All you need is... £110 and space for six CDs!

The Beatles Let It Be (Super Deluxe)

Out Friday ★★★★☆

Scritti Politti

Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London ★★★★☆

The Beatles, who split up 51 years ago, have never gone away. Their compilation 1 is Britain’s fourth best-selling album of this century, behind only Adele (twice over) and Amy Winehouse. Never mind Jesus – The Beatles are bigger than Ed Sheeran.

And soon they’ll be here, there and everywhere. Next month Paul McCartney publishes The Lyrics, a handsome hardback telling the stories behind his songs. He has included so many of them – 154, spanning 65 years – that the book comes in two volumes.

Later in November there’s a documentary on Disney+ from Peter Jackson of The Lord Of The Rings fame. The Beatles: Get Back is based on Michael Lindsay-Hogg’s film about their final days. Jackson, being Jackson, has turned it into an epic trilogy. There may be hobbits.

The barrage begins with a bumper edition of Let It Be, the last studio album The Beatles released, though it was recorded before Abbey Road. An LP that once lasted 35 minutes now sprawls over six CDs. Costing at least £110, it makes McCartney’s book (about £75) look a bargain.

Let It Be was The Beatles’ most difficult child. It went through three producers: George Martin, their father figure; Glyn Johns, their young engineer, who compiled the unreleased LP Get Back, included here; and finally the talented but now disgraced Phil Spector. Hired by John Lennon to polish Let It Be, Spector infuriated McCartney by adding a wall of saccharine.

With this edition, the Martin family strikes back. The producer is George’s son Giles, who shares his sharp ear and gentle wit. He likes to quote his dad’s line on Let It Be: ‘produced by George Martin, overproduced by Phil Spector’.

Born, like the album itself, in 1969, Giles has now subtly remixed four Beatles LPs, starting with Sgt Pepper. ‘Let It Be,’ he says, ‘sounds like a break-up album when it wasn’t. And Abbey Road was a break-up album, but doesn’t sound like it.’

The sessions, crisply captured here, veered from heartfelt to halfhearted. McCartney brought the ballads – the title track and The Long And Winding Road, both classics – plus the defiant euphoria of Get Back. Lennon brought the bile, cracking bitter little jokes. The only glimpse of his greatness was a rough draft of Gimme Some Truth.

That left more scope for George Harrison, who rose to the challenge with For You Blue, the breeziest of blues numbers, and I Me Mine, a waltz-rock hybrid whose theme – self-absorption – is still topical today. Ringo Starr, as ever, brought swing and social skills.

The Glyn Johns album lives up to its name by getting back to basics. The whole package demonstrates The Beatles’ musical differences – but also their magical chemistry.

Back in the present, the gig of the week was by Scritti Politti. Performing their masterpiece, Cupid & Psyche 85, in full, they proved that there’s still life in the old white funk. Their frontman, Green Gartside, has shrugged off his stage fright and hung on to his falsetto, while Rhodri Marsden, on keyboards, supplies everything from the bass to the brass. Scritti return next month, opening for OMD: you won’t find a better support act.