Who Wrote the Beatle Songs
Page 16
[83] Goodman, “Paul and Linda McCartney Interview,” Playboy , 107. Similar: Paul McCartney World Tour , 82; Anthology , 194, 197.
[84] Lost Lennon Tapes, Sept. 16, 1991, cf. Sheff, The Playboy Interviews, 149.
[85] Hennessey, “Who Wrote What,” Record Mirror. The first draft is extant, and has verses about places. Spitz, The Beatles , 587. Doggett, The Art and Music of John Lennon , at Oct. 12 to Nov. 11, 1965.
[86] Lost Lennon Tapes, March 14, 1988, cf. Sheff, The Playboy Interviews, 149.
[87] Wenner, Lennon Remembers , 85. In the same interview, he describes it as one of his “personal” songs, 9. As is consistent with Beatles usage, Lennon was using “middle eight” to mean a contrasting middle section, not a minor link between major musical sections, see Chapter Two, at “Love Me Do.”
[88] This is a point of conflict, as Paul sometimes said that John had only the first verse, and they collaborated on the other verses (though Paul varies on this point, see footnote above). However, if there was collaboration on the second and third verses, John still had had the “template” for the song’s lyrics, and probably dominated the collaborative session, from the standpoint of lyrics.
[89] Lost Lennon Tapes, March 14, 1988, cf. Sheff, The Playboy Interviews, 164. See also pp. 188-89, and 203.
[90] Miles, Many Years From Now , 278.
[91] Lewisohn, Complete Beatles Chronicle , 196.
[92] Miles, Many Years From Now , 278.
[93] Somach et al, Ticket to Ride , 212. See also Harrison, I Me Mine , 90.
[94] Written and first released by Arthur Gunter the previous year.
[95] Wenner, Lennon Remembers , 85. Similar: Hennessey, “Who Wrote What,” Record Mirror; Sheff, The Playboy Interviews, 189.
[96] Lennon, Rolling Stone Interview, Dec. 1970, BBC, part 4; Wenner, Lennon Remembers , 99.
[97] Miles, Many Years From Now , 279.
9
“One day I led the dance . . . and another day John would lead the dance” —
REVOLVER
R emarkable as the sea change from the early Beatle albums to Rubber Soul was, the further step forward to Revolver was just as extraordinary. Here the style of the early Beatles was almost forgotten. Rubber Soul , filled with magnificent songs, nevertheless had three or four filler or even subpar songs; and it ended with the song that John hated so much, “Run for Your Life,” which caused the whole album to collapse in a disappointing fizzle. But all of the Lennon-McCartney songs on Revolver range from superior to great — both Paul and John contributed about four songs each that would become pop standards. Two of George’s three songs are solid, but his “Taxman” is a step forward, for him, and is highlighted by its position starting off the album. Added to the high quality of the songwriting on this album was continued aural experimentation that was prefigured by “Rain” and certain songs on Rubber Soul , such as “Norwegian Wood” and “In My Life.” But “Tomorrow Never Knows” took this to an entirely new level, and provided the album with a stunning, aesthetically powerful ending.
In 1966, John highlighted the experimental aspects of Revolver :
Q: What’s going to come out of the next recording sessions? Literally anything. Electronic music, jokes. . . One thing’s for sure — the next LP is going to be very different. . . . Paul and I are very keen on this electronic music. You make it clinking a couple of glasses together or with bleeps from the radio, then you loop the tape to repeat the noises at intervals. Some people build up whole symphonies from it. [1]
Paul said, at the time of Revolver ’s recording, “It’s sort of verging on the electronic.” The songs were “purposely composed to sound unusual. They are sounds that nobody else has done yet — I mean nobody . . . ever.” [2]
While the electronic experimentation added a third dimension to this album, it would not have been successful without the consistently inspired and well-crafted songwriting that the Beatles had come to master.
