40 years
I’mstill waiting for the Beatles break-up movie Let It Be to finally be released on DVD. The original film hit theaters in 1971 right around the time the Beatles had ramped up their personal attacks & lawsuits against each other, and the film gave fans a glimpse into how it got to where it was (the images of them sitting around learning new songs, completely disinterested in the other members’ contributions; Paul cajoling the others to keep working; John with Yoko; George bringing in side musicians like Billy Preston & Eric Clapton; the complete absense of George Martin; Ringo being totally left out….) – but it also gives an awesome reminder of why they were (and to many, including a brand new generation just discovering them, still are) the most compelling band in history – the rooftop concert that has been copied many times (I’m looking at you, U2) but never duplicated.
Anyway, about 40 years ago the boys called it quits. Yep, 40 years. Since then, Paul has released elevendy-hundred versions of Let It Be (the song), but none capture the original rawness from the movie:
Of course, the mark of a great song is its ability to be redone in a variety of ways and still hold its own. That’s another reason why the entire Beatles catalog is so valuable – most of the songs have been redone by such a wide variety of artists in a wide variety of styles – I have on my iPod the entire Sgt. Pepper album redone in reggae, and it’s awesome! – that their music will never go away. One of the most compelling versions of Let It Be is from the Across the Universe soundtrack:
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