road,” this arrangement is not so pompous and George did not complain. The following day, Spector made the stereo mix.
Harrison-Lennon-McCartney-Starkey / 0:50
1970
SONGWRITER
John
MUSICIANS
John: vocal, bass
Paul: piano
George: lead guitar
Ringo: drums
Billy Preston: organ
George Martin: shaker
RECORDED
Abbey Road: January 24 and 26, 1969
NUMBER OF TAKES: UNKNOWN
MIXING
Olympic Sound Studios: March 4 and 13, 1969
Abbey Road: March 27, 1970 (Room 4)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producers: George Martin, Phil Spector
Sound Engineers: Glyn Johns, Mike Sheady
Assistant Engineers: Neil Richmond, Roger Ferris
In the official Beatles’ discography, “Dig It” was the second all-group composition coming after Magical Mystery Tour’s “Flying.” John wrote and improvised “Dig It” during two studio jams. Based upon a sequence of I-IV-V chords, the jam was an excuse to free-associate a series of mostly nonsensical lyrics. All the Beatles contributed to the lyrics and the song was credited to all of them. After a reference to Dylan’s “Like A Rolling Stone,” all four threw in names: FBI, CIA, BBC, the bluesman B. B. King, actress Doris Day, and Matt Busby, manager of Manchester United, one of the best soccer clubs in the England.
FOR BEATLES FANATICS
The improvisation from which this song originates began as a genuine cover of “Like a Rolling Stone” before changing into “Dig It.” Spector might not have had much choice in extracting a short sequence for the song: the first six minutes of the track featured six-year-old Heather, Linda’s daughter, on backing vocal!
John led his bandmates through two recorded versions of his song “Dig It.” The first version was recorded on January 24. It featured simple lyrics, Can you dig it, yeah? The arrangement was more bluesy, including a predominant slide guitar. The second version, recorded on January 26, was 12:25. A tiny 0:49 fragment of this take appeared on Let It Be. John played a Fender six-string bass and sang lead vocal. Paul was on piano, George on lead guitar, Ringo on drums, and Preston on organ, while George Martin furiously shook a shaker, as can be seen in the movie. Apparently, the atmosphere was happy and relaxed. Phil Spector mixed the piece on March 27, 1970. On the Let It Be album, the segment between 8:52 and 9:41 was used for the song. At the end, Spector inserted a funny comment, John sarcastically saying, And now we’d like to do “Hark, the Angels Come.”
Lennon-McCartney / 4:02 (album version) / 3:49 (single version)
1970
SONGWRITER
Paul
MUSICIANS
Paul: vocal, piano, bass, maracas
John: bass, backing vocal
George: lead guitar, backing vocal
Ringo: drums
Billy Preston: organ, electric piano
Linda McCartney, Mary Hopkin (?): backing vocal
Unknown musicians: 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, 1 tenor saxophone, cellos
RECORDED
Apple Studios: January 25–26 and 31, 1969
Abbey Road: April 30, 1969 (Studio Three) / January 4, 1970 (Room 4)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 30
MIXING
Olympic Sound Studios: March 4, 1969 / January 8, 1970
Abbey Road: January 4, 1970 (Studio Two) / March 26, 1970 (Room 4)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producers: George Martin, Chris Thomas, Phil Spector
Sound Engineers: Glyn Johns, Jeff Jarratt, Phil McDonald, Peter Bown
Assistant Engineers: Alan Parsons, Neil Richmond, Nick Webb, Richard Langham, Roger Ferris
RELEASED AS A SINGLE
“Let It Be” / “You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)”
Great Britain: March 6, 1970 / No. 2 on March 14, 1970, for 9 weeks
United States: March 6, 1970 / No. 1 on April 11, 1970, for 2 weeks
“Let It Be” is one of the best-known Beatles songs and one of the prettiest composed by Paul. As with “Yesterday,” he was inspired by a dream. One night during this tense time in the Beatles’ history, Paul dreamt of his mother Marie. She had died on October 31, 1956, from cancer. “It was so wonderful for me and she was very reassuring. In the dream she said, ‘It’ll be all right.’ I’m not sure if she used the words ‘Let it be’ but that was the gist of her advice, it was, ‘Don’t worry too much, it will turn out okay.’”1
Despite his irrepressible optimism, Paul doubted his mother’s assurances. Dissension and a troubled atmosphere reigned within the group; his relationship with John was beginning to crumble; Yoko was everywhere and there were problems with Apple. He felt he was losing control of the situation. He later summarized these feelings in the song “Carry That Weight” on Abbey Road: Boy, you’re gonna carry that weight / Carry that weight a long time.
