'Let it Be' album severely under-rated!
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It boggles my mind that this album is not considered one of the band's best efforts. Generally, all of the albums from Rubber Soul to Abbey Road fight for the top album position, but this album (and Yellow Submarine for good reason) never get mentioned. Classic songs plus the throwaway songs rock hard. I also love the studio chatter between songs. What am I missing?
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It would have made a cracking EP.
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I wouldn't call it the most unifying (posthumous/non-posthumous) "album".... but, in its various forms, it does contain some of my favourite Beatles songs: Don't Let Me Down (I LOVE this underrated song!) The Long and Winding Road Let it Be I've Got A Feeling Two of Us Get Back Across the Universe I Me Mine I am a huge fan of those songs. It doesn't have a coherent "album" feel for obvious reasons, but there are some beauties from this period. I remain as one hanging out for the Let It Be movie release with all the trimmings, with the Beatles in their "underpants" and all. Can hardly wait!
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Originally conceived as Get Back it was supposed to be The Beatles unadorned, music without overdubs and multitracking, "performed live in the studio". Then Phil Spector was enlisted to produce the album, and he wreaked havoc with Paul's songs without permission. That's where it fails, and The Beatles themselves talked badly about both the album itself and the experience making it. I agree it has some great material, but it also carries a tarnished history. And that's why Paul finally made Let It Be...Naked, 33 years later.
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I Agree!!
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Like all Beatles records, I heard it before I knew anything about the band, so my impression of it is not so colored by the stories of how miserable the recording sessions was. I saw the film in theaters later, after I heard the album and had played it five times a day. My experience of the music is happy. It may not be as innovative as the others from "Rubber Soul" to "Abbey Road" but I've always liked what Phil Spector did. It was McCartney's problem not mine.
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With all the tarnished history, it's THAT version that people know and love. Including Long and Winding Road with Spector's angelic voices and orchestra. Let It Be-Naked it cool but almost sounds like demos by comparison, and how ingrained the original release is in our collective memories.
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RMartinez:
With all the tarnished history, it's THAT version that people know and love. Including Long and Winding Road with Spector's angelic voices and orchestra. Let It Be-Naked it cool but almost sounds like demos by comparison, and how ingrained the original release is in our collective memories.
I agree with you, but I think the version of the The Long and Winding Road that is in the movie Let It Be is far better than the one on the record.
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beatlesfanrandy:
RMartinez:
With all the tarnished history, it's THAT version that people know and love. Including Long and Winding Road with Spector's angelic voices and orchestra. Let It Be-Naked it cool but almost sounds like demos by comparison, and how ingrained the original release is in our collective memories.
I agree with you, but I think the version of the The Long and Winding Road that is in the movie Let It Be is far better than the one on the record.
That's fine. But most people generally are used to and know the Spector version.
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RMartinez:
With all the tarnished history, it's THAT version that people know and love. Including Long and Winding Road with Spector's angelic voices and orchestra. Let It Be-Naked it cool but almost sounds like demos by comparison, and how ingrained the original release is in our collective memories.
Uh, speak for yourself. Since I bought "Naked," I've listened to the original LIB exactly twice, and one was by accident when I grabbed the wrong CD off the shelf. While neither version is quite up to the standard set by the likes of Abbey Road and Revolver, the Naked version to me is the closes thing to a definitive version there is. If I never again have to listen to Phil Spector pissing all over Paul's songs it'll be just fine by me.
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Bruce M.:
RMartinez:
With all the tarnished history, it's THAT version that people know and love. Including Long and Winding Road with Spector's angelic voices and orchestra. Let It Be-Naked it cool but almost sounds like demos by comparison, and how ingrained the original release is in our collective memories.
Uh, speak for yourself. Since I bought "Naked," I've listened to the original LIB exactly twice, and one was by accident when I grabbed the wrong CD off the shelf. While neither version is quite up to the standard set by the likes of Abbey Road and Revolver, the Naked version to me is the closes thing to a definitive version there is. If I never again have to listen to Phil Spector pissing all over Paul's songs it'll be just fine by me.
