TOP 100 SONGS OF THE BEATLES ― 8

“Let It Be" (McCartney – March 11, 1970)



Let It Be – Side 1, track 8

YouTube (McCartney live, NYC) 

From Wikipedia, Rolling Stone, and About.com, and Google – 

"Let It Be" is a song by the Beatles, released in March 1970 as a single, and (in an alternate mix) as the title track of their album Let It Be. It was written by Paul McCartney, but credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was their final single before McCartney announced his departure from the band (by that time, Lennon had already left). Both the Let It Be album and the US single "The Long and Winding Road" were released after McCartney's announced departure from and subsequent break-up of the group.  

"Let It Be" holds the number-one spot on "The Fans' Top 10" poll included in The 100 Best Beatles Songs: An Informed Fan's Guide by Stephen J. Spignesi and Michael Lewis. The song is number three in the 100 Best Beatles Songs list, only behind "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "A Day in the Life", which is number one.

In 1987, the song was recorded by charity supergroup Ferry Aid (which included McCartney). It reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart for three weeks and reached the top ten in many other European countries.

History –

Written by Paul during the sessions for The Beatles (a/k/a the "White Album"), "Let It Be" was inspired by a dream the singer had of his deceased mother, Mary, assuring him, among the turmoil of the Beatles' slow breakup, that everything would be all right. McCartney eventually transformed the song into a gospel-style number for the Get Back sessions that would eventually be released as the album Let It Be.

The earliest known performance of "Let It Be" occurred on January 3, 1969, during rehearsals for the LIB project. It was rehearsed over 38 times on January 8, 9, 25-27, 29, and 31, 1969; Take 27 from the 31st was used as the basis for the official release. That take featured the song's third verse, written on the spot by Paul after it was decided one was needed.

On April 30, 1969, producer George Martin recorded a new solo from Harrison, although the single release of "Let It Be" would use the original solo from January 31, 1969.

On January 4, 1970, George recorded yet another guitar solo, which was meant to sync up with the earlier solo and play simultaneously (this idea was later scrapped). Martin added backing vocals from Linda McCartney, at the insistence of Paul, and the resultant mix, with the original solo only, became the "single version" of "Let It Be."

On March 26, 1970, producer Phil Spector -- called in to save the Get Back/LIB project -- remixed "Let It Be," adding his signature orchestra and choir. He used the more rocking January 4 solo instead, and also added an extra chorus at the end. This would become known as the "album version" of the song.

McCartney was very displeased with Spector's version, but had no say in the matter -- the band was being managed by Allen Klein, a move that Paul disagreed with, leading him to sue for dissolution of the band, and therefore Klein was allowed to bring in Spector. In 2005, the original January 31 version, with original solo, was released on Let It Be... Naked, a stripped-down version of the original project.

It's often believed that the song's churchy feel, along with the "Mother Mary" reference, makes "Let It Be" a song about Christianity (specifically, Catholicism). Paul has made it plain that the Mary in the song is his mother, but the song is gospel-oriented in nature, leading many to continue to associate it with the religion. John picked up on the similarities: during the sessions, he says "...and now we'd like to do 'Hark The Angels Come'," a joke which was appended to the version on the original LP. (It's been suggested that John insisted on placing the vulgar folk song "Maggie Mae" after it on the LP as a way to deflate its solemnity.) Lennon has also claimed that McCartney wanted to "wanted to write a 'Bridge Over Troubled Waters'," referring to the gospel-based Simon and Garfunkel smash, but that song was written and recorded well after work had begun on "Let It Be."

Paul's endless retakes of this song drove the band to distraction and caused a famous row with George which is captured in the Let It Be film; when Paul instructs George on how to play the solo, the guitarist snaps, "OK, well, I don't mind. I'll play whatever you want me to play or I won't play at all if you don't want me to play. Whatever it is that'll please you, I'll do it." John also pointedly asks "Are we supposed to giggle in the solo?"

There's some dispute over the second, more rocking guitar solo recorded on January 4, 1970, with some attributing it to Paul or even John. The evidence suggests Harrison recorded both, however.

This is only the second (and final) Beatles single released in the UK with a picture sleeve, the other being "Strawberry Fields Forever / Penny Lane."

Aretha Franklin's version of "Let It Be," from the album This Girl's In Love With You, was actually released two full months before the Beatles' version.

The healing nature of this song has made it useful for charity events: in 1987, McCartney organized a group called "Ferry Aid" to perform a version of this song to benefit victims of the recent Zeebrugge Ferry disaster in London. After 9/11, Paul closed the benefit show "The Concert For New York" with a singalong of this song that featured the night's other musical guests along with NYPD and NYFD members.

