Let It Be (Album): Introduction

Here we highlight The Beatles’ 1970 album, “Let It Be,” in brief. This was The Beatles twelfth studio LP, of course, and includes a mixture of rock, blues, and R&B. Although this was the last studio album release by the band, they did record most songs before “Abbey Road.”

In effect, The Beatles broke up before this album’s release. Indeed, we see some clues to this in the documentary film of the same name.

Be that as it may, we did get the final studio album from the best band the world has ever seen. So, click the button on the right to hear clips from all the tracks on this album.

In Detail

• Release Date: May 8, 1970
• Recorded: February 1968; January 1969; January; March-April 1970
• Album Duration: 35:10
• Record Label: Apple
• Studio: Abbey Road Studios, London; Apple Studio, London; Twickenham Film Studios, London
• Genre: Rock, blues, R&B
• Producers: George Martin and Phil Spector
• Engineering Team: Glyn Johns, Martin Benge, Peter Bown, Ken Scott, Phil McDonald and Jeff Jarratt

Performers And Instruments

• John Lennon: vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass guitar, lap steel guitar, organ and some whistling
• Paul McCartney: vocals, acoustic guitar, bass guitar, Hammond organ, piano, electric piano, maracas and some whistling
• George Harrison: vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, maracas and tambura
• Ringo Starr: drums, swarmandal and percussion
• George Martin: Hammond organ and shaker

Other Performers

• Billy Preston: Hammond organ and electric piano
• Linda McCartney: backing vocals

Obviously, there were many session musicians too. In fact, over the recording sessions, there was involvement from over 40 others, including 14 choristers.

Let It Be Album Tracks

Side One

Side Two

Let It Be Album Cover

Without doubt, The Beatles were a spent force before this album came out—not musically, though. Therefore, the cover of the album speaks volumes. Indeed, the separate images of the individual band members show no unity whatsoever. It also shows the band members in the late 1960s, which looks nothing like their Beatlemania days.

Instantly Recognizable Sleeve

On the back cover, we see four more images of The Beatles and a red apple logo. This, of course, represented the maturation and end of the Beatles.

The “Let It Be” album is instantly recognisable, and despite its basic nature, it has become iconic in its own right. Indeed, British virtual band Gorillaz emulated the cover twice on their albums Demon Days (2005) and Humanz (2017).

Since Paul McCartney’s idea was to “get back to their roots,” the original plan was to recreate the cover of their 1963 album release, Please Please Me. So, in May 1969, Angus McBean, the original photographer of that album, took a few shots of them back at EMI’s headquarters in Manchester Square, London. That plan didn’t come to fruition.

Recording The Let It Be Album

After the “White Album,” Paul McCartney realised that the individual band members working on their own could cause a break up of the band. Indeed, since the death of Brian Epstein on August 27, 1967, Paul McCartney worked tirelessly to maintain some cohesion within the band. So he put together another project under the name of “Get Back.”

This was a project for a fly-on-the-wall film of the band rehearsals culminating in a final concert to see the end result. The project was to bring The Beatles together and find their roots again.

Indeed, the idea would allow The Beatles to create music that would work well in concert with no studio trickery. After all, the band stopped touring in 1966, and Paul McCartney wanted another public performance.

Filming began at the Twickenham Film Studios in London on January 2, 1969, and the film crew shot everything that day from start to finish. However, they recorded many sessions right up to January 14th. Tensions were high yet again, and just like Ringo Starr walked out while recording the “White Album,” George Harrison walked out of the “Get Back” project on the 10th of January.

Harrison Returns After Walking Out

Harrison did return on the 15th of January but only after an agreement to scrap the live concert and return to the recording studios at Apple’s headquarters in Savile Row, London. In effect, the “Get Back” project was now over, and so was the intended world-wide broadcast as well. However, Harrison didn’t rule out any filming or even a live performance.

So, recording began again at Apple’s studios on January 21st. This was both in the basement and during the famous rooftop sessions on January 30th, which was to be The Beatles’ last ever public performance. That idea was a spur-of-the-moment idea for the final shots of the film, as time was running out.

Get Back Albums

The “Get Back” project was dragging on, and The Beatles were starting to record “Abbey Road” on February 22, 1969. So, with all the recording sessions in hand, they gave the job of sifting through all the material to Glyn Johns. There was a massive amount of film and recording that The Beatles themselves had no time to sort, and in John Lennon’s words, “didn’t want to know.”

