Let it Be.....NAKED!

[surfshack]

i love this version so much better........

http://youtu.be/9El1ucxQZEU

[Bob Maximus]

Really dig that version! Not reverb drenched...

[stellablue]

Me too. I like the stripped down sound.

[surfshack]

yeah! you can hear the vocals and the song grooves better i think.
here's another one....

http://youtu.be/s4GC0yO3zUQ

[Dr. Tweedbucket]

i love this version so much better........

http://youtu.be/9El1ucxQZEU



holy CRAP, I'm going to have to get that version! :omg I was just listening to Let it Be on the way home from work... the old version that is.

[SGNick]

This album is the only new album I've ever bought on vinyl, and was the first Beatles CD I ever bought, when I was 13

[84superchamp]

i was amazed when i bought it. it was almost a new beatles album, there was so much difference. it stayed in my car player for a looong time.:cool:

[surfshack]

some of the youtube comments are hilarious , one guy says "wow way better f**k you phil spector"....
lol...too funny!

[chucke99]

The Long and Winding Road went from being one of my least favorite McCartney songs to one of my favorites. It's so stark and full of loneliness and regret.

Every song on "Naked" is great and better than the original, IMO.

[shg]

When I got "Naked" I deleted the original release. I have no interest in hearing it again.

[chemical69]

The Long and Winding Road went from being one of my least favorite McCartney songs to one of my favorites. It's so stark and full of loneliness and regret.

Every song on "Naked" is great and better than the original, IMO.

My thoughts exactly. I never liked "The Long and Winding Road" all that much until I heard the Naked version. I can really feel the emotion coming through.

I really love the Naked album and like it better too.

[sonicD]

Wow! Thanks for posting that. I didn't really pay much attention to "Naked" when it was released. Yeah, Winding Road without the strings... I get it. It's still 30+ years old.

But your link just led me to listen to the whole thing for the first time. Fantastic!

I don't happen to think that everything Specter did was a mistake - Some of the solo interludes are a bit weak on several songs, and his mix of Across the Universe works much better than the one presented here. But there's a lot less compression - Everything sounds so immediate and fresh. I've Got A Feeling rocks like it never has before.

Very cool listen. Thanks.

[chucke99]

Now one of my favorite Beatles tunes:

c3GVuQ80Ffw

[Pietro]

I like both versions very much, but the Naked version wins.

[Dasein]

You have to consider that the whole Beatles catalog is dialogic --- every time you hear a song you hear it in the context of every other song you've listened to and absorbed. In this way your experience with any given Beatles song -- is cumulative. It embodies the history of all other experiences and listens....

So when you listen to the naked versions it is impossible to separate the experience of that experience from the cumulation of the others.... We have no idea how these would have been received by the public had the Spector versions not existed --- we have no idea how you would have experienced these songs without the cumulative experiences you've had with the other versions....

So instead of tearing down one to claim superiority of another, view them as an ever evolving dialogic -- a dynamic experience that changes with every listen and every new perspective - each dependent on every other experience.

[MisterTV]

Naked is vastly superior in all ways except one - the deletion of John's "I hope we pass the audition" quip at the end of Get Back.

[surfshack]

Naked is vastly superior in all ways except one - the deletion of John's "I hope we pass the audition" quip at the end of Get Back.


AND......the "Oh my soul, so hard" at the end of I've got a Feeling.

[surfshack]

You have to consider that the whole Beatles catalog is dialogic --- every time you hear a song you hear it in the context of every other song you've listened to and absorbed. In this way your experience with any given Beatles song -- is cumulative. It embodies the history of all other experiences and listens....

So when you listen to the naked versions it is impossible to separate the experience of that experience from the cumulation of the others.... We have no idea how these would have been received by the public had the Spector versions not existed --- we have no idea how you would have experienced these songs without the cumulative experiences you've had with the other versions....

So instead of tearing down one to claim superiority of another, view them as an ever evolving dialogic -- a dynamic experience that changes with every listen and every new perspective - each dependent on every other experience.


yes, i agree with what you're saying.........very perceptive Dasein, but i agree...

[SGNick]

AND......the "Oh my soul, so hard" at the end of I've got a Feeling.

