@@kevinstaggs5048 "Let it Be" is one of my favorite albums. Can't stand "Disco Duck". But here's the difference (can't believe I have to explain this, but here goes...).... "Long and Winding Road" has proven over time to be a timeless classic. Still gets millions of spins, both in public and private. No comparison to "Disco Duck", which made it to #1 only because it was a gimmick song, intended to be a joke. "Long and Winding Road" was not intended to be a joke and reached #1 for different reasons, and still holds up to this day.
@@PROWLERS1 Your comment implied that Spector didn't "ruin" the song, because it reached #1 on the Billboard chart. My point is that chart position means nothing because even a garbage joke song can reach #1 as have many crappy songs. The Long and Winding Road is a great song period, and it would be even if it's peak chart position had been #50.
I LOVE “The Long and Winding Road” just as it is with the strings and production. It’s a masterpiece. Paul was wrong, but they should have consulted him before messing with his song.
Personally, I prefer the Spector mix to the original. I find some of Paul's piano figures distract attention from the vocal, which should be the focus. All the same, I can understand his anger at serious changes being made to one of his songs without his knowledge or consent. The Beatles were not on the best of terms at this time.
Yep, the thing is, the original backing track/demo was unsatisfying and too loose. The weaknesses had to be glossed over with something else but at this late stage, the band just wasn't available to fix things with a couple of new takes, so Spector had to cover things with the orchestration.
I think the song is iconic as a swan song for the Beatles. It is over ripe, over produced and over dramatized by Spector, but to me the effect is a beautiful grandiose swan song for the group. Its like a goodbye to a glorious era.
The long and winding road was one of the greatest song from the Beatles ,the original Paul McCarney version was as beautiful and simple as he planned ,never get tired of listening to it !
2:12 Knowing Allen Klein, I'm sure he put Paul's letter of complaint and demands right in the...circular file! Oh well, even "ruined", it still went to #1 in the U.S. Not too shabby. A compromise which I think would have been a better treatment would be to have the first stanza just as it is in _Anthology 3,_ and start a simplified embellishment just after "The wild and windy night...:", and letting it grow lusher as the song progressed further. As a compromise on this compromise, I put together, as I said, the first stanza from A3, which then transitions to the general-relase version at the aforementioned juncture. Works pretty well, I find!
I agree with Paul 100%. Even though I grew up with the strings version, upon hearing the naked version I preferred that. Now when I hear the Spector version, I think “Yep, Paul was right.”
I mean, I agree that the choir on "The Long and Winding Road" (not to mention the harp) is a bit over the top, and rather un-Beatles-ish. But it's what I grew up listening to, so I definitely have a soft spot for it. For some reason, it reminds me of the house I lived in in my early childhood. But, aesthetically/artistically, I definitely prefer the "naked" version on the Let It Be: Naked album. The piano notes, and their associated harmonics (along with Billy Preston's organ, or electric piano, or whatever), come through so beautifully that you don't really need all that extra fluff. But, yeah, still prefer the original Spector version more often than I'd like to admit, haha.
If you think the strings are cheesy, you should listen to Paul’s studio re-recording with the saxophone on his “ 1984 “Give My Regards to Broadstreet”!
Yeah, Paul Simon had similar doubts about the merits of the strings on Bridge Over Troubled Water: he felt they were a bit too syrupy and prominent, but he recognized the meaningful intention of giving the song a BIG feeling of expansion and "lift" in the final verse (originally he had only written two verses, the third one was added during the recording sessions, at Artie's suggestion)
I know Paul didn’t like Spector’s arrangement and production of Long and Winding Road, but I like that version with the strings and the women backup vocals. It’s what I heard first and the version I prefer. Many fans feel the same.
The Beatles never had back-up singers period. Only on rare occasions did they have other musicians sit in. Billy Preston and Eric Clapton were the main ones.
Totally Disagree: The only thing wrong with Let it Be album is; The awful sequencing, the tacky in between song chat and the omission of Don’t Let Me Down. Spector’s work on Land Winding Road was inspired and made it a No One US single and the album version, guitar solo on the song, Let it Be elevates the song to masterpiece.
At that stage the band had nothing to prove or need another number one. It is more about what McCartney wanted to convey in the song, rather than Spector's "Long and Over Windy Road" ☺.
Let it Be would have been a much better album if George Martin had produced it. The female voices on "The Long and Winding Road" just don't sound right.
Paul McCartney has more musical talent and a better ear than Spector has ever dreamed of having. The Beatles, the greatest and most influential band ever.
All the Beatles were huge Spector fans, and both John and George brought him in to produce their solo albums long after Let it Be. Besides producing he was a great writer as well. Brian Wilson worshiped the guy.
Phil Spector was a genius, and so was Paul McCartney. They couldn't co-exist. Spector had a crazy streak; but McCartney was a performer as well as a song writer.
I'll never listen to Spector's version again. I know my loss, but I don't respect Phil Spector. I purchased that album in 1969, when I lived on the Navajo Reservation. I loved that song. Now I know that there is another version, then I guess that will be my favorite Beatles song now.
Can you imagine having Yoko in the studio constantly? Oh my God. It would be like one of your beer drinking buddies bringing his wife along when ya'll go out to drink some berrs.
@@chicklets4ever51 It would be better to describe her music with the label "Protest" (Against Music) rather than "Avant Garde", others might say "Rubbish" but they are such Philistines, Starmer should lock them up for 10 years😂!?!
@@TomTomicMic I was being ironic. A screaming Yoko, at least, might have alerted people to just how bad a song "The Long and Winding Road" really is. Not that it needs any help, mind you.
My least favorite Beatles song, both versions. I love the way both of these men put a song together, but this one should never have been on the album in my opinion. Paul's vocals on the "Naked" version were exceptional though.George had several songs ready to go that would have complemented the album far better. Fortunately we got to hear them on All Things Must Pass.
I take heat for it but I think Spector did a good job on it. It's on video tape somewhere that I heard Paul, Martin, et al discussing The Long and Winding Road, where Paul himself is entertaining a string arrangement. Maybe the female choral arrangement was a bit much and uncharacteristic of a Beatles song, but I still think it worked. To me, this song is a goodbye song. Goodbye to Paul and John´s brother-type relationship, goodbye to the band, goodbye to us.
@@jaelge Well said. If it wasn't his song that somebody "messed with," I think Paul would have probably liked it because the arrangement really is beautiful. It's a beautiful arrangement in addition to one of Paul's best songs. How can you go wrong! LOL.
@@I_Am_Become_Light: In this very rare instance, I don´t even think George Martin could've enhanced that song as well as Spector did. I could be wrong, but I feel, perhaps like you, that its that good. (peace).
