Let It Be

This album will released November 17th on CD without Phil Spector's additional tracks and the album is called "Let It Be ... Naked". It will include the obvious omission of "Don't Let Me Down". This soundtrack album was released with the Beatle movie "Let It Be" with the famous rooftop concert that became their final public appearance together as a musical group. The original release was the price of a double LP. What you were buying was the album and a large book called "Get Back" that included color glossy pictures of scenes from the movie. This was packaged together in a black box. I bought the original for $4.99 which was alot of money back then but it was a good deal considering you can't buy the "Get Back" book for less than a $100 now. Later releases varied in the color of the Apple and the packaging. The book was not included in further releases of the album. We have at least three different versions of this album. Here are two of them.

Above: This is an absolutely beautiful copy of this album. The Japanese Apple-Toshiba release has a red Apple logo on the back cover and a gatefold cover. This copy is in Excellent to Mint condition. At the top right is the OBI that always comes with Japanese albums and just above is the inner gatefold. The record label at left shows the condition of the vinyl with a perfect spindle hole. The entire album is very clean and the cover still shines. There are no marks, creases or scratches. The opening, where the record comes out, is to the right of the gatefold and usually the first place to look for wear. This copy shows a clean straight edge with no trace of a dint.

Below: This is the original Apple release in North America from 1970. It was not a gatefold cover. This came in a box, which I foolishly sold, with the Let It Be book shown at left (we still have one of those). The book itself is worth quite a bit now since it was only available with first copies of the album release. Many of the books had poor binding and the covers have split from the rest of the book. This particular copy has good binding and is quite stable. The original North American release had a green Apple on the back cover and a green Apple record label. Some later U.S. pressings had a red Apple label but were released without the box or the book. The entire package (book, box, LP) to a collector is a rare item and is worth a high price. The album was released without the book in November 1970. But there are alot of copies out there considering the LP was certified as a Gold Record in the U.S. eight days after its' release on May 18, 1970.