Free Beatles' Let It Be (33 1/3) by Steve Matteo Page A

the fact that Madras had forgotten to put holes in the walls between the studio and the control room, cables had to be run through the connecting door. Moreover, the central heating system had never been soundproofed and was making quite a racket. The fireplace was put into use during those cold days. However, when the first playbacks of the recordings contained a crackling sound, it was decided that the fireplace could no longer be used when actual recording was going on.
    In addition to the new equipment, the Beatles acquired other gear for the “Get Back” project. All the infighting, legal hassles, and cold weather did nothing to cool their interest in exploring and playing new instruments. To go with his Gibson “Lucy” Les Paul electric guitar and Gibson J-200 acoustic guitar, George played a prototype of a new Fender Rosewood Telecaster for the first time during the “Get Back” sessions. He also occasionally played a Fender VI bass. Paul had on hand his trusty Hofner 1963 bass; a new Fender Jazz bass, which may have also been played by George or John; a Martin D-28 acoustic guitar and, although it was probably not used, an Epiphone Casino electric guitar. John continued to play a familiar instrument, his own Epiphone Casino electric guitar. He also hadat his disposal a Hofner lap-steel slide guitar and, though he likely did not use it, a tabletop Fender slide guitar. At times John would play George’s Gibson J-200 acoustic and a Fender VI bass. Ringo had a new Ludwig Hollywood five-piece drum set, which he augmented with an extra third cymbal. There were many keyboards available during the Apple sessions. Two Fender Rhodes electric pianos were flown in early in the sessions from the US. A Hammond acoustic piano, a Bluthner acoustic piano, a Hohner electric piano, a Lowrey DSO Heritage Deluxe organ, a Hammond organ and, apparently, an upright piano were also present. There was a Leslie speaker, given to George by Eric Clapton, which was outfitted with a 147 RV reverb control. It was used not only with the two organs, but George played his electric guitars through it, too. Also on hand was a Vox PA, which had been enhanced slightly by the technical folks at EMI. A new Fender PA was used in the studio for live vocal monitoring. The microphones that were used for vocals were of the Neumann KM84i model.
    The Beatles were to begin recording in the basement of Apple Studios on Monday, January 20. In fact, recording finally began on Wednesday, January 22. As at Twickenham, the sessions would be filmed.
    George Harrison had recently attended a Ray Charles concert with Eric Clapton at the Royal Festival Hall on London’s South Bank. One of the members ofCharles’s group was the also the opening act. He was a tall black man who was singing and dancing—and he quickly seized the attention of Harrison. It took a little bit of time, but to Harrison’s delight, he finally figured out that it was Billy Preston.
    The Beatles had become friendly with Preston when they made their second successive trip in 1962 to Hamburg, West Germany, for a two-week engagement at the Star-Club from November 1 through 14. At that time, the Beatles were sharing the bill with one of their American musical heroes, Little Richard, as they had done twice in Liverpool. Over those two weeks they met and befriended Little Richard’s keyboardist Billy Preston. They even asked him to play with them, but he rebuffed them, thinking that it would annoy Little Richard. Preston, then only 16 years old, hailed from Houston, Texas. He would go on to play with Sam Cooke before working with Ray Charles in the studio in 1965 and touring with him starting in 1967.
    George was able to get a message to Preston to call him. When he called, George told him to drop by Apple and say hello. Preston, having no idea what was about to happen, simply came to Apple on the 22nd at George’s urging. Just after lunch, George found out that Preston was in the reception area of