Don't Let Me Down (The Beatles song)

"Don't Let Me Down"
Single by The Beatles with Billy Preston
A-side	"Get Back"
Released	11 April 1969
Format	7"
Recorded	22, 28, 30 January 1969
Genre	Blues-rock
Length	3:35
Label	Apple Records
Writer(s)	Lennon–McCartney
The Beatles with Billy Preston singles chronology
"Hey Jude" (1968) "Get Back" / "Don't Let Me Down" (1969) "The Ballad of John and Yoko" (1969)
Music sample "Don't Let Me Down"

"Don't Let Me Down" is a song by The Beatles (with Billy Preston), recorded in 1969 during the Get Back (Let It Be) sessions.

Composition

An anguished love song John Lennon wrote to Yoko Ono,^[1] Paul McCartney interpreted it as a "genuine plea", with Lennon saying to Ono, "I'm really stepping out of line on this one. I'm really just letting my vulnerability be seen, so you must not let me down."^[2] Lennon's vocals work their way into screams, presaging the primal scream stylings of the following year's John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band album.^[3]

The song is in the key of E and is in 4/4 time during the verse, chorus and bridge, but changes to 5/4 in the pickup to the verse.^[4]

Recording and release

Multiple versions of "Don't Let Me Down" were recorded during the tumultuous Get Back (Let It Be) recording sessions. The version recorded on 28 January 1969 was released as a B-side to the single "Get Back", recorded the same day.^[5] "Get Back" reached number one and "Don't Let Me Down" reached number thirty five on the US Billboard Hot 100.^[6]

The Beatles performed "Don't Let Me Down" twice during their rooftop concert of 30 January 1969, one of which was included in the Let It Be film, directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg.^[7] When the "Get Back" project was revisited, Phil Spector dropped "Don't Let Me Down" from the Let It Be album.^[8]

The B-side version of the song was included on the Beatles' compilations Hey Jude, 1967-1970 and Past Masters Volume 2. The same version was also used on the soundtrack to the 1988 documentary, Imagine: John Lennon.

In November 2003, an edit of the two rooftop versions was included on Let It Be... Naked.^[3]

Reception

Richie Unterberger of Allmusic called it "one of the Beatles' most powerful love songs",^[9] and Roy Carr and Tony Tyler called it "a superb sobber from misery-expert J. W. O. Lennon, MBE. And still one of the most highly underrated Beatle underbellies."^[10]

Cover versions

• In 1969, Dillard & Clark covered the song on their album Through the Morning, Through the Night.
• In 1969, Marcia Griffiths did a reggae version.
• In 1970, Ben E. King covered the song on his Rough Edges album.
• In 1971, Charlotte Dada recorded an afro-rhythm version in Ghana.
• On her 1977 album It Looks Like Snow, Phoebe Snow covered this song. Her version was described as an "exquisite interpretation" by music critic Joe Viglione of Allmusic.^[11]
• Annie Lennox recorded the song in 1992 and was included as the b-side to "Walking on Broken Glass". A live version is also available on the "Cold" single.
• Italian pop singer Ryan Paris recorded a high-energy version of the song in 1993.
• Stereophonics covered this song in 2001 on the I Am Sam soundtrack.
• Paul Weller covered the song on his album Fly on the Wall - B Sides and Rarities.
• Matchbox Twenty turned the song into a duet, with lead singer Rob Thomas on piano and vocals and with guitarist Kyle Cook also singing.
• Dana Fuchs and Martin Luther McCoy performed the song in the 2007 film Across the Universe.
• Greg Brown covered the song on his album In the Hills of California.
• Danish rock group The Sandmen covered the song on their 2003 Live album.
• The Aggrolites, a California ska-punk/reggae band have played a ska-punk version of the song at their live shows. It has proven to be a hit with their fans despite never being on one of their albums.

Personnel

• John Lennon – vocal, rhythm guitar
• Paul McCartney – harmony vocal, bass
• George Harrison – lead guitar, backing vocals
• Ringo Starr – drums
• Billy Preston – electric piano

Personnel per Ian MacDonald^[12]

No official producer's credit was included for the single release owing to "the confused roles of George Martin and Glyn Johns".^[13]

Notes

1. ^ Sheff 2000, p. 204.
2. ^ Miles 1997, pp. 535–536.
3. ^ ^{a b} The Beatles Bible.
4. ^ Hal Leonard 1993, pp. 220–224.
5. ^ Lewisohn 1988, p. 168.
6. ^ Wallgren 1982, p. 54.
7. ^ Lewisohn 1988, p. 169.
8. ^ Lewisohn 1988, pp. 196, 199.
9. ^ Unterberger 2007.
10. ^ Carr & Tyler 1975, p. 78.
11. ^ Viglione 2010.
12. ^ MacDonald 2005, p. 332–333.
13. ^ Lewisohn 1988, p. 172.

References

• "Don't Let Me Down". The Beatles Bible. http://www.beatlesbible.com/songs/dont-let-me-down/. Retrieved August 17, 2008. 
• Carr, Roy; Tyler, Tony (1975). The Beatles: An Illustrated Record. New York: Harmony Books. ISBN 0-517-520-451. 
• Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation, ed (1993). The Beatles - Complete Scores. Milwaukee: Hal Leanord. ISBN 0-7935-1832-6. 
• Lewisohn, Mark (1988). The Beatles Recording Sessions. New York: Harmony Books. ISBN 0-517-57066-1. 
• MacDonald, Ian (2005). Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties (Second Revised ed.). London: Pimlico (Rand). ISBN 1-844-13828-3. 
• Miles, Barry (1997). Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now. New York: Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 0-8050-5249-6. 
• Sheff, David (2000). All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-25464-4. 
• "SPFC.org tour history listing for performances of "Don't Let Me Down"". 2008. http://www.spfc.org/tours/song.html?song_id=613. Retrieved 30 July 2008. 
• Unterberger, Richie (2007). "Review of 'Don't Let Me Down'". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/song/t4935927. Retrieved 25 February 2007. 
• Viglione, Joe (2010). "Review of It Seems Like Snow". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r70182/review. Retrieved 2 February 2010. 
• Wallgren, Mark (1982). The Beatles on Record. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-671-45682-2.