Let It Be... naked (1970)
| Artist: Beatles |
| Format: | CD |
Song Listing
| Includes a 20-minute "fly-on-the-wall" bonus disc that features extracts from tapes of The Beatles at the time of first making the Let It Be album and movie in the Sixties. At last revealed - The Beatles album that has taken more than 30 years to finish, Let It Be...Naked, just the bare sound of the band inside The Beatles. Let It Be...Naked is the no frills, back-to-basics album that The Beatles first set out to make back in 1969 - but which was never released as they intended, the band back to the bone. Now, through the smart digital technology of Abbey Road studios, the never-heard band's take of the original sessions have finally been revealed. Naked is Let It Be brought right up to now for the '1 Generation', de-mixed and re-mixed, un-dubbed of orchestration, choirs and effects and stripped-back to the raw to reveal The Beatles simply as what they were very best at being - just a great band. "If we'd have had today's technology back then, it would sound like this because this is the noise we made in the studio", said Paul McCartney "It's all exactly as it was in the room. You're right there now". "When I first heard it, it was really uplifting. It took you back again to the times when we were this band, the Beatle band", said Ringo Starr. When The Beatles first set out to make the album in 1969, they intended to record an album that would be a return to live performance of just the bare necessities of the band, no studio effects or overdubbing of voices or instruments would be allowed. However, caught in the turmoil of the break-up of the band, the album was re-produced by Phil Spector and never released as The Beatles had originally meant it to sound. Until now. Let It Be...Naked's track listing differs from the 1970 release; background dialogue, 'Dig It' and 'Maggie Mae' have been taken off the album and 'Don't Let Me Down' has been added to the running order, which now is as follows: Get Back, Dig A Pony, For You Blue, The Long And Winding Road, Two Of Us, I've Got A Feeling, One After 909, Don't Let Me Down, I Me Mine, Across The Universe, Let It Be. Let It Be...Naked will also come with a booklet that features historic photography of the recording sessions and extracts of band dialogue from the original booklet that first accompanied early copies of the 1970 album. Let It Be...Naked is the sound of The Beatles as nature intended; raw and rocking. |
Album Notes and Credits
Notes & Personnel Info |
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LET IT BE...NAKED contains a FLY ON THE WALL bonus disc including song rehearsals and conversation snatches. |
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The Beatles: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr. |
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Additional personnel: Billy Preston (keyboards). |
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Includes liner notes by Kevin Howlett and interview excerpts with The Beatles |
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from the original LET IT BE book. |
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Personnel: Billy Preston (keyboards). |
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Audio Mixers: Alan Rouse; Guy Massey; Paul Hicks. |
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Liner Note Author: Kevin Howlett. |
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Recording information: 01/1969. |
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Editor: Kevin Howlett. |
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Photographer: Ethan Russell. |
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In its original form, LET IT BE signaled the end of an era, closing the book on the Beatles, as well as literally and figuratively marking the end of the '60s. The 1970 release evolved from friction-filled sessions the Beatles intended to be an organic, bare-bones return to their roots. Instead, the endless hours of tapes were eventually handed over to Phil Spector, since neither the quickly splintering Beatles nor their longtime producer George Martin wanted to sift through the voluminous results. |
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LET IT BE... NAKED sets the record straight, revisiting the contentious sessions, stripping away the Spectorian orchestrations, reworking the running order, and losing all extemporaneous in-studio banter. On this version of the album, filler tracks ("Dig It," "Maggie Mae") are dropped, while juicy b-side "Don't Let Me Down" is added. The most obvious revamping is on the songs handled heavily by Spector. Removing the orchestrations from "The Long and Winding Road" and "Across the Universe" gives Paul McCartney's vocals considerably more resonance on the former, doing the same for John Lennon's voice and guitar on the latter. This alternate take on LET IT BE enhances the album's power, reclaiming the raw, unadorned quality that was meant to be its calling card from the beginning. |
Producer: The Beatles; George Martin; Alan Rouse; Guy Massey; Paul Hicks |
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Engineer: Glyn Johns |
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Musical Guests | |
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Billy Preston |
Compilation Appearances
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Best Of George Harrison |
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Gold:british Invasion |
Associated Artists and Works
Technical Info
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Release Date : 11/17/2003 |
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Original Release Date : 1970 |
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Catalog ID : 95713 |
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Label : Capitol |
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Number of Discs : 2 |
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Studio/Live : Mixed |
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Mono/Stereo : Stereo |
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SPAR Code : n/a |
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UPC : 00724359571324 |
Professional Reviews
- Ranked #86 in Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Albums Of All Time" - "...Some of the strongest rockers and most poignant ballads in their entire canon..."
- 3 stars out of 5 - "...It's nice to have the sparer rendition of 'Across the Universe' that Lennon recorded, and the sonic improvements to the album as a whole are undeniable..."
- Ranked #45 in EW's "100 Best Movie Soundtracks" - "...Beautifully explores a nostalgia for simpler times - theirs 'and' ours..."
- "...Some of these changes are for the better. The sonic clarity is welcome and the revamped album concludes, as the original should have, with the title track, one of the most moving songs McCartney ever wrote..." - Rating: B
(12/03, p.134)
- 5 stars out of 5 - "[T]he cleaning up, editing and re-sequencing has brought out a warmth and depth of colour we've not heard before..."
