THE BEATLES - The Long and Winding Road"

The Beatles
"The Long and Winding Road"
Single / B-side: For You Blue
Released: 11 May 1970 (US)
Album: Le It Be (Released: 8 May 1970)
Writer: Paul McCartney
Label: Apple
____________________________________

"The Long and Winding Road" is a ballad written by Paul McCartney (credited to Lennon–McCartney). It is the tenth track on the Beatles' album Let It Be. It became the group's 20th and last number-one song in the United States on 13 June 1970, and was the last single released by the quartet while all four remained alive. 

The Beatles' single "The Long and Winding Road", 1970  (front cover)
(Photo courtesy of Apple)

The Beatles - "The Long and Winding Road" (1970)

While the released version of the song was very successful, the post-production modifications by producer Phil Spector angered McCartney to the point that when he made his case in court forbreaking up the Beatles as a legal entity, he cited the treatment of "The Long and Winding Road" as one of six reasons for doing so. New versions of the song with simpler instrumentation were subsequently released by both the Beatles and McCartney.

McCartney originally wrote the song at his farm in Scotland, and was inspired by the growing tension among the Beatles. McCartney said later "I just sat down at my piano in Scotland, started playing and came up with that song, imagining it was going to be done by someone like Ray Charles. I have always found inspiration in the calm beauty of Scotland and again it proved the place where I found inspiration."

The Beatles's single "The Long and Winding Road" - "For You Blue" (1970)

The Beatles - The Long and Winding Road" (original version)

The song takes the form of a piano-based ballad, with conventional chord changes. Lyrically, it is a sad and melancholic song, with an evocation of an as-yet unrequited, though apparently inevitable, love.

The "long and winding road" of the song was claimed to have been inspired by the B842, a thirty-one mile (50 km) winding road in Scotland, running along the east coast of Kintyre into Campbeltown, and part of the eighty-two mile (133 km) drive from Lochgilphead. In an interview in 1994, McCartney described the lyric more obliquely "It's rather a sad song. I like writing sad songs, it's a good bag to get into because you can actually acknowledge some deeper feelings of your own and put them in it. It's a good vehicle, it saves having to go to a psychiatrist."

Th Beatles' album Let It Be, 1970 (front cover)
(photo courtesy of Apple)

The Beatles - "The Long and Winding Road" (album Let It Be, 1970 - 2009 Remaster)

The Beatles recorded "The Long and Winding Road" on 26 and 31 January 1969, the day after the group's final performance on the roof of their Apple headquarters, with McCartney on piano, John Lennon on bass guitar, George Harrison on guitar, Ringo Starr on drums, and Billy Preston on electric piano. This was during a series of sessions for an album project then known as Get Back. Lennon, who played bass only occasionally, made several mistakes on the recording.

In May 1969, Glyn Johns, who had been asked to mix the Get Back album by the Beatles, selected the 26 January recording as the best version of the song. The Beatles had recorded a master version as part of the 'Apple studio performance' on 31 January, which contained a different lyrical and musical structure, but this version was not chosen for release. For both the 1969 and 1970 versions of the Get Back album, Glyn Johns used the 26 January mix as released on the Anthology 3 album in 1996.

In the spring of 1970, Lennon and the Beatles' manager, Allen Klein, turned over the recordings to Phil Spector with the hope of salvaging an album, which was then titled Let It Be.

Spector made various changes to the songs, but his most dramatic embellishments occurred on 1 April 1970, the last ever Beatles recording session, when he turned his attention to "The Long and Winding Road". At Abbey Road Studios, he recorded the orchestral and choir accompaniment for the song. Spector succeeded in remixing "The Long and Winding Road", using 18 violins, four violas, four cellos, three trumpets, three trombones, two guitars, and a choir of 14 women. The orchestra was scored and conducted by Richard Hewson, who would later work with McCartney on his album, Thrillington. 

The Beatles - "The Long and Winding Road" (Let it Be documentary film)

The Beatles - :The Long and Winding Road" (Let It Be,,, Naked version, 2003)

In 2003, the remaining Beatles and Yoko Ono released Let It Be... Naked, touted as the band's version of Let It Be remixed by independent producers. McCartney claimed that his long-standing dissatisfaction with the released version of "The Long and Winding Road" (and the entire Let It Be album) was in part the impetus for the new version. The new album included a later take of "The Long and Winding Road", recorded on 31 January. With no strings or other added instrumentation beyond that which was played in the studio at the time, it was closer to the Beatles's original intention than the 1970 version.This take is also the one seen in the film Let It Be.

The Beatles 1970
(Photo by Bruce McBroom - Apple Corps. Ltd) 

Line-up / Musicians:

Paul McCartney – lead vocals, piano

John Lennon – bass

George Harrison – guitar

Ringo Starr – drums

Billy Preston – electric piano

With:

Phil Spector's orchestral and choral arrangements

Links / Reviews:

Wikipedia: The Long and Winding Road (song)

Songfacts: The Long and Winding Road by The Beatles

Beatlesbible: beatlesbible - The Long And Winding Road