The
Beatles - Let It Be: Super Deluxe Blu-ray/5 CD Set
(1970 Anniversary Edition with Hardcover Book/Apple Records/Universal
Music)
Sound:
Dolby Atmos/B+ DTS-MA 5.1/B+ Stereo: B Extras: A- Album:
B+
The
Beatles not only made several hit movies, but tried a documentary and
TV special. The latter two did not turn out their best albums, but
they were still projects that produced some classic results. Magical
Mystery Tour
was the TV project where Paul McCartney wanted to be as absurd and
surreal as possible, while Let
It Be
(1970) would be the band trying to do a paired-down project in
producing their music with Michael Lindsay-Hogg films hours and hours
of the sessions, et al, culminating into a documentary that was a hit
in its original theatrical release.
That
documentary has not been available since it was issued in the early
1980s on VHS tape and the old 12-inch LaserDisc format and some
thought it might be reissued soon. Instead, Director Peter Jackson
has taken all that Lindsay-Hogg footage and created a mini-series
(originally, it was going to be another documentary, but they could
not fit it all in a small package) and is being released in
conjunction with this new Super
Deluxe
Blu-ray/CD edition of the actual album (which has no video in it) for
the 50th Anniversary of the original album's release.
The
biggest change for this project was switching producers from George
Martin to someone of note who had the talent to produce a different
kind of album. John Lennon (temporarily?) commented about not being
happy with Martin, then changed course when they did Abbey Road.
They called in Glyn Johns, but the results were not what they hoped
for or totally what they were aiming for, so (with Lennon's support
in particular, since they were already on the same page) got Phil
Spector to remix the album fro commercial release.
The
album tracks this time, both on the Blu-ray edition and 16Bit/44.1
kHz CD Disc One are:
CD
1 - Let
It Be
(New Stereo Mix)
Two
Of Us
Dig
A Pony
Across
The Universe
I
Me Mine
Dig
It
Let
It Be
Maggie
Mae
I've
Got A Feeling
One
After 909
The
Long And Winding Road
For
You Blue
Get
Back
CD2
- Outtake Highlights
Morning
Camera (Speech - mono) / Two Of Us (Take 4)
Maggie
Mae / Fancy My Chances With You (Mono)
Can
You Dig It?
I
Don't Know Why I'm Moaning (Speech - mono)
For
You Blue (Take 4)
Let
It Be / Please Please Me / Let It Be (Take 10)
I've
Got A Feeling (Take 10)
Dig
A Pony (Take 14)
Get
Back (Take 19)
Like
Making An Album? (Speech)
One
After 909 (Take 3)
Don't
Let Me Down (First rooftop performance)
The
Long And Winding Road (Take 19)
Wake
Up Little Susie / I Me Mine (Take 11)
CD3
- Get Back: Rehearsals and Apple Jams
On
The Day Shift Now (Speech - mono) / All Things Must Pass (Rehearsals
- mono)
Concentrate
On The Sound (mono)
Gimme
Some Truth (Rehearsal - mono)
I
Me Mine (Rehearsal - mono)
She
Came In Through The Bathroom Window (Rehearsal)
Polythene
Pam (Rehearsal - mono)
Octopus's
Garden (Rehearsal - mono)
Oh!
Darling (Jam)
Get
Back (Take 8)
The
Walk (Jam)
Without
A Song (Jam) - Billy Preston with John and Ringo
Something
(Rehearsal - mono)
Let
It Be (Take 28)
CD4
- Get Back LP: 1969 Glyn Johns Mix
One
After 909
I'm
Ready (aka Rocker) / Save The Last Dance For Me / Don't Let Me Down
Don't
Let Me Down
Dig
A Pony
I've
Got A Feeling
Get
Back
For
You Blue
Teddy
Boy
Two
Of Us
Maggie
Mae
Dig
It
Let
It Be
The
Long And Winding Road
Get
Back (Reprise)
CD5
- Get Back EP
Across
The Universe (unreleased Glyn Johns 1970 mix)
I
Me Mine (unreleased Glyn Johns 1970 mix)
Don't
Let Me Down (new mix of original single version)
Let
It Be (new mix of original single version)
That
is more bonus material than I expected and worth having, giving us an
idea of where they were trying to go with the album, though note that
the Let
It Be... Naked
version of this album that is stripped of all of Spector's work (no
matter how that turned out) is not included in this set. Yes, there
is that much material!
