Bonus Video: Let it Be vs Let it Be... Naked
Added 2022-09-29 08:22:57 +0000 UTCHowdy everyone!
Welcome to the first Bonus Video as submitted and voted on by you! Thanks to Patron, Peter Melling for submitting the idea 'Let it Be vs Let it Be... Naked.'
The majority of people voted for it on the poll and here it is!
Look out for more of this kind submission/vote procedure as I restructure my Patreon Tiers in the coming weeks.
Hope you're all well,
E.
Comments
I really enjoyed this. Also it reminded me that, for all their boundless creativity, the Beatles kind of have a track record of not fully committing to What An Album Is Supposed To Be? Maybe I’m reaching. I’m thinking of Sgt. Pepper dropping the fake band after a couple of tracks, Songs About Liverpool making it as far as Strawberry and Penny, and Abbey Road’s medley either being a very driven collage or just a load of old bits depending on which Beatle you ask / the grumpiness of said Beatle at the time. And there’s LIB obviously, where the aim took in things like a Greek concert and a cruise ship before winding up on a rooftop... where much of it wasn’t finally recorded anyway. They tried very fly on the wall with Glyn Johns, hated it, shelved it, then let Spector totally 180 the production when Paul wasn’t looking. What a mess! But did they ever crystallise what they actually wanted out of it, did they ever agree? (I guess, shocker, it was a bit of a contentious time for them...) So, ramble ramble, I wonder how much anyone could ever produce a version of LIB and authentically say “this is the proper one”.
Grafty
2022-11-15 10:37:46 +0000 UTCI was gifted this when it came out back in my teenage years. Let It Be has never been my favorite Beatles album, but since my first albums were the Anthology series (heck of a way to start), I always appreciated that this existed. I'd probably listen to a ton of albums again before I returned to this one, but it's a good thing that the original idea of the album was eventually released.
Chris Katella
2022-10-21 21:25:17 +0000 UTCWell said, Peter. Also that photo of George is HORRIFYING.
Elliot Roberts
2022-10-07 06:05:42 +0000 UTCFantastic video! Thank you for using my idea :). Your video is really insightful about the differences between the two versions of the album, with some good analysis of the different tales used and the removal of Spector’s production. I do find myself preferring that both versions exist, rather than one being better than the other. The wall of sound and chatter benefit some songs (Get Back), while the more spartan sound benefits a few others (Across the Universe and The Long and Winding Road). It feels like having a workprint or director’s cut of a movie alongside the theatrical cut - which I always enjoy. The issue with both of them is that neither is entirely authentic to the original intentions of a “Get Back album.” The original has its troubled production and Spector’s salvaging, while Naked comes from an early-‘00s mindset of “putting it right.” One is a stylized version, while the other is a reconstruction. There should probably be a happy medium between the two editions, with just enough of the flourishes to round out the songs that need them (tLaWR, for instance) without losing the original intentions. On a silly note, I’m glad they switched up the picture for George on Naked’s cover: https://preview.redd.it/4oh77z4yhib31.jpg?auto=webp&s=2f7881c094f94bf1739401fedd10d9ad28da9f59
Peter Melling
2022-09-30 19:27:37 +0000 UTCKnowing that Let It Be Naked was more “how nature intended” makes me want to love it more. But I’m just so used to the original… Many of the songs aren’t all that different, but have superior production value that highlights the good points. I think you’re right with TLaWR, it needs something between full Spectorization & the almost demo sound of Naked. I did like the inclusion of Glyn Johns’s mix on the Deluxe edition that came out with Get Back.
Erin Wiggins
2022-09-29 18:34:30 +0000 UTCGreat vid! I’ll have to listen to Let it Be Naked all the way through, yet I feel like I’d like it better than the original. I say that because Spector’s mixing was alright in some places, but the fluff he put in other places just takes me out of the moment. (Spector’s Long and Winding Road is so schmaltzy I can even feel my arteries cringing.) Plus, hearing George sound the best that he’s ever sounded is always a win in my book.
Kathryn Coffey
2022-09-29 13:31:02 +0000 UTCWow. It's great to see that the patreon exclusive videos have the same amount of quality that your normal output has. This was a great watch. While I did disagree on some points and aspects (I'm a sucker for the Wall of Sound and the John chatter), you nailed the "does it need to exist? No, but it's a good thing it does". Couldn't sum it up better myself. We always hear the stories of what the Get Back project was meant to be, and it's a good thing that a version closer to that exists. You could almost call this the "Get Back" album as opposed to Spector's "Let it Be" Also, very excited to hear the confirmation of the mythical "Ranking all Beatles Albums" video. I know it'll be way further down the line, but it's very exciting to look forward to. Great work as always, looking forward to more of these!
Pat D
2022-09-29 12:56:03 +0000 UTCGreat video! I'm one of the newer fans that became a fan after watching Get Back, so I actually listened to Let It Be Naked first and loved it because it was closer to what the songs sounded like from the series. SO when I listened to Phil's version after only hearing Naked's for months it was jarring lmao. This video helped me see the great parts of the original I didn't appreciate before :)
Lauren Wheeler
2022-09-29 12:38:54 +0000 UTC
