The Beatles' final studio album, released in May 1970, was not their last recorded album. Originally referred to as the
Get Back sessions, rehearsals began in January 1969 and took place at Twickenham Studios and were filmed for what would become the
Let It Be documentary. These rehearsals, as seen in the film, proved to show the arguments between the band members (particularly with Harrison and both Lennon and McCartney), and has been referred to depicting "the break-up of the band". To ease tensions, the group continued recording at Apple Studios, in a much more comfortable environment. Harrison brought in Billy Preston who played keyboard on a number of tracks including "Let it Be", "The Long and Winding Road", "Get Back" and "I've Got a Feeling".
In the film, the band perform for their famous Apple rooftop concert. A few of the recordings from the performance were included on the final
Let it Be track listing. During these
Get Back sessions, many songs were rehearsed, including early versions of tracks found on
Abbey Road and songs which would be later found on Lennon, McCartney and Harrison's solo albums. Every track found on the final album was recorded in January 1969, with the exception of "Across the Universe" (recorded in February 1968) and "I Me Mine", which was recorded after Lennon's departure from the band in January 1970. By the end of 1969,
Abbey Road had already been released and
Let It Be/Get Back was abandoned.
In March 1970, producer Phil Spector was brought in to work on the album, and he ended up remixing all of the tracks and adding orchestral and choral backings. Particularly notable is "The Long and Winding Road", in which a women's choir and an orchestra was added without permission from McCartney - this prompted a lawsuit. The original album release features twelve tracks, omitting "Don't Let Me Down", which was on the original track listing.
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| The original Get Back album cover, imitating the Please Please Me cover |
