Beatles' Let It Be (33 1/3) Read online

  Praise for the series:

  Passionate, obsessive, and smart—Nylon

  Religious tracts for the rock’n’roll faithful—Boldtype

  Each volume has a distinct, almost militantly personal take on a beloved long-player … the books that have resulted are like the albums themselves—filled with moments of shimmering beauty, forgivable flaws, and stubborn eccentricity—Tracks Magazine

  At their best, these books make rich, thought-provoking arguments for the song collections at hand—The Philadelphia Inquirer

  Praise for individual books in the series:

  Dusty in Memphis

  Warren Zanes … is so in love with Dusty Springfield’s great 1969 adventure in tortured Dixie soul that he’s willing to jump off the deep end in writing about it—Rolling Stone

  A heartfelt dive into the world of 60s R&B … dazzling—Pop Culture Press

  A long, scholarly, and convincing piece of nonfiction analyzing the myth of the American South—Nick Hornby, The Believer

  Forever Changes

  Hultkrans obsesses brilliantly on the rock legends’ seminal disc—Vanity Fair

  Exemplary … a wonderful piece of writing—Pop Culture Press

  Great … the writing and approach matches the enduring complexity of its subject—Jon Savage, Word

  The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society

  This is the sort of focus that may make you want to buy a copy, or dig out your old one—The Guardian

  This detailed tome leads the reader through the often fraught construction of what is now regarded as Davies’s masterpiece—and, like the best books of its ilk, it makes the reader want to either reinvestigate the album or hear it for the first time—Blender Magazine

  Fascinating and superbly researched … a book that every Kinks fan will love—Record Collector

  Meat Is Murder

  Full of mordant wit and real heartache. A dead-on depiction of what it feels like when pop music articulates your pain with an elegance you could never hope to muster. ‘Meat is Murder’ does a brilliant job of capturing how, in a world that doesn’t care, listening to your favorite album can save your life—The Philadelphia Inquirer

  Like his exquisite LPs, Pernice’s perceptive, poetic ear for unpicking the workings of troubled inner lives is exceptional—Uncut

  A slim, confessional novella equal to anything written by Nick Hornby—Bandoppler

  One can accept, reluctantly, Pernice’s apparently inexhaustible ability to knock out brilliant three-minute pop songs. But now it turns out that he can write fiction too, and so envy and bitterness become unavoidable—Nick Hornby, The Believer

  The Piper at the Gates of Dawn

  John Cavanagh combines interviews with early associates of Pink Floyd and recording-studio nitty-gritty to vividly capture the first and last flush of Syd Barrett’s psychedelic genius on the Floyd’s ‘67 debut—Rolling Stone

  Digs impressively deep … a must-have for Syd-era Floyd fans—Record Collector

  Harvest

  Successfully sets the album both in its time and within the artist’s canon—Record Collector

  Let It Be

  Also available in this series

  The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society,

  by Andy Miller

  Dusty in Memphis, by Warren Zanes

  Meat Is Murder, by Joe Pernice

  Harvest, by Sam Inglis

  Forever Changes, by Andrew Hultkrans

  The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, by John Cavanagh

  Sign ‘O’ the Times, by Michaelangelo Matos

  Unknown Pleasures, by Chris Ott

  The Velvet Underground and Nico, by Joe Harvard

  Abba Gold, by Elisabeth Vincentelli

  Electric Ladyland, by John Peny

  OK Computer, by Dai Griffiths

  Aqualung, by Allan Moore

  Let It Be, by Colin Meloy

  Live at the Apollo, by Douglas Wolk

  Loveless, by Mike McGonigal

  Grace, by Daphne Brooks

  Born in the USA, by Geoff Himes

  Led Zeppelin IV, by Erik Davis

  In the Aeroplane over the Sea, by Kim Cooper

  Kick out the Jams, by Don McLeese

  Endtroducing …, by Eliot Wilder

  Pet Sounds, by Jim Fusilli

  Low, by Hugo Wilcken

  Armed Forces, by Franklin Bruno

  Exile on Main Street, by Bill Janowitz

  Let It Be

  Steve Matteo

  2010

  The Continuum Internataional Publishing Group Inc

  80 Maiden Lane, New York, NY 10038

  The Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd

  The Tower Building, 11 York Road, London SEI 7NX

  www.continuumbooks.com

  Copyright © 2004 by Steve Matteo

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publishers.