Even though it was not conceived as such, for many people “Let It Be” became a spiritual song. Its musical arrangement emphasizes the text: “Mother Mary makes it a quasi-religious thing, so you can take it that way. I don’t mind. I’m quite happy if people want to use it to shore up their faith. I have no problem with that.”2
John felt little affection for the song. In 1980, he said to David Sheff, “That’s Paul. What can you say? Nothing to do with the Beatles. It could’ve been Wings. I don’t know what he’s thinking when he writes ‘Let It Be.’ I think it was inspired by ‘Bridge Over Troubled Waters [sic].’ That’s my feeling, although I have nothing to go on. I know that he wanted to write a ‘Bridge Over Troubled Waters’ [sic].”3 However, John was wrong because Simon & Garfunkel’s hit was released at the beginning of 1970. Paul worked on his song during the recording sessions of the White Album. Chris Thomas recalled that at the time of the “Piggies” sessions on September 19, 1968, “There were a couple of other songs around at this time, Paul was running through ‘Let It Be’ between takes.”4
We can also question John’s intentions. During the album’s mix he inserted at the beginning of the song, without asking Paul, his parody of Hark the Angels Come (see “Dig It”) and linked it to Maggie Mae, a traditional Liverpool folk song about a prostitute who robbed a sailor.
FOR BEATLES FANATICS
At 2:58, Paul plays the wrong chord on the piano, but fixes it right away.
When the Beatles began the first recording sessions for “Let It Be” on January 25, they had already worked on the song at Twickenham. They began to work on the arrangement of the song. Paul was at the piano and lead vocal, John on six-string bass (sharing backing vocals with George on lead guitar), Ringo on drums, and Billy Preston on Hammond organ and electric piano. They decided to continue the following day. At a later session, on January 31, John asked Paul, “Are we supposed to giggle in the solo?” Paul replied, “Yeah.”5 On April 30, George added a new guitar solo overdubbed through a rotating Leslie speaker on take 27 (the number corresponds to the camera shot). The song was put aside for eight months, and they reworked it on January 4, 1970. Paul replaced John’s bass line, since it lacked conviction, and George, Linda, and Paul triple-tracked stunning backing vocals. Linda sang a high soprano part. It is possible that Apple recording artist Mary Hopkin also participated. George Martin scored the arrangement for two trumpets, two trombones, and tenor saxophone. After reduction, George added a new guitar solo with distortion (without Leslie), while Ringo added drums and Paul maracas. Cellos, scored again by George Martin, appear at the end of the song. Several members of the group worked together on the final take.
The single was available in stores on March 6, but the guitar solo was recorded on April 30, 1969. Phil Spector remixed “Let It Be” on March 26. He also added huge amounts of tape echo to Ringo’s hi-hat in the second verse, extended the song by repeating part of the final chorus, and used the guitar solo of January 4. This was the “album” version.
True or False?
On the information sheet Echo Dernière n° 1 from February 26, 1970 and published by Pathé Marconi, it says that Paul wrote Let It Be for Aretha Franklin to record on her new album.
Lennon-McCartney-Harrison-Starkey (arr.) / 0:39
1970
TRADITIONAL FOLK SONG
MUSICIANS
John: vocal, acoustic guitar
Paul: vocal, acoustic guitar
George: lead guitar (?), bass (?)
