All the Songs
Page 32
FOR BEATLES FANATICS
In the mid-sixties, the recorder went through a surprising revival in rock music with songs such as the Rolling Stones’ “Ruby Tuesday.” We could also mention “I’ve Seen All Good People” (1971) by Yes and “Stairway to Heaven” (1971) by Led Zeppelin.
Production
On September 6, Paul recorded a demo alone on the piano. The lyrics were not definitive, but the charm and the structure were already there: it was a great song. On September 25 the real session began. The version recorded after three takes and a reduction was fairly distant from what was kept (see Anthology 2). The very next day, the Beatles redid it almost entirely. A new rhythm part was recorded with Paul on piano, George (?) on acoustic guitar, Ringo on drums, and John (?) on maracas. Then Paul added some “Mrs. Mills” piano, some Schiedmayer celesta (as in “Baby It’s You”), and a recorder. Ringo was on finger cymbals. After a reduction, Paul sang and added another part with recorder. John and George were each on their bass harmonica. A loop, which was probably made with the sound of a strongly varisped electric guitar was inserted at 2:40. On September 27, Paul provided another vocal. Then three flutists were hired for October 20. To record them, Ken Scott had to synchronize a second tape recorder while using the method Ken Townsend used for “A Day in the Life.” The mono mix was done on October 25 and the stereo mix on November 1. “‘The Fool on the Hill’ was one of the movie’s most complicated scenes for Paul to edit. The scene was filmed in the French back country near Nice. Paul danced on a hill while the song played on a cassette player. Unfortunately, Paul had not requested a clapboard, as is typically used in film when audio and video must be kept in sync. As a result, this created a nightmare during the editing process when Paul tried to line up the film with the song.
Recorder Lessons
Paul began composing music when he hit a D 6th chord on his father’s piano in Liverpool.3 And later, thanks to a few lessons from Jane Asher’s mother, Margaret, he learned to play the recorder.
Flying
Harrison-Lennon-McCartney-Starkey / 2:14
1967
MUSICIANS
John: vocals, organ, Mellotron, sound effects
Paul: vocals, guitar, bass
George: vocals, guitar
Ringo: vocals, drums, maracas, sound effects
RECORDED
Abbey Road: September 8, 1967 (Studio Three) / September 28, 1967 (Studio Two)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 8
MIXING
Abbey Road: September 8, 1967 (Studio Three) / September 28, 1967 (Studio Two) / November 7, 1967 (Studios One and Two)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producer: George Martin
Sound Engineers: Geoff Emerick, Ken Scott
Assistant Engineers: Richard Lush, Peter Mew, Graham Kirkby
Genesis
The Beatles wrote their first instrumental together under the title “Aerial Tour Instrumental.” Of course, there had been “Cry for a Shadow” in 1961, but that song had been written by Harrison-Lennon and had been recorded under the name of the Beat Brothers. The group also played and composed other instrumentals (“Catswalk,” “12-bar Original,” etc.), but those either didn’t come out as records or were adopted by other musicians.
In order to record “Flying,” Paul suggested that everyone improvise in the studio, “We can keep it very very simple, we can make it a twelve-bar blues.”1 He brought the little melody that he performed on the Mellotron with a trombone sound. In the movie, “Flying” illustrated a dream sequence with views in the air. It was interesting that these views came from hours of rushes filmed over the Arctic during the final scene of Stanley Kubrick’s Doctor Strangelove (1964), which Derek Taylor (Brian Epstein’s former personal assistant) got hold of.
FOR BEATLES FANATICS
Chet Baker did an adaptation of “Flying” with saxophone and flute player Bud Shank.
