🍏 GEORGE MARTIN on The Beatles' LET IT BE album 🍏

[@aBeatleFan4ever]

One of the great lines of all time by George Martin: "Produced by George Martin - over-produced by Phil Spector".

[@erix1971]

Absolutely brilliant statement… hit the nail right on the head!

[@1967PONTIACGTO]

George Martin was the perfect producer for the Beatles... what a beautiful act of fate that the five of them got together

[@brinsonharris9816]

Gotta love that dry Brit wit.

[@ROOKTABULA]

I always wonder if spending so much time with a gun toting Amerikan psycho meant John's fate was unavoidable? If only he'd let Nixon send him back to UK.

[@Price70]

More like properly produced by Spector. You think GM was going to go through the mess of reels and reels of tape? Plus, Long and Winding Road is a drag without the strings, that make it a dramatic song.

[@Al59redux]

The last words are pure gold

[@HumbleTrader001]

Those last words were funny but true.

[@PlaysWithChildren]

@Alejandro González Overproduced by Phil Spector Lol

[@SurreyMan0409]

George was absolutely right - the production was awful. Let It Be - Naked was better, but not perfect. I hope one day there will be a decent version, maybe a double album. Or maybe it’s too late.

[@reijosalminen7502]

@@SurreyMan0409 I like Let It Be LP as it was 1970, only wish that they had include Don't Let Me Down in it. That was a miss.

[@SurreyMan0409]

@@reijosalminen7502 I agree. But the dreadful Long And Winding Road orchestra, the pointless editing of Let It Be and I Me Mine, the female voices on Across The Universe are all big flaws.

[@jlr022159]

“Overproduced by Phil Spector“… George really nailed it

[@buffalobraves9]

George Martin always spoke the truth. No exaggeration, no slanting the story his way. It was always the truth of how things went when George spoke. A brilliant man. The Beatles would have never had the success they had without him. He was the only true 5th Beatle.

[@mrfester42]

How do YOU know he always spoke the truth? Do you know him personally? To think the Beatles wouldn't have been successful without him is nothing more than speculation. There's every reason to believe that they would have succeeded without him.

[@TheJayson8899]

What ridiculous remarks.

[@mrfester42]

@@TheJayson8899 Really? What exactly is ridiculous about it?

[@buffalobraves9]

LOL, there's always that one guy.

[@macharper8214]

"None of your production rubbish" John said to George Martin. It was George Martin's "production rubbish" that made songs like "Strawberry Fields Forever' and "I am The Walrus" unforgettable. It made "A Day In The Life" and the whole second side of "Abbey Road" super unforgettable. John was a great songwriter but as a person he was a bit of an a-hole. Didn't like to acknowledge greatness in others. That's why he pissed on Paul most of the time. He always felt threatened. The I'm just a jealous guy type.

[@canalesworks1247]

Dead on. John was a great songwriter but an A hole at the same time.

[@damndirtyape1363]

To johns credit he did acknowledge his jealousy and other negative traits

[@azapro911]

I get where Lennon was coming from, they didn't want Get Back to be a strings and lavish production album. Ironically of course, when Let It Be came out a year later, John heaped praise on Spector drowning it in the Wall of Sound.

[@matthewleslie4448]

I suspected John's heroin addiction at the time was clouding his thought process somewhat. He'd come off it by the time he passed the record to someone else for editing/prouducing.

[@bassinblue]

He wasn't talking about John Lennon, he was talking about Glyn Johns.

[@LennyJohnson5]

Sir George was a suave and good looking cove when he was young… it doesn’t surprise me that he was given a screen test for James Bond. A brilliant producer, of course.

[@canalesworks1247]

He would have made the perfect M or Q.

[@sarahtonin4649]

Sometimes George Martin is my favorite Beatle.

[@sess122]

Agree, to a point. Still, no one would have EVER known who George Martin was if it weren't for the Fab Four.

[@rodnyg7952]

you likely appreciate the 'father figure role' he was required to assume with regard to the other four children

[@sarahtonin4649]

@@rodnyg7952 No, I appreciate the fact that he was a brilliant producer and composer.

[@rodnyg7952]

@@sarahtonin4649 well, he was able to show some brilliance with what he had. Without the four children, most likely wouldn't know who he ever was. Fact is before The Beatles Martin produced various comedy/novelty records for BBC & Parlophone. Most people today wouldn't know any of it.

[@sarahtonin4649]

@@sess122 Actually, no one would ever have heard of The Beatles without George Martin.

[@patricksmith4424]

Great interview with George Martin. I never knew the whole story behind let it be, and why Spector got involved. It showed real cracks in the beatles then when John wanted to do things differently. George Martin had lost control so it was in danger of trashing beatle quality, and in a way this happened with Let it be. Thank God they all got back together in unity to do Abbey Road, which showed team beatles at it it's best. They were becoming so divergent by then it doesn't look like another classic beatles album would have been possible anyway.

