lazarus
Blue Crack Supplier
Alright, this took me a long time, but I'm pretty happy with the results.
LET IT BE BETTER
Side One (22.9 minutes)
1. Two of Us (with original intro)
2. One After 909
3. I Me Mine (Let It Be...Naked version)
4. Don't Let Me Down (from Past Masters vol. 2)
5. I've Got A Feeling (Let It Be...Naked version)
6. Maggie Mae
7. The Ballad of John & Yoko (from Past Masters vol. 2)
8. The Long and Winding Road (Let It Be...Naked version)
Side Two (21.1 minutes)
9. Get Back (with original outro)
10. Dig A Pony
11. Old Brown Shoe (from Past Masters vol. 2)
12. Dig It (unreleased longer version)
15. Let It Be (Let It Be...Naked version)
16. Across the Universe (Let It Be...Naked version)
Okay, so I've got some 'splainin' to do. My primary goal here was to beef up this album a bit, as it really comes off slight compared to the rest of the Beatles' releases from the second half of their career. Secondly, I wanted to remain as close as possible to the spirit of the original sessions, which were supposed to be relatively stripped down.
The result of my first goal was that this went from being a more Paul-heavy album to one that clearly has more John. Mainly this is because of the two songs I included from Past Masters vol. 2. Don't Let Me Down shouldn't need much of an explanation--it was on the Naked version that the surviving band members signed off on. It appears that Phil Spector was the one who dropped it from the original release anyway, and the fact that it was performed during the rooftop twice shows the band considered it a highlight.
The other song might be more controversial. The Ballad of John and Yoko wasn't recorded during the Get Back sessions, though it should be pointed out that neither was the version of I Me Mine found on the official release; this was done in 1970 while John wasn't even present. The reason I think it should be included is because it's certainly in the sonic spirit of the Get Back sessions, moreso than the style that the band returned to on Abbey Road. I also like the fact that John and Paul played all the instruments on this song.
Paul didn't have any other originals from these sessions, so I tried to give what he did write for the album more prominence. I never liked the way the powerful Let It Be was sandwiched between the novelties of Dig It and Maggie Mae, the latter being a foolish and slight way to finish out the side. Because Let It Be and The Long and Winding Road are both "showstopper" type numbers, I decided to place the title track near the end of the album for maximum impact. I chose the stripped-down version of TLAWR because Paul feels pretty strongly about it, and the more I listen to it the more it's sounding natural to me. I think it's a nice end to side two.
I'll go in depth a bit more on side one: I put 909 in the two slot because it's a high energy rocker that picks the vibe up after Two of Us. While it may sound very natural, Two of Us into Dig A Pony (at least the verses of the latter) is a bit of a mellow beginning to this rather raucous album. I think 909 is more of a "song two" choice, if that makes any sense. I kept George's song in the 3 slot because I like it there, and chose the Naked version to get rid of Spector's unnecessary embellishments. Don't Let Me Down follows, I think it's certainly worthy of being on side one, as I implied before. I took the Past Masters version, as there's just something that sounds off on the one found on Naked. I've Got a Feeling moved around a bit while I was working on this, but I think it's a stellar track that shouldn't be buried on side two. I used the Naked version, not because there was anything wrong with the original release version, but because they apparently they combined the two rooftop versions for Naked, and it sounds slightly better. I've already commented on The Ballad of John and Yoko, but here I have Maggie Mae segueing into it (the end of the track was clipped closer), and I think they're perfect companion pieces with a similar aesthetic.
On to side two: I think Get Back is a poor closer, not really "big" enough to end an album, but I think it's a great side opener (I wanted to keep Two of Us as the album starter for reasons I've written in here before, namely the bittersweet feeling of hearing Paul & John harmonize, which kind of symbolizes the album). Dig A Pony goes next, a spot I chose for its similarity to being the second song on the first side. Old Brown Shoe is another song that was not on the original album, and in fact was recorded as the band was getting to work on Abbey Road, but it clearly fits more with the material of Let It Be. This song was added as a substitution for For You Blue, which I think is far away the worst song on the album, and one of the band's weakest recordings. I'm not usually this brutal with my album re-workings, preferring to add rather than subtract, but George doesn't need three songs on the album, and Old Brown Shoe, while not a great song, has won me over since these Remasters came out. It's a good rocker.
Another novelty was my addition of an unreleased, longer version of Dig It. It would have been nice if this was included on the Anthology collections, but it wasn't, so this poor recording will have to do. Perhaps it overstays its welcome over the four minutes it goes on for, but I like how it captures the loose jam feeling of the sessions, and personally I've always wished this song would go on longer. It could probably stand to be edited down to two minutes or something, but I've kept almost the entirety of the track, only removing the "That was 'Can You Dig It?' by Georgie Wood..." part, which is funny but I feel takes away from the seriousness of the title track, which I have following Dig It as it does on the original album. I think this is Paul's strongest composition on the album, and it deserves more of a "big finish" spot. The version I've chosen is the one from Naked, which appears to be an amalgamation of the several different versions previously released (from the original Let It Be, the single version found on Past Masters vol. 2, and an alternate take from the Anthology set). My reasoning is that I had a hard time picking the best one, and felt that the Naked version just had more soloing from George.
Though I had viewed the title track as the big closer, I thought Across the Universe would make a nice coda on this, the band's last-released album. Where the title track has a feeling of blunt resolve (the band's over, "move on"), I felt there was something more uplifting and eternal about Lennon's song. I also went with the Naked version here because the other versions have a bit too much going on in them, and the stripped-down sound goes better with the rest of the album instead of sticking out so much.
Please note that while the first side has two more songs then the second, the total side times only have a difference of about 1:45.
