Play Guitar Like The Beatles
Volume 1 - Songs - Videos - Lyrics - Instruction
Don't Let Me Down
Song Background
If you want to Play The Guitar like the Beatles you need some insight into the
songs. It helps to get an idea of what artist intended.
John Lennon dedicated this song to Yoko Ono. It was the first song he wrote for
Yoko, who he married on March 20, 1969.
Released as the B-side of "Get Back," this song was recorded the same day. It was
going to be on the Let It Be album, but when the tapes from the sessions were turned over to Phil Spector
to produce, he took it out.
This was one of the songs The Beatles played at their impromptu rooftop concert in 1969.
The concept of the album was The Beatles performing new songs for a live audience, with film footage of
their rehearsals used to make a documentary TV special. George Harrison didn't like the idea, and
when things got tense during recording, he left the sessions and returned only after they agreed to cancel
the live performance. The Beatles were still under contract to make another movie, so they decided
to use the rehearsal footage as their last movie, Let It Be. In order to end the movie, they needed
a big scene, so they went to the roof of Apple Records and started playing. John Lennon forgot
some of the words to this song while the Beatles were playing their rooftop concert.
Billy Preston, who The Beatles met when he was on tour with Little Richard in 1962, played keyboards on this track. Preston was one of the few outside musicians (excluding members of orchestras) to play on any Beatles song. George Harrison brought him in to smooth tensions in the studio. He did the same thing during The White Album sessions, when he brought in Eric Clapton. The presence of a musician The Beatles respected had a way of making them put aside their differences.
When Apple Records remixed the album Let It Be and released it in 2003 as Let It Be...
Naked, this was included. An alternate take was used. It was the only song on the new album
that did not appear on the original.
Lennon asked Ringo to crash his cymbals loudly to "give me the courage to come in
screaming."
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