Ringo: drums
RECORDED
Apple Studios: January 24, 1969
NUMBER OF TAKES: UNKNOWN
MIXING
Olympic Sound Studios: March 4 and 13, 1969
Abbey Road: March 26, 1970 (Room 4)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producers: George Martin, Phil Spector
Sound Engineers: Glyn Johns, Peter Bown
Assistant Engineers: Neil Richmond, Roger Ferris
“Maggie May” was a traditional Liverpool folk song and part of the repertoire of the Quarrymen. The song was originally written around 1757. For years, this story about a prostitute had been the unofficial anthem of the Fab Four’s home. In 1964, “Maggie May” inspired Lionel Bart, writer and composer of British pop music and musicals, to adapt the song for a musical based on a libretto by Alun Owen. Alun Owen, a British screen-writer and actor, had coauthored the script for the 1964 Beatles classic film A Hard Day’s Night. The Beatles had not recorded a cover song since 1965’s “Act Naturally.” “Maggie May,” which they spelled “Maggie Mae,” was the last cover of their career.
The Beatles recorded the song on January 24 in tribute to their native city. John and Paul were on acoustic guitars, Ringo on drums, and George played on his Telecaster or his Fender six-string bass, as he did for “Two of Us.” “Maggie Mae” was the second-shortest song released on an official Beatles album.
FOR BEATLES FANATICS
“Maggie May” was a big success for Rod Stewart in 1971 on his album Every Picture Tells a Story. Other than the title, the song had nothing in common with the traditional Liverpool folk song.
Lennon-McCartney / 3:35
1970
SONGWRITERS
Paul and John
MUSICIANS
Paul: vocal, bass
John: vocal, rhythm guitar
George: lead guitar, backing vocal
Ringo: drums
Billy Preston: electric piano
RECORDED
Apple Studios: January 22, 24, 27–28, and 30, 1969
NUMBER OF TAKES: UNKNOWN
MIXING
Apple Studios: February 5, 1969
Olympic Sound Studios: March 4, 1969
Abbey Road: March 23, 1970 (Room 4)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producers: George Martin, Phil Spector
Sound Engineers: Glyn Johns, Peter Bown
Assistant Engineers: Neil Richmond, Alan Parsons, Roger Ferris
After “A Day in the Life,” “I’ve Got a Feeling” was the last song John and Paul wrote together. They continued to help each other, but only to complete a phrase or an arrangement. The inspiration for this piece was Paul’s. “I’ve Got a Feeling” was a love song written for Linda Eastman, whom he married on March 12, 1969. John went to Paul’s house on Cavendish Avenue, bringing “Everybody Had a Hard Year,” an unfinished song at the same tempo as “I’ve Got a Feeling.” Indeed, the two matched perfectly and could be joined together. John also provided the beautiful arpeggio riff that introduces the song. John had just finished a difficult period: there had been dissension within the group, who had rejected Yoko; he had divorced Cynthia; he had been arrested for marijuana possession; Yoko had had a miscarriage … He sought to put all this into his lyrics. His pessimistic worldview, even when laced with humor, contrasted with Paul’s optimism.
On January 22, the Beatles started recording in their new studio at Apple’s headquarters. “I’ve Got a Feeling” was one of the songs they recorded. On January 24, they recorded the song for release as part of the Get Back project. They continued recording three days later on January 27 and 28, during which time the song took on its final form. As with “Dig a Pony,” it was the live performance on January 30 that appeared on the album. “I’ve Got a Feeling” was the third song performed that day on Apple’s rooftop. The old live concert energy was back, even though they had stopped touring in August 1966 and had just been through two difficult weeks at Twickenham Film Studios. Paul and John shared lead vocals, allowing Paul to give an exceptional vocal performance in a traditional rock ’n’ roll style. In addition to bass and rhythm guitar, John played an arpeggio riff, the backbone of the song: George was on lead guitar and contributed briefly to the backing vocals. Ringo played his Ludwig, covering the snare and bass drums with towels to absorb hits. Finally, Billy Preston on electric piano brought a touch of soul to the piece. The final stereo mix was made on March 23, 1970.