“Day Tripper / We Can Work It Out” single, December 3, 1965 (double A side)
Day Tripper — (Lennon-McCartney)
(lead vocals: John and Paul) (recorded October 16, 1965)
According to Paul, “John met quite a few girls who thought they were it and he was a bit up in arms about that kind of thing.” As he and Paul worked on “Day Tripper,” it became a tongue-in-cheek description of a girl who was only a “weekend hippie,” a Sunday painter, Sunday driver, not fully committed. [3]
In both early and late interviews Paul remembered this as a fully collaborative song with a slight edge toward John. In August 1966, he used “Day Tripper” as an example of a collaborative song, one that would have been very different if it had been pure John or pure Paul. “We can write a song, say like ‘Day Tripper’ . . . we can write it thinking the same thing about it, but if we each wrote it individually, it’d be a completely different song.” [4] Thirty years later, he remembered a very “co-written” song, from an idea by John. “We were both making it all up but I would give John the main credit. Probably the idea came from John because he sang the lead, but it was a close thing. We both put a lot of work in on it.” [5]
In one interview, John agreed that there was collaboration (“Me. But I think Paul helped with the verse” [6] ), but generally he claimed this as his own song. In 1968, he put it on a list of personal songs that “really meant something” to him. [7] The following year, he made the curious statement that it was “based on an old folk song I wrote about a month previous.” [8] However, nine years later, John simply said: “That’s mine. Including the lick, the guitar break and the whole bit.” [9]
Based on Paul’s impressively early testimony, I accept that the song was John’s idea, but developed with significant collaboration.
We Can Work It Out — (McCartney-Lennon-Harrison)
(lead vocals: Paul and John) (recorded October 20 and 29, 1965)
Paul wrote this at Rembrandt, a house he bought for his father in the town of Heswall, Merseyside County (then Cheshire County), near Liverpool. There was a piano in the dining room that Paul would use, but if he wanted to do guitar work, he’d go to the back bedroom. [10] He had most of the song written, then took it to John for finishing off, “and we wrote the middle together,” Paul said. [11] George Harrison thought of putting the middle in 3/4, like a waltz. [12] There is a demo of Paul playing the song. [13]
Paul, in 1995, said that he wrote most of this himself, then finished it with John. [14] John, however, consistently said that Paul wrote the main song, and he wrote the middle: “Paul wrote that chorus, you know, I wrote the middle bit about ‘Life is very short, there is no time for fussing and fighting’ all that bit,” he said in 1970. [15] And the following year, he asserted, “Paul, but the middle was mine.” [16] In 1980, John characterized the two sections as McCartney-esque optimism vs. Lennon’s impatience. [17]
The main conflict in testimony, then, is whether the middle part was co-written with Paul or entirely written by John. But both writers agreed that it was mainly a Paul song, finished with collaboration. The 3/4 sections that George suggested are significant enough to mention him as a co-writer.
“Woman / Wrong From The Start” single —
Peter and Gordon, February 11, 1966
Woman — (McCartney)
(recorded December 1965)
Paul wrote this for Peter and Gordon, but had it released under a pseudonym, Bernard Webb, to see if the song would do well without the Lennon-McCartney label. It was only moderately successful, reaching 14 in the U.S. and 28 in the U.K. Paul said, in 1989, “It wasn’t a very big hit, I probably should have stuck my name on it, it might have been bigger.” [18]
Wrong From The Start (Peter Asher, Gordon Waller)
“Paperback Writer / Rain” single, May 30, 1966
Paperback Writer — (McCartney-Lennon)
(lead vocals: Paul) (recorded April 13 and 14, 1966)
One day Paul’s aunt Lil nudged him to start writing about non-love the
mes — a horse perhaps — or a summit conference! [19] Then one day, according to DJ Jimmy Davile, the Beatles were backstage after a show and since it had been decided that Paul would write the next single, John asked him what it would be about. Remembering Aunt Lil’s challenge, Paul looked around the room and saw Ringo reading a book, so he announced that the next single would be about a book. [20]