Song was not ruined. I think what may have happened here is the same thing George purportedly left for. Even John had mentioned that since the death of Brian, Paul tried to basically take over and this just seems like he was angry because someone else made changes. I think any changes would have made him angry at this point.
Not to mention that George Martin had given him a wide latitude because of his ability to write salable pop songs and they had similar taste in music. In fact George Martin was friends with the Asher and quite influential on Paul from those days when he moved in with them for a few years.
I disagree. The whole album was ruined by the wall of sound. The Naked release is so superior I got rid of the original version as I would never listen to it again.
It was Paul’s song so it reasonable that he should choose how it was produced. Beyond that, this was part of the Get Back sessions which were supposed to be the Beatles getting back to their earlier rock and roll music without a lot of studio additions. And, George Martin, an excellent producer who did so much for the Beatles once described the Let It Be album as “produced by George Martin and overproduced by Phil Spector”.
I think you're wrong and also reading into the situation a lot of personal opinion that is questionable at best. The Spector production is way over the top, as too much of his production work was in making the so-called "wall of sound". It's bombastic and pretentious in many ways, almost but not quite ruining a beautiful song and vocal. Spector, whatever good things he did along the way, was an egomaniac totally obsessed with his warped vision of pop music with excessive orchestral arrangements.
It’s sounds refreshing different actually. If it wasn’t produced by Spector any true Beatles fan - I am one - would be able to predict the production and what it would have sounded like. It deserves the embellishment and lifts it even higher.
In the Let it be film McCartney sings The Long and Winding Road very well without strings and a choir. It was a natural vocal with nuances and vocal emphasis throughout the lyrical composition and with fellow Beatle live instrumentation. The added orchestra and choir voices were not the original intention of the artist-McCartney who wrote the song. Phil Specter ruined that song with Lennon going along with it and knowing that McCartney would be against the idea.
I love the orchestra, strings, horns, etc. It really makes the song beautiful & classy. Paul sings it just right, the right tone & emotion. I love it! ❤️
Phil Spector was something of a loose cannon. He put out Leonard Cohen's Death of a Ladies' man before Leonard heard the final cut. Both are good, but why upset the artists?
You almost have to wonder if John Lennon was up to some creative sabotage, first by bringing Phil Spector on board and also by flubbing some of the bass tracks - it's no secret that by the end of the sixties, he was not a happy Beatle. Moreover, Paul later revealed that John is the one who actually broke up the Beatles.
Lennon brought in Spector and Klein, pushed out Martin, took heroin, knocked Paul and was lackadaisical. A great artist yet unable to manage himself or anyone else.
@@KP11520 More regurgitated half century old bigoted ignorant myths. Paul later said his love for Linda made him rethink his earlier attitude to Yoko. Rightly John loved who HE loved. It's none of our business. No one today actually likes her earlier atonal screeching but by 1980 she had less shite songs than John and actually started singing. I only really liked 'I'm losing You', frankly the rest were just like lamer McCartney stuff while Yoko had some witty MODERN biting New Wave songs going on. Others like the B 52's, Lene Lovitch, Kate Bush and Björk etc cite Yoko's influence. John wanted an intelligent strong woman not a pretty 'chick' like the pathetic and vapid Patti Boyd, who betrayed George Harrison for Eric Clapton!
I get tired of hearing ail complain about how Phil Spector ruined this song. Paul was given an acetate of this well before it was released, and , frankly he had every opportunity to approve, or make changes. Frankly the released ( Let It Be) version is much more preferable to the original recording. By the way , Paul uses accompaniment and strings when he performs this in concert!
The Beatles never really fully grasped who they were. And they never grasped the fact that they didn't always have the best opinions, even about their own songs. As a songwriter also, you sometimes have to step back, because you are too close to your own creativity. Let others view it from another perspective. And to the poster of this video, you really had to have experienced that time firsthand to understand what the Beatles meant to us, and what the time was like. They were Gods then. However 'The Long And Winding Road' was produced, it would have been fine. But the production Phil gave it was spectacular..in my opinion. I remember looking up from my bed and hearing the song in my head. It was a magical time. All gone now. Who has replaced them...Beyonce? And ps..to show I am not an irrational fan who was gaga over anything each one of them did, I am not a fan of each one's music after they broke up. I learned that they needed each other to create that magic. Their music was vastly inferior after they disbanded..in my humble opinion. But the beauty of music, is once it's down, it's there forever.
More Taylor Swift these days currently, rather than Bay-onsz, it's hard for the Beatles when they were in that hectic but relatively short period of fame together to really identify who they were, they had developed their art quite quickly as well, however they did achieve the top group status who everybody else is judged by and individually they achieved some milestones as well, not bad at all really, it was unfortunate that John was murdered but it would not have followed that they would have got back together at some stage, it is what it was and that was quite good enough!?!
It is true that Paul hated the Phil Spector treatment and there has been accusations even by /Spector himself that John's bass playing was terrible. Spector lowered the bass track so it could not be heard and covered it with strings , backing voices and all that. It's one of my favorite songs and was not ruined by all the mistakes and tampering with it. The beautiful melody and lyrics survive regardless and a lot of people like the Spector produced single that was initially released.
McCartney left the band because it worked out well for selling his first solo album, effectively going against what they had agreed-upon they all would decide when JOHN wanted to leave at first. It was like a knife in the back. He used to redo tricks without telling the other Beatlesand so would probably especially hurt him to get a bit of payback with Phil Spector. He changed his mind about the initial version after it sold so well…
@@thomaspacker2626 Paul has said that John stated he was going to leave first.I have read that Ringo went to Paul and asked him to delay his solo album, and Paul got mad and threw Ringo out. I never heard anything about Paul secretly redoing tracks without telling the other Beatles . I would be interested in finding out the source you have for that and the part where you seem to be saying that Paul wanted to chamge the time for releasing his solo album when I have read that the other three sent Ringo to ask Paul to change the release date of his solo album which they had all already agreed to.. What article or book did you get this information from as I would love to read it ?
I'm sorry. I completely disagree with the feeling that Phil Spector ruined this track I loved what he did to it. I may be the only one but I don't really care it's sumptuous!
I have loved this song just the way it is, all my life. It’s more powerful with all the orchestration, female voices and harp. The Naked version sounds limp without it.
Interesting...Spector overproduced The Long and Winding Road per Paul. He is the same artist who drove his bandmates crazy with 40 takes (overdubs, remixes, etc) for Maxwell's Silver Hammer! I preferred Spector's version of TLAWR.- it is one of my 10 favorite Beatles songs and I own every album.
