What’s the best version of “Let It Be”

Yes, I prefer the Spector version. And you're right, many prefer the single version mixed by George Martin, which is the muted one in which George Harrison's solo is played through a Hammond organ Leslie speaker.

Starman nailed most of the history behind it, but what I didn't know until I did a bit of research of my own is that the harder solo was recorded in early 1970 when Spector began piecing the Get Back sessions together.

By then, George Harrison had heard the final mix of what was to be the "Let It Be" single and thought his solo could be better. He wanted something with more heft. Hence the difference in the guitar solo in the single version vs. the album version.

Then, there's George's original, recorded live during the Get Back sessions. And there's a third used on the Naked album.

I always wondered what it would sound like if both the single and album solos were superimposed on top of one another? Figured it would be the dream version of the song.

Well, it's kind of a case of being careful what you wish for. Inevitably, someone mashed them up on Youtube. Here's the result.

A mess because without access to the masters, you can't balance them correctly.

Anyway, I think the Spector version of the "Let It Be" album is a tad unfairly maligned. And I like Harrison's solo in the album version not necessarily because it's harder, but because it creates a sonic sweep that the single version lacks. The loud moments give poignancy to the quiet ones.

 

None of them.

 

By the accounts I've read, there were never more than two Beatles in the studio at the same time during late 1969-early 70 when Spector was trying to patch the "Get Back" tapes together.

Lennon had already announced to the other three that he was done with the band back in October. His contribution mainly consisted of calling in Spector to work on the tapes, and saying "call me when you're done."

George came in to work on his own songs, but they weren't exactly masterpieces, and obviously by this time he was stockpiling his good stuff for what would become "All Things Must Pass."

Paul's stuff was already the most record-ready from the original sessions, plus obviously he wasn't too happy with what Spector was doing with "The Long and Winding Road" or "Let It Be," so that wasn't a real fruitful working relationship either.

And as it turned out, he was working on his own solo album, so he wasn't going to throw "Maybe I'm Amazed" into the mix.

 

Nice.

The Ray Charles version of anything is the best version.

 

...and match.

 

Musically, no.
Emotionally, yes.

The backstory is James and Paul are driving around Liverpool when this is filmed.

Paul's eye dip on "Mother Mary" sets me up...

"He is," pretty much does me in.

 

Whichever version had the guitar solo played on a Fender.

 

"Let It Be" was actually a continuation of an answer-response sequence between John and Paul which began as far back as "Penny Lane"/ "Strawberry Fields" and continued long into their solo careers.

"Let It Be," a minor key ballad about the singer's visions of his long-dead mother, is in a way an answer song to John's "Julia," released on the White Album several months earlier.