"Don't Let Me Down" (Lennon – May 5, 1969)
Let It Be – Side 1, Track 4
Let It Be – Side 1, Track 4
"Don't Let Me Down" is a song by the Beatles (with Billy Preston), recorded in 1969 during the Get Back (Let It Be) sessions.
History –
"Sun King" is one of the slightest, silliest Beatles songs, and yet, perhaps because it came from the mind of John Lennon, it has quite a bit of back story behind it. He claimed to have first heard of the title in a dream, but Nancy Mitford's very popular 1966 history of France's King Louis XIV The Sun King may have subconsciously influenced him. One of many fragments left over from the group's ill-fated India sojourn in 1968, it was revived by Paul for the "long medley" that takes up most of Abbey Road's second side. By the time it was revived, first in the Let It Be sessions and then for this album, John had puckishly changed the lyrics and working title to "Here comes the Sun King," a play on George's new song "Here Comes the Sun."
The opening guitar riff, meanwhile, came directly from the Let It Be sessions of early '69, where it was closely tied into another John composition called "Don't Let Me Down."(Note the similarities of the opening riffs.) The chiming guitars and chords of the intro were inspired by Fleetwood Mac's 1969 single "Albatross," which was a highly influential hit in the UK. During the recording of Abbey Road, the band decided to return to this guitar figure for the outro; realizing the vaguely Latin feel of the rhythm, John and Paul made up a verse of pure gibberish in four different but similar Romance languages.
As with "You Never Give Me Your Money," which directly proceeds it in the medley, "Sun King" was learned, rehearsed and recorded by the band in one session -- 35 takes on July 24, 1969. (The group then overdubbed "Come Together" and began work on the "Polythene Pam / She Came in Through the Bathroom Window" portion of the medley.) It was rehearsed and cut as a medley with the next song in sequence on the album, John's "Mean Mr. Mustard." The next day Paul added piano and George Martin added some organ for color, and then John, Paul, and George sang the entire song in triple harmony, much as they would do a few days later, when they began work on"Because." Extra tracks were added to "Mean Mr. Mustard" on the 29th, as well percussion and Paul's harmonium for "Sun King," and the mini-medley was complete.
Composition –
The song is in the key of E and is in 4/4 time during the verse, chorus and bridge, but changes to 5/4 in the pickup to the verse.
Recording and Release –
Multiple versions of "Don't Let Me Down" were recorded during the tumultuous Get Back (Let It Be) recording sessions. The version recorded on 28 January 1969 was released as a B-side to the single "Get Back", recorded the same day. "Get Back" reached number one and "Don't Let Me Down" reached number thirty five on the US Billboard Hot 100.
The Beatles performed "Don't Let Me Down" twice during their rooftop concert of 30 January 1969, one of which was included in the Let It Be film. When the "Get Back" project was revisited, Phil Spector dropped "Don't Let Me Down" from the Let It Be album.
The B-side version of the song was included on the Beatles' compilations Hey Jude, 1967-1970 and Past Masters Volume 2. The same version was also used on the soundtrack to the 1988 documentary, Imagine: John Lennon.
In November 2003, an edit of the two rooftop versions was included on Let It Be... Naked.
What sounds like bongos, or in John's instruction, "jungle drums," is actually Ringo draping his kit with small "tea towels" and then hitting them with timpani mallets.
Although, or perhaps because, it was prominently featured in the Abbey Road medley, Lennon would later refer to this song as "a piece of garbage."
Today in Beatles History (From The Internet Beatles Album) February 23 –
1963 – "Please Please Me" number 9 (UK Melody Market chart).
"Sun King" is one of the slightest, silliest Beatles songs, and yet, perhaps because it came from the mind of John Lennon, it has quite a bit of back story behind it. He claimed to have first heard of the title in a dream, but Nancy Mitford's very popular 1966 history of France's King Louis XIV The Sun King may have subconsciously influenced him. One of many fragments left over from the group's ill-fated India sojourn in 1968, it was revived by Paul for the "long medley" that takes up most of Abbey Road's second side. By the time it was revived, first in the Let It Be sessions and then for this album, John had puckishly changed the lyrics and working title to "Here comes the Sun King," a play on George's new song "Here Comes the Sun."