[@stephenking3356]

The Let It Be Naked album is a real improvement over the original Let It Be (which I bought on vinyl and enjoyed when it first came out). The Naked album seems more cohesive as a finished product, plus it is more true to the stripped down concept The Beatles originally agreed to for the album, without the Spector embellishments and the odd little bits like Maggie Mae and the snippet of Dig It, which are replaced, as they should have been originally, by Don't Let Me Down, one of the best songs from those sessions.

[@jamesdrynan]

I agree! Spector had his day with his Motown " wall of sound " in the early sixties. His hot mess on McCartney's songs were embarrassingly bad. I think Martin would have liked seeing Jackson's " Get Back. "

[@peach495]

Once I heard the Naked version I got rid of the original.

[@andrewyoung2796]

After 30 yrs of the original. I miss the Beatleisms. Queen says no etc

[@aliofly]

I agree, Let It Be Naked is brilliant

[@just_ben1951]

Phil Spector version is better, but I never liked the odd bits between songs.

[@NotWorthIt9]

It took a guy this cool to go out on a limb and bring us the greatest band in the world.

[@ahones2255]

I bought this album the day it came out and found it as exciting as the rest of the Beatles' albums. I never stopped to think about Martin or Spector, they were the Beatles and that was enough, for me it was pure emotion.

[@mindartis4081]

This explains so much about everything in the Let It Be documentary. Nice summary

[@jaktek4242]

Let it Be Naked really got me to start liking that album again. It was always down near the bottom of my fav list, along with the Movie. Now it’s in my top five to listen to. Cheers to Paul, Ringo and Giles to get that version produced and back to its roots. I just wish it wasn’t a “boutique” album. They should have made it an official release. Glad I got the vinyl before it skyrocketed in price.

[@jaymoore2738]

Have you seen "Get Back"? It tells a better and more truthful tale.

[@jaktek4242]

@@jaymoore2738 of course I did. It was fantastic. I also have the Let It Be remix with the Glyn Johns mix of “Get Back.” Still prefer Naked.

[@dekugh64]

Boutique album?

[@Guitarman19566]

Much better than the original lp. Couldn’t believe I got my vinyl for 15.99 with the cd.

[@spiritualarchitect4276]

Notice that George said there were fights during the recording. The Beatles arguments have been edited out of the “Get Back” film. Specifically what happens on the Blu-ray between 1:34:00 and 1:36:00 on Disc 1, Chapter 6. We see the Director Hogg say that this may be the last filmed Beatle show. Ringo responds that he is only saying that because he has just been watching the Beatles arguing. But Ringo says it may not be their last show because the Beatles have been arguing “for the last 18 months.” Right after that we find out that John and Paul have had a big argument. But we DO NOT SEE any of that. All we see comes a few minutes later when George quits the group. We do not see WHY George quits; we just see him walk off. Did George and John trade punches over Yoko? Did George get really mad at Paul? We still do not know because all of the Beatle arguing has been edited out. But we know it really happened because the Beatles have told us these sessions left a sour taste in their mouth for years. And George Martin here just confirmed it.

[@Mokkari77]

I think their memories of those sessions have been conflated with the later business disagreements over Allen Klein and then the breakup. The movie came out right when the breakup officially was announced abd the ensuing legal battles. If there had been serious arguments the mood and atmosphere would be very different in the Get Back dicumentary. The sad thing is the breakup may not have been inevitable as we alk thought for years.

[@pauldavies5611]

Interesting how John didn’t want any “production rubbish” and yet was ok with Spector’s sappy work.

[@eamonnmaccionnaith5761]

He was always easily led.

[@humanbeing5300]

John changed his mind alot

[@geomac53]

The Phil Spector original Let it Be album is what I was brought up with. I've never had any problems with it. Naked is fine, but I kinda like the Spector orchestra production and all his over dub bits.

[@tutortle1820]

​@Noah-gq7pqpaul isn't wrong. Whatever Phil did, make the song better or not. The Beatles agreed that no editing will happen on that album, just really a "live" songs. John broke it

[@rossdelain1645]

In Peter Jackson's Get Back, you see them record 'Long And Winding Road' for the first time . Harrison asked Paul "Are you going to have string on it "? Paul responds "Hmm I dont know.." that was not a definite NO from Paul. That tells me Phil Spector had the right idea all along.

[@m.ceniza4688]

It’s alright. I guess that Paul didn’t like it so much with the choir singing and all, but it did need a bit of clothes, after having a listen of Naked’s version. An instrumental pair of socks and some undies at most. The orchestra could have been a quartet instead.

[@sess122]

The popular music world's "perfect storm" of brilliance and genius.

[@mplsmark222]

This is fantastic, I clicked on this looking for information on Spector’s time producing the Beatles. I got the story from the man himself, Mr. Martin.

[@KatharineShaw-z8u]

I remember buying the original vinyl release of Let it Be back in the 70s and remember the Apple press notes at the back of the cover which said something like "this is a new phase Beatle recording.." What a con job that was from Apple. They knew the Beatles was over by then in May 1970. As of the album produced by Phil Spector --- it is what it is -- not great but not bad either. I don't know how George Martin could ever have made it sound any better as good as he was.

