Take a sad song and make it...?
Dec. 10th, 2010 02:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakA kind person gave me Let It Be...Naked, aka the 2003 released version of the album. Which I understand was controversial among critics (still divided, not surprisingly, along the "to Phil or not to Phil" line), so it was intriguing for me to compare and contrast. Backstory for non-Beatles fans: the results of the January 1969 flimed sessions which had meant to invigorate the band and instead ended up documenting them falling apart weren't released immediately. (Which is why to this day you have to choices for "last Beatles album" - the last one recorded (Abbey Road) or the last one released (Let It Be).) For a good long while, none of the four wanted to touch those tapes. Instead, everyone pulled themselves together for Abbey Road. However, their newly acquired manager Allen Klein wasn't about to let something as profitable as unreleased Beatles tapes lie around in the vaults, plus they still had to fulfill the original three-films-deal Brian Epstein had signed for them with United Artists in 1963. This resulted in in Michael Lindsay-Hogg cutting the film material to something approaching a documentary which UA would accept as the last film, and Phil Spector, who had produced John's single Instant Karma, being hired to produce a soundtrack album with the recorded material. What this resulted in was where the opinions of the two main songwriters completely differed. John: "He was given the shittiest load of badly recorded shit with a lousy feeling to it ever, and he made something of it." On the other hand, I wouldn't put it past Paul to have treated the day Phil Spector ended up in prison for a 19 years sentence as a day of celebration, given how vocal he was in the last forty years about loathing what Spector had done, especially (but not solely) to The Long and Winding Road.
The description of Spector remixing The Long and Winding Road by Geoff Emerick in his book is the most vivid one we have and pretty much speaks for itself:
(...)I went to Abbey Road on April Fool's Day, 1970, accompanied by Malcolm Davies, whom I'd invited for moral support. By the time we arrived, the session was already in full swing, and it was immediately evident that something was terribly, terribly wrong. (...) "This sounds like crap; what kind of bullshit studio is this, anyway?" The whiny, high-pitched voice was Spector's, and his invective was directed at a harried-looking Pete Brown. I sized up the situation: Spector was trying to make his presence felt by being obnoxious - a strategy that never works in the confines of a recording studio. Diplomacy obviously wasn't Spector's strong point; he was storming around, not only shouting at Pete, but at the orchestral players - the finest in London - telling them, "You call yourselves musicians? You can't even play this right!" He was totally alienating everyone in sight. The assistant on the session was a totally mortified Richard Lush. "This is nothing; you missed the worst of it," he whispered to me.
Apparantly the musicians were furious because they had been asked to play on three tracks instead of the two they were booked for, yet they weren't being offered any extra pay. Spector's response had been to blow his top, screaming, "You'll do what I tell you to do, and you'll like it!" which had triggered an impomptu walkout. (...) Now Spector was pacing between the studio and the control room, alternating between trying to placate the still angry musicians and trying to get Pete to add more echo and reverb than was humanly possible. As I watched the circus unfold, I realized to my horror that Spector had reduced the Beatles' performance down to one or two tracks so he could have five or six tracks for orchestral and choir overdubs, as if tehy were more important than the group's playing. At one point he wanted even more tracks. When Pete told him he had none to spare, Spector had the unmitigated gall to actually wipe one of Paul's vocals - erasing it forever - in order to free up another track for one of his many choir overdubs. I was aghast. Things went from bad to worse. Just as the musicians finally calmed down enough to start rehearsing "The Long and Winding Road," Spector turned around and said to Richard, loudly enough for us all to hear, "I hope Paul likes this, because I've changed the chords."
I couldn't believe my ears. Spector was not just remixing Beatles music, he was actually altering it. As the orchestra ran through the score, Spector started demanding that Pete record them louder, and Pete politely refused, explaining that the meters were already pinning. Pete Bown was an excellent engineer, a consummate professional, and he wasn't about to start overloading an orchestral overdub for Phil Spector - or anyone else, for that matter; quality orchestral recordings were his speciality, and he took pride in his work.
I looked around the room. The only Beatle present was a clearly embarrassed Ringo. The insanity kept building and building until Spector finally lost it completely, waving his arms and screeching "I must have more echo! I must have more reverb!"
That was the straw that broke the camel's back for Ringo, who grabbed Spector by the arm and told him to step outside for a private chat. When they came back, Spector was a little better behaved, so I have to assume that Ringo told him to cool it, but he was still running amok. (...) I turned and walked out the door.
