Get back

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Get back
The Beatles
publication April 11, 1969 ( single )
length 3 min 7 s
Genre (s) Blues rock , rock
Author (s) Lennon / McCartney
album let it be

Get Back ( English Come back or return to ) is a song by British rock band The Beatles , the UK on 11 April 1969 as the single was released and on 8 May 1970 on the last album of the band, Let It Be , in a different version appeared. Officially the song was composed by Lennon / McCartney , but on the German first pressing only Paul McCartney was correctly named as the composer.

title

The title of the song can be understood programmatically, since the Beatles at the beginning of 1969 were a little tired of the compositional and technical experiments of recent years and longed to return to simpler song structures with simple arrangements of guitar, bass and drums. So a kind of concept album of the same title was aimed for, which should dispense with large orchestral arrangements and reflect more on the roots of the Beatles. Its release was postponed due to various difficulties within the band and it was only released under the name Let It Be after the band split up .

admission

The song was recorded in January 1969 during the filming of the later documentary Let It Be , and the Beatles played it three times at the so-called Rooftop Concert alone . During the numerous jam sessions that took place while working on the film, McCartney improvised some textual variations for the song, for which he also sang the lead vocal. John Lennon only sings along in the choruses. An early version, known as No Pakistanis , had a politically tinged text that criticized the British government's foreign policy. In addition to the Beatles, Billy Preston worked on the Fender Rhodes and was mentioned as the first guest musician on a Beatles single.

successes

The single came in England on April 23, 1969 as No. 3 in the British charts and was No. 1 for five weeks from April 30, 1969 in the following countries Get Back was also at the top: Canada , Germany , France , Spain , Norway , Denmark , Netherlands , Belgium , Malaysia , Singapore , Australia , USA and New Zealand .

Cover versions (selection)

  • Amen Corner - 1969 as a single and on the album Farewell to the Real Magnificent Seven
  • Al Green - on the 1970 album Green is Blues
  • Elton John - on the album Tribute to the Beatles in 1993
  • Ike & Tina Turner - 1971 on the album Workin 'Together
  • Rod Stewart - 1976 on the soundtrack for the musical documentary All This and World War II and as a single hit
  • Elvis Presley sang the song regularly at his concerts in a medley with Little Sister in the early 1970s

literature

  • The Beatles: The Beatles Anthology . Ullstein. Munich 2000. ISBN 3-550-07132-9 .
  • Mark Lewisohn: The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions: The Official Story of the Abbey Road Years . Hamlyn. London 1970. ISBN 0-600-61207-4 .
  • Mark Lewisohn: The Complete Beatles Chronicle . Hamlyn. London 2006. ISBN 0-600-61001-2 .
  • Bruce Spizer: The Beatles' Story on Capitol Records, Part Two: The Albums . 498 Productions. New Orleans 2000. ISBN 0-9662649-2-4 .
  • Neville Stannard: The Long & Winding Road. A History of the Beatles on Record . Virgin Books. London 1983. ISBN 0-907080-96-0 .
  • Steve Turner: A Hard Day's Write: The Stories Behind Every Beatles Song . Harper Collins. New York 2005. ISBN 0-06-084409-4 .
  • Friedhelm Rathjen: Get Back. The Beatles in Twickenham, 2. – 14. January 1969 . Südwesthörn: Edition ReJoyce 2018, ISBN 978-3-947261-08-6 .
  • Friedhelm Rathjen: Let It Be. The Beatles in the Apple Studio, 21. – 31. January 1969 . Südwesthörn: Edition ReJoyce 2019, ISBN 978-3-947261-09-3 .