I've Got a Feeling

Linking a series of songs together for the medley on side two of Abbey Road was the final true Lennon and McCartney collaboration.  Combining two of their songs as one happened for the last time earlier in 1969 during the Get Back sessions.  In truth, McCartney's song could be considered complete without Lennon's contribution, but Lennon's "everybody had a..." section fits because it works well using the same arrangement by the band.  This is delightfully demonstrated when Paul repeats his first verse and John repeats his entire section simultaneously at the end of the number.

Though the song was no doubt rehearsed in early January at Twickenham Film Studios, all of the "official" recordings of it are from Apple Studios at 3 Savile Row later in that month.  Billy Preston had joined the proceedings by this time and, though he does not have a solo on this number, his electric piano helps to flesh out the overall sound, and he adds a few nice little touches here and there.

Glyn Johns used a runthrough of the song from January 24th for both of his attempts at compiling a Get Back LP.  If either of those had ever become the officially-released version, we never would have heard the complete number, as it breaks down just before the final simultaneous verse.  John confesses, "I cocked it up trying to get loud...not bad, though."  Year later, Anthology 3 gave us this same recording.

The version of I've Got a Feeling on the Let It Be LP is from the famous rooftop concert on January 30th.  The group played the song twice during this event, and producer Phil Spector chose the first attempt for his album.  All vocals are centered in the mix until the final simultaneous verse, at which point Paul's voice comes out of one speaker and John's the other - a touch that stereo junkies surely appreciated when the album was finally released in May of 1970.

In 2003, the album Let It Be...Naked arrived.  A triumvirate of producers - Paul Hicks, Guy Massey and Allan Rouse - created a composite take of the two rooftop performances, jumping back and forth seamlessly a few times, so that some of it sounds familiar to longtime fans and some of it is brand new.