When it showed in my town my Mom dropped me off for the first showing and she let me stay for every showing that day.I'll always love The Beatles and of course my Mom.
Superb review! My older brother bought the Let It Be album with the book (Canada also got the box set) and some of the pages were falling out in no time. We should all be pleased that we finally have so much footage from back then. There was a point during the rooftop performance in Get Back when John and Paul jumped at the same time in joy, and it just broke me up. Overall we all learned that the Let It Be era wasn't quite as depressing all the time as we thought it was.
We were just in London last wk. Made the pilgrimage to 3 Saville Row .Saw trident studio, The Palladium in Soho, Indica gallery where John met Yoko and Abbey Road studios. Pooped out, back last ni. Helluva trip.
I've seen it a number of times over the years. But before that I bought the lp. I listen to it numerous times and the song that stuck out to me was The Long and Winding Road. To me it meant the long journey The Beatles had taken. All that they had achieved. Not just the music but the social change they were responsible for producing all around the world. We are who we are today because of what they left us in those seven short years. When Paul sings You left me standing here a long long time ago, it reminds me of a man who knows this is the end and wants time to stop so they can live in their hay day forever. But as we all know, life must go on. Still today after more than 50 year, I find that song very heart wrenching. It was an end of a era.
But it wasn't the end. They came back with what I'd call their best album ABBEY ROAD. They went out on top. ABBEY ROAD is still my favorite Beatles' album.
Drove up to London to watch the film when it first came out. Oddly, have a vivid memory of hearing Mungo Jerry's In the Summertime for the first time on the radio on the drive home. It became a massive hit in the UK. Funny that I should think of Mungo Jerry whenever the subject of Let It Be is discussed. Great stuff Mazzy.
The Beatles music had changed our lives, so I was moved to see them as mere humans when the film was released. The familiar high harmonies of John and Paul singing Don't Let Me Down stayed with me...the song captured a moment in time, as Lennon's songs often did, and I wondered if we'd ever hear magic like that again. I remember feeling older than 13 when I left the theatre.
I have the Beatles "Get Back" on Blu-ray and I love it for the fact that it is in Dolby Atmos. I also have the original vinyl release of "Let It Be" with the red label. And I have it on CD and I have "Let It Be...Naked" on CD, which is a 2 CD set.
Get Back is the film for me. I’ve seen LIB countless times. Have the TMOQ Gazette boot which is a great dvd. But as a hardcore fan ,Peter’s film was a giant gift I never saw coming.
I think if they had re-released Let It Be without PJs Get Back, I think the reception would still be mixed. What the Get Back series did was put that one month into proper context, and we understood why things were the way they were, and the fact that they banged out an amazing concert under those conditions, was a miracle in itself. MLH should also get credit for really recording as much as he did, and while there are many blurry moments, overall, when the filming needed to be done properly, it was done well (specifically the set up of the 'official' performances on Jan 30 and 31). And a reason most like why he let PJ do Get Back, was so MLH's vision for Let It Be would still be preserved, and not be redundant.
😂 I had similar experience in 1970. My local cinema had it with Yellow submarine. Went in at 1pm and left at 10.30 saw both 3 times . Loved it then and love it now. Instead of throwing us out the manageress gave us popcorn and orange juice to keep us going and let us phone home to tell our folks where we were
Yea. Get Back reversed something deep within. A lot are still living in a pre-Get Back state of mind though. A cognitive dissonance, acute Beatlemania, chronic yokonosis
I’ve always had a soft spot for the album Let it Be. It was the first Beatles album I ever heard. I was born in 1966, so although I’d heard individual Beatles songs I’d never heard a whole album. In October of 1980 I checked Let it Be out from the public library. It was not what I expected. It didn’t carry any baggage because I didn’t know about where it fell in their history. It seemed loose and goofy to me. It starts with “I dig a Pygmy…” I had no idea who Charles Hawtrey was or what a deaf aid was. But it was funny. I was a huge Monty Python fan and the album felt very Pythonesque. Same with the “ I hope we passed the audition” line at the end. It makes me sad now, because two months after I’d heard it for the first time, John was murdered and I’d just become a Beatles fan.
After I'd seen the film, back in the seventies, I could never understand all the negativity in the critical reviews. For me, it was utterly magical and even transformative. This movie was the first time I had ever seen any kind of insight into how a world class group actually worked. It may not have been an ideal template for aspiring musicians but it was an inspiration to me and by the end of the seventies I had become a full time professional musician, as I remain to this day. A quarter of the way through the 21st century it's kind of understandable that folks today have no idea of how rare and exceptional it was to see ANYTHING that looked like an inside view of how the musical giants actually created their masterpieces. I've never lost that influence on my life, several thousands of gigs later.
I actually liked this better. It's short and to the point. It has all the necessary music numbers and a good ending on the roof. I wasn't alive when it came out so I can't imagine what it was like then. I always heard bad things about it but enjoyed it very much.
You hit on my favorite scene in the movie. I loved George and Ringo working out the music to Octopus’s Garden, singing the names of the chord changes before there were lyrics. I also liked the visual of John and Yoko dancing the waltz to I, Me, Mine.
We fans had a dismal mood back then with the break up and seeing the movie at that time didn’t help either. I couldn’t appreciate it because it all seemed so sad and final. Love the Let It Be album. Some of the songs are beautiful. Thank you for this video.
I did see the film back then.....always liked to see the Beatles....together.....still watch A Hard Days Night......will soon watch the new version of this restoration....your presentation was great...very enthusiastic and positive....made me excited about the film.....thanks!
I saw Let It Be in a movie theatre of Pearl River, NY in 1970 age 8 1/2 . I went in expecting another Help or Yellow Submarine. My reaction to the first half hour was WTF?????????!!! Then it got better. Did anyone else notice the hair is gone? If you looked at the old uncleaned-up Let It Be on the closeups of McCartneys face during his final performance of Let It Be in the studio and you looked at the corner of the screen you could see a hair got caught in the lense! On the new Disney Plus version I was pleased to see they took it out. Part of the reason they look so down in the Twickenham section is that these guys were not used to waking up in the AM! They were night owls and suddenly they are forced to get up and get playing -in some cases hung over or on drugs. Once they get to Apple Studios they are much happier in very way. And the last half hour of performances in the studio and on the roof is terrific.