[@andrewmacleod4218]

I read in a comment section elsewhere that previous to recording Let it Be, the New York Times ran a story saying George Martin was the real mastermind behind the Beatles. Martin said at the time that although flattered by the article, it was absolutely untrue. However the damage had been done, and the Beatles (immaturely in my opinion) took umbrage at this and froze him out. It was only for Abbey Road that he was given back his role in the driver's seat.

[@mcarp555]

I doubt the Beatles gave any notice to whatever the NYT said.

[@briansprenger5578]

The new Giles Martin mix is my favorite version. It takes Spector's embellishments & for the most part makes them more subtle, to where they truly serve the recordings instead of drown them in schmaltz.

[@quiricomazarin476]

How would you rank let it be original / get back original / get back now released as part of new let it be/ naked / & let it be redone @ #'s 1-5?

[@TheJayson8899]

Takes away from the grit of the guitars, though. To me it’s less rocky.

[@nrusso967]

Sir George Martin always told the truth! Spector was not necessary at all!

[@stevesnellgrove1518]

The Beatles needed George Martin 👍🎵👍

[@BarryPennock]

By far the best ones are the live sounding ones. I knew that even before I heard any of this. I must be very clever!

[@gabrielmoreno9455]

Let it be is a great album and I have a few arguments for that. Here they are: Two of Us, Dig a Pony, Across the Universe, I Me Mine, Let it Be, I've Got a Feeling, One After 909, The Long and Widing Road, For You Blue and Get Back. Surely no one would put it above Abbey Road or Sgt. Pepper's, but still a strong album anyway. Some bands would just kill to have songs half this quality, and they will never achieve that. Many "great" albums over there, are not even close to it, and still considered great. Let it be... naked is a weird attempt to change history, but still great, because the songs are great. Even Phil Spector worst decisions couldn't take the shine out of the songs. The Long and Widing Road has cheesy, soapy orchestration? Still a great song! Surely better without it, but song is still great. For me, I prefer the Let it be from 1970, it sounds alive, it captures the recording environment, almost sound like a documentary, Let it Be... Naked is also good but sounds dead, too clean, it has no "life" as the original album. It is too tidy up and controlled, it doesn't "breathe" like the original.

[@michaelmcclelland2896]

Is there a version without Phil’s bullshit strings? I have the original lp and the new lp. It’s on both.

[@ze_rubenator]

@@michaelmcclelland2896 Check out the 2013 remaster of "Let it be... naked." You can find the whole album on KZbin.

[@michaelmcclelland2896]

@@ze_rubenator thanks for that. I actually used to own that cd. I completely forgot about that.

[@steveneardley7541]

I think it's the lack of respect shown by Lennon to George Martin that is so irritating. He was too old to be acting like a shitty teenager.

[@canalesworks1247]

It's a great Paul album.

[@soundshaper]

If they hadn't been in such a rush to get things done before Ringo had his gig acting on the Magic Christian, they could've just practiced first, regrouped after Ringo's shoot then prepared for a 14-song concert in April 1969, possibly with a couple of older tracks thrown in for fun like that updated Love Me Do they were playing around with. Oh, what might have been. Still we got a lot from the Beatles, no complaints here.

[@robbhahn8897]

I can switch back and forth between the albums and find things I like about both of them. Perhaps one of the best things about the naked album is they have removed all the dirty little comments John and Phil Spector crammed in before Paul's best songs, Two of Us and Let It Be.

[@tonyhemphill5366]

As much as i love Let It Be the "naked album" without Phil Spector's dirty hands on it is a far better album, without all those strings and fucking choirs, i think this is the way the Beatles wanted it to be just listen to "The long and winding road" on both albums and hear the difference without Spector's shite all over it, it's a fab album and how they did this in less than a month is just mind blowing.

[@TigerRogers0660]

Overall, i don't like what Spector did to the album. One exception - "I Me Mine". Extending it was a great choice & the little embellishments he made were good. But including "Dig It" & "Maggie Mae"?? What was he thinking?? "Don't Let Me Down" should've been on there instead.

[@samsowden]

I like Dig It personally, though I wish a fuller version had been left on. I don't mind maggie mae either. But I agree that leaving Don't Let Me Down off it was terrible.

[@thebarryman]

Totally agree with you. Though I think he could have held off on the orchestration until the second verse, but that's nitpicking. Basically I agree, Spector's contributions to I Me Mine were nice but were awful on the other tracks. Actually I don't mind how his mix of For You Blue sounds either.

[@johnharrison9685]

Produced by George Martin, somewhat produced by Glyn Johns, over-produced by Phil Spectre.

[@BigSky1]

Or even ‘Spector’

[@johnharrison9685]

@@BigSky1 I misspelled it intentionally, like a ghost, spirit, entity presiding over the Get Back project. I think it is pretty obvious.

[@donna25871]

That last line is pure gold.

[@sentimentalbloke185]

Although it is purely McCartney's interpretation (and it was produced using 21st century equipment) the Naked version seems much closer to the original 1969 conception of the album than the canonical Spector-produced version. Also, it has Don't Let me Down & loses nothing when the other two tracks were deleted.

