Let It Be
 

I only know one version of this song (b-side to NADEITH, if memory is not failing), but have no idea if it was performed ever again by ML!?

It is one of my absolute favourites so I would also like to know if there are any videos? Cannot find anything on youtube!

that was a studio recording, wasnt it?

Nope it was recorded "live" in the studio on ABC's Nightline

think he sang a bit of let it be on a tv programme about the beatles around the time of WTTN but other then that i just know of the studio version

And a cracking version it is too!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QZt0aWNy4k

that was the one i was thinking of but i thought there was a studio version too because the nightline version was just meat singing and mark (i think) on piano

that is a good version...

but i prefer this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9SgDoypXcI

Its a classic, yes, but Meat's vocals are way better. Sorry, but its true.

Agreed.

Meat > Paul :))

Paul McCartney's voice has never done anything for me. I find it boring.

Very boring:zzz:

The whole Beatles and Rolling Stones Malarky never did much for me. Absolutely AMAZING songs but extremely poor emotionless executions in my opinion. Perhaps a lot of it was due to the time when these recordings were made but Meat in the example here lifts/raises the song into the stratosphere where it belongs. Tina Turner and Joe Cocker have done this too with Beatles songs in my opinion. In fact Meat, Tina, Joe and then including Janis Joplin are in my opinion the most amazing singers who have graced this earth. In comparison McCartney would put me to sleep very easily.

i'm not the biggest fan of McCartney, prefer Lennon's work, but in all fairness let it be is a great song and thus open to interpretation. meat decided to go with soaring vocals and that's fair enough but i wouldn't dismiss the original easily

mcCartney doesn't have the greatest voice but is still really good live and is still going strong around the world, artists would kill for audiences and tours like his

plus he sang the original version of why don't we do it in the road but helter skelter will always be his best song, great shouty vocals

writing wise:

Paul > Meat

Hey, McCartney is one of the most successful singer/songwriters of all time. There is no denying that. I don't dismiss his vesion lightly because the reality is its one of the most recognizable songs ever written. Meat's version is very, very good with the soaring voice as you mentioned, but it IS still a cover and the song is only as good as its written and in this case, its a beautifully written song and it all just works brilliantly. That's a credit to McCartney without doubt. The man is an inspired writer and I actually preferred his work to Lennon!

only criticism of meats version is its shortened....

Disagree a billion percent. If Jim Steinman had sung Bat out of Hell it wouldn't have been as good, as interesting or would we probably even have heard about it because of the lack of "image". Sure there is an authenticity there that is intrinsic with the song writer which you will not get with anyone else but that does not mean that if it "IS still a cover" makes a version of song mean ANY less when performed extremely well by a talented singer. Lots of songs in history have only worked or become popular from cover versions. An endless list in fact.
The Beatles were wayyy overhyped in my opinion. 100.000 people turning up for a show lasting less than half an hour. It's a farce in my opinion. Their influence in my opinion is their greatest legacy but as artists themselves there is no comparison between them and singers who have brought emotion, enthusiasm and heart to their songs. In this case I'm glad we have covers otherwise I would have listened to their songs once and that would have been it.

The Beatles were the first of their kind who developed from what would be now known as a boyband to actual musicians.

I love their work but i'd never call them a band as many books and articles have demonstrated, they were split internally after Brian Epstein died and had found beforehand they couldn't get anything from playing live as it was just a wall of noise and they basically farted around without anyone in the crowd noticing the difference. 30 minute shows were the norm back then just like 2.30 mins songs were.

but there's no doubt they changed the face of music and with very few exceptions anyone who covers a beatles song is always going to be compared, rightly or wrongly, to the beatles. joe cocker is probably the most well known exception as he turned a very camp bouncy song into a 3/4 time emotional classic.

as meat's version of let it be is a b-side i don't think it'll ever get that kind of notoriety. it's a decent version, but nothing that will change people's lives forever like the original did

now what does this make of the 110% percent? :lol: that's what I call an inflation

That they did, and their legacy imo is in their songwriting; so many memorable songs, so many different styles, and so many covers.

I find it a superb version, Meat's vocals raise it 100%, but as it's close to being a rare recording I agree it's unlikely to change lives now. I often see people write that this or that Meat recording helped them through a darkest time in their life. He hadn't recorded anything at my darkest time, and for me Let It Be was the song. I was so pleased to discover Meat's version many years later; had the timing been different it would have been pivotal for me, and it will always be the version I listen to .. now I have the lyrics, and the soaring vocals to match them :)

Caryl

Well of COURSE Meat sings better than McCartney, but saying Paul is emotionless and boring is a lie. If you can listen to "Helter Skelter" or "Monkberry Moon Delight" without hearing emotion, you are one Loaf-spoiled child. It ain't fair to compare anyone to Meat, but Paul has held his own for 40 years, so he has my respect.

wasn't like someone on the verge of suicide till HCW of all songs came on the radio and made them rethink their situation? i swear i heard that somewhere.

Dont think let it be is that powerful :))

Yes you're right ... I remember Meat talking about it in an interview
someplace. I think there was a clip on YouTube where a guy from a
radio station was talking about it.

I remember that too. I heard it on two different occasions. One from Meat and one from an inspirational speaker of sorts. The one from Meat was recent, during, I want to say, a 4 part audio interview.

Suzieq

No I'm not and I find your comment incredibly offensive. I listen to dozens of great musicians and singers. Each one of them has their strengths and weaknesses. Paul in my opinion an amazing songwriter but not an emotion filled singer.