The kids of AD 2000 will understand what it was all about and draw from the music much the same sense of well being and warmth as we do today. For the magic of the Beatles is timeless and ageless.

That prediction in the sleeve notes for Beatles For Sale was made by Derek Taylor in 1964, when pop stars had a limited shelf life of perhaps two years. But sure enough, at the beginning of our century, the sales of the Beatles' album 1 have proved him right in spectacular fashion with 25 million sales... and counting.

Now this latest addition to their catalogue provides another chapter in the most byzantine tale behind any of their albums. By stripping away the decorative layers applied to some of the tracks this special edition reveals Let It Be as it was meant to be. The dedicated Abbey Road team has also ensured the warmth of the analogue recording still colours the sound but the crackle of tape hiss has disappeared.

As Paul commented when he heard the digitally cleaned-up mixes ‘If we’d had today's technology then it would sound like this because that was the noise we made in the studio. It’s all exactly as it was in the room, but you’re in a clearer room with the guys. It’s sort of scary; you’re right there now.’ So here it is, at last, Let It Be... Naked-the bare bones of the Beatles’ music heard in January 1969.

Why they wanted to adopt a raw and unadorned approach to these songs in the first place revolves around the ethos of the Beatles: never do what you are expected to do. After pioneering stadium events, they played their last concert on 29th August 1966. When they regrouped three months later, they focussed on the recording experimentation heard on their previous two albums and duly dazzled the world. In 1967, the extraordinary single ‘Penny Lane’/’Strawberry Fields Forever’ heralded the LP Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

The following year, The Beatles - a double album in a pure white sleeve - arrived with hardly a trace of the previous record’s psychedelic atmosphere. It skipped in a heartbeat from a whimsical folk song to a heavy rock riff to a nostalgic 1930s Hollywood musical pastiche. Then - and here s the thing to set today's marketing men scratching their heads in bemusement - with The Beatles in its sixth week at number one, they began work on a new project.

Let It Be evolved from an original plan to make a television show featuring the group playing tracks from the recent ‘white album’. That idea changed in three ways. First, abandoning the easier path, they opted to learn a completely new batch of songs for the televised concert. A second innovative approach was added when it was decided to film the rehearsals; allowing viewers to trace the development of each song from its first rough run through to the final polished version. Thirdly, as the climax of the project was a return to live performance, no studio effects or overdubbing of voices and instruments would be allowed at any time.

With the provisional concert date set for 20th January 1969, filming began on the second day of that month. Michael Lindsay Hogg was chosen to direct both the documentary and concert. His track record included work on the British TV show Ready Steady Go!, Beatles' promotional films for ‘Paperback Writer’, ‘Rain’, ‘Hey Jude’ and ‘Revolution’ and only a few weeks before, The Rolling Stones’ Rock And Roll Circus. Glyn Johns, the engineer on that show, was invited to balance the Beatles' sound for the rehearsals and concert. As usual, George Martin was the supervising producer but, as he recalls, had been instructed by John that 'none of your production rubbish’ was needed!

Filming took place on a cavernous sound stage at Twickenham Film Studios amid conditions that were not very conducive to creating music. Encircled by cameras, the Beatles huddled together - one moment feeling too hot from the film crew's lights and the next too cold from the building’s wintry draughts. Having recently fallen into the habit of late night recording, the group now had to adapt to office hours, starting some time between ten and eleven o' clock in the morning.

It is the Twickenham sessions that have characterised the whole Let It Be project as an unhappy one both in the minds of the Beatles themselves and anyone who saw the documentary footage in the movie. All four have talked openly about the underlying tensions within the group - no doubt amplified by their uncomfortable surroundings and the constant intrusion of cameras and boom microphones literally bugging them. The hundreds of film sound rolls now provide an invaluable historical record of these days in the life of the Beatles and they do contain some candid discussions about the future of the group.

Throughout the tapes Paul doggedly insists that only by working hard together can the group survive. He is also determined that they should break away from their insular recording career and appear before the public again. The other Beatles' enthusiasm for the planned concert ebbs and flows. But there are also happy moments in evidence as the group return to their roots - playing not only rock ‘n’ roll favourites but also unreleased early Lennon-McCartney compositions such as 'One After 909’ and 'Because I Know You Love Me So'.

As the days ticked away, the director’s primary concern was where the concert should take place. John can be heard on one of the tapes commenting, I’ve said “Yes” to every idea that’s come up... America, Pakistan, the moon... I’ll still be there singing 'Don't let Me Down'!’. If not quite the moon, the hire of two ocean liners (at a week’s notice!) to take the group and an audience to a torch lit concert in the Arabian desert was just one of many fanciful ideas discussed for the televised event.

