In the winter of 1969, the biggest band in the world set out on their most ambitious project yet: they were going to write, record and then perform an album of 14 songs, with their next performance to be their first in three years.
The Beatles had only just completed their enormous double album the White Album, and tensions were very high with little new material ready to record. But by the end of their studio sessions, the band had pulled through. Their efforts climaxed on the 30th of January 1970 when the band (plus keyboardist Billy Preston) went onto the rooftop of Apple Studios and performed the songs ‘Get Back’, ‘Don’t Let Me Down’, ‘I’ve Got A Feeling’, ‘One After 909’ and ‘Dig A Pony.’
The following day, the band also reconvened to perform the songs they felt wouldn’t work on the rooftop, such as ‘The Long And Winding Road’, ‘Two Of Us’ and ‘Let It Be’. The entire project was put on hiatus until after Abbey Road and John Lennon’s departure from the band, when the three remaining Beatles set about finalising the album to fulfil their contracts by reviving the George Harrison-penned ‘For You Blue’ and ‘I Me Mine’, the studio jams ‘Dig It’ and ‘Maggie Mae’ and the remixed Lennon Demo of ‘Across The Universe’. These songs were then mixed and produced by infamous “producer” Phil Spector and then released on the 8th of May 1970 as Let It Be.
Due to the project being seen by many as either a failure or, in the case of Paul McCartney, as an unfinished project with lots of potential, there have been near constant attempts at re-mixing and re-working the album since it’s original release. In fact, as of 2025 there are no less than four official Apple-released versions of the album: the original 1970 Spector-mixed version; Let It Be: Naked; the 2021 Giles Martin remix and the 1969 Glyn Johns mix. However, none of these versions have achieved the goal of doing the material justice, as the songs themselves are strong but have been consistently let down by poor production.
Firstly, the original version of the album is filled with strange musical choices. For example, the decisions around the track listing such as placing ‘Across The Universe’ after ‘Dig A Pony’ creates a very sudden change in genre which undermines the power of the former. Not to mention Spector’s decision to employ his ‘wall of sound’ on ‘Across The Universe’ and ‘The Long And Winding Road’ by overdubbing orchestras and over-the-top harmonies, which ruins these beautiful ballads by undermining their emotional power with cheesy production.
Additionally, Spector’s production choices mean that most original vinyl copes are almost all too quiet, making things such as the acoustic guitars on ‘For You Blue’ and ‘Two Of Us’ nearly
silent. The most baffling decision of all on the original version of Let It Be however is the omission of Lennon’s beautiful rocker ‘Don’t Let Me Down’ in favour of throwaway jams such as ‘Maggie Mae’ and ‘Dig It’. The only positive things about the original version of the album are the re-recorded guitar solo by Harrison on his Epiphone Casino for ‘Let It Be,’ which is far superior to the single version, and the inclusion of Lennon's quips between songs which makes listening to the album feel more like a fly-on-the-wall experience.
In comparison, the re-mixed and remastered Let It Be: Naked aimed to remove Spector’s ridiculous production and achieve the original objective of creating a ‘live’ album with no overdubs. One of the main selling points for people who already owned the original album was that many of the songs utilised alternate takes, which vastly improves tracks such as Lennon’s ‘Across The Universe’; with just his voice, guitar and Tambora (a two headed drum) giving the song a religious feel, as though he is preaching from a Tibetan hilltop as in ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’.
Similarly, ‘The Long And Winding Road’ is transformed by its treatment on Let It Be: Naked. With Spector’s wild orchestration gone and the song stripped back to McCartney's pleading vocal delivery plus the mastery of the band backing him, it has become one of my Top Five
Beatles songs. Whilst this version solves some of the issues with the original album, such as removing ‘Dig It’ and ‘Maggie Mae’ and adding ‘Don’t Let Me Down’, it still has some issues, as they also removed Lennon’s quips and all false starts, which makes the album feel rather cold.
In contrast, Martin’s 2021 remix lacks any real significant changes to Spector’s version, and whilst Johns’ 1969 mix is improved by the addition of a full version of ‘Dig It’ as well as McCartney’s ‘Teddy Boy’, it still falls short of being the ‘definitive’ edition of Let It Be that the material is crying out for. In my opinion, if there was to be a TRULY definitive edition of Let It Be, it would retain the charm of Lennon’s quips and false starts but also fully utilise the songs from the original sessions to create a full 14-track Beatles album, as was the original idea. This version would get rid of the short and pointless cover of ‘Maggie Mae,’ and in its place return ‘Don’t Let Me Down’ and ‘Teddy Boy’ to the track listing, as well as Johns’ full version of ‘Dig It’, but most importantly add Harrisons’ masterpiece ‘All Things Must Pass’, which did not get a Beatles' release until Anthology 3.
In summary, I believe Let It Be in all of its forms to be an album of great material (with the exception of ‘Maggie Mae’) and a great insight into the fun The Beatles still had in the studio despite their inner tensions, but none of the attempts to make use of the material from the sessions have truly lived up to the concept of a ‘definitive’ edition of Let It Be. If I was to pick a ‘best’ version of the album, I would say Let It Be: Naked makes the best use of the material,
but Spector's original version is worth listening to even if for nothing else but Lennon's remarks.
Overall Review: 8.5/10
Individual Track Ratings:
Two Of Us – 9.5/10
Dig A Pony – 8.5/10
Across The Universe – 10/10
I Me Mine – 8.5/10
Dig It – 6/10
Let It Be – 10/10
Maggie Mae – 3/10
I’ve Got A Feeling – 9.5/10
One After 909 – 7.5/10
The Long And Winding Road – 10/10
For You Blue – 8/10
Get Back – 9.5/10
Don’t Let Me Down – 10/10
Teddy Boy – 7/10
All Things Must Pass – 10/10
Image courtesy of McCartney Times.
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