The Long and Winding Road

While this is one of McCartney's most profound and moving compositions, it took me many years to truly appreciate it as such.  For me, the schmaltzy production of the number sat awkwardly on Phil Spector's cobbled-together Let it Be, coming as it did after two lively group performances on the second side of that album.  Had the stripped-down version of the song been placed in that exact same position, I wonder if I might have felt differently about it.  Of course, I was unaware at the time of the contentious circumstances under which the entire project had evolved.

McCartney claims he wrote the song in 1968 with Ray Charles in mind, but he first offered it to Tom Jones on the condition that it be his next single.  Because his record company already had his next single lined up, Jones was forced to turn it down, much to his regret.

McCartney then introduced it to the Beatles at the Get Back sessions in January of 1969.  It is interesting to note that Lennon, who questioned why McCartney brought the ballad Let it Be to those sessions, always had nothing but praise for The Long and Winding Road.

The song was reportedly rehearsed on more than a few days at Twickenham Film Studios in the early part of the month.  When the sessions switched to Apple Studios in late January, it was not played nearly as often as several of the other songs were, yet it was chosen for the final day of filming by the documentary crew on January 31st.  The group, including Billy Preston, played the number until they got what was considered to be the definitive version.

But when Glyn Johns began assembling his Get Back album a few months later, he opted for an unnumbered take of the song from January 26th - the only other day that the Beatles played the song with Billy Preston.  And when producer Phil Spector was brought in a year later to make the official soundtrack album, he used that same take for his version.  He also added an orchestra and choir, had Ringo (the only Beatle present) add more drums, and actually removed one of Paul's vocal tracks to make room for all of his additions.

This was the famous last straw for Paul, who resented that manager Allen Klein, John and George had allowed Spector to tamper with his work without his permission.  His demand that the additions be toned down or eliminated were ignored, so he issued his mock interview in conjunction with the release of his solo album McCartney on April 10th, obliquely announcing the end of the Beatles.

It probably only deepened the rift when Capitol Records, with Klein's blessing, chose to release The Long and Winding Road as a single on May 11th, 1970, a week before the Let it Be album in the US.  The Spectorized version of the song wound up being the 20th and last number one single in America for the group during their career.

The song was an obvious choice for the Blue Album in 1973, and a not-so-obvious inclusion on the 1977 compilation Love Songs.  The stripped-down version of the song got its official release on Anthology 3.  This allowed fans to hear the simple beauty of the composition, despite John's clunky playing on the bass.  It was also a surprise to learn that Paul actually spoke a bit of the second bridge, which Spector had erased in favor of Richard Hewson's sweeping score.

The greatest discovery, however, came on the 2003 album Let it Be...Naked.  Here, at last, was the final performance of the number from January 31st, 1969.  The stark arrangement is the same as the familiar January 26th version, John's bass playing is a bit better, and Billy Preston turns in a basic, yet elegant solo on electric keyboard for the second bridge.  This was the performance seen and heard in the film Let it Be, and it is available on the video collection 1+.