- Writer: John Lennon & Paul McCartney
- Producers: George Martin, Phil Spector & Glyn Johns (uncredited)
- Recorded: January 28th, 1969, at Apple Studios in London
- Released: Spring 1969
- Players:
Paul McCartney — lead vocal, bass
John Lennon — backing vocals, lead guitar
George Harrison — backing vocals, rhythm guitar
Ringo Starr — drums
Billy Preston — electric piano - Album: Let It Be (Capitol/Apple, 1970)
- Also On:
The Beatles 1967-1970 (Capitol/Apple, 1973)
1 (Apple/Capitol, 2000)
Let It Be…Naked (Capitol, 2003)
and other compilations - “Get Back” was born out of a tongue-in-cheek jam session titled “No Pakistanis,” which poked fun of the then-anti-immigration forces in the U.K.
- The song’s reference to Tucson comes from time Linda McCartney spent there.
- “Get Back” was supposed to be the title track for a film and album project that was to document the Beatles‘ creative process. Burdened by intra-band tensions, the project was put on the shelf and eventually came out after the Abbey Road album, as Let It Be.
- The group recorded the song three times during their famous 42-minute performance on the roof of the Apple building. The Let It Be film features an edited combination of the first two versions.
- The actual “Get Back” track used for the Let It Be album was recorded two days earlier at Apple Studios. John Lennon‘s song-closing comment — “I’d like to say thank you…” — was grafted on to that recording of the song.
- The song’s title was used in promotional materials to refer to the relatively unadorned recording — a sign that the Beatles had gotten back to their rock-and-roll roots. “The Beatles as nature intended” was the advertising slogan.
- The “Get Back” single sold nearly two million copies and hit Number One in six countries, including Britain and the U.S.
FAST FORWARD:
- “Get Back” has been covered by artists including Count Basie, the Bee Gees, Al Green, Elton John, Billy Preston (who appears on the original), Status Quo, Rod Stewart, and Ike & Tina Turner, among many others.
- The Beatles announced their breakup in the spring of 1970, although the group had already broken up earlier that year.
- Lennon was shot and killed by Mark David Chapman on December 8th, 1980, in front of his New York City apartment building.
- In 1987, Lennon and McCartney became the first non-American composers inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
- The Beatles were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on January 20th, 1988. McCartney did not attend because of prolonged litigation with his former bandmates.
- Lennon, McCartney, and George Harrison have also been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as solo artists.
- Harrison died on November 28th, 2001, after a long battle with cancer.
The latest release from the Beatles is the soundtrack to the Las Vegas Cirque Du Soleil show LOVE, which features remixed music from the band’s catalogue.