Lennon on heroin during a TV interview. Harrison brawling after a nasty jibe about Yoko
Out of the 12 studio albums The Beatles recorded, there was one their fans greeted without the usual joy and wonder but with a mixture of disappointment and dread. That was Let It Be, released in 1970.
The title was a phrase used by parents in Liverpool to calm quarrelsome or fractious children. It seemed tacit confirmation of the widespread rumour that the world's most beloved pop band was imploding.
The album had initially been named after Paul McCartney's song Get Back, reflecting The Beatles' wish to return to a simpler, more 'honest' style after electronically embroidered tracks like Paul's Penny Lane or John's Tomorrow Never Knows.
With it came a cinema documentary intended to be little more than a 'Beatles at work' promo, to make amends to their public for having given up touring four years earlier. However, it turned out rather differently. So much so that after its theatrical release alongside the album, it disappeared from sight for 54 years, other than in odd YouTube clips and bootlegs.
Now it has been resurrected, however, as part of the relentless monetising of The Beatles in a world that seemingly can't get enough of them. A digitally restored version by the Oscar-winning director Peter Jackson is to be streamed on Disney+ next week as a postscript to his eight-hour-plus 2021 documentary about the Get Back album's recording sessions.
Source: Philip Norman/dailymail.co.uk
