Don't Let Me Down- The Beatles (Guitar Cover) Single Version

Thanks ‪@wmvansise8797‬ and Eric Mason for lending me this Fender Rosewood Telecaster!
#thebeatles #guitarcover #guitar
This is the studio version of Don't Let Me Down that was released as the B-side to Get Back, and was on the Hey Jude compilation album in 1970. It was not recorded live on the rooftop, but in the basement of 3 Savile Row on January 28th, 1969, two days before the famous rooftop concert
The song was recorded live in the studio, but John and Paul overdubbed their vocals later in February 1969. George Harrison's backing vocal was removed from this single release. The backing track consisted of a classic Beatles lineup- John on rhythm guitar, George on lead guitar, Ringo on drums, and Paul on his Hofner bass
John used his 1965 Epiphone Casino into a Fender Silverface Twin Reverb amp. Like many songs during these sessions, John was on the bridge pickup position and rolled the tone knob way down. This created a bassy drone, as heard on I've Got a Feeling and Dig a Pony. I'm using my 2021 Epiphone Casino USA into my 1974 Fender Silverface Pro Reverb. The tone knob is rolled down on the bridge pickup, and I'm using an Analogman King of Tone as a boost pedal
Here are my settings for John's guitar:
King of Tone- boost side
Pro Reverb- vibrato channel
Vol- 3.3
Treb- 6
Bass- 2.9
George used his 1968 Fender Rosewood Telecaster on the neck pickup into a Fender Twin Reverb. He used the vibrato channel's tremolo effect. I'm using a 2010's Fender made-in-japan Rosewood Telecaster into the '74 Pro Reverb's vibrato channel
Here are my settings for George's guitar:
Pro Reverb- vibrato channel
Vol- 3.1
Treb- 6.5
Bass- 3
Speed- 3.5
Intensity- 8.5
Interesting notes about their playing:
0:26 George plays the riff a hair late
0:53 George does a double stop B to Csharp but picks the higher strings instead
1:15 John plays F#m7 for first time, he does this for the rest of the choruses
My Gear:
2010's Fender MIJ Rosewood Telecaster
2021 Epiphone Casino USA Royal Tan
Analogman King of Tone
1974 Fender Pro Reverb
Neumann TLM-103
Thanks for watching! Please be sure to subscribe and check out my other Beatles covers
• My Sweet Lord- George ...
• While My Guitar Gently...
• Something- The Beatles...
• We Can Work It Out- Th...
• Eight Days A Week- The...
• Band On The Run- Paul ...
• You Never Give Me Your...
• Doctor Robert- The Bea...
• Help!- The Beatles (Gu...
• She Said She Said- The...
• Maybe I'm Amazed- Paul...
• I'm So Tired- The Beat...
• Every Little Thing- Th...
• What Is Life- George H...
• Norwegian Wood (This B...
• Here Comes the Sun- Th...
• Martha My Dear- The Be...
• What Goes On- The Beat...
• And Your Bird Can Sing...
• Yer Blues- The Beatles...
• Yer Blues- The Dirty M...
• Sun King/Mean Mr. Must...
• Oh! Darling- The Beatl...
• Ticket To Ride- The Be...
• Wah Wah- George Harris...
• I'd Have You Anytime- ...
• Glass Onion- The Beatl...
• I Me Mine- The Beatles...
• Handle With Care- Trav...
• If I Fell- The Beatles...
• Polythene Pam/She Came...
• Getting Better- The Be...
• Drive My Car- The Beat...
• I Will- The Beatles (G...
• She Loves You- The Bea...
• Yes It Is- The Beatles...
• Long, Long, Long- The ...
• Hey Bulldog- The Beatl...
• Bad Boy- The Beatles (...
• The Long and Winding R...
• Taxman- The Beatles (G...
• Honey Pie- The Beatles...
• Can't Buy Me Love- The...
• I Want To Tell You- Th...
• Good Morning Good Morn...
• I'll Follow The Sun- T...
• Awaiting on You All- G...
• Fixing a Hole- The Bea...
• Happiness Is a Warm Gu...
• A Quick One, While He'...
• When I Get Home- The B...
• How Do You Sleep?- Joh...
• I'm Down- The Beatles ...
• Octopus's Garden- The ...
• Crackerbox Palace- Geo...
• Savoy Truffle- The Bea...
• Tell Me What You See- ...
• Helter Skelter- The Be...
• Helter Skelter- The Be...
• Act Naturally- The Bea...
• Baby Blue- Badfinger (...
• The Kids Are Alright- ...
• Uncle Albert/Admiral H...
• Birthday- The Beatles ...
• It Won't Be Long- The ...
• Lady Madonna- The Beat...
• Good Day Sunshine- The...
• Nowhere Man- The Beatl...
• You Know What To Do- T...
• One After 909- The Bea...
• Honey Don't- The Beatl...
• All I've Got To Do- Th...
• I Am The Walrus- The B...
• I'll Cry Instead- The ...
• Day After Day- Badfing...
• Crippled Inside- John ...
• Don't Let Me Wait Too ...
• Kansas City/Hey, Hey, ...
• That Means A Lot- The ...
• The Night Before- The ...
• If You've Got Trouble-...
• Pure and Easy- The Who...
• Well Well Well- John L...
• Hello, Goodbye- The Be...
• The Third Man Theme- T...
• Love Her Madly- The Do...
• Baba O'Riley- Played o...
• I Feel Fine- The Beatl...
• I Like It- Gerry and t...
• Rosalita (Come Out Ton...
• Out in the Street- Bru...