Such a great review and vodeo overall!! You give excellence detail. I love Let It Be and, although it is sad at times, i always felt it got a bad rap because it was clouded with such a dark time in Beatles history. It never got the proper credit it deserved until now.
The original Let it Be film has always been my favorite Beatles film. It's restoration and rerelease is long overdue! You analyze the film very well too- I agree 100%. Glad to see the Let it Be Naked release get a shoutout too. Always thought that was a cool way to hear the album in a new way.
Excellent Norman! Very positive! I'm a 70-year-old who saw The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show in 1964. Unfortunately I have no memories of that event. 😢 I never got to see LET IT BE, ever until last week. > i signed up with Disney + just to see it. I was overwhelmed with emotions watching the performances. I even shed tears; both times i watched it. It was an Ed Sullivan moment for me! Since then i watched all of GET BACK. I like GET BACK but love LET IT BE! I've always loved the original album . I also have LET IT BE...NAKED.
I really enjoyed being able to blast out that rooftop gig in great quality sound finally - far too good to be left in the void - and too important to be a streaming audio only release ! Another quality Mazzy production ❤
Thank you for this wonderful review. I saw it many times in 1970 in the theaters, being in Texas they had the nerve to pair The Alamo movie with Let It Be 😞 so glad of this clean up so long overdue. Would be nice if they would reissue Let It Be Naked to go along with this release. Take care Mazzy !
What an excellent and enjoyable video, thank you: Wonderful presentation and depth of knowledge. ....oh, and I agree with you, the new restored Let It Be is really enjoyable. This is the film, Get Back is the extended "making of" documentary. How cool to now have both 😊
@@josephblue4135 When Paul is talking about the Maharishi home movies, at one point John strongly inhales mocking Paul. This was edited out of the new version, is inaudible. "By and for Paul" then and now.
It was Abbey Road where Everest was discussed not Let It Be and that was for a photoshoot. They considered naming the album Everest after a brand of cigarettes.
Thanks for your heartfelt review of this remastered film. I, like you, saw the film at its original release in theaters. I did not have a very favorable opinion of it at that time although like you, I was very pleased to actually see the Beatles in some semblance of song creation. But, the film left a very hollow ring in me and I only saw it that one time because, you know, why continue down that bummer path? Now that Peter Jackson's movie Get Back has come out and reframed that entire period, in my mind, correctly, the original Let It Be movie looks even less appealing to me now. It's unfortunate that we could not see Jackson's film first back in 1970 and then years later see Let It Be. If that had happened, we would have known the larger reality of that period of time in their lives and Let It Be would simply have been a more cut down, modern view of snippets of that month in January. I don't like to criticize other peoples opinions, and you are of course, entitled to yours, but in my opinion, we have a great piece of work in Get Back and a inferior but well intentioned piece of work with Let It Be.
Great video & review! I taped the Get Back album on a reel to reel tape recorder off a local am radio station (WKBW -Buffalo, NY) in 1969 & absolutely fell in love with it! The rawness & spontaneity impressed my teenage self & I played it endlessly for all my friends for months. I erased it by recording over it thinking that I would get the new Beatles album for Christmas later that year. Kicked myself for a long time after that when the record never came out. Had a few crummy bootlegs of it & much later got the Stereo Glynn Johns mix acetate on bootleg. When it was released in the Let It Be boxset it brought back such great memories I almost cried. I know I'm in the minority, but I like the Get Back LP better than the Let It Be album! I think it would've been a revolutionary ground breaking release back in 1969!
Great segment! I had a similar experience with Let it Be. My “chills” moment comes with Paul singing his original Let it Be lyric, “There will be no darkness.” Just gorgeous.
I watched Let it be twice on the big screen in the 70s and 80s and I don't want to see it again. Not because I thought it was bad but rather that's how I remember the grainy colored film of them in my youth. Nothing against it being restored for new fans but not for me.
I was raised in Twickenham. Was a child when Let It Be was filmed, cant believe thats the closest I was to the Beatles in my lifetime. Look forward to rewatching the film when I get the chance. Thanks as always Mazzy for such a heartfelt and personal look at this Beatles history.
I bought the box when it first came out in L.A. My book was the first thing to fall apart. The rest of it followed not too long afterward. I still have the single-sleeve LP, though, and it still sounds excellent.
One part of Let It Be which I’d always loved was Paul’s ‘operatic’ vocal on ‘Besame Mucho’ and it was nice to see it again in the restored version of the film. I was disappointed that this song wasn’t included in the Let It Be box set or the Get Back film.
Bought that original box set (may have been the first real boxset) in a Sydney Australia department store when it came out in the early 70's. LP has long disappeared but still have the book, the binding of which was pretty bad leading to lots of loose pages (still have all pages fortunately). It is a terrific product. Sometime much later I picked up a pretty high quality DVD of the movie in a discount record store for very little money. Probably a bootleg copy of the earlier VHS edition but looks good. If Disney get round to releasing the cleaned up Let it Be on BluRay or DVD will certainly be getting it. Loved the video.
Great review, Mazzy. My first exposure was the Kum Back bootleg, which i got when it came out in 70. Loved the rawness of the performances. The next year, when Let it Be came out, I got lucky and found a UK copy of the box in Boston with the book: loved the package, but still prefer the bootleg to Spector's version, which I've never been able to listen to. Just cannot take his over-the-top production, which was contrary to the original concept of the project.
Quite interesting to read people's impressions of the film depending on the time they saw it. If Peter Jackson never gets to extend the Get Back documentary as he originally suggested, the Let It Be film should really be released on DVD/Blu-ray with the complete roof-top performance plus, at least, 2 hours of footage not seen in the original Let It Be film or the Get Back documentary. THAT would be a worthwhile purchase and hardcore fans would eat it up, for sure, don't you think? Come to think of it, this should be taken care of by Peter Jackson and the people at Criterion! Then you'd really see something!!
Actually, it went out of print in 1984. Magnetic Video evolved into CBS/FOX Video in late 1982 and there are copies out there from 1982-84 with CBS/FOX Video labels on the tape itself. CBS/FOX would reuse the old Magnetic Video boxes if they had an overabundance of printed stock but would just update the labels.
I picked up the Japanese box set pressing that was originally released in 70. The interior structure in these box sets is very fragile as you pointed out.