And my personal favorite

"Sweet Loretta Fat, she thought she was a cleaner, but she was a Frying Pan"

[tone4days]

love it - wish they could do 'all thing must pass' naked too

[big mike]

One of my favorite beatle albums.

Strip off Spector's meddling, and it's an even more amazing album.

[Beng2040]

love it - wish they could do 'all thing must pass' naked too

LIB Naked is so much better than the original that I can't help but think of how great ATMP would be de-Spectored.

[supergenius365]

love it - wish they could do 'all thing must pass' naked too

George wrote that he toyed around with the idea, but decided not to do this. I would have really enjoyed hearing it.

[supergenius365]

I really like the regular version of I Got a Feeling. It has always been one of my favorite cutes. The Naked version just misses for me for some reason :(

Otherwise, Naked is superior by far.

[2HBStrat]

I can't help but think that any Beatles album revision without input from all of The Beatles is suspect. Like it or not, the original 'Let it Be', whether THEY all liked it or not, was the official release from The Beatles.

[Scott Miller]

I heard a bootleg of Let It Be before it released, and liked the pre-Spector version better. My buddies and I were frankly horrified at the official release, but we got used to it. You can get a rip of the bootleg from various blogs (search for "Kum Back").

[stratovarius]

I also heard Let It Be before it was released, but I didn't think it was a bootleg. The local rock station in Tulsa announced that they were going to play the new Beatles album Get Back in its entirety one evening. When Let It Be came out, I was quite shocked and confused. I wondered what had happened to the title Get Back and why I remembered it differently. Unfortunately, I didn't bother recording the broadcast assuming that I would be able to get the same thing on vinyl in a few weeks. There must be some promo copies out there somewhere.

[shg]

I can't help but think that any Beatles album revision without input from all of The Beatles is suspect. Like it or not, the original 'Let it Be', whether THEY all liked it or not, was the official release from The Beatles.

The Beatles had no input into the original "Let It Be". All four members had washed their hands of it. John described the "Let It Be" raw tracks as "the shittiest load of badly-recorded shit with a lousy feeling to it... ever".

[Jet Age Eric]

I can't help but think that any Beatles album revision without input from all of The Beatles is suspect. Like it or not, the original 'Let it Be', whether THEY all liked it or not, was the official release from The Beatles.

"Suspect"? Do you like it or not? -E

[Jet Age Eric]

So instead of tearing down one to claim superiority of another, view them as an ever evolving dialogic -- a dynamic experience that changes with every listen and every new perspective - each dependent on every other experience.

... or just express your preference here, in this thread. -E

[kugelblitz]

I only heard about this album the other day through this thread. Wow, what a difference! I really love the naked version. I A/B'd the two - the naked is so much more dynamic, the original seems so compressed in comparison. Love it!

[toocommercial]

I too am a fan of Let It Be Naked. Has anyone heard the raw mixes that Let It Be engineer Glyn Johns did? I have a few of these, and they're quite frankly VERY rough. Guitars out of tune, harmonies off, etc. This may be what was floating around before Spector did the official mix and master. I wouldn't be surprised if that's why Lennon was referring to the tracks as pieces of s^&*. There is no way to prove it, but it sounds like there was a some pitch correction and manipulated track movement happening on Let It Be Naked. It's just way too tight and clean compared to what was originally there. Just total conjecture on my part, but after hearing the Johns mixes I have no idea where these "clean" takes came from, especially "The One After 909" which is notoriously rough in all other renditions yet gloriously clean on Naked.

[dirk_benedict]

My only gripe about Naked is the lack of echo on the hihats during the verses of Let It Be.

[Jet Age Eric]

I too am a fan of Let It Be Naked. Has anyone heard the raw mixes that Let It Be engineer Glyn Johns did? I have a few of these, and they're quite frankly VERY rough. Guitars out of tune, harmonies off, etc. This may be what was floating around before Spector did the official mix and master. I wouldn't be surprised if that's why Lennon was referring to the tracks as pieces of s^&*. There is no way to prove it, but it sounds like there was a some pitch correction and manipulated track movement happening on Let It Be Naked. It's just way too tight and clean compared to what was originally there. Just total conjecture on my part, but after hearing the Johns mixes I have no idea where these "clean" takes came from, especially "The One After 909" which is notoriously rough in all other renditions yet gloriously clean on Naked.

