Let It Be

Abbey Road was supposed to be the Beatles last great show, a tour-de-force that would leave the fans smiling, even though they didn't know there wasn't going to be an encore. That was the Fab's version... nice and pat, a friendly face on an increasingly ugly situation. But that was a lie.

Fate always objected when The Beatles attempted to control it, as with us all. The result was Let It Be, a sloppy, wrongheaded attempt to salvage the failed Get Back project and push some good music to the fans again. Note that I said "good music", for time and time again the Beatles' astonishing talent was able to transcend the inane demands of the corporate world -- the grueling schedules, the constant pressure, even the assembly of a final statement out of music they themselves didn't much like.

So, again, the Beatles face unintentional irony: an embarrassment that was never supposed to see the light of day became a better final statement than they themselves could think of. There's much more sadness prevalent on this album, more bitterness, more of a sense of independance. And the original "Get Back" conceit -- a journey back to their rock roots, a fresh start -- only makes the whole thing that much more poignant.

Dig A Pony Alternate Title: I Dig A Pony
Original Title: All I Want Is You
This is actually two songs of John's edited together: "Dig A Pony", which is gibberish, and "All I Want Is You", an ode to You Know Who. A fine, muscular song that was a fixture of the infamous Rooftop Concert.

Across The Universe The first of the Spectorizations, meaning that Phil Spector gave this track a 35-piece orchestra and a vocal choir it never needed. One of Lennon's most beautiful tracks in its original form, but the speeded-up alternate version, with the "Apple Scruffs", fares even worse than this mix. For the record, "Jai Guru Deva Om" means, roughly, "Glory to the spiritual master". A philosophy that Lennon had rejected by the time Let It Be came out.

I Me Mine George's famously bitter rant comes off like another spiritual polemic -- but one that rocks. Inspired by a march band, whom he saw playing a waltz, George wrote this in the same tempo and gave it a standard four-bar blues for the chorus in order to fit in with the Get Back concept. George sounds unutterably sad, not for Beatles, but for the world they lived in. As was George's wont.

Dig It One of two "rehearsal excerpts" used on the album to show the way the Beatles interacted as a band. This is only a piece of an improvisation that lasted nearly 12 minutes. Shows a lot of promise, but not much more.

Let It Be A Paul masterpiece that, despite its heavy gospel leanings, does NOT refer to the Christian Mary but rather his long-lost mother who came to him in a dream and gave him these words of wisdom. This track is far superior to the single, thanks to the prominence of George's solo (Quite possibly the best one he ever did). You're actually hearing John's original (single) solo under George's on this track. Spector also overlaid some orchestral overdubs here, but for once they actually work with the track, not against it. An absolute classic.

Maggie Mae Another snippet, a traditional song they all knew and one that, while truncated, does give insight into how the Fabs could immediately come together (so to speak) on anything.

I've Got A Feeling One of the finest and sadly overlooked classics on Let It Be was this, the very last time a John and Paul song were combined. (Paul: I've Got A Feeling, John: Everybody Had A Hard Year.) The highlight of the rooftop concert, and the Beatles at their roughest and blusiest. The reappearance of John at the end, singing his song with Paul's, is breathtaking. Listen also for John saying something quite naughty.

The One After 909 THE earliest Beatle song committed to vinyl, this is one of the more than 100 songs that Lennon and McCartney wrote before they were ever signed. This was recorded for their first album, but George Martin (probably wisely) passed on it, as it's a bit plain and generic. However, it IS both heartbreaking and heartwarming to see the obvious delight the band takes in performing it. Something old, something new.

The Long And Winding Road The most infamous of the Spectorizations. Paul envisioned this as a spare piano ballad, one that would sum up the whole "Back to the beginning" nature of the Get Back project. Spector drenched it in exactly the sort of Mantovani-style dreck Paul had been avoiding as a Beatle. The song is of such quality, and its feeling of loss so real, however, that it stands up, head held high, throughout the onslaught.

For You Blue George described this as an attempt to do a 12-Bar blues, but a happy one. To that end, it succeds in form, but is rather lackluster. What George says in the middle, jokingly, is "Elmore James ain't got nothing on this!"