[@YorkyOne]

Mmmm... it was Glyn Johns who was tasked with trying to make a coherent album out of the mess and despite several attempts he never managed to come up with something the Beatles liked. After that the tapes sat on a shelf until after Abbey Road was completed and only then was Spector brought in.

[@papwithanhatchet902]

What a kick it is to know their efforts ended up being wildly successful... only 50 years later. “Get Back” is amazing and exactly what they were striving to accomplish.

[@mikoviza5492]

Billy's artwork is very notable at Get Back. It lives.

[@janicestevens8469]

What a mess the whole process of Let It Be was for those involved. Someone needed to step up to direct/produce and tell everyone else that’s how it’s going to be. Certainly, out of 23 takes of a song, you could have gotten a good record out of it and let the live be whatever it was. Everyone was so afraid of stepping on everyone’s toes, but that’s what needed to happen. Someone needed to take charge and say, “we’re going to be here all year if we don’t work together and compromise”. “Let’s put egos aside and work this out.” And lastly, “Yoko, stay home.” She was annoying, sauntering up to the crew, asking questions, getting her hands on the microphone at every chance, fawning all over John when he was in conversations with other people. Anyone who said she didn’t have a part in the stress didn’t pay attention.

[@tutortle1820]

"He (Paul) was furious, so was I" -George Martin I think the only Spector's version I like is Long and winding road, across the universe, I me mine. But when you listen to naked version after the original let it be, naked just take it all

[@paulhuckle6527]

I love the Giles Martin remix! Especially, 'Across the Universe'. Great album!

[@nedgrant918]

Lennon was a rock ‘n roll guy and loved to play live and couldn’t handle what the Beatles had become, never able to play concerts or clubs again… according to his interview in Rolling Stone.

[@mcarp555]

Paul tried and failed to get the band back on the road; it was John & George who wouldn't tour.

[@nedgrant918]

@@mcarp555 They’d had enough of McCartney calling the shots, which is how it would have been. They got out from under McCartney, went solo and found their voices. Lennon finally did live shows again. So did Harrison: “Concert for Bangladesh”.

[@mcarp555]

@@nedgrant918 John played one-shot gigs like the "One to One" charity concert in NYC. George did do the Bangladesh concert. Paul meanwhile, put a band together and toured UK universities, then slowly built the band up touring Europe and had a huge US/world tour in the late 70's. Where were John & George? George did a badly received US tour in 1974 and never toured again until Japan in the 90's. While they may have wanted to call their own shots as solo artists without McCartney's influence, it's just wrong to say they wanted to gig and Paul prevented that. The truth was quite the opposite.

[@nedgrant918]

I can remember, in 1970, all my rock fan friends hated that album, spoke of it in derision. Great time to be into Jazz Fusion, above the fray.

[@ilferrari]

The whole project was misconceived. Making a great album requires months in a music studio, not three weeks on a film set with cameras and people swarming around.

[@dannyvine3605]

Well in that 3-4 weeks the Beatles had songs for Let It Be and new songs that were later on the Abbey Road album. Add in that there were also a few songs that ended up on George and Paul's solo albums!. Amazing really!

[@janicestevens8469]

I do agree!

[@kenkinnally6144]

Yeah amazing still of course, because almost everything they did as a band was amazing. But it's still true that the project in some ways was misconceived.

[@wilhelmhagberg8854]

Let It Be is a pretty disappointing album and I guess people rather blame Spector than admit the Beatles did something less than stellar.

[@buskman3286]

I like long and winding road better on the naked album. BUT when I want to listen to the entire album as opposed to only that song, I play the Spector version.

[@manny4552]

Well Said

[@ronnyvonallmen6892]

My Favorite Late Era Beatles Album…

[@RubyBandUSA]

clever witty comment at the very end there by Geo. Martin

[@welshlad6427]

Legend.

[@HumanNamedChristian]

Rip goat

[@manusmcgrogan3495]

This is an important rejoinder to the Peter Jackson picture(s) that Let It Be was a happy album. George Martin was an astute observer and would know better than the rest that this was not a happy album, in its conception, execution and (over)production ... and that it was a (further) step twds the break up of the band. Get Back the movie(s) is (still) great but I think it distorts the history somewhat

[@whathappenedtoclaudio]

Excellent point

[@manusmcgrogan3495]

@@whathappenedtoclaudio Watching Get Back you wouldn't know that there had been "rows" between members of the band, as George Martin puts it. It's good that Jackson shows there were many moments of levity and bonhomie, but I never saw one row. That instance of tension between Paul and George over how and what to play is the only instance of real friction, to my recollection. Apparently they were back in the studio only 3 weeks after finishing the Let it Be/Get Back sessions working on what would become Abbey road; both Martin and Starr say in the anthology that they all knew this would be their last hurrah.

[@knockedoutloaded279]

@@manusmcgrogan3495 The Beatles thought about recording another aalbum after Abbey Road, their rows were nothing compared to modern bands,,,,,,they should have reunited every 3 or 4 years.......

