Raw Power

The Beatles' 1970 swan song finds its groove in this 2003 redux.

- JIM CAMPILONGO

YES, I AM a Beatles maniac, but I've usually steered clear of Beatles bootlegs that contain subpar performances, or recordings that demonstrate the evolution of their material. Same with Hendrix. I don't need to hear the private first stirrings of a song's development...kind of like how I don't feel a need to see Marilyn Monroe waking up with a hangover. That said, after hearing Let It Be... Naked, I knew I had to own it, because in many ways this 2003 release is obviously, and sometimes inexplicably, a far superior record to the original 1970 album release.

As the story goes, the Beatles handed off the Let It Be tapes to producer Phil Spector in the hope that he could eke out an album from what the group perceived as an uneven collection of recordings. There were some good songs among the tracks, but the basic order was, "Phil, have a go and make it nice."