Let It Be... Naked 2CD

Long a contentious album among Beatlemaniacs -- and among the Beatles themselves -- Let It Be took a long and winding road to its ultimate release. The recording's original sessions -- for an album to be titled Get Back -- were made as a counterpart to an in-the-studio film in 1969, before Abbey Road. The album wasn't released, however, until 1970, after Phil Spector was brought in as producer and after the Beatles had broken up. This rethought rendition is less of an original version than it is 20/20 hindsight in action, and it stirred controversy even before its release. Naked removes much of Spector's studio frippery and lush orchestration, along with all of the between-songs quips and introductions, leaving many of the songs in comparatively stark relief. The difference is most notable on "The Long and Winding Road," where Paul McCartney's earthy vocal sounds clear as a bell atop a string-free arrangement guided by piano and organ. The bulk of the tinkering is subtler, with slightl