Production
On September 8, the Beatles needed six takes to record the rhythm track. Ringo was on drums, Paul on bass, John on the organ (?), and George played lead guitar. One saxophone part extracted from an unidentified jazz record was even added at the end of the piece! Geoff Emerick remembered plugging George’s guitar into a DI box to pass the sound directly into the mixing console. This gave it a softer, more wooly sound. Besides, this was the most interesting instrumental part of the song. Three organ parts were then added and played backwards on a different track. After a reduction, Paul recorded the melody on the Mellotron and all of them together sang the choruses. Ringo’s voice was put forward in the mix to give the song a different color. The piece was over nine minutes long. On September 28, other overdubs were integrated: some Mellotron, guitar, maracas, and various percussion parts. John and Ringo then worked on sound effects, loops, and reversed sounds; namely, recorders played on the Mellotron for the coda. The mono and stereo mixes that trimmed the song to 2:14 were done on November 7.
Blue Jay Way
George Harrison / 3:53
1967
MUSICIANS
George: vocal, organ
John: organ (?), backing vocal
Paul: bass, backing vocal
Ringo: drums, tambourine
Unknown musician: cello
RECORDED
Abbey Road: September 6–7, 1967 (Studio Two) / October 6, 1967 (Studio Two)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 6
MIXING
Abbey Road: October 12, 1967 (Studio Three) / November 7, 1967 (Studios One and Two)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producer: George Martin
Sound Engineers: Geoff Emerick, Peter Vince, Ken Scott
Assistant Engineers: Ken Scott, Richard Lush, Peter Mew, Graham Kirkby
Genesis
On August 1, 1967, George took off with Pattie for Los Angeles, where his friend Derek Taylor, Brian Epstein’s former personal assistant, lived now. The couple rented a house on a street called Blue Jay Way. Derek was late in joining them, probably because he was delayed by the heavy fog that covered the city. Worn out by the trip and jet lag, George had fun playing a Hammond organ that he found in a corner of the house to fight against sleepiness, and he wrote this song while waiting for his friend. He said about his song, “The mood is also slightly Indian. Derek Taylor is slightly Welsh.”1 George does not recount whether the friend finally found the house in the fog.
In this sequence from Magical Mystery Tour, George was sitting on the ground in a suit playing on an organ drawn on the pavement. There were plenty of psychedelic effects: the atmosphere varied from amateurish to enlightened. Fortunately, there was the music.
Production
“Blue Jay Way” was the only Beatles song to use practically all the effects available at that time. The first recording session took place on September 6. The rhythm track was recorded in one take: bass, drums, and organ. George was on organ, but it was possible that John accompanied him. The next day there was a first reduction onto a second tape recorder. Accentuated flanging bringing the tape to its saturation point was added on both organs, especially at the end of the song. George then sang lead with his voice doubled simultaneously. On the choruses, the vocals were fed through a Leslie cabinet. George wanted to express the feeling of the fog that he was singing about. For the next reduction, many of the instruments were enriched with phasing. Then George, John, and Paul recorded backing vocals through the Leslie cabinet once again. Finally, on October 6, a cello and a tambourine were added to complete the song. The first mix was stereo, and George decided to add intermittent backwards playback of the song through a Leslie cabinet. Since this operation was done live (like the radio on “I Am the Walrus”), it was impossible to reproduce exactly the same mix in mono. George Martin and Geoff Emerick decided to drop this effect for the mono mix. The final mixes are dated November 7.
FOR BEATLES FANATICS
Most likely, the Small Faces song “Itchycoo Park,” which came out in August 1967, influenced the massive use of flanging and phasing on �
�Blue Jay Way.” “Itchycoo Park,” which was recorded at the well-known Olympic Sound Studios, was one of the very first to use this type of effect.