[@as-ep7ev]

In Peter Jackson's documentary you don't see happiness... I don't know why people says that. You can clearly see how things were falling apart. Lennon seems to be totally detached at the beginning, stoned almost all the time, better towards the end but he is involved with Yoko and doesn't give a fuck about the beatles. George leaves! Paul seems to be the only one who keeps trying, but with his partner gone, there is only George left, whom Paul does not respect as an equal, and the problem is that George does not respect Paul as his boss, anymore. In fact, he doesn't respect The Beatles either, like in that scene when they talk about their trip to India, and George says that if they had learned the lesson, to be theirselves, the real selves, they would not be The Beatles in the first place. No reply from the others. It is amazing to see them arguing, writing music, joking, like we could never do, but if I had watched this in 1969, it would have been sad, because as you do it, it is obvious that the band was broken.

[@speedy3702]

I don't think that the point of the "Get Back" documentary was to paint the Let It Be as a "happy album", but just to show that the environment wasn't as bad as portrayed in the previous "Let It Be" documentary and to show that even in bad times they still managed to have a productive working environment. Keep also in mind that when someone like George Martin commented about the Let It Be production he was comparing it relatively to the production of most of the other albums, where the band members were much closer. Or to put it in other words. If the Beatles managed to have so many brilliant moments in times when they were about to fall apart, just imagine how their working chemistry must have been when they all were still close.

[@julianmarsh8384]

Yep. Same sort of thing with the Doors 'Soft Parade" lp...later released without all the horns and strings and for most songs, a marked improvement...

[@robertdevoy3119]

I didn't know about that version of Soft Parade. I would like to get it. What should I look for?

[@MrTCHOSS]

Frankly... I think Spector's overdubs are better on some songs. I Me Mine, sounds great with that organ in the verse. Other songs, Spector didn't mix as well... I felt he had Billy Preston to low on some of the songs. Overall, whichever way you go... Spector version or Naked version, still a pretty damn good album from start to finish.

[@ytnsanw]

I don't think that the organ on I Me Mine, was a Spector overdub. That was the original version, as played by the band and Billy Preston live in the studio. The Spector overdubs were the strings and choirs on Across The Universe, Let It Be and a few others.

[@MrTCHOSS]

@@ytnsanw "When preparing the album for release, producer Phil Spector extended the track [I Me Mine] by repeating the chorus and second verse, in addition to adding orchestration and a female choir." according to Wiki

[@joaod.andradecosme5869]

I Me Mine was recorded on January 1970 and the organ was played by Paul. Billy Preston was not there.

[@spactick]

they should have asked Brian Wilson to produce it, because he was 'the' master of the studio (as an instrument) at that time. He could have saved the album from mediocrity

[@bls8959]

He couldnt even save his own band from mediocrity at the time lol

[@MrPicklerwoof]

That's the problem with the Long and Winding Road in particular; The Beatles absolutely didn't want it to be bastardised like that, therefore it wasn't The Beatles. It ended up being a Phil Spector fan-edit of a Beatles song shoved on to a Beatles album, with no consent given by John & Paul. They were powerless to stop it, which seems crazy now. Authenticity is important; with Martin they created an authentic, approved sound in a symbiotic relationship with each other.

[@mcarp555]

John approved the mixes, and claimed to have a telegram from Paul doing likewise. So the idea of "no consent" at least from John is incorrect. I don't recall any interview where he said anything on that album was done without his consent. Paul complained about _The Long And Winding Road_ for years.

[@creativeoutletandfilms]

george martin was a puppet master

[@rossdelain1645]

@@mcarp555 Watch the Get Back film it tells you all you need to know . Harrison asks Paul "Do you want strings? " McCartney responds with "Hhhhhmmm I don't Know".

[@mcarp555]

@@rossdelain1645 I watched _Get Back_ (again) just two weeks ago. What's your point?

[@rossdelain1645]

@@mcarp555My point is I don't think it's fair that Spectors name to be tarnished all those decades. Even in the mid nineties McCartney publicly snubbed an encounter with Spector claiming it was over TLWR. That shows you how much(and how long) of a grudge he had over the production. But who is Paul really to make a justification like that? You made a good point about Consent which I agree with however I'm making a point about Indecisiveness. I thought planning to do a live show on a boat then deciding to give up and just go on the roof of Apple was the epitome of indecisiveness.

[@quiricomazarin476]

People how do you rank #1-5 The original Let it Be , the original Get back Glyn Johns mix , Naked , the Glyn John's mix finally released as part of the new Let it be set , the Giles Martin new Let it be set.

[@elliotgoldberg5657]

I really hated the Spector production. However, even Paul ended up admitting Long and Winding Road went to number one as a result of Spector's misguided arrangement and later used a simulation of it in his solo concerts. That song particularly was ruined by Beatles standards. Still, I do believe the stripped down version would have never been a chart topper. Spector should have let George Martin do the orchestrations and back up vocals. But he couldn't because John and George were hiding their little Spector injection from McCartney. I'm sure out of spite as the business divorce was ramping up and sides were taken

[@gjoinolywa5850]

History is the collection of different versions seen and memorialized by different actors. With the loss of John, George, and George we’re left with Paul’s version(s). Ringo was and is largely quiet, to his credit imho. So….George Martin produced Let It Be only to have it fall into the hands of a convicted murderer? Huh. Didn’t it look like it was produced by Glynn Johns first time round with George Martin playing a supporting role? (Get Back movie) Huge Beatles fan. Fascinated by the contradictory versions of their history.