I hadn’t watched it in 30 years so watching this was pretty fresh to me, but had seen the bootleg outtakes on You Tube with Paul, Ringo and John jamming with Yoko right after George left, and heard the “30 Days” boot where you hear John and Paul having a bit of an argument. You’ve probably read Geoff Emerick’s book and know why he wasn’t around at this time - George Martin was there but into building AIR Studios. The new Apple studio that we see in the film halfway through was far from finished, that sycophant “Magic” Alex screwed things up in trying to build it…..which is when they begged Emerick to come back. I did enjoy seeing Let It Be this time around but Lindsey Hogg totally made John, George and Ringo look like Paul’s sidemen!! I also noticed some more profanity this time, not sure if it was censored on the videotape you’re holding, but definitely caught one “effin hell” coming from Mecca. Hoping Peter does the full Get Back Directors Cut but needs to do it in one hour chunks.
I started watching a bootleg version of it several years back and couldn’t get through it. Quality was pretty bad. LOVED Get Back. Now that this is restored and available I’ll give it another try at some point. Pretty cool to see the film before you heard the record. I did that with Nick Cave, One More Time With Feeling in the theater and Skeleton Tree the next day.
Many years ago I had the VHS copy. I hope the film gets released on Blu-ray in Dolby Atmos! When I did have the VHS copy I recorded it on DVD, which I still have!
When it debuted I saw it in a theater in Wilmington N.C. with a good friend. I started regretting it not long after it started playing. I guess it was because the breakup was fresh in my mind. So I will rewatch it on Disney + and hopefully accept it in a different light.
It was issued on 12-inch LaserDisc too, which would look and sound better and was going for $250.00 as soon as 16 years ago, its still running $120.00 to $300.00+ and was also issued on Beta tape and SelectaVision discs (played with a video needle from RCA) that is not as valuable. The 35mm blow-up prints were actually in 3-strip Technicolor, unless you somehow got a Kodak print in some od way (hmmm), but you could get grain like that from any blow-up.
Originally saw Let It Be in 1971 in a second-movie run in Boston at the old Symphony Hall Theatre. Then recalled seeing it on a bootleg DVD in the 90's. Later, I waeched all 6 hours of the Get Back documentary on Disney + in 4K resolution and Dolby ATMOS and also watched the latest restored version of Let It Be in its 4:3 ratio format and the improved upgraded audio in Dolby ATMOS . When Paul sings Let It Be in the restored version , I noticed he exchanged the words with" there will be no sorrow" . This particular Let It Be version is slightly different from the Let It Be song (take 28) in the Let It be Super Deluxe version box set and I believed this version is close to the various Bootlegs versions of Let It Be or Get Back LPs or CDs. Maybe this might be a good topic to discuss the multiple versions of Let it Be such as Phil Spector's version, Let it be ..Naked, Let it Be (2021 Remix), Let it Be in the Anthology 3, Disc 2, etc.
I saw it a couple times when I was a teenager and even ripped the audio of the Rooftop Concert (damn those interrupting street interviews!). Now that I've seen 'Get Back', I cannot think that I will ever watch 'Let It Be' again, even now that it is all cleaned up. From the reviews I've heard (and some have been very positive), I just can't see the point. Cheers on a good video. What I would watch/buy is an uninterrupted Rooftop Concert 'film', with no cutaways. I also wish the concert was available to buy on audio, not just streaming with a subscription. I can't stand Phil Spector's "production" on 'Let It Be'. Not really a fan of Glyn Johns' two versions either. I think they finally got it right with 'Let It Be ... Naked', which is not a widespread opinion, but there are many of us who think so nonetheless. Ideally, it would have been released with one side of in studio performances and one side being the Rooftop Concert. But oh well.
Relatively new to the channel. Loving it though! Out of interest, have you ever reviewed any of the Beatles written biographies? would be interested to know which one works best for you.
I have not but I have superficially showcased the Beatles book collection. Maybe someday I’ll take a deeper dive czcams.com/video/6gLOMLQX8iI/video.htmlsi=aLyewYHK1qAvZJuj
The Beatles #RoofTopConcert is the ultimate live Gig ever!!!! I bought last year edition of bootleg RoofTop vinyl but would like official The Beatles record.
I'm a hard copy guy, and will wait for the inevitable Blu-ray. I'd always assumed, rightly or wrongly, that it was probably McCartney, more than anybody else, who roadblocked the prospect of a better physical media release, over the decades. Of the four, he seemed most likely to be the one concerned about leaving a legacy that cast the Beatles in the best light. Preserving the myth, as Lennon put it so disparagingly.
I have to admit, as a Beatles fan for at least 35 years, I only watched Let it Be once. The music is wonderful, but the movie did not really tell a story. On the other hand, Get Back was AMAZING! I felt like I was witnessing a miracle. Now that I see Let it Be again, I consider it completely inferior to Get Back. Let it Be has some different moments and songs that aren't on Get Back, but I feel like I don't have to watch Let It Be again again now that Get Back is available.
Like Norman, I am appreciative of the job Phil Spector did with the LP. That's an opinion that has caused me no little amount of grief over the years with music fans, but I stand by it. Doesn't mean I think he's better than George Martin. But the fact is, George Martin didn't get the final job of assembling the Let It Be album. For whatever reason(s). Phil Spector did. Of course, he was going to do his thing with it. But really, of all the songs on the album, choirs & strings only went on 3 so far as I can tell. To me, they enhance Let It Be and The Long and Winding Road. Across the Universe could've gone either way -- adorned or stripped down. We know Paul hated Spector's production, but John and George continued to work with Spector into their solo careers, so at least those two didn't seem to mind his work.
I always felt sorry for George. At the end he felt alone. He was a great artist in his own right creating beautiful songs. He fell a little short next to song writer kings like Paul & John.
IMO there is a feeling of tension that permeates the MLH movie. But for me the cathartic moment is when John and Paul stand face to face with crisscross guitars and perform Two of Us. John still has trouble with the lyrics but Paul just laughs it off (at other times during the sessions he had been critical of John’s forgetfulness). It’s just two old scousers having a bash at a song and loving it!
Agree. The Beatles sounded great on the rooftop. So, why would the cops stop them?!? They hadn't done a concert in awhile...this "concert" was new material (unlike the usual "hits" performed in past gigs). Billy Preston was fabulous, Paul's bass sounded great...too bad they weren't permitted to perform the entire album! 😊
The performances on the roof top were so tight. In the the Peter Jackson film, three or four times the subtitles read "released version". I prefer the performance of Get Back in the PJ. documentary because of the exuberance of Paul with the whoops and hollers. Let it Be's was a composite of takes 1 & 2 I believe. One nitpicky detail: the original credits had another version of Get Back that was removed on this version. One other observation I've maintained for over 50 years: I think MLH had a crush on Paul. I've revised that to Paul was the only one who talked to him.
