News

As expected, The Beatles' post-break up Let It Be album gets a Giles Martin re-mix and will be available worldwide October 15th 2021 in multiple editions. For the new release Martin and engineer Sam Okell produced stereo, 5.1 surround DTS and Dolby Atmos mixes. The new stereo mix sourced directly from the original session and rooftop performance 8 track tapes were "guided by the original "reproduced for disc" Phil Spector version.

The physical and digital "Super Deluxe" collections also feature 27 previously unreleased session recordings, a 4-track Let It Be EP and he never before released (but often bootlegged) 14 track Get Back stereo LP mix compiled May 1969 by engineer Glyn Johns. The original Let It Be release was delayed when "the boys" decided to shelve the project to record and release Abbey Road.

Let It Be was finally released in the U.K. May 8, 1970 and in The United States May 18th to accompany the release of the "Let It Be" film. From the new release's press blurb: "More than 60 hours of unreleased film footage, more than 150 hours of unreleased audio recordings, and hundreds of unpublished photographs have been newly explored and meticulously restored for three complementary and definitive Beatles releases this fall: a feast for the senses spanning the entire archival treasure. The new Let It Be Special Edition is joined by 'The Beatles: Get Back', the hotly-anticipated documentary series directed by three-time Oscar®-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson, and a beautiful new hardcover book also titled 'The Beatles: Get Back'. The raw sources explored for the new projects have revealed that a more joyous, benevolent spirit imbued the sessions than was conveyed in the 1970 'Let It B'e film’s 80 minutes".

Pre-order links:

Save on Special Edition

Stream Let It Be stereo mix

Stream Don't Let Me Down (First rooftop performance

Stream "For You Blue" (Get Back LP mix)

Multiple Editions:

Let It Be Special Edition (Super Deluxe): 57 tracks

* 5CD + 1Blu-ray (album’s new stereo mix in hi-res 96kHz/24-bit; new 5.1 surround DTS and Dolby Atmos album mixes) with 105-page hardbound book in a 10” by 12” die-cut slipcase

* 180-gram, half-speed mastered vinyl 4LP + 45rpm 12-inch vinyl EP with 105-page hardbound book in a 12.5” by 12.5” die-cut slipcase

* Digital Audio Collection (stereo + album mixes in hi res 96kHz/24-bit / Dolby Atmos)

Let It Be (new stereo mix of original album): 12 tracks
Previously unreleased outtakes, studio jams, rehearsals: 27 tracks
Previously unreleased 1969 Get Back LP mix by Glyn Johns, newly mastered: 14 tracks
Let It Be EP: 4 tracks
Glyn Johns’ unreleased 1970 mixes: “Across The Universe” and “I Me Mine”
Giles Martin & Sam Okell’s new stereo mixes: “Don’t Let Me Down” & “Let It Be” singles
The Super Deluxe CD and vinyl collections’ beautiful book features Paul McCartney’s foreword; an introduction by Giles Martin; a remembrance by Glyn Johns; insightful chapters and detailed track notes by Beatles historian, author, and radio producer Kevin Howlett; and an essay by journalist and author John Harris exploring the sessions’ myths vs. their reality. The book is illustrated, scrapbook style, with rare and previously unpublished photos by Ethan A. Russell and Linda McCartney, as well as never before published images of handwritten lyrics, session notes, sketches, Beatles correspondence, tape boxes, film frames, and more.

Let It Be Special Edition (Deluxe): 26 tracks

* 2CD in digipak with a 40-page booklet abridged from the Super Deluxe book
Let It Be (new stereo mix of original album): 12 tracks
Previously unreleased outtakes, studio jams, rehearsals: 13 tracks
Previously unreleased 1970 mix for “Across The Universe”

Let It Be Special Edition (Standard): 12 tracks
* 1CD in digipak (new stereo mix of original album)
* Digital (album’s new mixes in stereo + hi res 96kHz/24-bit / Dolby Atmos)
* 180-gram half-speed mastered 1LP vinyl (new stereo mix of original album)
* Limited Edition picture disc 1LP vinyl illustrated with the album art (new stereo mix of original album)

The press announcement included a great deal more information but for now and until the set is released this will have to suffice other than to report that tonight (August 26th, 2021) "The Beatles LOVE by makes a return opening at The Mirage Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. Since opening to (well deserved) rave reviews the how has performed to more than 10 million audience members.

Ed Note

While the press release describes the Let It Be album as "chart topping" and it may have eventually done that, when it was first released Beatles fans, bitter, or defeated or deflated that "the dream was over", wholly rejected it. The record store where I worked at the time Minute Man Records in Harvard Square, ordered boxes of the now rare and collectible Let It Be limited edition box set that came with a full color glossy 164 page book documenting the roof top event and studio recordings, thinking it would quickly sell out especially since it was flown in and arrived well before the standard American LP set's release. The box did not sell at all and after a few weeks taking up valuable upper bin space, the hundreds of copies were stacked below to gather dust. Eventually the store sold them off (and not quickly) for $5.00 a piece. Today on Discogs the set's median price is $208.00.

Over time as bitter Beatles fans recovered from their break-up bitterness and ennui (after all most fans had grown up between 1963 and 1969 and though it was only 6 years it felt like a lifetime) the album's music and the album itself became far better appreciated.