|
Lead
Singer: Paul
Recording: 1/23/69,
1/27/69, 1/28/69, 1/30/69
Mixing:
2/5/69, 3/26/69, [4/69
and/or 5/69], 4/4/69,
4/7/69, 3/26/70
Length:
3:09
Take:
9
Anomalies
0:00-0:20
Introduced by John's
"Sweet Loretta Fart
she thought she was
a cleaner","but she
was a frying pan".
There is also Paul
singing
"Rosetta...", John's
"Great, picks for
the fingers" and a
quiet 1-2-1234 count
in, a "Get In!" and
a "Level John!" (Let
It Be version only.
Past Masters 2 omits
this)
* NEW * According to
two reports, "picks
for the fingers" is
in fact "Picture the
fingers going". John
is apparently
motioning with his
hands at this point
on bootleg videos of
the rooftop concert. |
1:19
Lead guitar breaks
up, when both J & P
sing "Get back ...
belonged" This is at
1:00 on PaMa2. |
2:55
Outroduced (!) with
a policeman (from
the "on the roof"
session) saying "I'm
afraid its just too
long", telling them
to wind up the gig.
Again, only Let It
Be Version, not
PaMa2 |
|
|
| The press release to promote the
single contained this quote from
Paul McCartney: "We were sitting in
the studio and we made it up out of
thin air... we started to write
words there and then... when we
finished it, we recorded it at Apple
Studios and made it into a song to
roller coast by." |
| A live version on the Apple
rooftop ended the movie Let It Be.
This is what The Beatles were
playing on the Apple rooftop when
the police shut them down. |
| This was going to be the title
of the album. The concept was The
Beatles "getting back" to their
roots and playing new songs for a
live audience without any studio
tricks. This song came closest to
capturing that spirit, but the album
became something completely
different when they decided to scrap
the idea of a live album. Glyn
Johns, who engineered the sessions
was asked to put the album together
from what were really rehearsal
tapes. After he put the album
together, it sat around while the
Let It Be Movie was being edited
from the film footage of The Beatles
rehearsing in the studio and playing
on the rooftop. During this time,
The Beatles made the Abbey Road
album, released it, and broke up.
John Lennon had Phil Spector produce
his solo song "Instant Karma," which
Harrison played on. They liked
Spector's work and asked him to
produce the Get Back album,
which was re-titled Let It Be.
Spector took the tapes and added
orchestrations using his "Wall Of
Sound" technique, and the album that
was supposed to be the raw sound of
The Beatles returning to their roots
was released as a highly-produced
final album after they had broken
up. |
| In their early days, The Beatles
played in clubs for hours most
nights, but by 1967, they stopped
touring. This single was advertised
as "The Beatles as nature intended." |
| At the beginning of the album
version, Lennon sang, "Sweet Loretta
fat she thought she was a cleaner,
but she was a frying pan." He was
making fun of the first line in the
song. |
| At the end of the album version,
Paul says "thanks Mo" in response to
Ringo's wife, Maureen, who was
clapping. |
| Early versions include the line
"I dig no Pakistani's." It began as
a commentary about immigration,
telling people to "Get Back" to
their own countries. McCartney
thought better of it, and made the
lyrics more obscure. (thanks, Brad
Wind - Miami, FL) |
| Lennon claimed this was
basically a rewrite of their 1968
song, "Lady Madonna." |
| The single version is longer
than the album version. Usually it
is the other way around. |
| Paul looked at Yoko in the
studio when he sang the line "get
back to where you once belong." John
thought he was disrespecting her. |
| The album version is a studio
take with the end of the rooftop
concert spliced on, complete with
comments to make it sound live.
|
| The character "JoJo" was
probably based on Joseph Melville
See Jr., Linda McCartney's first
husband. He was from Tucson,
Arizona, and killed himself there in
2000. |
| Billy Preston played piano and
became the only guest artist to get
a credit on a Beatles single when
this was credited to "The Beatles
with Billy Preston." After George
Harrison left the sessions, he saw
Preston in concert with Ray Charles.
The Beatles met Preston in 1962 when
they were both playing in Germany,
but they hadn't seen each other
since. Harrison asked Preston to
come by the studio the next day,
where he played on this and "Don't
Let Me Down." Having him in the
studio eased the tension and made it
easier for The Beatles to put
personal conflicts aside and record
the album. |
| In 2003, Paul and Ringo gave
permission to Apple Records to
rework the album and remove Phil
Spector's production. The result is
the stripped down version called
Let It Be... Naked, which
McCartney claims is what the group
intended. |
