Tag Archives: let it be

#605: The Beatles – I’ve Got a Feeling

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‘I’ve Got a Feeling’ is the eighth song on The Beatles’ final album Let It Be, opening the second half of the record if you own it on vinyl. I think everyone knows the story behind the making of it. If not, I’ll try and lay down some knowledge for you.

The Beatles spent five months working on what became their self-titled double album in 1968. It was released in November of that year. They took a short break and the four members did whatever they wanted in that time. As soon as January 1969 arrived they were back in the studio, mostly because of Paul McCartney’s eagerness to start work again. John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr didn’t particularly want to be there and the group had a miserable time in the first few days. The month went on, internal relationships sort of got better (thanks to the inclusion of keyboardist Billy Preston in their sessions and a change in studio), just enough that they were able to record an album’s worth of songs and play what was to be their final live performance on the roof of their Apple Corps headquarters. During that concert, ‘I’ve Got a Feeling’ was played twice and the first take of it is the version you hear on the album.

The rooftop concert is the obvious highlight of the Let It Be film; it’s practically the only time that you see the four members really enjoying themselves when playing together. There are a ton of recordings you can find on YouTube of the band going through ‘I’ve Got a Feeling’ in the studio and the magic just isn’t there. But it’s on the roof where the song comes alive. Paul McCartney melodically roars throughout the entire track and George Harrison’s spiking lead guitar on the right hand side helps to really move the track along. It’s also the last track in which McCartney and Lennon equally share their lead vocal. Lennon had worked on his own song called ‘Everybody Had a Hard Year’ in the latter stages of 1968 and through some wise decision-making it was incorporated into McCartney’s song.

To whoever may be reading this you should definitely try and watch the Let It Be documentary. Not particularly for any action that happens because there’s not a lot of it, but it hits when the concert segment gets going and the group start performing. These were four people who weren’t genuinely happy throughout most of the film for the past hour. But for the 20 minutes that portion of the film lasts for, they put their all into their performance. It’s a real joy to see.

By the end of January, they didn’t have much faith in what they had recorded and decided to start work on what would become Abbey Road instead. Let It Be could have been a lost album. It’s good that it wasn’t. We wouldn’t have this great song otherwise.

#587: The Replacements – I Will Dare

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‘I Will Dare’ is the first track on The Replacements’ third album Let It Be, released in 1984. The album itself was a departure from the straight-up two-minute three-chords punk the band had been making up to that point since forming in ’79, and featured significantly more ambitious musical arrangements and lyrical themes explored by main lyricist and guitar man Paul Westerberg. First time I heard Let It Be I will say I was 18 (may have been 17) and  looking for new albums to hear. Not new as as in what was recent, but new things to stop me listening to the same old same old. It was okay. Five years have passed and I still hold this opinion. It’s cool, though a lot of the songs never really stuck with me.

‘I Will Dare’ though is one of the best album openers ever. Got slick melodies from the get-go and throughout, starting with Westerberg’s jangly two-chord rhythm guitar pattern that leads into the track’s main riff provided by lead guitarist Bob Stinson. Chris Mars’ drums pound throughout, particularly on the verses, and Tommy Stinson does his thing on the bass with that little climbing and falling line he does in the choruses. It’s a strong band performance throughout this whole thing, everyone is on point. Even R.E.M.’s Peter Buck provides a frilly guitar solo which caps it all off. A perfect start, man.

I also think that the music is the perfect backdrop to the song’s lyrics – a older man has a hush-hush relationship with a younger woman and is ready to take on anything if she’s willing to do the same. I can always visualize some sort of music video set in nighttime 80s New York with two people acting as the couple and the band singing somewhere unrelated. The lyrics aren’t even that descriptive, kind of repetitive too, but conjures up a lot of imagery.

Even if Let It Be as an album didn’t do so much for me, I still went through a small ‘Replacements’ phase….. It was around the time that the band was to play live on American television in the same studio where they had been banned from playing since 1986, after that ‘infamous’ appearance on Saturday Night Live. Came to realise that in their prime, they were a force to be reckoned with. I prefer a lot of their live performances to their studio cuts though. Below are some of my favourites, including the aforementioned SNL show if you’ve never seen it*. Take care.

*20/05/2020 – Those videos aren’t on YouTube anymore.

My iPod #409: The Beatles – Get Back

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A track about two fictional characters who have initial thoughts about themselves which are actually not true, “Get Back” is a solid track grounded by a firm bass which plays one note for the majority of the track and pounding drums. Its sound too is also enhanced by the fancy finger-work on the keyboard provided by Billy Preston, adding a soulful flavour to the steady rock beat.

The first time I actually ever heard the track was when Paul McCartney played it in a concert at the Royal Albert Hall for Children in Need in 2009. I was not there. Was just on the television. But as you may or may not have read already that year was when I suddenly started listening to anything The Beatles had ever created, so what better chance was there than to see one of the main songwriters performing the songs himself?

