The "Get Back/Let it Be" Project January 29 1969

January 29 1969 was the big day before the big (and last) Beatles' concert. In the end, everyone agreed to have the musical equipment moved from the basement Apple studios onto the roof of the Apple building at 3 Savile Row, London and get set up for a free lunchtime show and entertain the surrounding buildings. At first it seems that both Paul and George were a little reluctant but history shows that they all agreed in the end.
So the first order of the day was to rehearse the songs to be performed. The first part of the rehearsal consisted of tunes to be played on the roof such as "I've Got A Feeling", "One After 909", "Don't Let Me Down", "Dig A Pony", "Get Back" and "She Came In Through The Bathroom Window"( the latter of which was never played). A couple of George Harrison composed songs were also rehearsed but never played on the roof or recorded in the Studio the day after the show: "Let It Down", "All Things Must Pass" and "For Your Blue".
After being joined by Billy Preston, the discussion of having some of the acoustic guitar/piano songs recorded the day after the live concert back in the studio included the rehearsal of "Let It Be" and "The Long And Winding Road".
Now that the original and self-penned numbers had been rehearsed, The Beatles decided to do a bit of jamming on some oldies but moldies including a version of "Besame Mucho" which appears in the "Let It Be" film as well as "Not Fade Away" (appearing on the bootleg vinyl "File Under: the Beatles" as well as the bootleg CD "Turn Me On Deadman: The John Barrett Tapes").
Another song that was contemplated for the 1984 compilation of unreleased material entitled "Sessions" was a cover of "Mailman, Bring Me No More Blues" originally recorded by Buddy Holly. John takes the vocal on this one. The song was remixed and heavily edited due to the fact that when it was recorded, Glyn Johns delayed in pressing the "record" button on the eight track machine -and it has appeared on various "Sessions" bootlegs and was ultimately released on the Apple 3LP-2CD "Anthology 3". Both the bootleg version and the commercial version have the same mix and edits applied back in the early 80s.