LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-MAY 8, 2019…ON THIS DATE 49 YEARS AGO IT WAS THE END OF AN ERA FOR THE BEATLES, WITH THE RELEASE OF THEIR FINAL STUDIO ALBUM ‘LET IT BE’.
THE ALBUM WAS ORIGINALLY GOING TO BE CALLED ‘GET BACK’ AND IT WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE THE GROUP’S FINAL ALBUM. THE ORIGINAL CONCEPT FOR THE ‘GET BACK ALBUM’ WAS THE BAND WAS GOING TO RECORD IT IN FRONT OF A LIVE TV AUDIENCE, WITH ANOTHER TV SPECIAL SHOWING THE GROUP PRACTICING THE SONGS IN A STUDIO. IT WAS GOING TO BE THE BEATLES GETTING BACK TO THEIR ROOTS PLAYING LIVE MUSIC INSTEAD OF BUSTING THEIR BALLS IN THE STUDIO LIKE THEY DID ON ‘THE WHITE ALBUM’.
HOWEVER SOMETHING WENT HORRIBLY WRONG. WHEN THEY WERE PUTTING THE ALBUM TOGETHER, GEORGE HARRISON WALKED OUT OF THE SESSIONS.
WHEN HE RETURNED, THEY DROPPED THE LIVE ANGLE, AND DECIDED TO USE THE TV FOOTAGE AS THEIR LAST MOVIE. WHILE THE MOVIE WAS BEING EDITED, THE BEATLES RECORDED AND RELEASE ‘ABBEY ROAD’, AND THEN THEY BROKE UP !!
WHAT TO DO , THEY STILL HAD THIS ALBUM, AND EVENTUALLY PHIL SPECTOR WAS GIVEN THE TAPES AND ASKED TO PRODUCE THE ALBUM.
THE ALBUM WAS RELEASE MONTHS AFTER THE BEATLES BROKE UP, AND IT WAS DECIDED ‘LET IT BE’ WAS A MORE APPROPRIATE NAME FOR THE RECORD THAT ‘GET BACK’. AT THE TIME OF ITS RELEASE, THE ALBUM ‘LET IT BE’ HAD THE LARGEST INITIAL SALES IN U.S. RECORD HISTORY WITH 3.7 MILLION ADVANCE ORDERS.
HERE’S THE GROUP WORKING ON ‘LET IT BE’ IN THE STUDIO