[@sampopkin]

Thanks for watching! If you liked what you saw and want to support my channel, donate here www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=WL8PBB68GBZU6

[@CraigfromLA]

George Harrison was not credited as a writer on "Don't Let Me Down," but his guitar playing is one of several reasons it's one of the greatest love songs of all time.

[@seagullshame]

George’s part is the definition of taste

[@GaryBook]

It is in the Key of E. George uses the C# minor pentatonic box for solo riffs. It is amazing how they made a two chord song sound so full. John just plays F# m to an E. George’s guitar embellishment and John’s vocal give the song it’s range. The four of them together created something bigger.

[@oldschool1107]

It also has a B7 so it's a 3 chord song but your point still stands

[@milan5079]

I'm a novice in learning theory, can you explain how its possible to solo in c# in a Ekey song?

[@neilbeacher17]

@@milan5079 I believe the C#minor pentatonic scale contains the same notes as the Emajor pentatonic scale. The ‘tone’ of the scale is determined by which note you use as the root and resolve to - either the C# or the E.

[@yurimilanchik4315]

@@milan5079 Честно говоря,тоже не очень понимаю,но это же Битлз ! Они ставили в тупик многих композиторов и музыкальных критиков...Видимо,им подвластно всё..

[@sampopkin]

@@milan5079he’s right, that the main riff and George’s lead notes are mostly C#min pentatonic (5 note scale). Which is the same as an Emaj pentatonic scale. But he also plays an A note a lot, which is not pentatonic it’s major scale

[@claudefazio]

George's double-stop licks during the main verse are sublime.

[@shocko77]

Man all those nuances on georges part Amazing

[@josephsimon534]

George was so underated it's a dam shame Paul use to tell him what to play. When George was a much better guitarist than Paul by far. It's George's leads that make the Beatles song beautiful. Thank you George your very much missed

[@mungofinalfi4480]

@@josephsimon534 *you're

[@spencerclemenson4744]

@@mungofinalfi4480 you're insufferable

[@AFaceintheCrowd01]

@@josephsimon534*underrated, *damn, *used to

[@Apo458]

The vibrato always makes me feel comfortable

[@cbee9814]

Some of George’s guitar work here reminds me of his funky guitar bits on Now and Then. Am I crazy? Great cover!

[@scat3040]

So much space for the bass, keys and vocals here. Such sympathetic players and arrangers. To think of where they were with this song a couple of weeks before and to then come up with maybe their greatest performance as a group... incredible

[@ric8248]

The tone is just perfect, l don't think you can have a better cover than this. l love how George's lead guitar is so reminiscent of Lennon's solo career, this track has the sound of Plastic Ono Band or Walls and Bridges.