[@lordofthemound3890]

Glyn John’s attempt at a mix for the album (the first try) was rejected by the band. It was taken out of his hands.

[@gabespiro8902]

Great album but Spector mangled it (not the worst thing he’s done but….), Paul is right about winding road- too overproduced. Across the universe sounds like a demo on spectors mix

[@robertwiles8106]

The real MVP track from these sessions was One After 909. Let It Be wasn't THAT bad. It spawned 3 #1 singles.

[@andydporter5136]

"It was an unhappy record", says Martin. Boy, Peter Jackson really worked some magic in the editing booth, didn't he? Because his Get Back movies are oozing Mary Poppins level chirpy, chipper, feel-good vibes.

[@InfidelNewton_1775]

Yes. 6 hours out of 50. I’m sure that 44 hours is all of jolly times.

[@tutortle1820]

Yep, he made it less depressing, Let It Be documentary is a depressing one

[@Mokkari77]

​@@InfidelNewton_1775 People's memories can play tricks on them. There's also hours of bootleg audio and it doesnt seem to be any serious arguing.

[@Mokkari77]

​@@tutortle1820 Its gloomy but except for that one bit where George gets irritated at Paul theres no animosity.

[@steveconn]

The cameras really wore them out as did Yoko. The real story.

[@tubepets8055]

I think Let It Be with Phil brought out the songs as out of this world gems . The unplugged versions are if you want more White Album stuff. Abby road mix seems inspired by Phils sound or vision. Phil had the wall of sound, and Martin had the glass or crystal wall or glass sound. Abby Road was the state of modern production that inspired many records such as Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon.

[@bls8959]

Produced by George Martin

[@rodnyg7952]

and then 33 yrs. later we got Let It Be "naked" ...problem solved

[@PAULPINBALL]

There’s something about it I couldn’t put my finger on it when it came out. Now that George Martin said they did many takes I get it now. There’s no spark, it’s like the Eagles long run album, they labored over that, it has that same forced feeling they’re not great Albums.

[@user-nq9gz4xf7f]

Well it was a mess with two producers, the classy George Martin and the wall of sound psycho Phil Spector. Now though those annoying film cameras have brought the Beatles back to the present

[@sunnyd4734]

I wish "Let it Be" could have been an exclusive George Martin production masterpiece with all of its perfection like "Abbey Road". Phil Spector never should have been involved. At least we have the "Naked" version thanks to Paul McCartney.

[@jimcharles9705]

It's a shame that we can't say George Martin AND Phil Spector are great producers, and that both did well producing The Beatles.

[@NNnn-zc2bm]

I would say instead that Spector was a great producer who did not do well producing the Beatles.

[@dynjarren8355]

Actually Spector did a great job on Johns and George’s solo albums. Especially John. If you listen to his early solo albums, Johns voice has just the right amount of effects on it and the albums sound great!

[@trevorbyrne4668]

@@dynjarren8355 Dunno if I like what he did with All Things Must Pass... Weird placement of the vocals for one thing. I find it quite a fuzzy, low-down, imprecise, over-full sounding album. But of course a truly great album, for all that.

[@creativeoutletandfilms]

spector let it be is better than naked

[@julianmarsh8384]

The death throes of any band cannot be a pretty sight...more so the mainstay of the 60s, the Beatles...some good ideas such as John wanting an 'honest album' but this requires a tremendous amount of good will, which by this late date, was lacking...tis a pity.

[@deaconblue5211]

Let it be is a second class Beatles album for sure. It does contain a few shining moments(Across The Universe/Let It Be) but the bulk of the songs are not that great. My 2 cents. It has aged better than many thought it would (The Eagles Long Run album is in the same boat) and has gained a new appreciation in recent years.

[@danbike9]

John & Paul seemed to lack the knowledge/musicality to produce their own records and albums after a decade of being together. Phil Spector gets beat up on, but Phil was hired by them to fix 'Let It Be', and to get 'Let It Be' album marketable. Phil was successful. He did his job. Their lack of producing their own records/albums will always be a ding on the legacy of Paul and John. The foursome seemed to be lost without a corporate A & R man guiding them, producing and getting their music marketable. Phil went on to produce solo projects for John L. and George H., which tells you John L. & George H. liked Phil's work. Re: The Long and Winding Road The official Beatles version (Spector) vs. Paul's naked version vs. Anni-Frid Lyngstad (brunette ABBA girl, 1971 cover/demo)** ** It is spectacular. What a voice she has. Emotive and technically perfect. Benny and Anni-Frid were friends with Paul McCartney, I presume they still are. Anni-Frid version was never put on her solo album, it remains a unreleased demo. It was recorded a year before ABBA was official, part of Anni-Frid Lyngstad solo works with EMI Sweden.