Emerick's reaction had nothing on Paul McCartney's when he heard the result of the overdub. He had spent the time post-Abbey Road sessions in 1969 mostly in Scotland, being depressed, drinking and having what sounds like a nervous breakdown, but now he was done with being depressed and definitely in the cold rage part of break-up feeling. As evidenced in the letter he sent:
A. Klein, Esq.,
Apple Corps Limited,
3 Savile Row,
LONDON, W.l.
Dear Sir,
In future no one will be allowed to add to or subtract from a recording of one of my songs without my permission.
I had considered orchestrating The Long And Winding Road but I had decided against it. I therefore want it altered to these specifications:-
1. Strings, horns, voices and all added noises to be reduced in volume.
2. Vocal and Beatle instrumentation to be brought up in volume.
3. Harp to be removed completely at the end of the song and original piano notes to be substituted.
4. Don’t ever do it again.
Signed
Paul McCartney
c.c. Phil Spector
John Eastman
This letter was ignored (and worse, John signed off on the Spector version, which was all the authorisation needed) which was the straw that broke the camel's back. Cue lawsuit wherein the fact that under Klein's management, Paul had no control over his own music anymore (with the LAWR exchange quoted and documented) was cited as one of the reasons why he sued for the legal dissolution of the Beatles. Phil Spector's defense was always that a) the overdubbing was necessary because of John's atrocious bass playing (Paul had been playing piano), and b) Paul was being hypocritical in his criticism because "Paul had no problem picking up the Academy Award for the Let It Be movie soundtrack". (Well, Phil, of course he didn't. He wrote and performed the majority of the music.)
Given this, I wasn't at all surprised that one of the major changes between the two Let It Be albums is that for all the songs in the 2003, not just The Long and Winding Road, Phil Spector's famous "wall of sound" technique is entirely gone. More surprising was that the order of songs and indeed the songs which are included also changed. Maggie Mae and Dig It are out, and Don't Let Me Down is in.
1. Get Back: this is now the opening instead of the closing song, which instead is Let It Be. Given that the entire project started being titled Get Back - when it was "back to the roots, back to our beginnings" and ended up being called "Let It Be" when it was clear that this was what they had to do, I can see the symbolism. I do miss the framing dialogue but I can see why it's gone - John's "on behalf of the group and ourselves, I'd like to thank you and hope we passed the audition" is perfect as a last sentence, but not for an opening song.
2. Dig a Pony: I could take either version.
3. For Your Blue: ditto.
4. The Long and Winding Road: aaand the choir, harp and entire orchestral overdub is gone, in favour of electric piano and guitar. Definitely sounds better - the song is just this side of over the top in sentiment anyway, and way beyond with full orchestra. What I find fascinating is that the vocal used isn't the one from the earlier album (which was recorded January 31st 1969) but from a later take of the sessions (February 4th), because while the vocal quality is the same for both versions, the text is not. There is a small but significant change in the lyrics. The take used by Spector ran anyway, you'll never know, the many ways I've tried, the one used in Let It Be...Naked instead goes anyway, you've always known, the many ways I've tried . Given that this is one McCartney ballad with an overt autobiographical theme ("It's a good vehicle, it saves having to go to a psychiatrist. Songwriting often performs that feat, you say it but you don't embarrass yourself because it's only a song, or is it? You are putting the things that are bothering you on the table and you are reviewing them, but because it's a song, you don't have to argue with anyone. I was a bit flipped out and tripped out at that time. It's a sad song because it's all about the unattainable; the door you never quite reach. This is the road that you never get to the end of. The friendship you're losing"), I don't think the switch was coincidental.
5.) Two of Us: not much of a difference between both versions. Placing the song here directly after The Long and Winding Road instead of at the start of the album gives it a sightly different emotional context.
6.) I've Got a Feeling: here I prefer this one and its rooftop-concert-rawness presentation.
7.) The One After 909: I'll give this one to Spector because the Danny Boy improvisation on the original album is cute. Either way, though, I keep being amused by the lyrics of this "prehistoric" (tm Doug Sulpy) Lennon/McCartney song which they unearthed for the sessions, because they're exactly what two precocious teenagers enthralled by American rock'n roll would write: "Move over once, move over twice/ come on, baby, don't be cold as ice" - boys, you still had such a way to go.
