Monday, May 28, 2012

Let It Be - The Beatles

This is long past due but here it is. This is the 12th and final studio album by the legendary, and my favorite band, The Beatles. This was recorded from January-February 1969, with the exception of Phil "Shithead" Spector's overdubs. His overdubs took place over January-April, 1970. Some stuff was recorded in February of 1968, Across the Universe, and January 1970, I Me Mine. This album was released on May 8th, 1970 and the movie was released May 13th, 1970. The movie pretty much showed, unintentionally, the final climax leading to the breakup to the band. In late 1968 Paul came up the idea to have a "live in the studio" movie and for them to get back to their roots. That's why it was originally called Get Back. After The Beatles broke up the title was changed to the more appropriate Let it Be.
  1. Two Of Us: Paul wrote this one about Linda. It is a very sweet love song. This is one of my favorite songs on this album. This has a finger picked intro to it and it sounds awesome. This song has a place in my heart because it is a love song. I think that this is a good intro to the album. This is a pretty song and you can tell that this has meaning to Paul. This is a fun song and the beat to it makes it a classic Paul on guitar song. Even though there are other instruments on this song. I could kind of see this possibly being on The White Album if it was just Paul and his guitar, but this way is a lot better than the other way.
  2. Dig a Pony: This is a song written by John. I don't remember if there was a meaning behind this song or not, but I do know that it grew on me. I used to not like it when I first heard it Freshman year, but later on, still in Freshman year, I learned to like it, kind of. This song is a good example of how their song writing changed. Listen to The White Album then listen to this song. I can see this kind of being on that album, but I also feel like that would kind of be a stretch. I love this bass and the guitar distortion.The vocals on this kind of remind me of, the part with the harmony vocals, I've Got A Feeling. This song has a raw live feel to it. I don't know if that's because of Phil "saving" the project or weither it would have sounded like that anyway. I feel it would have been more raw if he didn't. The solo in this song is neat. I really like the ending how it "comes full circle" with the riff.
  3. Across The Universe: This songs was originally released in 1968 for some world fund foundation compilation. This song is very eerie and kind of depressing. This song, I think, has sitar in it. If its not sitar that's making that whole buzzing sound, then it's the fact that Phil slowed the track down. This song has really cool sounding acoustic guitar in it, and I think it goes along with one of my favorite acoustic guitar sound, also on that list is the epic A Day In The Life off the epic 1967 Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. I'm gonna try to finish that review for June 1st. This song also has a sick string part that comes in at that fade where you have to listen for it.
  4. I Me Mine: This is a great song by George. This song is very catchy and has that Waltz feel to it. This is a song I could see someone dancing to on Dancing with the Stars, if they were able to get the legal stuff for it. Well anyway the vocals on this song are kind of cool. I really like the guitar distortion on this and the drums. This song is very, drum sounding. The strings add and compliment this song and help to give it this, epic feeling. The chorus completely changes the tempo and style of song. The whole chorus has different instruments and has this like organ fill at the end of it in the background. This song is a really cool song and is helped by the orchestrations in it. And each verse gets more epic sounding and louder. Until the end where it's as big as it gets and then goes down, and ends.
  5. Dig It: My favorite version is the 8 minute one that is on the Ultra Rare Trax Vol. 6. Which that is a bootleg album, so it's not an official album. I hope to one day hear all of the Bootleg Beatles albums, I am going to review some of them too. This is just a silly filler song the album. Its fun to hear the pop culture references he makes in the 8 minute version because he has 7 minutes worth of them more.
  6. Let It Be: This is a classic Beatles song. I find it hard for you to honestly say that you don't like this album. This song is one of my favorite Beatles songs. This song is one of most uplifiting songs I've ever heard in my entire life. The beginning piano intro make it feel like "It's here :)". Paul's vocals come in the song to make it sound this ballad. I love the way the piano sounds and the Phil Spector added choir makes this into that gospel sounding song that everyone knows it as. Then the drums come in and it followed by Billy Preston on organ and he does a fill into the solo. I think that my favorite solo is the one in the single. The one in this version is John's solo, the single is George's. The guitars distortion is just eargasmic to me. I love the tone and the whole feel of it. The Fender Jazz bass, which they used on, I believe, White Album, Abbey Road and Let it Be. I think that's the only albums. But the bass in that song is just as good and adds to the song. There are also horns in this and it all adds into a beautiful gospel sounding song. {12/10}.