When Paul is talking about the Maharishi home movies, at one point John strongly inhales mocking Paul. This was edited out of the new version, is inaudible. "By and for Paul" then and now.
I've seen, 'Let it Be', once at college (I think '77 or '78). It wasn't the Beatles of 'A Hard Day's Night', but a depressed looking Beatles. The concert on the roof was the highlight of the film, but wasn't a film I would want to see more than once (in contrast, I've seen 'A Hard Day's Night' several times). I haven't seen the Peter Jackson 'Get Back' series, so maybe that version is more balanced.
There was supposedly a 4K remaster of "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart" being worked on back before the pandemic began, but it's no longer even listed on the studio's website. If anyone can help me find a 35mm theatrical print of that, I'm ready to do a rescan and restore myself.
Paul was trying to lead when John and George didn’t want to be led by anyone, especially if that person was Paul. I would say that Paul started leading the band in 1967 when by that point John and George were starting to branch out and become their own identities I don’t even think I can say that Let It Be is more of a dramatic considering how I think “Get Back” has more of those required elements than even Let it Be has. In Get Back we see George leaving the group.. we don’t see that happening in Let It Be. In Get Back we also see that moment where Paul said “and then there was two”… we don’t have that in Let it Be either. We see more conflict and the pressures of meeting a deadline in Get Back than we ever saw in Let it Be… after watching Let it Be, you would think that there were no stakes
True. But the original purpose of the original film, as shot and then eventually released, was to show how the Beatles recorded their next album. At the time, the actual drama of George leaving didn’t move the story because it wasn’t about the end of the Beatles. In hindsight, Get Back tells a bigger story that can’t necessarily in 1970.
Yeah, because looking at it now in comparison to Get Back, Peter Jackson’s version comes off more dramatic than Let it Be. We experience more of the highs, lows, and pressures in Get Back. This was my first ever time watching Let it Be and I didn’t see much low points in it.
Let It Be looks and sounds great. While Peter Jackson’s Get Back is a wonderful gift for Beatles fans, Lindsay-Hogg’s Let It Be is the concise documentary it was always intended to be. It worked then and it works now only the look and sound are vastly improved. Dare I say as a Beatles fan that I am content.
I think let it be naked benefits from having don’t let me down on it , but the long and winding road and let it be takes are better on the original Album . Naked does have a really full sound though ..
Hi, I just bought a Samsung A9+ tablet for my wife. She reads and would like to watch movies on it. Would the AP card work with this Android device? Thanks. (I am new to tablets and don't know much about them.)
I love the original Let It Be Album - w/ the Phil Spector production and the red apple and all that etc - and I had been waiting to see the movie again for years. I am in the minority but I much prefer The original movie to the Get Back doc.But we are lucky to have all of it!
The Mazzy delivers. Thank You re Spector production, sick of the revisionism. When we all grew up with the original, no one was going ‘this is overproduced’. McCartneys nose out of joint because he didn’t appear to have a say but it’s still great
What I enjoyed most about the film was what Ringo and John did for the song Get Back. Do you know that Paul has to wait for traffic at the Abbey Road crossing just like everyone else? :)
Was it the timing? I remember feeling down when I came out of the theater. But these guys were my hero’s and it didn’t seem they were happy or having a good time. I was disappointed . I will try it again.
I totally agree that this is the one you want to see. Not to take away from Get Back but this has far more music than Get Back. Its the main reason everyone should see it. I find both films heartbreaking but when they play its like nothing is wrong. Despite Yoko staring at John like a lost zombie,Incredibly annoying,In both films. Hard to blame her as that is what John wanted but just adds to the misery. Anyway anyone who hasn’t seen Let it Be definitely needs to for sure. Ringo looks exhausted because he was filming The Magic Christian at the same time this insanity was going on. It’s obvious Paul and Ringo are still Beatles but John and George weren’t sure anymore.
I think it's a shame that songs like, Let It Be and The Long and Winding Road were never recorded with George Martin properly. I always think of these songs as missed opportunitys and the versions we know as just polished demos? Let It Be the film is extremely depressing. I always equate it to that secene in the Wizard of Oz where they look behind the curtain at the little controlling man, the magic was exposed and thus no longer worked.
i saw it yesterday just to see if all of this myth about the film was true and... wow... that myth is dead because i enjoyed the hell out of it. it was a way better film than i thought it would be as there is so much life in what peter jackson did for the restoration while i also feel like the restoration vindicated michael lindsay-hogg as he was doing an impossible task at the time when the beatles were breaking up.
When it showed in my town my Mom dropped me off for the first showing and she let me stay for every showing that day.I'll always love The Beatles and of course my Mom.
she was glad to be rid of u for the whole day
Superb review! My older brother bought the Let It Be album with the book (Canada also got the box set) and some of the pages were falling out in no time. We should all be pleased that we finally have so much footage from back then. There was a point during the rooftop performance in Get Back when John and Paul jumped at the same time in joy, and it just broke me up. Overall we all learned that the Let It Be era wasn't quite as depressing all the time as we thought it was.
We were just in London last wk. Made the pilgrimage to 3 Saville Row .Saw trident studio, The Palladium in Soho, Indica gallery where John met Yoko and Abbey Road studios. Pooped out, back last ni. Helluva trip.
I've seen it a number of times over the years. But before that I bought the lp. I listen to it numerous times and the song that stuck out to me was The Long and Winding Road. To me it meant the long journey The Beatles had taken. All that they had achieved. Not just the music but the social change they were responsible for producing all around the world. We are who we are today because of what they left us in those seven short years. When Paul sings You left me standing here a long long time ago, it reminds me of a man who knows this is the end and wants time to stop so they can live in their hay day forever. But as we all know, life must go on. Still today after more than 50 year, I find that song very heart wrenching. It was an end of a era.
But it wasn't the end. They came back with what I'd call their best album ABBEY ROAD. They went out on top. ABBEY ROAD is still my favorite Beatles' album.