Hello, Goodbye
(A-side I Am the Walrus)
1967
SINGLE
RELEASED
“Hello, Goodbye” / “I Am the Walrus”
Great Britain: November 24, 1967 / No. 1 on December 6, 1967, for 7 weeks
United States: November 27, 1967 / No. 1 on December 30, 1967, for 3 weeks
Hello, Goodbye
Lennon-McCartney / 3:27
1967
SONGWRITER
Paul
MUSICIANS
Paul: vocal, bass, piano, percussion
John: lead guitar (?), organ, piano, percussion
George: lead guitar, tambourine, backing vocal
Ringo: drums, maracas, percussion
Leo Birnbaum, Ken Essex: violas
RECORDED
Abbey Road: October 2, 1967 (Studio Two) / October 19, 1967 (Studio One) / October 20, 1967 (Studio Three) / October 25, 1967 (Studio Two) / November 1, 1967 (Room 53) / November 2, 1967 (Studio Three)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 21
MIXING
Abbey Road: November 2 and 6, 1967 (Studio Three) / November 15, 1967 (Studio Two)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producer: George Martin
Sound Engineers: Ken Scott, Geoff Emerick
Assistant Engineers: Graham Kirkby, Richard Lush, Phil McDonald, Jeff Jarratt, Ken Scott
Genesis
As a Gemini, Paul chose duality as the theme of this song. “It’s such a deep theme in the universe, duality—man woman, black white, ebony ivory, high low, right wrong, up down, hello goodbye—that it was a very easy song to write.”1 Being always positive, it was a chance for him to express it in a playful and simple way: “I was advocating the more positive side of the duality, and I still do to this day.”2 But John really did not like “Hello, Goodbye”: “It wasn’t a great piece; the best bit was the end, which we all ad-libbed in the studio, where I played the piano.”3 The bottom line was that John did not accept the fact that “Hello, Goodbye” was chosen as a new single instead of “I Am the Walrus,” which he considered infinitely better. He was not wrong, but he confused commercial potential with works of art. Despite everything, without being a major opus, “Hello, Goodbye” remained an excellent song that stayed at the top of the charts for seven weeks in Great Britain, which surpassed the six-week record set by “She Loves You.” As far as duality goes, Paul could have added: John and Paul …
Paul assumed responsibility for producing three little promotional movies. But he was soon out of his depth directing movies. He contented himself with setting up the group at the Saville Theatre in the West End, and filming them surrounded by Tahitian dancers for the coda. This was when they all appeared in Sgt. Pepper costumes (in the first clip) and John did a very good dance number!
FOR BEATLES FANATICS
At 1:15 and at 1:30 you can hear hand claps that seem accidental.
Production
The Beatles worked on “Hello, Goodbye”—working title “Hello Hello”—on October 2. Seemingly simple, the production actually proved to be complex. The rhythm track was recorded with Paul on piano, John on the organ, Ringo on drums, and George on tambourines. Congas, bongos, and maracas were added later and, after a reduction, the sixteenth take was selected. The coda, nicknamed “Maori Finale,” was already part of the song from the first take. On October 19, two guitars were added and Paul recorded his vocal, double-tracked and with backing vocals by George and John, onto “Hello, Goodbye,” still using the working title of “Hello Hello.” After another reduction, two violas completed the song. George Martin, as usual, picked up what Paul dictated to him on piano. On October 25, there was a new reduction so that Paul could record his bass as an overdub. The fourth and last reduction was made on November 1. The process became critical because such a large number of reductions could degrade the sound signal. Finally, the next day, Paul added a second bass line. The mono mix was done on the same day, and the stereo on November 7. Paul remembered that the “Maori” part did not sound good. So he asked Geoff Emerick to drown the toms in echo, “… it just came alive. We Phil Spector’d it!”4 On November 15, another mono mix was carried out for the BBC without the violas, because the musicians union refused to allow prerecorded performances. Nevertheless, the clip could not air since the Beatles lip-synched their vocals!
