Friday, January 30, 2015

The Beatles - Get Back (upgrade)


The Beatles – Get Back
(soniclovenoize reconstruction)


January 2015 UPGRADE


Side A:
1.  One After 909
2.  Dig A Pony
3.  I’ve Got A Feeling
4.  I Me Mine
5.  Don’t Let Me Down
6.  Get Back

Side B:
7.  Dig It
8.  Let It Be
9.  Maggie Mae
10.  Two of Us
11.  For You Blue
12.  The Long and Winding Road
13.  Across The Universe


This is an upgrade to my own reconstruction of The Beatles’ doomed 1969 album Get Back, what eventually was cleaned up by Phil Spector as Let It Be.  Originally intend as a throwback to the band’s early days of live in-studio recording in order to boost their diminishing morale and comradery, The Beatles set out to rehearse and record an album’s worth of material without overdubs, concluding with an actual live performance and a television special documenting the process.  Unfortunately the end result, compiled twice by Glyn Jones, was simply too rough and sloppy to be release-worthy and was shelved.  Phil Spector was later appointed to make an album out of the tapes in 1970 and even though better performances were selected, Spector infamously added his own orchestration, going against the live “warts and all” concept of the Get Back album.  This reconstruction attempts to create a cohesive Get Back album that finds the balance between Glyn Johns underproduced Get Back and Phil Spector’s overproduced Let It Be, while offering the very best band performances of the sessions. 



Upgrades to this January 2015 edition are:
  • Tracklist revised so that Side A features the Rooftop concert, while Side B collects the remaining tracks.  Specifically, “I Me Mine” and “For You Blue” are swapped, being that the former is more “electric” and the later more “acoustic”. 
  • Ambiance and dialog from the rooftop concert is used as an intro and outro to “I Me Mine”, creating a faux live performance of the track to fit with the other rooftop songs on Side A. 
  • A more energetic live rooftop version of “Get Back” (an edit of takes 1 and 3) replaces the common studio version, keeping in line with the all-rooftop theme of Side A. 
  • Side B is re-edited to more-or-less sound as a continuous in-studio performance, with chatter linking each song. 
  • “Dig It”, “Across The Universe” and the between-song chatter are taken from an alternate source of Glyn Johns’ second master of Get Back—specifically from The Barrett Tapes, an upgrade from Dr. Ebbetts' remaster previously used. 
  • “Dig It” is edited down from 2:39 to 1:58, trimming the fat. 
  • “Rocker/Save The Last Dance For Me” is omitted because they were superfluous.   
  • Remade higher-res cover art as well as reverse cover of the theoretical LP sleeve

1968 was the beginning of the end for The Beatles.  Embarking on a trip to India to study transcendental meditation with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, both John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote enough material for their own solo albums, not to mention George Harrison writing enough to nearly fill one.  Reconvening that May to begin recording their follow-up to Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, something was clearly different: rather than The Beatles functioning as a group, each were more interested in their own musical pursuits, using the rest of the band members as merely session musicians to suit their own desires.  Paired with the new business responsibilities of running their own Apple record label, attitudes, resentment and conflict began to rise, creating a dismal work environment.  The result of the strenuous sessions was The White Album, who many have claimed to sound like individual Beatle solo albums all wrapped into one double-LP. 

Recognizing a possible end to the band, Paul came up with a novel idea: write, rehearse and record an album as they first started in 1962, live in the studio without overdubs.  Going “back to basics” and abandoning their now-commonplace methodology of extraneous overdubbing would theoretically allow The Beatles to once again operate as a cohesive unit.  An album would be compiled from these sessions displaying, as John Lennon once quipped, “The Beatles with their pants down” and the January 1969 rehearsals and recording sessions would be filmed for a television special.  As the first week progressed, it was pitched to conclude the sessions with an actual live performance, although the band could not agree on where or even if it should be done at all (with George the most adamant against it).  While a good idea in theory, the reality is that this project—eventually titled Get Back—was doomed from the start, as none of the band’s issues from the White Album sessions where solved and seemed to be exacerbated by the band’s new setting: the cold, uncomfortable Tickenham film studio, working regular 9-to-5 hours, with John’s new bedridden girlfriend Yoko Ono constantly in the studio with them. 

As these rehearsals progressed at Twickenham studios—with cameras rolling and capturing the drama as it unfolded—The Beatles became undone.  Paul offered an endless amount of new original compositions, but became demanding and nearly dictated the songs' arrangements to the rest of the band; Lennon seemed distant, completely uninterested and often communicating only through Yoko Ono, himself head-deep into a writer’s block and a heroin addiction; George was resentful over John and Paul’s disinterest in his own compositions, of which there were now plenty of high quality to choose from; Ringo simply went along for the miserable ride, played solemnly and remained stoic and reserved.  George eventually quit the band after an argument with John and refused to rejoin The Beatles until they had vacated Twickenham and nixed the notion for a televised concert.

