"Dig a Pony" appears to be identical to the original version, as do "Two of Us," "For You Blue," "One After 909," and "I Me Mine." Any differences are minor--slightly different balances in the mixing, etc.

"I've Got a Feeling," "Across the Universe," "Let it Be," "Don't Let Me Down," and "The Long and Winding Road" are the most changed. Of these four, "I've Got a Feeling" is closest to the version we're familiar with, but it falls short, in my opinion. In addition to apparently being a different take, the guitars are mixed too softly and the electric piano is too loud. "Don't Let Me Down" pales in comparison to the original single version. Again, the guitars are mixed too softly, and the part at the end where John's lead vocal is only audible through what I assume are instrument mics is missing completely.

"Across the Universe" has had all overdubs stripped from it, and is perhaps the most improved. Phil Spector really did do a number on this one.

The version of "Let it Be" that appears here is inferior both to the original album and original single versions. Here was a case where Phil Spector vastly improved the basic track, by adding echo and especially a new guitar solo to replace George's rather lame Leslie noodlings.

Spector's treatment of "The Long and Winding Road" always seems to be held up as the canonical example of what was wrong with the album. Hearing this version is no revelation, since something similar was available on 'Anthology 3,' but I can understand Paul's desire to finally restore his untouched performance to the album. Yet we are left with something that almost sounds like a demo. In fact, the rest of the band almost seems superfluous on this one. Perhaps it would have been better with just Paul and a piano. I think Spector sensed it was missing something and simply went overboard. There is no question that without him this never would have been a hit single, however.

The 'Fly on the Wall' disc is interesting. The highlight for me is the 10-second snippet of John, Paul, and George singing "All Things Must Pass." That would have made a stellar Beatles track--what a shame.

To conclude, if you're a new or a casual Beatles fan, skip this and get the original album. If you're a more serious fan or a collector, it's probably worth having, if only for the second disc, which contains pieces of what appear to be two previously unheard Lennon-McCartney tracks.

However, this release falls short of what I think it could have been. Perhaps in some time we will see the release of Glyn Johns' 'Get Back,' or even a box set on the model of the Beach Boys' 'Pet Sounds Sessions.' I am sure I would give those much higher recommendations.


I LIKE IT, finally   October 2, 2007
Stuart M. Paine (Arlington, VA USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

I've never liked LET IT BE. It's an absurdity: some of the best material The Beatles ever recorded presented alongside... some of the worst.

LET IT BE failed in many ways, and not least because it highlighted the central problem in the band at the time - that John was in a creative tailspin while Paul was reaching his peak. What Spector desperately needed to do, he couldn't do. Given a long recording of the horrendous and embarrassing "Dig It", he thought he could minimize its damage to the album by cutting it shorter. No way. He should have dumped it into the nearest wastebasket and told John the truth - that it stank. He also thought he could lighten the mood with a bit of charming pub-song. Not! Before this project could work, both "Dig It" and "Maggie Mae" would have to go. Now they're gone.

LET IT BE... NAKED is essentially three successive groups of songs:

1) Paul, John and George blues-rock ("Get Back", "Dig a Pony", "For You Blue")
2) Lennon-McCartney retro numbers ("Two of Us", "I've Got a Feeling", "One After 909")
3) George, John and Paul "spirituals" ("I Me Mine", "Across the Universe", "Let It Be")

The sequencing of these songs by composer is palindromic - P J G / JP JP JP / G J P - a subtle tribute to John, who early on did some notable numbers utilizing harmonic ("Ask Me Why") or structural ("I'll Be Back") palindromes. Also, in that the playlist both begins and ends with Paul McCartney ("Get Back" and "Let It Be") the new album acknowledges Paul as the driving force behind the project and the principal composer in the Beatles at that time. Filling out the list and separating groups one from two and two from three are the two love songs - Paul's "Long and Winding Road" and the newly added alternate take of John's "Don't Let Me Down" (nice move!).

There are some revelations in the newly scrubbed sound. "I've Got a Feeling", for one. Prior to the release of this disc I had never enjoyed it at all, thinking it crude and uninspired and the enthusiasm contrived and unconvincing. Now however, with George's and John's guitar interplay evident, we have a window into what it was that the guys were responding to.

I'll admit I would have been happier with the girls' voices restored to "Across the Universe". I also wonder about the decision to keep the Spector extension of "I Me Mine", but now I'm just quibbling.

