The BEATLES . . . . . . The BEATLES LAST LIVE PERFORMANCE TOGETHER EVER On The ROOFTOP of ABBEY ROAD STUDIOS “DON’T LET ME DOWN” . . This historical performance on the Rooftop of Abbey Road Studios at 3 Sayville Road in London was the Beatles last ever last performance together as a group, The Fab Four as they were known by a nickname. This impromptu concert was held on January 30, 1969 and included the Beatles ; John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison, along with Billy Preston (known as The 5th Beatle) on keyboards. The concert lasted 42 minutes. Although the concert was unannounced, the Beatles had planned on performing live during their Get Back recording sessions. The Beatles were wondering where they could perform live, thinking of performing at The Palladium or Sahara but would have had to lug all their equipment over there, “so we decided, why not go up on the roof?” said George Harrison. This historical concert was recorded on Two 8-Track Recorders by producer Alan Parsons and was filmed by Michael Hogg with mutilple angles including audience ractions. This concert marked the end of an era for many Beatles fans. The group recorded one more album Abbey Road, but by September 1969 the Beatles had unofficially disbanded. SONGS PLAYED GET BACK DON’T LET ME DOWN I’VE GOT A FEELING ONE AFTER 909 DANNY BOY DIG A PONY GOD SAVE THE QUEEN . . The BEATLES LAST CONCERT ROOFTOP of ABBEY ROAD STUDIOS 3 SAYVILLE ROAD LONDON, ENGLAND January 30, 1969 CHECK OUT THE BOYS OUTFITS !!! . . John Paul George & RIngo THE BEATLES .
Written by Lennon as an anguished love song to Yoko Ono, it was interpreted by Paul McCartney 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.”
The song is in the key of E major and is in 4/4 time during the verse, chorus and bridge, but changes to 5/4 in the pick-up to the verse. It grew (like “Sun King”) from the F♯m7- E changes from Fleetwood Mac’s “Albatross” (“like she does” [F♯m7] “yes she does” [A, Am] “yes she does” [E]) with McCartney arranging instrumental and vocal parts and Harrison adding a descending two-part lead guitar accompaniment to the verse and a countermelody in the bridge. Alan W. Pollack states that “the counterpoint melody played in octaves during the Alternate Verse by the bass and lead guitars is one of the more novel, unusual instrumental touches you’ll find anywhere in the Beatles catalogue.
GET BACK
DON’T LET ME DOWN (Side B)
BRITISH SINGLE
Released April 11 , 1969
Lennon – McCartney
The BEATLES with BILLY PRESTON
RECORDING and RELEASE of “DON’T LET ME DOWN”
Multiple versions of “Don’t Let Me Down” were recorded by the Beatles 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 35 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
They 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 (1970) film, directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg. When the “Get Back” project was revisited, Phil Spector dropped “Don’t Let Me Down” from the LET IT BE (1970) album.
The B-side version of the song was included on the Beatles’ compilations Hey Jude, 1967-1970 and Past Masters Volume 2 and Mono Masters. The same recording also appears 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.
RECEPTION
Richie Unterberger of AllMusic called it “one of the BEATLES ‘ most powerful love songs”, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic described the song as “heart-wrenching soul” 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.” Author Ian MacDonald praised “Don’t Let Me Down” and declared that “this track vies with Come Together for consideration as the best of Lennon’s late-style Beatles records”.
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