Drove up to London to watch the film when it first came out. Oddly, have a vivid memory of hearing Mungo Jerry's In the Summertime for the first time on the radio on the drive home. It became a massive hit in the UK. Funny that I should think of Mungo Jerry whenever the subject of Let It Be is discussed. Great stuff Mazzy.
The Beatles music had changed our lives, so I was moved to see them as mere humans when the film was released. The familiar high harmonies of John and Paul singing Don't Let Me Down stayed with me...the song captured a moment in time, as Lennon's songs often did, and I wondered if we'd ever hear magic like that again. I remember feeling older than 13 when I left the theatre.
I have the Beatles "Get Back" on Blu-ray and I love it for the fact that it is in Dolby Atmos. I also have the original vinyl release of "Let It Be" with the red label. And I have it on CD and I have "Let It Be...Naked" on CD, which is a 2 CD set.
I saw it at the drive-in paired with ‘The Last Waltz’. It was yet another long night for my long suffering parents.
Drive in also 1970. Double feature with Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid.
Get Back is the film for me. I’ve seen LIB countless times. Have the TMOQ Gazette boot which is a great dvd. But as a hardcore fan ,Peter’s film was a giant gift I never saw coming.
Well, I take it back. Watching this again 54 years later, I loved it.
I think if they had re-released Let It Be without PJs Get Back, I think the reception would still be mixed. What the Get Back series did was put that one month into proper context, and we understood why things were the way they were, and the fact that they banged out an amazing concert under those conditions, was a miracle in itself. MLH should also get credit for really recording as much as he did, and while there are many blurry moments, overall, when the filming needed to be done properly, it was done well (specifically the set up of the 'official' performances on Jan 30 and 31). And a reason most like why he let PJ do Get Back, was so MLH's vision for Let It Be would still be preserved, and not be redundant.
😂 I had similar experience in 1970. My local cinema had it with Yellow submarine. Went in at 1pm and left at 10.30 saw both 3 times . Loved it then and love it now. Instead of throwing us out the manageress gave us popcorn and orange juice to keep us going and let us phone home to tell our folks where we were
Yea. Get Back reversed something deep within. A lot are still living in a pre-Get Back state of mind though. A cognitive dissonance, acute Beatlemania, chronic yokonosis
I love the cinematography and the editing in this film....I love the original album.
I’ve always had a soft spot for the album Let it Be. It was the first Beatles album I ever heard. I was born in 1966, so although I’d heard individual Beatles songs I’d never heard a whole album. In October of 1980 I checked Let it Be out from the public library. It was not what I expected. It didn’t carry any baggage because I didn’t know about where it fell in their history. It seemed loose and goofy to me. It starts with “I dig a Pygmy…” I had no idea who Charles Hawtrey was or what a deaf aid was. But it was funny. I was a huge Monty Python fan and the album felt very Pythonesque. Same with the “ I hope we passed the audition” line at the end. It makes me sad now, because two months after I’d heard it for the first time, John was murdered and I’d just become a Beatles fan.
After I'd seen the film, back in the seventies, I could never understand all the negativity in the critical reviews.
For me, it was utterly magical and even transformative. This movie was the first time I had ever seen any kind of insight into how a world class group actually worked. It may not have been an ideal template for aspiring musicians but it was an inspiration to me and by the end of the seventies I had become a full time professional musician, as I remain to this day.
A quarter of the way through the 21st century it's kind of understandable that folks today have no idea of how rare and exceptional it was to see ANYTHING that looked like an inside view of how the musical giants actually created their masterpieces.
I've never lost that influence on my life, several thousands of gigs later.
Hi
Thanks for your beautiful homage to Let It Be and The Beatles.
Take care.
I actually liked this better. It's short and to the point. It has all the necessary music numbers and a good ending on the roof. I wasn't alive when it came out so I can't imagine what it was like then. I always heard bad things about it but enjoyed it very much.
You hit on my favorite scene in the movie. I loved George and Ringo working out the music to Octopus’s Garden, singing the names of the chord changes before there were lyrics. I also liked the visual of John and Yoko dancing the waltz to I, Me, Mine.
We fans had a dismal mood back then with the break up and seeing the movie at that time didn’t help either. I couldn’t appreciate it because it all seemed so sad and final. Love the Let It Be album. Some of the songs are beautiful. Thank you for this video.
I did see the film back then.....always liked to see the Beatles....together.....still watch A Hard Days Night......will soon watch the new version of this restoration....your presentation was great...very enthusiastic
and positive....made me excited about the film.....thanks!
I saw Let It Be in a movie theatre of Pearl River, NY in 1970 age 8 1/2 . I went in expecting another Help or Yellow Submarine. My reaction to the first half hour was WTF?????????!!! Then it got better.
Did anyone else notice the hair is gone? If you looked at the old uncleaned-up Let It Be on the closeups of McCartneys face during his final performance of Let It Be in the studio and you looked at the corner of the screen you could see a hair got caught in the lense! On the new Disney Plus version I was pleased to see they took it out.
Part of the reason they look so down in the Twickenham section is that these guys were not used to waking up in the AM! They were night owls and suddenly they are forced to get up and get playing -in some cases hung over or on drugs.
Once they get to Apple Studios they are much happier in very way. And the last half hour of performances in the studio and on the roof is terrific.
Liked how you said that “Let it be” had a certain beauty. I would agree.
Such a great review and vodeo overall!! You give excellence detail. I love Let It Be and, although it is sad at times, i always felt it got a bad rap because it was clouded with such a dark time in Beatles history. It never got the proper credit it deserved until now.
The original Let it Be film has always been my favorite Beatles film. It's restoration and rerelease is long overdue! You analyze the film very well too- I agree 100%. Glad to see the Let it Be Naked release get a shoutout too. Always thought that was a cool way to hear the album in a new way.
Always love and greatly appreciate your insightful and passionate stories!!! Thank you Mazzy!!!
I think For You Blue is a Harrison song. Anyway, great video.
Yes of course. A slip of the lips as I was think of Lennon’s slide playing. My mistake 🤠😵💫
What a brilliant review. My thoughts paralleled many of yours. Grazie.
I love American’s trying to pronounce British place names 😀 will always make me smile. Another great video, keep up the amazing work
You best ever! Loads of passion, knowledge ,love.
I appreciate that!✌🏼
Great review - thank you very much 🙏
Excellent Norman!
Very positive!
