The most exciting addition to the standard Beatles lineup was not any one keyboard but a certain keyboard player, with Billy Preston joining the group at Apple Studio and becoming, unofficially, a "fifth Beatle" for the proceedings. However, Starr preferred his '63 Jazz Festival 5.5x14" snare, opting to use it instead of the Hollywood's. It was a '67 Ludwig Hollywood kit that had been new for the White Album.Ī five-piece set, it included a 14x22" kick, 16x16" floor tom, as well as an 8x12" and a 9x13" tom. The Beatles: Get Back - A Sneak Peek from Peter Jackson Let It Be DrumsĮspecially during the Twickenham sessions-when Ringo Starr's station was set up on a high riser, backlit by the soundstage's rainbow-colored lights-his drum kit was the star of the show. Additionally, Harrison had a 147RV rotating Leslie speaker-another gift from Clapton-that he used extensively on the record. Lennon and Harrison's main amps were matching '68 Silverface Fender Twin Reverbs. These cabinets from Fender at the time were tall, 40" total vertically, with the speakers stacked on top of one another. Let It Be AmpsĪs mentioned above, McCartney's amp for the sessions was a '68 Fender Bassman head and 2x15 cabinet. While John and George also had a Fender Jazz Bass nearby, they most often played the six-string Fender VI through McCartney's Bassman amp. His similarly stripped Martin D-28 was on hand but rarely used, while he played a Hofner Hawaiian Standard lap steel for a few select parts.īecause the band wanted to record without overdubs, that meant someone besides McCartney had to play bass any time Paul played the piano.
Harrison soon gave that to Bob Dylan.įor the majority of his guitar work, Lennon used his finish-stripped Epiphone Casino. He also had his Gibson J-200 acoustic on hand, which John Lennon used throughout the sessions too. George Harrison was spoiled with incredible guitars at the time, switching between his '57 Gibson "Lucy" Les Paul (a gift from Eric Clapton that had been converted from a Goldtop) and his iconic, custom-built Rosewood Telecaster prototype (a gift from Fender). As for McCartney's acoustic guitar parts, he used his trusty Martin D-28. McCartney's Rickenbacker 4001S and his original '61 Hofner can be seen sparingly in the film, with the '61 Hofner being stolen soon after. It can be seen throughout the recording sporting a "Bassman" sticker, which had originally been affixed to his Fender Bassman speaker cabinet (more on that later). Paul McCartney's go-to bass for the proceedings was his '63 Hofner 500/1 Bass. The official trailer for The Beatles: Get Back Let It Be Guitars What gear did The Beatles use to make Let It Be? Find it all below. We've compiled this guide as a kind of companion and easy reference.
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This includes those fraught rehearsals at Twickenham, the salvaged sessions at Apple, and the full Rooftop Concert performance.įor musicians and gearheads, Get Back is a feast for the senses, displaying the band's late-period gear like it's never been seen before. Though the film crew and "warts and all" documentary approach remained, the eventual album and film-which changed titles from Get Back to Let It Be-turned out to be greatly edited down and polished.ĭirector Peter Jackson's The Beatles: Get Back-an eight-hour, three-part documentary that begins streaming on Disney+ November 25-restores the original footage, presenting the making of Let It Be in all its rollicking glory.
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Those sessions turned fraught, the TV idea was scrapped, and the band moved to their newly constructed Apple Studio instead. With plans still in the works, the rehearsals began on a soundstage at Twickenham Film Studios. The songs would be revealed in full to the public in a TV concert, filmed at some to-be-decided exotic location. Recording engineer Glyn Johns and filmmaker Michael Lindsay-Hogg, who had both recently worked on The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus, were to capture the entire process of rehearsal and recording sessions. What was vague was how'd they document and present the work. What was clear is they wanted to "get back" to their roots-making music together, as a live band, with no overdubs. When The Beatles reconvened in early 1969 to make a new record, the concept was both clear and vague. Photo by Express / Stringer, Getty Images.