Let It Down
"Let It Down" is a song by English musician George Harrison, released on his 1970 triple album All Things Must Pass. The recording was co-produced by Phil Spector and employs the latter's Wall of Sound production technique to lavish effect. Its brash opening and choruses contrast with the ethereal quality of the verses – a loud/soft approach that has been credited with influencing indie bands during the 1980s and 1990s.
"Let It Down"
Harrison wrote the song in 1968 and offered it to the Beatles in January 1969 for inclusion on what became their Let It Be album (1970), also produced by Spector. It is one of several Harrison compositions that were turned down by the band and subsequently found acclaim on his first solo release following their break-up. Harrison biographers recognise "Let It Down" as an erotic love song, perhaps written to a woman other than Pattie Boyd, his wife at the time. Separated by 18 months, the song's conception and recording marked two periods of romantic intrigue involving Harrison, Boyd and their friend Eric Clapton. Author Ian Inglis describes "Let It Down" as "a dynamic and passionate depiction of lust and desire".[1]
Harrison recorded the song in London, backed by a large cast of musicians, including the whole of Clapton's newly formed band Derek and the Dominos, Gary Brooker, Gary Wright, Bobby Keys and the group Badfinger. With its dense mix of horns, orchestral strings and heavy rock instrumentation, commentators identify "Let It Down" as an extreme example of Spector's influence on All Things Must Pass, an influence that also provided a disruptive element during the album's creation. An acoustic version of "Let It Down", also taped in 1970 but with overdubs recorded in 2000, appeared as a bonus track on the 30th anniversary edition of All Things Must Pass.
Other versions[edit]
Alternative mixes[edit]
Madinger and Easter write of the revelatory nature of the various rough mixes of "Let It Down", which were made at different stages of the recording process and first issued, unofficially, during the mid-1990s.[91] Available on bootleg compilations such as the multi-disc Making of All Things Must Pass[92] and Songs for Patti – The Mastertape Version, the mixes demonstrate the layers of instrumentation that were combined to form the commercially released recording – ranging from a sparse backing of just guitar, bass and drums, to the larger sound following brass and slide guitar overdubs. Madinger and Easter write that "Let It Down" was "a much rougher, rockin' track in its initial phase", and the mixes provide a "fascinating view" of how the song could have ended up without the heavy production favoured by Spector.[70] AllMusic critic Bruce Eder similarly admires the "raw band track", where the mix "puts Harrison's voice up real close where it sounds amazingly good".[93]
Acoustic version[edit]
At London's Abbey Road Studios on 20 May 1970,[94] Harrison performed "Let It Down" among a selection of songs for Spector, with a view to narrowing down the amount of material that they would be recording for All Things Must Pass.[95][96] Along with compositions that have yet to see release, including "Window, Window", "Nowhere to Go", "Cosmic Empire" and "Mother Divine",[97][98] this solo acoustic version of "Let It Down" became available in 1994 on a bootleg titled Beware of ABKCO![94][99] In January 2001, Harrison included the song, along with a similar run-through of "Beware of Darkness", as one of five bonus tracks on the 30th anniversary reissue of All Things Must Pass;[100][nb 8] in his liner notes, he states that he had been unaware that the session was ever recorded.[102] Harrison added acoustic lead guitar to the song, as well as a string-synthesizer part played by Ray Cooper,[10][103] both recorded at Harrison's home studio, FPSHOT, during 2000.[104]
While viewed as an "inessential" extra by Hunter in his review for Rolling Stone,[85] this alternative version does provide "a taste of fluid, jazzy Harrison guitar", Leng writes.[105] Titled "Let It Down (Alternate Version)", it also appears on the 2014 Apple Years 1968–75 reissue of All Things Must Pass.[106] On the website Something Else!, Nick DeRiso writes of Harrison's stated regret at Spector's overuse of reverberation on the album, and opines that "[This] stripped-down version of 'Let It Down' best illustrates how so much of Harrison's pent-up songcraft instantly resonated, even as first drafts."[107]
Cover versions[edit]
In 2010, Brazilian singer Maria Gadú contributed an acoustic version of "Let It Down" to Tudo Passa, a Harrison tribute album recorded by various Brazilian musicians.[108] Backed by the band Big Black Delta, Harrison's son Dhani performed the song on the US television show Conan in September 2014.[109][110] This appearance was part of the show's "George Harrison Week",[111] celebrating the release of the Apple Years 1968–75 box set.[112] Dhani Harrison subsequently performed the song at George Fest, a multi-artist concert tribute to his father's music,[113] held at the Fonda Theatre, Los Angeles, on 28 September that same year.[114]