With George temporarily subdued, The Beatles returned to the basement of their new Apple Studios with engineer Glyn Johns at the helm, intending to properly record the material rehearsed at Twickenham live without overdubs.  The serious contenders for the Get Back album included “Don’t Let Me Down”, “Get Back” “I’ve Got A Feeling”, “Two of Us”, “Dig A Pony”, “Teddy Boy”, “One After 909”, “All Things Must Pass”, “Dig It”, “Let It Be”, The Long and Winding Road”, “For You Blue”, “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer”, “She Came In Through The Bathroom Window”, “I Me Mine” and “Across The Universe”.   Sessions were again fraught with tension, often interrupted for equally tense business meetings for Apple Records.  Whatever brief momentum the sessions had at Twickenham was lost as the Apple Studios tapes seemed lifeless, full of half-hearted takes and partial renditions of 50s rock standards that generally went nowhere.  Many of the aforementioned shortlist of 16 songs were just simply not tracked properly at all (regrettably full-band Beatles versions of “All Things Must Pass” and “Across The Universe” as they were rehearsed at Twickenham), although the band felt they captured release-worthy takes of both “Get Back" on the 27th and “Don’t Let Me Down” on the 28th.  As January ended and February obligations approached, it was decided to stage an impromptu live performance on the rooftop of their Apple headquarters and on the 30th, The Beatles performed for the last time ever as a live band, recording multiple takes of “Get Back”, “Don’t Let Me Down” “Dig A Pony”, “I’ve Got a Feeling” and “One After 909”.  The following day—the final Get Back recording session—was devoted to the definitive versions of “Let It Be”, “The Long and Winding Road” and “Two of Us”; it was simply hoped that useable takes of the remaining songs laid somewhere on tape from the previous week.  The next day, The Beatles went their separate ways, leaving Glyn Johns to plow through the miles of tape and somehow make an album out of the mess. 

Johns mixed “Get Back” and “Don’t Let Me Down” as a rush-release single in April and set out mixing the entire album in March.  His version of the Get Back album featured more than The Beatles with their pants down—their knickers were dropped as well!  Johns focused primarily on recordings culled from January 22nd, a sloppy day in Get Back recording history which included an “I’ve Got A Feeling” with a disastrous breakdown ending.  He also included: the scatterbrained “Teddy Boy” which was little more than a rehearsal; a nearly four-minute version if “Dig It”, an uninspired and aimless jam; and a short, useless jam called "Rocker" paired with a sloppy and rather embarrassing rendition of "Save The Last Dance For Me".  Even though a cover photograph was taken to mimic the cover pose of 1963’s Please Please Me, the album was continually delayed as The Beatles regrouped and began work on their final and more superior work, Abbey Road; meanwhile, director Michael Lindsay-Hogg prepared a rough cut of the footage filmed during the rehearsals and recording sessions for a film.  

Johns’ initial master of Get Back was eventually rejected by December 1969 as being too rough and he was tasked to clean it up a bit.  Not only was “Teddy Boy” swiftly dropped from the album, he was also asked to include two songs that were never actually properly recorded during the Get Back sessions—“Across The Universe” and “I Me Mine”.  Both made the cut into Lindsay-Hogg’s film as rehearsal footage from Twickenham and thus needed to be included in the film’s soundtrack album despite never being tracked at Apple Studios!  Luckily Johns pulled the original “unfinished” version of “Across The Universe” from the February 1968 “Lady Madonna”/”The Inner Light” single sessions for inclusion, and the remaining Threetles (as John was on holiday, most likely already done with the band anyways) regrouped in January 1970 to record “I Me Mine” properly.  Ultimately, this slightly-more concise Get Back would also be scrapped as well, it’s inherent weakness inescapable. 

With both John and George developing a working relationship with Phil Spector for their own eventual solo projects, in March the pair invited the legendary American producer to finish what Glyn Johns could not.  Spector abandoned the notion of “live only” performances and had free reign to alter the mastertapes as he saw fit.  Although Spector ultimately chose better takes of the material than Johns, specifically focusing on the Jan 30th rooftop performance and the Jan 31st basement session, he made a number of unforeseen alterations to the material that The Beatles had simply stopped caring about: extra vamps were edited out of “Dig A Pony”; “Dig It” was edited down from 4 minutes to under 1 minute; George’s acoustic guitar was mixed out of “For You Blue”, save for the intro; “Let It Be”, “I Me Mine”, “Across The Universe” and “The Long and Winding Road” were all treated with orchestral and choral overdubs, turning the songs into overproduced schlock.  Spector did attempt to retain the “pants down” ethos by including some studio dialog and chatter—most notably “Get Back”, simply to distinguish it from its otherwise identical studio version.  And perhaps the biggest crime in the eyes of Beatles fans, “Don’t Let Me Down” was excluded from the album entirely as Spector did not want to include a song that was already a b-side.  And with that Get Back was now Let It Be. 

