| Committed to completing one last movie for United Artists, but with no inclination to perform in another romp, the Beatles fulfilled their contract with Let It Be, an 80-minute colour documentary of the group rehearsing at Twickenham Film Studios, recording at Apple Studios and playing live on the roof of the Apple office in London. These three strands were filmed in January 1969 but the film wasn't premiered until May 1970, when a boxed album and book set was tied into the release. The album wasn't available on its own until November 1970.
The original plan had been to make an album called 'Get Back' and to film the recording process for a television documentary. There was also the possibility of performing live for the programme and a number of venues were considered &endash; the Roundhouse in London, Liverpool Cathedral and a Roman amphitheatre in Tunisia. The film and album that finally did emerge involved compromises. Instead of being a document of how a group created, Let It Be became a record of how a group fell apart. In order to get the album finished, Paul assumed control, pushing and prodding where necessary, while John and George sulked, openly displaying their resentment. Rows over the album contributed to the group's final break-up. American Allen Klein, now acting as their manager, wasn't happy with the quality of the tapes which engineer Glyn Johns had edited down, and so he brought in a fellow American, producer Phil Spector, to beef up the production. When Paul heard what Spector had done to 'The Long And Winding Road', he requested that it be restored to its original form. After this request was ignored, Paul announced his departure from the Beatles. The Let It Be album was scrappy. Because it was the last album released, it's often assumed that it was the last album recorded. The amazing fact is that after the squabbling that characterized Let It Be the Beatles still went on to record Abbey Road, an album which George Martin still ranks as his favourite. By the time Let it Be was released the Beatles had ceased to exist. Paul had already released his first solo album, although it wasn't until December 1970 that their union was officially dissolved following Paul's lawsuit. Let it Be reached the top of the British and American charts after its release in May 1970. The advance orders of almost 4 million in the US were the largest for any album ever. |
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