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The Long And Winding Road
(John Lennon/Paul McCartney)
Paul McCartney:
Vocals, piano
John Lennon: Bass guitar
Ringo Starr: Drums
George Harrison: Guitar
Uncredited:
18 violins
4 violas
4 cellos
Harp
3 trumpets
3 trombones
2 guitarists
14 female voices
Recorded
January 26, 31 1969 and April 1 1970.
Available on:
Let
It Be
Hey Jude
The Beatles 1967-1970(The Blue Album)
Anthology 3
Let It Be Naked
Paul McCartney's
The Long And Winding Road was allegedly inspired by the
road that leads to his High Park farm in Scotland. The road,
B842, is sixteen miles of twists and turns which runs from
the east coast of Kintyre into Campbeltown.
McCartney
recorded a rough demo of Let It Be during the recording
sessions for the The
Beatles (The White Album) in 1968, but the song wasn't
recorded properly until 1969.
Some critics
are unimpressed by John Lennon's crude bass playing on this
song, since he misses a note here and there.
The song's
orchestrial string sections were never suggested by Paul
McCartney. In 1970, John Lennon invited producer Phil Spector
to put together an album based on the material recorded
during the so-called "Get Back" sessions in 1969.
The album would eventually be released under the title Let
It Be (see Don't
Let Me Down for further information.)
Spector
decided that the song needed strings and got Richard Hewson
to write the score (Hewson was later to orchestrate arrangements
on McCartney's Thrillington album.)
It's been
said that McCartney disliked the string arrangement on the
song and that he never approved it before the album was
released. Lennon and Spector denied this, and Spector has
claimed to hold a telegram from Paul approving the mixes
he did for the Let It Be album, before the album was released.
Nevertheless,
The Long And Winding Road was issued as a single in the
US in May 1970, as a double A-side with Harrison's For
You Blue. It stayed at number 1 for two weeks.
The long and winding road
that leads to your door
will never disappear
I've seen that road before
It always leads me her
Lead me to you door
The Long And Winding Road
(John Lennon/Paul McCartney)
The wild
and windy night
that the rain washed away
Has left a pool of tears
crying for the day
Why leave me standing here
let me know the way
Many times
I've been alone
and many times I've cried
Any way you'll never know
the many ways I've tried
But still
they lead me back
to the long winding road
You left me standing here
a long long time ago
Don't leave me waiting here
lead me to your door
But still
they lead me back
to the long winding road
You left me standing here
a long long time ago
Don't leave me waiting here
lead me to your door
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
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