The Beatles - Thirty Days: Disc 15/16

Label: Vigotone, VT-232/233

The Complete Apple Studio Performance Part One
DISC 15 (63:28)
I - (Unknown)/Hey, Good Lookin' - NEW
2 - Take This Hammer/Lost John/Five Feet High and Rising/'Bear Cat"/
Black Dog Blues/Right String, Wrong Yo-Yo/Run For Your Life
3 - Two of Us (Take 10A)
4 - Two of Us/Friendship (take 10B)
5 - Turkey in the Straw
6 - Step Inside Love - NEW
7 - Friendship/Tales of Frankie Rabbit - NEW
8 - Two of Us (Take 11)
9 - 'Deed I Do/In The Middle of an Island/All Together Now
10 - Two of Us (Take 12)
II - The Long and Winding Road (Take 13A)
12 - The Long and Winding Road fTake 13B)
13 - The Long and Winding Road (Non-Take)
14 - The Long and Winding Road (Take 14)
15 - The Long and Winding Road (Take 15A) - NEW
16 - The Long and Winding Road (Take 15B) - NEW
17 - The Long and Winding Road (Take 16A)
18 - The Long and Winding Road (Take 16B)
19 - The Long and Winding Road (Take 16C)
20 - The Long and Winding Road (Take 16D) - NEW
21 - Lady Madonna
22 - The Long and Winding Road (Take 17A)
23 - The Long and Winding Road (Take 17B)
24 - The Long and Winding Road (Take 18)
25 - The Long and Winding Road (Take 19) (3:44) - 31.22

The Complete Apple Studio Performance Part Two
DISC 16 (50:13)
1 -IWantYou-NEW
2 -Let It Be (rehearsal)
3 -Let It Be (Take 20A)
4 -Let It Be (Take 20B)
5 -Let It Be (Take 20C)
6 -Let It Be (Take 21)
7 -Let It Be (Take 22) - NEW
8 -Let It Be (Take 23)
9 -Let It Be (Take 24)
10 - Let It Be (Take 25A)
11 - Let It Be (Take 25B)
12 -"OK, let's track it."
13 - Let It Be/Twelfth Street Rag (Take 26A)
14 - Let It Be Take 26B)
15 - Oh! Darling - NEW
16 - Oh! Darling - NEW
17 - Let It Be (Take 27A)
18 - Let It Be (Take 27B)

DISC FIFTEEN – 63.28
The Complete Apple Studio Performance Part One
Remember your excitement when you first saw that the January 31st studio session had come out on disc? Remember your disappointment when you found out that it had been chopped into annoying little pieces? That situation has been righted here in a big way. Disc 15 contains each and every take of "Two of Us" and "The Long and Winding Road" in complete forms And there’s the bonus of warm–up and between song jams and oldies (including a MUCH longer presentation of "Lady Madonna").


Friday, January 31
01 – (Unknown) / Hey, Good Lookin' (1.35) – 31.NEW
Roll 1150B – the group warm up for "Two of Us" with an as yet unidentified song which leads into John singing a portion of Hank Williams "Hey, Good Lookin’ ".

02 – Take This Hammer / Lost John / Five Feet High and Rising / "Bear Cat" / Black Dog Blues / Right String, Wrong Yo–Yo / Run For Life (8.40) – 24.59
Roll 1150B – The Beatles have a little fun with this hodge–podge of oldies. "Take this Hammer" and "Lost John" are Lonnie Donnegan songs from 1959. George then leads the band into Johnny Cash’s "Five Feet High and Rising". They don’t remember much of that song so John leads them into the traditional "Black Dog Blues". Winding down the medley are a few lines of "Right String, Wrong Yo–Yo" from George which leads to John and Paul singing the entire first verse of "Run For Your Life". The medley ends with a brief reprise of "Black Dog Blues".

03 – Two of Us (Take 10A) (1.04) – 31.1
Roll 564A – This performance breaks down during the introduction because the tempo is far too slow.

04 – Two of Us / Friendship (take 10B) (3.38) – 31.2 + 31.3
Roll 564A – John and Paul’s acoustic guitars are very much out of tune. As this take winds down John sings a brief obscene parody of "Friendship", a Cole Porter song from 1945.

05 – Turkey in the Straw (0.41) – 31.4
Roll 564A – John sings amusing lyrics bemoaning his lack of tuning to the tune "Turkey in the Straw".

06 – Step Inside Love (2.02) – 31.NEW
Roll 1150A – Paul sings in pseudo Spanish in the background.

07 – Friendship / Tales of Frankie Rabbit (1.24) – 31.NEW
Roll 1150A – John and Paul have another go at "Friendship" which leads into "Tales of Frankie Rabbit".

08 – Two of Us (Take 11) (3.33) – 31.5
Roll 564A – The Beatles attempt the song at a faster temp and deliver a flawless performance. John and Paul sing the third verse twice.

09 – 'Deed I Do / In The Middle of an Island / All Together Now (1.20) – 31.6
Roll 1150B – John and Paul sing this a capella duet. John has his usual lyrical fun this time with "All Together Now"

10 – Two of Us (Take 12) (4.06) – 31.7
Roll 564A – This performance is quite similar to take 11, although it’s intentionally taken a bit slower.

11 – The Long and Winding Road (Take 13A) (1.17) – 31.8
Roll 564A – This performance breaks down in the first verse as Glyn interrupts because of technical problems.

12 – The Long and Winding Road (Take 13B) (3.50) – 31.9 + 31.10
Roll 564A – A complete take. Not a keeper however. Paul is a bit hesitant.

13 – The Long and Winding Road (Non–Take) (0.48) – 31.11
Roll 564a – Just a bit of the song performed between takes.

