Apple Studios, Savile Row, London
Producer: George Martin
Engineer: Glyn Johns
The Beatles, with Billy Preston, gave their final live performance atop the Apple building at 3 Savile Row, London, in what became the climax of their Let It Be film.
We went on the roof in order to resolve the live concert idea, because it was much simpler than going anywhere else; also nobody had ever done that, so it would be interesting to see what happened when we started playing up there. It was a nice little social study.We set up a camera in the Apple reception area, behind a window so nobody could see it, and we filmed people coming in. The police and everybody came in saying, ‘You can’t do that! You’ve got to stop.’
Anthology
30 January 1969 in London was a cold day, and a bitter wind was blowing on the rooftop by midday. To cope with the weather, John Lennon borrowed Yoko Ono’s fur coat, and Ringo Starr wore his wife Maureen Starkey’s red mac.
There was a plan to play live somewhere. We were wondering where we could go – ‘Oh, the Palladium or the Sahara.’ But we would have had to take all the stuff, so we decided, ‘Let’s get up on the roof.’ We had Mal and Neil set the equipment up on the roof, and we did those tracks. I remember it was cold and windy and damp, but all the people looking out from offices were really enjoying it.
Anthology
The 42-minute show was recorded onto two eight-track machines in the basement of Apple, by George Martin, engineer Glyn Johns and tape operator Alan Parsons. The tracks were filled with the following: Paul McCartney, vocals; John Lennon’s and George Harrison’s vocals; Billy Preston’s organ; McCartney’s bass guitar; a sync track for the film crew; Starr’s drums; Lennon’s guitar; Harrison’s guitar.
That was one of the greatest and most exciting days of my life. To see The Beatles playing together and getting an instant feedback from the people around them, five cameras on the roof, cameras across the road, in the road, it was just unbelievable.
The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, Mark Lewisohn
The songs performed on the roof:
- ‘Get Back’ (five versions)
- ‘I Want You (She’s So Heavy)’
- ‘Don’t Let Me Down’ (two versions)
- ‘I’ve Got A Feeling’
- ‘One After 909’
- Danny Boy
- ‘Dig A Pony’ (two versions)
- God Save The Queen
- A Pretty Girl Is Like A Melody
Brief, incomplete and off-the-cuff versions of ‘I Want You (She’s So Heavy)’, God Save The Queen and A Pretty Girl Is Like A Melody were fooled around with in between takes – as was Danny Boy, which was included in the film and on the album. None of these were serious group efforts, and one – the group and Preston performing God Save The Queen – was incomplete as it coincided with Alan Parsons changing tapes.
The Beatles’ rooftop show began at around midday. The timing coincided with the lunch hour of many nearby workplaces, which led to crowds quickly forming. Although few people could see them, crowds gathered in the streets below to hear The Beatles play.
There were people hanging off balconies and out of every office window all around. The police were knocking on the door – George Martin went white! We really wanted to stop the traffic, we wanted to blast out the entire West End…
The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, Mark Lewisohn
Traffic in Savile Row and neighbouring streets came to a halt, until police from the nearby West End Central police station, further up Savile Row, entered Apple and ordered the group to stop playing.
It was good fun, actually. We had to set the mikes up and get a show together. I remember seeing Vicki Wickham of Ready, Steady, Go! (there’s a name to conjure with) on the opposite roof, for some reason, with the street between us. She and a couple of friends sat there, and then the secretaries from the lawyers’ offices next door came out on their roof.We decided to go through all the stuff we’d been rehearsing and record it. If we got a good take on it then that would be the recording; if not, we’d use one of the earlier takes that we’d done downstairs in the basement. It was really good fun because it was outdoors, which was unusual for us. We hadn’t played outdoors for a long time.
It was a very strange location because there was no audience except for Vicki Wickham and a few others. So we were playing virtually to nothing – to the sky, which was quite nice. They filmed downstairs in the street – and there were a lot of city gents looking up: ‘What’s that noise?’
Anthology
Also on this day...
- 2019: The Beatles announce Let It Be film reissue and new collaboration with Peter Jackson
- 2009: Stella McCartney creates Beatles t-shirt for Red Nose Day 2009
- 1970: Ringo Starr meets Elvis Presley
- 1967: Mixing: A Day In The Life
- 1967: Filming: Strawberry Fields Forever
- 1964: Live: Olympia Theatre, Paris
- 1964: US single release: Please Please Me
- 1963: Live: Cavern Club, Liverpool (lunchtime)
- 1962: Live: Cavern Club, Liverpool (lunchtime)
- 1961: Live: Lathom Hall, Liverpool
Want more? Visit the Beatles history section.
