Let It Be... Naked

Let It Be... Naked
Remix album by The Beatles
Released 17 November 2003
Recorded 4 February 1968, 2–31 January 1969 and 3–4 January 1970 at
EMI and Apple studios, and Twickenham Film Studios, London
Genre Rock
Length 35:04
Language English
Label Apple
Producer Paul Hicks, Guy Massey, Paul McCartney and Allan Rouse
Professional reviews
The Beatles chronology
1
(2000)		 Let It Be... Naked
(2003)		 The Capitol Albums, Volume 1
(2004)

Let It Be... Naked is a version of the 1970 Let It Be album by The Beatles that was remixed and remastered under the direction of Paul McCartney. It was first released in November 2003.

Contents

History

The album is presented in a form which Paul McCartney considered closer to its original artistic vision: to "get back" to the rock and roll sound of their early years[1] rather than the orchestral overdubs and embellishments which were added by Phil Spector in the production of the final Let It Be album. Paul McCartney in particular was always dissatisfied with the "Wall of Sound" production style of the Phil Spector remixes, especially for his song "The Long and Winding Road", which he believed was ruined by the process.[1] George Harrison gave his approval for the Naked project before he died.[2] McCartney's attitude contrasted with Lennon's from over two decades earlier. In his September 1980 Playboy interview, Lennon had defended Spector's work, saying "He was given the shittiest load of badly recorded shit with a lousy feeling to it ever, and he made something of it."

In January 1969, The Beatles had decided to go back into the studio to rehearse and record new songs and have the project filmed for a documentary. The project's original working title was Get Back, and an album and film were to be the end products of these sessions. Being older and more independent, the individual Beatles' tolerances for each other's quirks had decreased: for instance, on 10 January, George Harrison walked out of the sessions after being harassed by Paul McCartney about his playing style on a take of "Two of Us". By the time the Beatles had decided the project was completed, all parties involved were so aggrieved that all of the resultant recordings and film were left on the shelf for close to a year, with no one wanting to face the grueling editing process. (In the meantime, later that year, they recorded and released Abbey Road – with sessions running smoothly and tensions largely abated. Also issued was the single "The Ballad of John and Yoko"/"Old Brown Shoe", recorded in April and released in May.)

After nearly a year, with some parties at EMI wanting more of a return on the early 1969 sessions besides just the "Get Back"/"Don't Let Me Down" single (released in April 1969), Phil Spector was brought in by John Lennon and George Harrison and given the task of going through the hundreds of hours of audio tape and film and coming up with a marketable product to tie in with the impending film release. The end result was the album Let It Be, released 8 May 1970. (The movie of the same name was released later that month.)

Genesis of the Naked Project

One of the biggest complaints about the Let It Be album throughout the years has centred on Spector's "Wall of Sound" technique, with some critics claiming the quality of the music was diminished by his orchestration and use of choirs. Critics of the album (including McCartney) have said the original intent in the early 1969 sessions had been to keep the music simple, both to remain true to their rock and roll roots and to enable them to easily replicate the songs in possible future live performances.

The origin of the Let It Be... Naked project arose during a chance reunion of Paul McCartney and Let It Be film director Michael Lindsay-Hogg on an aeroplane flight in the early 2000s. McCartney and Lindsay-Hogg discussed the unavailability of the film on both VHS and DVD, which led to discussion of a possible remixed "soundtrack" to accompany a proposed future DVD release. In early 2002, McCartney recruited Abbey Road in-house engineers Paul Hicks, Guy Massey and Allan Rouse to go back into the vaults and assemble a brand new studio album from the 30 reels of tape recorded during the January 1969 sessions. Since much of the Let It Be material had been recorded live, many sound anomalies existed on the tapes. Hicks, Massey and Rouse did extensive work, digitally cleaning up each individual track of every song before remixing them. Some takes were edited together to come up with the best possible final version. For "Dig a Pony", an errant note sung by John Lennon was even digitally pitch-corrected.