8.) Don't Let Me Down: Why Spector let it off the Let It Be album in the first place, given that it's arguably John's strongest contribution during the entire sessions, was beyond me anyway; the performance is also one of the highlights of the film. This version is a mix of both renditions from the rooftop concert, and it's great.
9.) I Me Mine: aaaaand gone are the orchestral overdubs once more. Sad but true story about I Me Mine: it was recorded a year later than the rest, on January 3 1970, because none of the versions played during the 1969 sessions was useable but Michael Lindsay-Hogg did want the song in the film before the scene where John is waltzing with Yoko. So George, Ringo and Paul went to the studio one last time to record a new version. It was in fact the last imte they would record anything together while the Beatles were still existing... but John couldn't be bothered anymore. He didn't come, so he's not on the recording. Anyway, I don't miss the orchestra. Gimme this one.
10.) Across the Universe: orchestra, keyboard and maracas are all gone, and the tempo, which Spector had slowed down a bit, is the one of the 1968 recording. (The Beatles had originally given the song to the World Wildlife Fund; it predates the Let It Be sessions, but was used on the album because they can be seen trying to play it in the film.) This was actually the one song where I didn't mind the orchestra. It sounds a bit odd this bare. Otoh you get a better sense of John's vocal; he's using his dreamstate voice, a la Revolver and Sgt. Pepper.
11.) Let It Be: No orchestrations do a better Let It Be make, but then, that was always my opinion. It's a powerful song either way, but just more personal in this version.
The other thing which Let It Be...Naked has is a second cd titled Fly in the Wall, with 22 minutes of studio chatter from various points during the sessions and a booklet with transcriptions of other conversations. Sometimes amusing, sometimes sad, and sometimes you wonder just which drug everyone had taken that day. Biggest surprise: George sounding not sarcastic or hostile but sincere and affectionate when he compliments Paul on his beard. Oh, and the fact that John at one point plays what sounds like the melody for Imagine on the piano. (Also the melody for Jealous Guy, but I knew he'd already composed the later, which was titled "Child of Nature" at that point and had different lyrics.) If you miss "Dig It" from the main album, it's back here together with a Maggie Mae fragment.
All in all a cd definitely worth acquiring. And I'm still glad they didn't go out on this note but did Abbey Road afterwards.
In more present day news: Paul, being in New York right now, was in Jimmy Fallon's show where there was both a very funny and a very sad song. The funny was Yesterday with the Scrambled Eggs lyrics. (It's one of the better known Beatles anecdotes: Yesterday arrived with the complete melody first, but Paul couldn't find good lyrics for eons, and the so called "dummy lyrics" in the meantime were "Scrambled Eggs", dramatic pause, "Oh my baby how I love your legs".) Which was hilarious to listen to:
Good old Scrambled Eggs
Later on, because of the date, there was a tribute to John, via the song Here Today.
And Here Today is still as heartrendering as it was in 1982.
The description of Spector remixing The Long and Winding Road by Geoff Emerick in his book is the most vivid one we have and pretty much speaks for itself:
(...)I went to Abbey Road on April Fool's Day, 1970, accompanied by Malcolm Davies, whom I'd invited for moral support. By the time we arrived, the session was already in full swing, and it was immediately evident that something was terribly, terribly wrong. (...) "This sounds like crap; what kind of bullshit studio is this, anyway?" The whiny, high-pitched voice was Spector's, and his invective was directed at a harried-looking Pete Brown. I sized up the situation: Spector was trying to make his presence felt by being obnoxious - a strategy that never works in the confines of a recording studio. Diplomacy obviously wasn't Spector's strong point; he was storming around, not only shouting at Pete, but at the orchestral players - the finest in London - telling them, "You call yourselves musicians? You can't even play this right!" He was totally alienating everyone in sight. The assistant on the session was a totally mortified Richard Lush. "This is nothing; you missed the worst of it," he whispered to me.
Apparantly the musicians were furious because they had been asked to play on three tracks instead of the two they were booked for, yet they weren't being offered any extra pay. Spector's response had been to blow his top, screaming, "You'll do what I tell you to do, and you'll like it!" which had triggered an impomptu walkout. (...) Now Spector was pacing between the studio and the control room, alternating between trying to placate the still angry musicians and trying to get Pete to add more echo and reverb than was humanly possible. As I watched the circus unfold, I realized to my horror that Spector had reduced the Beatles' performance down to one or two tracks so he could have five or six tracks for orchestral and choir overdubs, as if tehy were more important than the group's playing. At one point he wanted even more tracks. When Pete told him he had none to spare, Spector had the unmitigated gall to actually wipe one of Paul's vocals - erasing it forever - in order to free up another track for one of his many choir overdubs. I was aghast. Things went from bad to worse. Just as the musicians finally calmed down enough to start rehearsing "The Long and Winding Road," Spector turned around and said to Richard, loudly enough for us all to hear, "I hope Paul likes this, because I've changed the chords."