But on Friday 10th January - the seventh day of rehearsal - Michael Lindsay Hogg was faced with an even more pressing problem. After an apparently harmonious morning of playing ‘Get Back’ and ‘Two Of Us', George announced he was quitting the group. ‘See you round the clubs!' was his typically understated farewell comment. Having hung out with Bob Dylan and the Band in their homes in Woodstock and enjoyed producing a Jackie Lomax album in California, George had found the Twickenham experience a grim contrast to his recent break in the States.

The remaining three Beatles dutifully turned up for rehearsals the following Monday and Tuesday but little was accomplished. Fortunately, George agreed to continue with the group but only if current plans were altered. So rehearsals were switched to the basement studio at their Apple headquarters in 3, Savile Row in London's West End. The Beatles immediately felt at home and their spirits were soon elevated further by the presence of another musician on keyboards. Billy Preston first met the group when he played in Hamburg with Little Richard's band. Now in town playing organ with Ray Charles, when he dropped by to say hello he was quickly drafted into the sessions.

The film sound rolls recorded at Apple disclose how much the atmosphere of the sessions had improved. On the first day in Savile Row, George and John are heard discussing their annoyance over a newspaper article that had alleged the two might have ‘traded a few punches’ at Twickenham. ‘It’s never got to that’, John is heard saying, ‘Except for a plate of dinner (thrown) in Hamburg!'. A few days later, munching toast together, all four chat enthusiastically about playing live in the studio. I’m just so high when I get in at night’ John tells the others. ‘Yeah, it’s great, isn’t it?’ George responds.

It is also clear that while they recognised the need for individual pursuits, at this stage they believed that these could be reconciled with continued group activity. George is heard telling John about his plan for a solo LP. I’ve got so many songs that I’ve got my quota of tunes for the next ten albums! So I would like to do an album of songs mainly to get them all out the way. It would be nice if any of us can do separate things as well. That way it also preserves this - the Beatle bit of it - more.'

Although still aiming at some sort of live ‘pay-off to the rehearsals, once settled in a recording studio - albeit one that was unfinished and stocked with equipment borrowed from EMI - their days became more focussed. ‘For You Blue’, ‘Get Back’ and ‘Don't Let Me Down’ were all ‘properly’ recorded during the first week at Apple. Eventually, it was decided to film two live sets in order to give what was now a movie a fitting final sequence. Four of the tracks on this album were recorded during an unannounced lunchtime concert on the roof of 3, Savile Row. Playing into the freezing wind, the Beatles’ public performance on 30th January 1969 turned out to be the last one ever. The following day, they were filmed in the studio playing three quieter numbers that were unsuitable for the open air.

During the early summer of 1969 ‘Get Back’ and ‘Don’t Let Me Down’ were released on a single that topped charts around the world. By this time, the group had reverted to their painstaking multitrack recording methods in EMI's studios. The sessions produced their final album Abbey Road, which went to number one in October. Interestingly, twelve of its songs had been introduced at some time during the Twickenham and Apple sessions in January 1969.

With the group and George Martin concentrating fully on a new album, none of them had the time to sort through the many live takes from the previous project. Glyn Johns was asked to compile an album called Get Back that would match the documentary nature of the forthcoming film. He came up with a record featuring studio chatter and a selection of incomplete takes and some rather under rehearsed performances. Although given several release dates throughout the year and an amended running order as late as January 1970, the album was eventually rejected.

The shelved recordings were eventually released after producer Phil Spector had been brought in to complete the project. Two tracks were added to the original list to mirror the songs featured in the imminent movie. As the Beatles were seen in Let It Be playing ‘Across The Universe’, it was decided to include it on the album. Their recording made in February 1968 had recently emerged on a charity LP for the World Wildlife Fund called No One’s Gonna Change Our World. But Spector modelled a new version by significantly slowing down the tape and adding an orchestra and choir. Similarly, because an early rehearsal of 'I Me Mine' was featured in the film, that song was recorded in January 1970 and then given the Spector touch a few months later.

Although a chart-topping album featuring three American number one singles could hardly be called a failure, for the Beatles the Let It Be project retained an air of unfinished business. The memory of its creation tainted by the unhappy business dealings of the period and the tensions threatening to pull the group apart. But, in reality, these new mixes show the group playing as a tight and co-operative unit. As Ringo observed, ‘In that time there was a lot of emotional turmoil going on amongst us but I’ve always felt that once the count-in happened we turned back into those brothers and musicians. And when you listen to the pared down version ...as I said to one of my partners, ‘Not a bad band!’

Paul is equally enthusiastic about Let It Be... Naked. ‘It’s just the bare tapes; just the bare truth and the great thing now about the re-mixed versions is that, with today’s technology, they sound better than ever.’

That’s one of the wonders of our digital age and it ensures the magic of the Beatles will be timeless and ageless.

Kevin Howlett

August 2003