The sessions, crisply captured here, veered from heartfelt to half-hearted. And Abbey Road was a break-up album, but doesn’t sound like it.’ ‘Let It Be,’ he says, ‘sounds like a break-up album when it wasn’t. ‘Let It Be,’ he says, ‘sounds like a break-up album when it wasn’t'īorn, like the album itself, in 1969, Giles has now subtly remixed four Beatles LPs, starting with Sgt Pepper. Born, like the album itself, in 1969, Giles has now subtly remixed four Beatles LPs, starting with Sgt Pepper. He likes to quote his dad’s line on Let It Be: ‘produced by George Martin, overproduced by Phil Spector’. The producer is George’s son Giles, who shares his sharp ear and gentle wit. With this edition, the Martin family strikes back. Hired by John Lennon to polish Let It Be, Spector infuriated McCartney by adding a wall of saccharine. It went through three producers: George Martin, their father figure Glyn Johns, their young engineer, who compiled the unreleased LP Get Back, included here and finally the talented but now disgraced Phil Spector. Let It Be was The Beatles’ most difficult child. An LP that once lasted 35 minutes now sprawls over six CDs.Ĭosting at least £110, it makes McCartney’s book (about £75) look a bargain. The barrage begins with a bumper edition of Let It Be, the last studio album The Beatles released, though it was recorded before Abbey Road. Hired by John Lennon (above) to polish Let It Be, Phil Spector infuriated Paul McCartney by adding a wall of saccharine Jackson, being Jackson, has turned it into an epic trilogy. The Beatles: Get Back is based on Michael Lindsay-Hogg’s film about their final days. Later in November there’s a documentary on Disney+ from Peter Jackson of The Lord Of The Rings fame. He has included so many of them – 154, spanning 65 years – that the book comes in two volumes. Next month Paul McCartney publishes The Lyrics, a handsome hardback telling the stories behind his songs. Never mind Jesus – The Beatles are bigger than Ed Sheeran.Īnd soon they’ll be here, there and everywhere. Their compilation 1 is Britain’s fourth best-selling album of this century, behind only Adele (twice over) and Amy Winehouse. The performance was widely bootlegged under the erroneous title ‘Unless He Has A Song’, but was given a proper release in October 2021 on the super deluxe reissue of Let It Be.The Beatles, who split up 51 years ago, have never gone away. It was recorded on 28 January 1969, the 17th day of the Let It Be sessions. The Beatles’ version featured Billy Preston on vocals and piano, with backing from John Lennon and Ringo Starr. Other versions were recorded by Billy Eckstine, Perry Como, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Neil Sedaka, Mahalia Jackson, George Benson, The Isley Brothers, Stevie Wonder, The Supremes, Louis Armstrong, Willie Nelson and many others. It was included in the short-lived musical play Great Day, but the song became far more successful, being recorded by a number of artists.Īn early recording from 1929 was by Bing Crosby and Paul Whiteman’s orchestra. ‘Without A Song’ was composed by Vincent Youmans, with lyrics later added by Billy Rose and Edward Eliscu. Written by: Youmans-Rose-Eliscu Recorded: 28 January 1969 Producer: George MartinĪvailable on: Let It Be (50th anniversary deluxe edition) Personnelīilly Preston: vocals, piano John Lennon: guitar Ringo Starr: drumsīilly Preston led The Beatles through a version of the 1929 classic ‘Without A Song’ during the Get Back/ Let It Be sessions in January 1969.