Let It Be... Naked

The Beatles

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 18, 2003)
• Original Release Date: November 17, 2003
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Capitol
• ASIN: B0000DJZA5
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (632 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,776 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Re-recorded, remixed, overdubbed and repackaged--all before its 1970 American release, mind you--Let It Be has long been the most second-guessed album in the Beatles otherwise sterling catalog. This curious, three-decade-late, stripped-down rethink offers up yet another spin on what started as a back-to-the-roots album/documentary project called Get Back in January, 1969, but ended up as the band's de facto swan song 18 months later. Paul McCartney in particular has long been irked by producer Phil Spector's grandiose orchestra and choir overdubs to the title track and "The Long and Winding Road," and indeed the "bare" versions here have a distinct, plaintive charm lacking in Spector's typical pomp. All the various snippets of studio and live chatter that seasoned the original have been removed, leaving the recordings to be judged on their essentially live-in-the-studio merits. If the intent was to "de-Spectorize" the album, the inclusion of John Lennon's 1968 benefit track "Across the Universe" and George Harrison's "I Me Mine" (which marked the last-ever Beatles session in January, 1970) in their original versions seems equally odd, the legendary producer having appended them to the album's original track listing in the first place. The rambling "bonus disc" of conversation and song snippets culled from hundreds of hours of session and film tapes may fascinate diehard fans, but it also underscores the murky, often unfocused state of affairs the Fabs found themselves in during the last year of their remarkable career. --Jerry McCulley

Product Description
Japanese edition of 2003 album contains the same amount of tracks as all other two disc versions but includes a bonus Japanese booklet & obi-strip. EMI. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

115 of 122 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One more go at it, August 17, 2004

By	MurrayTheCat (upstate New York) - See all my reviews

The Beatles rejected the GET BACK album upon its completion in 1969 and again in 1970. The project (renamed LET IT BE) then got the Phil Spector treatment, with Paul being kept completely in the dark about it. Many have called the Spector album shoddy, but most Beatles fans bought it and enjoyed it despite the consensus that it was not top-notch.

At one time The Beatles were capable of producing much magic "live" in the studio--and they had done it often. But after they quit touring, the lack of playing together eventually took its toll, John admitting that "The Beatles musically weren't as together in the last few years." John also said that these sessions had "lousy feeling." But within the album notes to this new release, marketing mentality strikes once again and, rather typically, attempts to put a spin on these "raw and unadorned" sessions, saying that this is what the group wanted. "Raw and unadorned" shouldn't be confused with "careless and crude." The latter two are not what the group was shooting for, but a fair amount of that made it onto the tapes because of their lack of desire to focus on making music. (Just a few months later they did focus on making music and produced ABBEY ROAD!)

I still look at LET IT BE as a compilation of rehearsals; little of it sounds finished. Though the songs themselves are great, the performances are not, for the most part, of the highest Beatles standard. Sure, there are many magical moments throughout; but the magic is fleeting, and we are continually reminded of a great producer's absence--George Martin! These recordings are culled from sessions that, had the proper commitment been there, should have produced a remarkable Beatles album along the lines of what we were accustomed to. Each attempt at presenting these sessions only leaves me wondering what could have been if George Martin had been allowed to fully produce them. That said, here's what we get this time around:

"Get Back" is noticeably cleaner than the previous releases. But this version fades out quickly before Paul's "ooo-oo," leaving it sounding truncated--annoyingly unresolved. Overall, I still prefer the 1969-single version with its very satisfying ending, the version we fans thrilled to for a full year before the Spector LP appeared.

The electric piano in "Dig A Pony" is more prominent here; otherwise, there is not much difference between this account and Spector's. "For You Blue" reveals little difference as well.

"The Long And Winding Road" is a different take from Spector's, and, as another reviewer astutely points out, we get lots of rehearsal-like "plinky dink" playing, unworthy of a finished Beatles song. It is typical for musicians to play with this type of uncertainty when the arrangement is still in the building stage, and here the uncertain piano fills don't carry the song's emotion between Paul's vocal lines. The tempo surges at times, and this whole take is pretty much a rough run-through. Though the combination of orchestra and choir on Spector's version periodically strikes me as being unnatural, I never thought that it transported the song to the world of Mantovani. In fact, I never realized just how much I love the Spector account until I sat and compared these two versions at length.