I couldn't believe my ears. Spector was not just remixing Beatles music, he was actually altering it. As the orchestra ran through the score, Spector started demanding that Pete record them louder, and Pete politely refused, explaining that the meters were already pinning. Pete Bown was an excellent engineer, a consummate professional, and he wasn't about to start overloading an orchestral overdub for Phil Spector - or anyone else, for that matter; quality orchestral recordings were his speciality, and he took pride in his work.
I looked around the room. The only Beatle present was a clearly embarrassed Ringo. The insanity kept building and building until Spector finally lost it completely, waving his arms and screeching "I must have more echo! I must have more reverb!"
That was the straw that broke the camel's back for Ringo, who grabbed Spector by the arm and told him to step outside for a private chat. When they came back, Spector was a little better behaved, so I have to assume that Ringo told him to cool it, but he was still running amok. (...) I turned and walked out the door.
Emerick's reaction had nothing on Paul McCartney's when he heard the result of the overdub. He had spent the time post-Abbey Road sessions in 1969 mostly in Scotland, being depressed, drinking and having what sounds like a nervous breakdown, but now he was done with being depressed and definitely in the cold rage part of break-up feeling. As evidenced in the letter he sent:
A. Klein, Esq.,
Apple Corps Limited,
3 Savile Row,
LONDON, W.l.
Dear Sir,
In future no one will be allowed to add to or subtract from a recording of one of my songs without my permission.
I had considered orchestrating The Long And Winding Road but I had decided against it. I therefore want it altered to these specifications:-
1. Strings, horns, voices and all added noises to be reduced in volume.
2. Vocal and Beatle instrumentation to be brought up in volume.
3. Harp to be removed completely at the end of the song and original piano notes to be substituted.
4. Don’t ever do it again.
Signed
Paul McCartney
c.c. Phil Spector
John Eastman
This letter was ignored (and worse, John signed off on the Spector version, which was all the authorisation needed) which was the straw that broke the camel's back. Cue lawsuit wherein the fact that under Klein's management, Paul had no control over his own music anymore (with the LAWR exchange quoted and documented) was cited as one of the reasons why he sued for the legal dissolution of the Beatles. Phil Spector's defense was always that a) the overdubbing was necessary because of John's atrocious bass playing (Paul had been playing piano), and b) Paul was being hypocritical in his criticism because "Paul had no problem picking up the Academy Award for the Let It Be movie soundtrack". (Well, Phil, of course he didn't. He wrote and performed the majority of the music.)
Given this, I wasn't at all surprised that one of the major changes between the two Let It Be albums is that for all the songs in the 2003, not just The Long and Winding Road, Phil Spector's famous "wall of sound" technique is entirely gone. More surprising was that the order of songs and indeed the songs which are included also changed. Maggie Mae and Dig It are out, and Don't Let Me Down is in.
1. Get Back: this is now the opening instead of the closing song, which instead is Let It Be. Given that the entire project started being titled Get Back - when it was "back to the roots, back to our beginnings" and ended up being called "Let It Be" when it was clear that this was what they had to do, I can see the symbolism. I do miss the framing dialogue but I can see why it's gone - John's "on behalf of the group and ourselves, I'd like to thank you and hope we passed the audition" is perfect as a last sentence, but not for an opening song.
2. Dig a Pony: I could take either version.
3. For Your Blue: ditto.
4. The Long and Winding Road: aaand the choir, harp and entire orchestral overdub is gone, in favour of electric piano and guitar. Definitely sounds better - the song is just this side of over the top in sentiment anyway, and way beyond with full orchestra. What I find fascinating is that the vocal used isn't the one from the earlier album (which was recorded January 31st 1969) but from a later take of the sessions (February 4th), because while the vocal quality is the same for both versions, the text is not. There is a small but significant change in the lyrics. The take used by Spector ran anyway, you'll never know, the many ways I've tried, the one used in Let It Be...Naked instead goes anyway, you've always known, the many ways I've tried . Given that this is one McCartney ballad with an overt autobiographical theme ("It's a good vehicle, it saves having to go to a psychiatrist. Songwriting often performs that feat, you say it but you don't embarrass yourself because it's only a song, or is it? You are putting the things that are bothering you on the table and you are reviewing them, but because it's a song, you don't have to argue with anyone. I was a bit flipped out and tripped out at that time. It's a sad song because it's all about the unattainable; the door you never quite reach. This is the road that you never get to the end of. The friendship you're losing"), I don't think the switch was coincidental.
