The rooftop concert has been a popular bootleg ever since.įive Beatles' songs were played during the rooftop performance: " Get Back " (three times), " Don't Let Me Down " (twice), " I've Got a Feeling " (twice), " One After 909 ", and " Dig a Pony ". The performance and the film close with the police arriving and shutting the concert down. The Beatles, accompanied by Billy Preston, performed on 30 January 1969 - intercut in the film with interviews of some rather surprised Londoners near the Apple headquarters as the music blasts out from the roof. Harrison showed little enthusiasm for any live performance at all.Īfter failing to agree on any other venue, the band settled for an unannounced concert atop their own building, Apple's headquarters. Starr held out for staying home in England. Lennon suggested an overseas location such as Africa. McCartney suggested playing a small club, like the Beatles had in the early days. However, agreeing on a format for the live show proved problematical. The original concept for the film project called for the documentary to end with a live show, the first live public performance by the band since the end of their last tour, on 29 August 1966, at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. The Let It Be film includes The Beatles performing finished versions of " Two of Us ", " The Long and Winding Road ", " Let It Be ", " Get Back ", " Don't Let Me Down ", " I've Got a Feeling ", " One After 909 ", and " Dig a Pony ". Eventually the band left Twickenham and went to their own new basement recording studio at Apple's headquarters in Savile Row, London and Harrison brought in keyboardist Billy Preston to play electric piano/organ. Harrison quit the sessions for a few days, although this is not documented in the film. They started work in the morning rather than working late into the night as they had been accustomed to doing at Abbey Road Studios, where they usually recorded their songs. There were tensions and disagreements among The Beatles, and they disliked the conditions at the Twickenham studios and the working schedule. The Beatles assembled at Twickenham Film Studios on 2 January 1969, accompanied by the film crew, and began recording. However, the band members had begun to drift apart, and the project documents some of the aspects leading to the band's eventual break-up. The original premise of the film was to show The Beatles 'live' in the studio, creating their next album (which would be a live album), followed by a concert. Let It Be is a 1970 film about the making of the album Let It Be by The Beatles in January 1969.