While George seemed ambivalent to the project and John seemed to think Spector’s work was an improvement, Paul hated the result and felt Spector had ruined his material, notably “The Long and Winding Road”, and attempted to halt Let It Be’s release.  By then it was too late and the album was eventually released in May as the final album from The Beatles, months after the band had already broke up anyways.  But the legacy of the Beatles’ Album That Never Was has haunted fans for years—as well as McCartney himself!  In 2003, he commissioned a remix of the album entitled Let It Be Naked, which attempted to strip away Phil Spector’s overproduction (who was involved in a second-degree murder case at the time… coincidence?) and present the album as The Beatles originally conceived it.  Eleven of the key tracks all received modern centralized stereophonic remixes and the material benefited from the clever ProTools production available in the 21st Century.  Despite a bit overly compressed master, the mixes never sounded better and the producers chose superior versions of “The Long and Winding Road” and “Don’t Let Me Down”, previously unavailable.  Unfortunately, both “Maggie Mae” and “Dig It” were excluded and all tracks featured irrationally quick and obviously unnatural fade-outs to avoid any studio chatter, destroying album coherence.  Can this be fixed?  Is there a middle ground to be found between Get Back and Let It Be?  Well everything has got to be just like you wanted to… 

Side A of my Get Back reconstruction attempts to present the rooftop concert from January 30th 1969 in its entirety as a singular performance.  This will theoretically offer the listener the final taste of the Beatles as a live band, fulfilling the band’s intention of a live performance to conclude the Get Back sessions.  Beginning is the Let It Be Naked mix of “One After 909” with the opening live ambiance taken from Glyn Jones 2nd Get Back mix (sourced from The Barrett Tapes bootleg) and closing live ambiance taken from the 2009 remaster of Let It Be.  Next is “Dig A Pony” taken from Let It Be Naked, again with opening and closing ambiance taken from Let It Be.  Following is “I’ve Got a Feeling” taken from Let It Be Naked (which is actually an edit of both takes from the rooftop concert) with closing ambiance from Let It Be.  The fantastic Let It Be Naked “Don’t Let Me Down (which is, again, an edit of both rooftop takes) is surrounded by live ambiance from the rooftop show taken from The Last Licks Live bootleg.  The side concludes not with the common studio version of “Get Back”, but with a composite edit of the superior and more energetic takes 1 and 3 of the rooftop performance of “Get Back” (sourced from the A/B Road bootleg, who in turn sourced from Anthology 3 and a rip of the Anthology DVD).   

But if you do the math, you can see we are one song short of an LP side, since we only have five unique songs performed on the rooftop.  To fill the gap, I have chosen the one Harrisong sounding the most “live”—“I Me Mine” from Let It Be Naked, surrounded by live rooftop ambiance taken from The Last Licks Live bootleg and overlayed with the count-in introduction taken from Glyn Johns 2nd Get Back.  The effect is a faux live-performance of “I Me Mine”, theoretically performed on the rooftop!  How realistic is this?  How did they drop their electric guitars and pick up acoustics in 15 seconds?  Did Billy Preston really have a pipe organ installed on the roof of Apple Studios?  While you could be asking me this, you should really be asking yourself: is this something that any 60s band would have tried to pull on us listeners?  Yes of course!

Since Side A featured the entire rooftop concert (even “I Me Mine” was miraculously performed!), Side B represents the remaining tracks recorded live in-studio (thus making my Get Back reconstruction having electric and acoustic sides of the LP).  Much like The White Album, the songs are all crossfaded and feature linking studio chatter.  Beginning with “Dig It” from Glyn John’s 2nd Get Back edited to fade-in as Phil Spector had done, but allowed to continue to under 2 minutes, it goes directly into the superior Let It be Naked version of “Let It Be” (which corrects Paul’s stray piano chord in verse three).  Concluding, John thinks that was rather grand and wants to take one away with him (from Anthology 3), going right into someone who was taken away as well: “Maggie Mae” from the 2009 remaster of Let It Be.  It is edited into the intro of “Two of Us”, taken from Let It be Naked but with closing dialog from Johns’ 2nd Get Back.  That is in turn crossfaded into the proper mix of “For You Blue” and the serene “The Long and Winding Road”, both from Let It Be Naked, with dialog from Anthology 3 connecting the two.  The album concludes with the fuller Glyn Johns mix of “Across The Universe” which features Lizzie Bravo & Gayleen Pease’s creepy backing vocals otherwise mixed out of the Let It Be Naked version, something I felt was somehow needed to make the song just a bit less sparse.  And with this answer, we can finally let it be. 


Sources used:
A/B Road – Complete Get Back Sessions (CD bootleg, 2004 Purple Chick)
Anthology 3 (1996 Capitol CD)
Last Licks Live (CD bootleg, 2005 Dr. Ebbitts)
Let It Be (2009 Capitol CD remaster)
Let It Be… Naked (2003 Capitol CD)
The Barrett Tapes (CD bootleg, 2005 JBJ Records)

flac --> wav --> editing in SONAR, Audacity and Goldwave --> flac encoding via TLH lv8
* md5 files, track notes and artwork included

103 comments:

  1. Thanks soniclovenoize... I haven't given it a listen yet, but I know it's gonna be good. I haven't listened to anything you've that wasn't good... even the few you've upgraded, were good before the upgrade. Keep it up! I check back every day hoping for new stuff... and I'm always happy when there's something new.