I'm a 70-year-old who saw The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show in 1964. Unfortunately I have no memories of that event. 😢
I never got to see LET IT BE, ever until last week. > i signed up with Disney + just to see it. I was overwhelmed with emotions watching the performances. I even shed tears; both times i watched it.
It was an Ed Sullivan moment for me!
Since then i watched all of GET BACK.
I like GET BACK but love LET IT BE!
I've always loved the original album . I also have LET IT BE...NAKED.
I really enjoyed being able to blast out that rooftop gig in great quality sound finally - far too good to be left in the void - and too important to be a streaming audio only release ! Another quality Mazzy production ❤
Thank you for this wonderful review. I saw it many times in 1970 in the theaters, being in Texas they had the nerve to pair The Alamo movie with Let It Be 😞 so glad of this clean up so long overdue. Would be nice if they would reissue Let It Be Naked to go along with this release. Take care Mazzy !
What an excellent and enjoyable video, thank you: Wonderful presentation and depth of knowledge. ....oh, and I agree with you, the new restored Let It Be is really enjoyable.
This is the film, Get Back is the extended "making of" documentary. How cool to now have both 😊
Finest review!! Thank you 😊
A great thing they kept the original aspect ratio. Get Back is cropped for 16:9.
Glad someone mentioned that. I love that Let It Be is not cropped.
@@josephblue4135 When Paul is talking about the Maharishi home movies, at one point John strongly inhales mocking Paul. This was edited out of the new version, is inaudible. "By and for Paul" then and now.
Great review!!
It was Abbey Road where Everest was discussed not Let It Be and that was for a photoshoot. They considered naming the album Everest after a brand of cigarettes.
Nice jacket, Mazzy. Nice review as well. Cheers.
Thanks for your heartfelt review of this remastered film. I, like you, saw the film at its original release in theaters. I did not have a very favorable opinion of it at that time although like you, I was very pleased to actually see the Beatles in some semblance of song creation. But, the film left a very hollow ring in me and I only saw it that one time because, you know, why continue down that bummer path? Now that Peter Jackson's movie Get Back has come out and reframed that entire period, in my mind, correctly, the original Let It Be movie looks even less appealing to me now. It's unfortunate that we could not see Jackson's film first back in 1970 and then years later see Let It Be. If that had happened, we would have known the larger reality of that period of time in their lives and Let It Be would simply have been a more cut down, modern view of snippets of that month in January. I don't like to criticize other peoples opinions, and you are of course, entitled to yours, but in my opinion, we have a great piece of work in Get Back and a inferior but well intentioned piece of work with Let It Be.
Great video & review! I taped the Get Back album on a reel to reel tape recorder off a local am radio station (WKBW -Buffalo, NY) in 1969 & absolutely fell in love with it! The rawness & spontaneity impressed my teenage self & I played it endlessly for all my friends for months. I erased it by recording over it thinking that I would get the new Beatles album for Christmas later that year. Kicked myself for a long time after that when the record never came out. Had a few crummy bootlegs of it & much later got the Stereo Glynn Johns mix acetate on bootleg. When it was released in the Let It Be boxset it brought back such great memories I almost cried. I know I'm in the minority, but I like the Get Back LP better than the Let It Be album! I think it would've been a revolutionary ground breaking release back in 1969!
Great segment! I had a similar experience with Let it Be. My “chills” moment comes with Paul singing his original Let it Be lyric, “There will be no darkness.” Just gorgeous.
I watched Let it be twice on the big screen in the 70s and 80s and I don't want to see it again. Not because I thought it was bad but rather that's how I remember the grainy colored film of them in my youth. Nothing against it being restored for new fans but not for me.
Crazy good presentation, hung on every word.
I was raised in Twickenham. Was a child when Let It Be was filmed, cant believe thats the closest I was to the Beatles in my lifetime. Look forward to rewatching the film when I get the chance. Thanks as always Mazzy for such a heartfelt and personal look at this Beatles history.
Thank you. I visited Twickenham in 1978 as my friend had a small travel agency there ✌🏻
I was at college then in Twickenham...we could have met 👍
I bought the box when it first came out in L.A. My book was the first thing to fall apart. The rest of it followed not too long afterward. I still have the single-sleeve LP, though, and it still sounds excellent.
One part of Let It Be which I’d always loved was Paul’s ‘operatic’ vocal on ‘Besame Mucho’ and it was nice to see it again in the restored version of the film. I was disappointed that this song wasn’t included in the Let It Be box set or the Get Back film.
Bought that original box set (may have been the first real boxset) in a Sydney Australia department store when it came out in the early 70's. LP has long disappeared but still have the book, the binding of which was pretty bad leading to lots of loose pages (still have all pages fortunately). It is a terrific product. Sometime much later I picked up a pretty high quality DVD of the movie in a discount record store for very little money. Probably a bootleg copy of the earlier VHS edition but looks good. If Disney get round to releasing the cleaned up Let it Be on BluRay or DVD will certainly be getting it. Loved the video.
Great review, Mazzy. My first exposure was the Kum Back bootleg, which i got when it came out in 70. Loved the rawness of the performances. The next year, when Let it Be came out, I got lucky and found a UK copy of the box in Boston with the book: loved the package, but still prefer the bootleg to Spector's version, which I've never been able to listen to. Just cannot take his over-the-top production, which was contrary to the original concept of the project.
Quite interesting to read people's impressions of the film depending on the time they saw it.
If Peter Jackson never gets to extend the Get Back documentary as he originally suggested, the Let It Be film should really be released on DVD/Blu-ray with the complete roof-top performance plus, at least, 2 hours of footage not seen in the original Let It Be film or the Get Back documentary. THAT would be a worthwhile purchase and hardcore fans would eat it up, for sure, don't you think? Come to think of it, this should be taken care of by Peter Jackson and the people at Criterion! Then you'd really see something!!
George wrote For You Blue not John Mazzy.
You forgot to mention One After 909.
Thanks for the recap.
Saw the film at a midnight showing around 1976 or so. Before VHS was affordable. Watching tonight.
Actually, it went out of print in 1984. Magnetic Video evolved into CBS/FOX Video in late 1982 and there are copies out there from 1982-84 with CBS/FOX Video labels on the tape itself. CBS/FOX would reuse the old Magnetic Video boxes if they had an overabundance of printed stock but would just update the labels.
I picked up the Japanese box set pressing that was originally released in 70. The interior structure in these box sets is very fragile as you pointed out.