  7. Maggie Mae: This is a catchy song and really fast. I like this one a lot for some reason. This is a traditional Liverpool song. It sounds like a song you'd sing if you were drunk. This is only 40 seconds long and it is kind of a silly song. I know that they didn't include in on the Let it Be... Naked version of the album. The thing that I like about this song is that it has that sound that was a sound that sounded like, if you've heard any bootlegs from the Get Back/Let it Be recordings sessions, or at least seen the movie, you know that sound. This sounds like it was played for fun and not seriously. I think that it kinda ok for the continuity of the album.
  8. I've Got A Feeling: This is one of the funniest songs that I've heard them play at the rooftop concert. It was in the movie, of course. Yet again a sick sounding guitar part. This song seems like a song that would be a good first song to a concert. The whole way it is, and how it's like the parts come in one at a time after each other. Paul's voice sounds like this is live. Now I know they took parts of the live version from the concert and used it.The part where it goes "Everybody had a good year" is not as good and Paul's part, but the whole instrumentation that goes into the part where they both sing their parts of the song is awesome. This song is a fun song and a good live song. It's a shame that Paul didn't play this song live with Wings.
  9. One After 909: This song was back from the '50s Beat Brothers days. This was writen by John with some input from Paul. This song is totally a '50s song. The way it's set up and the way it sounds. It isn't in anyway a stretch to say that John said he wrote it when he was about 17, so around 1957 which is when the Beat Brothers were still together under that name. This was different sounding and revamped. This version is better than the one from, I'm pretty sure 1964, which they didn't use until Anthology Vol 1 in 1995. I really like the bass on this song and the entire album in general. This is a fun song that I think should get more attention. 
  10. The Long and Winding Road: Let me state this, the Let it Be... Naked version is probably the one I perfer. I feel like the whole orchestral parts in this song give me a headache if its too loud. Phil really did a number on this album. This is a terrible reality because of the "wall of sound" production. I like this version a lot, but I also think that Spector shouldn't have messed with the song. I think that the entire choir, strings and brass give this song a gospel sounding vibe to this song. Much like Let it Be but more. This song is a songs that, for some reason, I could see being played on Seasame Street. The original, not orchestrated version doesn't really, for the most part, have and resemblance of a gospel sounding tune.
  11. For You Blue: This isn't one of George's best. I really don't like this song that much. It is too bluesy and irritating. I never really liked this song that much anyway. The whole slide in this song bugs me. I just can't stand the whole blues to it. I really have a hard time with this song. Not terrible song, just not one of my favorites. This sounds like a song that The Rolling Stones would do, but not as good. OH that a diss, big time Mick. I do kind of like how the slide sounds distorted, but the piano or keys and the slide solo, very much hurt the song. It sounds cute, but not in a good way. I do think that this song isn't terrible though.
  12. Get Back: This is one of my favorite Beatles song. I love the crap out of this song. This was one of the first song that I loved/got me into these guys. The song tells a story that some think makes mention of Linda's last husband, who lived in Tuscon Arizona. And it is also been said this is just a Get Back and leaves alone to Yoko. Well whatever the song is about doesn't really matter to me anymore. What I'm more into this the musical part of it. I already know enough about this song, I want to get to the writing. The song starts out with them tuning up, and talking, which was there to add the effect of the making of the film. The guitar distortion in this song is one of me favorite types of distortion. For that reason, well I need a Fender Amp and Fender Tele. This is such a bluesy song, which blues irritates me, but I love the crap out of it. The chorus is catchy and impossible to forget. The consistent bass riff that Paul is playing makes me want to play along. The first solo, or organ fill, is played by on Billy Preston. The second solo, guitar this time, is played by John and is one of my favorite solos by Los Beatles. I like how the song just kind of ends vs the single version where it stops then starts up again and plays to fade.
Overall I have to give this a 9.7/10. What you have to realize is that this was the last album released, but Abbey Road was the last album to be recorded.  Though there were somethings Phil Shitctor added in 1970, the vast of it was recorded in the winter of 1969. If you want to hear the real Let it Be buy 2003's Let it Be... Naked. That's as close as anything else to what it would have sounded like. Though I have my problems with this, I have to say that Phil did do a good job on some of the songs. And if he didn't do this, Let it Be might of never been released. Think about that for a second.... It pisses me off that they don't really credit George Martin as a producer. He did most of he work. In all honesty it's like a 7

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