The opening guitar riff, meanwhile, came directly from the Let It Be sessions of early '69, where it was closely tied into another John composition called "Don't Let Me Down."(Note the similarities of the opening riffs.) The chiming guitars and chords of the intro were inspired by Fleetwood Mac's 1969 single "Albatross," which was a highly influential hit in the UK. During the recording of Abbey Road, the band decided to return to this guitar figure for the outro; realizing the vaguely Latin feel of the rhythm, John and Paul made up a verse of pure gibberish in four different but similar Romance languages.
As with "You Never Give Me Your Money," which directly proceeds it in the medley, "Sun King" was learned, rehearsed and recorded by the band in one session -- 35 takes on July 24, 1969. (The group then overdubbed "Come Together" and began work on the "Polythene Pam / She Came in Through the Bathroom Window" portion of the medley.) It was rehearsed and cut as a medley with the next song in sequence on the album, John's "Mean Mr. Mustard." The next day Paul added piano and George Martin added some organ for color, and then John, Paul, and George sang the entire song in triple harmony, much as they would do a few days later, when they began work on"Because." Extra tracks were added to "Mean Mr. Mustard" on the 29th, as well percussion and Paul's harmonium for "Sun King," and the mini-medley was complete.
Composition –
An anguished love song John Lennon wrote to Yoko Ono, Paul McCartney interpreted it as a "genuine plea", with Lennon saying to Ono, "I'm really stepping out of line on this one. I'm really just letting my vulnerability be seen, so you must not let me down." Lennon's vocals work their way into screams, presaging the primal scream stylings of the following year's John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band album.
The song is in the key of E and is in 4/4 time during the verse, chorus and bridge, but changes to 5/4 in the pickup to the verse.
Recording and Release –
Multiple versions of "Don't Let Me Down" were recorded during the tumultuous Get Back (Let It Be) recording sessions. The version recorded on 28 January 1969 was released as a B-side to the single "Get Back", recorded the same day. "Get Back" reached number one and "Don't Let Me Down" reached number thirty five on the US Billboard Hot 100.
The Beatles performed "Don't Let Me Down" twice during their rooftop concert of 30 January 1969, one of which was included in the Let It Be film. When the "Get Back" project was revisited, Phil Spector dropped "Don't Let Me Down" from the Let It Be album.
The B-side version of the song was included on the Beatles' compilations Hey Jude, 1967-1970 and Past Masters Volume 2. The same version was also used on the soundtrack to the 1988 documentary, Imagine: John Lennon.
In November 2003, an edit of the two rooftop versions was included on Let It Be... Naked.
Takes: 35
Personal
Personal
John Lennon – Lead harmony vocals, rhythm guitar (1965 Epiphone E230TD(V) Casino), maracas
Paul McCartney – Lead harmony vocals, bass guitar (1961 Fender Bass VI), piano (1905 Steinway Vertegrand "Mrs. Mills"), harmonium (Mannborg), tape loops
George Harrison – Lead harmony vocals, lead and rhythm guitar (1968 Fender Rosewood Telecaster)
Ringo Starr – Drums (1968 Ludwig Hollywood Maple), tambourine
George Martin – Organ (1965 Lowrey Heritage DSO-1)
Reception –
Paul McCartney – Lead harmony vocals, bass guitar (1961 Fender Bass VI), piano (1905 Steinway Vertegrand "Mrs. Mills"), harmonium (Mannborg), tape loops
George Harrison – Lead harmony vocals, lead and rhythm guitar (1968 Fender Rosewood Telecaster)
Ringo Starr – Drums (1968 Ludwig Hollywood Maple), tambourine
George Martin – Organ (1965 Lowrey Heritage DSO-1)
Reception –
Richie Unterberger of Allmusic called it "one of the Beatles' most powerful love songs", and Roy Carr and Tony Tyler called it "a superb sobber from misery-expert J. W. O. Lennon, MBE. And still one of the most highly underrated Beatle underbellies.”
