Andrew_Hicks's Full Review: Let It Be by Original Soundtrack/The Beatles
Time has erased and overlooked the original gimmick behind Let it Be – the world was going to be let in on the creation, rehearsal and performance of a Beatles album via documentary cameras that would leave a theatrical movie and live recording as the finished product. The movie, which shows in all its painful glory how personally segregated the four members of the band had become at that point, is now obscure and overlooked itself, but the album is now regarded as the final entry in the Beatles canon.
Live? Not really, although most of the songs are mixed from a single take and free of ornamentation and overdubs. The Beatles swan song? Again, not really. Abbey Road was recorded last but released first when everyone involved realized what a mess the Let it Be project had become (and, in turn, what a masterpiece they had on their hands with Abbey Road). The hours and hours of rehearsal and performance footage were later edited, marred and polished by girl-group maestro Phil Spector and rushed out in April, 1970, following the breakup of the band.
Those expecting an album that equals, oh, anything since Help! will be disappointed. Let it Be is, by and large, filler and half-assed tracks from a band utterly burned out at the prospect of working with one another any longer. That said, it’s still the Beatles, so even the filler is better than 90% of the product released during the time. There are smash hits and folksy album tracks that make the album worth owning for even casual Beatles fans. It’s not exactly 35 minutes of stagnant material.
The album opener, “Two of Us,” is an upbeat Paul McCartney acoustic number with co-lead harmony vocals from John Lennon. Think Everly Brothers crossed with the Grateful Dead. Lennon’s “Dig a Pony” is second up, an equally lazy-sounding electric effort with a prominent bass line, nonsense lyrics and an infectious, shouted chorus. Nothing special, but I have a certain fondness for it nonetheless.
Lennon follows that with the gorgeous acoustic ballad “Across the Universe,” the album’s first real instance of Spector-meddling. The original recording was Lennon and a guitar, nothing more and nothing less. It was plaintive and emotional, simplistic and poignant. And Spector added strings and a choir to “ooh” and “aah.” This may bother you, it may not. It doesn’t bother me – the changes were subtle and supportive, and Lennon’s original performance is right there in the open.
George Harrison gets a word in edgewise with “I Me Mine,” a throwaway song almost doubled in length by Spector post-production (he loops the first verse twice) and featuring subtle additions from his backing choir. The verses are quiet, the choruses loud and ornate, and I like the whole thing. Then comes a 50-second excerpt of “Dig It,” a longish jam featured further in the movie (and on countless bootleg albums) with made-up spoken word from Lennon. Useless, in my opinion, and so is the 40-second false-start cover of Lennon (and, at times, McCartney) singing “Maggie Mae.”
Sandwiched between those throwaways – I’ve heard the theory that Lennon was trying to discredit McCartney with the placement – is the gorgeous title track. Again, we’ve got the Spector choir in full effect, in a version of the staple piano ballad that differs slightly from the version released to radio (and featured on Past Masters 2). Most notably, the guitar solo is harsher here, but it’s the same song you know and no doubt love.
Then there’s the McCartney-Lennon duet “I’ve Got a Feeling,” captured live from the rooftop concert. It’s a midtempo rocker of the organ-and-guitar variety, with flawed lead vocals buried in the mix. Same as “Dig a Pony,” this is filler but something I’ve heard so much since the age of 16 that I can’t dislike it. Same with “The One After 909,” a rollicking ‘50s-style composition that dates back to 1963 but never before made it onto an album.
McCartney’s other sap ballad, “The Long and Winding Road,” follows, and it’s been mutilated with every elevator music tactic Spector could think of. Granted, it’s an immediate precursor to the pillow-talk treacle of “My Love,” “No More Lonely Nights” and other embarrassing solo McCartney work, but the simple piano-and-bass version on Anthology 3 is much easier to stomach. “For You Blue,” the accompanying Harrison song on that double A-side single, is next up. This is a charming, folksy 12-bar throwaway with Lennon accompanying on an ultra-twangy slide guitar.
The album closes with “Get Back,” McCartney’s grassroots cautionary tale that features elaborate lead guitar work and a drum cadence from Ringo. The organ solo, from Billy Preston, is another highlight, and it serves as a reminder that the song’s funky B-side “Don’t Let Me Down,” would have improved the album immensely.
The four-star rating, like I said, betrays my belief that even a mediocre Beatles record is worth clinging to. In my opinion, “Two of Us,” “Across the Universe,” “I Me Mine,” “Let It Be,” “For You Blue” and “Get Back” are definitely worth inclusion into your music collection whether you’re a Beatles aficionado or not. But should this album be high up on your priorities list? Absolutely not.
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