So, at the Olympic Sound Studios in London, Glyn Johns began sifting through everything on March 10, 1969. However, after coming up with initial versions of the “Get Back” album, The Beatles rejected it. Therefore, the project dragged on even further while The Beatles concentrated on their new “Abbey Road” album.

New Songs

The release of “Abbey Road” on September 26, 1969, allowed them to look again at the “Get Back” project. Not happy with the previous presentation by Glyn Johns, the band recorded two songs specifically for the “Get Back” album (Let It Be) on the 3rd and 4th of January, 1970.

On January 5, 1970, Johns had another go at producing something that would tie things up once and for all. However, The Beatles rejected this attempt as well.

So, on March 23, 1970, Phil Spector began working on the “Get Back” album. But this all happened without the knowledge of either Paul McCartney or George Martin. This is when the name of the album changed from “Get Back” to “Let It Be.”

Paul McCartney knew nothing of the renaming process and was still referring to their last album as “Get Back” in his interviews as he officially announced he was leaving The Beatles on April 10, 1970.

With the breakup of The Beatles becoming official, the release of the Let It Be album was on May 8, 1970. Of course, the original intentions of a “live” album under the title “Get Back” never came about.

Instead, what we get with the “Let It Be” album is something way different from what Paul McCartney originally intended. Be that as it may, many people appreciate the works of The Beatles, and it still became an instant success.

The Sounds

With Glyn Johns’ two attempts at piecing together the “Get Back” project both being failures, Phil Spector’s appearance changed everything completely. For example, Paul McCartney’s “The Long And Winding Road,” which was originally a piano ballad, became an orchestral epic.

In fact, Phil Spector made use of orchestral pieces on a few more tracks, including “Across The Universe” and George Harrison’s “I Me Mine.”

All in all, whatever Spector was thinking went against the grain of the “Let It Be” album. Indeed, he even left out “Don’t Let Me Down” which of course was in the “Let It Be” film and a classic performance from the “rooftop” session!

The album had no feeling of continuity, which just about summed up everything that was happening at the time. Be that as it may, the album still reached number one across the world.

Let It Be (Album): Chart Success

Originally, in the UK and Canada, the “Let It Be” album came as a lavish box set in May 1970. This included a 168-page book entitled “Get Back,” which contained images from the film together with a dialogue. Of course, this was a collector’s dream, and they sold like hot cakes. However, on November 6, 1970, they withdrew that edition for a more traditional LP jacket.

In the United States, there were more than 3,700,000 advance orders for the album, and at the time, this was more than any other in the history of recording in America.

This “final” release by The Beatles topped the UK charts for 3 weeks while being in the charts for 59 weeks. In the United States, the situation was similar, with a 4-week stay at the top while spending 55 weeks on the charts.

Also topping the singles charts are two tracks from the album, “Let It Be” and “The Long And Winding Road.” Of course, these songs also feature in the film of the same name, “Let It Be” (1970).

Let It Be… Naked Release

Although this page concentrates on the original album from 1970, there was another similar release in 2003. This was the “Let It Be… Naked” album.

After The Beatles went their separate ways in 1970, Phil Spector took on the main producer’s role. This didn’t please Paul McCartney or George Martin one bit. However, by now, they have little say in the matter.

In 2003, McCartney managed to recreate something similar to what the original LP should really sound like. He stripped back Spector’s influence as much as he could and took out two songs while adding another. Although we may never know just how this original album would have been, we do get an idea through McCartney’s effort.

Let It Be (Album): Conclusion

From their humble beginnings in the Cavern Club and Hamburg, The Beatles ended up being the greatest band ever. From Beatlemania to their last album, their work continues to influence new bands. Indeed, new generations of pop and rock fans continue to adore their work.

The Beatles Fan Club has reviewed their full 12 studio albums. However, it doesn’t end here because we have information about all the other Beatles’ releases.

Obviously, the debate will continue about this final studio album by The Beatles. You may comment below, of course. However, we also have the best Beatles Fan Club forum online. In fact, this album has it’s very own dedicated forum post, too. So, pop over today and have your say there also!

Take A Listen

Listen to the song snippets, then leave a comment below.