5.) Two of Us: not much of a difference between both versions. Placing the song here directly after The Long and Winding Road instead of at the start of the album gives it a sightly different emotional context.
6.) I've Got a Feeling: here I prefer this one and its rooftop-concert-rawness presentation.
7.) The One After 909: I'll give this one to Spector because the Danny Boy improvisation on the original album is cute. Either way, though, I keep being amused by the lyrics of this "prehistoric" (tm Doug Sulpy) Lennon/McCartney song which they unearthed for the sessions, because they're exactly what two precocious teenagers enthralled by American rock'n roll would write: "Move over once, move over twice/ come on, baby, don't be cold as ice" - boys, you still had such a way to go.
8.) Don't Let Me Down: Why Spector let it off the Let It Be album in the first place, given that it's arguably John's strongest contribution during the entire sessions, was beyond me anyway; the performance is also one of the highlights of the film. This version is a mix of both renditions from the rooftop concert, and it's great.
9.) I Me Mine: aaaaand gone are the orchestral overdubs once more. Sad but true story about I Me Mine: it was recorded a year later than the rest, on January 3 1970, because none of the versions played during the 1969 sessions was useable but Michael Lindsay-Hogg did want the song in the film before the scene where John is waltzing with Yoko. So George, Ringo and Paul went to the studio one last time to record a new version. It was in fact the last imte they would record anything together while the Beatles were still existing... but John couldn't be bothered anymore. He didn't come, so he's not on the recording. Anyway, I don't miss the orchestra. Gimme this one.
10.) Across the Universe: orchestra, keyboard and maracas are all gone, and the tempo, which Spector had slowed down a bit, is the one of the 1968 recording. (The Beatles had originally given the song to the World Wildlife Fund; it predates the Let It Be sessions, but was used on the album because they can be seen trying to play it in the film.) This was actually the one song where I didn't mind the orchestra. It sounds a bit odd this bare. Otoh you get a better sense of John's vocal; he's using his dreamstate voice, a la Revolver and Sgt. Pepper.
11.) Let It Be: No orchestrations do a better Let It Be make, but then, that was always my opinion. It's a powerful song either way, but just more personal in this version.
The other thing which Let It Be...Naked has is a second cd titled Fly in the Wall, with 22 minutes of studio chatter from various points during the sessions and a booklet with transcriptions of other conversations. Sometimes amusing, sometimes sad, and sometimes you wonder just which drug everyone had taken that day. Biggest surprise: George sounding not sarcastic or hostile but sincere and affectionate when he compliments Paul on his beard. Oh, and the fact that John at one point plays what sounds like the melody for Imagine on the piano. (Also the melody for Jealous Guy, but I knew he'd already composed the later, which was titled "Child of Nature" at that point and had different lyrics.) If you miss "Dig It" from the main album, it's back here together with a Maggie Mae fragment.
All in all a cd definitely worth acquiring. And I'm still glad they didn't go out on this note but did Abbey Road afterwards.
In more present day news: Paul, being in New York right now, was in Jimmy Fallon's show where there was both a very funny and a very sad song. The funny was Yesterday with the Scrambled Eggs lyrics. (It's one of the better known Beatles anecdotes: Yesterday arrived with the complete melody first, but Paul couldn't find good lyrics for eons, and the so called "dummy lyrics" in the meantime were "Scrambled Eggs", dramatic pause, "Oh my baby how I love your legs".) Which was hilarious to listen to:
Good old Scrambled Eggs
Later on, because of the date, there was a tribute to John, via the song Here Today.
And Here Today is still as heartrendering as it was in 1982.
no subject
Date: 2010-12-13 10:29 pm (UTC)I followed a link from
no subject
Date: 2010-12-14 11:25 am (UTC)Also, welcome! I've written a lot of Beatles-related posts, and am an admirer of your Revolver story and artwork.