I hadn’t watched it in 30 years so watching this was pretty fresh to me, but had seen the bootleg outtakes on You Tube with Paul, Ringo and John jamming with Yoko right after George left, and heard the “30 Days” boot where you hear John and Paul having a bit of an argument. You’ve probably read Geoff Emerick’s book and know why he wasn’t around at this time - George Martin was there but into building AIR Studios. The new Apple studio that we see in the film halfway through was far from finished, that sycophant “Magic” Alex screwed things up in trying to build it…..which is when they begged Emerick to come back. I did enjoy seeing Let It Be this time around but Lindsey Hogg totally made John, George and Ringo look like Paul’s sidemen!! I also noticed some more profanity this time, not sure if it was censored on the videotape you’re holding, but definitely caught one “effin hell” coming from Mecca. Hoping Peter does the full Get Back Directors Cut but needs to do it in one hour chunks.
I started watching a bootleg version of it several years back and couldn’t get through it. Quality was pretty bad. LOVED Get Back. Now that this is restored and available I’ll give it another try at some point. Pretty cool to see the film before you heard the record. I did that with Nick Cave, One More Time With Feeling in the theater and Skeleton Tree the next day.
Saw this in the theaters when it was first released. Kinda sad but wonderful to behold.
Many years ago I had the VHS copy. I hope the film gets released on Blu-ray in Dolby Atmos! When I did have the VHS copy I recorded it on DVD, which I still have!
When it debuted I saw it in a theater in Wilmington N.C. with a good friend. I started regretting it not long after it started playing. I guess it was because the breakup was fresh in my mind. So I will rewatch it on Disney + and hopefully accept it in a different light.
You beat me in reviewing this.
It was issued on 12-inch LaserDisc too, which would look and sound better and was going for $250.00 as soon as 16 years ago, its still running $120.00 to $300.00+ and was also issued on Beta tape and SelectaVision discs (played with a video needle from RCA) that is not as valuable. The 35mm blow-up prints were actually in 3-strip Technicolor, unless you somehow got a Kodak print in some od way (hmmm), but you could get grain like that from any blow-up.
Originally saw Let It Be in 1971 in a second-movie run in Boston at the old Symphony Hall Theatre. Then recalled seeing it on a bootleg DVD in the 90's. Later, I waeched all 6 hours of the Get Back documentary on Disney + in 4K resolution and Dolby ATMOS and also watched the latest restored version of Let It Be in its 4:3 ratio format and the improved upgraded audio in Dolby ATMOS .
When Paul sings Let It Be in the restored version , I noticed he exchanged the words with" there will be no sorrow" . This particular Let It Be version is slightly different from the Let It Be song (take 28) in the Let It be Super Deluxe version box set and I believed this version is close to the various Bootlegs versions of Let It Be or Get Back LPs or CDs. Maybe this might be a good topic to discuss the multiple versions of Let it Be such as Phil Spector's version, Let it be ..Naked, Let it Be (2021 Remix), Let it Be in the Anthology 3, Disc 2, etc.
I love the 3 song portion too
SET HIM FREE by APOLOGETIX a great Beatles parody of LET IT BE, it's on CZcams
I saw it a couple times when I was a teenager and even ripped the audio of the Rooftop Concert (damn those interrupting street interviews!). Now that I've seen 'Get Back', I cannot think that I will ever watch 'Let It Be' again, even now that it is all cleaned up. From the reviews I've heard (and some have been very positive), I just can't see the point. Cheers on a good video. What I would watch/buy is an uninterrupted Rooftop Concert 'film', with no cutaways. I also wish the concert was available to buy on audio, not just streaming with a subscription. I can't stand Phil Spector's "production" on 'Let It Be'. Not really a fan of Glyn Johns' two versions either. I think they finally got it right with 'Let It Be ... Naked', which is not a widespread opinion, but there are many of us who think so nonetheless. Ideally, it would have been released with one side of in studio performances and one side being the Rooftop Concert. But oh well.
Relatively new to the channel. Loving it though! Out of interest, have you ever reviewed any of the Beatles written biographies? would be interested to know which one works best for you.
I have not but I have superficially showcased the Beatles book collection. Maybe someday I’ll take a deeper dive
czcams.com/video/6gLOMLQX8iI/video.htmlsi=aLyewYHK1qAvZJuj
I first saw Let It Be in 1993 as a poor bootleg copy. So this was a treat... Hopefully the rooftop show will be released on vinyl and CD soon...
The Beatles #RoofTopConcert is the ultimate live Gig ever!!!! I bought last year edition of bootleg RoofTop vinyl but would like official The Beatles record.
I'm a hard copy guy, and will wait for the inevitable Blu-ray.
I'd always assumed, rightly or wrongly, that it was probably McCartney, more than anybody else, who roadblocked the prospect of a better physical media release, over the decades.
Of the four, he seemed most likely to be the one concerned about leaving a legacy that cast the Beatles in the best light. Preserving the myth, as Lennon put it so disparagingly.
I have to admit, as a Beatles fan for at least 35 years, I only watched Let it Be once. The music is wonderful, but the movie did not really tell a story. On the other hand, Get Back was AMAZING! I felt like I was witnessing a miracle. Now that I see Let it Be again, I consider it completely inferior to Get Back. Let it Be has some different moments and songs that aren't on Get Back, but I feel like I don't have to watch Let It Be again again now that Get Back is available.
Like Norman, I am appreciative of the job Phil Spector did with the LP. That's an opinion that has caused me no little amount of grief over the years with music fans, but I stand by it. Doesn't mean I think he's better than George Martin. But the fact is, George Martin didn't get the final job of assembling the Let It Be album. For whatever reason(s). Phil Spector did. Of course, he was going to do his thing with it. But really, of all the songs on the album, choirs & strings only went on 3 so far as I can tell. To me, they enhance Let It Be and The Long and Winding Road. Across the Universe could've gone either way -- adorned or stripped down. We know Paul hated Spector's production, but John and George continued to work with Spector into their solo careers, so at least those two didn't seem to mind his work.
I’ve still only ever seen this from a bootleg VHS tape I still have.
I always felt sorry for George. At the end he felt alone. He was a great artist in his own right creating beautiful songs. He fell a little short next to song writer kings like Paul & John.