FOR BEATLES FANATICS
John messed up his guitar riff at 2:41.
Lennon-McCartney / 2:51
1970
SONGWRITER
John
MUSICIANS
John: vocal, rhythm guitar
Paul: vocal, bass
George: lead guitar
Ringo: drums
Billy Preston: electric piano
RECORDED
Abbey Road: March 5, 1963 (Studio Two)
Apple Studios: January 28–30, 1969
NUMBER OF TAKES: 1
MIXING
Apple Studios: February 5, 1969
Abbey Road: March 23, 1970 (Room 4)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producers: George Martin, Phil Spector
Sound Engineers: Norman Smith (1963), Glyn Johns, Peter Bown
Assistant Engineers: Richard Langham (1963), Alan Parsons, Roger Ferris
The Beatles performed “One After 909” in 1960 in Liverpool and Hamburg. “That was something I wrote when I was about seventeen,”1 said John. It was one of his first songs from the earliest days of his collaboration with Paul. Paul said, “It’s not a great song but it’s a great favorite of mine because it has great memories for me of John and I trying to write a bluesy freight-train song. There were a lot of those songs at the time like ‘Midnight Special,’ ‘Freight Train,’ ‘Rock Island Line …’”2 In the film Let It Be, Paul confessed that he hated the lyrics.
John also referred to the number nine: “It’s just a number that follows me around.”3 He attached a lot of significance to it. In 1980, he commented: “I lived at 9 Newcastle Road. I was born on the ninth of October, the ninth [sic] month of the year.”4 Despite John’s fascination with numerology, the girl in the song misses train 909 and takes the next one. What would Dr. Freud have thought?
On March 5, 1963, after the recording of the Beatles’ third single, “From Me to You” and the B-side “Thank You Girl,” the remaining time was devoted to “One After 909,” a new Beatles song. They recorded five takes, none of them satisfactory, and decided to set it aside. Six years later, in January 1969, they revived it. Paul said to Barry Miles, “It was a number we didn’t used to do much but it was one that we always liked doing, and we rediscovered it.”5
They reworked “One After 909” on January 28 and 29 without finalizing anything. At the concert on the rooftop of Apple’s building, they brilliantly recorded the tune in one take. This was the fifth song in the set list. John sang and played his Epiphone Casino rhythm guitar. Paul was on vocals and played bass on his Hofner 500/1. George played lead guitar on his Rosewood Telecaster, Ringo played his Ludwig drums, and Billy Preston played the electric piano. The group was full of energy and enjoyed giving a live performance. John concluded by performing a cappella an impromptu line from the Irish ballad “Danny Boy.” Phil Spector mixed the song on March 23, 1970, without any additions. “One After 909” had been waiting exactly seven years and seventeen days before being completed.
FOR BEATLES FANATICS
The introduction on the guitar of the March 5, 1963, version is very similar to the one on “Thank You Girl,” recorded just before (see Anthology 1).
Lennon-McCartney / 3:38
1970
SONGWRITER
Paul
MUSICIANS
Paul: vocal, piano
John: bass
George: lead guitar
Ringo: drums
Billy Preston: electric piano, organ
Orchestra: 18 violins, 4 violas, 4 cellos, 1 harp, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, 2 acoustic guitars, 14 female vocalists
RECORDED
Apple Studios: January 26 and 31, 1969
Abbey Road: April 1, 1970 (Studios One and Three)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 18
MIXING
Olympic Sound Studios: March 4, 1969
Abbey Road: March 26, 1970 (Room 4) / April 2, 1970 (Room 4)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producer:s George Martin, Phil Spector
Sound Engineers: Glyn Johns, Peter Bown
Assistant Engineers: Neil Richmond, Alan Parsons, Roger Ferris, Richard Lush
RELEASED AS A SINGLE
“The Long and Winding Road” / “For You Blue”
United States: May 11, 1970 / No. 1 on June 13, 1970, for 2 weeks
On September 19, 1968, during sessions for the White Album, Paul recorded demo versions of “Let It Be” and “The Long and Winding Road.” The songs reflected the dissension and troubled atmosphere within the group. According to Paul, “I was a bit flipped out and tripped out at that time. It’s a sad song because it’s all about the unattainable; the door you never quite reach. This is the road that you never get to the end of.”1 Paul wrote the song with Ray Charles’s voice in mind. “[Charles] would have probably had some bearing on the chord structure of [“The Long and Winding Road”], which is slightly jazzy.”2 Ray Charles later confessed that he had cried when he heard the song for the first time. He subsequently recorded his own version.
