Beatles Cd - 1st. Recorded Hour of The Let It Be Sessions

First recorded hour on the first day of the Let It Be Recording Sessions at Twickenham, Jan, 2, 1969. Film Roll Numbers 1A/2A/3A/4A.

The Beatles rehearsing, chatting and fiddling about at London's Twickenham Film Studios, taped on Thursday January 2, 1969. Preserved here on disc four of this first volume of Yellow Dog's The Beatles Ultimate Collection is that long-forgotten first hour of this first day of recordings for what was initially to be a half-hour TV special: The Beatles At Work. Dennis O' Dell (head of Apple films) suggested this documentary film to accompany Paul's refreshing idea for the boys to stage just one more major public performance. In the end, these two weeks of tiring sessions at Twickenham Studios turned out to be rehearsals for their newly-planned motion picture Get Back, later to be re-named Let It Be: their final LP. The planned-for live show stint was eventually agreed upon to be staged on top of their own London Apple offices, on January 30, 1969. Filming and recording on The Beatles' ill-fated, confusing and most frustrating Get Back sessions started at London's Twickenham Film Studios in the early hours of Thursday January 2, 1969. Direction was by Michael Lindsay-Hogg, with Glyn Johns as a sound-engineer and one Tony Richmond being contracted as director of photography. The Beatles themselves operated as executive producers. In his 1971 interview to Rolling Stone, John Lennon fondly referred to these sessions as: "...the most miserable on earth". Over a period of two weeks, up to Wednesday Januaray 15, the film crew registered something like ninety six hours of jamming, rehearsing, whistling, chatting, lunching, discussing, sometimes even playing and singing. All in all, an estimatcd total of some 200 to 250 songs; sometimes just a line or two, sometimes several complete run-throughs. They were dire performances lacking any clear musical direction, mostly out of tune and time, and rarely played with any conviction. The repertoire ranges from their own new writings (Don't Let Me Down, I Me Mine, Maxwell's Silver Hammer, Octopus's Garden and Let It Be) on to a rich list of old Rock 'n' Roll standards (Blue Suede Shoes, Be Bop A Lula, Bad Boy and Not Fade Away), some Beatles-oldies (Help, Please Please Me and Strawberry Fields Forever) and a collection of yet to be released solo-titles (Every Night, All Things Must Pass, Teddy Boy, Jealous Guy and Let It Down). After two weeks at Twickenham, The Beatles moved on to recording for Get Back at their own Apple Studios in Savile Row. It was here that they taped another thirty hours of repertoire and staged their famed 42-minute long rooftop concert, both guesting pianist Billy Preston. Following these long-running sessions were seemingly endless months of editing and mixing by three different producers: Glyn Johns, George Martin and Phil Spector. It wasn't before some sixteen months later, some nine months after the release of the new Abbey Road LP, that the finished Get Back product finally saw the light of day: Let It Be, an 88-minutc motion picture and twelve songs, a 35-minute long LP, with first pressings houscd in a deluxe cardboard box holding a 160-page colour photo-book. The greater part of the sessions at Twickenham Studios still remains unreleased. Although parts have been made available on various underground records over the years, these have always been grabbed collections of little bits and pieces, mostly heavily edited and thus losing sight and sound of the overall unique atmosphere. With the release of this first volume of The Beatles Ultimate Collection, Yellow Dog records is pleased to present all of the Beatles Get Back sessions as they were originally recorded at the time. Starting here with the first hour of that first day, complete and unedited.

Note: the timings are those documented in Doug Sulpy's "Get Back: The Let It Be Disaster". Since there is always extra dialogue between songs, it is possible that the CD tracks lengths do not match the song lengths (when summed up).

