Designing the packaging of “Let It Be”

The original cover concept

The “Let It Be” album was originally conceived as “Get Back,” a return to The Beatles’ rock roots. As part of this concept, the band considered recreating the cover of their 1963 debut album “Please Please Me.” In May 1969, photographer Angus McBean — who had shot the original cover — was asked to replicate his iconic image, capturing John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr looking down a stairwell at EMI’s Manchester Square headquarters. The resulting photo, a near mirror image of the original, symbolized a full-circle journey.

The planned layout and typography for the “Get Back” album would have echoed the 1963 design, reinforcing the “back to basics” ethos that inspired the project. However, as the album’s direction shifted over time, the McBean photo concept was ultimately shelved. (The unused McBean photo later found a home on the Beatles’ 1973 compilation “1967–1970“.)

The “Let It Be” album cover

Design duties for what became “Let It Be” fell to Apple’s creative director, John Kosh. As early as the summer of 1969, Kosh had envisioned a stark, mostly black sleeve — intended as a visual counterpoint to the previous year’s all-white White Album. But his attention was soon diverted when he was asked to focus on the sleeve design for a different project, “Abbey Road.”

At the time they were working on an album called “Get Back.” So therefore, we should have a Black Album. But in the middle of all of this, they put that on hold and “Abbey Road” came in.

John Kosh – From Forbes, September 24, 2019

When Kosh returned to the “Let It Be” project, he created a minimalist design featuring four individual portraits of John, Paul, George and Ringo, each set in a square against a black background. The album title appears in simple white, sans-serif type at the top, with no mention of the band’s name — continuing the trend Kosh had introduced with “Abbey Road.”

The portraits had been taken by American photographer Ethan Russell during the January 1969 sessions. Each Beatle appears in isolation, emphasizing their individual identities — a visual choice that, in hindsight, reinforced the sense of the band’s impending split. The austere presentation underlined the stripped-down aesthetic of the album. Contemporary critics noted the somber tone; writing in The Sunday Times, Derek Jewell described the black sleeve as “a last will and testament, from the blackly funereal packaging to the music itself.”

The back cover

The back cover, also designed by John Kosh, maintained the stark black theme and featured four additional individual black-and-white photographs of John, Paul, George and Ringo. A red Apple logo appeared beneath them, along with the following text:

This is a new phase BEATLES album … essential to the content of the film, LET IT BE was that they performed live for many of the tracks; in comes the warmth and the freshness of a live performance; as reproduced for disc by PHIL SPECTOR.

Liner notes on the back cover

The “Get Back” book

On January 24, 1969, during the “Get Back” sessions, John Lennon discussed the idea of accompanying the future album with a book of photographs. 

John Lennon: Did you hear about the book idea?

Paul McCartney: Yeah.

John Lennon: They’re great, man. Really great. It’ll be a book of the film. They can have it out almost simultaneously. The book of the film, the book of the… All that. The package is great.

Paul McCartney: It’s good.

John Lennon: They’ll have slides, you know. And I’ll talk to John Kosh on Monday. ‘Cause I think he’d be a nice guy to design it.

From Peter Jackson’s film “The Beatles: Get Back“, 2021

Alongside the “Let It Be” LP, Apple implemented the book idea with early copies of “Let It Be.”

Titled “The Beatles Get Back” (retaining the project’s original name), this 160-page book was a deluxe visual and textual record of the January 1969 sessions. The book’s content was rich with photography and dialogue: it featured hundreds of color photographs taken during the filming/recording sessions – largely by Ethan Russell – as well as transcribed conversations and candid dialogue between the band members. These transcripts, drawn from the “Let It Be” film footage, gave fans an inside look at the Beatles’ interactions (with all strong language edited out at EMI’s insistence). To provide narrative context, Apple commissioned Jonathan Cott and David Dalton – writers from Rolling Stone magazine – to contribute essays and text accompanying the photos. This combination of raw dialogue and journalistic commentary made the book a unique hybrid of photo album and documentary script.

In terms of visual design, the “Get Back” book was produced to high standards. It was printed on glossy, high-quality paper, giving vibrant life to the images.

As Apple’s creative director, John Kosh oversaw the art direction of the book as well.

The book’s title “Get Back” remained unchanged even though the album had been renamed “Let It Be,” a quirk that underscores how the book was conceived during the earlier phase of the project. Including such a lavish book was part of the Beatles’ ongoing push for innovative packaging – an effort dating back to the “Sgt. Pepper” cut-outs and the White Album’s portraits and poster.

The boxset

The “Let It Be” LP and the “Get Back” book were originally packaged together in an elaborate box set. The book was housed in a custom die-cut, recessed cardboard tray, with the LP resting on top. This entire set was encased in an outer slipcase that featured the same front cover image as the “Let It Be” album — minus the album title.

The set’s deluxe presentation increased production costs by approximately 33%, making “Let It Be” the most expensive Beatles album at the time in terms of retail price.

The high cost, along with issues with the book’s binding — many copies would later fall apart — led to the decision to discontinue the book for the second UK pressing toward the end of 1970.

In the United States, United Artists — who distributed the album under the terms of the “Let It Be” film deal — declined to release the LP with the book, concerned that the elevated price would hurt sales. Instead, the U.S. edition featured a standard gatefold sleeve, which included a selection of photographs from the “Get Back” sessions.

Going further

The Beatles Diary Volume 1: The Beatles Years

"With greatly expanded text, this is the most revealing and frank personal 30-year chronicle of the group ever written. Insider Barry Miles covers the Beatles story from childhood to the break-up of the group."

Buy on Amazon