That's not a lot of takes. They did more takes of many songs-including more than 100 of Not Guilty, which was still not good enough for the White Album. The song they did the most takes of for Get Back was All Things Must Pass-only for George to pull it from inclusion on the rooftop. Maxwell was not an extreme case in any way. George and Ringo simply didn't like it.
This is a version of the Beatles breakup that I have not heard before. Under what rock have I been lurking? It does make sense about Paul not liking any interference with his music.
"Let It Be" was my least favorite Beatles album growing up so it's probably unsurprising that I latched onto "Let It Be Naked" as the correct version. But I'm older and wiser now, and folks can like what they like.
Nobody “left The Beatles”. Their dissolution was a natural progression. The split was inevitable. The Spector production was how we first heard the music. It seems right that way. I don’t care for the stripped down versions. They sound incomplete. Spector was brought in to give the tracks a produced sound. He did a good job of it.
Фил Спектор изменил весь альбом "Let it be", записав его с малой динамикой и очень громко. Это придало альбому агрессивное звучание. Я пытался выложить в ютубе этот альбом c подчеркнутой динамикой, но ютуб быстро запретил его из-за авторских прав
Nah, I just listened to the Naked version and it's too sparse. People might not have like Spector but he was right on adding the orchestra and women singers. McCartney left the "Beatles" after George has already quit so there really wasn't any Beatles to leave now was there? George got tired of Paul's controlling influence , wanting everything his way.
None of the Beatles were happy with the outcome of Phil Spector's version of the album 'Let It Be'. I also don't like it. I find 'Let It Be Naked...' much more authentic. You have the Beatles playing live at the studio. I can feel and hear them interacting with each other the same way as in Peter Jackson's 'Get Back' documentary.
An album called Let It Be Naked takes out all of Phil Spector's crap. It shows how beautiful the songs were and the B side of the disk has many of the background sounds the Beatles made.
Paul was wrong about this arrangement, the orchestra was beautiful. funny how Paul used similar arrangements when he did the song live. I think at times, Paul got a little too bossy. the song is one of the best he ever wrote, and is one of my favorite Beatle songs.
Anyone that thinks Spectors. Version ruined this song is fucking high! There was a lot happening behind the scenes with Martin and McCartney and the rest of the Beatles hence their biased option to the mix, but any object listener thinks Spector messed up 😂😂😂
The Long and Winding Road, Elinor Rigby, Michelle, Yesterday, And I Love Her, I See You, Eight Days A Week, Paperback Writer, Hey Jude... All by McCartney.
The Long and Winding Road is one of my least favorite songs from The Beatles. It's always been depressing for me. I think that I might have preferred Mr. McCartney's original ideas for the finished project. He did "somber/melancholy" really well. Yesterday, Eleanor Rigby, etc...
I like what Spector did with TLAWR. The "Let it Be" single was a masterpiece as Spector had a light hand with it. The album version is overdone however. Too much emphasis on the background instruments.
Maybe we should add a banjo..... really... Its okay if they "the beatles" do versions of their work like they did with three versions of Revolution...but someone like him... Even Martin helped on a lot of Beatle songs but he worked with them...
John left the band he started. Kept quiet about it at the request of the others. Then Paul made his "big announcement" to promote His first solo album. I think Spector's gotten a bad rap- McCartney was no stranger to schmaltz before or after.
Right, after the band without Paul's approval chose a crook to manage them, correct? On top of Spector ruining his songs, in his opinion, I imagine Paul was angry and felt justified in making the announcement early. Sort of disingenuous to judge him harshly.
I honestly think the minute the other Beatle’s choose Phil over him was the second Paul knew the Beatles were over and he was leaving. Can’t really blame him. Even if you like the results, the insult and hurt were the final straw.
Spector'd personal life went wrong, but the man who made 'Be My Baby' and inspired the likes of Brian Wilson, took Winding Road to a place that was beyond Paul's original vision. Over the years, Paul has come to see that and featured the same arrangement. That's okay. Nobody's perfect. But you can't leave out the emotional and symbolic power of the track for Beatles fans at the time. it stands as a magnificent final number one by a great band and a great producer.
It was to be the swan song of a group that had seen there heyday come and go..In my opinion what Spector did with the song was nothing less than genius..When I heard the naked version I thought to myself where the hell is the rest of it..?
Bullshit 'Ruined!' Spector vs. The Beatles are f*cking Masterpieces! They're an essential part of the Beatles Story *And* an essential part of their Canon. Deal with it!!...
Until I heard the "Let It Be...Naked" version, I thought the Phil Spector version was great. When I heard the version without Spector's strings and choir, I realized what a beautiful song it had been, and Spector's version paled in comparison. While Spector didn't exactly ruin the song, it covered up the emotion.
I agree 100%! I love the naked version. It’s interesting that in the movie Yesterday the creators chose that song to have the main character “spontaneously create” in a competition - which he did on the piano. I now think this must have been a nod of respect to Paul for the simple beauty of his song that the naked version reveals.
The "Long winding road" was a beautiful production by Spector. That's how fans remember that song in 1970. It was no more mushy than George Martins production of Georges "Something" which is beautiful as well.
In my view, The Beatles are not complete without George Martin. I prefer the "naked" and Glyn John's versions of the Get Back/Let It Be songs, and even some of the rehearsals and outtakes, especially Across the Universe and All Things Must Pass. Similarly, I never liked the All Things Must Pass album and have been looking for a "naked" version. Just recently, a certain yorick22 did the compilation work and published it on RUclips: ruclips.net/video/zgUcfWxlCs8/видео.html The Beatles had already made our world much better than it otherwise would have been, but it would have been that much better still if George Martin had produced Let It Be and All Things Must Pass of which four or five songs should have been on Let It Be and a would-be 1970 Beatles album. At least Phil Spector didn't ruin the 1970 John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band album because its most striking feature is its raw simplicity.
Anyone who would argue the strings and orchestral should be removed from The Long and Winding Road in favor of the non-orchestral version, which was not as pleasing to the musical senses by a good margin, that person has no real musical knowledge and/or they would have to be tone deaf. Paul McCartney's rendition is good. However, the Phil Spectre version went to number 1 on the charts and greatly enhanced the feeling of melancholy underying the entire song. Case closed. And by the way, it is what the author of the song specifically requested be done.
