The Beatles released “Don’t Let Me Down” in 1969, as quite a sad love song. It was written by John Lennon as a plea to Yoko Ono. It’s a beautiful piece, but I can’t help but view it as slightly listless compared to this.
In the same year, Marcia Griffiths did this fantastic reggae cover. It retains much of the melancholy feeling of the original, but is still more upbeat. It’s a reggae song, after all!
The instrumental revolves around a guitar/organ combo skank, which gently rolls up and down.
The drums are replete with rimshot hits, adding a bit of pace. The bassline is quite a lively one too, as would be expected in a reggae track…
Griffiths’ singing is impeccably suited to this kind of song, with a natural soulfulness which is well tuned for love ballads like this one.
The song was released as a single in Jamaica in 1969.