"Don't Let Me Down" is a song by the English rock band

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

, recorded in 1969 during the ''

Let It Be Let It Be most commonly refers to: * ''Let It Be'' (album), the Beatles' final studio album, released in 1970 * "Let It Be" (song), the title song from the album Let It Be may also refer to: Film and television * ''Let It Be'' (1970 film), ...

'' sessions. It was written by

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

and credited to the

Lennon–McCartney Lennon–McCartney is the songwriting partnership between the English musicians John Lennon (1940–1980) and Paul McCartney (born 1942) of the Beatles. It is widely considered one of the greatest, best known and most successful musical collabo ...

songwriting partnership. The band recorded the song with keyboardist

Billy Preston William Everett Preston (September 2, 1946 – June 6, 2006) was an American keyboardist, singer, and songwriter whose work encompassed R&B, rock, soul, funk, and gospel. Preston was a top session keyboardist in the 1960s, backing Little Richa ...

; the single release with "

Get Back "Get Back" is a song recorded by the English rock band the Beatles and Billy Preston, written by Paul McCartney, and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. It was originally released as a single on 11 April 1969 and credited to "The B ...

" was credited to "the Beatles with Billy Preston". Originally released as a

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

, producer

Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (December 26, 1939 – January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter who is best known for pioneering recording practices in the 1960s, followed by his trials and conviction for murder in the 2000s. S ...

excluded the song from ''

''. The song's first album appearance in stereo was on the

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

n collection ''

Hey Jude "Hey Jude" is a song by the English rock music, rock band the Beatles that was released as a non-album single in August 1968. It was written by Paul McCartney and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. The single was the Beatles' fir ...

'', released in 1970, and on the global market collection ''

1967–1970 ''1967–1970'', also known as the Blue Album, is a compilation album of songs by the English rock band the Beatles, spanning the years indicated in the title. A double LP, it was released with ''1962–1966'' (the "Red Album") in April 1973. ...

'', released in 1973.

Composition

Written by John Lennon as an anguished love song to

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono (, usually spelled in katakana as ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up in Tokyo and moved to New York ...

, it was interpreted by

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

as a "genuine plea", with Lennon saying to Ono, "I'm really stepping out of line on this one. I'm really just letting my vulnerability be seen, so you must not let me down." The song is in the key of

E major E major is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has four sharps. Its relative minor is C-sharp minor and its parallel minor is E minor. Its enharmonic equivalent, F-flat maj ...

and is in time during the verse, chorus and bridge, but changes to in the pick-up to the verse. It grew (like "

Sun King LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the longest of any monar ...

") from the Fm⁷–E changes from

Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac are a British-American Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1967 by the singer and guitarist Peter Green (musician), Peter Green. Green named the band by combining the surnames of the drummer, Mick Fleetwood, and the bassis ...

's "

Albatross Albatrosses, of the biological family Diomedeidae, are large seabirds related to the procellariids, storm petrels, and diving petrels in the order Procellariiformes (the tubenoses). They range widely in the Southern Ocean and the North Paci ...

" with McCartney arranging instrumental and vocal parts and

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician, singer and songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Culture ...

adding a descending two-part lead guitar accompaniment to the verse and a countermelody in the bridge.

Alan W. Pollack Alan W. Pollack is an American musicologist best known for having analyzed every song released by the British band the Beatles. He started the task in 1989 and finished in 2000, with 187 original songs and 25 cover songs. The analyses have come t ...

states that "the counterpoint melody played in octaves during the Alternate Verse by the bass and lead guitars is one of the more novel, unusual instrumental touches you'll find anywhere in the Beatles catalogue."

Recording and release

Multiple versions of "Don't Let Me Down" were recorded by the Beatles during the ''Get Back (Let It Be)'' recording sessions. The version recorded on 28 January 1969, with vocal overdubs in early February, was released as a

to the single "

", recorded the same day. "Get Back" reached number one and "Don't Let Me Down" reached number 35 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. When the "Get Back" project was revisited,

dropped "Don't Let Me Down" from the ''

'' (1970) album. The Beatles performed "Don't Let Me Down" twice during their

rooftop concert On 30 January 1969, the Beatles performed a concert from the rooftop of their Apple Corps headquarters at 3 Savile Row, in central London's office and fashion district. Joined by guest keyboardist Billy Preston, the band played a 42-minute set ...

of 30 January 1969, and the first performance was included in the ''

'' (1970) film, directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg. In November 2003, a composite edit of the two rooftop versions was released on '' Let It Be... Naked''. Both versions were seen in the 2022 film ''The Beatles: Get Back - The Rooftop Concert'' and are featured on the

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th centur ...

. The B-side version of the song was included on the Beatles' compilations ''

'', ''

Past Masters ''Past Masters'' is a two-disc compilation album set by the English rock band the Beatles. It was originally released as two separate volumes on 7 March 1988, as part of the first issue of the band's catalogue on compact disc. The album contai ...