Um, you don't represent the whole world. Most people didn't buy NAKED and don't listen to it. Hard core fans like yourself? Sure. When you hear Long and Winding Road on the radio today, which version do you hear? I rest my case. It's not about which version I LIKE better, it's about what people are used to hearing and still listen to for the most part. Spector's LET IT BE lp is part of the Beatles' canon whether you or anyone else like it or not.
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I'm a hardcore fan aged 53 and I prefer the Spector version. Isn't the live concert arrangement leaning to the Let It Be version most everybody knows? I never play Let It Be...Naked.
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toris:
I wouldn't call it the most unifying (posthumous/non-posthumous) "album".... but, in its various forms, it does contain some of my favourite Beatles songs: Don't Let Me Down (I LOVE this underrated song!) The Long and Winding Road Let it Be I've Got A Feeling Two of Us Get Back Across the Universe I Me Mine
That's the power of The Beatles. Even their worst album has some amazing songs. If Paul put out these songs today, people would call it his greatest creation.
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I just listened to Let It Be...Naked because of this thread! As a fan and musician I can certainly appreciate the stripped down sound. Those songs stand on their own, and I really love Across the Universe. But it is the Spector version I am SO used to and heard for decades. I doubt anyone in the 70s were running around saying "These songs are overproduced and need to be remixed!" Also, listening to Naked, it's not like Spector re did all the songs. The rockers and acoustic numbers are pretty much the same. I also prefer the original release version of Don't Let Me Down to the one on Naked. The three part harmonies take the edge and visceral impact away from the version with John's vocal solo with Paul's cool high harmony checking in. IMO.
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RMartinez:
I doubt anyone in the 70s were running around saying "These songs are overproduced and need to be remixed!"
Well, it was enough of a sticking point to Paul that it became a factor in the breakup of The Beatles. He demanded especially that the choir and strings be removed from Long and Winding Road, and he was ignored by all parties including the other 3 Beatles. So now we have both. The over-produced version that everybody was used to, and Paul's version as it was meant to be originally and finally set right.
I personally like Let It Be...Naked better. Now, if we could only have the movie... 
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beatlesfanrandy:
RMartinez:
I doubt anyone in the 70s were running around saying "These songs are overproduced and need to be remixed!"
Well, it was enough of a sticking point to Paul that it became a factor in the breakup of The Beatles. He demanded especially that the choir and strings be removed from Long and Winding Road, and he was ignored by all parties including the other 3 Beatles. So now we have both. The over-produced version that everybody was used to, and Paul's version as it was meant to be originally and finally set right.
I personally like Let It Be...Naked better. Now, if we could only have the movie... Was it a sticking point to Paul? Yes. Was it a sticking point to the rest of the world? No.
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The original album was also diminished, imo, by the exclusion of 'Dont Let Me Down'. One of the best Lennon songs period. Just like Penny Lane/SFF was released as a single & not included on Pepper (as originally intended & would have added greatly to that album), the same could be said for the B-side DLMD & the LIB album. If you're going to include Get Back, Spector should have also included DLMD on the album. If he wanted a different "take" he could have used the rooftop version.
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I remember saying to someone, "It's not as good as Abbey Road, but it doesn't matter. It's the Beatles." He agreed. It was just sort of understood between us and the general public: They were magical. Their music reflected that.
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LET IT BE is a great LP. What gives it a dark vibe is the movie, which can be fascinating and depressing. But even the Beatles said, no matter what they were going through, when they played music, it was special. LET IT BE proves this.
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RMartinez:
With all the tarnished history, it's THAT version that people know and love. Including Long and Winding Road with Spector's angelic voices and orchestra. Let It Be-Naked it cool but almost sounds like demos by comparison, and how ingrained the original release is in our collective memories.
That's a great point. Let it Be was the first Beatle record (8-track actually) that I purchased. I was 14 years old. The album has continued to be a favorite of mine ever since. And I agree too, its THAT version of The Long And Winding Road that seems right to me.
