Released on 17 November 2003, Let It Be… Naked removed “Dig It” and “Maggie Mae” from the Beatles’ 1970 album Let It Be and added “Don’t Let Me Down”. That took the main sequence from 12 tracks to 11, in a different order. Allan Rouse’s team remixed the recordings to reduce the production added by Phil Spector and bring the sound closer to the Beatles’ performances. But Naked is neither a straightforward remaster nor a set of untouched recordings.
Track-by-track matrix: where each song appears in 1970 and 2003
This table maps each song’s position on the main 1970 album against the 2003 running order. “Absent” means outside that edition’s main track list, not that the recording ceased to exist. The changes summarize documented interventions without implying that each song was newly recorded.
| Track | 1970 | 2003 | What changed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Get Back | 12 | 1 | Moves from closer to opener; the remix removes studio and rooftop dialogue. |
| Dig a Pony | 2 | 2 | Retains the rooftop performance; cleans up noise and the false start. |
| For You Blue | 11 | 3 | New mix of the 1970 recording, with the acoustic guitar more prominent. |
| The Long and Winding Road | 10 | 4 | Uses a different take, from 31 January 1969, without the 1970 orchestra and choir. |
| Two of Us | 1 | 5 | Same underlying performance; refreshed mix and noise treatment. |
| I’ve Got a Feeling | 8 | 6 | Combines parts of the two rooftop performances. |
| One After 909 | 9 | 7 | Keeps the rooftop performance, with a revised mix and without the closing Danny Boy snippet. |
| Don’t Let Me Down | Absent | 8 | Added as an edit of the two rooftop versions, not the 1969 B-side recording. |
| I Me Mine | 4 | 9 | Drops Spector’s orchestra but keeps the repeated section used to extend the song. |
| Across the Universe | 3 | 10 | Returns to its original speed and removes orchestral and choral layers; the new mix adds echo. |
| Let It Be | 6 | 11 | Without orchestral and choral arrangements; the guitar solo comes from another take. |
| Dig It | 5 | Absent | Improvised excerpt removed from the main album. |
| Maggie Mae | 7 | Absent | Short informal performance removed from the main album. |
Why were “Dig It” and “Maggie Mae” removed?
Both tracks were fragmentary in character: “Dig It” was an excerpt from a jam, while “Maggie Mae” captured an informal musical moment. On the 1970 record, they helped preserve the behind-the-scenes atmosphere, alongside dialogue between songs.
In an interview with Mix, project coordinator Allan Rouse explained that these snippets and the dialogue suited an album with a documentary-soundtrack feel better than the more direct, 11-song record planned for 2003. Their removal was a presentation choice, not evidence that the performances had never been part of the sessions.
Why was “Don’t Let Me Down” added, and which recording is it?
The song was already available in 1969 as the B-side of the “Get Back” single, but it was not included on the 1970 Let It Be LP. Adding it in 2003 brought a complete song from the same project into the main album sequence. Its fit with a more focused album is an editorial interpretation supported by the track selection and the producers’ comments, not a single formal explanation issued by every Beatle.
The crucial distinction is that Naked does not reuse the single recording. The team assembled its version from the two performances on the Apple rooftop on 30 January 1969. The Beatles’ official website also identifies the 2003 recording as a composite of those rooftop performances.
What did the engineers remove from Spector’s production, and what edits remained?
The project’s stated aim was to move away from the polished production of the 1970 LP, especially the added orchestra and choir. The most striking example is “The Long and Winding Road”: instead of Spector’s chosen take, Naked uses a later recording from 31 January 1969 without the orchestral and choral layers. “Across the Universe” was likewise rebuilt around Lennon’s voice and the band’s instruments.
Yet the team did not eliminate every editing decision. “I Me Mine” kept the extension made by repeating a section, even as Spector’s orchestra was removed. “I’ve Got a Feeling” and “Don’t Let Me Down” were assembled from multiple takes; “Let It Be” includes a guitar solo borrowed from another take. The engineers also described noise cleanup and digital refinements to Mix.
Naked therefore signals a leaner production approach, not a guarantee of raw, untouched audio. These are two albums shaped by different editorial decisions, rather than an artificial version opposed to one without editing.
How to tell the 2003 album apart from other editions
The original Let It Be arrived in May 1970 with 12 tracks and Phil Spector’s final production. Earlier, Glyn Johns had compiled unreleased versions of a project titled Get Back. The 2021 Let It Be special edition brought together session material and a new mix of the 1970 album; it is not the same release as the 2003 version.
Let It Be… Naked also came with a companion disc called “Fly on the Wall”, assembled from conversations and session excerpts. That extra disc is not a twelfth song in the main Naked running order. To identify the 2003 album, look for the 11-song sequence opening with “Get Back” and closing with “Let It Be”.
Sources and references
- The Beatles, official Let It Be... Naked album page
- The Beatles Official Store, Let It Be... Naked track list
- The Beatles, 2021 Let It Be edition and original track list
- The Beatles, official Don’t Let Me Down video page
- Mix, Matt Hurwitz’s interview with the remix team
- About The Beatles, 2003 discography and running order