[@everythingpotatoversion1201]

I always love George contribution to this song, especially the verse part.. which I always love to play it on guitar

[@JesusVazquez-jz2qm]

Todo tan (aparentemente) simple, pero tan hermoso. Y si luego sumamos la batería de Ringo y la forma de cantar de John y las armonías de Paul, construían los cuatro juntos una gran canción basados en (otra vez) algo tan simple. Asombroso.

[@christianenriquez1603]

Omg!!! I was awaiting this one anxiously!!! Thank soooo very much for covering to perfection this amazing, timeless classic!! Hopefully you can cover “Dig a Pony” and “I’ve Got a Feeling” maybe next?? 👀😩

[@cruzmorales1650]

Amazing as always. george’s lead work on this song has always had a spot in my heart as one of my favourites, absolutely astounding!!

[@alainraux5075]

Ce guitariste a les plus belles guitares au monde . C'est un vrai bonheur de voir en détail le travail des Beatles .

[@arcefelipe17]

Love the beatles, but specially their last albums, just timeless masterpieces

[@johndoe-xu5fk]

their last album was abbeyroad

[@savffle]

Perfect man, I gotta say you play George's parts with absolute precision!

[@BobbyNutt]

Amazing video! Every video you do, George’s guitar parts just blow me away, subtle but perfect

[@thebottles3153]

Great bit on George he used his Middle Finger to pick the other strings like what he did on the Rooftop and the All my loving solo.

[@randallpinkfloyd]

This is my grandmother’s favorite song by them, and you did it justice

[@louispacetime1576]

The attention to detail is what makes you the greatest Beatles cover channel on yt 🙌

[@sampopkin]

❤️

[@beatlesfan2884]

@@sampopkinAre you going to put a Bigsby on your Casino?

[@sampopkin]

Yes

[@JacobKMusics]

One of the finest Sam Popkin covers…EVER

[@alexgrantham4747]

George's playing is astounding. All taste and restraint.

[@theloniouscoltrane3778]

Music lessons are both aural and visual. Tabs/chord shapes on screen are of great help. May your generosity come back to you hundredfold. We appreciate your talent and efforts. Thanks ❤

[@williamnantz571]

Those guys were absolutely amazing,incredible artists. Everything is about the song, no screaming leads or fills. Just perfect art.

[@theborba1970]

Obrigado, Sam. Estava ansioso por esta canção. Se possível, faça Oh My Love. Saudações do Brasil ✌🏼🇧🇷

[@charanguitoandino]

Please do Dig a pony!!! I really would love to see the parts George played, they are absolutely brillant! thank's in advance.

[@xthatghomiex2939]

Maaaan, you're pulling some gorgeous tones out of those guitars

[@ibaanomali]

Aahh the tone of guitar, really catch the vibe

[@johnlindsay3820]

George so underrated on this track - really makes it with his imaginative fills and embellishments- always ‘tasteful’ as ever

[@grandpagreybeard6719]

Pure excellence! Thanks for including the guitar and amp settings. Love it!

[@adrianatienzo293]

That tone 😮

[@aydanneilson-bourke7378]

that guitar will never fail to make me awe everytime I look at it. gotta hear dig a pony and maxwells silver hammer with that beast sometime!

[@alanalfonso6620]

Amazing!! What about Free as Bird? I would love to hear those guitars!!

[@flavio5845]

Your videos make my day. Thank You!!

[@guitargearconnection]

Love it! Sounds just like the recording!

[@TheBeatCovers]

How did you do it 5 days ago?

[@NWStuff-yl5jm]

​@@TheBeatCoverspaying fans

[@centoeberhardt1663]

Been waiting for such a long time for this one.😍😍It’s one of my all time favs, John‘s vocal is so awesome.🥲🥲

[@alessandromog5208]

Beautiful 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@michaelgutman4910]

When I watch your videos, I enjoy it and I am blown away at the same time

[@beatlesrcool13]

Sam, thank you for this. I have been waiting for about 7 or 8 months for this cover and you absolutely NAILED it.

