The Beatles - Thirty Days: Disc 13/14

Label: Vigotone, VT-230/231

The Best Of The Apple Studio Sessions Part Nine
DISC 13 (67:47)
1 - The Long and Winding Road - NEW
2 - For You Blue - NEW
3 - All Things Must Pass - NEW
4 - All Things Must Pass
5 - Let It Down - NEW
6 - Let it Down
7 - I Want You (She's So Heavy) - NEW
8 - Something - NEW
9 - Sexy Sadie - NEW
10 - Dig It
11 - Besame Mucho
12 - Three Cool Cats - NEW
13 - I Got to Find My Baby
14 - One After 909 - NEW
15 - One After 909-NEW
16 - Vacation Time
17 - Cannonball/Not Fade Away/Hey Little Girl (In the High
School Sweater/Bo Diddley
18 - Maybe Baby
19 - Peggy Sue Got Married/Thinking of Linking
20 - Crying, Waiting, Hoping
21 - Mailman, Bring Me No More Blues
22 - Teddy Boy - NEW
23 - Two of Us - NEW

The Apple Rooftop Concert
DISC 14 (46:12)
1 - rooftop setup
2 - Get Back - NEW
3 - Get Back
4 - I Want You (She's So Heavy) - NEW
5 - Get Back
6 - Don't Let Me Down
7 - I've Got a Feeling
8 - One After 909
9 - One After 909
10 - Danny Boy
11 - Dig a Pony-NEW
12 - Dig a Pony
13 - God Save the Queen - NEW
14 - I've Got a Feeling
15 - A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody
16 - Get Back
17 - Don't Let Me Down
18 - Get Back

DISC THIRTEEN – 67.47
The Best Of The Apple Studio Sessions Part Nine
After finishing their inventory of live show candidates (tracks 1 through 4), The Beatles spend some time experimenting with new songs and enjoying some oldies. John usurps George’s roll of lead singer for a loose version of "Something" and Billy Preston trades vocals with John in a raucous "I Want You (She’s So Heavy)". The band revisits "Dig It", but with a faster tempo, with John actually recalling a number of the lyrics he had sung on the January 26th version and singing the titles of all the line show candidates when he runs out of ideas. A number of enjoyable Buddy Holly covers are here as well.


Wednesday, January 29 (continued)
01 – The Long and Winding Road (3.27) – 29.NEW
Roll 553A – Paul is amused by John’s inventive bass playing. "It’s alright" concludes John.

02 – For You Blue (2.33) – 29.NEW
Roll 554A – Boogie–woogie piano dominates this pass.

03 – All Things Must Pass (2.15) – 29.NEW
Roll 555A – John adds some out of tune slide guitar to the beginning of this otherwise good pass.

04 – All Things Must Pass (3.02) – 29.2
Roll 555A – A good version though George’s vocal is very low and the drums too loud.

05 – Let It Down (4.41) – 29.NEW
Roll 1140B – George introduces a new original to the band. John compares the strange chords George is playing to come of Chuck Berry’s.

06 – Let it Down (3.04) – 29.4
Roll 1140B – Billy adds some funky organ riffs to this run–through. Paul adds some repetitive "let it down" backing vocals.

07 – I Want You (She's So Heavy) (4.39) – 29.NEW
Roll 1141B – John plays the riff over a heavy repetitive backing. Billy adds some impromptu vocals.

08 – Something (2.40) – 29.NEW
Roll 556A – George starts playing the melody on his guitar, the rest of the band join in with John providing vocals.

09 – Sexy Sadie (1.36) – 29.NEW
Roll 556A – John leads the band through a mostly instrumental pass of this White Album number.

10 – Dig It (6.51) – 29.5
Roll 1142B – This version is performed at a much faster tempo than previous passes. Paul contributes a scat backing vocal.

11 – Besame Mucho (2.29) – 29.12–29.15
edit of Rolls 557A / 1142B – Paul does his best Desi Arnez imitation and belts out the lyrics as well as he can remember them. Note that the camera beeps have been edited out.

12 – Three Cool Cats (2.29) – 29.NEW
Roll 557A – A slow version of the Coasters song which obviously was a longtime favorite of the band having also been performed at the Decca audition session over seven years earlier.

13 – I Got to Find My Baby (0.47) – 28.12
Roll 557A – Paul shouts out a misremembered lyric. George and John pick up on it, and the band runs through a brief and ragged performance. Paul suggests "One After 909" and is greeted by a "fuck you" from John who is reluctant to visit the song again.

14 – One After 909 (3.02) – 29.NEW
Roll 557A – Paul gets his way and they run through a perfunctory version with John playing around most of the whole way.

15 – One After 909 (3.05) – 29.NEW
Roll 1143B – Another pass with John playing it straight this time.

16 – Vacation Time (0.45) – 29.6
Roll 559A – John takes the lead vocal on this loose cover of an obscure Chuck Berry number. This brief performance is not without charm but falls apart, probably because of their trouble remembering how the song goes.

17 – Cannonball / Not Fade Away / Hey Little Girl (In the High School Sweater) / Bo Diddley (4.25) – 29.7
Roll 559A – This medley begins with Ringo pounding out the drum beat for "Cannonball" as George plays along with guitar. After a few bars they segue into "Not Fade Away" and George provides a few lines of vocal. John joins in, and sings a bit of "Hey Little Girl". Apparently able to remember nothing more than the song’s catch phrase, he switches to Bo Diddley.

