As captured in Peter Jackson’s outstanding 2021 Get Back documentary on The Beatles, the recording of what would become the final album the legendary band would release, May 1970’s Let It Be, largely took place in early 1969. “Let It Be” arrived as a single on March 6, 1970. The Beatles version, however, was not the first recording released. The Queen Of Soul Aretha Franklin included the song on her January 15, 1970 album This Girl’s In Love With You.
While The Beatles were heavily influenced by American rock ‘n’ roll pioneers like Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison, Elvis Presley and more, the Fab Four also drew inspiration from American R&B music including artists like Ray Charles and Motown groups. John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr were also also admirers of another Detroit legend, Aretha Franklin.
The feeling seemed to be mutual as Aretha recorded a number of Beatles songs beginning with the Paul McCartney-penned “Eleanor Rigby,” which arrived as a single on October 23, 1969. Franklin put her own spin on the tune, delivering the first verse in the first person: “I’m Eleanor Rigby/I picked up the rice/In the church where the weddin’s had been.”
Franklin also seemed to be partial to McCartney’s songs as she would go on to record “Fool On The Hill,” “Let It Be” and “The Long and Winding Road,” the latter appearing on her landmark 1972 album, Young, Gifted and Black. “Eleanor Rigby” and “Let It Be” landed on This Girl’s In Love With You, with a demo of “Let It Be” sent to Atlantic Records’ Jerry Wexler by McCartney for Aretha to record.
While it’s not widely known why Paul sent the song to Aretha for her to record other than the obvious fact that she is perhaps the greatest popular music vocalist of all time and was an outstanding interpreter of McCartney’s and others’ songs, there were circumstances pertaining to “Let It Be” that come into play in the exchange.
One is the turmoil surrounding not only The Beatles themselves at the time but also the fate of the record. After the notoriously fraught “Get Back” — the working title for the Let It Be — sessions, The Beatles moved on to begin work on Abbey Road, the final album they recorded. Perhaps Paul sensed at the time that “Let It Be” would never be released and wanted it in good hands.
Second, “Let It Be” is at its heart a gospel song. Aretha got her start singing at the New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit where her father, C. L. Franklin, was a minister. While Franklin almost always made songs she covered her own, a prime example being “Eleanor Rigby,” her version of “Let It Be” sticks fairly close to McCartney’s gospel-tinged original save for a solo from saxophone great King Curtis.
But it doesn’t really matter why Paul sent the demo to Wexler for Aretha to record. It’s enough that it exists. Like all of her music, Franklin’s rendition of “Let It Be” is gorgeous and goosebump-inducing. Moreover, the song’s message is something the world needs right now. Aretha Franklin’s official YouTube channel recently shared a lyric video for her version. Watch below:
