So whats the final Beatles album? Abbey Road or Let It Be? If youre a Beatles fan, youve had at least one chemically-assisted late-night argument about this (because thats what we do). Abbey Road was the last they recorded, but Let It Be was the last they released. So did the greatest band ever bid farewell with Her Majesty or Get Back? Does the story end with Paul saying, Someday Im gonna make her mine, or John saying, I hope we passed the audition? Its always been a hot-button philosophical question for fans, the kind that defines what kind of Beatlemaniac you are. Though it may seem like an arcane debate, damn right it matters. Because its the Beatles. And what the hell, its Friday. So lets argue: Which album truly counts as the grand finale?
The case for Let It Be: It came out in 1970, which was after 1969. The case for Abbey Road: (1) virtually all of Let It Be was in the can before the Abbey Road sessions even began; (2) Abbey Road feels more like a classic Beatles record; (3) I Want You (Shes So Heavy) was the last time all four played in the studio together; (4) the last song on Abbey Road is called The End; (5) except for Her Majesty; (6) rebounding from the Let It Be debacle was the main reason the lads summoned up that team spirit for Abbey Road; (7) Her Majesty is awesome; (8) in the end the love you take is equal to the love; (9) you make.
Should the Beatles' White Album Have Been Even Longer?Charles Manson: How Cult Leader's Twisted Beatles Obsession Inspired Family MurdersThurston Moore: 5 Songs That Influenced Me Early OnThe 10 Wildest Led Zeppelin Legends, Fact-Checked
Sentimentally, Abbey Road has the edge, but in cold chronological terms its debatable. Sure, they recorded most of Let It Be in January 1969. But all four Beatles kept working on Let It Be after Abbey Road came out. As RS contributing editor David Browne notes in his excellent book Fire and Rain, Paul, George and Ringo went into the studio on January 3, 1970 to cut I Me Mine at that point, Abbey Road had been out for months. Ringo was still recording drum tracks as late as April 1970. But on some level, Let It Be isnt so much an album as a movie soundtrack project. It only became an official Beatles studio album because it happened to come out when they broke up. If theyd released Let It Be on schedule, before Abbey Road, it would be precisely as famous as the Yellow Submarine soundtrack. Both have a few genuine Beatles songs, plus a load of lesser epiphenomena that belongs in a movie. Two of Us is as great as Its All Too Much, Dig A Pony rates with Hey Bulldog, and so on. The studio banter on Let It Be is even more peripheral than Pepperland Laid Waste.
The 100 Greatest Beatles Songs
Its a gray area what counts as a Beatles album and whats merely a Beatles project. (In the 1970s, fans argued over whether Hey Jude and Hollywood Bowl were official Beatles albums. Nobody argues about that anymore.) Capitol, for obvious reasons, would probably like to err on the side of counting projects as albums, although they still show heroic restraint and taste when it comes to respecting the core canon. (Like, they count Magical Mystery Tour as an official album, but they know better than to make claims for The Beatles Reel Music.)
Anyone would have to agree Let It Be is in the gray area, but from my fan perspective, its on the Hey Jude side of the line, along with Yellow Submarine. If you want to claim the Beatles made 11 studio albums, I can see that, and if you want to claim the Beatles made 13 studio albums, counting Let It Be and Yellow Submarine, I can see that too. I can even see stretching it to 14 with Hey Jude. (That one was a Capitol hodgepodge from early 1970.)
Magical Mystery Tour is in the gray area the Beatles released it as a 6-song U.K. EP, but it got padded into a U.S.-only 1967 album, so its about as legit as Hey Jude. But its been a long time since Ive heard anyone try to read it out of the canon, and its a case where sheer quality makes a difference. (Not even a strict-constructionist hardliner would claim the EP is better because it leaves out Strawberry Fields Forever.) If someone tried to argue the Beatles only made 10 albums, because Magical Mystery Tour, Yellow Submarine and Let It Be are mere footnotes, I would basically assume they were an idiot, regardless of whether or not its a valid point. (All idiots have a valid point, right? Not having a valid point doesnt make you an idiot, just a rock critic.)
So lets put it this way. Let It Be is the final Beatles album, not Abbey Road but only if its a Beatles album. Can you argue that Let It Be is a Beatles album, yet not the Beatles final album? No, not really, because it includes a tiny amount of music they made in 1970. So heres my reluctant conclusion, at least as of today. I like Abbey Road better. Sentimentally, for me, its the one I think of as the end. However, unfortunately, Let It Be is the last Beatles album. I would love it if you could change my mind about that.