Let It Be - Spector or Naked

Big dispute among Beatlemaniacs on this. Almost 50/50! Naked deleted throwaways Dig It and Maggie Mae for George's For You Blue and John's ode to Yoko Don't Let Me Down, which were more complete songs from the same sessions. Where the Spector version had a certain charm to it with the studio chat mostly done by John ("I dig a pigmy by Charles Hortry" and "Sweet Loretta Fart who thought she was a cleaner" etc.)

Me personally, I go with Naked. I just can't stand listening to John's Across The Universe with Spector's syrup poured all over it. And I never liked The Long And Winding Road from the get go, but this bare bones version is a real improvement.

What say you?

Naked all the way. I remember being just about old enough to appreciate how Let It Be was such a sorry postscript to such a splendid musical career. Naked does the Fabs far more justice.

To be honest, neither version is all that brilliant imo. The idea to go 'back to basics' was something of a double edged sword, as this meant that half formed songs like 'Dig A Pony', 'Two Of Us' and yes, 'Dig It' and 'Maggie Mae', plus 'One After 909' that I think was on the new one, made the grade when they never should have.

The only songs from the album that are as good as their earlier work are 'The Long and Winding Road', 'Let It Be' and 'Across The Universe'. The strings worked well on 'Long and Winding Road' and added to the grandiosity of the song imo, but they ruined 'Across The Universe'...

Still, I'll go for the 'Naked' one, though both versions get far less airtime than my other Beatles albums.

I expected to enjoy "Naked" far more than I actually did. I find it jsut a bit too sparse. Not a great album anyway, at least they came back with "Abbey Road" for their true swansong.

I prefer Naked, it sounds fresher and more "real" and "sincere" IMO, but both are masterpieces.