Let It Be... Naked


Let It Be... Naked is an alternative mix of the Beatles' 1970 album Let It Be, released on 17 November 2003 by Apple Records. The project was initiated by Paul McCartney, who felt that the original album's producer, Phil Spector, did not capture the group's intended stripped-down aesthetic. Naked consists largely of newly mixed versions of the Let It Be tracks while omitting the excerpts of incidental studio chatter and most of Spector's embellishments. It also omits two tracks from the 1970 release – "Dig It" and "Maggie Mae" – replacing them with "Don't Let Me Down", which was the non-album B-side of the "Get Back" single.

Background

The album is presented in a form which Paul McCartney considered closer to its original artistic vision: to "get back" to the rock and roll sound of their early years rather than the orchestral overdubs and embellishments which were added by Phil Spector to three of the songs in the production of the final Let It Be album. McCartney in particular was always dissatisfied with the "Wall of Sound" production style of the Phil Spector mixes of these three tracks, especially for his song "The Long and Winding Road", which he believed was ruined by the process. George Harrison gave his approval for the Naked project before he died.
McCartney's attitude contrasted with Lennon's from over two decades earlier. In his December 1970 interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Lennon had defended Spector's work, saying, "He was given the shittiest load of badly recorded shit – and with a lousy feeling to it – ever. And he made something out of it... When I heard it, I didn't puke." Harrison and Ringo Starr also remained complimentary about Spector's contribution, with Starr saying: "I like what Phil did … There's no point bringing him in if you're not going to like the way he does it".

Differences

Two songs that had been included on the original album – the traditional Liverpool folk song "Maggie Mae" and the improvisational piece "Dig It" – were excised, as they "didn't fit comfortably with the concept of a straight album". Lennon's "Don't Let Me Down" was added to the running order, although Naked features a composite edit of the two versions from the rooftop concert, rather than the B-side from the "Get Back" single. "I've Got a Feeling" was also presented in a new composite edit of its two rooftop concert takes. On "The Long and Winding Road", the Naked producers used the final take, recorded five days after the rough run-through Spector had selected for the original album.
Track-by-track details
On 13 November 2003, the completed Let It Be... Naked album had its world premiere with a two-hour radio special from Infinity Broadcasting. The special featured: a 50-minute documentary of the original Get Back/Let It Be sessions, including interviews with all four Beatles; an uninterrupted broadcast of the new Let It Be... Naked album; and a 20-minute roundtable discussion hosted by Pat O'Brien. The roundtable discussion featured analysis from musicians Sheryl Crow, J.C. Chasez, Billy Joel and Fred Durst, Breakfast with the Beatles host Chris Carter, record producers Alan Parsons and Jimmy Iovine, music critic David Fricke and journalist Geraldo Rivera.
Contemporary review comments include:
All songs published by Northern Songs, except tracks 3 and 9 published by Harrisongs.

''Fly on the Wall'' bonus disc

The 22-minute bonus disc contains song excerpts and dialogue from the many hours of tape which accumulated during the Let It Be sessions. Some of the removed dialogue that had appeared on the original album appears on this disc. In total, the track is 21 minutes and 55 seconds long and brings the album's total length to 56:59.
Compiled and edited by Kevin Howlett. All songs credited to Lennon–McCartney except where noted.
The album was released in some regions with the Copy Control protection system.

Personnel

The Beatles
Additional musicians

Certifications