[@whathappenedtoclaudio]

Some good points. Let it Be was Paul's vision and his remit was to go back to basics, no crazy overdubs etc. The whole project was to show how The Beatles wrote and recorded in a short amount of time. Paul was the one most upset by what Spector did to the tapes, I suspect he simply wasn't briefed properly.

[@ARIZJOE]

John wrote my favorite Beatles songs, but his intransigence on "Let it Be" vitiated the final product. There should have been more input from George Martin and Glyn Johns. Also, Phil Spector was a disaster. The only things that saved the project was Ringo coming up with the roof top show, and Glyn Johns' piecing together the multitude of tapes to make the songs whole and presentable.

[@Tom-hk6ub]

Whatever happened to Claudio ?

[@oldskoolfool141]

Died in a plane crash

[@LeafInTheStream]

The account seems a bit contradictory. Why would they do 20 takes of a song if none of these in-studio performances were intended to be on the (live) album?

[@rossdelain1645]

Because when you perform a song like 'Dig A Pony' song 20 times it gets tighter and tighter therefore the performance sounds better. John obviously complained it didn't get the way he wanted it.

[@azapro911]

Let it Be...Naked proved the album would have originally been fine released as a stripped down concept, the audience and critics could be more forgiving of a warts and all 'live' LP.

[@yendorcire]

They couldn't just let it be.

[@numberones9831]

The first vloggers LOL 😆

[@ragingbull888]

I actually like the Glynn johns mix, except that across the universe and I me mine aren’t included

[@rossdelain1645]

The Phil Spector version is better. Phil made the decision to use 'the rooftop performance' of 'I v'e Got A Feeling'(which captures a moment in history) unlike the early take that Glyn picked out which wasn't a tight enough performance because playing it was in it's infancy.

[@MichaelBoltonsEntireCatalog]

"FUCK!" - Peter Jackson after listening to this video

[@flemingcourt]

"Yoko was always there"

[@PeterStrachanMusic]

Phil Spector's production on The Long and Winding Road is the best.. The new version on the re mixed Let It Be (naked) is no where near as good.

[@manny4552]

The let it be naked version of the long and winding road is a huge upgrade.. the rest is not

[@manny4552]

Let it be may be one of the worst Beatles lps but it's still light years better than the work of most artists

[@rossdelain1645]

The Let It Be Naked album should never have come out It was just an excuse to grab more money from the Beatles Fanbase.

[@tatuco8]

Looking at the docu Get back, it wasn't as depressing as George Martin makes out. He was virtually non existent in the docu and he's right when he's says he was losing control. The beatles had out grown him. The real issues seem to have began after the original docu had finished.

[@wpl8275]

The Beatles were either brave or stupid or maybe a little of both. Record a live album and then play it front of a live audience and have a film crew film the whole process. That is nuts. As for Phil Spector's contribution, he arguably made the songs better. Let It Be was a huge hit. The Long And Winding Road was a huge hit. Across The Universe is still well thought of today. The only other memorable song from that album that he didn't touch is Get Back. The rest of the songs on the album aren't worth much at all. Look at George Harrison's songs on Abbey Road and compare them to his songs on Let It Be. No comparison. Same for John Lennon's stuff other than Across The Universe (which he recorded before the Let It Be album). Only Paul had good songs written for Let It Be and because of Phil Spector he didn't even like them. Call it all a delicious mess. Think of it as a souffle that didn't turn out that well but which was still enjoyable to eat.

[@colin8007]

brave

[@LadyFairChildVideo]

they were running out of ideas by then. so it was one of those Sgt. Pepper's type of ideas. lets think outside the box kind of thing.

[@Devan-he4kr]

I usually don't like revisionism, but Let it Be Naked is substantially better than Let It Be, which is really quiete an achievement considering it is basically the same songs.

[@jaymoore2738]

Ha ha ha! Good one Mr. Martin.

[@worldwidehappiness]

I thought Let It Be was a bland album. It would have been a good album if Spector had have put "Don't Let Me Down" on it. Weird decision to leave that song off.

[@rossdelain1645]

No you are wrong. The Beatles had a policy to put exclusive songs on their B sides and not on the albums so their fans could get their moneys worth.

[@Effexlol]

John was right.

[@aisle_of_view]

Too many cooks on that one - Martin, Spector, Johns. Plus, they canned All Things Must Pass because it sounded too much like I Got a Feeling. George's other contributions were sub-par. Great Peter Jackson movie, though.

[@oldskoolfool141]

I'd take ATMP over IGAF any day, I've always thought IGAF was awful (by their standards), lazy 'late for a train/again' couplets, an incoherent mishmash jam that got far more mileage than it deserved

[@69birdboy]

I don't hear the comparison between those two songs

[@aliofly]

@@oldskoolfool141 I think its great, incredible bassline from Paul as well

[@shaitet]

John and Paul were into All Things Must Pass and wanted to do it, George decided against it.

[@Bella-nt7ec]

@@oldskoolfool141 All Things Must Pass is average to be honest, boring, the vocal is not great either

[@ROOKTABULA]

If only they could have waited till summer... Of course that means Abbey Road might night have happened.