Judging by the number of people singing along to the words and clapping in unison with complete joy on their face, it looked like “Get Back” had been quite the popular track. But funnily enough, I’d forgotten how the track actually went until I watched the “Let It Be” film a few weeks later. Silly, silly me.

What was meant to be the song to signal The Beatles’ return to their rock and roll roots without the fancy production and lavish instrumentation they had used in the preceding years turned out to be the band’s swansong, the last track on the group’s final album “Let It Be” from 1970. Even if “The End” was meant to be the true last track of the band’s work, I am content with “Get Back” taking its place as that role. It might not be as extravagant as that song, but it does bring a sense of closure in its own way.

My iPod #272: The Beatles – Dig a Pony

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Time for a post methinks. I arrived back home for the Easter holidays, but as soon as I did I was out again to meet up with friends at Stratford. It was getting to eleven at night when eventually set foot in my house, and therefore there was no song to talk about yesterday.

Here is one now. It’s “Dig a Pony” by The Beatles, on their last album “Let It Be“, a weird love song written and sung by John Lennon.

The “Let It Be” film is a miserable one. That was the first one I watched when I began to avidly research The Beatles and listen to their songs, which is weird because it’s the last one they did. It used to be available in parts on YouTube, but apparently isn’t anymore. The majority of it focuses on the four guys improvising some tracks in studios at a time when relations between all of them weren’t so friendly anymore. This was a real day in the life of The Beatles – not the one that was dramatised and played up for “A Hard Day’s Night“. It is a much harder watch in comparison.

That is until the band go up onto the rooftop for a spur-of-the-moment performance, the one which would turn out to be their last live one as a group. They deliver the songs to almost perfection, one after the other with great enthusiasm and finish with a witty remark by Lennon, providing a heartwarming close to the film. One of the songs they did on the roof was “Dig a Pony”, and that live performance is the same thing you hear on the album itself.

I dug “Dig a Pony” (hehehe) as soon as I heard the chorus for the first time. I thought it was the best song in that film. The leaping guitar work of the riff is one that is hard to forget, and the licks that George Harrison throws in at various points are wonderful too. But that moment when Lennon belts out the poignant lyric “All I want is you” with all his might – you can see just how much power he gets into the phrase. And with the wind blowing in his hair….. Man…. what a guy.

Here it is if you wanna see it.

My iPod #7: The Beatles – Across the Universe

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“Let it A.. Let it B, Let it C… Let it D! Let it F-G-H-I-K… douba-wubba-wubba U-G!”

Say what you want about The Beatles. “Pfff…. they’re so overrated, what did Paul McCartney ever do for me?” or “I’m only 8 years old, and I’ve listened to The Beatles allllll my liiiiife.” :/

Well, whatever you do say I don’t care. All I know is that The Beatles are included a lot on my iPod. There will probably be a few songs of theirs coming up in this ‘A’ series of “My iPod” that I’m doing.

Seeing as this the first of many Beatle songs that I have, I should probably start with when I really began to start listening to them and eventually became a victim of their continuing legacy that carries on throughout the years.

It started back in July 2009…. I had my YouTube channel (it was called jamzftw but it got removed so don’t try and look for it). On there, I would just a whole bunch of albums that I liked, upload them and watch the views roll in.

Now here’s something that may sound stupid to you…. I didn’t actually think that The Beatles were real. Hahaha ha ha ha hahahaha I know! Silly, right?

But I had always heard about the hype about Sgt. Pepper, and how it was the best album ever according to….. everyone in the world, really.

So I wondered what all the hubbub was about and downloaded it. Just to see what was so good.

I was 14 at the time. And at the time, I wasn’t really impressed. I didn’t know that they originally sang ‘With a Little Help from My Friends’, the end chord at the end of ‘A Day in the Life’ was cool and the only song that I got into was ‘Good Morning, Good Morning’ out of all of them. And it’s still my favourite now.

I uploaded the album onto YouTube. And that was it.

A few months later, VH1 Classic started this programme called Beatlemania. I think this was due to the 09/09/09 remasters coming out, but at the time I didn’t know that this was happening.

That was the first time that I had actually witnessed their music videos on the TV. MTV2 never showed them, and this was when MTV still showed music instead of reality television. I saw ‘Hey Bulldog’ for the first time, ‘Penny Lane’ and ‘The Night Before’ among others.

To cut a long story short, I downloaded all their albums. Let It Be was probably the last one. I would say that ‘Across the Universe’ is a favourite of mine from the album, and the better version out of those on ‘Past Masters‘ and ‘Let It Be… Naked‘.

I really like The Beatles. I’m glad that I found out that they actually existed.

Until next time.

Jamie