He had always liked the word “paperback,” [21] so began thinking about using that in the title. On the way out to John’s house one day, he had the idea of writing a song in the form of a letter — a paperback writer writing a letter to a publisher. He came up with the beginnings of the tune in the car, [22] and when he got to Kenwood, he and John sat down and, Paul said in 1966, “we wrote the words down like we were writing a letter.” [23] In later interviews Paul described himself as the active writer, so he probably dominated. [24]
Then they went upstairs and apparently developed the tune fragment Paul had into a complete song. [25] “John and I sat down and finished it all up,” said Paul, “but it was tilted towards me, the original idea was mine.” [26]
In 2004, Paul gave it as an example of an important song in the ongoing Paul-John creative tug of war: “For those early years, the competition was great . . . I’d come up with ‘Paperback Writer’ and John would come back with ‘I’m Only Sleeping.’” [27]
In 1968, Lennon put it on the list of personal songs that really meant something to him. [28] However, in 1971, he remembered the song as mainly Paul’s, though he contributed to the lyrics. “Paul. I think I might have helped with some of the lyrics. Yes, I did. But it was mainly Paul’s tune.” [29] John’s 1980 attribution mentions no contribution from himself. “‘Paperback Writer’ is son of ‘Day Tripper,’ . . . Paul’s song.” [30]
I conclude that in this song, Paul had the beginnings of the music, then wrote most of the lyrics. Following this, he and John collaborated to finish it up. [31]
One musical factor that is emphasized on this song is Paul’s bass. He developed a melodic bass style that added a level of musical complexity to all the Beatle songs, not just his own. According to Lewisohn, before 1966, Paul’s bass was hardly heard because of English recording techniques, but on “Paperback Writer,” specifically, that changed, as the bass was recorded clearly and mixed up. [32]
Rain — (Lennon-McCartney)
(lead vocals: John) (recorded on April 14, 1966)
John claimed this song [33] but Paul remember collaboration: “a co-effort with the leaning slightly towards John,” he said in 1995. He remembered that John had no pre-written elements for “Rain,” but he started off the songwriting session — “when we sat down to write, he kicked it off.” What gave the song “its character was collaboration.” [34] He described it as written 70-30 toward John, which obviously conflicts with the “leaning slightly towards John.” I accept that there was collaboration, but with a pronounced leaning toward John.
John specifically claimed the backwards tape section. He brought the recording home, and high on marijuana, inadvertently put the tape in backwards. “I sat there, transfixed, with the earphones on, with a big hash joint. . . . And I ran in the next day and said, ‘I know what to do with it, I know, listen to this!’” [35]
Just to confuse the issue, in 1966, George Martin claimed that he had created the backward tape section at the end of the song, which led to all subsequent backward tape playing in later Beatle albums. “The Beatles weren’t quite sure what to do at that point, so I took out a bit of John’s voice from earlier on and played it backwards. They all thought it was marvellous . . . it had a sort of unexpectedly Eastern sound. So we kept it in.” [36] Despite Martin’s quite believable and very early testimony, Lennon’s memories of the backwards tape incident (also attested very early) are anecdotally convincing. Lennon, as the main songwriter, should be accepted here.
Revolver album, August 5, 1966
Taxman — (Harrison-Lennon)
(lead vocals: George) (recorded on April 20–22, May 16, and June 21, 1966)
This is George’s best song yet; the lyrics came from his realization that he was giving away most of his Beatle earnings to the government. [37] In 1980, George published his book I Me Mine , and when John read it, he was angry that George had not given him credit for his help over the years, and affirmed that he contributed to the lyrics of this song. He said that one day George showed up to ask for help with “Taxman.” John felt that he was already stretched thin with Lennon-McCartney work, but bit his tongue and “threw in a few one-liners to help the song along.” [38]
In fact, George said, in 1988, “Once in a while I got a line from John when I was stuck.” [39] So I accept John’s memories here.
Eleanor Rigby — (McCartney-Lennon-Harrison)
(lead vocals: Paul) (recorded on April 28–29 and June 6, 1966)
Paul began writing this at the piano in the Asher music room one day. [40] It developed from an E minor chord. “I can hear a whole song in one chord,” he said in 1966 while discussing this song. “In fact, I think you can hear a whole song in one note, if you listen hard enough. But nobody ever listens hard enough.” [41] As he vamped on the E minor, he got the main melody. Soon some words started to come: “‘picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been.’ Those are the words that arrived. Then the rest of it was work to try and explain what those words were.” [42]
He began to develop the characters in the lyrics, and came up with Father McCartney, the lonely old man, and Daisy Hawkins. He became dissatisfied with these names — his own father would be viewed as the song’s “Father McCartney,” and Jim McCartney as not like that at all. Then one day in Bristol, while he was waiting for one of Jane’s performances to end, he saw the name Rigby in a shop window, and it seemed right for the song. [43] “Eleanor” came from Eleanor Bron, an actress in Help! . [44] This name, Eleanor Rigby, sounded right to him. When he got that name, he remembered, he “ felt great. “I’d got it! I pieced all the ideas together, got the melody and the chords.” [45] But the lyrics were still not finished. [46]
A collaborative songwriting session at John’s house followed. “Then I took it down to John’s house in Weybridge,” Paul said in 1966. “We sat around, laughing, got stoned and finished it off.” [47] Now they consulted a phone book and replaced Father McCartney with Father McKenzie. [48]
But apparently Paul and John had not completely finished it, and Paul took it to the recording studio still missing a verse. As Paul and John were sitting with road manager Mal Evans and Beatles assistant Neil Aspinall, Paul suddenly said to the three, “Hey, you guys, finish up the lyrics.” John was offended that Paul would turn to non-musicians like Mal and Neil for help. As John tells the story, he and Paul went into a room and finished the song. According to Lennon, not a line from Mal or Neil ended up in “Rigby.” [49]
However, John also attested that Paul was working on “Ah, look at all the lonely people” section with George. He and George were “settling on that as I left the room,” said John, “. . . and I turned around and said, ‘That’s it!’ ” [50]
George Martin also remembered that Paul was asking for help with the lyrics of the last verse in the studio. “At the recording Paul was missing a few lyrics, and wanting them, and going round asking people ‘What can we put in here?’ and Neil and Mal and I were coming up with suggestions.” [51] Journalist Hunter Davies, who was present at the studio, reported that these suggestions were used: “The last verse was thought of by all of them, making suggestions at the last minutes in the studio.” [52]
If we turn to Beatle insiders (and I consider their statements as secondary to first-hand statements by Paul and John), it is possible that Ringo, George Martin, Neil Aspinall, Mal Evans, and Pete Shotton contributed to the song. Shotton, a close personal friend of John, wrote, “My own recollection is that ‘Eleanor Rigby’ was one ‘Lennon-McCartney’ classic in which John’s contribution was virtually nil.” Ringo was the source of “darning his so
cks in the night.” Shotton said that he advised against, “Father McCartney” and consulted the phone book, suggesting “McKenzie.” “Fully caught up in the creative process, I was seized by a brainwave. ‘Why don’t you have Eleanor Rigby dying,’ I said, ‘and have Father McKenzie doing the burial service for her? That way you’d have two lonely people coming together in the end — but too late.’” John responded, “I don’t think you understand what we’re trying to get at, Pete.’” To which Pete responded with an expletive. He was pleased when McCartney used the idea. [53] As always, it is difficult to judge how much of the testimony of non-Beatles to accept, especially when it conflicts with the memories of John and Paul. However, Shotton was an insider, and sympathetic to John.
While I ascribe the song to “McCartney-Lennon-Harrison,” it could also be ascribed it to “McCartney-Lennon-Harrison-Starkey-Martin-Evans-Aspinall-Shotton.”
Paul had the idea of using strings to accompany this unique song, and Martin thought of the percussive strings in film composer Bernard Herrman’s work. [54] “I thought of the backing, but it was George Martin who finished it off,” Paul said in 1966. [55] Paul at first was wary of the double string quartet concept, but agreed to give it a try. “Okay, but I want the strings to sound really biting,” Paul warned Martin as he agreed to the plan. [56]
“Eleanor Rigby” represents an important divergence in Lennon and McCartney’s testimony. It seems clear that Paul wrote the melody, the title, and the first verse of the lyrics. [57] It also seems clear that Lennon helped finish up the lyrics. Beyond that, the extent of Lennon’s contribution to the rest of the song is uncertain. In 1970, Lennon said that he’d written half or more of the lyrics. [58] A year later, he said that he much more than half of the lyrics. “Both of us. I wrote a good lot of the lyrics, about 70 per cent.” [59] In 1980, he stated that Paul had contributed only the first verse of the lyrics, and he wrote the rest: “Yeah, ‘Rigby.’ His first verse and the rest of the verses are basically mine.” [60]