[@buskman3286]

Frankly, IMO, the only mix I prefer on the 'Naked' album is "The Long and Winding Road." For the remainder of the songs, I like the original "Let it Be" (Spector) mixes.

[@BeatlesCentricUniverse]

100% disagree. I HATE what Spector did to Let It Be. Every song on Naked is superior in every way.

[@DenKulesteSomFins]

Two of us is streets ahead naked

[@NNnn-zc2bm]

With the Spector version I thought "One after 909" was a crappy little rock n'roll, now that I listened to the Naked version I quite like it.

[@thesmeaconempire2494]

I absolutely can't listen to Across the Universe and The Long and Winding Road on the original album. The naked versions were way better in my opinion.

[@rockstarforlife1279]

Man everyone hating on Spector, y’all know the original album is a smash too

[@marknewbold2583]

Everyone should hate Spector

[@thomaskay779]

@@marknewbold2583 let it be naked stinks!

[@KevyNova]

I haven’t listened to Let It Be since the day Let It Be Naked was released.

[@dogphlap6749]

Let it be, released in 1970 after Phil Specter had murdered it, followed in 2003 by the murder of Lana Clarkson, also perpetrated by Phil Specter.

[@whathappenedtoclaudio]

😂😂😂

[@spactick]

Phil has just passed, have some respect moron. Without his input in the early 60's rock would have floundered. He saved rock and gave it a direction that it's still using (studio as an instrument).

[@nedgrant918]

At this point this band was too anal to do anything live. Their live version of “Twist and Shout” from their early days was superb and is still impressive, but they weren’t strong enough musicians to do more complex stuff without retakes, overdubbing and editing: “There was a fluff in the bass there we should re-do…”

[@jdevine42]

If you like sausage...never observe it being produced

[@piscesman54]

🤣🤣🤣

[@dynjarren8355]

The Worst Beatles album! Because Lennon insisted on not using George Martins production on it. He said he wanted people to hear them as they really sounded and he actually said it was bad and he wanted to end the game by releasing a bad album. He sabotaged it. He said: this is what we look like with our knickers down. So please end the game now! He was trying to quit the Beatles and that was his way of showing they weren’t perfect. Then he complained that they covered it all up to keep the image going by putting out another slick sounding album which was Abbey Road. To keep the legacy intact. But Let it Be was them with warts and all. No slick production tricks. It had a few good songs but overall it had some duds as well. Then they gave the tapes to Phil Spector to sweeten up the sound. And he added the violins which Paul hated apparently. So he remixed it as Let it Be Naked later on. George Martin didn’t want his name on it because they wouldn’t let him produce it properly. The result was their worst album. I prefer the White Album! I never listen to Let it Be.

[@piscesman54]

I have to agree. John at the time was really not with it. You could sense Yoko's influence on him already, and it wasn't good. He could be very annoying as it was, even without her, but she had him wrapped around her little finger, and he wasn't thinking straight. Paul was trying to keep it together, but became too overbearing. And George just got fed up with the whole circus going on and decided to take leave. Let it Be is a real testament to George Martin's absence in the producing role. On all previous albums, he was the down-to-earth guy who knew how to get things rolling with The Beatles and bring out the best in each one of them. Best of all, and unlike Spector, he wasn't trying to be omnipresent or to steal the show. He was always the guy behind the scenes moving things along and only stepping in with production decisions when it was required. And they were usually brilliant. He was the glue to The Beatles. And without him, they would never have been what the were.

[@prikov1]

Edit? You're talking to the Boogles...John from the " get back" documentary...

[@DJ-bj8ku]

The original is best. You can’t have a do-over. I like the talking bits in between songs. I never really liked Long and Winding Road but I think the choir makes it soar. It’s a gritty very listenable album. I would love to hear Martin’s version.

[@DYLANWALSHDREHER]

Biggest mistake the band made. Saying no to the glyn johns get back album mix. If they had just agreed to put that out (despite its flaws) . Abbey road would have been the last album released and a definite final farewell. Too bad it got delayed and then handed over to phil.

[@loungejay8555]

Phil Spector actually did a fantastic job on the Let It Be album; I thought the "Let It Be - Naked" version of the album that Paul had released in 2003 was a bit too stripped back.

[@pepinosauriogott5516]

No

[@aydenjenkins8760]

I disagree. The Naked version felt more organic, and flowed much better than the original one in my opinion. The original album version felt over produced and had a really bizarre progression. Also Don't Let Me Down is an amazing song, one that idk why was not present on the original album. It fits perfectly on the Naked version

[@jaygold4467]

Phil Spector screwed that album up. His only producing strategy was MORE REVERB.

[@ralphschmitt5859]

Let It Be My ASS! I want vengeance!

[@RonanB99]

I think Spector did a rather good job on it. He might have went a bit overboard on the Long and Winding Road but I like his other changes, especially on I Me Mine

[@neilcrowesongs9768]

He was way more stylish, tasteful and classy. Lennon, what a pain in the arse