On this day: singles bought when they came out . . . . . . . didn't find the picture sleeve for this and had the black sleeve like this but what a moment in music history! 

On this day in music history: May 24, 1969 - “Get Back” by The Beatles With Billy Preston hits #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for 5 weeks. Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, it is the seventeenth US chart topper for “The Fab Four”. The single is the first music to emerge from the recording sessions that produce the “Let It Be” album and documentary film. The “hit single version” of the track is recorded at Apple Studios in London on January 27, 1969, after weeks of rehearsing and recording various takes of the song. At the invitation of George Harrison, musician Billy Preston will play keyboards (mainly electric piano and organ) during the sessions for two weeks. The Beatles enjoy his playing and affable personality so much that they give him co-billing on the single when it is released (the only time another musician is credited along side the band). “Get Back” is also The Beatles first single to be issued in stereo in the US (mono in the UK). An alternate, shorter take of the song appears on the “Let It Be” album when it is released a year later in May 1970. It is released the UK the Friday before Easter Sunday on April 11, 1969, with the US release date being on May 5, 1969. The delay being caused by Paul McCartney deciding to remix the track again days before its scheduled release in the UK, with US release date also being pushed back. In spite of this, the single is an immediate smash. The Beatles tie their own previous record for the highest ever chart debut on the Hot 100 (set by “Hey Jude” eight months earlier) when “Get Back” enters the chart at #10 on May 10, 1969, leapfrogging to the top of the chart two weeks later. “Get Back” is certified 2x Platinum in the US by the RIAA.

Curiously whilst the A-side is an obvious classic and a song in the public canon somehow unavoidably great, I remain haunted by the b-side 'Don't Let Me Down' struck me as being like the primal scream stuff John would do later, but this is a heartfelt tortured song asking to not be hurt that was ever committed to record IMHO
another from Jeff Harris' wonderful music blog