Recorded - January 27 and 28, 1969
Released - April 7, 1969 (US), April 15, 1969 (UK)
#1 for weeks of May 24 and 31 & June 7, 14 and 21, 1969.
To many casual Beatles fans, Let It Be is the final chapter in the band's history. The truth is, although the album was their last studio album release, it was primarily recorded before Abbey Road. After witnessing the excitement of playing in front of an audience for the "Hey Jude" promo video, Paul McCartney and to some extent the other Beatles were keen to start touring again. On January 2nd, 1969, they started rehearsing for a planned live show at Twickenham Film Studios. At the same time, they jammed on new and old material. The strictest rule was that all the material must be live, with no studio doctoring of any sort. With the cameras rolling, and with a possible new back-to-basics album out of the deal, what could possibly go wrong? Well, what could have gone right!
To begin with, Paul was the only Beatle who truly wanted to resume touring again. John was very withdrawn due in part to heroin addiction, Ringo was indifferent, and George was getting increasingly dissatisfied with his role as secondary songwriter. It also didn't help that Yoko Ono's presence upset the other three Beatles greatly. Things reached a head on January 10th when George decided to quit the band. Five days later, and after much persuasion and negotiating, George rejoined the group. Soon, the sessions were moved to The Beatles' Apple Studios Basement, and all talk of touring was permanently put on ice.
Although there was still much tension in the air, these Apple sessions were significantly more pleasant. For one, talented keyboardist Billy Preston was recruited. His being there no doubt helped diminish the amount of arguments within the group. Second, the songs that were rehearsed at Twickenham had become more fleshed out. One of these was, until spring of 1970, destined to be the title track of the project. It was appropriately named, "Get Back".
When you compare "Get Back" to more heavily produced Beatles songs such as "A Day In The Life", it sounds like the two are eons apart. In reality, there was only a mere two year difference between the two. On "Get Back", The Beatles have returned to a simple two guitar/bass/drum track with Billy Preston enhancing the sound with electric organ. The vocals, provided by Paul, are equally live, unlike the majority of Beatles hits. The single version of the song includes a coda section, recorded the day after the rest of the song had been taped. For the album version, it ends instead with dialogue from their live rooftop concert on January 30th, 1969.
"Get Back" has a very roots-rock feel to it. John plays a very country-esque lead guitar, and Paul takes on a more antique blues-style of singing, one that was seldom used on Beatles recordings. My first time ever hearing "Get Back" many years ago really amazed me. To hear The Beatles go out of their element, and go back to basics was a real treat.
Although the song "Get Back" was released to much acclaim in the spring of '69, it wouldn't be until 1970 that more tracks from these January 1969 sessions would be released. In the meantime, The Beatles would set the Get Back project aside to concentrate on what would be their final recorded album, Abbey Road. We'll talk more about that when we get to review #223...
Final Verdict - Proving once again that they could do just about any music genre justice, "Get Back" remains a successful departure from The Beatles' more refined production style. It still holds up quite well today, and will no doubt still be enjoyed many years from now.
Coming Up Next - "Love Theme From Romeo And Juliet" by Henry Mancini.
Until Next Time, I'm Dr. Rock, and it's always a pleasure to "Get back" to reviewing Beatles songs -
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