tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7735358625309770162024-03-13T14:01:22.844-07:00George, John, Paul & RingoA song by song guide to the Beatles and post-Beatles discography. Most likely.Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03013702384786937618noreply@blogger.comBlogger27125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773535862530977016.post-65601652428168278322015-01-14T16:51:00.002-08:002015-01-14T16:51:49.659-08:00Wonderwall Music (Album) 1968<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5HhlJqyCPaE/VLcPEVA55AI/AAAAAAAALaE/NEjrLvAlzE0/s1600/wonderwall_music.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5HhlJqyCPaE/VLcPEVA55AI/AAAAAAAALaE/NEjrLvAlzE0/s1600/wonderwall_music.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
- Recorded between November 1967 and February 1968 and released in November 1968.<br />
- The second solo album by a Beatle (after Paul McCartney's soundtrack for <i>The Family Way</i>), this album was written by Harrison as a soundtrack for the film <i>Wonderwall</i>.<br />
- Much like the film that McCartney had written a soundtrack for, <i>Wonderwall </i>isn't particularly well-remembered either. This was mainly due to the fact that <i>Wonderwall</i> was barely released due to distribution issues, and so it remains a fairly obscure curiosity of the '60s.<br />
- Harrison collaborated with the orchestral composer John Barham to create 19 tracks, most of which were Indianesque tunes influenced by Harrison's time in Bombay. Harrison used the opportunity afforded to him to extend his creativity by writing songs for lesser-known Indian instruments.<br />
- Some tracks feature various other experiments in genre-hopping, ranging from psychedelic rock to cowboy music and varying modes of Eastern music.<br />
- During these sessions, Harrison also recorded the backing tracks for his Beatles song <i>The Inner Light</i>.<br />
- Aside from a spoken-word piece and some unintelligible Indian singing, there are no real vocals on the album as its mostly incidental music.<br />
- Harrison plays piano, mellotron, acoustic and electric guitars.<br />
- Some 20-odd musicians worked on the soundtrack, playing the following western instruments: piano, flugelhorn, harmonium, steel guitar, tack piano, organ, drums, bass, harmonica, banjo, and flute. The Indian instruments featured are: sarod, tabla, pakavaj, shehnai, sitar, surbahar, santoor, bansuri, and tabla tarang.<br />
- Ringo Starr provided some drumming for the soundtrack, and Eric Clapton also guest-featured as well.<br />
- I listened to this a bit but found it fairly unlistenable. There are some shining moments but they're obviously taken out of context as this is music written to go with a film. Harrison pushed the Indian angle to its natural endpoint with this album, and it's interesting to note that he returned to Indian music genres very little after this point - it's as if he got it out of his system. <br />
<br />
<br />Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03013702384786937618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773535862530977016.post-56849321387435752532014-10-26T05:12:00.000-07:002014-10-26T05:12:03.784-07:00Lady Madonna (Single) 1968<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-g0a_aFcCEvo/VEzlAPGFBxI/AAAAAAAALWo/IoF2SvTi0Gg/s1600/ladymadonna.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-g0a_aFcCEvo/VEzlAPGFBxI/AAAAAAAALWo/IoF2SvTi0Gg/s1600/ladymadonna.JPG" height="311" width="320" /></a></div>
<b> </b><br />
<b>Lady Madonna</b></div>
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<span class="postbody"><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- Written by McCartney. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="postbody"><span lang="EN-US">- During 1968 the band
decided to head off to India
for a big session of meditation before writing their next album. A single was
put together and released around February to help fill the gap. It was
initially planned to release a new Lennon song, <i>Across the Universe</i>, as
the single but Lennon wasn't happy with the recording and McCartney apparently
did his best not to encourage the song. A McCartney track, <i>Lady Madonna</i>,
was chosen for the A-side instead. </span></span><span lang="EN-US"><br />
<span class="postbody">- This is the last Beatles single to be released by
Capital and Parlophone Records. From here on the band would release their
singles on their own label, Apple Records. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- McCartney was inspired by the piano-style of Fats Domino
and worked on trying to get his voice into a lower register to help match the
mood of the piece. The song signaled a partial move back towards the band's rock n roll roots, and Domino would later cover <i>Lady Madonna</i>.</span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Lennon helped with the lyrics. 'See how they run' was
his, a carry-on from his nursery rhyme schtick used in <i>I Am the Walrus</i>.</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">-
McCartney sings the lead vocals, and plays the bass and piano tracks.
