This felt like listening to a brand-new Beatles album.

That’s a strange thing to say about a record made up largely of songs I already know, but listening to Glyn Johns’ version of Get Back was a different experience from hearing the official Let It Be. It wasn’t just an alternate mix or a collection of outtakes. Johns had put together an actual album, with its own personality, its own flow, and its own idea of what these sessions could become.

And it felt like being handed a Beatles record that somehow slipped through history.

The biggest difference hits right at the beginning. The official Let It Be opens with “Two of Us,” a warm, gentle song that gives the album an intimate, almost acoustic feel. Johns opens with “One After 909,” and suddenly we’re off and running. It’s raw, rollicking rock and roll, the kind of performance that makes you imagine the Beatles back at the Cavern, playing for a room full of people. It establishes a completely different identity for the album, and I think it’s a terrific choice.

That back-to-basics feeling runs through the record. There are false starts, bits of conversation, loose endings, and stretches where the Beatles seem happy to mess around rather than push toward a finished performance. After spending so much time watching the Get Back documentary, those moments take on a different meaning. You’re not just hearing songs; you’re hearing the band at work, trying things, joking around, and occasionally stumbling into something great.

Of course, that roughness can cut both ways. Some performances feel less urgent than the versions I’m used to. “I Dig a Pony” has a looser, more tired quality, with John sounding a little worn down and the guitar stretching out around him.

“Don’t Let Me Down” has a similar quality. This is an earlier studio performance, rather than the familiar rooftop version released as the single’s B-side. It’s more relaxed, almost lounge-like in places, and little touches like John’s mouth-made drum fill make it feel as though we’re right there in the room. I like hearing the song in this setting, even if I still have a soft spot for the more familiar recording.

One of the most fascinating choices is “Dig It.” On the official album, we get only a brief fragment. Here, it stretches out into a proper jam, giving the Beatles time to wander, improvise, and enjoy themselves. It’s loose and chaotic, and it probably wouldn’t work as well if you were judging it as a conventional album track. But as part of this record, it feels essential. It might be the closest thing here to capturing the whole Get Back experience: four musicians messing around, following an idea wherever it takes them, and making the process part of the performance. That same spirit carries into the medley of “I’m Ready(Rocker)/Save the Last Dance for Me/Don’t Let Me Down”. These snippets of old rock and roll and a familiar song woven into the sessions make the album feel less like a collection of finished recordings and more like being in the room with the Beatles while they figure things out.

The sequencing helps make the album feel like its own creation, too. “Two of Us” appears later in the running order, where it becomes a welcome change of temperature after all that rock and roll. I actually prefer it there. Instead of announcing that we’re listening to a gentler Beatles album, it gives the record a moment to breathe.

“Teddy Boy” is another interesting inclusion. It has a different feel from much of the material around it, with layered guitars and a slightly psychedelic texture that reminded me of the White Album era. Its presence makes this feel less like an early draft of the official Let It Be and more like Johns’ own interpretation of what a Beatles album from these sessions could be. He’s not simply reproducing the record that eventually came out; he’s making different choices about what belongs.

The differences go beyond the songs Johns chose to include. “I Me Mine” and “Across the Universe,” both featured on the official Let It Be, are missing from his original Get Back sequence. Their absence is a reminder that Johns wasn’t simply assembling the album we eventually got, minus Phil Spector’s production. He was making his own choices about what these sessions should become, and the result is a record with a different identity.

There are moments where the roughness really pays off. “For You Blue” is one of my favorite performances here. The false start, George’s relaxed vocal, and the guitar sound all add to the feeling that we’re listening to the band play in real time. It’s loose without feeling careless, and I love the way it settles into its own groove.

Another thing I really like about this version is how clearly Billy Preston comes through. His electric piano adds so much to songs like “One After 909,” “I’ve Got a Feeling,” “Dig a Pony,” and “Get Back,” and his organ is part of what makes “Dig It” and “Let It Be” so interesting. With the band playing so loosely, Preston isn’t just filling out the sound; he gives the performances another layer of rhythm and personality. I find myself noticing his contributions more here, and it makes me appreciate just how much he brought to these sessions.

“Let It Be” also benefits from the way Johns places it near the end. It feels more like a rock band playing together, and after spending the album with these looser performances, the song arrives with a real sense of payoff. It doesn’t have to carry the same weight of orchestral production as the familiar version. The performance itself gets to do more of the work.

And then there’s “The Long and Winding Road.” This is the moment that really got me. Without Phil Spector’s orchestration, the song doesn’t feel smaller to me. It feels bigger in a different way. There’s so much space around Paul’s voice that it almost feels like he’s singing in a church. I get goosebumps listening to it. There’s a near-spoken moment in his vocal that I’m not entirely sure I love, but the overall performance has a feeling of intimacy that makes it stand out.

The album closes with “Get Back (Reprise),” bringing us back to the song that helped define the whole project. It’s a loose, session-like ending rather than a grand finale, and that feels right for this version of the record. Johns’ Get Back isn’t trying to turn these sessions into a perfectly polished farewell. It lets the Beatles sound like a band still in the process of figuring things out.

I don’t know that I’d call this a more satisfying album than the official Let It Be. Some familiar versions have a drive and a polish that these recordings don’t always match, and the rough edges occasionally get in the way. But that’s also what makes this version so interesting. It isn’t just an alternative way to hear the songs. It’s an alternative way to hear the Beatles.

Verdict: Worth a Spin

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