Production has more impact on recorded music really than just about anything else, it can make or break artists. It sounded like Klaus Voorman's bass playing for one thing, Lennons swirly, fluid guitar playing, a strange false start extra beat near the end, etc., the song just sounded like something Lennon would have produced, had the stark sound of his stuff at that time, although the lyrics were pure McCartney, bland.
Maybe it was simple homage but I always thought it was Mac saying to Lennon: see I can do what you do and it's very easy for me, so stick it. This was also around the time of or a little later than How Do you Sleep, wasn't it? I just found it a little strange at the time and knew nothing about the supposed arguments between the two.
What's the worst?
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studiotwosession
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Let Me Roll it, well the guitar lick is so Lennon circa 70-72...I don't know if it's the tone or what but it could fit right in after Cold Turkey. The dead sounding drums and bass sound very much that way, too. But I'm sure the last 15 seconds of the song, where Macca screams with all that reverb...that must have sent John over the top. He must have felt Macca was lampooning him 'cause he was.
This is off the record
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shamustwin
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Warning: Long….but hopefully not long-winded!)
Critics and fans often seem to downgrade the efforts of the Let It Be album as being not one of their best efforts. When really examining all that is said and reviewed about The Beatles, one can say that their music and output is spoken of in terms of eras. You have the Hard Day's Night Era, Sgt. Pepper Era, Let It Be era, Rubber Soul era, Revolver era, etc. This is done so much so that it has painted Let It Be in an unfair light. The rooftop concert, the finale to the Let It Be project, was recorded in January 1969, a scant two months after the release of The White Album, one of their most highly regarded and critically-acclaimed albums. Two months is absolutely no time to be concluding a documentary that consists of brand new songs that are not even included on a two-month old album. The Let It Be songs really stand tall when aligning them with The White Album, just as Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields Forever aligns so well with the Sgt. Pepper and MMT albums. Look at the songs on Let It Be and see how beautifully they'd fit on The White Album. Songs like Two Of Us, I Me Mine, I've Got A Feeling, One After 909, Dig A Pony, Get Back. They are all fantastic output considering they had just drained themselves of a year's worth of output with the release of the White Album roughly two months before the finale of the Let It Be movie (and album) was shot on the roof. Incredible output, quite frankly, when you think of it this way. The term era is so often used when describing The Beatles, when in fact one of their "eras" spanned weeks, and at the longest a few months!
And then to top it, they weren't happy with Let It Be project, so they went and recorded Abbey Road, just months after The White Album and Let It Be were recorded. From May 30th 1968 until September 26, 1969, 16 months, they began recording The White Album, recorded the Let It Be Album, and recorded Abbey Road. It is actually 15 months, as recording for Abbey Road finished 1 month prior to release. That whole era of 3 landmark albums was done in 15 months’ time. Breathtaking output, to say the least. It is completely unfathomable by today’s standards. And, their biggest single ever, Hey Jude, plus the Yellow Submarine soundtrack, was released during this period, too.
Also, Let It Be, the Phil Spector production, has always been one of my favorite Beatles albums. Simply put, it rocks. It again established them as rockers, and to the core. I was never a huge fan of The Long and Winding Road, and do like the "Naked" version of the song better, but for flow, I like the Phil Spector production. The Naked version has messed with the vocals a little too much, in my opinion, often raising the levels of the vocals and keeping the instruments out of balance with the vocals. Has anybody else noticed this? They especially seemed to enhance Lennon’s vocals on a few tracks, notable Two Of Us and I've Got A Feeling, during his adlibs on McCartney's lines.
Consider Magical Mystery Tour in the same light as Let It Be. Sgt. Pepper had just been released and they start a brand new project immediately, which would involve writing and recording a movie score and entire soundtrack of new songs that were not part of a 30 day-old, best-of-all-time album. Sgt. Pepper should have allowed them to rest on their laurels, but they thought differently. MMT is often seen as sub-par by Beatles’ standards, but again, it was recorded directly after Sgt. Pepper. I know it was an EP in Europe and had fewer songs, but even the EP had stellar material when considering what it followed, and what it preceded (The White Album). MMT was a continuation of an era in popular culture and is much better than it is often given credit for being.