    Thanks for all the hard work you put in on your projects, it is really appreciated out here.

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  2. Thanks for the upgrade, I've been obsessed with your Lifehouse for a few weeks now.

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  3. thanks for the posting. A couple observations. I would have used the Glyn Johns versions of "Dig a Pony " ( with the "all I want is you intro "), in place of the edited one, and the same for "For You Blue " with the 1970 vocal redo. To me that's always sounded manufactured ( "go Johnny go " ). With only 5 songs, the live part has always posed a problem; one that seems to be unresolved, unless opening and closing the side with "Get Back. " In as much as I don't care for the song, I think an edited "Teddy Boy " works better than "Across..", which to me, doesn't belong on the lp at all. It's over a year old in '69, and belonged on the "Yellow Sub" LP. "All Things Must Pass" would be more appropriate to the sessions. Your interesting, and well done ,version has given us more to discuss and debate, concerning this most frustrating of all Beatle lps. That is, unless one gets down to making The Beatles ( White Album ) a single lp. What we would give to see what George martin really would have done with that one, had he his way. For my own humble opinion, I think he was right.
    Thanks again for all your hard work; anxiously looking forward to your next project.

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    1. Why do you think Across the Universe belonged on the yellow submarine soundtrack? It wasn't in the movie, and wasn't written for it either.

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    2. A single disc white album would be interesting, however so many people have different tastes that I think it would be hard for soniclovenoize to make one that is satisfying for every one. that is one that better for people to make their own playlist :). I myself have a hard time picking just 14 songs while also trying to keep the general Beatles guidelines in album making

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    3. Re Across the Universe / Yellow Submarine, here's my proposed alternative track list for the soundtrack album. Capitol could have done it, see MMT...

      Side A: Yellow Submarine / Only a Northern Song / Hey Bulldog / All Together Now / All Too Much (long version please)

      Side B: Across The Universe / Lady Madonna / The Inner Light / Revolution / Hey Jude

      Alternates George / John / Paul nicely, I think. And long songs to end both sides. But no Hey Jude album in 1970 in this scenario. And no George Martin instrumentals either. Maybe on a bonus EP...?

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  4. ANOTHER great upload....really makes my week!

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  5. Also...this entire Beatles series has been wonderful and a big highlight for me right now. (I just discovered your blog this week.) I've always wished I lived in a reality where they never broke up; however, your blog postings get me pretty close. Would love to see your interpretation of reunion album some day. : )

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  6. That's "with Let It Be and 12 other songs", shirley?

    Not to be raining on anyone's parade, but the "final" Glyn Johns mix works because it's rough and fun, and the "scrappiness" is vital to the effect and intent. It also has an authenticity (which yours lacks) because the sources were coherent and contemporary, even though it may not be "sonically" up to Pono standards!

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    1. Actually, Get Back + Let It Be + 11 other songs = 13 tracks. That's what's here, shirley.

      I agree with the rest of your comment, though. That's why it was called "Get Back" - it was supposed to be a return to their roots and their innocence (which is why Rocker/Save the Last Dance were not superfluous).

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    2. Jeff, I always get lost after ten. Next time I'll take my shoes off!

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  7. Really enjoy your posts, Keep them coming.

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  8. This is one I've tried for myself more than once. I really recommend editing the "all I want is you"s back into Dig A Pony. It's very satisfying when you get it right!

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  9. Always get a thrill when you post something new. Looking forward to hearing this one, and as always, thanks for all the hard work and thought you put into your posts.

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  10. How about an imaginary Beatles 1980 reunion album?

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    1. This is what I am hoping for. I would even love to hear an album that the "released" after John's death that would have been a tribute to him. include John's Milk and Honey songs and Paul's Tug of War. could even throw on Real Love and Free as a Bird. I would love to see 2 more Beatles albums

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    2. I agree. John, Paul and George all released new material in 79/80, and Ringo in 81 if the scope of the material to include could be shifted slightly.

      It would also fit quite nicely with the five imagined Beatles albums you came up with during the early days of your blog. You know the kind of thing. After several years of domestic bliss, John gets his mojo back, the band reconvene, sessions commence, etc.

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  11. I just found your blog today - awesome concept! I love what you did with this classic album. I look forward to downloading and sharing more of your great work. Thanks so much. Lots of fun to hear these classic songs. I'll be checking back with you. Best!

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  12. in the immortal words of Phil Rizzuto , "Holy Cow" .... If I'm ever in the market for the guy to do a final mix and construction you are THE ONE !!!!!

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  13. Thank you very much. A typo may want to be fixed though.
    "the end result, compiled twice by Glyn Jones"
    Jones should be Johns.
    I look forward to hearing this mix. Even if I don't agree with it entirely (I appreciate the brevity and rough jam band nature of the omissions), I'm never opposed ao hearing other takes on unfinished or altered projects.

