Undercooked and over-Spectored, Let It Be closed the Beatles career on a downbeat. With George Martin largely absent for all but the title track, Lennon turned the production duties over to Phil S resulting in less than happy consequences and particularly infuriating McCartney over the unsympathetic treatment of The Long & Winding Road.
It’s status as probably the Fab’s weakest and least popular album can be gauged by the relative lack of cover versions -this was the trickiest mix to assemble and for the only time, we’ve included two tracks from the same act.
Nevertheless, we’ve managed to piece together the usual combination of well-known names (say hello to Boney M making their DTB debut), obscurities (California Poppy Pickers; Jawbone) and indulge in a spot of time-travelling as the Vipers Skiffle Group transports us back to 1957, via a b-side released just as a bunch of Liverpudlian tearaway skifflers calling themselves The Quarrymen were rehearsing for an upcoming gig at Walton Village Fete.
Fittingly, to close the circle, sat behind the recording desk as the Viper’s bashed out their version of the Liverpool folk standard Maggie May, was a rising young EMI junior executive named G. Martin…
1 Boney M-Two Of Us
2 Marisa Monte-Dig A Pony
3 Jawbone-Across The Universe
4 Frank Pourcel-I Me Mine
5 Laibach-Dig It
6 Clarence Carter-Let It Be
7 The Vipers Skiffle Group-Maggie Mae
8 Billy Preston-I’ve Got A Feeling
9 Helen Reddy-The One After 909
10 Cissy Houston-Long And Winding Road
11 Laibach-For You Blue
12 The California Poppy Pickers-Get Back