  Printed in the United States of America

  Matteo, Stephen.

  Let it be / Steve Matteo.

  p. cm.—(33 1/3)

  Includes bibliographical references.

  eISBN-13: 978-1-4411-6093-5

  1. Beatles. Let it be. I. Title. II. Series.

  ML421.B4M195 2004

  782.42166′92′2—dc22

  2004011105

  Acknowledgments and Sources

  One of the joys of this project has been interviewing the many people that worked with the Beatles. With deep affection and respect I would like to thank them. Peter Brown, Alistair Taylor, Denis O’Dell, and Peter Asher were kind enough to share their experiences with me on their time working at Apple.

  I was fortunate to have a chance to talk to so many of the people who worked with the Beatles on their recordings at Abbey Road, Apple, and other recording studios. Among them were Richard Langham, Ken Scott, Jerry Boys, Richard Lush, John Henry Smith, Dave Harries, Keith Slaughter, and Malcolm Toft. Also, John Kurlander, an engineer at Abbey Road for 29 years, of which he served as chief engineer for the last 11, took time out from his work on the last installment of the Lord of the Rings films to talk to me at great length. Martin Benge, one-time engineer and former vice president of EMI Studios, enthusiastically answered questions by e-mail from the world down under. In addition, Alan Parsons took a break from finishing an album to talk about one of the first major recording projects of his career at Apple during the recording of Let It Be.

  Three individuals who worked on the Let It Be film proved invaluable in providing insights into the Twickenham and Apple filming, the Beatles and the times. First, special thanks go to Michael Lindsay-Hogg for being so open about his time as the film’s director. Anthony Richmond regaled me with stories not only of his time as the director of cinematography on Let It Be, but also of his entire astonishing film career. Les Parrott, one of the cameramen on the film, provided some of the most vivid and detailed memories of the film shoot.

  In addition, David Dalton, and Jonathan Cott shared their experiences with me on the writing of the “Get Back” booklet. Donovan, Klaus Voorman, and Jackie Lomax, musicians who were present during the Apple period, were also kind enough to answer my questions.

  I am deeply indebted to Mark Lewisohn for answering my questions. His The Beatles Recording Sessions (or “the Bible,” as we refer to it around my house), not to mention his books, The Complete Beatles Chronicles and The Beatles Day By Day, are among the most indispensable books about the Beatles’ recordings. Bruce Spizer also took time out to speak to me, and his books on the Beatles prov
ed invaluable. Andy Babiuk, who makes the rest of us seem like lazy underachievers, somehow found time to talk to me. His Beatles Gear was the primary source for the sections of my book that mention which musical instruments the Beatles played during the making of Let It Be. Alan Kozinn, the New York Times’ Beatles expert, graciously answered many related and non-related questions. Scott Rabb of Esquire magazine was kind enough to talk to me about his time spent with Phil Spector. Scott “Belmo” Belmer was one of the first people I talked to about this project, and his books on the Beatles’ bootlegs are fun and informative.

  Research on the bootlegs that were discovered in 2003 and on Phil Spector’s involvement as a suspect in the Lana Clarkson murder case was aided by a myriad of press reports from around the world.

  Throughout my research and writing of the book, people from the United States, Canada, England, Germany, Australia, and New Zealand took the time to talk to me, helped in the search to track down various individuals, in some way aided me in research or provided moral, spiritual, musical, or literary guidance. There is a certain respect and honorable disposition projected by all of them that was present for me during this book and that will stay with me forever. Along with those already mentioned in the beginning of the book, I must thank the following individuals: Billy J. Kramer, Robert Freeman, Steven Gaines, Paul DuNoyer, George Gunby, Carol Lawrence, Ian Griffiths, Alistair Hepburn, Daniel McCabe, Alan Sumpter, Jan Kenny, Paul Myers, Dan Daley, Bob Merlis, Brandi Whitmore, Mike Harvey, Rebecca Davis, George Peterson, Chris Poole, John Cavanagh, Bill King, Christopher Berend, Jayson Whitehead, Julie Harari, Julian Goodchild, Dr. Bob Hieronimus, Laura Cortner, Bonnie Grice, Vin Scelsa, Pete Fornatale, Bob Kranes, Joe Fallon, Wendy Sleppin, Fred Migliore, John Goldacker, Al Boccio, Charles Garland, and Frederick Glasser.