"Let It Be" was the first Beatles song released in the Soviet Union, arriving in 1972. In 2003 Paul McCartney, in preparation for a Red Square concert, gave a private performance of this song to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin.

Sesame Street did a well-known parody of this song called "Letter B."

Composition and recording –

McCartney said he had the idea of "Let It Be" after he had a dream about his mother during the tense period surrounding the sessions for The Beatles (the White Album). McCartney explained that his mother—who died of cancer when McCartney was fourteen—was the inspiration for the "Mother Mary" lyric. He later said, "It was great to visit with her again. I felt very blessed to have that dream; so that got me writing 'Let It Be'." He also said in a later interview about the dream that his mother had told him "It will be all right, just let it be."

The first rehearsal of "Let It Be" took place at Twickenham Film Studios on 3 January 1969, where the group had, the previous day, begun what would become the Let It Be film. During this stage of the film they were only recording on the mono decks used for syncing to the film cameras, and were not making multi-track recordings for release. A single take was recorded, with just McCartney on piano and vocals. The first attempt with the other Beatles was made on 8 January. Work continued on the song throughout the month. Multi-track recordings commenced on 23 January at Apple Studios.

The master take was recorded on 31 January 1969, as part of the 'Apple studio performance' for the project. McCartney played Blüthner piano, Lennon played six-string electric bass, Billy Preston played organ, and George Harrison and Ringo Starr assumed their conventional roles on guitar and drums. This was one of two performances of the song that day. The first version, designated take 27-A, would serve as the basis for all officially released versions of the song. The other version, take 27-B, was performed as part of the 'live studio performance', along with "Two of Us" and "The Long and Winding Road". This performance, in which Lennon and Harrison harmonized with McCartney's lead vocal and Harrison contributed a subdued guitar solo, can be seen in the film Let It Be. The film performance of "Let It Be" has never been officially released as an audio recording. The lyrics in the two versions differ a little in the last verse. The studio version has Shine until tomorrow...there will be an answer whereas the film version has shine until tomorrow...there will be no sorrow.

On 30 April 1969, Harrison overdubbed a new guitar solo on the best take from 31 January that year. He overdubbed another solo on 4 January 1970. The first overdub solo was used for the original single release, and the second overdub solo was used for the original album release. Some fans mistakenly believe that there were two versions of the basic track—based mostly on the different guitar solos, but also on some other differences in overdubs and mixes.

Channeling the church-born soul of Aretha Franklin, Paul McCartney started writing "Let It Be" in 1968, during the White Album sessions. (Aretha's cover of the song was released before the Beatles' version.) McCartney's opening lines — "When I find myself in times of trouble/Mother Mary comes to me" — were based on a dream in which his own late mother, Mary, offered solace, assuring him that everything would turn out fine. "I'm not sure if she used the words 'Let it be,'" McCartney said, "but that was the gist of her advice."

At that point, the Beatles were in their own time of trouble. A month of on-camera rehearsal and live recording had been intended to energize the bandmates and return them to their beat-combo roots. (They had pushed George Martin into the background: "I don't want any of your production shit," John Lennon told him. "We want this to be an honest album.") Instead, it was a miserable experience, during which the petty arguments of previous albums turned into open hostility. Lennon wasn't crazy about "Let It Be"; he poked fun at the song's earnestness in the studio, asking, "Are we supposed to giggle in the solo?" But the band worked for days on the song, recording the basic track at Apple Studios on January 31st, 1969.

After wrapping up the filmed sessions that day, the Beatles turned a mountain of tapes over to engineer Glyn Johns to assemble into an album, tentatively titled Get Back. George Harrison didn't like his solo on the version of "Let It Be" that Johns picked, so he replaced his part with a new take, in which his guitar was run through a rotating Leslie organ speaker. That solo, with its distinctive warbling tone, ended up on the single.

At the beginning of 1970 — almost a year after the initial recording — McCartney, Harrison and Starr convened to do touch-up work on a few songs from a year earlier, including "Let It Be." (Lennon, who had effectively quit the Beatles after the recording of Abbey Road, was in Denmark with Yoko Ono.) McCartney replaced John's bass part with his own, Harrison recorded another guitar solo (the one used on the album mix), a brass section scored by Martin was added, and Harrison and Paul and Linda McCartney sang backup vocals.

Lennon had been impressed with producer Phil Spector's work on his "Instant Karma!" single, and in March 1970, he and Beatles manager Allen Klein called in Spector to work on the January 1969 tapes. "He was given the shittiest load of badly recorded shit with a lousy feeling to it ever, and he made something out of it," said Lennon. Spector did the LP mix of the title track (after the single had already been released) and is credited with producing it, although it's mixed from the same tape as the single. McCartney later declared that Spector's version "sounded terrible."

