Beatles - The Long And Winding Road - US Apple 45 with

$

50

 The Beatles

“The Long And Winding Road”

“For You Blue”

U.S. Apple 45 with Picture Sleeve

Apple 2832 - 1970

"The Long and Winding Road" was written by Paul and originally appeared on the Let It Be album. It became the Beatles' 20th and last Number One in the U.S. on May 23, 1970, and was the last single released by the group. "The Long and Winding Road" was listed with "For You Blue" as a double-sided hit when the single hit Number One on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.

The Beatles recorded "The Long and Winding Road" on January 26 and 31, 1969, the day after the group's legendary final performance on the roof of their Apple headquarters, with Paul on piano, John on bass, George on guitar, Ringo on drums, and Billy Preston on Hammond organ. John, who played bass only occasionally, made several mistakes on the recording. Some writers, such as Ian MacDonald, have suggested that John's ragged bass playing was intentional.

Phil Spector remixed "The Long and Winding Road", using 18 violins, four violas, four cellos, three trumpets, three trombones, two guitars, and a choir of 14 women. The orchestra was scored and conducted by Richard Hewson, who would later work with Paul on his Thrillington LP. This lush orchestral treatment was in direct contrast to the Beatles' stated intentions for a "real" recording when they began work on the Get Back project.  While the released version of the song was a very successful single, the post-production modifications to the song by Spector angered Paul to the extent that when he made his case in court for breaking up the Beatles as a legal entity, he cited the treatment of "The Long and Winding Road" as one of six reasons for doing so.

"For You Blue" was written by George and also included on Let It Be. The record features John playing lap steel guitar using a shotgun shell as a bottleneck. George makes a few spoken comments during the song, including, "Bop, bop-cat-bop", "Go, Johnny, go", "There go the twelve-bar blues", and "Elmore James got nothin' on this baby." The song's working title was "George's Blues (Because You're Sweet and Lovely)" when it was recorded on January 25, 1969. It was renamed sometime between March 10 and May 28, when it was listed as "For You Blue" on the final mix for the unreleased Get Back album. John can be heard on the session tapes reading this title off a list of songs the Beatles had been working on, and dialogue suggests that this was an error in writing and the title was actually meant to be "For You Blues". When Phil Spector remixed the song for inclusion on the Let It Be album, he added an introduction by John, "Queen says no to pot-smoking FBI members." This comment was edited in from dialogue recorded at Twickenham Studios in early January 1969, long before "For You Blue" was recorded.

This auction is for original Apple 45 of “The Long And Winding Road” backed with “For You Blue”.  The Record is in Near Mint condition; clean, unblemished labels with no writing or ring wear. “Mfd. by Apple Records” and “Stereo” are printed on the label. The Picture Sleeve is in Very Good+ condition, with no writing, or seam splits, minimal ring wear but a bit of wrinkling at the top.

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The Fine Print: Payment is required within 3 days. Returns are accepted within 7 days, provided the item is not as described, and I am notified first. I reserve the right to cancel the auction at any time. Shipping is by First Class Mail within the U.S. International bidders: Please contact me for shipping information before bidding.

I have many Beatles group and solo items including LP's, 45's, CD's, promo's, books and memorabilia. Please call Ron at (619) 328-2891 if you have questions about this or any other Beatles item.