Featured Article Summary #265

“The Long and Winding Road” is a Beatles song from their 1970 album Let It Be. Paul McCartney wrote it in 1968 on his Scottish farm as the band’s relationships were growing more bitter, imagining it would suit someone like Ray Charles. The basic recording happened in January 1969 during the Get Back sessions, but the project stalled and eventually producer Phil Spector took those recordings to try to finish an album. Spector added heavy orchestral and choral parts, a decision that McCartney and others later disliked, leading to serious disputes and even being mentioned in McCartney’s legal arguments to end the band. When the song was released in May 1970, reviews were harsh about Spector’s additions, though it still reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks. In later years critics and musicians became more positive, and other versions by artists including Cilla Black, Aretha Franklin, and Ray Charles helped keep the song popular. Paul McCartney says he got the idea for “The Long and Winding Road” while visiting his Scottish home, High Park Farm, where he saw a road leading up into the distant hills. He later turned that image into the song, which also reflects the growing tensions within the Beatles and, in part, his own feelings about his personal situation and the band’s history. McCartney described writing it at a piano in Scotland, and although he wrote it, it is credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. The song is a piano-based ballad with standard chord changes and a “slightly jazzy” feel, centered on E-flat major and also using C minor. Its opening theme repeats, and because there is no clear chorus, it can be hard to tell whether the first stanza is the beginning, a verse, or a bridge, though it’s often described as pop, rock, or orchestral soul. McCartney said it’s a sad song about unreachable things and “the road you never get to the end of.” In 1968, after returning to London, Paul McCartney recorded a demo of “The Long and Winding Road” during a White Album session. He then suggested the song to Tom Jones, asking him to release it as his next single, but Jones says his record label wouldn’t allow it because they were preparing to release “Without Love” instead. McCartney first introduced “The Long and Winding Road” on 7 January 1969 during Beatles rehearsals at Twickenham, as the band tried to return to their musical “roots” through their Get Back project. After further recordings at Apple Studio in late January, the band considered adding orchestral sounds, with McCartney imagining something like Ray Charles’ band. In May, Glyn Johns chose the 26 January version for the planned album, while the 31 January take appeared in the film Let It Be, though poor tape quality later caused problems for the album plans.