It shouldn't have been a surprise that the Beatles were suddenly no more in the early spring of 1970. John Lennon and Paul McCartney were spending more time with their wives and found in them partners they needed more than they needed each other. George Harrison wanted more room for his own songs after being relegated to two per LP with the group. He increasingly preferred the company of other musicians, as was evident when he joined Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett for their 1969 British and Scandinavian tours. And the rift between Paul and the other Beatles over their Apple Corps company didn't help. Much to Paul's chagrin, the other three Beatles had let American pop manager Allen Klein, a man Paul vehemently distrusted, assume the directorship of Apple.
Paul was also getting uncomfortable being the de facto leader of a group that, unlike other rock bands, did not have an acknowledged leader. But ever since Brian Epstein's death in August 1967, the Beatles had become Paul's group; it was he who had instigated Magical Mystery Tour, Apple, the Get Back/Let It Be project, Abbey Road, and five out of seven singles. He had managed to keep Ringo, then George, from leaving the group, and more recently at this point he had been trying to keep John from making good on his intentions to leave. But by now Paul had given up on the foursome being a group once more.
Although Paul never announced that the Beatles were breaking up - he only announced that he was leaving the Beatles - fans knew his departure meant the end of the group. He had already cut the cord with the others over the release of his debut solo album, the back-cover picture from which is above (showing a disheveled Paul with newborn daughter Mary snuggled in his coat, in a picture taken by wife Linda). When Paul insisted that his new album McCartney be released ahead of Let It Be, John and George sent Ringo to tell Paul to wait until after Let It Be was out to release his new album. Paul went into a state of unabated fury and almost literally threw Ringo out of his house, forcing the other three Beatles to let Paul have his way.
In the meantime, Paul tried to have the overdubbed take of "The Long and Winding Road" restored to its original state. He had approved of the Let It Be album's final mix to facilitate the album's release, but he resented the lush orchestra added to his song, the song that would be the Beatles' last American number-one single. (The song was not released as a single in Great Britain.) He would try to get the overdubs removed before Let It Be's release, demanding in a letter dated April 14, 1970 meant for Spector - but addressed to Klein - that the overdubs be removed with an admonition to never do anything like that again, but, because of his distrust for Klein and a communication gap with Klein and Spector, he was unsuccessful. Paul would later explain the situation in an April 22-23, 1970 interview with the London Evening Standard.
The album was finished a year ago, but a few months ago American record producer Phil Spector was called in by Lennon to tidy up some of the tracks. But a few weeks ago, I was sent a re-mixed version of my song "The Long and Winding Road" with harps, horns, an orchestra, and a women's choir added. No one had asked me what I thought. I couldn't believe it . . .. To me it was just distasteful.
When Paul sued in December 1970 to dissolve the group's legal partnership - a case he ultimately won - he even suggested that the overdub on "The Long and Winding Road" was an attempt to destroy his artistic reputation.
Why was "The Long and Winding Road" subjected to so much sumptuousness? This is only a guess on my part. Klein was believed to have thought that the song would make an appropriate farewell single in America, and it was ultimately released as such a week before the Let It Be album's American release. Spector, perhaps aware of Klein's attentions to release the song as a 45 in the U.S., probably believed that a lush agreement was fitting for a song that, ultimately, would reflect the sadness of American fans over the Beatles' breakup. As to why Spector chose in the first place to use a take that was admittedly flawed - John's bass playing on the take he chose was out of tune and somewhat sluggish - instead of using a take that required little or no embellishment, I have no answer to that question.
McCartney was released on April 17, 1970 along with a press release in the form of a "self-interview," in which Apple staffer and Beatles assistant Peter Brown (not to be confused with Peter Bown, the engineer who had helped Phil Spector assemble the Let It Be album) wrote out a series of questions and for which Paul supplied the answers. The full interview is here.
Brown (above) would soon be fired from Apple in an ongoing purge by Klein. Paul McCartney was quick to make clear to everyone that Klein did not represent him "in any way." Eventually, Peter Brown would put out a tell-all book about the band, "The Love You Make," in 1983. The three Beatles alive at the time never forgave him for that.
With McCartney in the record stores and the Beatles' breakup official, all that was left was to release Let It Be.
To be continued . . .
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