Did Paul Initially Approve Of The Long And Winding Road?

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Ziggy C
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Did Paul Initially Approve Of The Long And Winding Road?

Post by Ziggy C »

The notion of Paul fervently disliking the Spector mix of The Long And Winding Road has been retold in Beatle lore through the years. Yet, when the acetate for the Let It Be album was initially submitted to each of The Beatles, it's been said that Paul had no problem with it. It was only afterwards, when he filed the lawsuit against the other three, that this became an issue.

Yet, with Paul's steady revision of Beatle history, this point is not mentioned anymore.

Was there really a point to the release of Let It Be...Naked other than to supplant Spector's work with Paul's revision? The original Get Back should have been released back then instead. I have very little use for LIB...N. But it does make a mighty fine coaster from time to time, when I run out of real ones.
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Re: Did Paul Initially Approve Of The Long And Winding Road?

Post by billylentz »

Also, I´d dare say all the "Let it be" bashing is at least in part result of all the anti-Spector revisionism. I can´t precise when it began. I discovered the Beatles as a teenager by the time the CDs were being released. At least from my point of view, there was no question about it being a incredibly great album. The first time I remember this being mentioned was in Lewisohn´s book. Then today I always see a lot of negative comments about "Let it be". It´s just not very suitable. At the very least it´s the album with "Let it be", "Get back", "I´ve got a feeling", "Across the universe", "The long and winding road" and so many others. You can´t top that. I think of "The long and winding road" as perhaps Paul´s greatest work. It´s beautiful, it´s gorgeous, it´s everything we can dream of a song. I don´t think there´s nothing wrong with it. I get the point, of course, but I think all the revisionism has some hand in it.

As for Naked... I agree they should have simply released the Get Back album back then. But that "Don´t let me down" alone is worth the CD price. With those songs, it´s impossible to go wrong.
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Re: Did Paul Initially Approve Of The Long And Winding Road?

Post by Tex »

Paul's own contemporary letter complains about the loudness of the strings and the choir in the mix.

Paul was never in fact against the added orchestration on this particular song.

The armchair Beatles experts out there (present company excluded) like to regurgitate the lore not the facts because actual research using contemporary sources takes time and energy and a brain.
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Re: Did Paul Initially Approve Of The Long And Winding Road?

Post by Golem »

Let it Be Naked IMO does seem to be more of Paul's take on the album rather than what the album was originally supposed to be, while I don't think its pointless I do def find the album pretty lifeless.

I do prefer the Glyn Johns mix but to be honest I kinda wish Giles would have remixed the Get Back album to give us the best of both worlds, as good as the Get Back album is it's mixing isn't a highlight and I would love to see the original album done justice.
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Re: Did Paul Initially Approve Of The Long And Winding Road?

Post by Davenicks »

The short answer to your question is, "No". This information is commonly available.

https://www.goldradiouk.com/artists/the ... ad-letter/

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Re: Did Paul Initially Approve Of The Long And Winding Road?

Post by Mr Bump »

I don't think he had too much of an issue with it - I think he was more angry that it had been done without his consent. The actual arrangement was a solution to a problem - namely, that the bass guitar was so bad throughout and had to be covered up.

For me there is one piece of evidence which is seldom mentioned, namely that when McCartney re-recorded it for Give My Regards To Broad Street, he didn't de-orchestrate it. He retained the basic score. Therefore I don't think it's right that he hated it.
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Re: Did Paul Initially Approve Of The Long And Winding Road?

Post by Ziggy C »

Based on the contemporary sources, Paul, after reviewing his acetate, had some notes for Spector. I'm not so sure about fury directed about the mix itself. It seems to me that Paul was more upset that the tapes had been taken off the shelf without unanimous consent of The Beatles; once Klein was brought in, Paul's authority from that point on, was usurped and overruled. No longer all for one, it became majority rule. As for Paul's notes on the final mix, I don't think they were ignored. It's that they were submitted too late to do anything about it.

The 4th point in Paul's note is interesting. I tend to view it with levity. Almost like a scolding, but still joking wag of a finger. Thinking along the lines of Monty Python. The "Romans Go Home" scene from Life Of Brian (created many years after the Beatles had broken up.) After coaching and counseling Brian in the proper conjugation of the verb, "to go," as Brian attempts to leave graffiti on the big wall, the centurion stands by while Brian has to follow his command, writing it over and over for a hundred times. And then, when Brian is finished, the centurion wags his finger at him and admonishes him, "Now don't do it again!." That's the mood I gather from the 4th point in Paul's note.

