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Other known matrix variants
Known matrix stamper variants of this pressing (different mother numbers, stamper letters, or re-cuts).
-
Variant 2
- A
YEX 773-2U- B
YEX 774-3U
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Variant 3
- A
YEX 773-3U- B
YEX 774-3U
Tracklist
Side A
- Two Of Us (3:27)
- Dig A Pony (3:54)
- Across The Universe (3:49)
- I Me Mine (2:26)
- Dig It (0:50)
- Let It Be (4:03)
- Maggie Mae (0:41)
Side B
- I've Got A Feeling (3:38)
- One After 909 (2:55)
- The Long And Winding Road (3:38)
- For You Blue (2:33)
- Get Back (3:07)
Labels & dead wax
Visual reference for this specific pressing. Click any image to enlarge.
How to authenticate this pressing
Specific verification cues for this exact variant.
The checklist below confirms that a copy is the second Apple PCS 7096 pressing from November 1970, rather than the first pressing or a later reissue from the 1970s and 1980s. Each point states what an authentic copy should show.
- Dead wax matrices. Inspect the run-out engravings on both sides under strong light. The second pressing carries one of three layouts: side 1 YEX 773-3U with side 2 YEX 774-2U, or side 1 YEX 773-2U with side 2 YEX 774-3U, or 773-3U paired with 774-3U. A -2U suffix on both sides indicates the first pressing, so the presence of even one -3U suffix places a copy in the November run. Beside the matrix you will find hand-etched stamper codes as letter pairs with a digit (Discogs documents RHL 25, DTR 24, and ARO 27 among others), confirming a pressing from the EMI factory at Hayes.
- Label. The label is dark green, with a whole apple on side 1 and a sliced apple on side 2. The "An E.M.I. Recording" credit is broken across two lines, and the "33 1/3" marking appears in its small variant. The release year is preceded by a large (P) copyright symbol. The publisher is Northern Songs with an NCB notation, except for the Harrison tracks (Harrisongs) and the Ringo Starr track (Startling Music). The perimeter text on this run is a darker shade of green than on later pressings, where the label lightens.
- Cover. The sleeve is single-pocket, not gatefold, fully laminated, printed by Garrod & Lofthouse. The decisive detail: the rear panel carries a green Apple logo. A red Apple logo on the back indicates the first pressing, used for the box set and the initial standalone batch. The card on this run is heavier than on later editions, and the lamination stops just short of the opening edge of the sleeve on both sides.
- Inner sleeve and sticker. The disc sits in a white paper EMI or Apple Records inner sleeve bearing patent number 1125555. Some copies carry a white "Parlophone Not For Resale" sticker on the front, marking a promotional copy rather than a reissue. The album was issued in stereo only, so there is no separate "Mono" credit on the front.
- Reissue red flags. The 1984 fourth UK edition shows a boxed Parlophone logo on the back of the cover (no Apple logo on the back), despite an Apple-labelled disc inside. Its label perimeter reads "Manufactured in the UK by EMI Records Limited", text the 1970 pressing does not carry. A lighter green label with a large "33 1/3" points to the third pressing or later.
Historical context & other notes
Album Let It Be closed the band's studio catalogue with a chronological twist. The sessions, held in January 1969 at Twickenham and at the Apple studio under the working title Get Back, were finished more than a year before the album reached the shops. Abbey Road, recorded later, came out earlier, in September 1969. The tapes carrying the Get Back material sat in storage, rejected in two assembly versions by Glyn Johns, until Lennon and Harrison handed them to Phil Spector. The album appeared on 8 May 1970, barely a month after McCartney announced the group had split.
In the UK the launch had an unusual commercial structure. The first edition was not a standalone album but the Apple PXS 1 box set: the PCS 7096 disc, a sleeve, and the 164-page book The Beatles Get Back with photographs by Ethan Russell and text by Jonathan Cott and David Dalton. Despite the higher price, on 23 May 1970 the album reached number one on the chart, held the top spot for three weeks, and spent a total of 59 weeks on that chart. Within six months, however, production of the box and the book was halted, and Let It Be was made available in November 1970 as a standalone album under the same catalogue number, PCS 7096.
The historical anomaly of this release is twofold. First, the reversed order: the last Beatles album to be released contains material older than the recording and release of Abbey Road. Second, the two-stage launch: the PCS 7096 disc first served as a component of an expensive box set, and only after that set was withdrawn did it become a cheaper standalone release. And one more thing. The Get Back book had weak binding, and copies with a complete set of pages that have not fallen out are today more sought after than the disc itself.
Other releases
This album's releases in other countries, or special editions within the same market. Full per-country chronology lives in each country's hub page.
