Why Paul McCartney hated The Beatles’ final number one hit: “No one asked me”
As you’re a person of the world, it is easy to assume you’ve heard of The Beatles, and when thinking of the mop-haired Liverpudlians, a plethora of chart-topping songs come to mind. When you dig a little deeper into the back catalogue of the group there are even more gems to be found. The group are one of the few bands who have very few truly awful songs. But, not if you ask the band themselves.
John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr were all noted for their displeasure with a raft of tunes produced by the group. Starr was not too favourable about ‘Maxwell’s Silver Hammer’; Harrison had disdain for any contribution that he didn’t think resonated with his unique vision for the band, and Lennon was happy to pour water on any tune he didn’t think was real. Paul McCartney was a little different, though.
The affable face of the band and their creative visionary for many of their biggest success stories, Macca seemed to find himself a little more reluctant to share his dislike for the quartet’s output. While he did, on occasion, voice his displeasure, right up until the end, McCartney was seemingly a more positive light in the band.
Ironically enough, it was McCartney who put the final nail in The Beatles’ coffin. While answering his own questions for a promotional interview supporting his 1970 solo debut McCartney, McCartney claimed that he had no intentions of working with his bandmates in the near future. The press interpreted that statement as a breakup, and although John Lennon had privately left the band in 1969, McCartney was seen as the one who instigated the split.
During this period, the final album, Let It Be, was being mixed in the studio by Phil Spector. Spector was generally left to his devices at the time because Paul McCartney was no longer on good terms with the others and so remained scarce. It is also understood that John Lennon was absent from the production process for the album and that the four only really communicated via written letters at this stage.
This absenteeism and disengagement meant that Spector had unsupervised freedom to tinker with the recordings. As with any unbridled producer, he let loose on the music, adding a wealth of overdubs.
At the time, McCartney was ready to release his debut solo album; however, the other three Beatles objected to him releasing it until they had released the final Beatles LP to avoid enduring any competition issues. This added fire to the feud, but what made McCartney most irate was how Spector ruined his Let It Be song, ‘The Long and Winding Road’.
Spector felt that there were flaws in the recorded tapes for the track and so decided to mix it with string and choir overdubs. Before the record went to press, Paul received a copy and was upset with what he heard. Much of McCartney’s anger was directed toward The Beatles’ manager Allen Klein, who included a note explaining the changes Spector had made.
Paul told the Evening Standard, “No one asked me what I thought. I couldn’t believe it. I would never have female voices on a Beatles record.” He also sent Klein a sharply worded letter demanding several changes. The letter, which was featured in Anthology, included four points. The first two asked that the orchestration be toned down a bit, while the third demanded the removal of the harp sections. The fourth and final point simply read, “Don’t do it again.”
Despite McCartney’s notes on the track, neither Klein nor the other three band members bothered to push Spector to revise the production. ‘The Long and Winding Road’ was subsequently released without any of McCartney’s reservations being addressed.
The single reached number one on the US Billboard top 100 even in its adultered state. After this palaver, McCartney understandably felt a general disillusionment with the song and even cited the issues surrounding it as one of six reasons for The Beatles’ split when appearing in front of the English High Court during the group’s official divorce.
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