Also interesting that Paul cc's John Eastman, who was his choice to manage the band's affairs. Eastman as manager would present a tremendous conflict of interest. So, in retrospect, it's wise that Eastman wasn't selected.

I tend to agree that John's bass playing is abysmal. Hey, when you're riding the horse....
And while the bass clams are still audible in some beats, the wash of the orchestra saves the recording.

More of the story from this website:
https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/paul-mccar ... len-klein/

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Re: Did Paul Initially Approve Of The Long And Winding Road?

Post by Lord Reith »

The biggest mystery for me is why they were suing that awful take for both the Glyn Johns and spector albums. The song was recorded in its finished form with an organ solo and completed lyrics on the very last day, and you can hear on the tape that they are not just rattling off any old version but going for the definitive take.

And yet, Glyn used a ragged take from an earlier session which is loose as anything with a messy ending, no solo and with a far less assured vocal from Paul. Then Spector used this as the basis for his own mix, and maybe not realising there was a finished take decided that it was too messy and needed orchestration to bring it up to scratch. And frankly I agree.

If Glyn had used the right take to begin with, the orchestration wouldn't have been needed or at least might have been less fullsome.

I like Paul's "don't do it again". It reminds me of a moment in the Get Back sessions where he and Ringo ask Glyn to do some mixes or acetates or something and Glyn replies casually, "Oh I'll do it later if I get time". Then there's a dreadful awkward pause where he remembers who he's talking to and adds "Oh I'll MAKE time".
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Re: Did Paul Initially Approve Of The Long And Winding Road?

Post by tulirepo »

Lord Reith wrote: Sat Aug 13, 2022 11:56 pm
And yet, Glyn used a ragged take from an earlier session which is loose as anything with a messy ending, no solo and with a far less assured vocal from Paul. Then Spector used this as the basis for his own mix, and maybe not realising there was a finished take decided that it was too messy and needed orchestration to bring it up to scratch. And frankly I agree.

If Glyn had used the right take to begin with, the orchestration wouldn't have been needed or at least might have been less fullsome.
In Peter Jackson's Get Back there is a sequence in which Glyn Johns makes no attempt of hiding the fact that he fell instantly in love with the take from the 26th. He probably remixed also the "finished" take 19 from the 31st. At least he must have been familiar with it. So why did he still choose the other one for the Get Back album? My guess is that he still liked Pauls vocal better. Paul might sound less assured, but his singing on the early take has a dreamy quality, which he lacks on the last take. And this dreaminess fits the song very well. Besides, Glyn Johns might have mused, the playing on take 19 is not perfect either. So out of two imperfect versions, why not simply choose the one that I like better?
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Re: Did Paul Initially Approve Of The Long And Winding Road?

Post by Lord Reith »

tulirepo wrote: Sun Aug 14, 2022 12:34 pm In Peter Jackson's Get Back there is a sequence in which Glyn Johns makes no attempt of hiding the fact that he fell instantly in love with the take from the 26th. He probably remixed also the "finished" take 19 from the 31st. At least he must have been familiar with it. So why did he still choose the other one for the Get Back album? My guess is that he still liked Pauls vocal better. Paul might sound less assured, but his singing on the early take has a dreamy quality, which he lacks on the last take. And this dreaminess fits the song very well. Besides, Glyn Johns might have mused, the playing on take 19 is not perfect either. So out of two imperfect versions, why not simply choose the one that I like better?
These are all good points but in my view he chose too many ragged and unfinished takes. His track selection was basically settled in his mind very early on when he made those acetates, and he kind of ignored everything that was recorded after that. The Beatles may have wanted the album to sound a bit more informal, but the fact that they rejected it three times shows that he went too far. You could have had a really professional sounding and yet more intimate album simply by including all the songs recorded on the last two days. Those performances were all fabulous.

I mean, I get why he liked the take of IGAF he chose. The vocal is really screamy and great. But George's guitar part is still in formation, and the song doesn't even finish. In these sorts of cases I think he let his own personal opinions get in the way of what his real job should have been, which was to produce a commercial quality album that would be up to normal Beatles standards. I mean, there's plenty of ragged takes on the Please Please Me sessions, but they chose the ones that sounded best overall... because why wouldn't you?

Don't get me wrong, I love the Get Back album - but as a bootleg. That's how I first heard it and it's difficult to imagine how anything that shabby could have been presented to the public as the next Beatles album. They had only a few years before been roasted publicly for putting out an informal and amateurish film in Magical Mystery Tour. Imagine how the press would have savaged an album where they are heard singing out of tune (Save The Last Dance For Me) and playing out of time (Long And Winding Road)?
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