18 – Maybe Baby (2.32) – 29.8
edit Rolls 559A / 1144B – This particular performance is complete, with John taking the lead. For once, he has a good recollection of a song’s lyrics. Note that the camera beeps have been edited out.

19 – Peggy Sue Got Married / Thinking of Linking (1.52) – 29.9
Roll 559A – John leads the band into another Buddy Holly song, but he has almost no recollection of the lyrics except the title. After letting the performance lapse to an instrumental, John begins singing what words he can remember from "Thinking of Linking".

20 – Crying, Waiting, Hoping (2.38) – 29.10
Roll 559A – George takes over from John on this one as The Beatles perform another Buddy Holly classic. John and Paul provide pleasant backing harmonies, and George plays a fine guitar solo.

21 – Mailman, Bring Me No More Blues (1.52) – 29.11
Roll 1144B – John takes the lead vocal on this one with support from George. Again, it’s obvious the band knows this one by heart, and John tries his best to duplicate Holly’s vocal mannerisms.

22 – Teddy Boy (3.34) – 29.NEW
Roll 560A – Paul tries again to get John interested in this song. John responds with a snore and some bad slide guitar fills.

23 – Two of Us (3.27) – 29.NEW
Roll 561A – After a straight forward start John and Paul sing the song using funny voices.



DISC FOURTEEN – 46.14
The Complete Apple Rooftop Concert
Disc 14 contains as complete a presentation of the January 30th rooftop concert as we’ll ever hear. The show has been meticulously reconstructed from all the available material, with everything (including a loose "I Want You" and the long elusive "God Save the Queen") restored to it’s original chronological order.


Wednesday, January 30
01 – rooftop setup (1.24)
Roll 562A – The Beatles arrive on the rooftop. Excerpts are seen in the film Let It Be. Ringo comments "Mal? …You’ve nailed me down in the wrong place." Michael Lindsay Hogg calls a halt to the filming while they make adjustments to the instruments.

02 – Get Back (2.30) – 30.NEW
Roll 1146 slate 1 – This rehearsal was only captured on the tape recorder running down on the street in front of the Apple building.

03 – Get Back (3.58) – 30.1
Roll 562A – The group runs through this number as a warm–up. Paul shows his enthusiasm to be performing live and gives an impassioned vocal.

04 – I Want You (She's So Heavy) (1.45) – 30.NEW
Roll 1146 slate 1 – Again, this bit of the rooftop concert was only captured on the tape recorder running down on the street in front of the Apple building.

05 – Get Back (3.26) – 30.2
Roll 562A – A much tighter performance, with fine musicianship from everyone. This performance appears in the film Let It Be.

06 – Don't Let Me Down (3.29) – 30.3
Roll 562A – The performance is quite good until John blows the first line of the second verse, singing gibberish because he can’t recall the lyrics. This take appears in the film Let It Be.

07 – I've Got a Feeling (5.14) – 30.4
Roll 562A – Easily the best performance of the song. George plays an intentionally distorted guitar and Paul delivers a superb vocal. John fiddles with the lyrics a bit and sings the title of Little Richard’s "Oooh! My Soul" as the song comes to an end. This performance appears in the film Let It Be and on the LP.

08 – One After 909 (0.17) – 30.5
Roll 562A – A false start. The song is halted so the camera can be started.

09 – One After 909 (2.45) – 30.6
Roll 562A – Another exceptional performance, again easily the best from these sessions. The band rolls smoothly through this song with George inserting some fine guitar licks and John and Paul teaming up for a flawless vocal. It was selected for the aborted Get Back album as well as the film and LP Let It Be.

10 – Danny Boy (0.09) – 30.7
Roll 62A – John sings one misremembered line as a tag to "One After 909".

11 – Dig a Pony (1.39) – 30.NEW
Roll ? – Camera C – This recorder located in the reception of the Apple building was the only one to capture this rehearsal.

12 – Dig a Pony (4.32) – 30.8
Roll 562A – George counts in but Ringo stops him in order to adjust his hi–hat. That accomplished, they turn in a credible if somewhat perfunctory performance, with John singing the lyrics from a clipboard. At the end, Michael orders the crew to reload the cameras. This performance also appears in the film Let It Be. It also appears on the LP with a few seconds of lyric edited out of the intro and outro.

13 – God Save the Queen (2.11) – 30.NEW
Roll 1149 – This comes from a tape recorder that was running during a playback of the rooftop concert in Apple studios for the Beatles.

14 – I've Got a Feeling (5.29) – 30.9
Roll 563A – Another pass on this song. The performance is inferior in nearly every way to the other one. George is a bit experimental with his guitar part and John sings the correct lyrics this time.

15 – A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody (0.05) – 30.10
Roll 563A – Once again, John sings a bit of a standard as a tag to a performance.

16 – Get Back (0.06) – 30.11
Roll 563A – George and Paul begin to play this song but John interrupts the performance and asks to do the following tune.

17 – Don't Let Me Down (3.31) – 30.12
Roll 563A – Unfortunately, John ruins the take on the very first line of the first verse this time. The musicianship gets a bit sloppy the rest of the way.

18 – Get Back (3.42) – 30.13
Roll 563A – The police arrive on the roof along with Mal and George leads the group into the closing number. At the end of the first verse Mal has turned off John and George’s amps and the performance almost breaks down. Paul and Ringo carry on. George reaches over and turns his amp back on. John does the same and the performance continues. At the end, Paul appropriately improvises some lyrics in response to the police. And so ended the Beatles’ last public performance.