To those who might say that LET IT BE, as soundtrack to the film, shouldn't be tampered with, I'd ask whether there is not something oddly circular in that reasoning. LET IT BE is not A HARD DAY'S NIGHT. The guys didn't set out to do a film; they merely filmed themselves rehearsing in the studio. In 1970, the band, frustrated and out of patience with one another, tossed this stuff off onto Spector and allowed it to be released as a "soundtrack". This new disc is the welcome result of the survivors having given up that pretense, and now we have a beautifully edited album which can stand with their others.



Possibly the Most Under Rated Album Ever!!   December 27, 2007
John C. Link (Canandaigua, NY USA)
It doesn't get any more 5 star than this folks !!! If this had really been released during the year it came out, it would have easily been the best album of the year; with the possible, and I stress possible, exception of "Abbey Road". As far as the comparisons with the original go... I love that "Don't Let Me Down" is included here, as it should have been on the original. While it is great to have this live rooftop version, I still prefer the other original studio cut. The new stripped down "Across the Universe" may be the best version yet (there are now 4 versions out there of what I consider as high a water as the greatest band of all time ever reached), and it stands out as the albums most shining moment. I did like Spector's arrangement on the "Let it Be" version; especially his choice of slowing it down about 5-10%. "I Me Mine" is greatly improved here without all the string/horn overdubs (which was Spector's worst work on this project), while still retaining it's artificial lengthening; which was a very clever Spector move. "Let it Be", and "The Long and Winding Road" are both stripped down here as well, and come off great. Those two tracks, and McCartney's lasting resentment about them, are the real reason for this release. I certainly understand preferring the barer versions. Spector's choices for the McCartney tunes could be called a bit heavy handed, but to my ears they really were melodic and truly worked very well in both cases. It is quite ironic that McCartney complained so vehemently about this, when you take into consideration McCartney's own terrible rearrangement of Long & Winding on his awful Broad Street soundtrack album (truly inappropriate ond disasterous; sounding like Macca Las Vegas style), and the fact they he also chose a similar arrangement during the "Wings Ove America" version from 1976. My only complaint about those two Macca tracks is that I miss the ripping, non-effects laden solo that appeared on the "Let it Be" album version of "Let it Be" (though not the single version that is on "Past Masters Vol.2) version of the title track. George initially recorded both of them overdubbed, and that combination has never been released. This is what I'd hoped they'd finally do here, alas...-this remains a project for the bootleggers, or some talented cyber remixier to take on.
The rest is pretty darn similar, some minor differences version wise/sonically, but no as severe as the aforementioned tracks that received the Spector treatments. I confess that I like having the little humerous asides, and shorter goofy works, that peppered the original: "Maggie Mae" & "Dig it" and all the funny chatter at song starts and finishes- especially from Lennon. While I appreciate having them, "Naked" does feel more like a proper album now.
"Magical Mystery Tour" was a collection of "the other stuff from '67" and film soundtrack songs. Song for song it certainly stands up well to Sgt. Pepper, but it was an oddity, and not considered a "proper" release by many, so it too remains overlooked in comparison' especially if you take it track for track. "Let it Be" Like the aforementioned, MMT, has been overlooked by many, because of the particular circumstances surrounding it shelving, and stalling of it's final release; not to mention it being handed off to Phil Spector. Again, taking it song for song, track by track, it certainly is the equal of what came before, (The White Album), and after (Abbey Road)it.
Start with as great a Lennon song as there ever was, "Across the Universe", and then add as moving and soulful a ballad as can be imagined, "Don't Let Me Down". "Dig a Pony" is a psychedelic rocker standout that feels very White Albumish to me, and would've been a highlight there as well. I do wish they had restored the "All I want is you" beginning like they did on "Anthology III". They stressed how important that was on one project, and then ignore it altogether here? The Lennon-McCartney collaborations, "One After 909" (mostly all Lennon actually), and "I've Got a Feeling" (more McCartney but with a gorgeous Lennon interlude) are both scorching rockers, albeit of very different stripes, and the live versions here are incredible proof of just how vital and powerful a band these guys were. McCartney gives us two sweeping unforgettable ballads, "Let it Be" and "The Long & Winding Road", a classic rocker, "Get Back", and the wondrously unique "Two of Us" (which may be my favorite of his here). Harrison's "I Me Mine" (later covered by Elliot Smith no less) is just fantastic, and "For You Blue" is a nice enough tossed off rocker with some fine slide work by John (great Lennon solo on "Get Back" too). Throughout the album the guitar interplay is on par with the albums that surround it (meaning a peak of peak in that era), as is the absolutely perfect rhythm section work. They had a huge amount of material to sort through, during the Winter of their collective discontents, but it would have been amazing if Harrison's "All Things Must Pass" (one of a number of eventual solo tracks that were tried by the full ensemble), which appears on "Antholgy III" in full demo form, has made it here as well. It would have made a nice bonus cut, and would have put Harrison's contributions more on par with Lennon & McCartney's. As his White Album, "Abbey Road", and solo "All Things Must Pass" tracks prove, George was certainly working on level with anyone at that time, and it was only the breakup that kept him from becoming as prominent as voice as John and Paul with the group.
There is also some griping about Lennon having less material ready ("One After 909" being from '63, and "Across the Universe" from early '68 really) but there were enough other tracks by him attempted here, and what is on the final album here is nothing short of amazing. It's wise to remember that lots of tracks get recycled, or lay about until it's "their time". The Beatles ran through "Child of Nature", a White Album era outtake which appears on the "Fly on the Wall" disc here in abbreviated form, and that didn't come out until 1971, when it was reworked into "Jealous Guy" for the "Imagine" album. It's also worth noting that he released no less than 3 solo singles in 69-70 ("Give Peace a Chance", "Cold Turkey" & "Instant Karma"). Further proof that this was a project that was cut short, was that there was no Ringo feature either; though her was working on some numbers- one of which is featured in this sets second disc.
While this isn't as big a deal as it's being hyped to be, as far as how great the differences are...It is a big deal, a huge deal actually, because it takes what was (and still is) a criminally underrated, and overlooked work by the greatest band of all time, and brings it back to light. That is a welcome fact, and this is certainly worth a listen in any incarnation.
Some final notes...1)Remember this was originally titled "Get Back" (plus "Don't Let Me Down" and 9 other songs), which mimics their first album "Please Please Me" (plus "Love Me Do and 12 other songs). The cover for "Please Please Me" is the same as the "Red Album" or "Beatles 1962-1966". The "Get Back" cover parody was supposed to be the same as the cover for the blue album, or "Beatles 1967-1970". Why they didn't use that cover is just an amazing missed opportunity. 2) The "Fly on the Wall" disc is a frustrating missed golden oppurtunity. They could've released so much more, and in such better form...yeah there are neat conversations, and funny asides, but the snippets of songs are such a terrible tease, when you know there is so much more. Hopefully we'll see better work done with the outtakes concerning the, "always just about finished and ready to be released any day now" "Let it Be" DVD project. I"m hoping that there will be a proper box set soundtrack with the complete rooftop concert, and loads of full outtakes.


