| Let It Be (song) |
Article Index for Let It |
Website Links For Let |
Information AboutLet It Be (song) |
"Let It Be" is a song written by Paul McCartney (credited to Lennon/McCartney ), released by The Beatles as a single in March 1970 and later the same year as the title track of their album '' Let It Be ''. The single reached #1 in the U.S. and #2 in the UK . INSPIRATION McCartney said he wrote "Let It Be",1 inspired by a dream he had during the tense period surrounding the '' Get Back/Let It Be '' sessions. He dreamt of his mother, and the "Mother Mary" lyric refers to her (Mary (Mohin) McCartney).2 She died of cancer when McCartney was 14.34 He said, "It was great to visit with her again. I felt very blessed to have that dream. So that got me writing 'Let It Be'." RECORDING AND VERSION HISTORY The master take was recorded on 31 January 1969 as part of the 'Apple studio performance' for the project '' Get Back ''.5 McCartney played the piano (a Blüthner Flügel from Leipzig ), Lennon played the bass, Billy Preston played the organ and George Harrison and Ringo Starr assumed their conventional roles. McCartney's lead vocal was backed by Lennon and Harrison (as seen in the film '' Let It Be ''). The master take included a subdued guitar solo by Harrison (as can also be heard in the film ''Let It Be''). On 30 April , 1969 , Harrison Overdubbed a new guitar solo on the best Take from 29 January.6 Harrison reportedly overdubbed another solo on 4 January , 1970 , althought there are some stylistic indications this solo may actually have been played by McCartney. The first overdub solo was used for the original single release, and the second overdub solo was used for the original album release. Some fans mistakenly believed there were two versions of the basic track, based mostly on the different guitar solos but also on some other differences in overdubs and mixes.7 There are four recordings of the song that have been 'officially' released. Single version It was originally released as a single on 6 March , 1970 , backed by " You Know My Name (Look Up The Number) " and produced by George Martin . This version includes orchestration and backing vocals overdubbed on 1970-01-04 under the supervision of McCartney, with the backing vocals including the only known contribution by Linda McCartney to a Beatles song8 (but see Birthday (song) ). It was during this same session that Harrison recorded the second overdub guitar solo. The intention at one point was to have the two overdub solos playing together, but this idea was dropped for the final mix of the single and only the 30 April solo was used (although the 4 January overdub can he heard faintly during the final verse). Martin mixed the orchestration very low in this mix. The single version was included on the '' 1967-1970 '' compilation album. Original pressings erroneously show the album version's running time of 4:01, not the single version's running time of 3:50. Album version On 26 March , 1970 , Phil Spector remixed the song for the album ''Let It Be''.9 This version features the "more stinging" 4 January 1970 guitar solo and more prominent orchestration.10 The other guitar solo can be heard faintly through the right speaker, as the original was planned. There are three lines in the last chorus of the song as the "There will be an answer" line is sung twice instead of once as on the single. Anthology version An early version of the song also appears on the third '' Anthology '' volume 3. ''Let It Be… Naked'' version Finally, another retooled version of the song appears on the 2003 album '' Let It Be… Naked ''. Starr disliked the album version where his drumming was augmented by Phil Spector's overdubbed tom rolls and shaker, so ''Let It Be… Naked'' features his original drumming. The guitar solo used in this version, similar to the single version, was taken from the subsequent take as seen in the film ''Let It Be''. Unused mixes Glyn Johns mixed the song on 28 May , 1969 as he finished the mixing for the ''Get Back'' album. This version was never released.11 He used the same mix in a 5 January , 1970 attempt to compile an acceptable version of the LP. Again, this version of the LP was never officially released.12 CRITICAL ASSESSMENTS | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|