[@BeatlesCentricUniverse]

Been waiting for your version. Just wow.

[@dixofficial4157]

Sounds amazing ✨✨✨ Bravo!!!

[@milan5079]

Amazing

[@waynerd9026]

That was so good.

[@jjmag3107]

Beautiful

[@brandonkew9122]

Another top notch performance. Amazing job.

[@michelottaviani3296]

Congrats for your great job!

[@generalkrow]

Another great cover as always

[@JohnnyMoondog.]

One of my favorite Beatles songs, and you absolutely nailed it!!! Amazing job!!!👍

[@aminahmed2220]

Absolutely fantastic ❤😊

[@basementbeatle]

Fantastic work Sam!

[@mariovillar2565]

Your best cover by now

[@EmanuelMendoza-pv5mf]

Great cover, as always. I'm looking forward to a get back cover

[@emmanuelgalan]

Amazing tone

[@rodrigocecchetto]

Exceptional!

[@TheBeatCovers]

Great cover!

[@pierreparent9448]

Great video production, Sam. Your cover with two guitars is awesome !

[@wasapelidylan2342]

GOOODDDD 👌👌👌🙏👌🙏👌🙏👌

[@custela5460]

Good job, man

[@jurgengosch3915]

Nice work, brother.

[@tbwatch88]

what insane beauty from the Tele-man himself. wow.

[@stephenbrumlow931]

Awesome cover of one of my favorites! I’d love to see a bass cover too.

[@lightmcc9182]

Increible tema, es increíble como la canción es tan simple en acordes con adornos hermosos, los fab four definitivamente tenian una magia increíble, espeeo puedas traer cobers de rubber soul saludos de Perú 🇵🇪

[@Mick_Ts_Chick]

Me too. I love Rubber Soul!

[@robbnasinovish]

This sounds familiar....... Happy holiday Sam and thanks for giving us these great covers all year 🙏

[@BuenosTARDIS]

Im singing over here..🗣DOONT LET ME DOOWNN!!.. incidentally, your covers never let us down either

[@sampopkin]

Thanks🥹 I’m obsessed with your profile pic. I’m a huge Tolkien nerd

[@BuenosTARDIS]

@@sampopkin thanks! My favorite writer ever! It's too bad we never got the Beatles adaptation of LOTR. I hear Paul was going to be Frodo 🤣

[@sampopkin]

@@BuenosTARDIS yeah george as Gandalf, John as Sméagol. Would’ve been incredible haha

[@pd2865]

Great Fender amp

[@anubrotodasgupta6788]

nice one sam

[@MattRieger-ll5ow]

Georges little pentatonic lick reminds me of a Hendrix type of fill

[@eastontanner6919]

Considering the title says "Single Version", I really hope to see a "Rooftop/ Live" version, definitely prefer that over the Single version, but either way, great song, and great video

[@mmoney3523]

The drumming for both this version and the naked version are different, but both so fun to play

[@AudioDendron]

Amazing! Have you thought about covering George’s electric guitar part on the long and winding road Naked? I don’t think I’ve seen a single cover of it on KZbin.

[@sampopkin]

Yes. I’m trying to knock out as many covers with the rosewood tele while I have it. That’s one of them

[@sambakery2006]

Could you please whenever you can do 'Heading for the Light' by The Traveling Wilburys. It's my favorite Wilburys song and really love the guitars in it. Would love to know more about it and you're videos sure do teach me basically everything about the musicality of every song you :)

[@sampopkin]

Love that song! Definitely expect a lot of Wilburys covers soon

[@sambakery2006]

@@sampopkin Thank you very much, really appreciated. Can't wait :)

[@ymtek4]

Awesome! Can you do Magical Mystery Tour next one?

[@_pink1979]

For a moment i thought listened to ‘Sun King’ and ‘Octopus’s Garden’, almost twins

[@harrisonho8934]

Awesome cover, Sam! Do you intend to do the rooftop version as well? Either way, looking forward to more Get Back/Let It Be covers from you!

[@sampopkin]

I’m borrowing the telecaster, so I’m not sure how many songs I’ll get to. Hope to do a few rooftop ones though!

