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Don't Let Me Down (Beatles song)
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Wikipedia article
{{Infobox song
| name = Don't Let Me Down
| cover = Beatles_Get_Back.jpg
| caption = Picture sleeve for 1989 UK reissue
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = the Beatles with Billy Preston
| album =
| A-side = Get Back
| released = 11 April 1969
| recorded = 28 January 1969, February 1969
| studio = Apple, London
| genre =
| length = 3:35
| label = Apple
| writer = LennonMcCartney
| producer =
* Glyn Johns
* George Martin
| prev_title =
| prev_year =
| next_title =
| next_year =
| misc =
}}
"'Don't Let Me Down'" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, recorded in 1969 during the 'Let It Be' sessions. It was written by John Lennon and credited to LennonMcCartney. The band recorded the song with Billy Preston; the single release with "Get Back" was credited to "the Beatles with Billy Preston". Originally released as a B-side, producer Phil Spector excluded the song from 'Let It Be'. However, it was eventually included on an alternate mix of the album, 'Let It Be... Naked'.
Composition
Written by John 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 time during the verse, chorus and bridge, but changes to in the pick-up to the verse. It grew (like "Sun King") from the Fm7E changes from Fleetwood Mac's "Albatross" with McCartney arranging instrumental and vocal parts and George Harrison adding a descending two-part lead guitar accompaniment to the verse and a countermelody in the bridge.Walter Everett. The Beatles as Musicians. Revolver through the Anthology. Oxford University Press 1999. pp222-223. 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."
Recording and release
Multiple versions of "Don't Let Me Down" were recorded by the Beatles during the 'Get Back (Let It Be)' recording sessions. The version recorded on 28 January 1969, with vocal overdubs in late February, 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.
When the "Get Back" project was revisited, Phil Spector dropped "Don't Let Me Down" from the 'Let It Be' (1970) album.
The Beatles performed "Don't Let Me Down" twice during their rooftop concert of 30 January 1969, and the first performance was included in the 'Let It Be' (1970) film, directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg. In November 2003, a composite edit of the two rooftop versions was released on 'Let It Be... Naked'. Both versions were seen in the 2022 film 'The Beatles: Get Back - The Rooftop Concert'.
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'.
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". Dont Let Me Down is the most viewed video on the Beatles YouTube channel, with over 400 million views.
Cover versions
* In 1992, Annie Lennox covered the song. A studio recording appeared as a b-side to the single Walking on Broken Glass (released in August 1992), a live version from the Montreux Jazz Festival for MTV Unplugged has been released as a b-side to the single Cold (pt. 3 "Coldest") in October 1992.
* In 1999, Garbage performed a live cover at the opening of the Scottish Parliament.
Personnel
* John Lennon lead vocal, rhythm guitars
* Paul McCartney bass guitar, harmony vocal
* George Harrison lead guitar, backing vocal
* Ringo Starr drums
* Billy Preston electric piano
:Personnel per Ian MacDonald
No official producer's credit was included for the single release owing to "the confused roles of George Martin and Glyn Johns". However the '1967-1970' compilation liner notes credited Martin as the song's producer.
Charts
Notes
References
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