So, remember, a Beatles era usually spanned weeks or a few months, at most. And judging them by eras paints some of their albums in an unfair light, mainly Let It Be, Magical Mystery Tour, Beatles For Sale, and Help.
Critics and fans often seem to downgrade the efforts of the Let It Be album as being not one of their best efforts. When really examining all that is said and reviewed about The Beatles, one can say that their music and output is spoken of in terms of eras. You have the Hard Day's Night Era, Sgt. Pepper Era, Let It Be era, Rubber Soul era, Revolver era, etc. This is done so much so that it has painted Let It Be in an unfair light. The rooftop concert, the finale to the Let It Be project, was recorded in January 1969, a scant two months after the release of The White Album, one of their most highly regarded and critically-acclaimed albums. Two months is absolutely no time to be concluding a documentary that consists of brand new songs that are not even included on a two-month old album. The Let It Be songs really stand tall when aligning them with The White Album, just as Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields Forever aligns so well with the Sgt. Pepper and MMT albums. Look at the songs on Let It Be and see how beautifully they'd fit on The White Album. Songs like Two Of Us, I Me Mine, I've Got A Feeling, One After 909, Dig A Pony, Get Back. They are all fantastic output considering they had just drained themselves of a year's worth of output with the release of the White Album roughly two months before the finale of the Let It Be movie (and album) was shot on the roof. Incredible output, quite frankly, when you think of it this way. The term era is so often used when describing The Beatles, when in fact one of their "eras" spanned weeks, and at the longest a few months!
And then to top it, they weren't happy with Let It Be project, so they went and recorded Abbey Road, just months after The White Album and Let It Be were recorded. From May 30th 1968 until September 26, 1969, 16 months, they began recording The White Album, recorded the Let It Be Album, and recorded Abbey Road. It is actually 15 months, as recording for Abbey Road finished 1 month prior to release. That whole era of 3 landmark albums was done in 15 months’ time. Breathtaking output, to say the least. It is completely unfathomable by today’s standards. And, their biggest single ever, Hey Jude, plus the Yellow Submarine soundtrack, was released during this period, too.
Also, Let It Be, the Phil Spector production, has always been one of my favorite Beatles albums. Simply put, it rocks. It again established them as rockers, and to the core. I was never a huge fan of The Long and Winding Road, and do like the "Naked" version of the song better, but for flow, I like the Phil Spector production. The Naked version has messed with the vocals a little too much, in my opinion, often raising the levels of the vocals and keeping the instruments out of balance with the vocals. Has anybody else noticed this? They especially seemed to enhance Lennon’s vocals on a few tracks, notable Two Of Us and I've Got A Feeling, during his adlibs on McCartney's lines.
Consider Magical Mystery Tour in the same light as Let It Be. Sgt. Pepper had just been released and they start a brand new project immediately, which would involve writing and recording a movie score and entire soundtrack of new songs that were not part of a 30 day-old, best-of-all-time album. Sgt. Pepper should have allowed them to rest on their laurels, but they thought differently. MMT is often seen as sub-par by Beatles’ standards, but again, it was recorded directly after Sgt. Pepper. I know it was an EP in Europe and had fewer songs, but even the EP had stellar material when considering what it followed, and what it preceded (The White Album). MMT was a continuation of an era in popular culture and is much better than it is often given credit for being.
So, remember, a Beatles era usually spanned weeks or a few months, at most. And judging them by eras paints some of their albums in an unfair light, mainly Let It Be, Magical Mystery Tour, Beatles For Sale, and Help.
Andrew
'05 4001C64, Fireglo
'03 4003, Jetglo
'05 4001C64, Fireglo
'03 4003, Jetglo
Excellent points, Andrew....
