nine
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Post by nine on Oct 27, 2008 2:58:50 GMT -5
I played Let It Be ... Naked yesterday and I found myself warming to the original.
I wonder now that the dust has settled what people here think of Naked. Was it a pointless Macca vanity project or was it worthwhile?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 27, 2008 3:11:57 GMT -5
I prefer the original ,1970 released,Let It Be album.It's my favourite Beatles album,i play it often,i played LIBN a few times after i bought it and i thought it was inferior to the original...
LIBN is part of my Beatles collection but i'd rather listen to the Spector version,he did a pretty good job when you think about it,especially when you compare it to the Glynn Johns' Get Back albums.
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Post by superhans on Oct 27, 2008 3:32:40 GMT -5
I beg to differ. I really like the 'naked' version. The track selection is better (the removal of the execrable 'Dig it' and 'Maggie Mae' and the inclusion of 'Don't let me down' make the album more consistent.)
None of Spector's orchestral flourishes worked for me, so everything sounds better, cleaner and more honest with all that guff removed.
The only downside is that 'Naked' is, if anything, a little too polished. Gone are the ad libs, bum notes and studio banter that was supposed to be an intrinsic part of the project and survived even Spector's editing. There seems to be a lot of fade outs and tidy endings on the album and no rough edges whatsoever -- which I find a pity.
Funny thing is, I don't think any one producer has successfully nailed the Get Back sessions. Glynis Johns' track selections were really terrible, including too much dross and excluding 'Don't let me down'. Spector relied on cheesy orchestration and LIB....N, although much better, lost the feel and spirit of the sessions and is a bit too slick.
I still prefer the Naked version and have probably played it more than any other Beatles album over the past three years or so.
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Post by Steve Marinucci on Oct 27, 2008 9:49:08 GMT -5
Here's my original review of the album written in 2003. bystevemarinucci.blogspot.com/2007/11/naked-version-of-let-it-be-doesnt-sound.htmlMy feelings haven't changed that much. I still think it was basically a waste and nothing more than a McCartney vanity project. But I have to give it more credit for being listenable than I thought of it when I first reviewed it. But I still think "Get Back" would have been a smarter thing to release than this.
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Post by John S. Damm on Oct 27, 2008 10:39:37 GMT -5
I am glad that we have both. The original LIB really should have included "Don't Let Me Down" to give more balance.
I love both. I do hate the cover of LIB...N. Regular photos instead of the x-ray ones should have been used.
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Post by theoak on Oct 27, 2008 12:09:40 GMT -5
Huge improvement! Let It Be went from one of my least favorite albums, to one of my favorites. Across the Universe alone kills the original, plus adding Don't Let Me Down.
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Post by mikev on Oct 27, 2008 12:17:46 GMT -5
It was Edit-Be.
The production/remastering was great-but why not just apply it to full takes? Why piece live studio material together?
My point is that they should have taken the very best takes in full, applying the same remastering technique. Then there could have also been a true video/DVD 5:1 portion with the exception of Across the Universe and I Me Mine. Someone could have created faux performance videos for those two the same way they did the Two of Us promo.
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Post by mikev on Oct 27, 2008 12:20:52 GMT -5
BTW-I personally like what Spector did to the LP (he "AM" izwed LIWR), and would purchase a remaster of that as well.
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nine
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Post by nine on Oct 28, 2008 2:53:15 GMT -5
BTW-I personally like what Spector did to the LP (he "AM" izwed LIWR), and would purchase a remaster of that as well. Well it will be interesting to hear the remastered original Let It Be... when the finally remasters finally come that is!!! 9
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Post by Joe Karlosi on Oct 28, 2008 5:04:34 GMT -5
It's okay as a diversion. I mainly like the version of DON'T LET ME DOWN on LIBN, and I also like I'VE GOT A FEELING from it as well. GET BACK is good too. Other than that, I'll play the original.
Truthfully, I have always liked the versions of ACROSS THE UNIVERSE and LONG AND WINDING ROAD from the original LIB LP, with all the strings. My favorite version of the song LET IT BE is still the one from the original album.