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  14. Hey homes. You listened to my Pink Floyd records and you never got back to me on them. You could even just say they suck balls or whatever. Hit me up.

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  15. i really enjoyed the album all the way up to Across The Universe. I thought those "creepy" background vocals were out of place. I think the Naked version would conclude the album better. Every other song was great though and it seemed like a cohesive album with the chatter included

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  16. Great work. Thank you. I grew up with this album, consider it sacred. Love to hear it anew.

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  17. Great job! of course the songs and performances are ultrafamiliar, but they are presented here with logic and taste, and the overall sound is quite coherent.
    This makes for a very pleasant listening, thanx for sharing

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    1. Great stuff, Ifor one hope I am in Chicago for the shows this july!

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    3. No studio "Valley Road" ('90) from the So Many Roads Outtakes listled on Lossless Legs?

      Otherwise...awesome idea here.

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    1. So much subjective on this lp., everyone has a different opinion, and it's hard to pare it down to 12 or 14 tunes. On my version I'd have all 5 Harrison songs ( Not Guilty included ), and would only have Sexy Sadie, and Long Long from your side two, and no Ob La Di. Hate that song. Gotta have Cry Baby Cry on there. McCartney would not like my version of the LP !

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    2. here's mine:
      Side one:
      Back in the USSR
      Dear Prudence
      Ob la di, ob la di
      While My Guitar Gently Weeps
      Happiness is a Warm Gun
      I'm So Tired
      Blackbird

      Side two:
      Birthday
      Yer Blues
      Don't Pass Me By
      Everybody's Got Something to Hide
      Sexy Sadie
      Long, Long, Long
      Helter Skelter

      I agree with david that its hard to pare it down. Some songs like Wild Honey Pie, Bungalow Bill, Revolution 9 are easy to leave off. But songs like Julia, Cry Baby Cry, Mother Nature's Son are hard to cut.

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    4. 'Ob La Di' is most certainly NOT the first example of white guys playing ska, nor is it a successful attempt at mastering the idiom, not by a long chalk! Try Georgie Fame's ' Rhythm And Blue Beat' EP from 1964 as an infinitely superior example. Also Mickey Finn's 'Tom Hark' 45 from the same year. Ska (or Bluebeat as it was often called) was very popular in the UK in the sixties and it required no special musical knowledge on the part of the Beatles to be aware of it! I love the Beatles, but I’m sick of people crediting them with doing EVERYTHING first during the sixties.

      Regarding the ‘White’ album, not sure how the inclusion of ‘I’m So Tired’ tallies with your policy of leaving out the most personal songs? This is absolutely Lennon talking about his own state of mind at the time.

      Incidentally, I’ve never been interested in cutting the album down to a single LP, it’s already brilliant, bar a track or two.

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    5. i never liked "don't pass me by" but what's funny if the beatles released this the fans would've compiled pretty much the double lp we got

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  20. I didn't think you could improve on your first reconstruction but you have. This is probably the best version of Get Back that I've ever heard. Dropping Rocker/Save the Last Dance was the right choice as it makes the album flow better. Switching I Me Mine with For You Blue was a good decision as well, as I Me Mine fits into the rooftop concert more. I also like how you added more chatter between the songs, especially in the second half, as that's something I always felt was lacking in your first mix. I think that if you presented this mix to the band in 1969, they would have accepted it. It captures the essence of the sessions and at the same time, feels like a releasable album. The fictional back cover was a nice touch as well and I had a lot of fun reading the note from Mal Evans.

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  21. I'll give this a try. I was not too enamored by your first version but this looks like an improvement. My only complaint that I can foresee before listening is the use of the ...Naked version of "I Got A Feeling", I still prefer the Let It Be version but that's me.

    As for the debate on the White Album my solution was to split it up into 4 solo albums using outtake and editing to flesh them out (for Ringo I added "Goodnight" to his Sentimental Journey album and moved it up to 1968). Love your work SLN.

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  23. How about Ferris Bueller's Day Off soundtrack?
    there is no official release...

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    1. Wow what a great idea! I'll work on it and see what I can do!

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    3. Thanks, I already found that information and collected all of the tracks yesterday....

      EXCEPT for The Flowerpot Men/The Blue Room promo 7". I am in search of a *LOSSLESS* rip of that. If anyone out there has access to it, let me know. I only do lossless reconstructions, so I need a wav or flac rip of the actual 7" to do this soundtrack.

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    1. Download is disabled.

      I'm working on the rip of the 7", don't worry.

