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 Let It Be (Limited Edition) LP.
- Studio:
- Apple Studios, 3 Savile Row, London
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About
This was the last day of the “Get Back” sessions and the day after The Beatles’ concert on the rooftop of the Apple building.
On this day, The Beatles and Billy Preston recorded three songs that had been judged inappropriate for the live performance. Those were “Two Of Us”, “The Long And Winding Road” and “Let It Be”.
A performance of “Two Of Us” played on this day was included as the opening track on the “Let It Be” album.
At some point during the session, The Beatles went back to their 1968’s “Lady Madonna”. Glyn Johns would consider it and mix it for his “Get Back” LP
From Doug Sulpy:
The Beatles and Billy Preston returned to the basement of Apple to perform three of
the songs that were not appropriate for the previous day’s rooftop concert – “Two Of
Us,” “The Long And Winding Road” and “Let It Be.”
Unlike the earlier Twickenham and Apple sessions, The Beatles were now performing
directly to the camera as they attempted to record releaseable takes.
“Two Of Us” was finished off easily, as only a breakdown and three complete takes
were required. “The Long And Winding Road” and “Let It Be” required more time
From 31 January 1969: Get Back/Let It Be sessions: day 20 (beatlesbible.com):
A performance of ‘Two Of Us’ was included as the opening track on the Let It Be album. The Beatles completed the song early on in the session, leaving them with time to mess around in the studio. Among the performances were numerous golden oldies, and a version of ‘Step Inside Love’, which Paul McCartney had given to Cilla Black the year before.
Various other songs were also performed during the day, including a version of ‘Lady Madonna’ featuring the lines “Lord and lady docker, in your private yacht/All the people wonder why you have such a lot”. McCartney also sang on ‘I Want You (She’s So Heavy)’, which The Beatles had played earlier in week and were clearly keen to work on further.
Most of the takes of ‘The Long And Winding Road’ were recorded after a lunchtime break. Among them was the version included on the 2003 album Let It Be… Naked. The song ‘Let It Be’ proved slightly more troublesome, with The Beatles recording a total of 22 takes, beginning with a skiffle-style one with John Lennon on lead vocals, singing the words to a different melody.
Patience began to wear thin during this part of the session, with Lennon audibly bored and interjecting mischievous lines such as “And in my hour of darkness she is standing left in front of me, squeaking turds of whisky over me”. McCartney, too, changed some of the lyrics, including a reference to “Brother Malcolm” (presumably Mal Evans), and changing “times of trouble” to “times of heartache”.
The group did eventually record a take which – with overdubs recorded at a later date – was used on both the single and album. This was the penultimate take of the day; an edit of this and the final take was used in the Let It Be film.
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.
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2.
Wild And Pretty maid
Recording • DDSI.31.02 • 0:38
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4.
Written by Traditional
Recording • DDSI.31.04 • 9:03 • Medley with "Lost John","Five Feet High and Rising","Bear Cat Mama","Black Dog","Right String, Wrong Yo-Yo","Run For Your Life"
5.
Written by Traditional
Recording • DDSI.31.04 • 9:03 • Medley with "Take This Hammer","Five Feet High and Rising","Bear Cat Mama","Black Dog","Right String, Wrong Yo-Yo","Run For Your Life"
6.
Written by Johnny Cash
Recording • DDSI.31.04 • 9:03 • Medley with "Take This Hammer","Lost John","Bear Cat Mama","Black Dog","Right String, Wrong Yo-Yo","Run For Your Life"
7.
Written by Jimmie Davis
Recording • DDSI.31.04 • 9:03 • Medley with "Take This Hammer","Lost John","Five Feet High and Rising","Black Dog","Right String, Wrong Yo-Yo","Run For Your Life"
8.
Written by Traditional
Recording • DDSI.31.04 • 9:03 • Medley with "Take This Hammer","Lost John","Five Feet High and Rising","Bear Cat Mama","Right String, Wrong Yo-Yo","Run For Your Life"
9.
Written by William Lee Perryman
Recording • DDSI.31.04 • 9:03 • Medley with "Take This Hammer","Lost John","Five Feet High and Rising","Bear Cat Mama","Black Dog","Run For Your Life"
10.
Recording • DDSI.31.04 • 9:03 • Medley with "Take This Hammer","Lost John","Five Feet High and Rising","Bear Cat Mama","Black Dog","Right String, Wrong Yo-Yo"
13.
Friendship
Recording • DDSI.31.07 • 0:24
14.
Turkey In The Straw
Recording • DDSI.31.08 • 0:21
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20.
Written by Fred Rose, Walter Hirsch
Recording • DDSI.31.14 • 2:21 • Medley with "In The Middle Of An Island","All Together Now"
21.
Written by Nick Acquaviva, Ted Varnick
Recording • DDSI.31.14 • 2:21 • Medley with "Deed I Do","All Together Now"
22.
Recording • DDSI.31.14 • 2:21 • Medley with "Deed I Do","In The Middle Of An Island"
24.
25.
Step Inside Love
Recording • DDSI.31.17 • 0:15
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49.
54.
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60.
Instrumental
Recording • DDSI.31.52 • 1:03
68.
69.
70.
Unknown
Recording • DDSI.31.62 • 2:43
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
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