If anyone is interested in downloading this version, PM me and let me know.
Hope you like it.
LET IT BE BETTER
Side One (22.9 minutes)
1. Two of Us (with original intro)
2. One After 909
3. I Me Mine (Let It Be...Naked version)
4. Don't Let Me Down (from Past Masters vol. 2)
5. I've Got A Feeling (Let It Be...Naked version)
6. Maggie Mae
7. The Ballad of John & Yoko (from Past Masters vol. 2)
8. The Long and Winding Road (Let It Be...Naked version)
Side Two (21.1 minutes)
9. Get Back (with original outro)
10. Dig A Pony
11. Old Brown Shoe (from Past Masters vol. 2)
12. Dig It (unreleased longer version)
15. Let It Be (Let It Be...Naked version)
16. Across the Universe (Let It Be...Naked version)
Okay, so I've got some 'splainin' to do. My primary goal here was to beef up this album a bit, as it really comes off slight compared to the rest of the Beatles' releases from the second half of their career. Secondly, I wanted to remain as close as possible to the spirit of the original sessions, which were supposed to be relatively stripped down.
The result of my first goal was that this went from being a more Paul-heavy album to one that clearly has more John. Mainly this is because of the two songs I included from Past Masters vol. 2. Don't Let Me Down shouldn't need much of an explanation--it was on the Naked version that the surviving band members signed off on. It appears that Phil Spector was the one who dropped it from the original release anyway, and the fact that it was performed during the rooftop twice shows the band considered it a highlight.
The other song might be more controversial. The Ballad of John and Yoko wasn't recorded during the Get Back sessions, though it should be pointed out that neither was the version of I Me Mine found on the official release; this was done in 1970 while John wasn't even present. The reason I think it should be included is because it's certainly in the sonic spirit of the Get Back sessions, moreso than the style that the band returned to on Abbey Road. I also like the fact that John and Paul played all the instruments on this song.
Paul didn't have any other originals from these sessions, so I tried to give what he did write for the album more prominence. I never liked the way the powerful Let It Be was sandwiched between the novelties of Dig It and Maggie Mae, the latter being a foolish and slight way to finish out the side. Because Let It Be and The Long and Winding Road are both "showstopper" type numbers, I decided to place the title track near the end of the album for maximum impact. I chose the stripped-down version of TLAWR because Paul feels pretty strongly about it, and the more I listen to it the more it's sounding natural to me. I think it's a nice end to side two.
I'll go in depth a bit more on side one: I put 909 in the two slot because it's a high energy rocker that picks the vibe up after Two of Us. While it may sound very natural, Two of Us into Dig A Pony (at least the verses of the latter) is a bit of a mellow beginning to this rather raucous album. I think 909 is more of a "song two" choice, if that makes any sense. I kept George's song in the 3 slot because I like it there, and chose the Naked version to get rid of Spector's unnecessary embellishments. Don't Let Me Down follows, I think it's certainly worthy of being on side one, as I implied before. I took the Past Masters version, as there's just something that sounds off on the one found on Naked. I've Got a Feeling moved around a bit while I was working on this, but I think it's a stellar track that shouldn't be buried on side two. I used the Naked version, not because there was anything wrong with the original release version, but because they apparently they combined the two rooftop versions for Naked, and it sounds slightly better. I've already commented on The Ballad of John and Yoko, but here I have Maggie Mae segueing into it (the end of the track was clipped closer), and I think they're perfect companion pieces with a similar aesthetic.
On to side two: I think Get Back is a poor closer, not really "big" enough to end an album, but I think it's a great side opener (I wanted to keep Two of Us as the album starter for reasons I've written in here before, namely the bittersweet feeling of hearing Paul & John harmonize, which kind of symbolizes the album). Dig A Pony goes next, a spot I chose for its similarity to being the second song on the first side. Old Brown Shoe is another song that was not on the original album, and in fact was recorded as the band was getting to work on Abbey Road, but it clearly fits more with the material of Let It Be. This song was added as a substitution for For You Blue, which I think is far away the worst song on the album, and one of the band's weakest recordings. I'm not usually this brutal with my album re-workings, preferring to add rather than subtract, but George doesn't need three songs on the album, and Old Brown Shoe, while not a great song, has won me over since these Remasters came out. It's a good rocker.
Another novelty was my addition of an unreleased, longer version of Dig It. It would have been nice if this was included on the Anthology collections, but it wasn't, so this poor recording will have to do. Perhaps it overstays its welcome over the four minutes it goes on for, but I like how it captures the loose jam feeling of the sessions, and personally I've always wished this song would go on longer. It could probably stand to be edited down to two minutes or something, but I've kept almost the entirety of the track, only removing the "That was 'Can You Dig It?' by Georgie Wood..." part, which is funny but I feel takes away from the seriousness of the title track, which I have following Dig It as it does on the original album. I think this is Paul's strongest composition on the album, and it deserves more of a "big finish" spot. The version I've chosen is the one from Naked, which appears to be an amalgamation of the several different versions previously released (from the original Let It Be, the single version found on Past Masters vol. 2, and an alternate take from the Anthology set). My reasoning is that I had a hard time picking the best one, and felt that the Naked version just had more soloing from George.
Though I had viewed the title track as the big closer, I thought Across the Universe would make a nice coda on this, the band's last-released album. Where the title track has a feeling of blunt resolve (the band's over, "move on"), I felt there was something more uplifting and eternal about Lennon's song. I also went with the Naked version here because the other versions have a bit too much going on in them, and the stripped-down sound goes better with the rest of the album instead of sticking out so much.
Please note that while the first side has two more songs then the second, the total side times only have a difference of about 1:45.
If anyone is interested in downloading this version, PM me and let me know.
Hope you like it.