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  26. I got very interested by a past Dylan suggestion of a 1965/1966 unreleased LP heres my tracklist I have been using.
    Side One:
    1. Number One
    2. You dont Have to do that (personal edit)
    3. She's Your lover now (electric, personal edit)
    4. If You gotta Go, Go Now
    5. Lunatic Princess
    6. Positively 4th Street
    SIDE TWO
    1.Medicine Sunday
    2.Can You Please Crawl Out your Window
    3.I Wanna Be your Lover
    4. Sitting On A Barbed Wire Fence
    5. Jet Pilot
    6. I'll Keep It With Mine
    BONUS TRACKS
    7. Freeze Out
    8. If You Got To Go, GO Now (alternate Version)
    9. Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window (Alternate Version)

    I Also Made another version that I consider even better, but have yet to decide 100% on the tracklisting but basicly it includes my own personal edits of the 1966 hotel songs. This creates a 49 min album, that has acoustic on one side and electric on the other kinda like Bringing it all Back home. Bob already had single albums go over 50 min sing 1964 so this is possible.
    SIDE ONE
    1. Number One
    2. Definetly Van Gogh (personally edited)
    3. On A Rainy Afternoon (personally edited)
    4. What Kind of Friend is this? (personal edit)
    5. I Can't Leave Her Behind (personal Edit)
    6. YOu Don't Have to do that
    7. SHe's Your Lover Now
    SIDE TWO
    1. If You gotta Go, Go Now
    2. Lunatic Princess
    3. Positively 4th Street
    4.Medicine Sunday
    5.Can You Please Crawl Out your Window
    6.I Wanna Be your Lover
    7. Sitting On A Barbed Wire Fence
    8. Jet Pilot
    9. I'll Keep It With Mine

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    1. I second that. Do you have a link for your versions?

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    3. I don't know how to put a link or upload it sorry

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  27. Could you put together an MP3 version of the Ben Folds Five performance on the Sessions at West 54th? The concert was released on DVD but it never got a CD release.

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    1. Yessssssssssss! That would be cooooooooooooowall! 😃

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  31. Great blog !
    Thank you for your efforts and spending time just for
    the love of music ..
    please also welcome to my music blog:
    http://goodmusicfromearth.blogspot.com.tr/
    peace...
    haar

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  32. Still impressed with your blog, sonic! Keep up the marvelous work! :)

    Here's a little fanmix I posted earlier this week on the smileysmile.net board of a never-made 1974-75 Beach Boys LP featuring what is available AND not including Battle Hymn of the Republic. Also, I tried to fit River Song into the mix but it's too damn epic and it doesn't fit the overall mood of the record. IMO it works a lot better than 15 Big Ones.
    Enjoy!

    https://www.mixcloud.com/gabriel-lamarche/califfeel1975lp/

    CALIFORNIA FEELING (1975)

    Side A

    01 Good Timin'
    02 Susie Cincinatti (MIC mix)
    03 Barnyard Blues
    04 Had To Phone Ya (MIC mix)
    05 Rainbows
    06 Good Time
    07 Rolling Up To Heaven

    Side B

    08 It's Ok
    09 Pacific Ocean Blues
    10 Back Home (1970 version)
    11 Everyone's In Love With You
    12 Holy Man (Taylor Hawkins vocal version)
    13 California Feeling (MIC mix)

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  33. I would love to see/hear what you could do with the criminally underrated Kinks (at least in my opinion). Especially regarding their 1973/74 albums Preservation Act 1 and Act 2. From what I've read, their record company stepped in and Ray Davies had to split the album into two. Your masterwork could release the album as Ray imagined and could include some classic B-sides like Slum Kids and other unreleased songs meant for the single Preservation album. I'm a huge fan of your blog. Keep up the amazing work.

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  34. Nice! Whats your next "Project"?

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  35. I can't remember if I have requested this before or not, but how about a 3rd Beatles 1963 album? There are a number of high quality covers from their summer BBC sessions that would fit: I Just Don't Understand, Soldier Of Love, and others.
    And add in the summer of '63 singles From Me To You, She Loves You, I'll Get You, and Thank You Girl, and you could have an album equal to Please Please Me and With The Beatles.

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  36. Please do two Beatles reunion albums. They get together in 1979, take the tracks off George Harrison's self titled album, McCartney II (which was recorded in 1979), Double Fantasy, and Stop and Smell the Roses. Then say the boys were working on another album, but tragically Lennon is killed. They finish the album in his honor, including tributes Here Today and All Those Years Ago. Take the other tracks off of Tug of War, Somewhere in England, Milk and Honey, and could use Stop and Smell the Roses again. Also put on Free As A Bird and Real Love. Please do these albums

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    1. I agree. Please do make a Beatles reunion album (or two).

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  37. Great job man, Im impressed! peace.

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  38. jeez man, i think youve exhausted the beatles thing. move along.

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  41. Simply outstanding work on all fronts. Would you ever consider putting together a speculative fourth Ben Folds Five album, one that would function as a direct follow-up to The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner?

    All signs point to the fact that Darren Jesse and Robert Sledge were beginning to contribute far more on the songwriting front, and culling tracks from their respective side projects as well as Rockin' the Suburbs, the Mitch Easter sessions, and various collections of unreleased material could result in something truly special, especially with somebody as insightful and creative as yourself at the helm.