A Collectors' Item   June 14, 2004
John Profetto (Hamilton, Ontario Canada)
I find this an interesting collector's item.Though I can't hear any differences in most of the songs.The only three that do sound different are Let It Be,The Long And Winding Road and Across The Universe.I especially find Across The Universe to be sung in a higher key and sound slightly more cheerful.


Not For Your Casual Beatle Fan   November 25, 2003
This CD is ok. There isn't really anything new here. Tracks like Get Back, Let it Be, Don't Let Me Down, and Across the Universe are already available in "De-Spectorized" versions on the Past Masters Vol 2 CD. Actually the Past Master versions of these songs sound better then on LIBN. On Let It Be Naked the guitars are not that prominent in the mix on all the songs except I Me Mine (which actually sounds better to me). Don't Let Me Down and I've Got a Feeling really suffer from the buried guitars in the mix. As for songs like the Long and Winding Road and Let It Be they benefited from Phil Spector. The LAWR needs the orchestra not the "toy piano" that is present in this mix. And by the way this track was also available on the Anthology 3 CD. As for the title track I actually prefer the Spector version because the George Harrison guitar solo is much clearer. The version on this CD is ok, but nothing special when compared to the album version released in 1970 or the single version released in 1969. As for the omission of Maggie Mae and Dig it, they might as well have left them on the CD there was certainly enough space. Also they should have left the dialogue in, there is some classic stuff there. In addition with so much more space on the CD its a wonder why they didn't put Beatle versions of songs like All Things Must Pass among others, which were recovered last year by police from bootleggers. As for the bonus disc, its just parts of songs and dialogue, if you like that sort of stuff.