Get Back

Trivia:

• During the song's evolution, Paul tried several different lyrical approaches to the song, some having to with the debate going on in England at the time over Pakistani immigration. The "Commonwealth version" features lyrics that reference Cabinet minister Enoch Powell's infamous anti-immigrant "River Of Blood" speech; the later "No Pakistani" version features the mocking line "don't dig no Pakistanis taking all the people's jobs," and the "Too Many Pakistanis" version features a third verse which mentions immigrants "living in a council flat," or government housing. Some have heard these versions as racist diatribes, but historians now agree they were tongue-in-cheek pokes at the right-wing Labour party and its stance on this issue.
• John Lennon, for his part, was quite fond of this song, calling it a "better version of 'Lady Madonna.'" He does, however, mock the first line during the rooftop versions, a joke Phil Spector added to the beginning of the album version: "Sweet Loretta Fart (or Fat), she thought she was a (vacuum) cleaner / But she was a frying pan."
• John later claimed that Paul, during rehearsals, would look at Lennon's new wife, Yoko Ono, every time he sang the words "Get back to where you once belonged," in order to intimidate her.
• The last version of "Get Back" heard in the (widely bootlegged) "rooftop sessions" features Paul mocking the police shutdown of his band's jam, replacing the ad-libbed "Your mama's waiting for you" verse with the lines "You been out too long, Loretta! You've been playing on the roofs again! That's no good! You know your mommy doesn't like that! Oh, she's getting angry... she'll have you arrested! Get back!"
• This song is the first Beatles release to feature keyboardist Billy Preston, a friend of George Harrison's brought in by him to keep the others at their most civil and professional. Although the group was already disintegrating, they seriously considered having him join the band, the only real "Fifth Beatle" ever so considered. In fact, the "Get Back" single is credited to "The Beatles and Billy Preston." No other Beatles release shares billing in this way.

Covered by: Amen Corner, Anonymously Yours, The Bee Gees, Chris Clark, The Crusaders, Pete Drake, Dizzy Gillespie, Al Green, Elton John, Paul Lamb, Enoch Light, The London Symphony Orchestra, The Main Ingredient, Paul Mauriat, Nashville Superpickers, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Billy Preston, Kenny Rogers, The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, The Shadows, Status Quo, Rod Stewart, Linda Thompson, Doris Troy, Ike and Tina Turner, Sarah Vaughan, Steve Wariner, Michael White