"Two Of Us" reveals no significant variation except that it fades out before the guitars stop and before John's whistling goes charmingly out of tune, present on the Spector version.

We are given a different rendition of "I've Got A Feeling." It is not quite as hot, matching neither the emotion in the vocals nor the intensity and drive of the performance Spector chose for his album. I also like Preston's piano line better on the Spector track.

Top honors go to NAKED for the better mix of "One After 909." The song really comes alive here. One very consequential difference is that Ringo's bass drum has punch on NAKED; on the Spector it's pure mud. The added punch gives the song an infectious--even delirious--drive that it never had before. Unfortunately, the fade at the end is quick so as not to catch the live atmosphere.

This take of "Don't Let Me Down" is rehearsal quality all the way; it pales in every respect compared with the glorious single version released in 1969.

On Spector's "I Me Mine," the strings are heard where, on this new mix, the organ pops through more noticeably.

And here, "Across The Universe" is back to its original speed. Though the Spector treatment sounds neither preferable nor wrong (John certainly liked it), this NAKED one sounds, well, naked. I still prefer the original version found on PAST MASTERS VOLUME TWO. That one sounds closer to the John of early 1968 who made bizarre requests of George Martin, wanting a song "to sound like an orange" and such.

Finally, this remix of the title track brings the organ up front more, we miss the electric piano on the first walk-down before the guitar solo, and the brass is gone. The new version also omits the third-verse edit found in the Spector version. But this mix bewilders me: Is it substantive and worthwhile? Or is it a run-of-the-mill account, one more from a potentially endless parade of remixes? George's guitar solo is different yet again. So what? If you ask me, the single version (found on PAST MASTERS VOLUME TWO and the SINGLES boxed set) still says it best.

Though I still prefer Spector's LET IT BE, I cannot recommend it over this cleaned-up version to all listeners. Each has strengths; neither is perfect.

The album notes assert that this edition reveals how the album was meant to be. Didn't the Spector album make the same assertion? So much for promises.

35 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Want a REAL alternate version? (Instructions included), November 24, 2003

By A Customer

By taking out the dialogue, this has been made into an antiseptic, somewhat ordinary work. The point was to strip away Spector's figerprints, but they removed the charm as well. Far from being "Naked," it actually sounds well-produced. These versions are for the most part ones we've heard before, so there's no great revelation. Many note that "Anthology Disc 3" provided better insights, and I agree; a good fifty percent of the "Let It Be" songs are on that disc! But the most egregious thing those in charge (and, contrary to many claims I've read in these reviews, I think Paul had less to do with this than many claim) did was to change the running order of the songs. Sorry -- once you're used to it, it doesn't pay to change the formula; you can't act as if the original never existed.
SO -- if you really want a cool, alternate "Let It Be," get the ORIGINAL "Let It Be," the ANTHOLOGY 3 disc, and "Let it Be NAKED," and then burn the following songs onto a CD in this order:

1. Two Of Us (Anthology 3)
2. Dig A Pony (Anthology 3)
3. Across the Universe (Naked)
4. I Me Mine (Anthology 3)
5. Dig It (Original)
6. Let It Be (Anthology 3)
7. Maggie Mae (Original)
8. Medley: Rip It Up/Blue Suede Shoes (Anthology 3)
9. Mailman, Bring Me No More Blues (Anthology 3)
10. Old Brown Shoe (Anthology 3)
11. I've Got a Feeling (Anthology 3)
12. One After 909 (Naked or Original)
13. Long and Winding Road (Anthology 3)
14. For You Blue (Anthology 3)
15. Don't Let Me Down (Naked)
16. Get Back (Anthology 3)

Try it... it's very cool, and you won't feel as disappointed!