** I can understand Paul’s argument that The Long And Winding Road could have been arranged better. There are moments in the Glyn Johns version of this track which are very good & some could say that Glyn's sounds better in parts than what Spector did. But as with all the Glyn Johns tracks, he leaves in glaring ad lib flaws & mistakes which take away from these songs. * The first mix of the Let It Be album, done by Glyn Johns, was terrible according to the band. George Martin didn’t want to produce the album. - Those original tracks are on RUclips under the title; “The Beatles - Get Back Full Album”. Each track says (1969 Glyn Johns Mix). - This is what Phil Spector started with. * The Spector version is superior to the Glyn Johns version in almost every way. 1. Glyn Johns tried to do a live album as much as possible using what sounds like a single take for each track. The result is the band often is ad libbing & making mistakes. The tracks sound like rough demos. Spector cleaned all of that up. 2. The sound balance in the Glyn Johns version is often terrible for a Beatles album. Vocals sometimes drop off. The instruments often dominate the vocals. Spector got the balance right. 3. Glyn Johns left lots of jokes in the songs. Spector used the best jokes before or after the music which doesn’t hurt the songs. 4. Women singing. This takes place in Across the Universe in the Glyn Johns version. These backing vocals are not done by professionals. In an earlier version Paul had women amateurs sing on the song. Spector made the Across the Universe a great track, as it should be, by getting pros to sing backup, slowing the tempo down, lowering the pitch & getting rid of the sitar style drone. * From John Lennon (Anthology) about “Across The Universe”; “I tried to do it again when we were making Let It Be, but anybody who saw the film saw what reaction I got with it when I tried to do it. Finally *Phil Spector took the tape, and did a damn good job* with it and made a fairly reasonable sound out of it, and then we released it again.” ** Phil Spector was willing to go through the 100 or so hours of tape & splice together polished, professional sounding versions of these songs which remain classics. Of course Phil Spector is going to produce / arrange like Phil Spector but again, it needed to happen. Glyn Johns could not get the job done at a polished level. ** In addition, at first Paul approved of Spector being the producer. But later Paul was furious with George and John and they weren’t speaking. So, Ringo tried to talk with Paul about the Spector mix. Paul didn’t speak about Spector when Ringo visited. Paul refused to speak with Spector.
Winding Road and Hey Jude were the only Beatle songs I did not care for. They were so over played, I’d just hear the first chords and turn to another station. Other than that I loved them.
So many on this thread say they love the song as it had been produced. Ever thought that maybe you love it because it was the first and only version you heard?? You all may have lived Paul's arrangement more but you didn't get to hear it. Especially first. Smh
Spector's orchestration is well done but too loud in the mix for my taste, so I have to side with Paul on this one. Both versions are nice-- because it's a beautiful song-- but the over produced one crosses a bit over into schmaltz for me. I don't think it's actually fair to compare the two, as Paul's version was unfinished, but even if Spector's version were to remain the standard, I'd prefer it with the volume lowered on the orchestration.
I thought Phil Spector was just practicing his talent as he always did. I thought these songs sounded great and that he helped the Beatles and enhanced these songs so eloquently!
If he had really ruined it, McCartney would play it live without simulating the strings. There is no law that says one must recreate the studio version (quite the contrary).
Paul, the first man to show Specter’s mental state….
The song became No. 1. Great version. Phil Spector was a horrible person but he was a great producer.
Right on Paul!!
Yet the song reached number-one on Billboard. So it was not "ruined". I always loved it. Still do. But the "naked" is also great.
Disco Duck also reached #1. Care to comment further?
@@kevinstaggs5048 "Let it Be" is one of my favorite albums. Can't stand "Disco Duck". But here's the difference (can't believe I have to explain this, but here goes...).... "Long and Winding Road" has proven over time to be a timeless classic. Still gets millions of spins, both in public and private. No comparison to "Disco Duck", which made it to #1 only because it was a gimmick song, intended to be a joke. "Long and Winding Road" was not intended to be a joke and reached #1 for different reasons, and still holds up to this day.
@@PROWLERS1 Your comment implied that Spector didn't "ruin" the song, because it reached #1 on the Billboard chart. My point is that chart position means nothing because even a garbage joke song can reach #1 as have many crappy songs. The Long and Winding Road is a great song period, and it would be even if it's peak chart position had been #50.
It had the "Beatles" name attached to it...not difficult to figure out why it went to #1.
@@rickss69 It reached #1 because it's a masterpiece. Love that song.
I LOVE “The Long and Winding Road” just as it is with the strings and production.
It’s a masterpiece.
Paul was wrong, but they should have consulted him before messing with his song.
I disagree.
He cannot be in wrong if you messed up a beatle song without consulting first and without any respect for his work.
Paul was never wrong,it was his song and it’s beautiful the way he arranged it !
Personally, I prefer the Spector mix to the original. I find some of Paul's piano figures distract attention from the vocal, which should be the focus. All the same, I can understand his anger at serious changes being made to one of his songs without his knowledge or consent. The Beatles were not on the best of terms at this time.
As Paul made changes clandestinely…
I agree completely. I think McCartney's version on Naked sucks ass.
@@jx14abyAgreed!
I love the Phil Specter production. It’s beautiful.
Yep, the thing is, the original backing track/demo was unsatisfying and too loose. The weaknesses had to be glossed over with something else but at this late stage, the band just wasn't available to fix things with a couple of new takes, so Spector had to cover things with the orchestration.
O trabalho de Spector em "The Long and Winding Road " foi muito bom.
I think the song is iconic as a swan song for the Beatles. It is over ripe, over produced and over dramatized by Spector, but to me the effect is a beautiful grandiose swan song for the group. Its like a goodbye to a glorious era.
I always liked it.
J L asked a lot of the band in accepting Ono presence, no wonder McCartney got pissed off.
Boo!
I bet they loved her random animalistic howls lol
@@signoguns8501 Yes.. so beautiful !
Phil Spector puked all over The Long An Winding Rope and he later shot an actress dead, but hey, lets blame Yoko for the quality of Let It Be.
someone had to supply john
The long and winding road was one of the greatest song from the Beatles ,the original Paul McCarney version was as beautiful and simple as he planned ,never get tired of listening to it !
I was at a McCartney concert. His original version was fantastic.
Spector's is better. Much better.
Didn't Paul simulate the strings with Paul Wickens on string synthesizer?
@@benmeltzer Yes, so much for Macca disdain
2:12 Knowing Allen Klein, I'm sure he put Paul's letter of complaint and demands right in the...circular file! Oh well, even "ruined", it still went to #1 in the U.S. Not too shabby.
A compromise which I think would have been a better treatment would be to have the first stanza just as it is in _Anthology 3,_ and start a simplified embellishment just after "The wild and windy night...:", and letting it grow lusher as the song progressed further. As a compromise on this compromise, I put together, as I said, the first stanza from A3, which then transitions to the general-relase version at the aforementioned juncture. Works pretty well, I find!
