Written by: Lennon-McCartney
Recorded: 26, 31 January 1969; 1 April 1970
Producers: George Martin, Phil Spector
Engineers: Glyn Johns, Peter Bown
Released: 8 May 1970 (UK), 18 May 1970 (US)
Paul McCartney: vocals, piano
John Lennon: bass
George Harrison: guitar
Ringo Starr: drums
Uncredited: 18 violins, four violas, four cellos, harp, three trumpets, three trombones, two guitarists, 14 female vocalists
Available on:
Let It Be
Anthology 3
Let It Be... Naked
1 (One)
If ever there was a song which summed up the fraught nature of The Beatles' final months, it was The Long And Winding Road.
The song started out as a simple McCartney ballad, written in Scotland in 1968 at a time in which the cracks in The Beatles' relationships were become ever deeper. A demo was recorded during the White Album sessions, but taken no further.
I was a bit flipped out and tripped out at that time. It's a sad song because it's all about the unattainable; the door you never quite reach. This is the road that you never get to the end of.
Many Years From Now, Barry Miles
The song was written with Ray Charles in mind, although McCartney acknowledged that the similarities are well hidden.
It doesn't sound like him at all, because it's me singing and I don't sound anything like Ray, but sometimes you get a person in your mind, just for an attitude, just for a place to be, so that your mind is somewhere rather than nowhere, and you place it by thinking, Oh, I love that Ray Charles, and think, Well, what might he do then? So that was in my mind, and would have probably had some bearing on the chord structure of it, which is slightly jazzy. I think I could attribute that to having Ray in my mind when I wrote that one.
Many Years From Now, Barry Miles
In the studio
The Beatles rehearsed The Long And Winding Road on a number of occasions during the filming sessions at Twickenham in early January 1969. By the time they entered Apple Studios later in the month they were familiar with the song.
The song was recorded on 26 January, and again during the 'Apple studio performance' on the 31st, an indoor counterpart to the previous day's rooftop concert.
Seven takes were recorded, the last of which was chosen by producer Glyn Johns to appear on the unreleased Get Back album. But it was a take from 26 January which formed the basis for the Let It Be version.
The unadorned song can be heard on Anthology 3, complete with a multitude of bass guitar errors by John Lennon. In truth, the song was little more than a run-through, with little care given to making it perfect.
And so, when Phil Spector came to work on the Let It Be tracks, he overdubbed strings and a choir, arranged and conducted by Richard Hewson, and also with Ringo Starr on drums. The overdubs were intended to mask the original version's shortcomings. This wasn't without its hazards, however.
On The Long And Winding Road he wanted to overdub orchestra and choir but there weren't the available tracks on the tape, so he wiped one of Paul's two vocal tracks in order to put the orchestra on.
The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, Mark Lewisohn
When McCartney was sent a pre-release acetate of the song he was furious, and demanded that changes be made. His thoughts were captured in an interview given to the London Evening Standard newspaper.
The album was finished a year ago, but a few months ago American record producer Phil Spector was called in by John Lennon to tidy up some of the tracks. But a few weeks ago, I was send a re-mixed version of my song The Long And Winding Road, with harps, horns, an orchestra and women's choir added. No one had asked me what I thought. I couldn't believe it. I would never have female voices on a Beatles record. The record came with a note from Allen Klein saying he thought the changes were necessary. I don't blame Phil Spector for doing it but it just goes to show that it's no good me sitting here thinking I'm in control because obviously I'm not. Anyway I've sent Klein a letter asking for some of the things to be altered, but I haven't received an answer yet.
Evening Standard, April 1970
The letter was reproduced in the Anthology book. It was addressed to Allen Klein at Apple Corps Limited, and dated 14 April 1970.
Dear Sir,
In future no one will be allowed to add to or subtract from a recording of one of my songs without my permission.
I had considered orchestrating The Long And Winding Road but I had decided against it. I therefore want it altered to these specifications:-
1. Strings, horns, voices and all added noises to be reduced in volume.
2. Vocal and Beatle instrumentation to be brought up in volume.
3. Harp to be removed completely at the end of the song and original piano notes to be substituted.
4. Don't ever do it again.Signed
Paul McCartney
c.c. Phil Spector
John Eastman
"I would never have female voices on a Beatles record." Yet it was Paul's decision a few years earlier to bring in two female Apple Scruffs from the street to sing out of tune harmonies on John's "Across The Universe". John apparently considered it as unconscious sabotage of one of his finest songs. Perhaps Phil Spector was wreaking some karmic justice.
I love Paul but sometimes he can be just a bit full of it.
Very true. There were female voices on I Am The Walrus and Good Night too, not to mention Yoko 'singing' on Bungalow Bill, Jane Asher and Maureen Starkey providing various backing vocals, and so on.
they were John's songs, Paul probably just didn't want them on his songs and couldn't care less if they were on John's or George's. Also, he wanted "Long and Winding Road" to be a simple piano ballad.
Right on,Mister Pleasant!
All of the songs you mention are Lennon songs, therefore it would not have been Paul's decision to add female vocals to any of those tracks. The backing vocals done by Asher, Starckey, and Yoko were minimal at best, and are not considered to be main elements of the songs.
In regards to the 2 females singing harmonies on Across the Universe, this was a group decision. Paul did not say, "I demand you put these 2 females on harmonies for this song." Nor did he add the voice harmonies after the track was already completed and without the knowledge of the original songwriter, John, which is exactly what Kline and Spector did.
If it was a group decision to add the Apple Scruffs to Across The Universe, could it not have been a group decision to add the voices to John's other songs too? And particularly before 1968, when they were collaborating much more closely, the non-writers of each individual song didn't back off from making decisions and suggestions about how they should be recorded (ie I Am The Walrus was very much a collaborative effort, though I don't know who decided on the choir).
I think you possibly underestimate Paul's dominant role in The Beatles' recordings from around 1967 onwards. I'm not implying that he made all the decisions, but he frequently pushed for certain things to be done when others seemed not to care as much. I suspect in this case it's less the fact that there were female voices on the track, and more that the idea wasn't one of his.
Yeah, that "no female voices" was a bit of an exaggeration on Paul's part. Also, he probably wanted an excuse to leave the band - while saving face, since he'd previously dissuaded John and George from leaving.
Me, I don't like the song and never have, orchestra/choir or not.
Me neither. It's known as The Long And Boring Song in our house. I prefer the LIB...Naked version though.
In Spector's defense, I would say he did pick the better take as far as Paul's vocal was concerned; the vocal take that appears on "Let it Be... Naked" actually sounds more like a run-through. One question: Can anyone hear all the individual Beatles on the Spector-produced version? You've got Paul singing, of course, and Ringo on drums, and I THINK I hear John's bass now and then--but is what I THINK is George on guitar actually his playing?
Who does the haunting vocal at 3:15 ("Don't keep me waiting!"). Is that Paul backed up from the mic, or John or George?
That sounds like Paul, sort-of off-mike at 3:15. AFAIK, none of the other Beatles ever sang on that track.
The Long And Boring Song
Hahaha, I always refer to it as "Long-Winded Road" myself! My single least favourite Beatles track, Phil Spector or no Phil Spector