Let It Be

Let It Be is the twelfth and final studio album by the Beatles, released on 8 May 1970 on Apple Records. It began as Paul McCartney's attempt to take the band back to its rock 'n' roll roots, with rehearsals starting at Twickenham Film Studios on 2 January 1969 for a planned television documentary. The sessions were tense, and George Harrison briefly left. When he returned, the band moved to their own Apple Studio and brought in Billy Preston on keyboards. Their rooftop concert on 30 January 1969 was their last public performance, and three tracks on the album come from it.

The record arrived after the band had already moved on to Abbey Road, and Phil Spector was asked to assemble it. His orchestral and choral overdubs, especially on "The Long and Winding Road", upset McCartney. It topped the charts in the UK and US, and was poorly received at first, but later opinion has been kinder. McCartney's 2003 Let It Be... Naked strips the production back for a different view of the songs.