​​The Beatles Let It Be... Naked #om_music Let It Be... Nak | OM | Observator Mundi

​​The Beatles
Let It Be... Naked

#om_music

Let It Be... Naked is an alternative mix of the Beatles' 1970 album Let It Be, released on 17 November 2003 by Apple Records. The project was initiated by Paul McCartney, who felt that the original album's producer, Phil Spector, did not capture the group's intended stripped-down aesthetic.

The album is presented in a form which Paul McCartney considered closer to its original artistic vision: to "get back" to the rock and roll sound of their early years rather than the orchestral overdubs and embellishments which were added by Phil Spector to three of the songs in the production of the final Let It Be album. McCartney in particular was always dissatisfied with the "Wall of Sound" production style of the Phil Spector mixes of these three tracks, especially for his song "The Long and Winding Road", which he believed was ruined by the process. George Harrison gave his approval for the Naked project before he died.

McCartney's attitude contrasted with Lennon's from over two decades earlier. In his December 1970 interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Lennon had defended Spector's work, saying, "He was given the shittiest load of badly recorded shit – and with a lousy feeling to it – ever. And he made something out of it ... When I heard it, I didn't puke." Harrison and Ringo Starr also remained complimentary about Spector's contribution, with Starr saying: "I like what Phil did … There's no point bringing him in if you're not going to like the way he does it".

Naked consists largely of newly mixed versions of the Let It Be tracks while omitting the excerpts of incidental studio chatter and most of Spector's embellishments. It also omits two tracks from the 1970 release – "Dig It" and "Maggie Mae" – replacing them with "Don't Let Me Down", which was the non-album B-side of the "Get Back" single.