I'd known about these time periods but when one sits down and catalogs them , like you have....it seems all the more fantastic!
Phenominal output from the lads...and such high quality! I've never brushed off MMT...it is still one of my favorite "driving" albums...
I'd known about these time periods but when one sits down and catalogs them , like you have....it seems all the more fantastic!
Phenominal output from the lads...and such high quality! I've never brushed off MMT...it is still one of my favorite "driving" albums...
1973 4001 MG cb fwi
1986 4003 Shadow
2012 4004Cii FG w/gold trim
1986 4003 Shadow
2012 4004Cii FG w/gold trim
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shamustwin
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studiotwosession
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The Beatles output is phenomenal any way you slice it. Still, Let It Be was started two months after the White Album was released, not two months after tracking was completed. I'd have to check the session notes to find out when they wrapped the mixes on that one but something tells me it would be the summer of 68, five or six months before Jan of '69. I think there was quite a long break, at least from recording with each other, like Harrison said, allowing him to "hang out with the Band at Woodstock." Of course, they were probably always writing. But after they stopped touring there were clearly some long breaks from day in, day out Beatledom as was the 1958-66 grind. MMT, while another project indeed, was still only a 6 song EP plus a few singles (old and new) though when you add the new tracks from the Yellow Sub soundtrack its adds up to a new LPs worth of output. Clearly they were recording songs without any idea where they'd finally be compiled.
This is off the record
Even as a 4 year old in 1964, i still remember hearing "From me to you" on the radio, and thinking.."this is great!" The Beatles cartoon series certainly played a part in thrusting the fabs into pre-anything kids(lol...4 and under).
Being 10 when they broke up, i recall being really upset, ie: What the????
My Father would scoff at them, saying they should get haircuts etc.. but many years later, just before he died, my Dad asked if i had the BBC albums, coz he was very keen to hear them!As well as the Anthology DVD series!He loved them to, but would never let on!
Best song(for me)"I saw her standing there". it just rocks!
Worst: George's unreleased piece on the anthology albums,"You know what to do"....sorry George!
Being 10 when they broke up, i recall being really upset, ie: What the????
My Father would scoff at them, saying they should get haircuts etc.. but many years later, just before he died, my Dad asked if i had the BBC albums, coz he was very keen to hear them!As well as the Anthology DVD series!He loved them to, but would never let on!
Best song(for me)"I saw her standing there". it just rocks!
Worst: George's unreleased piece on the anthology albums,"You know what to do"....sorry George!
I don't know if it's the live quality of Let It Be, but it seems much more cohesive than many of their albums. I don't really like "studio" masterpieces anyway. I'd rather hear the musicians than the producer, I'd rather hear it in the raw. Let it Be Naked took away much of the live sounding quality to me, sounds kind of sterile although very interesting. The Long and Winding Road was never one of my favorite tunes either, but in the overall Beatles cannon is kind of unique and stands out and is necessary in that respect. Now I realize many here look at Spector as a heavy handed producer who masked the Beatles true sound but I thought he did a great job and think most of the krap we have read about him ruining Let It Be was just hype so they could generate controversy/press so they could sell another album. Naked was interesting, yes, but as I said before the original gets played here most of the time.
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beatlefreak
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During the time "Let It Be" and "Abbey Road" were being worked on, weren't Paul and George working on their solo albums? I seem to recall that the issue of releasing "McCartney" and "Let It Be" at the same time was one of the proverbial straws...there are scenes in "Let It Be" where you can hear George working on "All Things Must Pass"..
These guys were just plain awesome...
These guys were just plain awesome...
"Let me take you down...'cause I'm going to...."
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soundmasterg
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Let It Be was recorded and then shelved for awhile until they decided to let Phil Spector deal with it. In the meantime they did Abbey Road and released it. By the time Let It Be was released, McCartney had already finished his solo album so that they were able to be released at the same time. I don't know the exact dates, but I'd say Let It Be was probably released at least a year after it was recorded, and was released after Abbey Road.