NAKED OR NOT?

OK, that title is just a teaser to get you to read. But if you read this posting to the end, who knows?

I never wanted my blog to be exclusively about music, but Phil Spector’s death, as well as readers’ comments after my December posting on Darlene Love, brought me back to his career. He died at the age of 81 on January 16 in a prison hospital due to complications from covid. He was serving a 19-year to life prison term for the death of Lana Clarkson, an aspiring actress. She died from a single gunshot wound to the head in Spector’s mansion after making the mistake of accompanying him home.

Spector is reported to have had an “extensive handgun collection” and rock history contains numerous references to Spector and guns. In a January 17 interview with Billboard.com, Darlene Love recalled making it a habit of staying away from Spector whenever a gun was present. Despite not giving her credit for two Billboard hits that she recorded and not sharing royalties with her, Love had forgiven Spector: ”I had to get rid of the hate that I had for him and start thinking about if it wasn’t for Phil Spector, I wouldn’t have had a career. That’s the truth, if I live the next 100 years. If it wasn’t for Phil, there would not be a Darlene Love.” Love went on to say,” It’s really sad that the way he ended his life (was) in prison for killing somebody. I want him to be remembered as this man who changed rock’n roll.” And that is the topic that follows.

After producing a multitude of hits in the early and mid-1960s, Spector began to lose his enthusiasm for producing music as the decade closed. However, his work with John Lennon on “Instant Karma!” in early 1970 led, later that year, to his collaboration with the Beatles on what became their final album.

By 1969, disagreement over whether to resume touring threatened the Beatles’ continuation as a band. Nonetheless, they entered the studios to produce a concert album called “Get Back.” The vision was to base the album on live performances and to accompany the album with a documentary film. In 1968, rehearsals began at London’s Twickenham Film Studios, but discord between George and John resulted in George leaving the studios. As a condition for his return, the sessions moved to the Apple Studio on Savile Row, where the recordings were completed. The change in venue is noteworthy because this location became the site for the famous rooftop concert on January 30, 1969, the only concert of the recording sessions.

George Martin, who had produced every Beatles album until then and is sometimes called the fifth Beatle, began the task of compiling the tracks and producing the “Get Back” album, but on at least two occasions the bandmembers rejected his work. In early 1970, Phil Spector was engaged to complete the album. Employing his “Wall of Sound” techniques, he added orchestral and choir overdubs to four of the album’s 12 tracks. Also, he inserted “studio chatter” from the recording sessions and edited and spliced as producers are wont to do. Contrary to the original vision, only seven of the 12 tracks were live performances – three from the rooftop concert and four from studio sessions. In a slight to George Martin, Spector was listed as the sole producer, and the album’s name was changed to “Let It Be.”

Upon its release, “Let It Be” topped the album charts, and two of its singles - “Let It Be” and “The Long and Winding Road” – became #1 hits in the U.S. Despite this success, music critics were less than complimentary, with many panning the album due to Spector’s over-production. John Lennon, who had left the Beatles before the album’s completion, later used Spector to produce his “Imagine” album and defended Spector’s work on “Let It Be” in a Rolling Stone interview: ”he was given the shittiest load of badly recorded shit, with a lousy feeling toward it, ever. And he made something out of it. He did a great job.” Harrison and Starr were also supportive of Spector, with Harrison and Spector later co-producing “All Things Must Pass” and “The Concert for Bangladesh” albums. Spector later said that his work with Lennon and Harrison in the early 1970s was ”the most creative period” of his career.

Paul McCartney remained dissatisfied with “Let It Be” and 33 years later Apple Records re-released the album, stripped free of Spector’s contributions. The later release also dropped two tracks included on the 1970 album – “Dig It” and “Maggie Mae”- and added one track that was not originally included, “Don’t Let Me Down.” Void of Spector’s manipulations, the 2003 release is known as “Let It Be … Naked.”

So open your browser and search for McCartney’s classic, “The Long and Winding Road (Naked Version/Remastered 2013)”. I promise, you won’t get any porn. As the song plays, you’ll see some other play options in your queue, which should include the song’s 1970 version. On my computer, I chose “The Long and Winding Road (Remastered 2009).” This version should be a couple of seconds longer (you’ll notice why at the song’s end, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah) and you should hear strings, horns, and a choral background.

With this posting, I’ve decided to activate the “comment” function on my website. In the comment section at the end of this posting, consider indicating the version you like best, but keep in mind the admonition from my January posting, “de gustibus non est disputandum.”

Lagniappe #1: “One After 909.” Paul hoped the Get Back/Let It Be sessions would return the Beatles to their rock and roll origins, thereby reviving the band. No song exemplifies their origins better than “One After 909,” which was written by John Lennon, in collaboration with McCartney, in the late 1950s. The version on “Let It Be” is from the rooftop concert, and it is my favorite song on the album. If you want to hear a much earlier version, I believe six days after Ringo replaced Pete Best, search the web for “Beatles.OneAfter909,1962.Liverpool.”

Lagniappe #2: Billy Preston. Billy Preston is from Houston, Texas, where my sister’s family lives, and he has always been one of my favorite musicians. On the “Let It Be” album, he played Hammond organ on two tracks and electric piano on five tracks, including “The Long and Winding Road.” He also is sometimes called the fifth Beatle. Reportedly, the band’s acrimony during the Get Back/Let It Be sessions would have prevented the album’s completion, if not for Billy Preston’s tempering presence. Unfortunately, Billy Preston died in 2006 at age 59 of complications from kidney disease. On the last Sunday in September, I get my Billy Preston “fix” at New Glarus’ Oktoberfest. One of my favorite bands, The Jimmys, closes the festival and Preston’s “Will It Go Round In Circles” is typically on their set list. If you attend the festival in the post-pandemic era, you’ll recognize me as the guy drinking a Staghorn from the New Glarus Brewing Company.