The Beatles retired from live performance in 1966, after a
\nthree-year period of whirlwind global tours. For the remainder of
\ntheir career, they would focus their creativity in the studio, and
\nproduce a series of LPs so wide in scope, songwriting skill, and
\nmusical craft that the five full records produced –
\nSgt. Pepper’s<\/i>,
\nMagical Mystery Tour<\/i>, the “White Album”,
\nAbbey Road<\/i> and
\nLet It Be<\/i> – are all among the pantheon of truly classic pop
\nalbums.<\/p>\n
(Diehard Beatles fans can skip the next couple paragraphs, which
\nwill briefly chronicle the tumultuous days at Twickenham that
\nproduced this album and began the breaking-up process of the
\ngroup)<\/p>\n
In 1969, the Beatles reconvened with two goals in mind – perform
\nlive and document the preparations for said concerts in film. Paul
\nMcCartney, the originator and organizer of the project, put all his
\nenergies into putting this plan into action. Unfortunately, the
\nother members of the group began to have second thoughts. McCartney
\nand John Lennon’s friendship was being tested already by Lennon’s
\nobsession with “avant-garde” “artist” Yoko Ono, and Lennon’s
\ndrug-addled ambivalence to the project as a whole didn’t improve
\nmatters. George Harrison entered the sessions after an eye-opening
\nperiod of jamming with Bob Dylan and the Band, determined to have
\nmore songwriting input on the new album. The rejection of material
\nlike “All Things Must Pass” and “For You Blue” early in the
\nsessions frustrated him to the point that Harrison actually left
\nthe group for a period during January.<\/p>\n
Finally, it became clear to the group that the live concert
\nappearance was simply not feasible. The group remained interested
\nin the idea of a “live in the studio” approach, free of the George
\nMartin studio pyrotechnics that so colored
\nSgt. Pepper’s<\/i> and the “White Album”. A decision was finally
\nmade to haul the group’s equipment to the roof of the Apple Records
\nbuilding, plug in the amps, and fire away. The Beatles (joined by
\nkeyboardist Billy Preston) played a brief set before being shut
\ndown by the police. They returned to the studio, but internal
\nturmoil and financial issues caused an abandonment of the
\nGet Back<\/i> project. The rehearsal tapes were handed to
\nengineer Glyn Johns to put into a releaseable form. The results
\nwere rather dire. Finally, after the Abbey Road sessions in
\nmid-1969, producer Phil Spector surveyed the wreckage and produced
\nthe controversial mix of
\nLet It Be<\/i> that was released in May 1970 – the last Beatles
\nLP.<\/p>\n
\nLet It Be<\/i> is probably the most underappreciated Beatles
\nalbum (if such a thing is possible) – eclipsed by the immensity of
\nthe “White Album” and the inspired genius of
\nAbbey Road<\/i>. It is an eclectic ten-song collection (the other
\ntwo tracks are short excerpts from the rooftop concert tapes) that
\nruns the gamut from hard-nosed rock to pretty ballads to playful
\nromps. Some of it is live, some very studio-ized. Although perhaps
\nnot up to the consistent excellence of
\nAbbey Road<\/i> and the “White Album,”
\nLet It Be<\/i> is a tight, energetic album that captures the
\nBeatles’ power even during the depths of their intraband
\nconflicts.<\/p>\n
Opening with a brief (and relatively hilarious in a British way)
\nspoken word segment, “Two Of Us” kicks off the album – a pretty
\nMcCartney track featuring the standard vocal harmonies, plodding
\nrhythm section, and thoughtful lyrics. The theme is “going home”,
\nperhaps a reference to the group’s return to its roots, or perhaps
\nto their impending breakup. “I Dig A Pony” is next, a Lennon bluesy
\nnumber with mainly nonsensical lyrics with a very catchy chorus.
