Get Back / Don't Let Me Down

“Get Back / Don’t Let Me Down” was the nineteenth UK single from The Beatles. It was credited to “The Beatles With Billy Preston.“

From Wikipedia:

On 11 April 1969, Apple Records released “Get Back” as a single in the UK, paired with “Don’t Let Me Down” on the B-side. The single began its 17-week stay in the charts on 26 April at No. 1, a position it held for six weeks. It was the first Beatles single to enter the official UK singles chart at the top. In the US, “Get Back” began its first of 12 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart the week ending 10 May. Two weeks after the song’s chart debut it hit No. 1, where it stayed for five weeks. “Get Back” became the band’s 17th No. 1 song in Billboard, matching Elvis Presley’s previous record of 17 number ones.

In both the UK and US, the single was released by Apple, although EMI retained the rights to the song as part of their contract. It was the only Beatles’ single to include an accompanying artist’s name, crediting “Get Back/Don’t Let Me Down” to “The Beatles with Billy Preston”. Neither Apple nor Capitol Records created a picture sleeve for the single—it was simply packaged in a sleeve stating “The Beatles on Apple”. Apple launched a print ad campaign for the song concurrent with its release showing a photo of the band with the slogan The Beatles as Nature Intended, indicating that the sound of “Get Back” harked to the group’s earlier days.

The single version of the song contains a chamber reverb effect throughout and a coda after a false ending, with the lyrics “Get back Loretta / Your mommy’s waiting for you / Wearing her high-heel shoes / And her low-neck sweater / Get back home, Loretta.” This does not appear on the album version; the single version’s first LP appearance would come three years later on the 1967–1970 compilation. This version also appeared in the albums 20 Greatest Hits, Past Masters and 1. It was also included in the original line-up of the proposed Get Back album that was scheduled to be released during the fall of 1969.

In the UK and Europe “Get Back/Don’t Let Me Down” was the Beatles’ last single to be released in mono, but in the US the single was released in stereo. It was the Beatles’ first single to be released in true stereo instead of mono as part of the “stereo only” movement gaining force in 1969. In both versions the lead guitar played by Lennon is in the left channel, and the rhythm guitar played by Harrison is in the right channel. The single was also released in the experimental PocketDisc format by Americom in conjunction with Apple and Capitol in the late 1960s.

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