[@benjamini8146]

😎🎹😎🎸🎤 😎🎸🎤 😎🎸🎤. 😎🎸

[@elirosen1391]

Does it seem strange to you that John's vocals are doubletracked in the bridge? Apart from I Me Mine, this seems to be the only other Let it Be era track that breaks the no overdubbing rule they had set in place.

[@sampopkin]

Yeah I wish they had kept some of the original vocals from Jan 28. Like george’s harmonies. The let it be naked might be the best version, because it mixes the two rooftop takes together

[@elirosen1391]

@@sampopkin It's amazing how they were able to combine the takes so seamlessly. Prior to seeing Get Back, I actually didn't know they were from two separate takes.

[@BeatleMark85]

From a rhythm guitar perspective this is a pretty easy one to play, although beginners might struggle with the B7. 😁

[@1237Noah]

can you do the anthology version of While My Guitar Gently Weeps?

[@leonardoandstop-motion974]

Can you do (Old Brown shoe) by the Beatles

[@Yorkie285]

She's leaving home??????

[@nicholassakamoto2455]

What kind of strings are on the rosewood Tele?

[@sampopkin]

I’m not sure, I was borrowing. They seemed like roundwound 10’s or 11’s

[@ilijadimitrovski1789]

How do you get your sound ?

[@sampopkin]

It’s got to be real tube amps, condenser microphones, good interface and eq/compression plug-ins

[@hamueramusic]

Sounded literally the exact same as the original

[@samuelmalheiro4193]

I have a Telecaster too, but even i have some good pedal effects, i can't make the sound that the George guitar's make, what kind of effects that u use?

[@sampopkin]

Using my analogman king of tone as a slight boost into my silverface 1974 pro reverb amp. Which has the vibrato channel (tremolo effect). Also, mic’ing the amp with a nice condenser helps

[@samuelmalheiro4193]

@@sampopkin thank u!

[@benjamini8146]

Beatles billy

[@LorelaiLore]

😄

[@zappa6366]

really nice neck on that Tele, what wood is it?

[@sampopkin]

It’s a cheaper mij rosewood tele. I’m sure not all of it is really rosewood, it’s got a plasticky black back of neck

[@zappa6366]

thank you, gorgeous guitar. Gonna try play this on my Casino, keep it authentic haha@@sampopkin

[@larrypeek-it7yo]

Hey Sam shouldn't you go to the rooftop to make this cover

[@madhavlamba9983]

I swear to god John was also playing a F#m 7 in his rhythm playing on the rooftop concert. Did he not in the studio?

[@sampopkin]

Not until 1:16 Otherwise it’s just a normal F#m

[@madhavlamba9983]

@@sampopkin Ah! thanks. I remember seeing John switching to F#m 7 during the "Oh, she does" line in the the rooftop concert video so I thought that he might have done same in the studio recording. Probably did it differently there. Thanks for the clarification.

[@Axeljuega-oi8fn]

I have a question, what is the rhythm of John's guitar?

[@sampopkin]

Sorry, what do you mean?

[@KennyG_420]

If anyone can give me the tabs for the bridge part, I would really appreciate that, I wanna learn that part so bad… Help! 😂

[@sampopkin]

Message me on insta. I can either do paid zoom lessons or pay for tabs

[@KennyG_420]

I messaged you… No Reply 😢…

[@sampopkin]

@@KennyG_420 didn’t see it?

[@isaiah.fabela]

bruh😭

[@ClairvoyantEntertainment]

Biblical.

[@williamnantz571]

George got screwed on a lot of credits . Too bad business interfered with the music . Still it is amazing. Timeless.

[@williamnantz571]

I’ve run into young people who have never heard of the Beatles. I told them everything they hear is influenced by their music, Except rap which is of course not music. After the Beatles,every genre of music was influenced by the Beatles.

[@magraretsbane6274]

Man I’m not even a rap guy and I think you’re full of shit, music is undying history and it requires the context of its time and place. Deciding what is and is not music is a slippery slope towards censorship. The Beatles influenced a wide swath of music but nobody can inspire everything.