14 – The Long and Winding Road (Take 14) (1.28) – 31.12
Roll 564A – Abort in the second verse. Paul requests a screwdriver to adjust his mike.

15 – The Long and Winding Road (Take 15A) (0.15) – 31.NEW
Roll 564A – Abort in the first verse at Paul’s request.

16 – The Long and Winding Road (Take 15B) (3.59) – 31.NEW
Roll 564A – Prefaced by a brief false start, a complete but perfectible take.

17 – The Long and Winding Road (Take 16A) (0.06) – 31.13
Roll 564A – A false start.

18 – The Long and Winding Road (Take 16B) (0.44) – 31.14
Roll 564A – Abort in the first verse because Paul doesn’t like a note from his piano.

19 – The Long and Winding Road (Take 16C) (3.38) – 31.15
Roll 564A – A run–through then Paul asks Glyn if they should go on with the takes.

20 – The Long and Winding Road (Take 16D) (3.38) – 31.NEW
Roll 564A – Paul vocalizes through the solo.

21 – Lady Madonna (3.48) – 31.16
Roll 564A – The band take a break from "The Long and Winding Road" and jam on their 1968 single. This is much longer than the version previously available.

22 – The Long and Winding Road (Take 17A) (3.00) – 31.17
Roll 1152B – Abort in the solo at Paul’s request.

23 – The Long and Winding Road (Take 17B) (0.35) – 31.18 + 31.19
Roll 1152B – A false start and then a quick abort at Glyn’s request.

24 – The Long and Winding Road (Take 18) (4.24) – 31.21
Roll 565A – A complete take. Glyn asks for one more take.

25 – The Long and Winding Road (Take 19) (3.40) – 31.22
Roll 565A – Another fine, complete performance. John remarks he’s satisfied and Ringo agrees.



DISC SIXTEEN – 50.13
The Complete Apple Studio Performance Part Two
This disc features a comprehensive look at the recording of "Let It Be". Take 27A was issued with varying edits and overdubs as a single and on the Let It Be album. Take 27B was shown in the Let It Be film. The surprises here are previously undocumented attempts at "I Want You (She’s So Heavy)" and "Oh! Darling".


Friday, January 31 (continued)
01 – I Want You (5.31) – 31.NEW
Roll 1153B – Interestingly, Paul provides the vocal for this version.

02 – Let It Be (rehearsal) (0.07) – 31.23
Roll 565A – A fragment of a rehearsal.

03 – Let It Be (Take 20A) (1.36) – 31.24
Roll 565A – This performance goes along fine until Glyn notices that Paul is singing too close to his mike, causing distortion on his vocal. John is annoyed by the interruption.

04 – Let It Be (Take 20B) (0.09) – 31.25
Roll 565A – A breakdown during the introduction.

05 – Let It Be (Take 20C) (4.07) – 31.26
Roll 565A – John blows his bass part and emits an expletive into his microphone.

06 – Let It Be (Take 21) (3.02) – 31.27 + 31.28
Roll 565A – A loose mic cable mars this tape in several places. This performance is showing sings of breaking down when Paul begins singing drunkenly, effectively ending the take.

07 – Let It Be (Take 22) (4.33) – 31.NEW
Roll 565A – At the end of this performance, John requests a bathroom break in his irresistible manner while George breaks into a riff that sounds like "All Around the Watchtower". "Are we supposed to giggle in the solo?" John asks. "Yeah" Paul answers and they go into the following take.

08 – Let It Be (Take 23) (4.17) – 31.29 + 31.30
Roll 565A – A good performance but John "has lost a bass note." At the end, Michael Lindsay Hogg asks for silence from everyone so they can slate the camera for the next take.

09 – Let It Be (Take 24) (3.50) – 31.31
Roll 566A – This performance is falling apart when Paul and Billy turn in into a unique solo rendition.

10 – Let It Be (Take 25A) (0.56) – 31.32
Roll 566A – This performance breaks down at the start of the chorus, causing John to issue a stream of light–hearted profanity. Paul and John then clown around in mock German.

11 – Let It Be (Take 25B) (3.50) – 31.33 + 31.34
Roll 566A – While the performance sounds passable, Paul has given up. In this version he sings "Brother Malcolm" instead of "Mother Mary".

12 – "OK, let's track it." (0.32)
Roll 1155B – An amusing bit of dialogue from John. Much longer than the bit on Anthology 3.

13 – Let It Be / Twelfth Street Rag (Take 26A) (0.23) – 31.35
Roll 566A – Paul begins playing the song’s introduction but quickly switches to "Twelfth Street Rag". That song was composed in 1914 by Euday Bowman, in case you’re wondering.

14 – Let It Be (Take 26B) (2.59) – 31.36
Roll 566A – The song breaks down in the third verse.

15 – Oh! Darling (3.14) – 31.NEW
Roll 1155B – The band takes a break from recording "Let It Be" so Paul takes the opportunity to revisit his new composition. About halfway into the song John sings along with Paul.

16 – Oh! Darling (2.40) – 31.NEW
Roll 1155B – More vocal contributions from John.

17 – Let It Be (Take 27A) (4.22) – 31.38
Roll 566A – A virtually flawless performance, marred only by a mediocre guitar solo from George. On April 30th , George will overdub a new solo creating a version chosen for inclusion on the aborted Get Back album. More overdubs were done later to create the single and LP versions.

18 – Let It Be (Take 27B) (4.04) – 31.39
Roll 566A – George laughs over the song’s introduction, but the band turns in another excellent performance. This was included in the film Let It Be. This take brought the Get Back sessions to a close.