Unfortunately, the “long and winding road” lived up to its name, because it precipitated the end of the group. John called in Phil Spector, creator of the Wall of Sound, to finish the album in March 1970 and gave him the unfinished tapes from the Get Back project. In his remix, the original arrangements were accompanied by lavish orchestrations and other sound effects for several titles, including Paul’s “Long and Winding Road.”
Paul complained bitterly in mid-April in the columns of the Evening Standard: “The album was finished a year ago, but a few months ago American record producer Phil Spector was called in by Lennon to tidy up some of the tracks. But a few weeks ago, I was sent a re-mixed version of my song ‘The Long and Winding Road,’ with harps, horns, an orchestra and women’s choir added. No one had asked me what I thought. I couldn’t believe it. I would never have female voices on a Beatles record. The record came with a note from Allen Klein saying he thought the changes were necessary.”3 Despite Paul’s protests, Let It Be was released with all the changes in Paul’s compositions still in place. Paul then decided to leave the Beatles. In an interview released with Paul’s first solo album, McCartney, Peter Brown asked if the duo Lennon-McCartney would continue to write more songs in the future. Paul unequivocally answered no. In 1980, John said, “Paul had a little spurt just before we split. I think the shock of Yoko Ono and what was happening gave him a creative spurt including ‘Let It Be’ and ‘Long and Winding Road,’ ’cause that was the last gasp from him.”4
April Fool?
When Ringo recorded his drum part on April 1, 1970, he was the last Beatle to attend a recording session. The day marks the final recording ever made by a Fab Four member for one of the group’s songs. Unfortunately, it was not an April Fool’s Day joke.
On January 26, after a long series of rehearsals, the Beatles began recording “The Long and Winding Road” at Twickenham. Paul was on vocals and piano, John on his Fender six-string bass, George on guitar fed through a Leslie speaker, Ringo on drums, and Billy Preston on electric piano and organ. Recording resumed on January 31 with more takes. It was only fourteen months later that the song was completed with take 18. Phil Spector expanded the song with orchestra and female vocalists. The orchestra was scored and conducted by Richard Hewson, and the choral arrangements were completed by John Barham. Ringo added more drums. Brian Gibson, technical engineer, remembers, “He [Spector] wiped one of Paul’s two vocal tracks in order to put the orchestra on.”5 The mix was made the next day.
The result was clearly not in the best taste. The female vocals and harp betrayed the musical aesthetics previously established by the group and George Martin. Spector tried to make the song into another Wall of Sound production. The song lacked the more subtle arrangements heard on other Beatles recordings. Additionally George’s guitar and Preston’s keyboard all but disappeared in the mix.
John was violently criticized for his bass performance. Ian McDonald even accused John of sabotage, noting many errors, wrong notes, bad guitar slides, etc. All this was exaggerated. John certainly committed some blunders, but he was not a bass player. The combination of a relatively rich harmony and a slow tempo made the bass accompaniment quite difficult to play. Even Paul, the perfectionist, chose to leave the bass part alone. Spector could have lowered the bass track in the mix—the Beatles were recording on an eight-track tape recorder at the time—to hide the errors instead of adding heavy orchestral parts.