Trivia –
Trivia –
The gibberish at the end of "Sun King" is made up of real words, for the most part, though they make no sense whatsoever in the context in which they're presented here. The first line is all Spanish: "Quando para mucho mi amore de felice corazon." It translates more or less to "When for much my love the happy heart." The second line, "Mundo paparazzi mi amore chicka ferdy parasol," contains words that have crossed over to English -- the Italian "paparazzi" and the Spanish "parasol," meaning literally (and probably unintentionally) "for the sun." "Chicka ferdy" is a nonsense schoolboy taunt straight from the lads' schoolboy days. The last line is "Cuesto obrigado tanta mucho que can eat it carousel." "Carousel" is actually a French word, which has also made it over to the English language; "Cuesto" is Italian for "very," while "obrigato" is Portugese for "thank you" (though the band may have been confusing it with the Italian musical term "obligado." "Tanta mucho" means "very much" in Spanish. Finally, the Beatles end with a pun: "que can eat it," a reference to both the Spanish word for "what" ("que") and the common English expression "You can't have your cake and eat it, too."
What sounds like bongos, or in John's instruction, "jungle drums," is actually Ringo draping his kit with small "tea towels" and then hitting them with timpani mallets.
Although, or perhaps because, it was prominently featured in the Abbey Road medley, Lennon would later refer to this song as "a piece of garbage."
Today in Beatles History (From The Internet Beatles Album) February 23 –
1963 – "Please Please Me" number 9 (UK Melody Market chart).
Concert at the Mansfield, Granada (Helen Shapiro Tour).
– First appearance on ABC's Thank Your Lucky Stars (filmed 17 February 1963).
– First appearance on ABC's Thank Your Lucky Stars (filmed 17 February 1963).
1964 – Transmision of a third Ed Sullivan Show performance (recorded 9 February 1964). The Beatles become the first artists performing 3 times for the program.
– Teddington TV Studios. Recording music and comedy sequences for ABC-TV's Big Night Out.
– Party thrown by Alma Cogan at her house. The Beatles attend.
– Party thrown by Alma Cogan at her house. The Beatles attend.
1965 – Studio 2 (control room only). 10.00am-1.00pm. Stereo mixing: "Yes It Is" (from take 14); "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away" (from take 9); "If You've Got Trouble" (from take 1); "Tell Me What You See" (from take 4); "I Need You" (from take 5); "Another Girl" (from take 1); "Ticket To Ride" (from take 2); "You Like Me Too Much" (from take 8); "The Night Before" (remix 1, from take 2); "You're Going To Lose That Girl" (remix 1, from take 3); "That Means A Lot" (from take 1); "You're Going To Lose That Girl" (remix 2, from take 3). Producer: not assigned; Engineer: Norman Smith; 2nd Engineer: Malcolm Davies.
1966 – Rubber Soul number 1, 12th and last week (UK New Musical Express chart).
Performance of Luciano Berio at the Italian Institute, London. Paul attends with Barry Miles.
1967 – Studio 2. 7.00pm-3.45am. Stereo mixing: "A Day In The Life" (remixes 10-12, from takes 6-7). Editing: "A Day In The Life" (of remix stereo 12 and edit piece 9).
– Recording: "Lovely Rita" (takes 1-8, tape reduction take 8 into take 9). Producer: George Martin; Engineer: Geoff Emerick; 2nd Engineer: Richard Lush.
– Recording: "Lovely Rita" (takes 1-8, tape reduction take 8 into take 9). Producer: George Martin; Engineer: Geoff Emerick; 2nd Engineer: Richard Lush.
1969 – Trident Studios. Time unknown. Editing: "I Want You" (later known as "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" (unnumbered master, from takes 9, 20 and 32). Producer: Glyn Johns; Engineer: Barry Sheffield; 2nd Engineer: unknown.
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