Last year I started a new ‘Decades’ series by focusing on my birth year, 1972, then 1982, 1992 and 2002, counting down my own favorite albums from each of those years and then 10-15 unfamiliar (to me) albums that received acclaim at the time.

I’m doing the same thing again, backing up a couple of years and focusing on 1970, ’80, ’90 and ’00. The next several weeks will be dedicated to 1970.

My fifth favorite 1970 album is The Beatles’ Let It Be. This is the year the band broke up, and Let It Be was released about a month after that announcement. The album was actually recorded before Abbey Road but its release was delayed and the band decided to put out Abbey Road instead.

Abbey Road feels like the more appropriate swan song for the band (hell, it even ends with a song called ‘The End’) but Let It Be has its own sloppy appeal.

Chatter before and between songs was captured and included on the record, which was conceived as a back-to-basics recording in contrast to the production-heavy work for which the band had become known. It’s bittersweet listening to the amusing banter, knowing the band was close to falling apart.

Producer Phil Spector added his touch to the final release, layering strings and choirs on a few songs, much to Paul McCartney’s dismay. ‘Across the Universe’ and ‘The Long and Winding Road,’ in particular, were covered in syrup. Alternate versions of the songs have released over the years, including on a 2003 re-release of the album titled Let It Be… Naked.

While Let It Be is overall one of The Beatles’ lesser efforts, that doesn’t keep it from being one of the best albums of 1970. They’re The Beatles, after all.