  My wife Jayne’s editing skills and saintly patience helped me endure the process of writing this book. For my son, Christopher: May you shine until tomorrow.

  To my parents and my sister Gina: Thank you for your love and support.

  For David Barker: Thanks for making this project happen and for being such a great editor. At Continuum I would also like to thank Gabriella Page-Fort and Carolyn Sawyer.

  “I’d like to say thank you on behalf of the group and ourselves and I hope we passed the audition.”John Lennon

  In memory of:

  John Lennon

  1940–1980

  George Harrison

  1943–2001

  Thomas Panepinto

  1957–2003

  Paul Kleban

  1958–2004

  “Shine Until Tomorrow/Let It Be”

  —Lennon/McCartney

  Notes on the Text

  Throughout the manuscript the name Abbey Road Studios is primarily used, although until late 1969 it was actually called EMI Studios. Also, the double album released by the Beatles in 1968 entitled The Beatles will be referred to as The White Album. The performances described during the initial filming and recording at Twickenham Film Studios and at Apple Studios represent fairly complete versions of songs performed by the Beatles and in no way reflect a complete list of all songs performed. Most of the quotes in the book are from interviews conducted by the author. The book contains several quotes that have been reproduced often over the years from members of the Beatles. Most of them were taken from The Beatles Anthology. Every effort has been made to identify the original source of all other quotes in the text. The selected bibliography at the end of the book includes quoted and informational sources. However, due to space limitations, not every quote or piece of information is attributed to a specific source and date. Recording dates and the names of specific studio personnel were obtained primarily from Mark Lewisohn’s The Beatles Recording Sessions. No book on the Beatles’ recording sessions would be complete without referencing Lewisohn’s definitive and singular text.

  There were many books that I read and re-read in order to conduct the research on this book. Naturally, Doug Sulpy’s Get Back was a primary source. In fact, it would be nearly impossible to write a book about this period in Beatles history without consulting his comprehensive tome.

  Introduction

  On the morning of January 10, 2003, newspapers around the world carried a front-page article with a headline that seemed more fitting for a crime drama than for one of the most crucial chapters in the story of pop music’s most celebrated group. The news from London was that police had discovered more than 500 hours of tapes believed to be of the Beatles’ January 1969 filming and sessions from their notorious Let It Be period. The tapes were recovered in Amsterdam and had been missing since the early 1970s. Arrests were made in Amsterdam and London. The tapes were actually audiotapes used for the filming of the Let It Be movie. They provide a continuous aural diary of the group’s nearly month-long filming and sessions.

  The treasure trove of unreleased material covers of dozens of various artists’ songs and the dialogue contained on the tapes offers an exhaustive and rare glimpse inside the fractured sessions that critics and fans have pointed to as the beginning of the end of the greatest pop group in music history.

  The “Get Back” sessions, as they were called, for all of their problems, were the bridge between the group’s White Album and its actual last album, Abbey Road, despite the fact that Let It Be was officially released to the public in 1970, long after Abbey Road, and was billed as the group’s swan-song.

  During the sessions, the group would either finish writing and/or play for the first time many of the songs that would appear on Abbey Road; several that would appear on George Harrison’s first proper solo album, All Things Must Pass; and some that would appear on John Lennon’s Imagine and Paul McCartney’s McCartney and Ram albums.

  The filming and the sessions yielded the most bootlegged recording period in history. While Bob Dylan’s concerts in London in 1966 may have resulted in the first major pop-rock bootleg, no recording project has gone on to have such a seemingly endless history.

