"Don't Let Me Down" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, recorded in 1969 during the Let It Be sessions. It was written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. The band recorded the song with Billy Preston; the single release with "Get Back" was credited to "the Beatles with Billy Preston".
Composition
Written by John Lennon as an anguished love song to Yoko Ono, it was interpreted by Paul McCartney as a "genuine plea", with Lennon saying to Ono, "I'm really stepping out of line on this one. I'm really just letting my vulnerability be seen, so you must not let me down." The song is in the key of E major and is in time during the verse, chorus and bridge, but changes to Quintuple meter| in the pick-up to the verse. It grew from the Fm7–E changes from Fleetwood Mac's "Albatross" with McCartney arranging instrumental and vocal parts and George Harrison adding a descending two-part lead guitar accompaniment to the verse and a countermelody in the bridge. Alan W. Pollack states that "the counterpoint melody played in octaves during the Alternate Verse by the bass and lead guitars is one of the more novel, unusual instrumental touches you'll find anywhere in the Beatles catalogue."
Recording and release
Multiple versions of "Don't Let Me Down" were recorded by the Beatles during the tumultuous Get Back recording sessions. The version recorded on 28 January 1969 was released as a B-side to the single "Get Back", recorded the same day. "Get Back" reached number one and "Don't Let Me Down" reached number 35 on the US Billboard Hot 100. When the "Get Back" project was revisited, Phil Spector dropped "Don't Let Me Down" from the Let It Be album. The Beatles performed "Don't Let Me Down" twice during their rooftop concert of 30 January 1969, and the first performance was included in the Let It Be film, directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg. In November 2003, a composite edit of the two rooftop versions was released on Let It Be... Naked. The B-side version of the song was included on the Beatles' compilations Hey Jude, 1967-1970 and Past Masters Volume 2 and Mono Masters. The same recording also appears on the soundtrack to the 1988 documentary, .
Reception
of AllMusic called it "one of the Beatles' most powerful love songs", Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic described the song as "heart-wrenching soul" and Roy Carr and Tony Tyler called it "a superb sobber from misery-expert J. W. O. Lennon, MBE. And still one of the most highly underrated Beatle underbellies." Author Ian MacDonald praised "Don't Let Me Down" and declared that "this track vies with Come Together for consideration as the best of Lennon's late-style Beatles records".
In 1970, Ben E. King covered the song on his Rough Edges album.
In 1971, Charlotte Dada recorded an afro-rhythm version in Ghana.
On her 1977 album It Looks Like Snow, Phoebe Snow covered this song.
In 1978, a Japanese singer and an actor Hideki Saijo 西城秀樹 covered in his solo stadium concert『BIG GAME '78 HIDEKI』
In 1992, Annie Lennox recorded the song and it was included as the B-side to "Walking on Broken Glass". A live version is also available on the "Cold" single.
In 1992, Danish band The Sandmen covered the song on their Sleepyhead album.
In 1993, Italian pop singerRyan Paris recorded a high-energy version of the song.
In 1996, U.S. rock band The Black Crowes covered the song live a few times and again in 2005.
No official producer's credit was included for the single release owing to "the confused roles of George Martin and Glyn Johns". However the 1967-1970 compilation liner notes credited Martin as the song's producer.
