Overview
Let It Be first reached Australian buyers as more than a record. The original package paired the LP with Get Back, a glossy soft-cover photographic book, housed in a complicated assembly of slipcovers and a shaped book tray.
Australian Record Collector, issue nineteen in 1996, aptly described it as an unwieldy collection of flimsy cardboard components: inner and outer slipcovers surrounding a tray specially designed to hold the book.
Only the LP itself and its sleeve were manufactured locally; all other components of the package were imported from Britain. The books carried a sticker on the credit page setting out the British publishing credits.
The elaborate presentation was also its weakness. Even careful opening could tear, dent or crease the thin card, and repeated handling made matters worse. As Australian Record Collector observed, some owners lost patience with its cumbersome construction, kept the LP and discarded the remaining packaging without considering future collectability.
The difficulties began before the sets reached buyers, as David Lillicot, then record buyer for Nicholson’s—at the time Australia’s largest record store—recalled: "I was the record buyer for Nicholson's, the biggest record store in Australia at that time. When Let It Be was released we had so many problems with torn outer packaging. It was a nightmare trying to get un-damaged product from EMI (Australia)!".
Complete boxes have therefore never been inherently rare, but pristine examples are a different proposition. Their condition reflects both the fragility of the materials and the frustration of using the original design.
From December 1970, the album became available separately, removing the troublesome book package from the purchase. All Australian-manufactured LP sleeves retained the red Apple symbol on the rear.