I agree with Paul 100%. Even though I grew up with the strings version, upon hearing the naked version I preferred that. Now when I hear the Spector version, I think “Yep, Paul was right.”
I mean, I agree that the choir on "The Long and Winding Road" (not to mention the harp) is a bit over the top, and rather un-Beatles-ish. But it's what I grew up listening to, so I definitely have a soft spot for it. For some reason, it reminds me of the house I lived in in my early childhood.
But, aesthetically/artistically, I definitely prefer the "naked" version on the Let It Be: Naked album. The piano notes, and their associated harmonics (along with Billy Preston's organ, or electric piano, or whatever), come through so beautifully that you don't really need all that extra fluff.
But, yeah, still prefer the original Spector version more often than I'd like to admit, haha.
I think the strings are great. Perhaps a little cheesy but they help make the song. It was a massive hit so obvs most people loved the arrangement
If you think the strings are cheesy, you should listen to Paul’s studio re-recording with the saxophone on his “
1984 “Give My Regards to Broadstreet”!
Yeah, Paul Simon had similar doubts about the merits of the strings on Bridge Over Troubled Water: he felt they were a bit too syrupy and prominent, but he recognized the meaningful intention of giving the song a BIG feeling of expansion and "lift" in the final verse (originally he had only written two verses, the third one was added during the recording sessions, at Artie's suggestion)
I know Paul didn’t like Spector’s arrangement and production of Long and Winding Road, but I like that version with the strings and the women backup vocals. It’s what I heard first and the version I prefer. Many fans feel the same.
The Beatles never had back-up singers period. Only on rare occasions did they have other musicians sit in. Billy Preston and Eric Clapton were the main ones.
@@williamlancaster786 "Goodnight" on the White Album? :)
@@williamlancaster786Yes they did. Listen to Bungalow Bill.
It's one of the few Beatles songs I'll listen to. Most of them are boring, and I blame McCartney for that. His vocals don't impress me at all.
@@toby9999jesus christ kid your not some super smarty pants. You sound retarded.
Totally Disagree: The only thing wrong with Let it Be album is; The awful sequencing, the tacky in between song chat and the omission of Don’t Let Me Down. Spector’s work on Land Winding Road was inspired and made it a No One US single and the album version, guitar solo on the song, Let it Be elevates the song to masterpiece.
At that stage the band had nothing to prove or need another number one. It is more about what McCartney wanted to convey in the song, rather than Spector's "Long and Over Windy Road" ☺.
I guess that is what was meant on the album sleeve by " over produced by Phil Spector "
Is that what it says? If so, that's a pretty strong rebuke of Spector.
lol, totally forgot about that. prime british bitchiness.
That was, supposedly, an addition suggested by an unhappy George Martin.
Let it Be would have been a much better album if George Martin had produced it. The female voices on "The Long and Winding Road" just don't sound right.
Paul McCartney has more musical talent and a better ear than Spector has ever dreamed of having. The Beatles, the greatest and most influential band ever.
All the Beatles were huge Spector fans, and both John and George brought him in to produce their solo albums long after Let it Be. Besides producing he was a great writer as well. Brian Wilson worshiped the guy.
It's funny that Macca used the Spector arrangement live in 1990 at Vet Stadium in Philly
Mocka'
I was at that show and at MSG the year before.
I was at that show too. I went upstairs and had a smoke. Someone spoke and I went into a dream…
I was at that show too. I was alone I took a ride I didn't know what I would find there....
😂
Phil Spector was a genius, and so was Paul McCartney.
They couldn't co-exist. Spector had a crazy streak;
but McCartney was a performer as well as a song writer.
I’m tired of all the accusations and speculation about who said what! Let it be
Words of wisdom
I Am the Walrus.
…Okay, that probly doesn’t fit.
@@BugRib 😂
😂😂😂😂
Hey Bulldog
I'll never listen to Spector's version again. I know my loss, but I don't respect Phil Spector. I purchased that album in 1969, when I lived on the Navajo Reservation. I loved that song. Now I know that there is another version, then I guess that will be my favorite Beatles song now.
Can you imagine having Yoko in the studio constantly?
Oh my God. It would be like one of your beer drinking buddies bringing his wife along when ya'll go out to drink some berrs.
It’s worse.
I think they should have added a Yoko backing track to the Long and Winding Road. To give it an "avant-garde" edge.
@@chicklets4ever51 It would be better to describe her music with the label "Protest" (Against Music) rather than "Avant Garde", others might say "Rubbish" but they are such Philistines, Starmer should lock them up for 10 years😂!?!
@@TomTomicMic I was being ironic. A screaming Yoko, at least, might have alerted people to just how bad a song "The Long and Winding Road" really is. Not that it needs any help, mind you.
My least favorite Beatles song, both versions. I love the way both of these men put a song together, but this one should never have been on the album in my opinion. Paul's vocals on the "Naked" version were exceptional though.George had several songs ready to go that would have complemented the album far better. Fortunately we got to hear them on All Things Must Pass.
The spectorized Long Winding Road is a stone masterpiece...anyone who repeats this bullshit about it being ruined is just ignorant about music.
Anyone who throws insults like ignorant around without knowing who they are talking about is a total jerk.
I think it's pretty magnificent.
I take heat for it but I think Spector did a good job on it. It's on video tape somewhere that I heard Paul, Martin, et al discussing The Long and Winding Road, where Paul himself is entertaining a string arrangement. Maybe the female choral arrangement was a bit much and uncharacteristic of a Beatles song, but I still think it worked. To me, this song is a goodbye song. Goodbye to Paul and John´s brother-type relationship, goodbye to the band, goodbye to us.
@@jaelge Well said. If it wasn't his song that somebody "messed with," I think Paul would have probably liked it because the arrangement really is beautiful. It's a beautiful arrangement in addition to one of Paul's best songs. How can you go wrong! LOL.
@@I_Am_Become_Light:
In this very rare instance, I don´t even think George Martin could've enhanced that song as well as Spector did. I could be wrong, but I feel, perhaps like you, that its that good. (peace).
Song was not ruined. I think what may have happened here is the same thing George purportedly left for. Even John had mentioned that since the death of Brian, Paul tried to basically take over and this just seems like he was angry because someone else made changes. I think any changes would have made him angry at this point.
Not to mention that George Martin had given him a wide latitude because of his ability to write salable pop songs and they had similar taste in music. In fact George Martin was friends with the Asher and quite influential on Paul from those days when he moved in with them for a few years.
I disagree. The whole album was ruined by the wall of sound. The Naked release is so superior I got rid of the original version as I would never listen to it again.
