Guitar solo on Let It Be

Who plays the guitar solo on the original album cut? Is it Paul?

 

GH

 

All 3 are George AFAIK.

 

Yup AFAIK as well. Maybe someone can shed a little light here...I've read, can't recall where or if it was correct, that George re-recorded the solo with both the effect & without. While I love the one with the effects on it, the one without it, the album version, literally blows me away (as does all Harrison's '68-'69 guitar work- can't believe it was during this era that he decided to sort of shy away from that kind of playing & move towards slide. He's brilliant at both, just surprising he'd do it during a such a sort of peak for him with this). Anyone know about the details of this?
What I really would have loved to have heard it a non-Spector/"Naked" version with the ripping non-effects solo. I'd also love to hear when where the two solo's are over-laid onto one another...I've heard there are bootleg versions of both such possibilities...anyone care to comment on that as well?
Interesting also that over the years lots of folks have had the chance to approach that break with a solo & IMHO no one has even come remotely close to matching George's pretty much perfect work there.

 

That's a bit of a stretch. GH was a great player, and had a very unique style, but I've heard weekend warrior bar guitarists who can jam out stuff on his level and beyond.

 

Is it accurate to say that the "stinging" guitar solo used on the album version is George's final musical contribution to the Beatles . . . at least prior to the Anthology?

 

His re-recorded solo for the album version is my least favorite of the 3 that I've heard.

 

I wish there were a mix of Let It Be that combined the 1/3/70 "album version" guitar solo with the rest of the George Martin single mix…

 

Hey I agree that there are great guitar players out there who never record or make it big...but...my point was that most folks I've heard take this one on, to my ears, end up grossly overplaying & sounding pretty lousy...Harrison, like Richard Thompson, is someone who sought to serve the song first (not the chance to burn one off during a solo) & that all his different solos on "Let It Be" are a perfect example of that ethic & wonderful action. So many guitarist, IMHO, tend to overplay to a ridiculous degree and while technically flash the end result sounds crappy to me. Richard Thompson has spoken a lot about liking technically sloppy or challenged player who play with soul & inventiveness far more than technically brilliant players who say nothing with their work- and Thompson is a technically brilliant player.

 

The 3 solos you've mentioned are as follows: (1) Jan. '69. Telecaster w/Leslie. In movie.
(2) April '69. Overdub. Single version. Telecaster w/Leslie. (3) Jan. '70 Overdub. Album version. Les Paul.

I've got a bootleg with 2 & 3 mixed together. It's a train wreck. These solos do not compliment each other in any way. You're not missing anything.

 

I don't think so...The three minus Lennon all worked on "I Me Mine" in early 1970 & that work (& the acknowledgment that's it's only the 3 of them) is actually on the Anthology 3 album.

 

But that's also the day Harrison overdubbed the Les Paul solo for "Let It Be"...so depending on what was recorded last...it may well be that.

 

There were three attempts at the guitar solo on the released version(s) of Let It Be,

1) The live solo, recorded with the rest of the band, and featuring George's guitar fed through the revolving speaker of a Leslie cabinet (usually used with organs), to get that "wibbly" effect

2) An overdub recorded on 30th April 1969, and also featuring George's guitar fed through a Leslie - this is the solo featured on the single

3) Another overdub recorded on 4th January 1970, featuring a raw, distorted guitar tone - this is the solo featured on the album (although some fills from this overdub can be heard - very quietly - during the verses of the single mix)

The Wikipedia entry for the song is quite good on the detail here.

As for hearing both of the released solos side-by-side, there was a version of this on Youtube at one point - I'll see if I can track it down...

 

While I agree with pretty much everything you say, including the interesting comparison of George with Richard Thompson, and I am a big fan of George's economical serve-the-song laying in general - I have never cared for any of the Let It Be solos. I find them uncharacteristically ham-fisted.

 

All solos are George Harrison. The version featured in the movie is NOT the same as the single and LP but that solo was flown in on "Let It Be...Naked". I prefer the LP solo.

 

So it was Harrison's vocal overdub on "For You Blue" that's his last Beatles work...the "Let It Be" overdub was a few days later than the "I Me Mine" trio work...and Ringo's work on April 1st (April Fool's Day) was the final work of any Beatle on a Beatles track. "I Me Mine" was the last work of more than one single Beatle overdubbing & "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" and "The End" were the last recording and/or mixing sessions where all 4 were together.
From wiki...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Me_Mine
"The song was released on the Let It Be album; however, the Beatles did not properly record the song during the January 1969 sessions. When director Michael Lindsay-Hogg chose to include the "I Me Mine" segment in the Let It Be film, the Beatles decided to make a proper recording of the song for inclusion on the accompanying album. Paul McCartney, Harrison and Starr met in the studio on 3 January 1970 to record a new version of the song.[3] John Lennon was not available; he was on holiday in Denmark. Lennon had privately quit the group in September 1969 so it is not clear if he would have attended anyway.[3]

The group recorded 16 takes of the song, the last of which was chosen for the album. Before take 15, Harrison delivered a mock press statement in a joking reference to Lennon's absence and the British pop group Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich, "You all will have read that Dave Dee is no longer with us. But Mickey and Tich and I would just like to carry on the good work that's always gone down in number two [Abbey Road Studio 2]."[4] The statement followed by take 16 was included on Anthology 3. Although final rendition only lasted 1:34, Phil Spector extended the length by copying and repeating a section. Spector also overdubbed a string and brass accompaniment. The final version as "re-produced" by Spector was featured on the re-titled Get Back album, Let It Be. A similar edit, without Spector's overdubs, is available on Let It Be… Naked.

Although the sessions for "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" and "The End" in August 1969 were the last where all four Beatles were present, "I Me Mine" was the last new song recorded by The Beatles without Lennon (at least until the Free as a Bird/Real Love reunion sessions) but it was not their last recording session. The three returned the next day to record overdubs on "Let It Be", Harrison returned on 8 January to record vocal overdubs on "For You Blue" and Starr returned on 1 April to record overdubs for "Across the Universe", "The Long and Winding Road" and additional drums for "I Me Mine"."

 

I agree.

 

+1

 

Love to hear that youtube version if you can find it. Thanks!! Though someone else here noted that they have a bootleg version & that it sounded lousy to them ("train wreck" - where they didn't compliment each other at all)...

 

Really?!

I think they compliment each other perfectly. It's an interesting variation at least. Just for kicks I made a version where I overlaid the single solo on the album version. I think it sounds great.

 

Well, I guess it really is a personal preference, like the individual solos themselves. My personal favorite has always been the single version. So tasteful.
By the time the album was released, we had 3 versions that we were familiar with. (The movie, the single & Kum Back.) I remember being so disappointed with the final album version.
It just didn't seem to fit the mood of the song like the others did. Again, personal preference. I know that many consider this the best of all.

 

The album version solo has always been one of my favorite Beatle moments. When the remasters came out last year I was playing the LET IT BE CD in the living room. The "Let it Be" solo played and my wife came into the room asking what it was; she had only ever heard the single version of the song...she then proceeded to ask me to play it 2 more times, full blast! I married well

 

it's not about "jamming out", it's about composing melodic, memorable guitar parts.

 

Agreed. I prefer the whole 45 RPM version over the LP.