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  42. As a massive Ben Folds Five fan, I second this. There's a lot of material on Ben's Retrospective album that he could use.

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  43. Big thumbs up. Here's my proposed track list:

    Side A (studio): Two Of Us / Teddy Boy / Maggie Mae / The Long and Winding Road / For You Blue / Dig It! / Let It Be

    Side B (live): Get Back / Don't Let Me Down / I've Got A Feeling / One After 909 / Dig a Pony / Get Back (reprise)

    ... Or with A and B switched. No Across the Universe and I Me Mine, since not from Jan. ''69.

    Great compilation though, great versions too. Way better than the official (and both Glyn Johns) versions!

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  44. Thanks ...Just recently found this...
    I'm a massive fan...the first group I heard live ! And I love your composite...Nice work
    Cheers

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  45. Swap Two of Us and Maggie May and it flows 100% better. Maggie May after Let It Be is too harsh, and going from Maggie May into For Your Blue is perfect. So swap track 9 and 10!

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    1. I have to say that I concur with this. Fantastic.

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  46. Many thanks for this and all the huge work your doing!

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  47. Love your work, and especially this one. It kinda blows my mind and is easily now one of my favorite Beatles albums. The proof is in the pudding, even if it is served 45 years after the fact.
    Thank you so much!

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  48. I'm curious. Is your reconstruction meant to present the album had been released in '69, as a followup to The White Album, or in '70 as an alternate Let It Be? If the former the inclusion of "I Me Mine" is a bit anachronistic to me as the song wasn't recorded until January 1970 - a full year after the Get Back sessions themselves. I think the take of "Let It Be" you used also has overdubs from January '70.

    Not to sound too critical. I LOVE this reconstruction!

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    1. Come to think of it, Phil Spector's choice of takes and edits are still present to some extent so I think I've answered my own question: alternate Let It Be. I should have gone back and re-read your essay, stupid me:P

      Still, have you ever considered rebuilding the first Glyn Johns mix from '69? It wouldn't sound as good as your version, mind you, though it'd be cool to have that missing link between the White Album and Abbey Road.

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    2. Very interesting question because I've recently been asking myself that... I've been revisiting this material for a possible upgrade to this, possibly sticking to a strict summer 1969 guidelines or match it closer to the actual film. But then you are forced to exclude "I Me Mine" and "Across The Universe" completely, and the album loses a lot of weight.

      But then you get down to the nature of this project-- The Beatles abandoned the "live only!" ethos even before Phil Spector:
      - "Get Back" featured an edit of two takes made in April 1969
      - "Let It Be" had it's guitar solo replaced in April 1969; then a second guitar solo, a new bass track, backing vocals and George Martin's horns added January 1970. This was the single version.
      - "For You Blue" received a new lead vocal in January 1970

      The question is, what actually is a pure live-only Get Back/Let It Be? As 1969 progressed, it became very convoluted and there doesn't seem to be any definitive Get Back that is releasable. Working on it though.

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    3. Sorry to resurrect a comment from two years ago, but having listened to the outtakes from the White Album 50th release I began to wonder if Harrison's "Not Guilty" could be used as an alternative to "I Me Mine" for the rooftop performance. "Not Guilty" doesn't appear in the film, obviously, but it, along with the version of "For You Blue" from the first Glyn Johns mix if available, could help in realizing a 1969 release for the album without anachronisms. Just a thought mind you.

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    4. Oh, I forgot Let It Be! That would have to be the performance seen in the film without the overdubs. Otherwise that's it.

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    5. Interesting idea, but I have plans for Not guilty.

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    6. Haha, I saw that. Guess this leaves us with either "Teddy Boy," some other outtake from '68 or Jan '69 for inclusion.

      (Just realized that the version of "Let It Be" you included is pure Jan '69 so only the two Harrisongs are actually retroactive.)

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  49. This is just fabulous. I've suddenly got a new great Beatles album in 2017! Long live Fab4 and LONG live the work of soniclovenoize. Finally Get Back album in all it's glory and as Paul wanted it to be originally (I guess).

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  50. This is fantastic. I've never got on listening to the orig 'Let It Be' or more recently the 'Naked' release, but this is a real joy to play through and hear!! ... Love your work, (Big Pink, Dwarf Music,Velvet IV, Stampede, Rat Patrol, etc, etc, etc ... ) ... Cheers!!

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  51. This is a really great "ATNE" re-imagining of Let It Be / Get Back.

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  52. "Get Back And Let It Be: The Album That Should Have Been"

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  53. I've listened to Let it Be, Let it Be...Naked, and Get Back. While I like the original's version of Across the Universe, I don't care for the album. Let it Be...Naked, to my ears at least, was just too polished to present the raw sound that they were going for. I think you struck a good balance between a polished album that is cohesive, and a raw sound.

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  54. I've wondered lately wether Glyn Johns could have requested more songs from the Beatles if he felt the material he was given was insufficient to compile a full album. In which case, maybe tracks like "Old Brown Shoe" and "The Ballad of John and Yoko" could have been included on Get Back rather than "Teddy Boy", "Rocker/Save the Last Dance for Me", and so on. Those two songs would certainly have helped to fill out the contributions from Lennon and Harrison for that tentative July 1969 release date.

