The Beatles: Let It Be Box Set Review: The 1969 Get Back Album Arrives at Last

Introduction

The Let It Be box set is the newest in a run of anniversary releases that also includes Sgt. Pepper, the White Album and Abbey Road. It is also the most unusual of the group. Most of the record was not made at Abbey Road: the band worked on a sound stage because they were filming a television special about the making of a Beatles album, then titled Get Back.

A six-hour documentary about those sessions, directed by Peter Jackson, is arriving soon and goes deeper than the original film released in 1970. This box set is the audio side of that story, and it is the reason the record deserves a second look.

Who This Box Set Is For

Let It Be has never been the album most listeners reach for first. Abbey Road, Sgt. Pepper, the White Album, Rubber Soul and Revolver tend to come up before it. That is exactly what makes this release interesting: it gives the record a fresh case to make, and it is likely to reignite interest in the band’s final stretch.

Two kinds of buyers will get the most from it. Long-time fans who already know the album well will find the unreleased material and the studio conversation genuinely rewarding. Listeners who mainly want the finished songs have lighter options, because the album is also available as a single CD, a double CD and an LP alongside this six-disc edition.

What Is Inside the Six-Disc Set

The six-disc edition contains five CDs and one Blu-ray. One of those CDs is the original 1969 Get Back album, which was completed at the time but never released.

Beyond that, the set is generous with process: outtakes, rehearsals, jams, and a great deal of the band talking between takes about what they are trying to do. Several songs that never made a Beatles record appear here in early form, including John’s Give Me Some Truth, George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass and Paul’s Teddy Boy. Each of those later found a home on a solo record.

The 1969 Get Back Album, Heard at Last

The story behind this disc is worth knowing. In 1969, when the project was still called Get Back, there were signals that it would be released that year. It was not. Abbey Road appeared instead, and the album titled Let It Be followed roughly a year later.

Between those two points the record was remixed, different takes were chosen, and it became a substantially different album, sharing many songs but not all of them. The first version, the completed Get Back album, stayed in the vault.

What finally arrives here is loose and full of fun. The performances are not polished, and the songs are not yet the versions everyone knows. That is the appeal. The band set out to make a record without overdubs or production, simply playing and recording together on a sound stage, and you can hear that intention in every take.

Because the sessions were captured so openly, the set works as a portrait of a group at work rather than a finished statement. That is a different listening experience from a normal album, and it is the main reason this material has held up so well.

Sound Quality: CDs, Blu-ray and the 1970 Pressing

Sound quality across the set is strong. Compared with an early 1970 pressing of the original album, which can come across as thin, grainy and harsh, the new discs are a clear step forward.

The Blu-ray carries three versions of the album: a PCM 96/24 high-resolution stereo mix, a Dolby Atmos mix intended for home theater systems with no picture, and a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix. The two surround mixes need suitable equipment to assess properly. The 96/24 stereo version, however, is easy to recommend. It sounds fuller and more open, and more relaxed than the CD version, which by comparison can seem tighter, thinner and more digital.

One practical detail to keep in mind: the 96/24 PCM stream may not be available through a Blu-ray player’s coaxial or optical output. If that version matters to you, plan on using the player’s analog outputs.

Songs and Performances Worth Hearing

One early highlight is The Long and Winding Road in its string-free form from the Get Back version. It carries a different feeling from the familiar arrangement and stands on its own as a beautiful performance.

I’ve Got a Feeling and Two of Us are other standouts, and they show how John and Paul worked together across all those years. What comes through most is the internal push among the songwriters: John, Paul and George each driving themselves forward, while the other three supported whoever’s song was on the table. Ringo’s drumming deserves a mention too. He is underrated as a drummer, and he consistently finds the right feel for each track.

Listening to the rehearsals makes that collaboration obvious. The songs are not finished, but the intent is fully formed, and that is what makes these early takes worth returning to.

Things to Consider Before Buying

• The six-disc edition is a large collection built around unfinished takes, jams and studio conversation. If you only want the finished album, the single CD, double CD or LP will suit you better.
• The Dolby Atmos and DTS 5.1 mixes require a home theater setup to evaluate properly.
• The high-resolution stereo PCM stream may not pass through a Blu-ray player’s coaxial or optical output.
• The release history is genuinely confusing: Abbey Road was the last album the band recorded, yet Let It Be was the album that came out afterwards.

Buying Advice

For fans, the six-disc edition is the version to choose. It is a satisfying set, and the inclusion of the original 1969 Get Back album is the reason to seek it out. Casual listeners who mostly want the songs will find the single CD, the double CD or the LP worth owning, and the LP in particular is an appealing option.

There is a companion book as well. It is based on the book that was prepared in 1969, printed as a hardcover with better printing than the original edition and many more photographs taken during the sessions by Ethan A. Russell and Linda McCartney. It opens with a foreword by Peter Jackson and includes transcripts of the band talking while they worked. Taken together with the box set and the film, it rounds out the story of this final chapter.

Conclusion

Let It Be has spent decades as the album people pass over on the way to Abbey Road. This set changes that equation. The unreleased 1969 Get Back album, the wealth of rehearsals and conversation, and the improved sound give the record a stronger case than it has had in years. For anyone who has followed the Beatles this far, it is an easy recommendation.