Song differences between Let It Be... Naked and Let It Be

The songs on Let It Be... Naked differ greatly from the versions presented on the original Let It Be. The songs on the Naked album are in a different order to the original Let It Be album. Two songs that had been included on the original album, the traditional Liverpool folk song "Maggie Mae" and "Dig It", were both excised, as Paul McCartney considered them studio improvisations and too weak for inclusion. In their place is Lennon's "Don't Let Me Down"; however, a composite edit of the two versions from the rooftop concert was inserted rather than the B-side from the "Get Back" single.[1] "I've Got a Feeling" was also presented in a new composite edit of its two rooftop concert takes.[1]

"Across the Universe", which actually dates from nearly a year before the rest of the album was recorded, was stripped of almost all of its overdubs. There is a different guitar solo in the song "Let It Be". In addition to the single, the original album, and the compilation albums 1 and Anthology 3, it is the fifth version of the song's solo to be released.

Another difference is in McCartney's "The Long and Winding Road", where the Naked producers used a take recorded five days after the take used by Phil Spector for the original album.[1] The original lyric reads "anyway, you'll never know, the many ways I've tried," whereas on this version it reads "anyway, you've always known, the many ways I've tried." Electric guitar and electric piano are also present, played respectively by Harrison and Billy Preston. This version is devoid of any orchestral or choral overdubs. (The unadorned take from Let It Be is featured on Anthology 3.)

Track differences:

  1. "Get Back"
    • The single version recorded on 27 January 1969, without the coda recorded on 28 January, and without the framing dialogue from the studio and rooftop concert
  2. "Dig a Pony"
    • A remix of the original album version from the rooftop concert on 30 January 1969, without the false start or the closing dialogue
  3. "For You Blue"
    • A remix of the original album version recorded on 25 January 1969
  4. "The Long and Winding Road"
    • A different take recorded on 31 January 1969, with electric piano and guitar that was not on the original album version, but without orchestral overdubs
  5. "Two of Us"
    • A remix of the original album version recorded on 31 January 1969
  6. "I've Got a Feeling"
    • A composite of both versions from the rooftop concert[1]
  7. "One After 909"
    • A remix of original album version from the rooftop concert, without the impromptu rendition of "Danny Boy"
  8. "Don't Let Me Down"
    • A composite of both versions from the rooftop concert[1]
  9. "I Me Mine"
    • A remixed duplicate of Spector's edit to lengthen the track recorded on 3 January 1970, but without orchestral overdubs
  10. "Across the Universe"
    • A remixed version of the original February 1968 track, with keyboards and maracas mixed out, and without orchestral overdubs
  11. "Let It Be"
    • A different take recorded on 31 January 1969, without Spector's orchestrations

The studio dialogue from the original album was removed, as was the dialogue from the rooftop concert that had originally closed the album resulting in a number of sharp fade-outs where it used to be. Additionally, the song order is different from the Let It Be album.

The cover image of the album is a monochrome negative of the original cover picture, although George Harrison's photograph has been replaced with a new one for reasons undisclosed. George's new photo conforms to that of the other three in that it shows him in performance, as opposed to the photo on the original sleeve.

Reception

The album received mixed reviews from the music press after its 2003 release. Music critic Thomas Bartlett called this CD – with its simpler song versions – the "de-Spectorized" version of the original Let It Be album. Bartlett was highly critical of the Naked version, feeling it "stripped the original album of both John's sense of humor and Phil Spector's wacky, and at least slightly tongue-in-cheek, grandiosity."[3] Equally critical was Washington Post music critic Tim Page, who found the songs "undistinguished", lamenting that "there's way too much Paul McCartney on the disc." Page refers to the "The Long and Winding Road" as deserving of "Spector's saccharin strings and heavenly chorus", deriding the Naked version as a "precursor to the soppy bilge McCartney turned out with Wings." Page was more favourable to "Across the Universe", calling it "vastly improved in the pared down version".[4]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Lennon/McCartney except where noted. 

No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "Get Back"     2:34
2. "Dig a Pony"     3:38
3. "For You Blue"   George Harrison 2:27
4. "The Long and Winding Road"     3:34
5. "Two of Us"     3:21
6. "I've Got a Feeling"     3:30
7. "One After 909"     2:44
8. "Don't Let Me Down"     3:18
9. "I Me Mine"   Harrison 2:21
10. "Across the Universe"     3:38
11. "Let It Be"     3:55
Total length:
 35:04

All songs published by Northern Songs Ltd, except tracks 3 and 9 published by Harrisongs Ltd.

