Let It Be

From Let It Be | The Beatles:

The final Beatles album was first released on 8th May, 1970, just prior to the launch of the cinema film of the same name.

Rehearsals and recording sessions for the album had taken place in January, 1969 first At Twickenham Film Studios and later in the basement and on the roof of their Apple headquarters in London’s Savile Row.

A single comprising of “Get Back” and “Don’t Let Me Down” was released in April, 1969 but as The Beatles focussed their energies on a new album mainly recorded at Abbey Road, The “Get Back” album as it was then called remained unreleased.

Once Abbey Road had been issued and the completion of the documentary film now imminent, it was noticed that rehearsals of George’s song “I Me Mine” featured prominently in the film but had not been recorded in the studio. This was remedied on 3rd January, 1970 when George, Paul and Ringo performed it without John who was in Denmark. A second single from the album, which was now titled Let It Be appeared on 6th March.

Up to now the idea behind the album had been to capture the group “live in the studio” without overdubs or effects but this changed when producer, Phil Spector was brought in to re-produce the tracks. The Long And Winding Road, which had been given a new musical arrangement featuring orchestra and choir, was released as a single in the US and other markets but not the UK and became the group’s final # 1 single.

The album reached no. 1 for a three week stay during its 59 week chart stay. In the US, the album enjoyed a four week stay at #1 during an initial chart life of 55 weeks.

When I used to ring the guys in the band and suggest that it was maybe time for us to make another album, they would make fun of me — ‘Oh I get it, he wants a job.’ However, in the case of Let It Be, they all eventually agreed. In the end, we all knew it was a good idea to do it!

We decided to assemble at Twickenham Film Studios and use an empty stage to rehearse our new songs and try to work out how we could play them to a live audience. The plans we came up with ranged from hiring an ocean liner for the concert to finding an ancient amphitheatre in some exotic far-off place and doing the show there. In the meantime, we ended up in this slightly foreboding studio space and set about learning the songs.

As always, when we came together as a band we enjoyed the business of making music. It was what we had always done, and the thrill was still there. Even though we were being filmed doing it, which was sometimes a bit intimidating, we managed to learn a bunch of new songs. Eventually we moved to our headquarters in Savile Row to complete the recordings. Whilst we were there, we hit upon the idea of performing some of this new music on the roof of our Apple building. It was convenient and we all enjoyed the novelty of playing on the rooftop space. This was to be the first time we had played live in a while. In fact, it also turned out to be the last time.

The album we made was given to record producer Phil Spector to put the finishing touches to and even though, I must admit, I was not keen on some of his additions it turned out to be a fine Beatles album in the end.

The constant filming began as a minor irritation, but we eventually forgot the cameras were there, and the footage that was gathered turned out to be the film Let It Be. Now the material has been looked at carefully by the film director Peter Jackson and he has restored its quality to look like it was filmed yesterday and edited it into a new film called Get Back.

I had always thought the original film Let It Be was pretty sad as it dealt with the break-up of our band, but the new film shows the camaraderie and love the four of us had between us. It also shows the wonderful times we had together and, combined with the newly remastered Let It Be album, stands as a powerful reminder of this time. It is how I want to remember The Beatles.

Paul McCartney – From the 2021 “Let It Be” Deluxe Edition

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