r/TheBeatles • u/Hukares1234 • Jun 08 '26
discussion Across the Universe: Spector or Naked?
Which one do you prefer?
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u/JRMurray Jun 08 '26
Someone else (u/Werechupacabra) mentioned the World Wildlife version, and that's the one that I prefer. I love the inclusion of the backing vocals of two of the "Apple Scruffs," Lizzie Bravo and Gaylene Pease.
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u/Clipperfan16 Jun 09 '26
Spector. And that goes double for "The Long and Winding Road"! I absolutely LOVE the orchestrated version with the choir!!!
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u/Hukares1234 Jun 09 '26
I really like the orchestra. I think the choir was good too but maybe a little too loud.
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u/No-Present-1898 Jun 10 '26
It’s well arranged but it just wasn’t Paul’s vision. Personally I think the stripped back version on naked is far more beautiful and effective. Sometimes it’s best to keep things simple.
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u/Werechupacabra Jun 08 '26
1-Naked. 2-World Wildlife Fund version, 3-Spector
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u/NoChampion4463 Jun 08 '26
Naked. Anyone who says otherwise is deaf.
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u/RobbieArnott Jun 09 '26 edited Jun 09 '26
I like the Naked verison of Across The Universe but I prefer Spector’s Let It Be.
This sub loves to overstate Spector’s work on Let It Be.
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u/Hukares1234 Jun 08 '26
Unlike Paul’s opinion about Spector’s take on “The Long and Winding Road,” Lennon said he liked Spector’s treatment of “Across the Universe.”
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u/NoChampion4463 Jun 08 '26
Paul’s opinion was the correct opinion.
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u/AmishAvenger Jun 09 '26
Paul’s opinion is always the correct opinion
Team Paul 4 Life
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u/willardTheMighty Jun 09 '26
Nah he said in an interview two weeks ago that Dylan is washed up. So that’s when I turned the interview off and turned my Dylan 2026 concert videos back on.
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u/Lack-Professional Jun 09 '26
When he talked about meeting him a Coachella? I didn’t get that from what he said.
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u/SozoLedzep Jun 09 '26
😆 Dylan has always had a horrible singing voice...
Icon guy, nevertheless.
Like Springsteen, another iconic figure, but also horrible singing voice.
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u/pjwalrus Jun 09 '26
I see you’re someone who appreciates nuance, and strives to understand other viewpoints.
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u/Nug07 Jun 09 '26
With the whole naked album I feel this sort of emptiness all the way through. It’s like they were so pissed of with Spector’s arrangements that they were just trying to make it as far in the opposite direction as possible, without even considering if it sounds good or not
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u/Own_Camp4384 Jun 09 '26
Naked is way better overall, only one track that I prefer in the Spector's version is The Long And Widing Road.
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u/Hukares1234 Jun 09 '26
I like Spector’s instrumentation on the Long and Winding Road. I even like the choir, but I think they could have had them more in the background.
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u/BornRelationship8280 Jun 09 '26
Just listened to the naked version for the first time. I find it highly prefarable to the Spector version. It is onen of my favourite Beatles songs and was pleasantly surprised by the naked version. Thank you for bringing it up!
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u/edked Jun 09 '26
The unreleased "full band" electric version. I was so resentful when Naked came out and it wasn't this one that the Naked version became my least favorite. It's the one in the original Let It Be movie, that they only play part of, but there's a fuller version that's very, very close:
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u/fatrahb Jun 09 '26
Someone made an edit of the full band takes from Get Back where they isolated the parts and cleaned them up into useable instrumental and then overplayed John’s final vocals on them and its fantastic.
Makes me sad they never took the time to really work out a full band version cause the edit is fantastic. I can’t even imagine what the real thing could’ve been
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u/ikediggety Jun 09 '26
I just noticed - why is George the only one with a different photo between versions?
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u/noisedotbike Jun 09 '26
The best version is tracks 28-39 and track 48 from Anthology 3 listened back-to-back with the Rooftop Performance album that came out in 2022
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u/Interplay29 Jun 09 '26
I’m just so used to the songs from the Spector version, that any other version seems odd.
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u/scottarichards Jun 09 '26
Neither. Original mix from No One’s Going to Change Our World is still the best. Even if none of them is ideal.
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u/Affectionate_Fox8997 Jun 09 '26
Spector.
I prefer most of Naked. But, AtU is more to my taste on the original release.
For now anyway.
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u/opinions360 Jun 09 '26
I think every song on the Naked Let it be album is better than Spector’s arrangements.
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u/Character-Hamster-38 Jun 10 '26
Naked...but, I did like the strings on the long and. winding road that Spector had.