IMO there is a feeling of tension that permeates the MLH movie. But for me the cathartic moment is when John and Paul stand face to face with crisscross guitars and perform Two of Us. John still has trouble with the lyrics but Paul just laughs it off (at other times during the sessions he had been critical of John’s forgetfulness). It’s just two old scousers having a bash at a song and loving it!
Agree. The Beatles sounded great on the rooftop. So, why would the cops stop them?!? They hadn't done a concert in awhile...this "concert" was new material (unlike the usual "hits" performed in past gigs). Billy Preston was fabulous, Paul's bass sounded great...too bad they weren't permitted to perform the entire album! 😊
The performances on the roof top were so tight. In the the Peter Jackson film, three or four times the subtitles read "released version". I prefer the performance of Get Back in the PJ. documentary because of the exuberance of Paul with the whoops and hollers. Let it Be's was a composite of takes 1 & 2 I believe.
One nitpicky detail: the original credits had another version of Get Back that was removed on this version.
One other observation I've maintained for over 50 years: I think MLH had a crush on Paul. I've revised that to Paul was the only one who talked to him.
When Paul is talking about the Maharishi home movies, at one point John strongly inhales mocking Paul. This was edited out of the new version, is inaudible. "By and for Paul" then and now.
I skipped the film because I was disappointed with the 'soundtrack'. The Let It Be album has to be the *spottiest* album in the Beatles' catalog.
I've seen, 'Let it Be', once at college (I think '77 or '78). It wasn't the Beatles of 'A Hard Day's Night', but a depressed looking Beatles. The concert on the roof was the highlight of the film, but wasn't a film I would want to see more than once (in contrast, I've seen 'A Hard Day's Night' several times). I haven't seen the Peter Jackson 'Get Back' series, so maybe that version is more balanced.
There was supposedly a 4K remaster of "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart" being worked on back before the pandemic began, but it's no longer even listed on the studio's website. If anyone can help me find a 35mm theatrical print of that, I'm ready to do a rescan and restore myself.
Question for you. Had this been modern times where its much more acceptable to have side pursuits, do you think they still would have broken up?
Paul was trying to lead when John and George didn’t want to be led by anyone, especially if that person was Paul. I would say that Paul started leading the band in 1967 when by that point John and George were starting to branch out and become their own identities
I don’t even think I can say that Let It Be is more of a dramatic considering how I think “Get Back” has more of those required elements than even Let it Be has. In Get Back we see George leaving the group.. we don’t see that happening in Let It Be. In Get Back we also see that moment where Paul said “and then there was two”… we don’t have that in Let it Be either. We see more conflict and the pressures of meeting a deadline in Get Back than we ever saw in Let it Be… after watching Let it Be, you would think that there were no stakes
True. But the original purpose of the original film, as shot and then eventually released, was to show how the Beatles recorded their next album. At the time, the actual drama of George leaving didn’t move the story because it wasn’t about the end of the Beatles. In hindsight, Get Back tells a bigger story that can’t necessarily in 1970.
Yeah, because looking at it now in comparison to Get Back, Peter Jackson’s version comes off more dramatic than Let it Be. We experience more of the highs, lows, and pressures in Get Back. This was my first ever time watching Let it Be and I didn’t see much low points in it.
Let It Be looks and sounds great. While Peter Jackson’s Get Back is a wonderful gift for Beatles fans, Lindsay-Hogg’s Let It Be is the concise documentary it was always intended to be. It worked then and it works now only the look and sound are vastly improved. Dare I say as a Beatles fan that I am content.
I think let it be naked benefits from having don’t let me down on it , but the long and winding road and let it be takes are better on the original Album . Naked does have a really full sound though ..
Hi, I just bought a Samsung A9+ tablet for my wife. She reads and would like to watch movies on it. Would the AP card work with this Android device? Thanks. (I am new to tablets and don't know much about them.)
I love the original Let It Be Album - w/ the Phil Spector production and the red apple and all that etc - and I had been waiting to see the movie again for years. I am in the minority but I much prefer The original movie to the Get Back doc.But we are lucky to have all of it!
I’ve Got A Feeling might be my favorite McCartney vocal.
Q: Is Let it Be a short version in fact of Get Back? Are there scenes in Let it Be that are not in Get Back? Thanks
There is no exact duplication of film in Get Back or Let It Be. Get Back used no film or shots from Let It Be so you need to see both.
Great video, but For You Blue was written and sung by George Harrison.
The Mazzy delivers. Thank You re Spector production, sick of the revisionism. When we all grew up with the original, no one was going ‘this is overproduced’. McCartneys nose out of joint because he didn’t appear to have a say but it’s still great
What I enjoyed most about the film was what Ringo and John did for the song Get Back. Do you know that Paul has to wait for traffic at the Abbey Road crossing just like everyone else? :)
Was it the timing? I remember feeling down when I came out of the theater. But these guys were my hero’s and it didn’t seem they were happy or having a good time. I was disappointed . I will try it again.
I think Get Back has made this superfluous for me.
Mazzy.......at what point did you look up who Matt Busby was ????
Waiting for the blu-ray, or streaming or whatever…
I totally agree that this is the one you want to see. Not to take away from Get Back but this has far more music than Get Back. Its the main reason everyone should see it. I find both films heartbreaking but when they play its like nothing is wrong. Despite Yoko staring at John like a lost zombie,Incredibly annoying,In both films. Hard to blame her as that is what John wanted but just adds to the misery.
Anyway anyone who hasn’t seen Let it Be definitely needs to for sure.
Ringo looks exhausted because he was filming The Magic Christian at the same time this insanity was going on. It’s obvious Paul and Ringo are still Beatles but John and George weren’t sure anymore.
It was very fitting that their last performance was in England, the wonderful old country that gave them birth.
I think it's a shame that songs like, Let It Be and The Long and Winding Road were never recorded with George Martin properly. I always think of these songs as missed opportunitys and the versions we know as just polished demos? Let It Be the film is extremely depressing. I always equate it to that secene in the Wizard of Oz where they look behind the curtain at the little controlling man, the magic was exposed and thus no longer worked.
i saw it yesterday just to see if all of this myth about the film was true and... wow... that myth is dead because i enjoyed the hell out of it. it was a way better film than i thought it would be as there is so much life in what peter jackson did for the restoration while i also feel like the restoration vindicated michael lindsay-hogg as he was doing an impossible task at the time when the beatles were breaking up.
Did they keep the crappy cutaways during I've Got A Feeling?
Yes
The "h" is silent in "Twickenham".