Review: The Beatles' 'Let It Be' Special Edition (Super Deluxe Vinyl Box Set)

As most Beatles fans know, the album ultimately released as Let It Be was not supposed to be The Beatles’ last. A peculiar set of circumstances caused the recordings, mostly made in January of 1969, to sit on the shelf for nearly a year. Consciously aware of how his band was supposed to break new ground with each new project, Paul McCartney envisioned their latest to be a multi-media event. Filmmaker Michael-Lindsay Hogg would document the sessions for the big screen. There would be a high-profile concert—The Beatles’ first in nearly three years—in an exotic location. There would also be an album, of course, but the discomfort of recording in a strange location (Twickenham Film Studios), at weird hours, and under the constant gaze of Lindsay-Hogg’s crew, all while suffering their own personal and business issues, made a mess of the sessions. Trying to hold it together, Paul got bossy. George Harrison quit. John Lennon cracked jokes. 

366 Days at the Drive-In: Day 122

The Date: January 30

The Movie: Let It Be (1970)

What Is It?: People who’ve never seen Let It Be—and people like Paul and Ringo, who probably haven’t watched it in 40 years—think of it as a bitter, bad-vibes fest that depressingly chronicles The Beatles’ final days. Aside from a soft-spoken, passive-aggressive exchange between Paul and George and a brief scene in which Paul complains to John that George doesn’t want to perform in public anymore, Let It Be is free of bad vibes and full of good music, particularly when George suppresses his qualms and the guys get on top of Apple headquarters to rock— and annoy— the locals.

Why Today?: On this day in 1969, The Beatles perform in public one last time when they play a truncated set on the roof of Apple headquarters.