Didn’t John play a few bars of I Want You (She’s So Heavy) while they were changing he tapes?
Not the whole band, just him.
Did you not include it, because it wasn’t the whole band, or didn’t you know?
Anyway, you’ve got a great website, really useful resource.
Thanks!
It was an omission – I also left out A Pretty Girl Is Like A Melody and God Save The Queen, but I probably should have been more complete. I’ve added a paragraph about the off-the-cuff songs below the main song list, though it should be stressed that these weren’t proper performances.
Do you have a complete list of all the people who were on the roof at that time?
No. The Beatles and their associates are known, but I’m not sure about the members of the film crew.
I noticed that the birthday song on youtube was recently removed from the rooftop concert and replaced with the Paul McCartney version. I loved the original. I do see the rooftop concert on vimeo however the birthday song is not included. Perhaps something about copyright issues? Can the birthday song video from the rooftop concert be ordered somewhere?
I have a question.
There’s a bootleg with a stereo versions of the Rooftop Concert?
In response, McCartney mumbled something about cricketer Ted Dexter, and Lennon announced: “We’ve had a request from Martin Luther.”
John shouts something while Paul says in a posh voice “Well, thank you very much. It looks Ted Dexter has scored another.” Then John says “We’ve had a request from Martin and Luther.” There’s definitely an “and” in between “Martin” and “Luther”. I downloaded the bootleg off the internet.
From listening to the bootleg, there is a loud American voice, one of the crew. Who is it?
That probably would’ve been the director Michael Lindsay-Hogg who was an American.
While Conway Twitty may have made ONE recoding of “Danny Boy” the song is much older, having been written by Frederic Weatherly in 1910, and first recorded by someone named Ernestine Schumann-Heink in 1915.
It says that George sings a few lines on I’ve Got A Feeling and they were his only vocals during the concert, which was stated in Mark Lewisohn’s Beatles Sessions book, but it’s not quite true, because George can clearly be heard singing on Don’t Let Me Down as well, so much so that at one point he almost drowns John’s vocal out. He only sings in the choruses of Don’t Let Me Down though.
I would like to hear George drown out a Lennon vocal.
Are you sure it wasn’t Paul?
John Paul and George sing a great gospel-like 3 part harmony on the choruses of Don’t Let Me Down.
https://soundcloud.com/coxalicious/dont-let-me-down-heard-from
i have reel tapes of street interviews and found this, where george was much louder on the amps and could be heard on the street.
7 December, 1968. Jefferson Airplane Rooftop Concert filmed by Godard ??
The Airplane did a rooftop concert a month earlier (December 7) at the Chelsea Hotel in New York City. The Beatles followed, followed by U2 and two other groups whose names I cannot remember. So you see, the Beatles did not start that one.
At the end, John says “I hope we passed the audition!”
What does he say right before that?
@Imagination Troubador “I’d like to say thank you on behalf of the group and ourselves, and…” It’s on page two of this article.
Just prior, we hear a female yell,”Yay”. That’s Maureen Starkey, then we hear Paul say,” Thanks MO, to her…into John’s “I’d like to say…
I visited the Casbah Coffee Club this year. and the guide, Rogue Best said Paul Thanked Mo, meaning Mona Best, who ran the club in the early days. How clear is it really that he was talking to Maureen?
Very clear. Rogue wasn’t there, and Maureen – who was frequently referred to as the shortened “Mo”- was. She is sited in reports and articles of the event as having been quite enthusiastic in her cheering , as can be heard in this case. There would be no reason for Paul to be making such an obscure “thanks” at this late date in their careers.
Considering that she was there on the roof and had just cheered the finale of the song, probably 100%.
I’ve Got A Feeling on Let It Be… Naked is an edit of the two rooftop performances isn’t it?
Am I wrong or this was technically their longest lasting gig?