Core collection Track identified Version validated Lyrics available Version details available Audio excerpt available Participants list available 1. Nagra Tape A Roll (unknown) 15:47

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Get Back Session Nagra Tape Roll 0001A 2 Jan 1969

The Beatles

Dialogue (The Beatles Section)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Get Back Session Footsteps 2 Jan 1969

The Beatles Footsteps on the stage floor, roadie Mal Evans and his assistant setting up The Beatles' musical equipment. Don't Let Me Down (Lennon/McCartney) 0:22

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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Get Back Session 2 Jan 1969 GB02.001 The Beatles Brief instrumental performance by John (warm up) All Things Must Pass (Harrison) 0:26

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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Get Back Session 2 Jan 1969 GB02.002 The Beatles 0:26 seconds fragment of a rough version of George's composition. Followed by another fragment of "All things Must Pass" (the end of this performance ?), undocumented by Sulpy. Don't Let Me Down (Lennon/McCartney) 3:00

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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Get Back Session 2 Jan 1969 GB02.003 The Beatles First, far from finished, run-through. Dig A Pony (Lennon/McCartney) 2:21

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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Get Back Session 2 Jan 1969 GB02.004 The Beatles George shouts: "Hello Hare Krishna" to a member of this sect, present on the set. George complains about the acoustic. Then, John goes into "Dig A Pony", again a very early version, partly improvising on the lyrics. Then, The Beatles discuss Eric Burdon's reunion concert with "The Animals". Everybody Got Song (Lennon) 0:39

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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Get Back Session 2 Jan 1969 GB02.005 The Beatles AKA "Everybody Got Song". Improvisation by John. Don't Let Me Down (Lennon/McCartney) 3:10

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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Get Back Session 2 Jan 1969 GB02.006 The Beatles Another new extensive impromptu take of Don't Let Me Down, including some different melody lines. All four share the lead vocals. 2. Nagra Tape A Roll (unknown) 16:07

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Get Back Session Nagra Tape Roll 0002A 2 Jan 1969

The Beatles

Let It Down (Harrison) 1:59

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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Get Back Session 2 Jan 1969 GB02.007 The Beatles A group rendition of George's new Let It Down, later to be included on his 3-LP set All Things Must Pass. He patiently explains to the others what his new tune should be sounding like Let It Down (Harrison) 0:31

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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Get Back Session 2 Jan 1969 GB02.008 The Beatles A group rendition of George's new Let It Down, later to be included on his 3-LP set All Things Must Pass. He patiently explains to the others what his new tune should be sounding like Improvisation (-) 0:47

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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Get Back Session 2 Jan 1969 GB02.009 The Beatles Repetitive-riff by John Brown Eyed Handsome Man (Berry) 0:32

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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Get Back Session 2 Jan 1969 GB02.010 The Beatles cover-version of Chuck Berry's classic I've Got A Feeling (Lennon/McCartney) 0:59

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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Get Back Session 2 Jan 1969 GB02.011 The Beatles John's passage ("Everybody's got a hard year" etc) A Case Of The Blues (Lennon) 0:40

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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Get Back Session 2 Jan 1969 GB02.012 The Beatles Almost instrumental. Rather different than the usual demo. Improvisation (-) 0:32

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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Get Back Session 2 Jan 1969 GB02.013 The Beatles John plays a variation on "I've Got A Feeling" while the George tries to tune his guitar. Improvisation (-) 0:32

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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Get Back Session 2 Jan 1969 GB02.014 The Beatles John & George break into a brief blues instrumental. Common blues progression. Child Of Nature (Lennon) 1:50

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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Get Back Session 2 Jan 1969 GB02.15 The Beatles Following some minutes of unidentified instrumentals, is a Beatlcs version of John's "Jealous Guy", at this stage still called Child Of Nature: "on the road to Rishikesh I was dreaming more or less.."

AKA "On The Road To Marrakesh". Revolution! (Lennon/McCartney) 0:07

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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Get Back Session 2 Jan 1969 GB02.16 The Beatles Only the introduction riff. I Shall Be Released (Dylan) 1:51

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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Get Back Session 2 Jan 1969 GB02.17 The Beatles I Shall Be Released is another cover, this one originally written by friend Bob Dylan. George takes the lead here. Sun King (Lennon/McCartney) 2:20

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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Get Back Session 2 Jan 1969 GB02.18 The Beatles Basically a solo instrumental. 3. Nagra Tape A Roll (unknown) 14:51

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Get Back Session Nagra Tape Roll 0003A 2 Jan 1969

The Beatles

Don't Let Me Down (Lennon/McCartney) 3:39

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Get Back Session 2 Jan 1969 GB02.19 The Beatles John sings "Don't Let Me Down", on the tune of "Sun King".

