Let It Be facts for kids

Let It Be is a famous album and movie by the rock band The Beatles. It came out in 1970. This project was the very last one the Beatles finished before the band officially broke up.

How the Let It Be Project Started

After releasing their "White Album" in late 1968, The Beatles thought about making a TV special. They wanted to play songs from the album live for an audience. This would have been their first public concert since 1966.

In 1969, the band decided to try something different. They started working on new songs and planned to film everything. This included their rehearsals, recording sessions, and a live performance. The project was first called Get Back. The band wanted to record the songs without adding extra sounds or making changes later, which was different from how they usually worked.

Early Days at Twickenham Film Studios

The Beatles rented a large film studio called Twickenham Film Studios. They set up their instruments and equipment there. Usually, they worked on music from the afternoon until late at night. But for this film project, they had to start early in the morning, between 8 and 10 AM. This early start and the cold, huge studio made them uncomfortable.

There were also some disagreements among the band members. They couldn't agree on where to perform the final show or how many people should watch it. Ideas ranged from Los Angeles to Tunisia. George Harrison decided he didn't want to perform a public concert at all.

Paul McCartney took charge of the rehearsals. He pushed the band hard to play his new songs exactly as he imagined them. The other Beatles got tired of this because it didn't allow them to play freely, which they liked to do. George Harrison especially disliked McCartney telling him what to play. He also felt his own songs weren't getting enough attention.

John Lennon also had new songs, but he was more interested in spending time with Yoko Ono. He wasn't as focused on making another Beatles record. Lennon also criticized Harrison's new songs. Yoko Ono often shared her opinions on the band's music. The band wasn't used to hearing opinions from anyone but their record producer, George Martin. McCartney and Harrison didn't like that Ono was always with Lennon. Ringo Starr tried to keep the peace, but it was hard. Harrison eventually walked out during a lunch break, saying he had had enough. The band stopped working and decided to find a new place.

Moving to Apple Studio

A few days after leaving, Harrison went to a Beatles business meeting. McCartney agreed to be more flexible and let Harrison have more say. Lennon and Harrison also made up. The idea of a public show for Get Back was dropped. No one wanted to go back to the movie studio, so they looked for a new place to work.

The Beatles had hired an inventor named "Magic Alex" to build a new recording studio. It was in the basement of their company's building, Apple Corps. Alex spent a lot of money, but he didn't understand recording technology well. The studio he built had many problems. The Beatles only found this out when they tried to use it. This added to the stress the band and their team felt.

George Martin, their producer, helped the Beatles work around the studio's problems. He borrowed recording equipment so they could finish their project. The movie cameras were also set up in the basement. The band went back to work on their music. This new location was very crowded, which again made the band and crew uncomfortable.

The Beatles often started their sessions by playing old songs they knew from growing up. Many of these were recorded. When they moved from old songs to new ones, problems came up. Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison each wanted their music to be perfect. They sometimes insulted each other, which made the sessions unpleasant.

Billy Preston, a guest musician, helped lift the band's spirits. All the Beatles liked Preston, and they got along well when he was there. He played keyboards, which made the songs sound fuller. McCartney's girlfriend Linda also brought her daughter Heather to the studio, which cheered everyone up. Linda even sang background vocals on "Let It Be," a song by McCartney.

The Famous Rooftop Concert

The question of where to perform the new songs was finally settled. The Beatles decided to give a show on the roof of the Apple headquarters building. This happened on January 30, 1969, in the early afternoon. The Beatles performed for the movie cameras and for anyone who could hear them outside.

The music from the rooftop caused a traffic jam on Savile Row, where the building was. Local police came to Apple and tried to stop the show. Mal Evans, one of the Beatles' trusted helpers, talked to the police to give the band more time to finish. After playing several songs, including "Get Back" twice, the band went inside.

The next day, the Beatles performed another show in the Apple basement. This one was only for the cameras, not a live audience. They played songs like "Two of Us," "Don't Let Me Down," "Let it Be," "Get Back," and "The Long and Winding Road." Some of these songs were too difficult to record outdoors because of their keyboard parts.

Finishing the Project

The movie crew filmed over a hundred hours of footage. This was more than enough for a TV special. The Beatles also worked longer on the Get Back recordings, ending up with over twenty-nine hours of tapes. However, no one was happy with the music. The band members had argued and disagreed on camera. They didn't always try their best on each other's songs. This was clear to anyone who saw the film or heard their conversations between songs.

