Dig It

"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... [Wikipedia]

Dig It is a song by The Beatles, written by Lennon–McCartney–Harrison–Starkey and led on vocal by John Lennon. 50-second jam edited from 12-minute improvisation. This brief jam emerged from improvisational sessions at Apple Studios on 26 January 1969, created by all four Beatles collectively without traditional composition structure. Originally over 12 minutes in duration, the piece was drastically edited down to 51 seconds for album release. Lewisohn notes Lennon's childlike spoken introduction parodying old radio announcements, referencing a Georgie Wood performance and transitioning into 'Hark The Angels Come,' capturing the fly-on-the-wall aesthetic the Beatles sought for the Get Back project. A spontaneous blues-based jam emerging from Apple Studio sessions, capturing the band's informal approach to material generation. (Kozinn 1995, p.197)

The session work falls within the band's Let It Be (1969–70) period, recorded 26 Jan 1969 at Twickenham Film Stages (Jan 1969). George Martin (sessions); Phil Spector (post-production overdubs March/April 1970) produced; Glyn Johns, Phil McDonald (sessions); Peter Bown, Phil Spector engineers (post) engineered. For session-by-session detail, see Mark Lewisohn's account on p.166 of The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions (excerpt below). The second version of 'Dig It' represented intentional editorial compression rather than studio spontaneity. Glyn Johns selected the material for inclusion on the Get Back album, incorporating only 49 seconds of the full recording from 8'52" to 9'41" of the original tape. Lewisohn details how early lyrics borrowed from 'Twist and Shout' gave way to spoken references to governmental agencies, creating a collage effect that reflected the era's cultural anxieties while maintaining rhythmic momentum (Lewisohn 1988, p.167).

In the canonical discography it appears on the LP Let It Be. Documented alternate versions include 2009 Stereo Remasters, Let It Be 50th Anniversary (2021). Mono and stereo histories vary by era — see the dedicated section below. At 51 seconds, it occupies the 4th percentile of canon duration and 14th percentile of era duration, among the shortest recordings in the canon. All four vocal configurations appear minimally in rooftop era. A major key is shared by 34 canon songs (1 in era). The track's status as collective composition and editorial artifact established precedent for later Beatles experimental approaches and influenced punk aesthetics toward lo-fi production values (Lewisohn 1988, p.166-167). Eight-bar jam tacked onto the Let It Be album; existing in multiple session fragments and bootleg variants across the Get Back chronology.

Other recordings sharing era, vocalist, writer, key, studio, or producer with this one. Higher scores indicate stronger overlap on documented attributes.

• Hey Bulldog (score 9)
• The Ballad of John and Yoko (score 9)
• Across the Universe (score 8)
• Dig a Pony (score 8)
• Every Little Thing (score 8)
• Get Back (score 8)
• Help! (score 8)
• I've Got a Feeling (score 8)