Volume 2'' and ''

Mono Masters ''Mono Masters'' is a compilation album by the Beatles, and is an alternate, all-mono version of the album ''Past Masters''. ''Mono Masters'' was originally a two-CD set included as part of ''The Beatles in Mono'' box set. The premise of this box ...

''. The same recording also appears on the soundtrack to the 1988 documentary, '' Imagine: John Lennon''. In 2021, numerous versions of the song were included on Let It Be: Special Edition, including the Get Back LP version and a new mix of the original B-side version with an added dialogue introduction.

Reception

Richie Unterberger Richie Unterberger (born 1962) is an American author and journalist whose focus is popular music and travel writing. Life and writing Unterberger attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he wrote for the university newspaper '' The Daily P ...

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

called it "one of the Beatles' most powerful love songs",

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and former senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of multiple artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance ...

described the song as "heart-wrenching soul" and

Roy Carr Roy Carr (1945 – 1 July 2018) was an English music journalist, covering pop, rock and jazz. He joined the ''New Musical Express (NME)'' in the late 1960s, and edited ''NME'', '' Vox'' and ''Melody Maker'' magazines. Biography Born in Black ...

and

Tony Tyler James Edward Anthony Tyler (31 October 1943 in Bristol – 28 October 2006 in Hastings, East Sussex) was a British writer who authored several books and wrote for the magazines ''NME'','' Macworld'', '' MacUser'', ''PC Pro'' and '' Computer Shopp ...

called it "a superb sobber from misery-expert J. W. O. Lennon, MBE. And still one of the most highly underrated Beatle underbellies." Author

Ian MacDonald Ian MacCormick (known by the pseudonym Ian MacDonald; 3 October 1948 – 20 August 2003) was an English music critic, journalist and author, best known for both '' Revolution in the Head'', his critical history of the Beatles which borrowed te ...

praised "Don't Let Me Down" and declared that "this track vies with '

Come Together "Come Together" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. The song is the opening track on the band's 1969 studio album ''Abbey Road''. It was also a double A-side single in the U ...

' for consideration as the best of Lennon's late-style Beatles records". "Don't Let Me Down" is the most viewed video on the Beatles' YouTube channel, with over 510 million views.

Notable cover versions

Jamaican singer

Marcia Griffiths Marcia Llyneth Griffiths (born 23 November 1949) is a Jamaican singer best known for the 1989 remix of her single " Electric Boogie", which serves as the music for the four-wall " Electric Slide" line dance. It is the best-selling single of ...

(a member of the

I Threes Bob Marley and the Wailers (previously known as the Wailers and prior to that the Wailing Rudeboys, the Wailing Wailers and the Teenagers) were a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae band. The founding members, in 1963, were Bob Marley (Robert ...

) recorded a cover of the song in a

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

style in 1989. American alternative rock band

Wilco Wilco is an American Rock music, rock band based in Chicago. The band was formed in 1994 by the remaining members of alternative country group Uncle Tupelo after singer Jay Farrar's departure. Wilco's lineup changed frequently during its fir ...

covered the song along with "

Dig a Pony "Dig a Pony" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1970 album ''Let It Be''. It was written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. The band recorded the song on 30 January 1969, during their rooftop concert at th ...

" in 2021. The covers were released exclusively on

Amazon Music Amazon Music (previously Amazon MP3) is a music streaming platform and digital music store operated by Amazon. As of January 2020, the service had 55 million subscribers. It was the first music store to sell music without digital rights manag ...

for a promotional campaign marking the release of the '' Let It Be: Special Edition'' reissue.

Personnel

– lead vocal, rhythm guitar *

– bass guitar, harmony vocal *

– lead guitar, backing vocal *

Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the group, us ...

– drums *

–

electric piano An electric piano is a musical instrument that has a piano-style musical keyboard, where sound is produced by means of mechanical hammers striking metal strings or reeds or wire tines, which leads to vibrations which are then converted into ele ...

:Personnel per

No official producer's credit was included for the single release owing to "the confused roles of

George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the "fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the Beatle ...

and

Glyn Johns Glyn Thomas Johns (born 15 February 1942) is an English recording engineer and record producer. He has worked with many of the most famous rock recording acts from both the UK and abroad, such as the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, the Who, ...

". However the ''

'' compilation liner notes credited Martin as the song's producer.

Charts

Notes

References

* * * * * * * * * * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Don't Let Me Down (The Beatles Song) 1969 songs 1969 singles The Beatles songs Songs written by Lennon–McCartney Annie Lennox songs Apple Records singles Song recordings produced by Glyn Johns Song recordings produced by George Martin Songs published by Northern Songs Songs about Yoko Ono British soul songs Blue-eyed soul songs Billy Preston songs