It was Paul’s song so it reasonable that he should choose how it was produced. Beyond that, this was part of the Get Back sessions which were supposed to be the Beatles getting back to their earlier rock and roll music without a lot of studio additions. And, George Martin, an excellent producer who did so much for the Beatles once described the Let It Be album as “produced by George Martin and overproduced by Phil Spector”.
I think you're wrong and also reading into the situation a lot of personal opinion that is questionable at best. The Spector production is way over the top, as too much of his production work was in making the so-called "wall of sound". It's bombastic and pretentious in many ways, almost but not quite ruining a beautiful song and vocal. Spector, whatever good things he did along the way, was an egomaniac totally obsessed with his warped vision of pop music with excessive orchestral arrangements.
@@surfwriter8461 Oh no, someone on the internet thinks I'm wrong! 😟
It’s sounds refreshing different actually. If it wasn’t produced by Spector any true Beatles fan - I am one - would be able to predict the production and what it would have sounded like.
It deserves the embellishment and lifts it even higher.
"actually"😊
In the Let it be film McCartney sings The Long and Winding Road very well without strings and a choir. It was a natural vocal with nuances and vocal emphasis throughout the lyrical composition and with fellow Beatle live instrumentation. The added orchestra and choir voices were not the original intention of the artist-McCartney who wrote the
song. Phil Specter ruined that song with Lennon going along with it and knowing that McCartney would be against the idea.
That songs were not ruined by Phil Spector. They were enhanced by Phil Spector. We heard Paul McCartney version, that was bad.
Once McCartney's "Naked" version was released, I got rid of the original.
Bad? Never!
I thought it was a great. Sorry Paul.
It's my favorite version too.
The version that was performed in the movie Yesterday (2019) has only a piano and voice in it and really shows the beauty of the song.
I love the orchestra, strings, horns, etc. It really makes the song beautiful & classy. Paul sings it just right, the right tone & emotion. I love it! ❤️
Right? And the Beatles had done things like that numerous times in the past.
I agree, its the only version I listen to.
Have you listened to the raw version? Turns out Phil Spector ruined the song by pouring audio syrup all over it.
Yeah, you can actually hear Billy Preston’s Hammond on it.
Phil Spector was something of a loose cannon. He put out Leonard Cohen's Death of a Ladies' man before Leonard heard the final cut.
Both are good, but why upset the artists?
You almost have to wonder if John Lennon was up to some creative sabotage, first by bringing Phil Spector on board and also by flubbing some of the bass tracks - it's no secret that by the end of the sixties, he was not a happy Beatle. Moreover, Paul later revealed that John is the one who actually broke up the Beatles.
One needs our wide latitude when it comes to Paul's so-called revelations
Lennon brought in Spector and Klein, pushed out Martin, took heroin, knocked Paul and was lackadaisical. A great artist yet unable to manage himself or anyone else.
@@JJJJJVVVVVLLLLL And then there was Yoko....
@@KP11520 More regurgitated half century old bigoted ignorant myths. Paul later said his love for Linda made him rethink his earlier attitude to Yoko. Rightly John loved who HE loved. It's none of our business. No one today actually likes her earlier atonal screeching but by 1980 she had less shite songs than John and actually started singing. I only really liked 'I'm losing You', frankly the rest were just like lamer McCartney stuff while Yoko had some witty MODERN biting New Wave songs going on. Others like the B 52's, Lene Lovitch, Kate Bush and Björk etc cite Yoko's influence. John wanted an intelligent strong woman not a pretty 'chick' like the pathetic and vapid Patti Boyd, who betrayed George Harrison for Eric Clapton!
I don't think Spector ruined it at all. I like Phil's mix on LWR.
I get tired of hearing ail complain about
how Phil Spector ruined this song. Paul was given an acetate of this well before it was released, and , frankly he had every opportunity to approve, or make changes. Frankly the released ( Let It Be) version is much more preferable to the original recording.
By the way , Paul uses accompaniment and strings when he performs this in concert!
The Beatles never really fully grasped who they were. And they never grasped the fact that they didn't always have the best opinions, even about their own songs. As a songwriter also, you sometimes have to step back, because you are too close to your own creativity. Let others view it from another perspective. And to the poster of this video, you really had to have experienced that time firsthand to understand what the Beatles meant to us, and what the time was like. They were Gods then. However 'The Long And Winding Road' was produced, it would have been fine. But the production Phil gave it was spectacular..in my opinion. I remember looking up from my bed and hearing the song in my head. It was a magical time. All gone now. Who has replaced them...Beyonce? And ps..to show I am not an irrational fan who was gaga over anything each one of them did, I am not a fan of each one's music after they broke up. I learned that they needed each other to create that magic. Their music was vastly inferior after they disbanded..in my humble opinion. But the beauty of music, is once it's down, it's there forever.
More Taylor Swift these days currently, rather than Bay-onsz, it's hard for the Beatles when they were in that hectic but relatively short period of fame together to really identify who they were, they had developed their art quite quickly as well, however they did achieve the top group status who everybody else is judged by and individually they achieved some milestones as well, not bad at all really, it was unfortunate that John was murdered but it would not have followed that they would have got back together at some stage, it is what it was and that was quite good enough!?!
It is true that Paul hated the Phil Spector treatment and there has been accusations even by /Spector himself that John's bass playing was terrible. Spector lowered the bass track so it could not be heard and covered it with strings , backing voices and all that. It's one of my favorite songs and was not ruined by all the mistakes and tampering with it. The beautiful melody and lyrics survive regardless and a lot of people like the Spector produced single that was initially released.
I believe Paul played bass
McCartney left the band because it worked out well for selling his first solo album, effectively going against what they had agreed-upon they all would decide when JOHN wanted to leave at first. It was like a knife in the back. He used to redo tricks without telling the other Beatlesand so would probably especially hurt him to get a bit of payback with Phil Spector. He changed his mind about the initial version after it sold so well…
@@nomarzepol5567 not on this. John did, and it's awful.
@@thomaspacker2626 Paul has said that John stated he was going to leave first.I have read that Ringo went to Paul and asked him to delay his solo album, and Paul got mad and threw Ringo out. I never heard anything about Paul secretly redoing tracks without telling the other Beatles . I would be interested in finding out the source you have for that and the part where you seem to be saying that Paul wanted to chamge the time for releasing his solo album when I have read that the other three sent Ringo to ask Paul to change the release date of his solo album which they had all already agreed to.. What article or book did you get this information from as I would love to read it ?
I'm sorry. I completely disagree with the feeling that Phil Spector ruined this track I loved what he did to it. I may be the only one but I don't really care it's sumptuous!
