The Beatles' Let It Be

I'm a big music fan and I enjoy reading in depth examinations of music, so the 33 1/3 series has really grabbed my attention. The book examining "Let It Be" offers much less insight on the whys of the recording process, but it does a good job chronicling the hows. If you want a quick read about the best band ever to be, than this is as good a book as you'll find. One thing I thought was interesting was how the author refers to the 4 Beatles by their first name but everyone else by their full or last name. I think that's an interesting convention, because it illustrates how the Beatles always feel like buddies of yours that you remember fondly.

This book differs from nearly all of the other first eleven in this series in that instead of involving a detailed look at the songs and the music involved, given the artistes involved here are the Beatles, the author wisely focuses on the history around the recordings instead. In so doing, Matteo has produced a little gem. Working chronologically he covers how and why the recordings occurred starting with the sessions at the Twickenham sound stage and the possible idea of a live concert at a site in North Africa to follow, progressing to the subsequent recordings made at the new Apple Studios aimed at avoiding the controls of Abbey Road, and the final Saville Row rooftop concert. The book closes with the consequences of how under different producers the incomplete recordings fell into limbo to be "rescued" by Phil Spector and the subsequent history of numerous bootleg tapes from the sessions, culminating in the release of "Let it be...Naked", a missed opportunity in the author's eyes. What Matteo does in this story telling is include a lot of factual evidence from the thorough research he has done through interviews for the book (but it seems with none of the Beatles) and technical data garnered from many other books. But more importantly he also demyths a lot of prior held mis-perceptions along the way. His covering of the growing disillusionment of Harrison and Martin as the sessions devolve into chaos offsets the more well known stories of Ono and McCartney outbursts. From all the evidence presented, the different sessions were not the gloom and doom often conveyed subsequently especially through the released film and individual Beatles retrospective comments. Despite the growing apart that had started when recording the White Album amongst band members and Lennon's growing drug problems, a high level of fun and the sheer level of songs recorded and tested, including many that surfaced later on "Abbey Road" and solo albums is testament to the creativity that was still occurring. The two biggest new truths for me after reading the book, are that the maligning of Allen Klein due to his business practices may have been warranted in part but are offset by the simple fact that the financial disciplines he introduced at Apple probably saved the Beatles from individual financial ruin, and that given all the hard evidence on show that this group would not stay together, the subsequent Abbey Road" recording stands as a truly iconic finale and group effort.

This booklet is about much more than just the making of Let It Be. Instead the author immerses us in the post White Ablum rehersals, recordings, and interpersonal dynamics of the group and in so doing exposes the myth of an acrimonious implosion of one of the most phenomenal cultural forces ever to have enhtralled an entire generation. To me, it is no coincidence that the 60's truly ended, not with the tragdy of ALtamont, but when Jhon Lennon annonced "the dream is over". Anyway, this book documents how productive the group was during the last stages of it's career (which obviously comes through on Abbey Road). A welcome addition to the 33 1/3 series!

The 33 1/3 series is really a great idea, functionally however many of the books merely rehash old articles and interviews. The Let It Be volume, however is a noble attempt to bring together information from many sources about the recording of the album, the mood of the Beatles and their collaborators, a decent degree of technical information and the situation surrounding the album's initial shelving, it's place as the best band in the world's swan song, the re-release of the alternate version in 2003 and the upcoming re-release of the movie which has been under wraps for way too long. Definitely worth a read by any Beatles fan.