THE BEATLES - GET BACK (soniclovenoize reconstruction)
In January 1969, The Beatles set out to record the follow-up to The White Album, an album that would recapture their youthful spirit and comradery, something that they had lost since returning from India. The album was to be recorded entirely live with no overdubs, a throwback to their first albums, and would be called Get Back. Unfortunately, things did not pan out as they intended. Paul seemed disinterested in doing George’s songs, George seemed disinterested in Paul’s songs, and John seemed disinterested in the project as a whole. The performances were sloppy and The Beatles emitted all-around bad vibes. After a month of rehearsing and recording the same batch of 10-or-so songs and a vast number of pointless jams and improvisations, The Beatles walked away from the failed project to record Abbey Road.
Later that year, Glyn Johns constructed a rough cut of the album that was very disappointing. Well Lennon did request the album to “show The Beatles with their pants down”, this first mix of Get Back showed the Beatles naked from the waste down! Not only did Johns select lackluster takes, but his version contained little cohesion. A second version was constructed in 1970, one that excluded much unneeded and embarrassing chatter and included a newly-recorded “I Me Mine” and an old recording of “Across The Universe“, but it too was ultimately scrapped.
The next phase of the now-infamous “lost Beatles album” was guided by the hand of Phil Spector. In contrast to Glyn Johns, Spector did choose better takes of the material, but he broke the cardinal rule of the Get Back Session’s ethos; no overdubs. He added (what many Beatles fans, including McCartney himself) unneeded orchestration to the songs, thus robbing them of their live-band feel. He also excluded “Don’t Let Me Down” from the album, which is just madness.
In 2003, McCartney and Starr approved a remix and reconstruction of the Get back album, closer to what The Beatles intended. Let It Be… Naked was the best of all 4 versions of these recordings, as the modern age had served the music well; the engineers were able to clean up the tapes and used a more appropriate centralized stereophonic mixing. This was not without it’s own drawbacks, though: the exclusion of “Maggie Mae” and “Dig It” left a surprising large void on the album; all the tracks suspiciously featured quick fade outs that in effect excluded the song’s good humor and spirit; and the track sequence was simply awkward.
The purpose of this reconstruction of the Get Back album is to attempt to successfully create the album that The Beatles set out to make in 1969, as all four versions of the Get Back/Let It Be albums were fatally flawed in some way. My reconstruction divides the material into two groups, featured on each side of the album: Side A features mainly the songs performed on The Beatles’ rooftop performance, and Side B features the remainder of the songs from the session, the “in-studio” songs. Also, most of the basic mixes used are the superior Let It Be…Naked versions, but interplayed with chatter and linking material pulled from either Phil Spector’s Let It Be or the second Glyn Johns mix of Let It Be. The bootleg source of the later is from Dr. Ebbitt’s phenomenal remaster. An attempt was made to include the best takes of the material, while also retaining the loose and improvisational spirit of the sessions--a mock Beatles live recording. The track sequence was designed for cohesion and flow. So, enjoy the Beatles album that never was, a fantastic album that fits perfectly as the link between The White Album and Abbey Road…
SIDE A:
1. One After 909
2. Rocker/Save The Last Dance For Me
3. Don't Let Me Down
4. Dig A Pony
5. I've Got A Feeling
6. For You Blue
7. Get Back
SIDE B:
8. Two Of Us
9. The Long and Winding Road
10. Maggie Mae
11. I Me Mine
12. Dig It
13. Let It Be
14. Across The Universe
SOURCES:
Get Back, 2nd Glyn Johns mix, Dr. Ebbetts remaster [GB2]
Let It Be, 2009 Capital remasters [LIB]
Let It Be... Naked [LIBN]
LINEAGE:
FLAC -> WAV (TLH) -> editing in Audacity and Goldwave -> FLAC encoding lv8 (TLH)
SIDE A:
1. One After 909
This is the great-sounding mix from LIBN, but with the introductory chatter from GB2 and the outro from LIB edited back onto the beginning and ending.
2. Rocker/Save The Last Dance For Me
Taken from GB2, but crossfaded into...
3. Don’t Let me Down
The fantastic LIBN mix.
4. Dig A Pony
The introduction chatter from LIB and outro is edited onto the mix found on LIBN.
5. I’ve Got a Feeling
The “Danny Boy” outro from LIB is edited onto the LIBN mix.
6. For You Blue
John’s adlib intro from the LIB is edited onto the LIBN mix.
7. Get Back
This is the LIBN mix with the tuning intro and John’s infamous “Thanks!” from LIB edited onto the LIBN mix, to conclude the rooftop performance side of the album.
SIDE B:
8. Dig It
Starting the in-studio side of the albu8m, this is the extended mix found on GB2, faded in at the same point as found on LIB. It goes onto the ending with John’s quip and introduction of Let It Be...
9. Let It Be
This is the version found on LIBN.
10. Maggie Mae
This is the version found on LIB.
11. Two Of Us
This is the crystal clear mix found on LIBN.
12. I Me Mine
Here the introduction from GB2 is edited onto the mix found on LIBN.
13. The Long And Winding Road
Ringo and Paul’s chatter from GB2 is edited onto the superior take from LIBN
14. Across The Universe
The album concludes with the fantastic remix found on LIBN.
Created by soniclovenoize, May 2011
*md5 file, track notes and artwork included