INDEX


• #18-1 Red Apple Label/ "PD" credit/ Gatefold Cover/ Winchester Press
  
• #18-2 Red Apple Label/ "PD + 4 Beatles" credit/Gatefold Cover/ Scranton Press

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In major markets outside the US, the album was packaged in a black box that included a 164-page photo book featuring photographs by Ethan Russell and text by Jonathan Cott and David Dalton. Apple wanted United Artists (UA) to release the album with the book, but UA was reluctant. Had the album been released by Capitol as originally planned, the list price would likely have been $10.98 to cover the extra cost of the deluxe packaging. Fearing that a $10.98 price tag would hurt sales, UA refused to release the album with the book. As a compromise, the album was released in a gatefold cover for $6.98.

The standard Apple album and single labels displayed a bright green Granny Smith apple on the A-side, while the flipside displayed the apple cut in half. The bright green apple returned for Beatles CDs releases in the 1990s, following initial CD releases on Parlophone. However, on the U.S. issue of the Beatles’ “Let It Be” album , the granny smith apple was red . The reason was that in the United States , that album , being the soundtrack to the movie of the same name due contractual reasons , was being manufactured and distributed by United Artists Records and not Capitol Records, so the red apple was used to distinguish the difference.

Label Layout:
On Side A, the album title and group name are centered above the center hole. On Side B, this information is placed in the upper left area of the apple. Both sides feature the record number AR 34001, the matrix number, and the side number at the 3 o'clock position.

The word "STEREO" is printed at the 9 o'clock position, and the track listings are located below the center hole. On Side A, "Reproduced for disc by PHIL SPECTOR" and "Recorded in England" are centered at the bottom. On Side B, the production information is on the lower left of the apple, and the recording location is on the lower right. The full apple side (Side A) features red Apple perimeter print along the outer edge.

Label Variations:
On the earliest labels, the credit for "Maggie Mae" is listed as "(P.D.)" for public domain, and Ringo's last name in the songwriter credit for "Dig It" is listed as "Starr." On later pressings, the arrangement credit for "Maggie Mae" was changed to the band reading "(P.D. arr. Lennon; McCartney; Harrison; Starkey) BMI," and Ringo's last name for "Dig It" was changed to "Starkey." Additionally, on both versions of the label, "Dig A Pony" is listed as "I Dig A Pony" (matching the title on the album cover)

The album was mastered at Bell Sound in New York by Sam Feldman, who also cut the multiple lacquers needed to manufacture the metal parts for pressing the records. The dead wax on both sides features a machine-stamped Bell Sound script logo and Feldman's hand-etched initials. The matrix number JS 17,500 is hand-etched on Side A, and JS 17,501 is hand-etched on Side B.

Additionally, just like the singles cut from the album, both sides have the script "Phil + Ronnie" hand-etched in the dead wax. This inscription was requested by Phil Spector as a tribute to his then-wife, Ronnie.

According to Allen Klein, Apple instructed Capitol to manufacture an initial pressing of four million copies. These discs were produced at Capitol's factories in Scranton, Los Angeles, Jacksonville, and Winchester.

A few years after its release, United Artists deleted Let It Be from its catalog. Counterfeiters quickly stepped in to fill the void, manufacturing unofficial fake albums. Many of the fake records have blurry label printing, and some discs have a hand-drawn IAM logo in their dead wax.

1978 Capitol Reissue:
After Capitol purchased United Artists Records in 1978, it decided to add Let It Be to its catalog. To save costs, this version of the album (Capitol SW 11922) was released in a standard, non-gatefold cover, but it did include a color poster and a photo inner sleeve. These discs were pressed with purple Capitol labels.

In major markets outside the US, the album was packaged in a black box that included a 164-page photo book featuring photographs by Ethan Russell and text by Jonathan Cott and David Dalton. Apple wanted United Artists (UA) to release the album with the book, but UA was reluctant. Had the album been released by Capitol as originally planned, the list price would likely have been $10.98 to cover the extra cost of the deluxe packaging. Fearing that a $10.98 price tag would hurt sales, UA refused to release the album with the book. As a compromise, the album was released in a gatefold cover for $6.98.

The standard Apple album and single labels displayed a bright green Granny Smith apple on the A-side, while the flipside displayed the apple cut in half. The bright green apple returned for Beatles CDs releases in the 1990s, following initial CD releases on Parlophone. However, on the U.S. issue of the Beatles’ “Let It Be” album , the granny smith apple was red . The reason was that in the United States , that album , being the soundtrack to the movie of the same name due contractual reasons , was being manufactured and distributed by United Artists Records and not Capitol Records, so the red apple was used to distinguish the difference.

Label Layout:
On Side A, the album title and group name are centered above the center hole. On Side B, this information is placed in the upper left area of the apple. Both sides feature the record number AR 34001, the matrix number, and the side number at the 3 o'clock position.

The word "STEREO" is printed at the 9 o'clock position, and the track listings are located below the center hole. On Side A, "Reproduced for disc by PHIL SPECTOR" and "Recorded in England" are centered at the bottom. On Side B, the production information is on the lower left of the apple, and the recording location is on the lower right. The full apple side (Side A) features red Apple perimeter print along the outer edge.

Label Variations:
On the earliest labels, the credit for "Maggie Mae" is listed as "(P.D.)" for public domain, and Ringo's last name in the songwriter credit for "Dig It" is listed as "Starr." On later pressings, the arrangement credit for "Maggie Mae" was changed to the band reading "(P.D. arr. Lennon; McCartney; Harrison; Starkey) BMI," and Ringo's last name for "Dig It" was changed to "Starkey." Additionally, on both versions of the label, "Dig A Pony" is listed as "I Dig A Pony" (matching the title on the album cover)

The album was mastered at Bell Sound in New York by Sam Feldman, who also cut the multiple lacquers needed to manufacture the metal parts for pressing the records. The dead wax on both sides features a machine-stamped Bell Sound script logo and Feldman's hand-etched initials. The matrix number JS 17,500 is hand-etched on Side A, and JS 17,501 is hand-etched on Side B.

Additionally, just like the singles cut from the album, both sides have the script "Phil + Ronnie" hand-etched in the dead wax. This inscription was requested by Phil Spector as a tribute to his then-wife, Ronnie.

According to Allen Klein, Apple instructed Capitol to manufacture an initial pressing of four million copies. These discs were produced at Capitol's factories in Scranton, Los Angeles, Jacksonville, and Winchester.

A few years after its release, United Artists deleted Let It Be from its catalog. Counterfeiters quickly stepped in to fill the void, manufacturing unofficial fake albums. Many of the fake records have blurry label printing, and some discs have a hand-drawn IAM logo in their dead wax.

1978 Capitol Reissue:
After Capitol purchased United Artists Records in 1978, it decided to add Let It Be to its catalog. To save costs, this version of the album (Capitol SW 11922) was released in a standard, non-gatefold cover, but it did include a color poster and a photo inner sleeve. These discs were pressed with purple Capitol labels.