Harrison and Pattie Boyd were married in January 1966, having met two years before on the set of the Beatles' film A Hard Day's Night,[2] but by 1968, his dedication to meditation and Eastern mysticism had begun to divide the couple.

"[13] One such affair took place shortly after the couple's return from New York, in December 1968, and involved Charlotte Martin,[14] a French model who had just ended a relationship with Harrison's friend and occasional collaborator Eric Clapton.

[20] On 1 January 1969, author Peter Doggett writes, Harrison arrived at Apple's central London headquarters in an "exuberant" mood, inspired by his recent music-making with Dylan and fellow Woodstock residents the Band, and "enjoying the frisson of sharing his home with two beautiful women".

[23] Tapes from this session reveal Lennon struggling with the song's chord changes, during a run-through that authors Doug Sulpy and Ray Schweighardt describe as an "excellent performance by George ... seriously marred by John's distracting accompaniment on guitar".

[33] Author Bruce Spizer writes of the song being embellished with "gospel-style organ runs", played by future Apple Records artist Billy Preston, during these late January sessions.

[10][36] After engineer Glyn Johns had failed to compile a satisfactory album from the Get Back tapes throughout 1969, the project passed to American producer Phil Spector,[37][38] via the latter's connection with Beatles manager Allen Klein.

[39] Like Lennon, Harrison welcomed Spector's involvement, and he offered a glowing endorsement of the producer's talents on the sleeve of Ike & Tina Turner's album River Deep – Mountain High.

[40][41][nb 4] In January 1970, Spector was in London discussing the possibility of producing a solo album by Harrison[45] when the latter invited him to a recording session for Lennon's Plastic Ono Band single "Instant Karma!

[50] Similar to the "libidinous detour" provided by "I Dig Love", Leng views the inclusion of "Let It Down" on All Things Must Pass as "a brief sensory interlude" from the predominant spiritual concerns found on the album.

[53] This development was an open secret to the musicians with whom Clapton formed Derek and the Dominos at this time[54] – his fellow Delaney & Bonnie bandmates Bobby Whitlock, Jim Gordon and Carl Radle[55] – and to an apparently indifferent Harrison.

[58][59][nb 5] Having also toured with Delaney & Bonnie in December 1969,[62] Harrison used Gordon (on drums), Radle (bass) and the band's horn section, Bobby Keys and Jim Price, on the session for "Let It Down".

[65] In addition to Harrison and Clapton on electric guitars, Leng and Spizer list Pete Ham, Tom Evans and Joey Molland of Apple band Badfinger as acoustic rhythm guitarists on the track.

The rest of the time I was trying to get him into hospital ...[68] With its choruses presented in what Harrison biographer Elliot Huntley describes as "thundering, echo-drenched crescendo",[11] "Let It Down" received a hard rock arrangement that recalls the sound of Wright's former band Spooky Tooth.

[69][75] Once Spector had returned to London, later in August,[50] he and Harrison worked at Trident Studios, overseeing remixes as the recordings were transferred from 8- to 16-track tape – a process that allowed for greater flexibility when overdubbing further instruments and vocal parts.

[83] In his album review for the NME, Alan Smith noted "Let It Down"'s "big fuzzy" introduction against its verses' "quiet acid float" and admired the "romantic delicacy and perception" of Harrison's lyrics.

"[84] In a retrospective review for Rolling Stone, James Hunter cited the "grooving" performance on "Let It Down" as an example of how All Things Must Pass represents "a rock orchestra recorded with sensitivity and teeth and faraway mikes".

[86] Ingham comments on "the sheer size of the sound" on tracks such as "Let It Down", "Wah-Wah" and "What Is Life", all of which "build up a head of steam that could only be generated by multiple live takes of dozens of musicians playing their hearts out".

Madinger and Easter write that "Let It Down" was "a much rougher, rockin' track in its initial phase", and the mixes provide a "fascinating view" of how the song could have ended up without the heavy production favoured by Spector.

[94][99] In January 2001, Harrison included the song, along with a similar run-through of "Beware of Darkness", as one of five bonus tracks on the 30th anniversary reissue of All Things Must Pass;[100][nb 8] in his liner notes, he states that he had been unaware that the session was ever recorded.

[112] Dhani Harrison subsequently performed the song at George Fest, a multi-artist concert tribute to his father's music,[113] held at the Fonda Theatre, Los Angeles, on 28 September that same year.