1. "Let it Be" was a reaction against the way the Beatles had recorded previously. Instead of endless overdubbing and edited of its music into glistening works of perfection, this project would be the band members recording their new album live in the studio. That's why it was originally called "Get Back;" it was getting back to the roots of rock and roll, which was anything but perfection. The problem was that the band was in such discord that no one wanted to sort through the various song takes to see which one was best, and the album was shelved for over a year.
2. Originally, the band wanted to record their new album live in front of an audience. Exotic sites were discussed. John Lennon said that someone mentioned the Colesseum in Rome and that "Paul might have even suggested a bloody boat in the middle of the ocean!" George Martin revealed that they also discussed a site in the Tunisian desert."
3. An album "Get Back" from the sessions engineered and mixed by Glyn Jones was scheduled to be released in August 1969. There were further versions with different tracks considered. During the time of indecision, the Beatles kissed and made up, heading back into the studio to record and release their brilliant "Abbey Road" album in October 1969.
4. Which meant that the "Get Back" tapes sat on the shelf. George Harrison and John Lennon took the initiative to hand them over to famed producer Phil Spector to try and get a record out of the mess. That he did, but he added strings and choruses to a few of the tracks, negating much of the raw, 'live as it happened' quality. The album became "Let it Be"and longtime Beatles producer George Martin stated "I felt that what Phil Spector had done was not only uncharacteristic, but wrong. I was totally disappointed with what happened."
5. George Harrison brought keyboardist and singer Billy Preston into the sessions. Not only was he a fine asset to the music, the other Beatles behaved better when an outside musician was in their presence. Harrison had discovered this to be true when he invited Eric Clapton to play in the studio on "The White Album."
6. During the recording sessions, tensions between George Harrison and Paul McCartney, in particular, grew so heated that Harrison left the studio. He went home and wrote "Wah-Wah" as a result. "It had given me a wah-wah; it was such a headache," he said. That song wouldn't get on "Let it Be," but showed up on his 1970 solo album "All Things Must Pass" with Eric Clapton playing on it.
7. The photo originally intended for the cover was shot in the same stairwell as employed by the Beatles for their first album "Please, Please Me" in 1963. That cover was scrubbed, but the photos showed up on the "1962-1966" and "1967-1970" greatest hits albums.
8. Although recorded in 1969 and released on "Let it Be" a year later, the song "One After 909" was one of John Lennon and Paul McCartney's first collaborations, dating back to 1959.
9. In the United States, advance orders for the album were the largest in the industry up to that point - over 3.7 million units. When the record arrived in stores, the label featured a picture of a red apple instead of the typical green one. Perhaps it should have been a cored or rotten apple?
10. Paul McCartney announced he was leaving the Beatles with the release of his first solo album on April 17th. Prior to that, Ringo was sent to McCartney's house to see if he'd delay his release so the Beatles could get "Let it Be" out first. McCartney refused, apparently throwing his drummer out.