No, they used to play for well over an hour in Liverpool and Hamburg in their early days. It was only when Epstein started managing them that their shows typically lasted around half an hour.
in reply to Gainsbarre, indeed George voice can clearly be heard singing on Don’t Let me Down as back up vocal but not drowning out John’s voice.
i’d like to know what john said before they sang “Two of Us”…
“‘I Dig a Pygmy’, by Charles Hawtrey and the Deaf Aids… Phase One, in which Doris gets her oats!”
George Also sings The “All I Want Is” intro and outro on Dig A Pony…
Hi, I’m glad you mentioned George’s small stunt of kneeling before Lennon.
Out of curiosity, do you know why they did this? Was it just a bit of fun (they both smiled at each other afterwards), or was it something else? Thanks!
Is the Alan Parsons mentioned above the same as the “Alan Parsons Project”?
Yep. Also it’s the same guy who engineered “Dark Side of The Moon” by Pink Floyd.
Does anyone know about the beautiful wood planks on the roof? Were they placed there? I can’t think they were always there. They seem to have been cut to fit. Does anyone know if they still exist? Someone have a souvenir?
If ever you found one you could make a guitar out of it like ZZ Top did
Someone knows if with the beatles touristic tour you can see also the Apple building?
Isn’t that tour in Liverpool? Apple was located in London.
Just saw the photo looking down for the first time – what a great shot! Any idea where it was taken from – did someone climb up somewhere to take it? wow.
RE: “I’d like to say ‘thank you’ on behalf of the group and ourselves, and I hope we passed the audition.”
This was John, correct? I’ve heard several Beatles fans say it’s Ringo.
It was absolutely John. You can see him speak the words at the end of the Let It Be film.
Before beginning the song “Two of Us” during their impromptu rooftop concert at Apple Headquarters, Jon Lennon quipped “I dig a pygmy by Charles Hawtrey and the Deaf Aids, phase one in which Doris gets her oats”.
Hey, just saw Ron Howard’s “Eight Day’s A Week.” Save your money. The “Anthology” is better, though Opie has a few good moments. He shows good Rooftop Concert video. I’ve seen “Let It Be” many times, and somehow Howard has footage (I think) that isn’t fan-sourced but another camera’s shots. I always wondered about why they were never shown by now – I thought they were destroyed. If any of y’ll know: were multiple cameras used by the director of “Let It Be” on the rooftop? If so, was Howard using unseen footage (or am I imagining this)? I think I read/heard McCartney wanting a fresh edition/digitalized version of the Rooftop Concert. Were there two or more cameras on the roof? Granted, Lindsay-Hogg most likely chose the best shots. But still….
Yeah, I watched it and definitely saw Rooftop footage I’d not seen before. That – for me – justified purchase of Eight Days A Week, LOL.
Is there a complete 42 minute version available on video anywhere? I’d sure like to see the whole thing.
Was on my birthday. I always remember this great concert. Thanks Beatles!
I Wonder: Who else have been singing and playing on the roof of Savile Row since the Beatles in 1969?
Did the Rutles enter the roof? And who else?
I have! Back in 1981 when I was in a band myself, me and a bandmate had a free day one day so we did the Beatle sites. When we got to Savile Row, No 3 door was ajar, as the place was a building site at the time. So we opened it and walked right up to the rooftop, sang a chorus of Don’t Let Me Down and went back down stairs again.
My impression when we got there was how small the space was up there.
But what a great experience for a huge Beatles fan like me
In Steinkjer, a city in Norway, we have a Beatles tribute band called: B?rre Beatles.
We attended the roof in September 1996 and sang (with one guitar) One after 909.
What a feeling!
Bj?rn Edward Diesen
Does anyone know if they planned to do other songs had the performance not been stopped?
Worked at Andre Bernard as hair stylist, took my lunch walk through Burlington Arcade then stood outside Mr Fish the kipper tie boutique and listened to Get Back. Wearing my Lord John Bo Brummel jacket. Went home and hoped to see it on TOTP but not on. Great to see it in Ron Howards production.
Such great days working in Mayfair in mid to late 60’s.
Don’t quite know why, but One After 909 always struck me as the highlight of the rooftop concert.
What videos have clips of the concert besides “Let It Be”?
I once saw most of the rooftop concert on YouTube and haven’t been able to find it since except for Don’t Let Me Down and Get Back. I wonder where I can find it again
Does anybody can say what John Lennon′s sing when he sing Don′t Let Me Down by the first time? There are some weird lyrics I am nor able to understand…thanks a lot in advance