I think there's some flying tracks going on. SOS had a great article on the creation of ... Naked. SHould be in the archives now ... -E

[Ephi82]

I can't help but think that any Beatles album revision without input from all of The Beatles is suspect. Like it or not, the original 'Let it Be', whether THEY all liked it or not, was the official release from The Beatles.

Naked had supervisory input from Sir Paul McCartney, and I, like many others, enjoy the alternative. I would like to think that Lennon and Harrison would certainly agree, its a superior record.

In particular, the inclusion of Don't Let Me Down, is such a plus, and an incredible example of the Beatles as a band, (with Billy Preston), taking a raw, raw Lennon composition and creating a great recorded performance. I love the remaster of this tune as you can hear the great interplay between McCartneys bass lines and Harrisons Fender Twin vibrato drenched guitar parts augmented by Prestons keyboard and Starr's sympatheitic drumming. All of this supporting the raw and immediate vocal performances of Lennon and McCartney!

[TravisE]

Now one of my favorite Beatles tunes:

c3GVuQ80Ffw

+1!! Amazing tune!

[chucke99]

Has anyone heard the raw mixes that Let It Be engineer Glyn Johns did?

I just found and downloaded the tracks from the Johns acetate, and you're right, they are extremely rough. And muddy, and unbalanced. Not really great to listen to except in a kind of archeological sense. My guess about "Naked" is that they went back to the original recordings, and may have used different takes. Or else, they went back to the multitrack masters Spector created and pulled out all of his overdubs, then re-engineered what was left.

I think the acetate recordings (known on the bootleg market as "Kum Together") are unrelated to what ended up on the original "Let it Be". But that's just my conjecture.

http://beatlesource.com/bs/mains/audio/GetBack/comp1/kumback.html

[Gargloic]

After listening to some tracks of naked on youtube, I must say this is better than regular version.

But, the guitar solo in Let it be is 1/10000000 of the version on the regular album. This one was a masterpiece...


Gargloic

[toocommercial]

I just found and downloaded the tracks from the Johns acetate, and you're right, they are extremely rough. And muddy, and unbalanced. Not really great to listen to except in a kind of archeological sense. My guess about "Naked" is that they went back to the original recordings, and may have used different takes. Or else, they went back to the multitrack masters Spector created and pulled out all of his overdubs, then re-engineered what was left.

I think the acetate recordings (known on the bootleg market as "Kum Together") are unrelated to what ended up on the original "Let it Be". But that's just my conjecture.

http://beatlesource.com/bs/mains/audio/GetBack/comp1/kumback.html

I have interview in a book with Glyn Johns where he says that he really wanted his mix to be the one released, but Lennon brought the masters to NYC and gave them to Spector for mixing. Either way, I don't believe what's floating around with Johns' name on it is the best he could have done, if you know his track record. In the interview he also says that despite being default producer on the sessions in Martin's absence, none of the Beatles would agree to him receiving credit on record.

[chucke99]

After listening to some tracks of naked on youtube, I must say this is better than regular version.

But, the guitar solo in Let it be is 1/10000000 of the version on the regular album. This one was a masterpiece...


Gargloic

I agree. The guitar solo on the original album is the best. I'm disappointed it's not on Naked.

[gmann]

I agree. The guitar solo on the original album is the best. I'm disappointed it's not on Naked.

These are all actually the same basic recording. There are 3 different solos used. The Let It Be Spector version, The Naked version and the single release has a different solo as well. You can hear it on Past Masters Vol. 2.

[DanR]

These are all actually the same basic recording. There are 3 different solos used. The Let It Be Spector version, The Naked version and the single release has a different solo as well. You can hear it on Past Masters Vol. 2.

I prefer the 'single' version solo. I also like Ringo's drum part after the solo on the single and original LP versions.

[Crimson Queen]

Naked is so much better than the original in my opinion. I never got into Let It Be until Naked came out.

[Scott Miller]

Now that I've listened to the bootleg from back in the day a couple of times, I think "Naked" is a pretty good balance between something raw and something legit. The bootleg has some fine moments, when they're really jamming. On the other hand, it has the extremely regrettable "Teddy Boy" song. Uck.

