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Released in 1970

Dig It

Written by Paul McCartney • Ringo Starr • John Lennon • George Harrison

Last updated on October 12, 2021

Album This song officially appears on the Let It Be (Limited Edition) LP.

Timeline This song was officially released in 1970

Timeline This song was written, or began to be written, in 1969, when Paul McCartney was 27 years old)

Master album

Related sessions

This song was recorded during the following studio sessions:

Related song

From Wikipedia:

“Dig It” is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1970 album Let It Be. The song is credited to Lennon/McCartney/Harrison/Starkey, and is one of the few songs to be credited to all of the Beatles. This song and the 39-second “Maggie Mae” appear on the Let It Be album, but are excluded from the Let It Be… Naked album, instead being replaced with “Don’t Let Me Down“. Glyn Johns’ May 1969 version of the album, then titled Get Back, had a 3:59 excerpt of “Dig It”, which was later reduced to the much shorter version in the final album.

Recording

Several versions were recorded during the Get Back/Let It Be sessions, on 24, 26, 27, 28, and 29 January 1969, at Apple Studio. The 51-second version on the album is an extract taken from the 26 January version, which was a 15-minute jam that evolved from a loose “Like a Rolling Stone” jam. A segment of the jam session, 4 minutes and 30 seconds in length, appears in the documentary film Let It Be. The participants in that session are John Lennon on vocals and 6-string bass, George Harrison on guitar, Paul McCartney on piano, Ringo Starr on drums, George Martin on maracas and Billy Preston at the organ; also participating in the jam, but not heard on the released version, was Linda Eastman’s six-year-old daughter Heather. Eastman later became McCartney’s wife.

In the early part of the jam, Lennon sings the main lyric with interjections from Harrison, while Heather adds wordless vocals. As the performance winds down, Lennon exhorts the others to continue. McCartney adds a baritone backup vocal of “dig it up, dig it up, dig it up” and variations, and Lennon begins to repeat “Like a rolling stone”, then goes into the “famous persons” part (mentioning “the FBI”, “the CIA”, “the BBC”, “B.B. King”, and “Doris Day” then “Matt Busby”).

The excerpt on the Let It Be album fades in on Lennon’s second “Like a rolling stone” and concludes with Lennon speaking in a falsetto: “That was ‘Can You Dig It?’ by Georgie Wood, and now we’d like to do ‘Hark, the Angels Come’.” The second sentence of that line is cut off in Let It Be‘s film recording of the jam session. (“Wee Georgie Wood” was a 4’9″ music-hall performer and child star.) The interjection actually comes from the first version, recorded on the 24th. This version was much different, described by Beatles bootleg scholars Doug Sulpy and Ray Schweighardt as “sounding like a cross between the traditional ‘Sailor’s Hornpipe’ and a slowed down rendition of Neal Hefti’s ‘Batman,’ as played on slide guitar.” An excerpt from this version (entitled “Can You Dig It?”) can be heard on the “Fly on the Wall” bonus disc to Let It Be… Naked. […]

From The Usenet Guide to Beatles Recording Variations:

[a] stereo 27 Mar 1970. crossfaded.
UK: Apple PXS 1 and PCS 7096 Let It Be 1970.
US: Apple AR 34001 Let It Be 1970.
CD: EMI CDP 7 46447 2 Let It Be 1987.

This segment of an 8 minute song was crossfaded into “That was can you dig it . . .hark the angels come”, recorded 24 Jan 1969 at Apple after a very different improvisation also featuring the words “dig it!”.

Lyrics

Like a rolling stone

Like a rolling stone

Like a rolling stone

Like the FBI and the CIA

And the BBC, BB King

And Doris Day, Matt Busby

Dig it, dig it, dig it

Dig it, dig it, dig it

(That was 'Can You Dig It' by Georgie Wood)

Dig it, dig it, dig it

(And now we'd like to do 'Hark The Angels Come')

Officially appears on

Bootlegs

See all bootlegs containing “Dig It”

Live performances

Paul McCartney has never played this song in concert.

Going further

Paul McCartney: Music Is Ideas. The Stories Behind the Songs (Vol. 1) 1970-1989

With 25 albums of pop music, 5 of classical – a total of around 500 songs – released over the course of more than half a century, Paul McCartney's career, on his own and with Wings, boasts an incredible catalogue that's always striving to free itself from the shadow of The Beatles. The stories behind the songs, demos and studio recordings, unreleased tracks, recording dates, musicians, live performances and tours, covers, events: Music Is Ideas Volume 1 traces McCartney's post-Beatles output from 1970 to 1989 in the form of 346 song sheets, filled with details of the recordings and stories behind the sessions. Accompanied by photos, and drawing on interviews and contemporary reviews, this reference book draws the portrait of a musical craftsman who has elevated popular song to an art-form.

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