John Lennon never hesitated to criticize himself. He said one of his lousy songs that The Beatles released as a single became a No. 1 hit. John also hit hard at his band. Let It Be became one of their most successful records, but John said that particular Beatles album gave him a dreadful feeling, and not just because of the stressful atmosphere while recording it.
John Lennon said The Beatles’ album ‘Let It Be’ gave him a ‘dreadful feeling’
It’s no secret the making of Let It Be was far from pleasant for The Beatles. Creative differences cropped up during the making of the White Album. That happened after Paul McCartney called nearly all the shots on the Magical Mystery Tour movie and album project.
McCartney was at it again with Let It Be. He suggested a return to The Beatles’ roots as a touring band — writing songs quickly and collaboratively and playing them in front of paying audiences. That was easier said than done.
Making the album in 1969 the same way they did a half-decade earlier didn’t come easily. The Fab Four’s artistic growth from their nascent days and time as a studio band created divisions too deep and wide to bridge with one record. Having every moment caught on film for the Let It Be documentary film from 1970 didn’t help.
Lennon said the movie made him feel sick as it seemed like a showcase for McCartney at the expense of the other Beatles and John’s wife, Yoko Ono. He didn’t feel much better about the album, also from 1970. Lennon said hearing it gave him a dreadful feeling, according to 150 Glimpses of The Beatles author Craig Brown. And saying the album made him feel lousy was actually the best compliment he gave Let It Be:
“Such a dreadful, dreadful feeling. The s***tiest load of badly recorded s*** with a lousy feeling to it, ever.” John Lennon
For John, making Let It Be was another signal that his future didn’t include The Beatles. Paul had a large hand in bringing Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band into the world. Not least because Lennon’s mental health was bad at the time that he compared it to dying.
McCartney helmed Magical Mystery Tour. The solid album was an underrated entry in the band’s catalog. The movie was a poorly-reviewed disaster that showed The Beatles weren’t infallible artists.
Lennon said mixing engineer Glyn Johns did a terrible job attempting to salvage the Let It Be album. He wanted to release the record anyway, just to show fans how much The Beatles deteriorated before they broke up. In the end, Let It Be became another major success story for the Fab Four.
How ‘Let It Be’ performed on the charts in England and the United States
Producer Phil Spector cleaned up Johns’ mix before The Beatles released Let It Be in May 1970. While Lennon hoped to release the imperfect first mix, McCartney didn’t like the Spector version. Neither of the band’s chief songwriters got their way, but Fab Four fans couldn’t have cared either way.
Let It Be turned into one of The Beatles’ biggest hits.
The album debuted at No. 1 on the charts in England and spent 53 total weeks among the top 100 records, per the Official Charts Company. Please Please Me, Sgt. Pepper’s, and Abbey Road were the only Beatles albums to last longer in the top 100 in their homeland. Meanwhile, “Get Back” (recorded during the Let It Be sessions and released as a single in April 1969) reached No. 1 on the charts. “Let It Be” went to No. 2 ahead of the album’s release.
Fans in the U.S. ate it up, too. Let It Be held the No. 1 spot on the Billboard albums chart for four weeks starting in June 1979. The record lasted for 79 weeks among the top 200. The sessions produced several No. 1 singles, too. “Get Back” (five weeks in 1969), “Let It Be” (two weeks in 1970), and “The Long and Winding Road” (two weeks in 1970) topped Billboard’s charts.
Lennon said Let It Be sounded lousy and made him feel dreadful. Obviously, Beatles fans didn’t share the same sentiments.