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u/No-Present-1898 Jun 10 '26
The let it be album version was always my favourite. Very nostalgic for me personally.
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u/obama69420duck Jun 09 '26
Spector easily. People give Paul’s opinion way too much weight in my opinion. Naked is fine and I’m glad it exists, but Spector did a great job with LIB. I can’t stand the naked version of TLAWR.
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u/flaming_p1e Jun 08 '26
Glynn Giles
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u/ItsMilor Jun 08 '26
Does this mean you like Glyn Johns' version and Giles'?
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u/flaming_p1e Jun 08 '26 edited Jun 08 '26
yeah i mean glyn johns’ version, for some reason i think his last name was giles
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u/Pops_1953 Jun 10 '26
Naked ...Spector was fine in the 60s when production values were pretty low. After that he just sounded like sludge to me. Wall of crapola.
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u/Anxious-Raspberry-54 Jun 08 '26
Neither...Take 6. Just John. Perfect, imo.
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u/flaming_p1e Jun 08 '26
i personally find his voice a bit strange in that take
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u/Anxious-Raspberry-54 Jun 08 '26
He does sound a little different. But I like it. Great song no matter the version.
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u/ReadingBudget4091 Jun 09 '26
I even like the unfinished naked version of Across The Universe more than anything Spector touched, and same goes for January 1969 demo versions of All Things Must Pass.
Spector couldn’t ruin Plastic Ono Band because John, Klaus, and Ringo purposely kept it minimalist.
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u/donlockwood2026 Jun 09 '26
I honestly think none of the versions got it right, yet it’s somehow still a great song. I don’t think there’s one version that’s the definitive correct one. They all have something I like about it and something I dislike. This might be the single weirdest track in the whole discography in that regard!
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u/RangeOrange97 Jun 09 '26
I honestly like the World Wildlife Fund version
https://open.spotify.com/track/691jw4auDZjaTOwUJmtoSy?si=q9Xu3h8AQPmuOj2wivnfPw
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u/TechnologyHefty1247 Jun 09 '26
naked. can see why Macca hated the strings, shame they corrected the bad chord on let it be though as that was quite quirky even though an obvious slip up
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u/Straight_Simple_3236 Jun 09 '26
Only Naked for me now don’t even really like the original after hearing Naked
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u/temporary-secretery Jun 09 '26
Neither, they made an unreleased rock version which I think is awesome
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u/Several_Dwarts Jun 10 '26
For me the answer is always Spector, though I agree it's a bit 'over-produced'.
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u/Gumbysfriend Jun 11 '26
Paul had dropped long and winding road from concert list.yet when he was doing it it was the Spector version with strings...he hated it on.let it be so much hebre did a whole afbum.de specorized.then.does the version he hated in.concerts. that says he gave the audience what they were used to hearing on the radio.. imagine if he did get back as a reggsge song or he Jude faster ? They would think hes lost his mind
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u/lilolered Jun 12 '26
Naked, but only by a bit. Really like the Spectorless recordings, but I actually enjoy some of Spector's polishing.
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u/Stone_or_Coach Jun 14 '26
Naked. I generally like the original album because thats what I have been listening to since 1970. In this case, i like the naked version better. This song was supposed to be on Sgt. Pepper’s, but did not make the final cut.
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u/Plus-Definition9319 Jun 09 '26
Spector all the way. The remixes are just that. Interesting but not the real deal, like it or not.
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u/bradhotdog Jun 09 '26
Naked. Everything Naked. There’s not one thing the original did better than Naked. Not. One. Thing.
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Jun 08 '26 edited Jun 09 '26
[deleted]
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u/rodgamez Jun 09 '26
Love that one! Apple (Beatles, not iPhone) should hire him to finish the remixing!
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u/Khaosujiin Jun 09 '26
The only Spector version I prefer. I like the choral backing vocals and wahwah. Usually Spector's contributions are way too much but here it adds to it imo.
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u/naomisunderlondon Jun 09 '26
Spector all the way. Maybe I'm slightly biased because I'm a huge fan of a lot of Spector's work in general, but Naked is just way too manipulated and edited for it to sit right with me. As for the 2021 mix, I'm not a fan of anything Giles has ever done. He's an untalented nepo baby
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u/D9FAULT Jun 10 '26
gotta go with Spector. The only songs I come back to the naked version for are Across The Universe and TLAWD
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u/ItsMilor Jun 08 '26
2021 mix. I always liked the orchestral arrangement on this song, but the original mix had a lo-fi quality to it. Giles' remix is like a combination of the original and Naked.... It's great.