Let It Be (song)

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Let It Be is a song off The Beatles' 1970 album Let It Be. It was written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon/McCartney.

Contents

Writing

Paul McCartney wrote Let It Be during the sessions for The Beatles, when the group was just starting to break up and Paul felt he was the only one who wanted to continue The Beatles. He had tried to be enthusiastic after the death of Brian Epstein, but his attempts to motivate the rest of the group were not working. Though publicly Paul seemed to be happy, he was feeling insecure about the group's slowly breaking up. Around this time, he was visited in a dream by his mother Mary, who died in 1956. Paul recalls, "One night during this tense time I had a dream I saw my mum, who'd been dead 10 years or so. And it was so great to see her because that's a wonderful ting about dreams: you actually are reunited with that person for a second; there they are and you appear to both be physically together again. It was so wonderful for me and she was very reassuring. In the dream she said, 'It'll be all right.' I'm not sure if she used the words 'Let it be' but that was the gist of her advice, it was, 'Don't worry too much, it will turn out OK.' It was such a sweet dream I woke up thinking, Oh, it was really great to visit with her again. I felt very blessed to have that dream. So that got me writing the song Let It Be. I literally started off 'Mother Mary', which was her name, 'When I find myself in times of trouble', which I certainly found myself in. The song was based on that dream." Some fans interpreted the song as a religious one, thinking that 'Mother Mary' was referring to the Virgin Mary. Paul commented, "Mother Mary makes it a quasi-religious thing, so you can take it that way. I don't mind. I'm quite happy if people want to use it to shore up their faith. I have no problem with that. I think it's a great thing to have faith of any sort, particularly in the world we live in." John did not appreciate the song much, putting it between two 'throwaway' tracks on the album: Dig It and Maggie Mae. John told Playboy in 1980, "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 Water. That's my feeling, although I have nothing to go on. I know he wanted to write a Bridge Over Troubled Water."

Recording

The earliest recording of it was a solo version by Paul on piano during the second Get Back session on January 3, 1969 at Twickenham Film Studios. Three more performances were done in a Get Back session on January 8, when Paul performed the song and the others tentatively joined in. They recorded sixteen more versions the next day. One of these versions had Paul singing "Read the Record Mirror, let it be". On January 10, another solo version was played by Paul at that day's Get Back session. By January 23, all work had moved to Apple Studios, and two versions of Let It Be were recorded. On January 25, they spent more time on the song, recording eighteen takes. One of these was featured on Anthology 3. This recording does not include the last verse; instead, Paul repeats the first verse. On January 26, the song was even more intensely focused on, when twenty-eight takes were recorded. Much of this session was spent recording this song and The Long and Winding Road, which sixteen takes were recorded of. On January 27, they recorded twelve more versions. On January 29, another take was recorded, though they were preparing for the Apple rooftop performance the next day. On January 31, they went into the studio to seriously finish recording the album. They recorded twenty-two takes with McCartney on piano, John Lennon playing bass, Harrison on lead guitar, Ringo Starr on drums and Billy Preston playing organ. This was known as the 'Apple Studio Performance" and was featured partially in the Let It Be film. Nine takes were taped on this date, numbered 20-27. Take 27 was actually two audio-only attempts, the first of which was considered good enough to overdub onto. Before Take 23, John asked, "Are we supposed to giddle [giggle] in the solo?" This question was edited onto the beginning of a mix of Let It Be on Anthology 3. Also edited on this mix were John saying "I think that was rather grand. I'd take one home with me. OK, let's track it... You bounder, you cheat!" spoken right after Take 25 originally. On April 30, George recorded a guitar solo, which was later used on the single mix of the song. This single mix was originally considered to be on the Get Back album. They did not do any more work on the song until January 4, 1970 - the final Beatles session. Despite this, John was not present. George Harrison, Paul McCartney, and Linda McCartney recorded backing vocals as well as two trombones, two trumpets and a tenor saxophone were overdubbed. Also in this session, George recorded another guitar solo, which would go on the album version of the song. In addition to this, Ringo overdubbed more toms onto the third verse of the song and Paul played maracas. George Martin scored and overdubbed Cellos on this date. Phil Spector mixed the album version of this song on March 26, using the January 4 guitar solo, emphasizing the brass and string parts, adding echo to the hihats, and repeating part of the final chorus.

Single Release

Let It Be, backed by You Know My Name (Look Up The Number), ended up being the last new Beatles single until 1995's Free As A Bird. In the US, however, the last single would be The Long And Winding Road, though it would be released a month after Paul announced that The Beatles had broken up. Let It Be/You Know My Name (Look Up The Number) was released on March 6, 1970. The single was billed as an "intimate bioscopic experience with THE BEATLES." It reached number two in the UK, although it would hit number one in the US, Australia, Italy, Norway and Switzerland.

2003 Let It Be Naked Mix

For Let It Be... Naked, the 2003 remixed/remastered version of Let It Be, the echo added to the hihats by Phil Spector was removed and the maracas and toms overdubs were removed. In addition to this, Billy Preston's organ is more prominent and George's April 30, 1969 solo was used.

Personnel

The Beatles

Guest Musicians

Production

Available Versions

Available On

Cover Versions

Source

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