It definitely wasn’t ruined.
Naked is pretty sloppy.
And?
Phil Spector was a ruined human being. RIH murderer.
I have loved this song just the way it is, all my life. It’s more powerful with all the orchestration, female voices and harp. The Naked version sounds limp without it.
i don't think the issue is which version is best. the issue is whether the creator has the final say over his creation.
Interesting...Spector overproduced The Long and Winding Road per Paul. He is the same artist who drove his bandmates crazy with 40 takes (overdubs, remixes, etc) for Maxwell's Silver Hammer! I preferred Spector's version of TLAWR.- it is one of my 10 favorite Beatles songs and I own every album.
That's not a lot of takes. They did more takes of many songs-including more than 100 of Not Guilty, which was still not good enough for the White Album. The song they did the most takes of for Get Back was All Things Must Pass-only for George to pull it from inclusion on the rooftop. Maxwell was not an extreme case in any way. George and Ringo simply didn't like it.
@@monovision566 And I always liked it. Even my dear old Dad asked me who's record it was when he heard it.
No, it was not ruined in the slightest..
I thought it was better
It's hard to ruin something that's stillborn.
🤮
I'm sorry I love Phil Spector's version better IMO. It's better than the Let it be naked version. Sorry Paul.
This is a version of the Beatles breakup that I have not heard before. Under what rock have I been lurking? It does make sense about Paul not liking any interference with his music.
Spector helped the song achieve number one in the US and Canada. Love his production and input into the song. One of the Beatles best!
"Let It Be" was my least favorite Beatles album growing up so it's probably unsurprising that I latched onto "Let It Be Naked" as the correct version. But I'm older and wiser now, and folks can like what they like.
Nobody “left The Beatles”. Their dissolution was a natural progression. The split was inevitable.
The Spector production was how we first heard the music. It seems right that way. I don’t care for the stripped down versions. They sound incomplete. Spector was brought in to give the tracks a produced sound. He did a good job of it.
What do you mean “ruined”? It topped the album charts in the UK and US!
Фил Спектор изменил весь альбом "Let it be", записав его с малой динамикой и очень громко. Это придало альбому агрессивное звучание. Я пытался выложить в ютубе этот альбом c подчеркнутой динамикой, но ютуб быстро запретил его из-за авторских прав
Nah, I just listened to the Naked version and it's too sparse. People might not have like Spector but he was right on adding the orchestra and women singers. McCartney left the "Beatles" after George has already quit so there really wasn't any Beatles to leave now was there? George got tired of Paul's controlling influence , wanting everything his way.
None of the Beatles were happy with the outcome of Phil Spector's version of the album 'Let It Be'. I also don't like it. I find 'Let It Be Naked...' much more authentic. You have the Beatles playing live at the studio. I can feel and hear them interacting with each other the same way as in Peter Jackson's 'Get Back' documentary.
Wrong!!! That song was #1 and sold millions. Phil took crap and made it a pure classic.
An album called Let It Be Naked takes out all of Phil Spector's crap. It shows how beautiful the songs were and the B side of the disk has many of the background sounds the Beatles made.
Spector did a great job.
Spector's Wall of Sound thing, generally sucks.
Paul was wrong about this arrangement, the orchestra was beautiful. funny how Paul used similar arrangements when he did the song live. I think at times, Paul got a little too bossy. the song is one of the best he ever wrote, and is one of my favorite Beatle songs.
Spector didn’t add anything special to the Let It Be album imho.
Anyone that thinks Spectors. Version ruined this song is fucking high! There was a lot happening behind the scenes with Martin and McCartney and the rest of the Beatles hence their biased option to the mix, but any object listener thinks Spector messed up 😂😂😂
In my opinion, Phil Spector’s production is like what Brian setzer said about repeatedly hitting your audience over the head with a 2x4.
4x2 surely!?!
The Phil Spector version is great.
I didn’t like the silly chatter between songs though.
The Long and Winding Road, Elinor Rigby, Michelle, Yesterday, And I Love Her, I See You, Eight Days A Week, Paperback Writer, Hey Jude... All by McCartney.
The Long and Winding Road is one of my least favorite songs from The Beatles. It's always been depressing for me. I think that I might have preferred Mr. McCartney's original ideas for the finished project. He did "somber/melancholy" really well. Yesterday, Eleanor Rigby, etc...
I like what Spector did with TLAWR. The "Let it Be" single was a masterpiece as Spector had a light hand with it. The album version is overdone however. Too much emphasis on the background instruments.
Fed up with all the whining about Spectors work for the Beatles. Think he did pretty well actually, especially on this one and "Across The Universe"
Maybe we should add a banjo..... really... Its okay if they "the beatles" do versions of their work like they did with three versions of Revolution...but someone like him... Even Martin helped on a lot of Beatle songs but he worked with them...
He murdered it, and he didn't stop there unfortunately, Phil Spector Zero!?!
The L and WR is a tired song. Not that great. Phil fixed it as much as possible. Hard to ruin a sus song like this.
John left the band he started. Kept quiet about it at the request of the others. Then Paul made his "big announcement" to promote His first solo album. I think Spector's gotten a bad rap- McCartney was no stranger to schmaltz before or after.
Right, after the band without Paul's approval chose a crook to manage them, correct? On top of Spector ruining his songs, in his opinion, I imagine Paul was angry and felt justified in making the announcement early. Sort of disingenuous to judge him harshly.
Hardly, Paul was looking out for number one with trying to get a relative to be the lawyer
Yes, my point exactly in another post. "Road" is pure schmaltz, with or without Spector's syrup.
The band didn't "start" until Lennon and McCartney came together.
I honestly think the minute the other Beatle’s choose Phil over him was the second Paul knew the Beatles were over and he was leaving.
Can’t really blame him. Even if you like the results, the insult and hurt were the final straw.
Spector did a fantastic job, which ensured the song went to number one. The naked version would never have achieved that.
Perhaps... ...but he did not do "a fantastic job" on "Long & Winding Road" ..:`
Spector'd personal life went wrong, but the man who made 'Be My Baby' and inspired the likes of Brian Wilson, took Winding Road to a place that was beyond Paul's original vision. Over the years, Paul has come to see that and featured the same arrangement. That's okay. Nobody's perfect. But you can't leave out the emotional and symbolic power of the track for Beatles fans at the time. it stands as a magnificent final number one by a great band and a great producer.
It was to be the swan song of a group that had seen there heyday come and go..In my opinion what Spector did with the song was nothing less than genius..When I heard the naked version I thought to myself where the hell is the rest of it..?
