Everybody Had A Good Year

The Beatles “I’ve Got A Feeling” (Take 10)

The outtakes featured on the new “super deluxe” version of Let It Be are wonderfully loose and relaxed, a document of four dudes who’ve been playing together for years and know each other well enough to intuitively anticipate moves and effortlessly click together. They’re also close enough for that familiarity to breed a contempt that would end the band within a year, but you don’t really hear that on these tapes. These are just unadorned recordings of The Beatles performing with a casual confidence and playfulness that reminds me a lot of my favorite Pavement live recordings.

The most intriguing moments captured in these tapes are when they launch into impromptu rehearsals of songs like “Oh Darling” and “Something” that would be fleshed out into classics within a few months in the Abbey Road sessions. These are helpful glimpses into songwriting process and subtle band dynamics, but the more fun thing is hearing more tossed-off performances of Let It Be cuts like “Dig A Pony,” “Get Back,” and “I’ve Got A Feeling.” The latter is a total joy, particularly as the contrasting vocal parts by Paul McCartney and John Lennon give both men space to be a little silly with it. It’s just so nice to hear them have fun together, especially since this is the last time they’d do anything like a duet in their lives.

I’ve always been fond of their approximation of southern rock on “I’ve Got A Feeling” and I feel like it sounds a little better in this take with a slightly slower tempo and a bit more slack in the rhythm. The decision to tighten it up a bit for the final take makes sense but I think the spirit of the song is to be more off the cuff and informal. It’s not hard to imagine an alternate timeline in which this version of The Beatles hit the road and closed out sets with this one, extending it out into more of a jam.

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