[2HBStrat]

"Let it Be...Naked" should be put in the same category IMO as all of the post-humous Jimi Hendrix releases. They're interesting to listen to but not really considered in the same light as official releases when the artists had input.

[Bassomatic]

"Let it Be...Naked" should be put in the same category IMO as all of the post-humous Jimi Hendrix releases. They're interesting to listen to but not really considered in the same light as official releases when the artists had input.

The difference is that a lot of those Jimi tunes were unfinished and/or never intended for release.

I do see the point of several members being unable to approve the new master.

[big mike]

How much input you think the beatles had by that point?

They considered the project dead, capitol hired Phil Spector to finish up the editing/mastering/etc.

Naked is likely closer to the intended out come than the official release.

Paul didn't even know about the string section on Winding Road...not his idea.

[Jet Age Eric]

Naked is likely closer to the intended out come than the official release.

Paul didn't even know about the string section on Winding Road...not his idea.

+1. -E

[stratovarius]

Paul didn't even know about the string section on Winding Road...not his idea.

My reaction was always "Paul, what were you thinking?" :facepalm

I always hated that production and am happy to learn that Paul was not involved.

[Rockledge]

How much input you think the beatles had by that point?

They considered the project dead, capitol hired Phil Spector to finish up the editing/mastering/etc.

Naked is likely closer to the intended out come than the official release.

Paul didn't even know about the string section on Winding Road...not his idea.\


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
^^^^^ What he said ^^^^^^^



"Let it Be...Naked" should be put in the same category IMO as all of the post-humous Jimi Hendrix releases. They're interesting to listen to but not really considered in the same light as official releases when the artists had input.


I don't think this is a good analogy. The Beatles recording process was always part of the creative process. The Beatles treated the studio as part of their stage rig.
Hendrixs music was never produced very well, because mostly the point with him was not to produce a studio so much as to get Hendrix live appeal down in the studio.
The Beatles production was quite intense and complex and a very important part of the equation , whereas Hendrix stuff sounded like someone stuck a microphone up in a barn and told him "dude, play something".

[greenlander]

Naked is likely closer to the intended out come than the official release.

Paul didn't even know about the string section on Winding Road...not his idea.

My reaction was always "Paul, what were you thinking?" :facepalm

I always hated that production and am happy to learn that Paul was not involved.

1. Beatles record TLAWR
2. Beatles commence breaking up
3. Spector given material to "fix up", adds strings (chorus, etc.) to TLAWR
4. Paul sues to dissolve Beatles partnership, cites unauthorized overdubbing of TLAWR as one of the reasons

...fast forward...

5. Practically every concert by Paul McCartney wherein he performs TLAWR...keyboard player plays Spector string part.
6. LOL

[Guitar55]

'Naked' also has the best version of one of John's best songs: 'Across The Universe'

[Guitar55]

On a similar note, hte stripped down version of John & Yoko's 'Double Fantasy' is very interesting.

HQ_66DfwrzU

[surfshack]

nothing wrong with that version....sounds good!

[2HBStrat]

....The Beatles production was quite intense and complex and a very important part of the equation , whereas Hendrix stuff sounded like someone stuck a microphone up in a barn and told him "dude, play something".

I disagree. "Are You Experienced" and "Axis: Bold as Love" were VERY produced! Everything else was mostly live or post-humous.

[big mike]

The studio production for hendrix stuff was brilliant

Eddie Kramer is a master and was way on his game.

[gillman royce]

As a Beatle fan, Let It Be was never one of my favorites and rarely play it, due also to the continued air play of LIB and TLAWR. Regardless, I got a copy of NAKED, played it once and it's on the shelf.

[Ephi82]

On a similar note, hte stripped down version of John & Yoko's 'Double Fantasy' is very interesting.

HQ_66DfwrzU

Its been written that Lennon would hate to hear his vocals dry and untreated, so its probably why the released version sounded like it did.

I would love to hear his album "Rock N Roll" remixed without the Spector wall of sound. I dont think its a great record, (might be his weakest) but its unlistenable the way it was released.