Lady Madonna / The Inner Light
1968
SINGLE
RELEASED
Great Britain: March 15, 1968 / No. 1 on March 27, 1968, for 3 weeks
United States: March 18, 1968 / No. 4 on March 23, 1968
Lady Madonna
Lennon-McCartney / 2:15
1968
SONGWRITER
Paul
MUSICIANS
Paul: vocal, bass, piano, hand claps
John: lead guitar, backing vocal, hand claps
George: lead guitar, backing vocal, hand claps
Ringo: drums, tambourine
Ronnie Scott, Bill Povey: tenor saxophone
Harry Klein, Bill Jackman: baritone saxophone
RECORDED
Abbey Road: February 3, 1968 (Studio Three) / February 6, 1968 (Studio One)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 5
MIXING
Abbey Road: February 6, 1968 (Studio One) / February 15, 1968 (Studio Three) / December 2, 1969 (Studio Two)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producer: George Martin
Sound Engineers: Ken Scott, Geoff Emerick, Phil McDonald
Assistant Engineers: Richard Lush, Jerry Boys, Martin Benge
Genesis
Paul’s initial inspiration for “Lady Madonna” was the Virgin Mary, but then he quickly expanded it to include all women, especially mothers. Lady Madonna was a tribute to working-class women who courageously work and carry out their role as mothers. John was not impressed by the lyrics: “Good piano lick, but the song never really went anywhere. Maybe I helped him with some of the lyrics, but I’m not proud of them either way.”1 Years later, Paul realized that he mentioned every day of the week except Saturday. Lady Madonna likely went out this day. “So I figured it must have been a real night out.”2 The most distinctive feature of the song is the piano part based on a 1956 hit in England called “Bad Penny Blues” by trumpeter Humphrey Lyttleton, released on Parlophone. At the time, Martin was head of A&R for the label, but he did not work on the song. The piano and the lyrics were also a tribute to Fats Domino. Ringo recognized a different influence. In a 1968 interview he said, “It sounds like Elvis, doesn’t it? No, it doesn’t sound like Elvis … it is Elvis.”
FOR BEATLES FANATICS
From this point on, the Beatles released all subsequent singles on their own Apple record label.
Production
The Beatles recorded “Lady Madonna” just before their trip to India, where they studied transcendental meditation under Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. They recorded three takes of the basic rhythm track on February 3. Paul probably recorded his superb piano part on the Steinway B grand piano, highly compressed by Ken Scott. Ringo, inspired by “Bad Penny Blues,” played drums with brushes. The third take was the best. Ringo added another drum track, this time with drumsticks, also very compressed. Paul added a bass part; John and George both played fuzz-toned guitars through the same amplifier. Paul added his vocal, offering a Fats Domino impression. After a reduction on February 8, John, Paul, and George recorded a distinctive vocalized brass imitation, hand claps, and tambourine played by Ringo. They double-tracked their vocals right away. Paul then opted to include real brass. At the last minute, they called in two tenor saxophone players, including Ronnie Scott from the London Jazz Club and two baritone sax players. Paul did not have any arrangements written and the saxophonists largely improvised their parts. After some rehearsals, the Beatles finally double-tracked guitar riffs and Ronnie Scott performe
d a wonderful tenor saxophone solo. Before ending the session, John, Paul, and George recorded See how they run vocals, and added final imitation brass vocals. The mono was mixed right away, and the stereo was made on December 2, 1969.
The Inner Light
George Harrison / 2:35
1968
MUSICIANS
George: vocal
John: backing vocal
Paul: backing vocal
Ashish Khan: sarod
Mahapurush Misra: tabla, pakavaj
Sharad, Hanuman Jadev: shanhais
Shambu-Das, Indril Bhattacharya, Shankar Ghosh: sitars
Chandra Shakher: sur-bahar
Shiv Kumar Shermar: santoor
S. R. Kenkare, Hari Prasad Chaurasia: flutes
Vinaik Vora: thar-shanhai
Rij Ram Desad: dholak, harmonium, tabla-tarang
Note: Not all Indian musicians at the session recorded in Bombay participated in the recording. This is the complete list of musicians from the record sleeve.
RECORDED
EMI Recording Studio, Bombay (India): January 12, 1968
Abbey Road : February 6, 1968 (Studio One) / February 8, 1968 (Studio Two)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 6
MIXING
Abbey Road: February 6, 1968 (Studio One) / February 8, 1968 (Studio Two) / January 27, 1970 (Studio Two)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producers: George Harrison (Bombay), George Martin