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Let It Be (song)

"Let It Be" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, released on 6 March 1970 as a single, and (in an alternative mix) as the title track of their album Let It Be. It was written and sung by Paul McCartney, and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. The single version of the song, produced by George Martin, features a softer guitar solo and the orchestral section mixed low, compared with the album version, produced by Phil Spector, featuring a more aggressive guitar solo and the orchestral sections mixed higher.

For other songs with the same name, see Let It Be (disambiguation) § Songs.

"Let It Be"

"You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)"

6 March 1970 (1970-03-06)

  • Apple, 31 January 1969
  • EMI, 30 April 1969 & 4 January 1970
  • 3:50 (single version)
  • 4:03 (album version)

Apple

Lennon–McCartney

George Martin (single version)

At the time, it had the highest debut on the Billboard Hot 100, beginning its chart run at number 6 and eventually reaching the top. It was the Beatles' final single before McCartney announced his departure from the band. Both the Let It Be album and the US single "The Long and Winding Road" were released after McCartney's announced departure from and the subsequent break-up of the group.

Critical reception[edit]

In his review of the single, for the NME, Derek Johnson admired McCartney's performance and the lyrics' "pseudo-religious" qualities. Although he considered that the melody paled beside some of the band's previous singles, Johnson added: "As ever with The Beatles, this is a record to stop you dead in your tracks and compel you to listen attentively."[31] John Gabree of High Fidelity magazine found the lyrics "dangerous politically", but viewed the song as possibly "the best thing musically that McCartney has done".[32] In his album review for Melody Maker, Richard Williams said that McCartney's compositions "seem to be getting looser and less concise" and added that, although the album version of "Let It Be" featured a "much harder guitar solo" than the single, the song "still doesn't have enough substance to become a McCartney standard".[33][34]


AllMusic critic Richie Unterberger describes "Let It Be" as one of "the Beatles' most popular and finest ballads".[35] In Ian MacDonald's view, the song "achieved a popularity well out of proportion to its artistic weight" and it was "'Hey Jude', without the musical and emotional release".[36] Former Creem critic Richard Riegel included it on his 1996 list of the ten most overrated Beatles tracks, saying that, like Simon & Garfunkel's "Bridge over Troubled Water", the song "cater[ed] to the lowest-common-denominator emotional stasis of its listeners. 'Let It Be' left the Beatles no artistic choice but dissolution."[37]


Lennon also commented disparagingly on "Let It Be". In his 1980 Playboy interview, he disavowed any involvement with composing the song, saying: "That's Paul. What can you say? Nothing to do with the Beatles. It could've been Wings. I don't know what he's thinking when he writes 'Let It Be'."[38]


"Let It Be" was ranked number 2 on CILQ-FM's 2000 list of the "Top 500 Pure Rock Songs Of The Century".[39] In 2004, the song was included on Grammy Hall of Fame. Mojo magazine ranked "Let It Be" at number 50 in its 2006 list of "The 101 Greatest Beatles Songs".[40] In a similar list compiled in 2010, Rolling Stone placed it at number 8.[41][42] The magazine also ranked the track at number 20 on its 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list.[43] "Let It Be" holds the top spot on "The Fans' Top 10" poll included in The 100 Best Beatles Songs: An Informed Fan's Guide by Stephen J. Spignesi and Michael Lewis. The song is ranked third on the 100 Best Beatles Songs list, behind "A Day in the Life" and "Strawberry Fields Forever", and continues to bring about numerous pop culture references.[44]

 – lead and backing vocals, piano, maracas, electric piano, bass guitar[25][45]

Paul McCartney

 – backing vocals

John Lennon

 – lead guitars, backing vocals

George Harrison

 – drums

Ringo Starr

According to John Winn's That Magic Feeling, Mark Lewisohn's The Complete Beatles Chronicle and Steve Sullivan's Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings, Volume 1:


The Beatles


Additional musicians

Release: 6 March 1970

Tracks: 7-inch single (Apple) "Let It Be" b/w "You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)"

Producer: George Martin and Chris Thomas

UK chart position: number 2

US : number 1 (2 weeks)

Hot 100 chart position

US : number 1 (4 weeks)[47]

easy listening chart position

The Beatles:[46]

On 13 July 1985, McCartney performed "Let It Be" as one of the closing acts of the charity concert in front of an estimated global television audience exceeding one billion people. It was beset by technical difficulties when his microphone failed for the first two minutes of his piano performance, making it difficult for television viewers and impossible for those in the stadium to hear him. As a result, previous performers David Bowie, Bob Geldof, Alison Moyet and Pete Townshend returned to the stage to back him up. He later joked about changing the lyrics to "There will be some feedback, let it be". He re-recorded his vocals afterwards for future home video releases.

Live Aid

Along with a 700 person congregation, McCartney, Harrison and Starr sang "Let It Be" during a memorial service for at St Martin-in-the-Fields church in Trafalgar Square, in 1998.[91]

Linda McCartney

McCartney also led a crowd rousing rendition as part of the finale of , a benefit concert he organised, featuring many famous musicians, that took place on 20 October 2001 at Madison Square Garden in New York City in response to the 11 September attacks.

the Concert for New York City

In 2003, before playing his concert in Moscow's , McCartney performed a private rendition for Russian president Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin.[92]

Red Square

On 18 July 2008, McCartney performed "Let It Be" with and his band to close the final concert at Shea Stadium in Queens, New York before its demolition.

Billy Joel

On 4 June 2012, McCartney performed the song as part of his set during the Concert for the Queen, celebrating the .

Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II

On 25 June 2022, McCartney performed the song as he headlined the Pyramid stage at the Glastonbury festival. The crowd of over 100,000 sang along, likely the biggest crowd the Pyramid stage had ever seen.

[93]

Film of the Beatles performance was shown on The Ed Sullivan Show on 1 March 1970.


Although the song is performed regularly during McCartney's performances, there are a few notable performances.

"Let It Be"

  • "Let It Be (The Gospel Jam mix)"
  • "Let It Be (Mega Message mix)"

23 March 1987 (1987-03-23)

31 January 1969; 15–17 March 1987

Pop

6:08

CBS

Lennon–McCartney

Stock Aitken Waterman

's Notes on "Let It Be"

Alan W. Pollack