An album from The Beatles which was only pressed on vinyl once has fans hoping for a reprint, though they are not expecting anything anytime soon.
Fans of Let it Be… Naked, believe the album will not receive another mastering or even a reprint “for a long time” as they share their theories on why the 2003 release has only been printed once. Let it Be… Naked offers alternate mixes of The Beatles‘ songs from Let it Be, their 1970 release. Phil Spector’s production proved controversial for band member Paul McCartney, who told Spector and manager Allen Klein not to touch his music without express permission from him. Decades later and the album was remastered into versions of songs which removed Spector’s additions. It also replaced Dit It and Maggie Mae with Don’t Let Me Down, the non-album B-side to Get Back.
The project was approved by all three surviving Beatles members ahead of its release in 2003. George Harrison gave his approval before his death. He and Ringo Starr had defended Spector’s work on the album, with the latter saying: “I like what Phil did … There’s no point bringing him in if you’re not going to like the way he does it.”
Despite the praise from members of The Beatles, the major changes made to McCartney’s work had outraged the Let it Be songwriter, who had the chance to hear the songs in their original form on the remix release. Let it Be… Naked, has not been reprinted on vinyl since its release, and fans are wondering if one is coming anytime soon.
One user took to the r/TheBeatles subreddit and asked: “Why was this only pressed once? I just started listening to The Beatles this Monday and I’ve listened to all of their albums a handful of times now and I can’t help but wonder why this has never been re-pressed.
“Especially knowing it’s literally supposed to be the definitive version of it. Plus I prefer it over the original. Do you guys think we’ll ever see a re-press of this?” Another user of the forum remains hopeful of a re-release, though does not believe fans will see it anytime soon.
They wrote: “It’s possible, but I don’t think we’ll see it for a very long time. Seems like the main focus is remixes of all the albums, plus a couple detours to give them more time to work on those.
“So we would probably get those, plus maybe a reissue of the Anthology series and/or the remaining US albums first. Which is a shaem, because that’s easily one of my most-wanted Beatles records.”
Another added: “I can barely stand listening to the regular version of Let it Be. This one is so much better.” A third wrote: “It’s a digital master so vinyl isn’t going to enhance anything. You’re safe with the CD.”
Though the limited difference may not be of interest to some listeners, others were hopeful of a reprint, as the only run so far of the album has seen pricing balloon to around £150 to £200.
One user wrote: “I saw it once in a shop, £150!! Bit too rich for my blood, but I was tempted. I love this version of Let it Be the most. To me, it is let it be.” Another wrote: “I remember posting about this years ago Indicating it was going out of press and everyone was like no no no, they are just backlogged.
“I picked up an extra backup copy realizing I may not get it cheap again. Sure enough it ballooned to $200. IDK what it’s going for now, but I was happy to get another new copy for $28.”
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