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Post by superhans on Oct 28, 2008 5:51:47 GMT -5
It's okay as a diversion. I mainly like the version of DON'T LET ME DOWN on LIBN, and I also like I'VE GOT A FEELING from it as well. GET BACK is good too. Other than that, I'll play the original. Truthfully, I have always liked the versions of ACROSS THE UNIVERSE and LONG AND WINDING ROAD from the original LIB LP, with all the strings. My favorite version of the song LET IT BE is still the one from the original album. Actually, I think Spector did quite a good job on the track 'Let it be'. Unusually for me, I quite like the brass overdubs during the chorus (Carr and Tyler opined that it deflated the inherent pomposity of the song itself) and prefer George's fuzz-toned guitar solo as well. I suppose the only things, in my eyes, that let down Spector's 'Let it be' is the over-production on just two tracks - 'Across the Universe' and 'TLAWR' - and the omission of 'Don't let me down'. The rest of it is fine. By the way, I'm taking bets on 'Let it be' DVD being released on May 10th 2010 ( Let it be's fortieth anniversary) if anyone's interested...
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Post by johnpaulharstar on Oct 28, 2008 6:50:48 GMT -5
I was disappointed that LIBN didn't include more. I like having "Don't Let Me Down" on the album. I miss "Maggie Mae" and "Dig It". I have a longer version of "Dig It" on a bootleg and would have liked to see that included. I like the studio banter and wouldn't have objected to more of it. There was so much more that could have been done with the 2nd disc-like actual songs! Maybe with a DVD release a solid two CD set of stuff will finally come out.
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Post by Panther on Oct 28, 2008 12:53:51 GMT -5
Superhans summed it up for me, above. Objectively speaking, I don't know how people would prefer the original over Naked, unless you prefer annoying snippets and orchestrations over the sound of the Beatles.
Of course, there were a lot of people who bought Let It Be in 1970 or whenever, and thus have rose-coloured memories of it from their past, and thus (and for no other reason) prefer the original simply because it's the original.
I still think the best version of "Let It Be" (the song) is the George Martin single, but the Naked one is close. And I agree with whoever said that Naked should have been called Get Back and been given a normal cover, such as what would have been used in 1969, not the silly X-Ray effect.
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Post by mikev on Oct 28, 2008 13:21:37 GMT -5
Get Back with the original intended album cover would have just made too much sense.
Besides, it would have renedered dozens of various Get Back bootlegs old news-now why would Apple want to do that?
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Post by winstonoboogie on Oct 28, 2008 20:21:51 GMT -5
My favorite version of the song LET IT BE is still the one from the original album. Me, too. Like superhans, I prefer George's solo over John's "wimpy" solo (my roommate's description )
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Post by mikev on Oct 28, 2008 21:37:58 GMT -5
I think it was actually George's "wimpy" solo. There is a version out there that plays both leads simultaneously and it's quite good.
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Post by revolver66 on Oct 29, 2008 0:35:32 GMT -5
One thing nice about LIBN is the sound quality. Nice to have it and many would have bought it as a bootleg with inferior quality. I agree that the cover is mediocre. I also feel the Original LP is too much a part ofv the Beatles Legend to be bettered. As someone else said Let It Be(the Original) is among my favorite Beatles LP so no LIBN isn't as good but a nice addition. Considering the projects that could have been tackled LIBN was a suprise at the time. The DVD of the movie should have been issued at the same time but I just recently read that Paul & Ringo don't want it out as it shows the Beatles in a Negative light(like the Fans haven't seen the Movie already..Give Me A Break)!!
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Post by superhans on Oct 29, 2008 3:24:38 GMT -5
I agree that the cover is mediocre. I think it's just a typical Apple compromise cover. Nothing too controversial. I suppose the Get Back pic had been used before on Beatles 67-70, so it was a case of just having something bland and anonymous... ...rather sums up Apple's product and marketing strategy in general.
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Post by ursamajor on Oct 29, 2008 3:37:34 GMT -5
Truthfully, I have always liked the versions of ACROSS THE UNIVERSE and LONG AND WINDING ROAD from the original LIB LP, with all the strings. My favorite version of the song LET IT BE is still the one from the original album. I agree 100%. The LIBN version of LAWR sounds very dated to me. The new Universe is a nice to have but I love what Phil Spector did with these two songs. As for Let It Be itself the original has the revved up guitar solo which has always been the best version for me. Two songs that work better for me on NAked are One After 909 and I've Got a Feeling, they sound alot better imo.
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Post by vectisfabber on Oct 29, 2008 4:17:18 GMT -5
LIBN naked version of LAWR has always been my favourite, ever since I first heard it in the movie in 1971.
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Post by superhans on Oct 29, 2008 5:39:38 GMT -5
LIBN naked version of LAWR has always been my favourite, ever since I first heard it in the movie in 1971. Perhaps even better, for me, is the 'Anthology III' version of TLAWR, which is just Paul and piano with a nice, ad libbed ending on the piano. Perfect. It was only really when I heard this stripped down version in the mid-nineties, that I actually started liking the song and not just seeing it as a mawkish, sentimental dollop of treacle...