My go-to Beatle song.❤❤❤❤❤❤
Specter's version is the best... By a mile.
I'm a huge Beatles fan and have to say Spector was right on this but I also agree with Paul that the strings could have been reduced slightly.
I like the choir and strings, but Paul should have been able to keep control over his composition
Bullshit 'Ruined!' Spector vs. The Beatles are f*cking Masterpieces! They're an essential part of the Beatles Story *And* an essential part of their Canon. Deal with it!!...
Without even starting the video yet< I call "The Long And Winding Road" as the subject song.
I don't see why Paul felt that. The version they have is Great! Phil had a great vision and it worked out beautifully.
Until I heard the "Let It Be...Naked" version, I thought the Phil Spector version was great. When I heard the version without Spector's strings and choir, I realized what a beautiful song it had been, and Spector's version paled in comparison. While Spector didn't exactly ruin the song, it covered up the emotion.
I agree 100%! I love the naked version.
It’s interesting that in the movie Yesterday the creators chose that song to have the main character “spontaneously create” in a competition - which he did on the piano. I now think this must have been a nod of respect to Paul for the simple beauty of his song that the naked version reveals.
He was born in liverpool
The "Long winding road" was a beautiful production by Spector. That's how fans remember that song in 1970. It was no more mushy than George Martins production of Georges "Something" which is beautiful as well.
In my view, The Beatles are not complete without George Martin. I prefer the "naked" and Glyn John's versions of the Get Back/Let It Be songs, and even some of the rehearsals and outtakes, especially Across the Universe and All Things Must Pass.
Similarly, I never liked the All Things Must Pass album and have been looking for a "naked" version.
Just recently, a certain yorick22 did the compilation work and published it on RUclips: ruclips.net/video/zgUcfWxlCs8/видео.html
The Beatles had already made our world much better than it otherwise would have been, but it would have been that much better still if George Martin had produced Let It Be and All Things Must Pass of which four or five songs should have been on Let It Be and a would-be 1970 Beatles album.
At least Phil Spector didn't ruin the 1970 John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band album because its most striking feature is its raw simplicity.
No female voices on a Beatles record? Can't really believe Paul said that.....but in my opinion the Spector version is beautiful.
Crap. Paul should have got creative control of the song he wrote.
The only thing wrong with the Spector version is the bad press. From McCartney and Spector. In my book, the BEST McCartney song.
The strings were actually perfect, the orchestral on all of let it be was flawless
Lana Clarkson found out what happens to people who tell Phil Spector, "No."
I did not like Spector’s “Wall of Sound”. Spector shot up the recording studio when he recorded with John. Why wasn’t he arrested then.
Spector not only butchered this but also Across The Universe. The album needed George Martin's touch for sure.
His arrangement of Across The Universe is also beautiful in my opinion.
Anyone who would argue the strings and orchestral should be removed from The Long and Winding Road in favor of the non-orchestral version, which was not as pleasing to the musical senses by a good margin, that person has no real musical knowledge and/or they would have to be tone deaf. Paul McCartney's rendition is good. However, the Phil Spectre version went to number 1 on the charts and greatly enhanced the feeling of melancholy underying the entire song. Case closed. And by the way, it is what the author of the song specifically requested be done.
I like both Spectorized and Naked versions of the song.
** I can understand Paul’s argument that The Long And Winding Road could have been arranged better.
There are moments in the Glyn Johns version of this track which are very good & some could say that Glyn's sounds better in parts than what Spector did.
But as with all the Glyn Johns tracks, he leaves in glaring ad lib flaws & mistakes which take away from these songs.
* The first mix of the Let It Be album, done by Glyn Johns, was terrible according to the band. George Martin didn’t want to produce the album.
- Those original tracks are on RUclips under the title; “The Beatles - Get Back Full Album”. Each track says (1969 Glyn Johns Mix).
- This is what Phil Spector started with.
* The Spector version is superior to the Glyn Johns version in almost every way.
1. Glyn Johns tried to do a live album as much as possible using what sounds like a single take for each track. The result is the band often is ad libbing & making mistakes. The tracks sound like rough demos.
Spector cleaned all of that up.
2. The sound balance in the Glyn Johns version is often terrible for a Beatles album. Vocals sometimes drop off. The instruments often dominate the vocals.
Spector got the balance right.
3. Glyn Johns left lots of jokes in the songs.
Spector used the best jokes before or after the music which doesn’t hurt the songs.
4. Women singing. This takes place in Across the Universe in the Glyn Johns version. These backing vocals are not done by professionals. In an earlier version Paul had women amateurs sing on the song.
Spector made the Across the Universe a great track, as it should be, by getting pros to sing backup, slowing the tempo down, lowering the pitch & getting rid of the sitar style drone.
* From John Lennon (Anthology) about “Across The Universe”;
“I tried to do it again when we were making Let It Be, but anybody who saw the film saw what reaction I got with it when I tried to do it. Finally *Phil Spector took the tape, and did a damn good job* with it and made a fairly reasonable sound out of it, and then we released it again.”
** Phil Spector was willing to go through the 100 or so hours of tape & splice together polished, professional sounding versions of these songs which remain classics.
Of course Phil Spector is going to produce / arrange like Phil Spector but again, it needed to happen. Glyn Johns could not get the job done at a polished level.
** In addition, at first Paul approved of Spector being the producer. But later Paul was furious with George and John and they weren’t speaking. So, Ringo tried to talk with Paul about the Spector mix. Paul didn’t speak about Spector when Ringo visited. Paul refused to speak with Spector.
It’s annoying to see yoko sitting in rehearsal…….wtf …..she was the worst.
Winding Road and Hey Jude were the only Beatle songs I did not care for. They were so over played, I’d just hear the first chords and turn to another station. Other than that I loved them.
Spector did a great job on this song
So many on this thread say they love the song as it had been produced. Ever thought that maybe you love it because it was the first and only version you heard?? You all may have lived Paul's arrangement more but you didn't get to hear it. Especially first. Smh
Spector's orchestration is well done but too loud in the mix for my taste, so I have to side with Paul on this one. Both versions are nice-- because it's a beautiful song-- but the over produced one crosses a bit over into schmaltz for me. I don't think it's actually fair to compare the two, as Paul's version was unfinished, but even if Spector's version were to remain the standard, I'd prefer it with the volume lowered on the orchestration.
I thought Phil Spector was just practicing his talent as he always did. I thought these songs sounded great and that he helped the Beatles and enhanced these songs so eloquently!
Wow, this has to be the worst thing Phil Spector ever did.
If he had really ruined it, McCartney would play it live without simulating the strings. There is no law that says one must recreate the studio version (quite the contrary).