Without
a doubt, Across
The Universe,
I Me
Mine,
Let It
Be,
The
Long And Winding Road
and Get
Back
are inarguable classics, beloved, often remade and referenced and key
songs in the band's catalog, but the other songs are not bad. They
just do not always have the impact, though Two Of Us is a close
runner-up. Though still friends, even without seeing the
Lindsay-Hogg film, the members were starting to outgrow each other a
bit, had other lives, wives and more going on, so some of the feel of
this album is to be expected.
However,
no one could have imagined they would soon break up when the film and
album, were being made. Martin wanted them to try another concept
album like Sgt.
Pepper's,
while many thought Billy Preston might actually be allowed to join
the band and that could have been a great fit and made for an
interesting full studio album. Nether happened.
The
result here is a project that succeeded more than failed, but even if
it were considered one of the greatest albums in the history of
recorded music, the brewing conflicts were unavoidable and what
happened was going to happen pretty much no matter what.
Having
heard this album and all of its hits since I was born, I was stunned
at how great this latest restoration and all the hard work by Giles
Martin and company has once again turned out. Ironically, this is
now the most stunning and sonically strong version of any Phil
Spector music on digital disc (and reportedly very high quality for
the vinyl versions of this set) ever released. Even flawed, to hear
his work at such high resolution is amazing and no matter what became
of him and what he did in his life, the rest of his catalog and work
deserves the same ultra-high resolution treatment, whether mono or
otherwise.
At
this point, The Beatles were no longer releasing their albums in mono
and this is not to say that Spector could not handle stereophonic
sound and that is in any way among the issues with what he did with
the material for this album, but he threw in the towel on making
music for a while after his masterpiece single River
Deep, Mountain High
with Tina Turner did not do as well in the U.S. as it had in other
markets. Any further examination of all this needs a separate essay,
but I still think this album is better than it sometimes gets credit
for with his mixes, despite selling well since its release.
Listening
to the album now, I can hear nuances you could never hear before in
the music, a stage of the growing talent and maturity of all four
Beatles that plays like an untold story without trying as I listened
through, surprised. I hear the singing, the musicianship and like
any band that, no matter what, when they get together, they will
always be that band and it can never be changed.
Now
for playback performance. The Blu-ray audio once again features
three soundtracks: Dolby Atmos 48kHz/24bit sound, DTS-HD MA (Master
Audio) 5.1 96/24 sound and PCM
2.0 Stereo 96/24 sound. Unlike the Abbey
Road
Atmos track, this is only 48kHz and not 96, so it may not be as
muscular (especially as the DTS-MA), but it still sounds good, has
its moments and offer detail and openness even the DTS-MA 5.1 cannot.
Across
The Universe,
Let It
Be
and The
Long And Winding Road
benefit most in the Atmos version, though all the tracks benefit.
I
still like the DTS-MA 5.1 mixes very much and they are the overall
warmest, while the PCM 2.0 96/24 stereo is fine and a bit above the
CD version, but it is also for purists. The DTS and especially Atmos
allow the singing and instruments to have a clarity and agelessness
that goes a step beyond what we always experience with any Beatles
classic. It is always like visiting the music for the first time in
a way no one could have dreamed of when this music was first released
and only confirms the greatness of the band that all the fans who
love them knew all along.
All
five of the CDs and their 16bit/44.1kHz 2.0 PCM Stereo sound is just
fine and up to the CDs of the other three Beatles box sets we've
covered to date.
Finally,
there is another excellent,
high quality, hard cover book with plenty of stills, rare items,
illustrations, three opening pieces, two essays (by John Harris and
Kevin Howlett (who also writes up the track-by-track pieces)) and
much more. Sliding into the die cut slipcase that shows the images
of the four Beatles in or out of the slide case (the paperboard,
book-like Blu-ray/CD holder offers alternative images that also fit
the cutouts), Paul McCartney does the Forward, Giles Martin the
Introduction and Glyn Johns a priceless piece on how he got involved
in the making fo the album. Images from the film footage looking the
best since Lindsay-Hogg's documentary film became the only
feature-length documentary feature film in cinema history to be
released in (now extremely valuable) three-strip, dye-transfer,
Technicolor 35mm prints.
No,
that 1970 film will not be getting reissued, but this expanded set
will be matched by an expanded documentary that guarantees, thanks to
this great, extensive set, Let
It Be
gets the best chance ever to be appreciated for what the band did
accomplish here and ii very much worth your time in what will turn
out to be one of the greatest examinations and explorations of a
major music album yet.
-
Nicholas Sheffo