Richard Hewson, the creator of the orchestral arrangements, was not unknown. He had already worked on Apple recording artist Mary Hopkin’s 1968 single “Those Were the Days,” produced by Paul. In 1977 he worked on two other orchestral projects produced by Paul, “Ram” and “Thrillington.”
George Harrison / 2:30
1970
MUSICIANS
George: vocal, acoustic guitar
John: lap steel guitar
Paul: piano, bass
Ringo: drums
RECORDED
Apple Studios: January 25, 1969
Olympic Sound Studios: January 8, 1970
NUMBER OF TAKES: 6
MIXING
Olympic Sound Studios: March 4, 1969 / January 8, 1970
Abbey Road: February 28, 1970 (Room 4) / March 25 and 30, 1970 (Room 4)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producers: George Martin, Malcolm Davies, Phil Spector
Sound Engineers: Glyn Johns, Peter Bown, Mike Sheady, Eddie Klein
Assistant Engineers: Alan Parsons, Richard Langham, Roger Ferris
RELEASED AS A SINGLE
“The Long and Winding Road” / “For You Blue”
United States: May 11, 1970 / No. 1 on June 13, 1970 for 2 weeks
In George’s autobiography, I, Me, Mine, he said that “‘For You Blue’ is a simple twelve-bar song following all the normal twelve-bar principles except it’s happy-go-lucky!”1 George Harrison wrote this blues song for his wife Pattie. However, according to an interview in Creem magazine in 1987, the song did not make much of an impression on him. “I don’t even remember that song. No, wait a minute—‘For You Blue’ was Paul, Paul was on that.”2
Without being a major song, “For You Blue” was a playful piece, and the Beatles enjoyed playing it. During John’s solo, George encouraged Lennon with a few allusions to Chuck Berry—saying “Go, Johnny, go!”—and to Elmore James, the Mississippi Blues guitarist, with the words Elmore James got nothin’ on this baby. The song was the B-side of the U.S. single “The Long and Winding Road,” released on May 11, 1970, and the eleventh track on the Beatles’ final LP, Let It Be.
The Fab Four recorded this song on January 25, 1969, under the title “George’s Blues (Because You’re Sweet and Lovely).” The sixth take of the rhythm track was final. George was on vocals and the Gibson J-200 acoustic guitar, Paul on acoustic piano, Ringo on drums, and John on a Hofner Hawaiian Standard lap-steel guitar. This is the only time John was recorded using this guitar. This guitar’s shape allows the performer to play slide with the instrument on his knees to get a typical blues sound. This explains George’s reference to Elmore James, although James played a normal guitar. Paul added more bass, barely audible in the mix, however. George confirmed in 1987 that Paul had played bass in this piece. George rerecorded his vocal on January 8, 1970. Phil Spector made the final mix on March 25, adding a slight delay to the vocal and the piano. On March 30, 1970, he added a curious introduction by John, extracted from the Twickenham film sessions: Queen says no to pot-smoking FBI members.
FOR BEATLES FANATICS
John played lap-steel guitar in the film Let It Be. Some thought he used a shotgun shell as a bottleneck, others a lighter. However, it was probably just the Hofner slide bottleneck sold with the guitar of the same name.