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Post by ursamajor on Oct 29, 2008 19:33:59 GMT -5
Ok.. does anyone like the BS version of LAWR ?
I like that version alot as well and I think it should have been released as a single.
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Post by revolver66 on Oct 30, 2008 0:10:18 GMT -5
Ok.. does anyone like the BS version of LAWR ? I like that version alot as well and I think it should have been released as a single. In truth I really couldn't see the point of Macca doing all those remakes for Broadstreet. One or Two maybe but to me it was too much. I did like the New Tracks but the Movie was one of the Low Points of being a Beatles/Macca fan..Ouch!! He did a nice job on some of them but as usual how do you beat the Beatles Versions?
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nine
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Post by nine on Oct 30, 2008 2:23:10 GMT -5
Ok.. does anyone like the BS version of LAWR ? I like that version alot as well and I think it should have been released as a single. In truth I really couldn't see the point of Macca doing all those remakes for Broadstreet. One or Two maybe but to me it was too much. I did like the New Tracks but the Movie was one of the Low Points of being a Beatles/Macca fan..Ouch!! He did a nice job on some of them but as usual how do you beat the Beatles Versions? I like the Jack the Ripper era London scenes in Broastreet. The Broad Street version of The Long & Winding Road ... what the hell was THAT about?
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Post by mikev on Oct 30, 2008 7:42:37 GMT -5
Ringo didn't want to do remakes either and didn't. He also avoided playing on the Wings remakes.
I liked the movie as an extended music video-especially the warehouse part. I wonder how much stuff was left out of the warehouse jam-especially since there was no bonus footage on the DVD.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 30, 2008 7:57:19 GMT -5
Ok.. does anyone like the BS version of LAWR ? I like that version alot as well and I think it should have been released as a single. I quite like the Broadstreet version of the LAWR..... When you think about it now...Macca has sooo many recorded versions of LAWR out there that i think we fully understand his intensions as to how it should sound... Even allowing for all that..the original Let It Be album's version is best.....
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JMG
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Post by JMG on Oct 30, 2008 13:50:55 GMT -5
The version of 'Let It Be' I liked best was on the original album with George Harrison's lead guitar solo left in. It adds a rough texture as a counterpoint on such a beautiful song.
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Post by Panther on Oct 30, 2008 14:30:22 GMT -5
I've always thought the Spector "Let It Be"'s guitar solo was too harsh to suit the song, so I much preferred George Martin's production job. But I didn't realize that George didn't play the solo on it...? Did someone say it was Lennon?
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Post by John S. Damm on Oct 30, 2008 14:50:09 GMT -5
I quite like the Broadstreet version of the LAWR..... When you think about it now...Macca has sooo many recorded versions of LAWR out there that i think we fully understand his intensions as to how it should sound... Even allowing for all that..the original Let It Be album's version is best..... There is a nice version on the c.d. single for "Figure Of Eight." It may be a rehearsal for the 1989/90 tour but it is studio quality sound. My memory is Paul sings it rather bluesy.
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Post by jimc on Oct 31, 2008 16:21:39 GMT -5
I beg Funny thing is, I don't think any one producer has successfully nailed the Get Back sessions. Glynis Johns' track selections were really terrible, including too much dross and excluding 'Don't let me down'. Spector relied on cheesy orchestration and LIB....N, although much better, lost the feel and spirit of the sessions and is a bit too slick. . Johns did include Don't Let Me Down -- it's the great version with the intro of John asking Ringo for a cymbal crash so he "can come screaming in." Let It Be/Get Back remains such a mess. I like LIBN -- though I hope it's not the last word on the project. I've done many possible track lists over the years and think it's possible to put together a killer album that reflects the original idea (As Nature Intended) yet offers the best listenable versions of the songs. Ad-libs, false starts and such should be included. That was a drawback to LIBN. That and the silly second disc. That was a waste of time. A tease. Let It Be -- I still like the 1970 album version for the guitar solo and the space Spector created in the mix. The cymbals sound great too. Long and Winding Road -- the BS version is OK, other than the sax solo. It's an 80s cliche. I agree about the A3 version (beautiful) and I have no problem with the LIBN mix. More and more though, I think the WOA version, the twinkling piano intro is tops. Paul was at such a peak there, and he really nails that song.
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