Why the Beatles' 'Let It Be' Album Cover Was So Poorly Photographed

When considering the legendary career of The Beatles, many fans and music historians often marvel at the perfectly crafted album covers that accompanied their hits. Albums like Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Abbey Road are renowned for their iconic and memorable covers. However, the Let It Be double album, though a fitting epilogue to one of the most prolific periods in pop history, is often met with disappointment when it comes to the quality of its cover photography.

Common Perception of Beatles' Album Covers

While The Beatles were known for crafting visually striking and conceptually ambitious album covers, surveys and anecdotes from both fans and critics suggest that the photography behind the covers of their self-titled Let It Be double album was notably subpar. Beyond the likes of Sgt. Pepper's and Abbey Road, where meticulous attention to detail and visual flair were central, the visual elements of these covers, while still recognizable, were largely considered to be unimaginative and unremarkable.

A Closer Look at the Original Concept

One message board discussion post by a passionate fan highlights the original intent behind the Let It Be album cover. This concept was a playful nod to their early days, riffing off the retro and slightly surreal nature of their first album cover: the cover of their 1965 album Help! which featured a photomontage of The Beatles hanging above a half-moon in a mountain landscape. This humorous, dreamlike vibe is reminiscent of the image on the back cover of their 1973 album Let It Be, which featured an eerie black and white image of a tree stump against a blue sky.

Additionally, The Beatles had harnessed this concept for the 1971 album Red (a double album containing the band’s greatest hits at that point in time) and the 1973 album Blue (another collection of hits, released in the year before the Let It Be concept was finalized). This iterative assumption to a retro theme in their album design is significant, as it carries on the band's (often) playful visual approach to their work. The idea of using a surreal, dreamy image of John Lennon’s and Paul McCartney’s silhouette standing on a hill against a half-moon landscape with the band's name in unreadable block text above them had a certain allure and humor to it.

The Flawed Photograph

However, the actual photograph chosen for the cover of the Let It Be album failed to capture this intended magic. The image of the band members gathered in their nondescript hotel lobby, seemingly unaware of the camera's presence, feels flat and unengaging in contrast to the conceptual intentions discussed on fan message boards. The image lacks the whimsy and stark visual appeal that was expected and turned out to be a major letdown to many Beatle fans.

Furthermore, the coloring of the photograph, when transferred to an actual album with limited and inconsistent printing, can be visually unappealing. The grayscale and muted tones fail to evoke the vibrant and colorful visual themes that were so central to much of their creative work. The photograph, intended to be a stand-alone piece of art as well as a photograph of the band, seems to fall short in conveying the personalized and intentional aesthetic that one would expect from such a significant release in Beatles history.

Critical Analysis and Fan Reaction

Several critical analyses and fan reactions on various online forums, including NME, Rolling Stone, and various music message boards, reveal a consensus that the album cover of Let It Be falls short of its potential. Commentaries often mention the stark contrast between the original, conceived design, and the final execution, which resulted in an image that lacked the artistic and conceptual depth that fans had grown to expect.

Fans have argued that while the intention behind the original concept was to bring a sense of whimsy and classic touch to the cover, the final photographic representation did not manage to capture the intended essence. This perceived letdown has contributed to a less-than-stellar view of the Let It Be cover.

Impact on the Overall Perception of the Album

The subpar photography on the Let It Be album cover has a lasting impact on the overall perception of the album. Despite the genius inside cover songs and the rallying cries in the live portions of the album (where The Beatles perform their final live shows), the cover art serves as a constant reminder of the album's inherently undervalued, inauthentic appearance. It is often argued that if more attention had been paid to the visual identity of this album, it might have been viewed in a more favorable light by fans and critics alike.

In fact, the cover has even been singled out as a point of contention, overshadowing some of the notable tracks on the album, such as “The Long and Winding Road” and “Across the Universe.”

The contrast between the conceptual intentions and the photographic outcome underscores a significant disparity. It speaks to the overall perception of The Beatles as not only musically but also visually innovative, while also showing a unique failure of their visual identity during a particular point in their career.

While the inaccuracy of the cover photograph for the Let It Be album does not detract from the heart-warming legacy of the back catalog, it remains a striking case study in the importance of aligning both conceptual intention and execution in album design to achieve the full impact of the project's vision.