Fly on the Wall bonus disc

The 22-minute bonus disc contains song excerpts and dialogue from the many hours of tape which accumulated during the Let It Be sessions. Some of the removed dialogue that had appeared on the original album appears on this disc.

Compiled and edited by Kevin Howlett. All songs credited to Lennon/McCartney except where noted.

This album was released with the Copy Control protection system in some regions.[5]

Personnel

The Beatles
Additional musicians

Release details

The album was released in various countries in November 2003.

Country Date Label Format Catalogue
Japan 14 November 2003 Toshiba EMI Compact Disc TOCP 67300-01
LP TOJP 60121-22
United Kingdom 17 November 2003 Apple CD 595 7132
LP 595 4380
Australia 17 November 2003 Parlophone CD 595 7142
United States 18 November 2003 Apple, Capitol CD CDP 7243 5 95227 2 2

Charts

Country Peak position Weeks on chart Certification Sales Ref(s)
Argentina 9
Australia 11 [6]
Austria 8 [7]
Belgium (Flanders) 13 [8]
Belgium (Wallonia) 33 [9]
Brazil 24
Canada 8 1 [10]
Chile 1
Denmark 5
Europe 6 [11]
Finland 35 [12]
France 14 [13]
Germany 13
Greece 12
Ireland 7
Italy 6 11 120,000+ [14]
Japan 2
Mexico 1
The Netherlands 8 [15]
New Zealand 23 [16]
Norway 6 [17]
South Korea 15
Sweden 2 [18]
Switzerland 21 [19]
United Kingdom 7 11
United States 5 14 Platinum 1,000,000+ [10][20]

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Hurwitz, Matt (2004-01-01). "The Naked Truth About The Beatles' Let It BeNaked [sic]". Mix magazine/Penton Media, Inc. http://mixonline.com/recording/interviews/audio_naked_truth_beatles/. Retrieved 2010-02-21. 
  2. ↑ "It's a Bad Day on CNN". Rediff.com. 2003-09-13. http://news.rediff.com/entertai/2003/sep/19music.htm. Retrieved 2010-02-21. 
  3. ↑ Bartlett, Thomas (2003-12-01). ""Let it Be ... Naked": Nudity isn't always pretty". Salon.com. http://www.salon.com/ent/music/review/2003/12/01/let_it_be/index.html. Retrieved 2010-02-21. 
  4. ↑ "'Let It Be... Naked' from The Beatles". Tim Page. All Songs Considered. NPR. 2003-11-30.
  5. ↑ "Let It Be - Naked (Bonus Disc)". CD WOW! UK. http://www.cdwow.com/CD/the-beatles-let-it-be-naked-bonus-disc/dp/6769. Retrieved 2010-02-22. 
  6. ↑ Let It Be... Naked chart history - australian-charts.com
  7. ↑ Let It Be... Naked chart history - austriancharts.at
  8. ↑ Let It Be... Naked chart history - ultratop.be (Flanders)
  9. ↑ Let It Be... Naked chart history - ultratop.be (Wallonia)
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Let It Be... Naked [Japan] - The Beatles". Billboard. http://www.billboard.com/album/the-beatles/let-it-be-naked/609290. Retrieved 2010-02-22. 
  11. ↑ Let It Be... Naked chart history - danishcharts.com
  12. ↑ Let It Be... Naked chart history - finnishcharts.com
  13. ↑ Let It Be... Naked chart history - lescharts.com
  14. ↑ Let It Be... Naked chart history - italiancharts.com
  15. ↑ Let It Be... Naked chart history - dutchcharts.nl
  16. ↑ Let It Be... Naked chart history - charts.org.nz
  17. ↑ Let It Be... Naked chart history - norwegiancharts.com
  18. ↑ Let It Be... Naked chart history - swedishcharts.com
  19. ↑ Let It Be... Naked chart history - hitparade.ch
  20. ↑ "RIAA - Gold & Platinum". RIAA. http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH_RESULTS&title=Let%20it%20Be...Naked&perPage=2. Retrieved 2010-02-21. 

See also