Let It Be - Beatles (The) (CD 1987)

It is quite hard to find a better fitting title for a record other than Let It Be - the "it" being THE BEATLES shambolic split-up circa 1969.

Putting aside fanaticism, this is simply the sound of a band brought to its smithereens, going for the last effort, and doing horribly wrong. Hope succumbs and it's buried underneath all the bickering and envy running rampant. The achievements are on individual level, when they rear their head.

Only Paul McCartney is engaged in assembling a decent album out of chaotic, by-the-books doom-laden jams aimed at recalling the wilderness of THE BEATLES from Hamburg, after all those years of schmaltz and psychedelic experiments. John Lennon pokes fun on this very idea. His inside jokes and faux-snippets of songs are eloquent showings of his ironic methodology. George Harrison feels like the younger finally apt to give a finger to his older pals and seek his own (spot)light. He even left the band, infuriated, for some weeks during the recordings. Lennon was so worried he quoted: "What the f*ck? We can have CLAPTON instead!". Ringo Starr had left years before, but prudently, no opportunities outside, he quickly rejoined and never thought of it again...

It's noticeable. Yoko Ono and Linda Eastman (soon to be McCartney) become more relevant issues than THE BEATLES' final whisper? Time to call the undertaker.

Two Of Us (McCartney) should have been a pastoral ditty about his puppy-love Linda. With Lennon onboard downing the animus, the thing resembles a funereal acoustic march, fading voices mixed with thin air, inescapable melancholy. The sound of a defeated outfit. As nostalgic and troubling to hear to as Free as a Bird.

Dig a Pony is the buffonist anouncement from Lennon to the world - don't take this thing seriously at any rate. Words can't convey what is being done here - we're disguised as THE BEATLES from yesteryears. So what?

Lennon was so distressed he opted for a 1968 acoustic sketch to be included, Across The Universe, instead of penning new stuff (OK, Cold Turkey was rejected unanimously). Even though it was another Yoko homage, the band agreed that Phil Spector reworked the sketches in his Wall of Sound approach. It rendered the plea for Yoko into a brooding individual plea for the wholeness of the universe. Lennon was so excited he played the trick again in his solo work (God)...

I Me Mine is the most theatrical, affected number. A circular guitar-ladden diatribe, Harrison pointing fingers at McCartney's greed and aspirations of total control over the proceedings. Tellingly, he applied the criticism to himself, eager to improve his spirit. The diatribe run so thin Phil Spector had to add half a track of unfinished recordings for the sake of face-saving. McCartney didn't give a damn, anyway.

Dig It is the most representative track: a brief mess of odd sounds, an attempt on a guitar riff, Lennon tongue-in-cheek dumb wordplay rhyming BBC with BB KING. That's what the whole thing is about - a band pretending they are THE BEATLES. Lennon himself addresses a faux-artist in the coda.

Gandhi wouldn't cope with such things so peacefully, what about McCartney? So, he talks about the aftermath. Let It Be, the title track, is the farewell song. What a song! What a bold statement on I don't give a damn, I'm a survivor. He's a gentleman. A sir!

40-seconds Maggie Mae may have been inspired by one-night stands in Hamburg, but sounds a one-shot attempt on SIMON AND GARFUNKEL oddly restrained. Pseudo-quirky lyrics and lo-fi don't cope well. This is a band prematurely beyond his youth.

I've Got a Feeling puts aside the burial rites for some fine organ and percussion. Nice folk-rock. The lazy factor may have helped, as neither Lennon nor McCartney bothered to finish the song for themselves, so they merged contributions. The outcome is closer to Flying than to A Day In The Life, though.

One After 909, as the legend goes, was written in early 1959 and skipped for recording in 1963 (From Me To You was the choice, wisely). 10 years in advance, the track didn't age well. One of the least interesting early ditties from THE BEATLES finding a place in their final attempt? That says a lot. Putting aside timely considerations, the track is a poor man's JERRY LEE LEWIS.

The Long And The Winding Road is one of the most haunting and haunted late-day affairs by any band. By chance, in this case, as McCartney preferred the original, homespun, unadorned version, resembling his barefoot hope in THE BEATLES' survival. However, the monumental farse that is Let It Be is better conveyed through the delirious grandiloquence of the overdubbed Phil Spector strings. It sounds gigantic, whereas the band's synergy is minimal. That mirrors the band so well McCartney, which recorded the whole thing alone, was justly infuriated and put an end to THE BEATLES thereafter. Could anyone think of a better requiem?

For You Blue is Harrison mild answer to Lennon calling for CLAPTON. The bluesy licks and brooding mood resemble bread-and-butter CREAM in their least adventurous days. Fittingly, the thin track was disinterested Harrison's choice for Let It Be instead of All Things Must Pass, even though Phil Spector produced both. In a recording full of remarkable quotes, Harrison faces McCartney and peacefully states: "Tell me what to play and I'll play it, whatever. Or I won't play if you want".

Not surprisingly in retrospective, the track that should have spurred the return of THE BEATLES as a cohesive, down-to-Earth recording ensemble was destined to close Let It Be. Get Back is an extraordinary piece of fierce Rock N'Roll. BILLY PRESTON provided fine Moog organ, acting as a mediator. Suddenly all felt into place. It was a McCartney number, of course. Lennon lately would associate lyrics with McCartney's hate for Yoko. Rather than rebirth, this is an elephant dying slowly, amidst a frenzy. Remarkable.

THE BEATLES were so ashamed of the resulting sessions for what would have been a "live" recording named Get Back the proceedings were shelved. They eventually settled down an ultimate attempt to end the career properly as a recording unit. Thus, Abbey Road. Unfortunately, past condemns and future rewards. The money-making machine behind THE BEATLES couldn't have left under the rug such an opportunity to cash-in their split.

Otherwise, few bands died so gracefully and spontaneously as THE BEATLES.

What else should I have to say about a record by THE BEATLES in which George Martin played a minor role? See ya.

File under: Requiem

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Tracklist:

* * * * Two of Us
* * 1/2 Dig a Pony
* * * * * Across the Universe
* * * 1/2 I Me Mine
* * 1/2 Dig It
* * * * * Let It Be
* * Maggie Mae
* * * 1/2 I've Got a Feeling
* * 1/2 One After 909
* * * * * The Long and Winding Road
* * 1/2 For You Blue
* * * * * Get Back