"Let It Be" by the Beatles

The Fab Four's swan song.

Hello! 😊👋

Welcome to a new edition of the Daily Music Picks newsletter!

Today’s music pick comes courtesy of contributor Evan McCrea, who walks us through the final Beatles LP, which celebrates its 54th anniversary this month.

Genre: Rock

Label: Apple / Capitol

Release Date: May 8, 1970

Vibe:  😍😍

The Beatles’ stretch of commercial and artistic success will never be replicated. Period. Who else will ever release 20 No. 1 singles across 17 studio albums in the United States (12 if you’re benchmarking by UK releases) and sell thousands of copies of a compilation every week, long after their breakup?

The band’s influence is without question—which is why Let It Be remains such a fascinating historical document.

After a tumultuous three-year period plagued by in-fighting, the death of their manager, Brian Epstein, and the two-week departure of drummer Ringo Starr, the Beatles returned to the studio in January of 1969 for the “Get Back” sessions. That recording marathon spawned two studio albums, a documentary film, and the legendary rooftop performance at 3 Saville Row—Apple Records London HQ.

Initially slated for release in September of 1969, the band was not particularly impressed with the first four mixes, with John Lennon famously calling it “the s*******t bunch of s*** ever recorded.” Speaking to Rolling Stone in 1970, Lennon said, “We ended up doing Abbey Road quickly and putting out something slick to preserve the myth. I am weak as well as strong, you know, and I wasn’t going to fight for Let It Be because I really couldn’t stand it.” And so, the project was shelved.

That is until Phil Spector entered the picture. His work successfully recaptured the raw energy of the Beatles’ early days, crafting an emotionally charged album pleasing to the ears and overflowing with primal viscosity that was mainly recorded live. Featuring six of the best studio takes, a short outtake (“Dig It”), and a bizarre acoustic shanty (“Maggie Mae”), it showcases their creative prowess as songwriters. And for the final musical coup-de-grace? Four tracks taken from the rooftop performance (“Dig A Pony,” “I’ve Got a Feeling,” “Get Back,” and “One After 909”) demonstrate just how tight The Beatles were as a band.

Let It Be was released only 28 days after The Beatles’ breakup. Though it will never be the most critically acclaimed album of their career, it did offer some comfort in a time of mourning, gently asking fans to just (ahem) let it be.

👉 Don’t forget to click the album image to stream the album on your favorite platform 👈