By RONALD HAWKINS

40-Year Beatles Fan

            An old joke is very appropriate here:

            “The food was so bad,” a woman said.

            “Yes, and the portions were so small,” the other woman said.

            That sad lament also applies to “Let It Be….Naked,” the Paul McCartney-led revision of  “Let It Be.”

            What we have here is one of the saddest moments in Beatles’ history made clearer. The weariness, threadbare songs and frustration at being unable to match their previous work shines throughout more than ever.

            While the sound is crisper than ever, it just amplifies what a bad album “Let It Be” was. To top that off, the CD is only 35 minutes long, 45 minutes less music than a CD can hold.

            Many of the choices made in the new release are bad, from the sequencing of the songs to the selection of alternate versions of songs.

            One of the boasts of this release was that “Don’t Let Me Down” was being added, while two supposedly weaker songs were subtracted. However, that proves to be a shallow addition. The version of the song previously released is much sharper than this one. We hear more of McCartney’s voice on this song, but that is not a plus. This is a John Lennon song, a deep cry of love. Here that cry has been muted from the single version of this song. That version is available on “Past Masters 2” and “The Beatles 1967-1970,” known to some as  “The Blue Album.”

            The mistakes begin with the first song. “Get Back” is used to open the collection and that is a major mistake. “Two of Us” or even “Across the Universe” would have been a much better opening track.

            Songs such as “Dig a Pony,” “For You Blue,” ‘I’ve Got a Feeling” and “One After 909” are not appreciably better here. As a matter of fact, all these songs underline just how weary our boys were. You can hear them trying to muster the old magic, but just not quite finding it.

            McCartney did achieve his longtime goal of removing Phil Spector’s touch on “The Long and Winding Road.” The guitar and piano are much clearer on this version and the huge orchestration and female backing vocals are gone. But what is left is a rather mediocre song, sappy and somewhat clichéd.

            One of the more disconcerting aspects of this cleaned-up release is just how weak McCartney’s voice is in many of the songs. On part of  “The Long and Winding Road’ he isn’t even singing, just uttering the words in rhythmic whisper. The strength we remember from many of his songs is missing.

            The focus is on McCartney in this release. There is a Lennon and Harrison presence, but it is muted compared to the placement of McCartney’s songs. And there is no token Ringo song on this or original version.

            I was hoping to say nice things about the booklet that is included. But even it is flawed. Quotes attributed to John Lennon about having 10 years of material that he could record were actually made by George Harrison. You would think the people putting out this release would at least get that right.

            But the pictures are nice and the conversations reported are intriguing.

            And of course that brings me back to a major complaint: this CD is way too short. I and many other Beatles fans were hoping that some of the many unreleased songs from the Get Back sessions would be included here. But they aren’t. There are no new songs, only alternate and cleaned up versions of songs that I’ve bought at least a dozen times over the years.

            Additionally, some of the more noteworthy comments from the sessions have been deleted or were left out from the new “Fly on the Wall” CD. Lennon’s remark at the end of the Rooftop Concert that he hoped the band had passed the audition is absent. Harrison’s landmark argument with Paul about playing the way McCartney or not at all if that pleased him is absent.

            This is revisionist history at its worst. This is a sparkling package, lacking the guts and soul of the Beatles.

            The Beatles knew after these sessions were over that this was an extremely low moment. Thank goodness they left us with the marvelous “Abbey Road” to wrap up their fantastic decade as the world’s greatest rock and roll band.

            It’s too bad this new release doesn’t “get back” to that time.

(Ronald Hawkins is a writer and creator of the GetBack, StoryWeavers, A Stories to Tell Universe and Bob Dylan Legacy web sites)