George Martin tried to mix the recordings to make an album. Meanwhile, the movie team tried to edit the footage into a TV special. The band's problems seemed even bigger because of the results. They blamed each other and their team. The Beatles decided to stop the project and work on other things. Only one single was released from these sessions: "Get Back" with "Don't Let Me Down." Billy Preston's name was on the single, leading to rumors he might join the band. He didn't, but he signed a recording contract with their record label, Apple Records. The other songs were put aside.

The Get Back project became another reason the Beatles were drifting apart. There were also issues with Apple Corps and personal problems among the band members. They had started making music separately the year before, and this increased as they stopped getting along. McCartney and Lennon both got married. George Harrison started playing with other musicians. Ringo Starr began a new career as an actor. The Beatles released a new single, "The Ballad of John and Yoko" and "Old Brown Shoe." John and Paul played on the first song, and George and Ringo on the second. They were no longer working as a team. George Martin even stopped coming to recording sessions, which was very unusual for him.

Abbey Road and the Breakup

In the summer of 1969, the Beatles felt bad about how the Get Back sessions had gone. They wanted to forget that time and make a new album together at Abbey Road Studios. George Martin agreed to come back, but only if the band promised to work together "like the old days." The band kept their promise, and the album Abbey Road was released in the early fall.

As Abbey Road came out, the Beatles met to talk about future plans. John Lennon, who had just played his first concert without the Beatles in Toronto, surprised everyone. He announced that he was leaving the band. He agreed not to tell the public right away, so it wouldn't hurt their chances to make a new recording deal. Lennon then focused on his new group with Yoko Ono, the Plastic Ono Band.

The Release of Let It Be

At the end of 1969, Apple's accountants told the Beatles they had to release something from the Get Back sessions. They had spent too much money on the project to just forget about it. Glyn Johns, a young music producer, tried to put an album together from the tapes. But he also couldn't make the Beatles happy. Fans and insiders managed to get a copy of Johns's mix and released an unauthorized album. Even though it wasn't official, it sold many copies and was played on the radio. People really wanted to hear the songs.

Phil Spector, a famous producer, had always wanted to work with the Beatles. Allen Klein brought Spector to England in early 1970 to meet them. John Lennon and George Harrison liked Spector. He even produced a record of Lennon's song "Instant Karma!" the same day Lennon wrote it. Lennon and Harrison agreed that Spector could work on the recordings. Ringo Starr played along with musicians Spector hired to add extra sounds. This went against the original plan to keep the songs live. But it was accepted to "sweeten" and finish the recordings.

An eighty-minute movie was edited from the footage, and the band decided it would be better as a movie than a TV show. The Beatles had a contract with United Artists, who agreed to release the movie. It was titled Let it Be. The Get Back title was dropped because "Get Back" had already been released as a single almost a year earlier.

Some new songs in the movie, like "Across the Universe" and "I Me Mine," weren't fully finished on record. A recording session was planned for January 1970 to record full versions of some songs, but John Lennon refused to go. George Harrison even made a joke about this during a song, calling Lennon "Dave Dee."

Spector used his "Wall of Sound" style on the Beatles' recordings. This included an old tape of "Across the Universe" so it could be on the album. His finished album sounded good and didn't show the band's problems during the sessions. However, it didn't sound like other Beatles albums. Paul McCartney hated the changes Spector made to his songs, especially "The Long and Winding Road." But he couldn't stop the album from being released.

Another problem was when the album would come out. Allen Klein had helped the Beatles get a new recording deal. McCartney was no longer bound by the promise Lennon had made not to say he was leaving the band. McCartney's first solo album, finished in early 1970, included a press release saying he had no plans to work with the Beatles anymore. This announcement effectively broke up the band. McCartney also wanted his solo album released before Let it Be.

Ringo Starr, who also had a solo album coming out, was sent to ask McCartney to change his release date. The two argued, and McCartney asked Starr to leave his house. The release schedule was changed so McCartney could have his wish. Starr's album came out earlier than planned, and Let it Be was moved from April to May.

Songs on the Album

All songs written and composed by Written by Lennon/McCartney, except where noted. 

Images for kids

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  American R&B pianist Billy Preston (pictured here in 1971) was asked to perform with the group to ease tension amongst the band members

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  Cover of the aborted Get Back album. Mirroring the cover of the band's first album, Please Please Me, was John Lennon's idea.

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  The original box set packaging of Let It Be. It contained a 160-page booklet with photos and quotes from the film.

See also

In Spanish: Let It Be para niños