Home · Songs · The Beatles · Dig It
From album
Let It Be
The Beatles · 1970 · Track 5
Details
TonalidadF
Compás3/4
Tempo103 BPM
Duración0:50
ÁlbumLet It Be
Año1970
ISRCGBAYE0601712
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The story behind
There's something fascinating about how a simple idea, almost a sonic sketch, can end up being part of an album as iconic as Let It Be. "Dig It" is a perfect example of that. What we hear in the final version is a fragment of an improvisation that was recorded on January 26, 1969, at Apple Studio. Imagine: a session that began as a free exploration based on the foundation of Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone," and which extended for about fifteen minutes. From that long take, a part was taken for the record, and then that part was edited even further until it was just 51 seconds long. It's curious to think that this piece, so short, is one of the few Beatles songs credited to all four: Lennon/McCartney/Harrison/Starkey.
During that improvisation, John Lennon handled the lead vocals, with George Harrison adding guitar interventions. Paul McCartney contributed on piano, and Ringo Starr on drums. Billy Preston was also on organ, and even Heather, the six-year-old daughter of Linda Eastman, who would later marry McCartney, can be heard. In the version that made it to the album, Lennon sings scattered phrases, mentioning things as disparate as the FBI, the CIA, B.B. King, or Doris Day, in a style reminiscent of Mick Jagger's singing. The song's ending is particularly peculiar, with Lennon saying in falsetto: "That was 'Can You Dig It?' by Georgie Wood, and now we'd like to do 'Hark, the Angels Come'." Curiously, that final phrase is not complete in the version from the documentary Let It Be.
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