Johns said he preferred his spare mix of the song, the one done before "Spector puked all over it." Spector called the atmosphere between band members a "war zone" and felt he'd done the best he could under the circumstances. "If it's shitty, I'm going to get blamed for it," he said. "If it's a success, it's the Beatles."

"Let It Be" was released on March 11th, 1970. A month later, on April 10th, McCartney took the occasion of the release of his first solo album to announce that the Beatles had broken up.

Takes: 30

Personnel –

John Lennon – Backing vocals, bass guitar (1964 Fender Bass VI)
Paul McCartney – Lead vocals, piano (Bluthner Flugel Grand), electric piano (1968 Fender Rhodes)
George Harrison – Backing vocals, lead guitars (1968 Fender Rosewood Telecaster, 1966 Gibson Les Paul Standard SG)
Ringo Starr – Drums (1968 Ludwig Hollywood Maple)
Billy Preston – Organ (Hammond RT-3)
Linda McCartney – Background vocals

Versions–

Single version

The single used the same cover photographs as the Let It Be album, and was originally released on 6 March 1970, backed by "You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)", with a production credit for George Martin. This version includes orchestration and backing vocals overdubbed on 4 January 1970—under the supervision of Martin and McCartney—with backing vocals that included the only known contribution by Linda McCartney to a Beatles song. It was during this same session that Harrison recorded the second overdubbed guitar solo. The intention at one point was to have the two overdub solos playing together. This idea was dropped for the final mix of the single, and only the 30 April solo was used, although the 4 January overdub can be heard faintly during the final verse. Martin mixed the orchestration very low in this version.

The single mix was included on the 1967–1970 compilation album. Original pressings erroneously show the running time of 4:01 (from the Let It Be album), and not the single version's running time of 3:52. This version was also included on 20 Greatest Hits, Past Masters Volume 2, and 1.

Album version

On 26 March 1970, Phil Spector remixed the song for the Let It Be album. This version features the "more stinging" 4 January 1970 guitar solo, no backing vocals (except during the first chorus), a delay effect on Ringo's high-hat, and more prominent orchestration. The final chorus has three "let it be..." lines, as the "there will be an answer" line is repeated twice (instead of once as on the single) before the "whisper words of wisdom" line to close the song. On the album, as the preceding song "Dig It" ends, Lennon is heard saying in a falsetto voice, mimicking Gracie Fields: "That was 'Can You Dig It' by Georgie Wood, and now we'd like to do 'Hark, the Angels Come'." Allen Klein brought in Spector to mix the album without telling McCartney or asking for his agreement, because McCartney had not signed Klein's management contract.

Anthology version

An early version of the song also appears on Anthology 3 which was released on 28 October 1996. This version, Take 1, was recorded on 25 January 1969. It is a much more simplified version, as McCartney had still not written the final verse yet ("And when the night is cloudy...I wake up to the sound of music..."). Instead, the first verse is simply repeated. The song also features studio talk between Lennon and McCartney prior to another take:

"John: Are we supposed to giggle in the solo?
Paul: Yeah.
John: OK.
Paul: This'll-this is gonna knock you out, boy."

Also, following the end of the recording, John can be heard saying, "I think that was rather grand. I'd take one home with me. OK let's track it. (Gasps) You bounder, you cheat!" (This is a reference to the no-overdub policy that the Beatles had adopted for the Get Back project—'tracking' refers to double tracking the vocals on a recording.) The running time of the Anthology version is 4:05.


Let It Be... Naked version

Still another version of the song appeared on the Let It Be... Naked album in 2003. This version has a standard A minor chord in the piano at the first beat of measure two in the last verse (on the lyric 'mother'); other versions have a more complex harmonization. Starr disliked Spector's version where his drumming was augmented by Spector's "tape-delay-effect" to his hi-hats during the song's second verse and added shakers, so Let It Be... Naked features his original "stripped-down-approach" drumming. Also departed were the tom-tom overdub rolls, heard after the guitar solo during the third verse. The guitar solo used in this version—similar to the single version—was taken from the subsequent take as seen in the film "Let It Be". Starr also commented that after the release of Naked, he would now have to listen to McCartney saying, "I told you so", when talking about Spector's production. The song's running time on Let It Be... Naked is 3:52.

Unused mixes –

Glyn Johns mixed the song on 28 May 1969 as he finished the mixing for the Get Back album. This version was never released. He used the same mix on 5 January 1970, which was an attempt to compile an acceptable version of the LP. Again, this version of the LP was never officially released.