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    1. On second thought, Johns was likely obligated to only use the material he was handed so the idea of incorporating songs from before or after the January sessions wouldn't have been possible. In which case, if he had assembled the best available takes of each song and worked out a tracklist the Beatles wouldn't have rejected, we'd probably have ended up with something like this:

      Side A: ~17 min. Side B: ~16 min.
      1. One After 909 1. For You Blue
      2. Dig a Pony 2. The Long and Winding Road
      3. I've Got a Feeling 3. Two of Us
      4. Don't Let Me Down 4. Maggie Mae
      5. Get Back 5. Dig It
      6. Let It Be

      At 33-34 minutes it's much the same runtime as the Beatles first few LPs which was probably what they were going for anyway with the whole "back to roots" approach. Now it's just a matter of waiting for the inevitable 50th release of Let It Be to see whether Get Back will be given it's due.

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    2. ^

      Side A: ~17 min.
      1. One After 909
      2. Dig a Pony
      3. I've Got a Feeling
      4. Don't Let Me Down
      5. Get Back

      Side B: ~16 min
      1. For You Blue
      2. The Long and Winding Road
      3. Two of Us
      4. Maggie Mae
      5. Dig It
      6. Let It Be

      Okay, now I promise to never post on this page again :P

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    3. iirc Glyn was allowed to use all that he engineered (co-produced with George Martin) within the last two weeks of January 1969 (recorded at Apple, NOT Twickenham). It looks as though he comped the best takes throughout those weeks as dailies, and the band (with George Martin) decided which takes were best (as the playbacks are actually heard on the Nagra Reels). The final sessions were on January 31st and that was the cutoff point for the album; anything after that was meant for Abbey Road or stopgap singles (Old Brown Shoe, Ballad of J&Y).

      Knowing this, Glyn was tasked to compile an album in March and the takes must have been at his discretion. This was the first Get Back compilation from May, which The Beatles rejected. He then went back and revised it a few times... Later in the year, he was privy to what was making the cut in Lindsay Hogg's film version--specifically rehearsals of Across The Universe and I Me Mine--so Glyn was instructed to incorporate that into his compilation, so it could be promoted as a more accurate soundtrack. This is where the later 1970 version of Glyn's Get Back stems from, as well as the I Me Mine sessions.

      But to confuse the matter, The Beatles and George Martin had already added overdubs to some of the Get Back material in March/April (which was not necessarily used by Glyn; I'd have to go back and look it up)... Like new vocals for "Don't Let Me Down"; an edit of the coda of "Get Back"; new guitar solo for "Let It Be". Then in January 1970 George recut his vocal for "For You Blue"; backing vocals and a second guitar solo for "Let It Be". I can't remember which of this was on his revised Get Back compilation, too lazy to check. But this was all before Spector entered the picture.

      So I guess to answer your question, Glyn wasn't in the position to request *more* songs, although he was in the position to cull an album from the sessions he engineered. I honestly think he was blinded by the stardom of recorded The Beatles, as some of his choices for Get Back were rather questionable. Maybe he felt they could do no wrong? Or maybe he took Lennon's instruction to present the band with their pants down a little to literally? Not sure.

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  55. I have four other ‘Get Back’’s (from the best sources I believe) and your version tops them by miles. You have made the only project I heard that was suitable for company executives appreciation and eventual official release (and not a mere novelty for fan bootleging).

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  56. empty3
    https://mega.nz/file/nsQgjaSB#_MIKXwfjYHdSPuhlHNQ8yffDiQBDYZcLWij9SxLDlVY

    listless flak
    https://mega.nz/file/mhRETSQY#8qh27m_Xjtr-RX_90o3DVwv2YeiMSq8T8oI-uVX16BY

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  57. empty3, tracks swapped per my half-decade old comment above.
    https://mega.nz/file/Ikhi2bpR#wwGKxg4HQoKie7_oLQPh2rdikhB8AnE3wW5LIm99uJg

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  58. Hey, Sonic -

    The new documentary sent me on a search to find this. Unfortunately, it looks like your links have been pulled. Is there any chance of a re-upload?

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    1. I'm working on an upgrade to this. Will hopefully be a Christmas present for all of you.

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    2. Outstanding! Thanks for all of your hard work on this.

      I have to say that I agree with Tom Cat's swapping of Two of Us and Maggie May. The former seems to have a mood closer to that of Let it Be, and Maggie Mae makes a nice lightening of said mood and a great set up for For You Blue.

      One other suggestion: I used to have a Glyn Johns mix with a reprise of Get Back at the end. Sometimes I miss it, sometimes not. I'm curious what you think.

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    4. Thad, google "soniclovenoize get back" and you will find a download. I won't include the link here, but it'll be in the first couple of results. I recommend it too, it's a great album, I must have listened 100 times at this point

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