Saturday, August 26, 2017

The "Get Back/Let It Be" project January 28 1969

The day started with The Beatles having a go at "I've Got A Feeling" until Paul has to leave for a meeting (probably to discuss the upcoming release of the Mary Hopkin LP "Postcard") while John, George , Ringo and Billy Preston continue on with the latter song for a while.
The Lennon tune "Dig A Pony" or "I Dig A Pony" (depending in which country you bought your "Let It Be" album) is recorded but none of the takes are released. The next song being recorded on this day was the ending or the reprise for "Get Back". The reprise was added on to the previous day's take and released on the commercial single for Apple as well as used on the first two Glyn Johns LP reels.
The Beatles ( and Billy Preston) also recorded the B-side "Don't Let Me Down" with addition overdubs completed during a February recording session which unfortunately remains undocumented. Other songs rehearsed and recorded on this day at Apple Studios include more of "I've Got A Feeling", "One After 909" and "Teddy Boy". One of the takes of "Teddy Boy" was used for the Apple 3LP/2CD "Anthology 3" with an edit of segments from this day's session paired with segments from the January 24 1969 session.
The "Get Back" take with coda was mixed for mono on March 26 1969 at Abbey Road and then again at Olympic Studios on April 07 1969. The stereo mix for "Get Back" (with coda) and "Don't Let Me Down" (with overdubs) was completed three days earlier on April 04 1969....et viola....the "new" Beatles' single was ready. As nature intended.


Saturday, August 19, 2017

The "Get Back/Let It Be" Project January 27 1969

The Beatles gathered into Apple Studios on this day to continue their work on the project, all four Beatles; Billy Preston as well as George Martin and Glyn Johns were all present.
The day started with a bit of work on an untitled composition written by George Harrison which would evolve into "Old Brown Shoe". The song would remain un-revisited for the time being and the piano songs "Let It Be" and "The Long and Winding Road" are rehearsed.
The main focus of the day was the rehearsal and recording of the upcoming single "Get Back". There were various reels of recording tape used this day to record the song and one of the takes (27.63) was used for the commercial Apple 45 single - without the coda at this point. It was produced by George Martin and the credit was "The Beatles with Billy Preston" on the label once it was released.
Also on this day, a nice take of "Oh! Darling" with Billy Preston on Fender Rhodes Electric piano surfaced on the Apple 3LP/2CD "Anthology 3" which also features John Lennon's comment the Yoko getting her divorce from Tony Cox !!
During the afternoon, an improvisation of a Blues type number was played by The Beatles and eventually molded itself into the Jimmy McCracklin hit "The Walk" - this was recorded on tape and used on some vinyl bootlegs including the "Beatles: On File" bootleg.


Saturday, August 5, 2017

The "Get Back/Let It Be" Project January 26 1969

The Beatles were back at the Apple Studios on 3 Savile Row in London. George and Ringo were the first two Beatles to arrive and with George on acoustic and Ringo on piano, a bit of composing work was undertaken for the Ringo penned song "Octopus's Garden" which would feature later in the year. Paul, John and George Martin arrived as well as Billy Preston.
The rehearsals start with "Let it Be"- Paul on piano, John on bass, George on guitar, Billy on keys and Ringo on drums. The song leads into some jamming for the morning with a lot of improvisations and some oldies thrown in for good measure. The tape is rolling as the Beatles jam on the song "Dig It" with the longest version of the song at twelve and a half minutes and in mono captured on the vinyl bootleg "Dig it!". An edit of the performance down to four minutes was used for one of Glyn Johns "Get Back" LP tracklists. Finally, slightly less than a minute of this performance was used on the official Apple LP/CD "Let It Be" shortened by Phil Spector.
The Beatles continued to jam on oldies after this point which included a performance of "Rip It Up" and going into "Shake, Rattle and Roll". These performances can be heard in mono on such bootleg LPs such as "Singing the Blues" and "Celluloid Rock". They have been released commercially on the Apple 3-LP/2-CD "Anthology 3" project with the addition of another oldies performance from this day: "Blue Suede Shoes". The latter can also be found in mono on the bootleg LP: "File Under: The Beatles".
Another set of oldies from this day consists of the medley "Miss Ann/Kansas City/ Lawdy Miss Clawdy" and this can also be found on the bootleg LP: "File Under: The Beatles" as well as on the bootleg CD: "Turn Me on Dead Man: The John Barrett Tapes".
Finally, the song "You Really Got A Hold On Me" is attempted in a higher key than they originally played it, with John Lennon struggling on the lead vocal. This can be seen in the film "Let It Be". It can also be found on the bootleg LP "Singing The Blues" although the ending is faded out.
In the afternoon, there are attempts at both "Let It Be" and "The Long And Winding Road" (which is new to Billy Preston and he learns it on this day). The basic track for the commercial single comes from one of the performances of "Let It Be" and also appears on an early version of the Glyn Johns "Get Back" LP. It can be heard pre-overdub on the "WBCN" acetate and bootleg of the same name.
Finally, a version of "The Long And Winding Road" also appears on an early version of the Glyn Johns "Get Back" LP, the "WBCN" acetate and on the commercial Apple 3-LP/2-CD "Anthology 2" project.