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Please put some clothes on!, April 14, 2004

By	R. Miller "drifter2k" (North Vancouver, British Columbia Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

When I heard this was going to be released I was intrigued but wondered how it was going to offer anything new when Anthology 3 already had given us raw versions of "Long And Winding Road" (the best version/mix/sound quality available in my opinion), "I Me Mine" and "Across The Universe". Also, a seemingly endless supply of alternate takes of "Let It Be", "Get Back" and "Long And Winding Road" were available on numerous bootlegs from the Let It Be/Get Back sessions. What was left? Phil Spector had only really added orchestration and vocals to the first three songs I mentioned in this review and remixed and done some clever editing on other tracks. Thus, this new release ends up being irrelevant.

I thought it might be nice to have a longer mix of "Dig It" - instead we don't get "Dig It" in any form, or "Maggie Mae" either. Again, Anthology 3 offered a live rooftop version of "Get Back" which rocked (and was the one where Mal Evans shut off the guitar amplifier mid-performance when the police showed up because of the 'noise' the Beatles were making that was disrupting rush hour traffic - you can even hear John shout at him off-mic). Here, like on the real "Let It Be" album we once again get the version of "Get Back" that was released as a single in January 1969 but without Spector's seamless edit that with Lennon's "sweet Loretta fart she thought she was a cleaner, but she was a fryin' pan" intro and "..I hope we passed the audition" outro made it sound like a live take. Instead the song fades before the ad-libbed "get back Loretta, your mommie's waitin' for you..." section that was on the single.

"Dig A Pony" edits out the false start that made it clear it was a live recording.

"For You Blue" - I can't hear any difference in the instrumentation but the recording doesn't sound as good now, very thin in the bottom end - Ringo's drums are buried in the mix now compared to the original.

"Long and Winding Road" - what the heck? The Anthology 3 version was the version heard on the real "Let It Be" album, but without Spector's strings and choir drowning out Paul's voice. This version sounds raw all right...like an early rehearsal of the track before Paul felt comfortable singing it. Different lyrics too: "Anyway's you've always known the many ways I've tried" instead of "you've never known". Simplistic sounding solo. Very disappointing.

"Two Of Us" - no "I Dig A Pigmy by Charles Hawtry on the deaf-aids - Phase one in which Doris gets her Oats" intro. However, that wasn't actually part of this track anyhow, just another Spector edit that fit well. Inexplicably, it fades out prematurely.

"I've Got A Feeling" - missing the retro tape echo effect on Paul's voice that was in the real version. Sounds to me like it might be a composite of an alternate take and the one that was on the real version of the album - the first part of the song has some different bits than the original. Doesn't have as much 'ambience' or energy as the live original (too much compression and filtering) and doesn't have the nifty Paul in the left channel John in the right Channel effect (during the part where they sing two different melodies at the same time) that was in the real version. On the plus side, John's voice is louder in the mix on the first part of the song than it was on the real version.

"One After 909" - hmmm, no real difference here, other than more overuse of filtering and compression and this version has some different adlibs and is missing the fun "Danny Boy" adlib at end.

"Don't Let Me Down" - rawer version than the released version. Not on the real "Let It Be" album but featured on earlier versions of the album. This is more like it. This is what the album should have offered - Beatles 'live' (even if it is a composite of more than one take).

"I Me Mine" - There already was a stripped-down version available on Anthology 3 (without the Spector edit that made the song nearly twice as long and was emulated here for "Naked").

"Across The Universe" - nice to hear it at the recorded pitch (or very close to it) instead of the semitone slowed-down Spector version or the semitone sped-up version with the bird sounds. Sounds like a demo this way, but I guess it does offer a more 'live' sound, other than the Grand Canyon reverb effect at the end - what's up with that?

"Let It Be" - fine version UNTIL THE GUITAR SOLO!!!!!! Why have such a meandering, weak solo?!? Possibly the worst solo I've heard in any of the dozens of takes I've heard. Why they chose to use that solo baffles me.

Bonus cd is a bit of a joke. It would've probably been better to instead of bits of songs and bits of dialogue to have had full song outtakes from the Let It Be/Get Back sessions.

I have to give this release only 1 star because it really isn't worth purchasing. It is lacking in too many areas and has too much filtering and compression, which takes the raw energy and ambience out of the recordings. The best version of "Let It Be" is definitely the Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs version. This one is a tiny curiosity but not really worth buying. Only a couple tracks offer anything new, none are actually superior to the real version of "Let It Be", they are just different.