Part of
The "Get Back / Let It Be" sessions
January 1969 • Songs recorded during this session appear on Let It Be (Limited Edition)
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- Album Songs recorded during this session officially appear on the Get Back / Don't Let Me Down (UK - Mono) 7" Single.
- Studio:
- Apple Studios, 3 Savile Row, London
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About
Overview
In the evening, The Beatles met American businessman Allen Klein. John and Yoko Ono had met him the previous day and John had made him his personal adviser.
From Doug Sulpy:
In spite of the greater-than-usual number of songs rehearsed, this was basically an
unproductive day. Most of their works-in-progress have now been perfected, and with so
little time remaining in the sessions, they don’t want to tackle any new numbers.
The morning is not without success, as they record what will ultimately be the
released version of “Don’t Let Me Down,” but their rehearsals of the other new numbers
offer little progress.
In spite of their lethargy, three numbers are given their session premieres
– George’s new composition “Old Brown Shoe” (which is extensively rehearsed),
“Something,” and John’s “I Want You” (which evidently grows out of an improvisation).
The band is even desperate enough for something to do that in the afternoon they
return to “All Things Must Pass,” “On The Road To Marrakesh” and “Teddy Boy” – all
songs that were performed earlier in the sessions, which had evidently been abandoned.
From 28 January 1969: Get Back/Let It Be sessions: day 17 (beatlesbible.com):
The 17th day of the Get Back/Let It Be sessions saw The Beatles further refine most of the songs which would end up on the Let It Be album.
The first song to receive significant attention was ‘I’ve Got A Feeling’, one take of which featured a three-chord coda lasting a full 15 minutes, and others which had John Lennon on lead vocals.
The single version of ‘Don’t Let Me Down’ was recorded on this day, although further backing vocals were later added at Abbey Road prior to its release. Also taped during this session were seven versions of ‘Get Back’, the coda from one of which was used on the single.
George Harrison had introduced ‘Old Brown Shoe’ during the previous day’s session. It had further work on this day, and after one of the takes The Beatles and Preston began experimenting with a stylophone. This is The Beatles’ only known use of the instrument popularised by Rolf Harris.
Another Harrisong, the future chart-topping single ‘Something’, made its debut during this session. Five versions were taped of the song, which still lacked some lyrics and final chords, and Harrison can be heard on the tapes asking for help finishing it off. “Just say what comes into your head each time,” Lennon tells him. “‘Attracts me like a cauliflower’. Until you get the word.”
Although Lennon and Paul McCartney seemed willing to help Harrison with the song, there was less enthusiasm for ‘All Things Must Pass’, which had last been played on 8 January. The Beatles performed it one more time the following day, before giving up on it completely.
John Lennon introduced a new song, ‘I Want You (She’s So Heavy)’, which would eventually be recorded for Abbey Road. The first of four versions from this day was instrumental, and featured the main guitar riffs that made it to the final recording, although it was little more than a jam at this stage.
Two versions of ‘Teddy Boy’ were performed, one of which was combined with a take from 24 January and released on 1996’s Anthology 3. Similarly, Lennon revived ‘Child Of Nature’ – here known as ‘On The Road To Marrakesh’ – although it was clear that the song wasn’t working for The Beatles.
The group also delved back into their old songbooks, with mixed results. A version of ‘The Inner Light’ lasted for less than a minute, while a slow arrangement of ‘Love Me Do’ failed to ignite any sparks. More successful was ‘One After 909’, which was performed on the Apple rooftop on 30 January.
Last updated on January 31, 2022
Songs recorded
The performances are sequentially numbered using the nomenclature from the book "Drugs, Divorce and a Slipping Image" by Doug Sulpy. DDSI 2.01 is, for example, the first performance from January 2nd, while DDSI 31.65 is the sixty-fifth performance from January 31st. This numbering is at times different from the DDSI numbers used on the bootleg collection "A/B Road Complete Get Back Sessions", likely because "Drugs, Divorce and a Slipping Image" was updated since the release of this collection.
- Filter by:
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Improvision
Recording • DDSI.28.02 • 0:32
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The River Rhine
Recording • DDSI.28.03 • 5:21
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Rainy Day Women #’s 12 & 35
Recording • DDSI.28.13 • 1:13
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The Inner Light
Recording • DDSI.28.16 • 0:35
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Blue Yodel No 1 (T for Texas)
Recording • DDSI.28.18 • 0:16
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Tea For Two
Recording • DDSI.28.19 • 0:24
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Written by Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, John Lennon, George Harrison
Recording • DDSI.28.20 • 8:14
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On The Road To Marrakesh
Recording • DDSI.28.23 • 3:51
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On The Road To Marrakesh
Recording • DDSI.28.24 • 2:54
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Improvisation
Recording • DDSI.28.62 • 3:11
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Unless He Has A Song
Recording • DDSI.28.66 • 3:51
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Sticks And Stones
Recording • DDSI.28.67 • 2:33
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Bo Diddley
Recording • DDSI.28.77 • 2:20
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How Do You Tell Someone
Recording • DDSI.28.88 • 2:19
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Greasepaint On Your Face
Recording • DDSI.28.89 • 1:36
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Positively 4th Street
Recording • DDSI.28.90 • 0:08
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Positively 4th Street
Recording • DDSI.28.91 • 1:51
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Going further
The definitive guide to the Get Back sessions, released in 1994 and updated in 2007. In the author's own words:
New, completely revised edition! This new volume isn t just a compilation of material from the 1994 book Drugs, Divorce and a Slipping Image (also later published as 'Get Back') and 'The 910's Guide To The Beatles Outtakes Part Two: The Complete Get Back Sessions' (2001). I've re-listened to the entire canon of available Get Back session tapes, come up with a bunch of new conclusions (and even a handful of new identifications!), and pretty much re-written half the book from scratch. In addition, great effort has been made to improve readability of the book. Songs have now been put into groups (generally by Nagra reel, or series of them), rather than describing each performance separately, as was done in the original. In every way, this is the book we wished we could have written in 1994.
As the paperback version is out of print, you can buy a PDF version on the author's website
If we like to think, in all modesty, that the Paul McCartney Project is the best online ressource for everything Paul McCartney, The Beatles Bible is for sure the definitive online site focused on the Beatles. There are obviously some overlap in terms of content between the two sites, but also some major differences in terms of approach.
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Possible setlist for this day:
Shazam (Duane Eddy)
‘The Long And Winding Road’
‘I’ve Got A Feeling’ (17 versions)
Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 (Bob Dylan)
‘The Inner Light’
Blue Yodel No. 1 (T For Texas) (Jimmie Rodgers)
Tea For Two Cha-Cha (Tommy Dorsey)
‘Dig It’
‘Child Of Nature’ (Lennon; two versions)
‘Dig A Pony’ (12 versions)
‘Get Back’ (seven versions)
‘Love Me Do’
‘Teddy Boy’ (McCartney; two versions)
‘Don’t Let Me Down’ (four versions)
‘One After 909’ (four versions)