Critical assessments – 

"Let It Be" is widely considered to be one of the greatest songs of all time. In 2004, it was ranked number 20 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". In 2010, the magazine placed the song at #8 on the Beatles' 100 Greatest Songs. Allmusic said it was one of "the Beatles' most popular and finest ballads". Ian MacDonald had a dissenting opinion, writing that the song "achieved a popularity well out of proportion to its artistic weight" and that it was "'Hey Jude', without the musical and emotional release.

John Lennon also commented on "Let It Be". Prior to a take during the 31 January 1969 recording session, he asked, "Are we supposed to giggle in the solo?" (This is a similar quote to Lewisohn's, "The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions" (p. 170) but Lennon says "during the solo" not "in the solo" as quoted here.) In Lennon's Playboy interview in 1980, he disavowed any involvement with composing the song.

"That's Paul. What can you say? Nothing to do with the Beatles. It could've been Wings. I don't know what he's thinking when he writes "Let It Be". I think it was inspired by 'Bridge over Troubled Waters' [sic]. That's my feeling, although I have nothing to go on. I know that he wanted to write a 'Bridge over Troubled Waters'."

As MacDonald explained, Lennon is wrong about "Bridge over Troubled Water" being McCartney's inspiration: Although Simon & Garfunkel's ballad charted just ahead of "Let It Be", "Let It Be" was recorded approximately six months before "Bridge over Troubled Water" was written and a full year before the latter was released.

Awards –

"Let It Be" won Academy Awards in 1971 in Original Song Score category as a part of documentary film Let It Be. It also won Grammy Awards for "Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or a Television Special".

Live performances –

Although the song is performed regularly during McCartney's performances, there are a few notable performances.

On 13 July 1985, McCartney performed "Let It Be" as the closing act of the Live Aid charity concert in front of an estimated global television audience exceeding one billion people. It was beset by technical difficulties when his microphone was turned off for the first two minutes of his piano performance, making it difficult for television viewers and impossible for those in the stadium to hear him. As a result, previous performers David Bowie, Bob Geldof, Alison Moyet, and Pete Townshend returned to the stage to back him up. He later jokingly thought about changing the lyrics to "There will be some feedback, let it be". He re-recorded his vocals afterwards for future home video releases.

Along with a 700-strong congregation, McCartney, Harrison, and Starr sang "Let It Be" during a memorial service for Linda McCartney at St Martin-in-the-Fields church in Trafalgar Square, in 1998.

In 2003, McCartney performed a private rendition for Russian President Vladimir Putin—in the Kremlin—before McCartney played a concert in Red Square.

On 4 June 2012, McCartney performed the song as part of his set during the Concert for the Queen, celebrating the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.

Today in Beatles History (From The Internet Beatles Album) April 2 –

1960 – Elvis Presley records "It's Now Or Never".

1963 – Please Please Me LP, 2nd week in the Top 10 (UK New Musical Express chart). 

– 'How Do You Do It?', with Gerry and the Pacemakers, number 1, 1st week (UK New Musical Express chart).

– The Playhouse Theatre. 8.30-9.45pm. Recording for BBC's Easy Beat: "Please Please Me"; "Misery"; "From Me To You".

– Only live take of "Misery".

1964 – Cilla Black records "You're My World". Brian attends. 

– Later, performance of Billy J. Kramer with the Dakotas on Associated-Rediffusion's Ready Steady Go!. Brian and Derek Taylor attend. 

– Later, Brian and Derek are chauffeur-driven to the Imperial Hotel, Torquay, where they will work on the writing of Brian's autobiography.

1965 – Appearance on ITV's Thank Your Lucky Stars.

1966 – The Beatles appear on the cover of 'Ciao Amici', weekly Italian magazine: "Beatles: le storie pazze delle loro canzoni." ("Beatles: the crazy stories of their songs.")

1967 – Paul, with Mal, flies to North America to visit Jane.

– Studio 1. 7.00pm-3.00am. Recording: "Within You Without You" (overdub onto take 2). 

– Studio 2 (control room only). 3.00-6.30am. Mono mixing: "Within You Without You" (remixes 1-3 from 'Part 1' of take 2, remixes 4, 5 from "Parts 2 and 3" of take 2). 

– Producer: George Martin; Engineer: Geoff Emerick; 2nd Engineer: Richard Lush. 

– Recording of sitar and strings for 'Within You Without You'.

1968 – Arrival of Francie Schwartz in London. She checks into a hotel, and after a short stay in her room goes to the Bag O'Nails.

1969 – UK single release: "Badge".

– Edition of Thames Television's The Eamonn Andrews Show, featuring John and Yoko, broadcast from the Cafe Royal, London.

1970 – UK LP release: 'Sentimental Journey'.