Lennon-McCartney / 3:10 (single version) / 3:07 (album version)
1970
SONGWRITER
Paul
MUSICIANS
Paul: vocal, bass
John: lead guitar, backing vocal
George: rhythm guitar
Ringo: drums
Billy Preston: electric piano
RECORDED
Apple Studios: January 23, 27–28, and 30, 1969
Abbey Road: April 1, 1970 (Studios One and Three)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 10 (UNCERTAIN)
MIXING
Apple Studios: February 5, 1969
Olympic Sound Studios: March 4, 1969 / April 4 and 7, 1969
Abbey Road: March 26, 1969 (Studio unknown) / March 26, 1970 (Studio 4)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producers: George Martin, Phil Spector
Sound Engineers: Glyn Johns, Jeff Jarratt, Peter Bown
Assistant Engineers: Alan Parsons, Jerry Boys, Roger Ferris
RELEASED AS A SINGLE
“Get Back” / “Don’t Let Me Down”
Great Britain: April 11, 1969 / No. 1 on April 23, 1969, for 6 weeks
United States: May 5, 1969 / No. 1 on May 24, 1969, for 5 weeks
Paul composed this song at Twickenham Studios. “Paul had a rough idea for the words and music and began jamming it out. John joined him and together they worked on some lyrics.”1 As with many of their titles, they took inspiration from newspaper stories. Great Britain was experiencing racial unrest at the time. The British Parliament tightened controls on immigration in 1968 in reaction to the waves of Kenyan immigrants. At the same time, many Pakistani immigrants were attacked by extreme right-wing groups. Paul and John did not hesitate to caricature immigration in their first drafts of the lyrics: Don’t dig no Pakistani taking all the people’s jobs!2 They dropped the line early on, realizing that their antiracist message could be misconstrued. This did not, however, prevent accusations of racism from being leveled against them years later, when some journalists from the Sun rediscovered the first version and accused them of xenophobia. Paul: “If there was any group that was not racist, it was the Beatles.”3
The Beatles did not want to be misrepresented, and the lyrics became lighter, with no real story, but rather a succession of images centering on the subject “Get back.” The song featured fictional characters Loretta, who was actually a man, and Jo Jo, with whom many identified. Paul said, “Many people have since claimed to be the Jo Jo and they’re not, let me put that straight! I had no particular person in mind, again it was a fictional character, half man, half woman, all very ambiguous.”4 Jo Jo Laine, wife of Dennis Laine, Paul’s future partner in Wings, said she, a Beatles groupie at the time, influenced Paul. John loved this song, but he was convinced that Paul looked at Yoko while singing Get back to where you once belonged. No comment.
Paul’s reference to Tucson in “Get Back” is perhaps a nod to his future wife, Linda Eastman, who had studied photography there. She was also cremated in Tucson in April 1998. Finally, Eric Clapton married Pattie Boyd, George Harrison’s ex-wife, in Tucson.
The first day devoted to “Get Back,” January 23, also marked the debut of Alan Parsons as assistant engineer. He later engineered Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” in 1973 and became founder of the Alan Parsons Project, which achieved international success in the 1970s. About ten takes were recorded. Besides words, the major difference between the version of the twenty-third and the final version was Ringo’s drumming. On January 27, after many takes, they finally reached the final version. The following day the Beatles, still backed by the excellent Billy Preston on electric piano, found the song’s groove and recorded the final version of “Get Back.” Paul handled the vocals and played his 1963 Hofner bass, with John supporting on his Epiphone Casino, George on his rosewood Telecaster, and Ringo on his new Ludwig drums. John and Preston sang backing vocals wonderfully. John thanked Paul for having the kindness to give him a solo. “Yes, I played the solo on [‘Get Back’]. When Paul was feeling kindly, he would give me a solo! Maybe if he was feeling guilty that he had most of the A-side or something, he would give me a solo. And I played the solo on that.”5
On January 30, the day of the concert on the rooftop, “Get Back” was both the introduction and the conclusion to the forty-two-minute performance. But these versions were not included on the master. On the album, Phil Spector only kept from the rooftop performance Paul’s acknowledgment of the fervent applause and cheering from Ringo’s wife Maureen with “Thanks Mo!” and John’s quote, “I’d like to say thank you on behalf of the group and ourselves, and I hope we’ve passed the audition.” After many attempts, the final mix for the single version was made at the Olympic Sound Studios on April 7. Spector finalized the stereo mix (there was no mono) of the album version on March 26, 1970.
The role of George Martin, sandwiched between Glyn Johns and the group, became very uncomfortable, even controversial at the time. The Beatles ignored him to the point that he is not credited on the single. Billy Preston, on the other hand, is the only artist credited on a single along with the Beatles. The Beatles with Billy Preston appears on the label.