The Beatles, Let It Be et al Maggie de Giles Martin

At the end of Zoom, Giles Martin smiles to tell us about his remix of the album Let it be (1970): I am fortunate to have received the keys to the castle. I can try things that a Beatle fan can only dream of doing. My only wish is for us to feel in the studio with the Beatles.

Let it be It is the Beatles’ most misunderstood album, and arguably was recorded on Chaos and released after the band split up. Realizing he has the most beautiful job in the world, remixing the soundtrack to The Beatles’ songs, Giles Martin is keen to live up to his responsibility: Challenge with the album Let it be It is a compilation of parts of the recordings. […] There were three producers on the project, Phil Spector, Glenn Jones and my father, George Martin. The challenge was to create some unity.

Let it be and let her go

Check-in and check-out Let it be It was a true way of the cross. It all began on January 2, 1969, when the Beatles, in a mixture of cinematic and reality television, wanted to produce a three-week album under the watchful eyes of director Michael Lindsey Hogg’s cameras. Installed in a cool Twickenham Film Studio, near the heart of London, the Four Beatles wanted a return to rock and raw sound. Although they were well versed in photography, they couldn’t help but quarrel at times. We can also hear Paul McCartney joking during these recordings: Fifty years later they’ll say the Beatles broke up because Yoko Ono sat at a megaphone . After a disagreement (also recorded) over his way of playing the guitar, George Harrison left the Beatles on January 10 only to return a few days later on the condition that he change his recording location. What has been done.

After the storm (January 2-16, 1969 at Twickenham) there was a return to calm and it was with pleasure that the Beatles met from January 21-31 in the basement of their headquarters, located on 3 Savile Row, for further recording sessions. The legendary 42-minute impromptu concert on January 30, 1969 on the rooftop will be the culmination of the project. Almost all songs from Let it be It was recorded on 3 Savile Row. Unhappy with the result, the Beatles finally gave the mandate to producer Phil Spector to make an album with the recordings: I have a lot of respect for Phil Spector, but I’m not sure he’s the right producer for the Beatles. Paul McCartney actually said he wasn’t the right product for the project and that he wasn’t happy with the original arrangements. So we revised the original sound balance. I wanted this album to sound more like the Beatles than Phil SpectorAs Giles Martin says.

Let it be, revised and corrected

Originally, The Beatles Studio Sessions for Let it be They were immortalized with Nagra recorders, on quarter-inch tapes. Nearly 150 hours of audio material was stolen and hacked. If they returned to their owner in 2003, they have since ended up on pirated discs and later on the web: Most of the hacker’s recordings look like the material you accessed through a remix Let it beAs Giles Martin says. At one point, there was a desire by the Beatles to buy back pirate recordings and stick them in the movie. Let it be. It was the only sound source available. But the police found the tapes. So I managed to improve the quality.

The legendary impromptu concert on January 30, 1969 on the rooftop of 3 Savile Row, in London

Photo: Getty Images/Evening Standard

Fifty years after its original release, the album Let it be Recreates in a brighter light with a reimagined sonic universe. From the first listening, the result was amazing.

Remixing the song that opens the record was no small feat: the song two of us Multitrack recording is not good, says Giles Martin with a laugh. manHe adds that I struggled to mix this song. There was distortion and I worked a lot to remove that distortion and backlash. I chose to separate the voices of Paul McCartney and John Lennon on each speaker because after all the song is called two of us. It was quite a challenge on this track, but now I think the result is good.

In the basement of the Beatles

Re-release and remix the album Let it be The Beatles is a musical event in itself, revealing secrets long buried in the group’s vaults. The Super Deluxe Edition contains 27 never-before-seen shots and the original Glyn Johns mix never seen before. The release of all 150 hours recorded in January 1969 is indisputable, nor the recording of the entire legendary concert that took place on the rooftop of 3 Savile Row on January 30, 1969: The concert will end up on the entire rooftop in the movie get back by Peter Jackson (released November 25 on Disney+). I think this party should be heard on video. […] Paul McCartney told me, “How many copies of the song? get back Do people want to be heard? “

The Glenn Jones blend is different from the Phil Spector blend. We can finally hear the first version of Let it be : Glenn Jones did exactly what the Beatles told him to do. Giles Martin says he is one of the most instinctive producers I know.

For the rest, he does not dare to go too far: Fans want to remix albums Lost soul And pistol. But I have to find a way to do it right. I don’t do that at the moment, but we’ll see. The real answer is that I may need you to come and help me with this job.

Giles Martin who invited me to work in the studio on a remix of The Beatles’ songs?

I told you at the beginning of the article, that Giles Martin is one of the nicest people on the planet The Beatles…