John mistaking and improvising with the lyrics every now and then, "Don't Let Him Down". Don't Let Me Down (Lennon/McCartney) 3:23

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Get Back Session 2 Jan 1969 GB02.20 The Beatles Paul has arrived. While the others are talking. John begins to sing accompanied by hand claps (Ringo ?).

John is trying to find new lyrics as he tries to change the word "me" in the title to "him". The Teacher Was A-Lookin' (Lennon/McCartney) 0:39

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Get Back Session 2 Jan 1969 GB02.21 The Beatles An improvisation with some lines borrowed from "Johnny B Goode". Don't Let Me Down (Lennon/McCartney) 0:14

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Get Back Session 2 Jan 1969 GB02.22 The Beatles With undertones of "Sun King". Played while the other are chatting. George suggests they should learn a few songs. Don't Let Me Down (Lennon/McCartney) 0:06

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Get Back Session 2 Jan 1969 GB02.23 The Beatles The boys talking over the place's bad acoustics, the daft atmosphere, the wish for a PA system and a better communication between the four of them. Sun King (Lennon/McCartney) 0:19

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Get Back Session 2 Jan 1969 GB02.24 The Beatles George complains about the echo. Mailman, Bring Me No More Blues (Roberts/Katz/Clayton) 0:17

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Get Back Session 2 Jan 1969 GB02.25 The Beatles Paul plays the bass line from this 1957 Buddy Holly number. I've Got A Feeling (Lennon/McCartney) 3:37

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Get Back Session 2 Jan 1969 GB02.26 The Beatles Long run-through of Paul's I've Got A Feeling, by way of a first explanation to the others. "It's three chords there, starting with E, G and D." I've Got A Feeling (Lennon/McCartney) 1:14

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Get Back Session 2 Jan 1969 GB02.27 The Beatles John & Paul practising on the descending guitar riff which occur just before the bridge. George asks a copy of an unidentified mono mixdown tape (probably Jackie Lomax's album "Is This What You Want ?"). I've Got A Feeling (Lennon/McCartney) 0:03

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Get Back Session 2 Jan 1969 GB02.28 The Beatles A few guitar notes from the descending guitar riff. I've Got A Feeling (Lennon/McCartney) 0:05

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Get Back Session 2 Jan 1969 GB02.29 The Beatles A bit of vocal harmony from John & Paul. I've Got A Feeling (Lennon/McCartney) 12:23

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Get Back Session 2 Jan 1969 GB02.30 The Beatles Roll 4A Sticking to teaching rehearsals for I've Got A Feeling. Another full sixteen minutes of McCartney taking the musical lead: "Try and hold on long to these chords, like Pete Townsend does. Just go through it, do it from the lead. Take it Johnny." Mostly endless repeats of the song's mid-section solo. "Can you play back on this tape, can I listen to some?" The tape ends with a discussion between Paul and producer George Martin, again about Twickenham's poor acoustics, the possibility of the lads being filmed playing on a soundboard stage elsewhere inside the complex, and the quality of The Beatles' recordings in the making. "Just do a couple of days and see what happens, get a bit of film." (Paul) "It's always when you've had a great lunch, you feel good having fresh ideas, it really works better like that. Oh, there's this great pub over here too." Footsteps again. I've Got A Feeling (Lennon/McCartney) 0:47

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Get Back Session 2 Jan 1969 GB02.31 The Beatles John, George and Ringo rehearse this song while Paul is talking with George Martin and Michael Lindsay-Hogg about the advantages of rehearsing in a smaller space. (unknown) 2:00

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Get Back Session 2 Jan 1969 GB02.32 This is an unidentified number, played by all Beatles except Paul (who is talking with Martin and Lindsay-Hogg). George is singing (barely audible).