\nPreston’s organ beefs up the sound, and the electric guitar solo
\n(presumably by Harrison) is quite effective. Two very good tracks
\nto open up the album – both classic Beatles cuts that have been
\nsadly underrated.<\/p>\n
Next comes Lennon’s sublime ballad “Across The Universe,”
\nanother largely forgotten track that to my mind is the outstanding
\npiece on the album. Much like his masterpiece “Because” on
\nAbbey Road<\/i>, “Across The Universe” is backed by incredible
\nharmonies and a simple, understated acoustic theme. A wierdly
\ndisembodied choir swells during the choruses and adds to the
\nmusical tension. A piece of sublime beauty that is definitely one
\nof my ten favorite Beatles cuts.<\/p>\n
The first of Harrison’s two contributions to
\nLet It Be<\/i>, the strangely Russian-flavored “I Me Mine,”
\nfollows – a rather nasty attack on what Harrison perceived as the
\negotism of the dominant Lennon-McCartney axis of the band. While
\nfar from his
\nAbbey Road<\/i> masterpieces, “I Me Mine” showcases Harrison’s
\nability to create a catchy melody around an almost menacing
\nelectric guitar riff. Preston’s organ vamps during the bridge are
\nvery notable. Next comes “Dig It”, another funny section of the
\nlive show, a 45-second excerpt from a longer jam that basically
\nconsists of Lennon yelling out random things over a funky, crunchy
\norgan lick.<\/p>\n
“Let It Be” is next, and probably needs no introduction. One of
\nthe most famous songs of all time, it is McCartney at his best as a
\nsongwriter and lyricist. Harrison’s immense guitar solo and the
\npounding orchestral crescendo pull this song to its end. Side one
\nends with “Maggie Mae”, another 40-second excerpt, this one of a
\nsong about a Liverpool prostitute.<\/p>\n
Side two begins with “I’ve Got A Feeling”, one of the last real
\nLennon-McCartney joint compositions. Another upbeat rocker recorded
\nlive, it is pleasant but falls short of the mark set on the first
\nside. “The One After 909,” ironically one of the first songs ever
\nwritten by the two, in the late ’50s, is resuscitated here, and
\nbasically sounds like it logically should – an early bluesy Beatles
\nsong augmented by Preston on electric piano.<\/p>\n
George Martin, who did much of the pre-production on
\nLet It Be<\/i>, often described the record as having been
\n“produced by George Martin, over-produced by Phil Spector.”
\nMcCartney voiced similar complaints after the album’s release. Most
\nof this criticism has been aimed at this version of “The Long And
\nWinding Road.” Another pretty understated McCartney vocal ballad
\nwas beefed up by massive orchestral and choral tracks – although,
\nallegedly, this was necessary due to the utterly half-assed
\nbassline Lennon had offered for the tune. Frankly, I think it is
\noverdone a bit, although I wouldn’t honor the more venomous attacks
\n(“Muzak”) that have been leveled at it in the past. Then again, I’m
\nnot real fond of the song anyway…<\/p>\n
“For You Blue” is the other Harrison song, and isn’t really all
\nthat noteworthy, although Lennon’s slide guitar is kind of neat.
\nThe album closes with the one-time title track, “Get Back”. Those
\nfamiliar with the single version of this will be moderately
\nsurprised by the album version – a live take from the rooftop
\nsession – which is substantially shorter and rocks harder than the
\nearlier version. An outstanding song, it begs the question of what
\nthe finished product of a really concerted
\nGet Back<\/i> project would have been.<\/p>\n
This is another Beatles classic record. While probably the
\nhardest of the post-touring LPs to “get into”,
\nLet It Be<\/i> is enjoyable if a bit odd in its jumps from live
\nto studio, jams to carefully arranged tunes, and sparse to lush
\nproduction. Recommended, but only after cutting your teeth on
\nAbbey Road<\/i>, the “White Album,” and some sort of collection
\nof the other mid-60s material (“Strawberry Fields Forever”, “Penny
\nLane”, “Hey Jude”, “Revolution” etc.)
\nLet It Be<\/i> may lack the ethereal aura of genius and magic
\nthat surrounds much of
\nAbbey Road<\/i>, but it is an enjoyable album, well worth having
\nor hauling out for a play now and again. Oh, and yes, John, you did
\npass the audition with this one.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":25026,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[5675],"rating":[5613],"class_list":["post-36231","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-the-beatles","rating-rating-a-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36231"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36231\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36231"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=36231"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=36231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}