  It’s remarkable that the recording sessions actually began as rehearsals for a proposed return to live stage work, which in its earliest planning stage was possibly going to be a concert, staged over three nights, in December of 1968 at The Roundhouse in London. At that point, the group had not performed live since August of 1966. The rehearsals and the sessions would yield the last live concert the group would ever give. The famous lunchtime rooftop concert would be the final image of the Beatles printed on the memories of many. In picking the greatest concerts of all time, the editors of Rolling Stone magazine chose that somewhat impromptu performance as the number one moment in live rock concert history.

  Let It Be, as already stated, was not the last album the group recorded. Yet, the music, the images from the film, the album jacket, and the booklet would comprise our last collective memory of the group. Ethan Russell’s photos provided the final enduring glimpse of the pop group that more than any other, changed, shaped and defined the 1960s. Oddly enough, the photos Russell shot that graced the Hey Jude album, taken at John Lennon’s home in Ascot on August 22, 1969, are actually from the last photo session the group would do.

  Let It Be is in many ways a more fitting ending to the 60s, although maybe not to the Beatles. Much like the 60s, it was incomplete, raw, disappointing, and marred by never really living up to the promise of its initial conception. Abbey Road, by contrast, was an idealized representation of the 60s. It was filled with beauty and pop art of the highest caliber, and left one with words to live by: “The Love You Take / Is Equal to the Love You Make.” Abbey Road, in its realized execution, was more the kind of expression we had come to expect from the Beatles. Let It Be reflected the uncertainty and pain of the end of the 60s. Yet, against the backdrop of the waning decade, there were some of the best songs the group ever wrote or recorded: “Let It Be,” the hymn-like cousin of “Hey Jude”; “Get Back,” proof that the group could still rock; “Two of Us,” a sweet acoustic song of enduring friendship and, like “I’ve Got
a Feeling,” a song that brought John and Paul close together musically. Even “Dig a Pony,” with its you-can-be-anything-you-want message, offered great hope, something the Beatles’ songs, whether by John, Paul, or George, often provided, which was a key reason why they resonated with so many people and continue to endure.

  Let It Be is the one Beatles album that appears to have no end. In many ways it is an incomplete work. Its incompleteness may be why some are so attracted to it—even Paul McCartney. Going back to it and wondering what it might have been gives us a chance to go back to a time ripe with possibilities. Is it revisionism? Is it nostalgia? What drives those who buy every bootleg of every moment of the filming and sessions for the album? Why does that period continue to be pored over, again and again? Let It Be was begun during the last year of the most tumultuous decade of the century. Perhaps too much has been made about how significant it was because it signaled the end of the Beatles. First, it wasn’t the end, and second, the group had been breaking up for some time and was destined to break up, Let It Be or not.

  As of this writing, with the trial concerning the stolen tapes unresolved, it is hard to say if and how the alleged tapes will impact the DVD of the film to be released at the end of 2004.

  There is a sense of uncertainty when a book is complete or near completion. Questions can nag at an author. With this book, the questions are particularly numerous, and of a more complex nature. One would think it would be easy to chronicle such a short period of time and to lay out all the facts and the history. Even after interviewing nearly 30 people who were either directly or indirectly involved with Let It Be, and talking to several people with a refined knowledge of the Beatles, I still feel that the making of the album and its ramifications have only just begun to unravel. Even Doug Sulpy, in his mammoth scholarship on the subject, has primarily stuck to chronicling that cold January in 1969 in the fashion of a diary. Perhaps that is why his work has been so excellent. Sulpy has saved us all from the kind of armchair pop-psychology that leads to reader indifference. The album is like an iceberg, revealing only the tip of a massive physical presence. Looking closely at Let It Be is akin to conducting an archeological dig. Examining all the artifacts of the period gives people a glimpse of another age and how that age became extinct. As much as the Beatles’ music continues to find new audiences and to thrill its old audience, the spirit and hope that was reflected in the group’s music has gradually eroded. A corrosive cynicism, and the dominance of forms of musical expression that put marketability and packaging first, has replaced the naive faith and pursuit of creative excellence exemplified by the Beatles.