Lennon did backing vocals and a guitar track, and Harrison did the same.
All four members provided handclaps. Four saxophonists were brought in
to feature in the song as well. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The old school brass-sounding solo bit featured
on the
final mix of the single is actually the band members humming through
combs. The saxophonists were then brought in to match the melody on
actual saxophones.</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">-
Ringo recorded two separate drum tracks... his main (first) track was
played with brush sticks, and he then recorded a more 'rock'-styled
track with regular sticks to sit on top of it. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Ronnie Scott, the owner of a British Jazz club,
originally played the saxophone solo - though it hardly featured on the final
mix. McCartney later fixed this for the track's use on the <i>Anthology</i>
series and the recent <i>Love</i> album as an apology to Scott.</span></span></div>
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- Took five takes to complete, and runs for just over 2 minutes.<br />
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<span class="postbody"><b><span lang="EN-US">The Inner Light</span></b><span lang="EN-US"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US"><br />
<span class="postbody">- B-side to <i>Lady Madonna</i>. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Written by Harrison. </span><span class="postbody">This is the first time a Harrison
song (or anything other than a Lennon/McCartney song) was featured on a single.
</span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The lyrics are a direct lift from chapter 47 from the
official book of Taoism (a book of Chinese philosophy/religion) </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Harrison had the instrumental track for this album
recorded during the making of his <i>Wonderwall Music</i> album in Bombay,
India. <i>Wonderwall Music</i> is a (mostly) instrumental album comprising of
Indian and more standard Harrison-ish tunes, serving as a soundtrack for the
'60s film <i>Wonderwall</i>. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- It is the only Beatles song actually recorded in India (though many others were written there). </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Harrison provides the
lead vocals, while McCartney and Lennon do a little bit of backing vocals.
None play any instruments on this track, and Ringo doesn't feature at all. Indian musicians provide all of the instrumentation. These instruments were the shenai (a string instrument, played by Sharad Gosh), flute (played by Hariprasad Chaurasia), the sarod (another string instrument, more
bass-like, played by Ashish Khan), the tabla (a percussion instrument, played by Mehapurush Misra), pakhavaj (percussion, also by Misra) and harmonium (Rij Ram Desad). </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- Harrison didn't want to sing the lead vocals as he felt the melody was outside of his ability, but Lennon and McCartney convinced him to give it a go. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Aside from its release on this single, this song
remained very hard to find for many years. It was first released on an album in
1980 as part of the American <i>Rarities</i> compilation album. </span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- The mono mix features an extra piece of instrumentation in the intro part of the track. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- This is a great track, and I think it was one of the
last Beatles tracks I heard.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- It runs for two and a half minutes, and took 6 takes to complete. </span></span><span class="postbody"><span lang="EN-US"></span></span>
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Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03013702384786937618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773535862530977016.post-67098248477183022512014-10-26T04:52:00.000-07:002014-10-26T04:54:39.349-07:00Magical Mystery Tour (EP/Album) 1967<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KJPvPc3dPJw/VEzerBeFlwI/AAAAAAAALWY/FLehLVuKW1o/s1600/TheBeatlesMagicalMysteryTouralbumcover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KJPvPc3dPJw/VEzerBeFlwI/AAAAAAAALWY/FLehLVuKW1o/s1600/TheBeatlesMagicalMysteryTouralbumcover.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span class="postbody"><span lang="EN-US">- Released in early
November, 1967, in the US as an album. </span></span></div>
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<span class="postbody"><span lang="EN-US">- Also issued as a 6 track EP (a double EP) in the
UK
in December 1967 in support of the Beatles-made TV movie of the same name. </span></span></div>
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<span class="postbody"><span lang="EN-US">- The movie was very
poorly recieved and it's US-screening was even cancelled due to the negative
response. However, the music, as always, was popular, and the EP was extended
to album-length in the US,
and the release is now often considered to be the band's 9th full-length album. </span></span><span lang="EN-US"><br />
<span class="postbody">- This album, as you might guess from the cover, features
the band at it's most gimmicky. The band's psychadelic tendencies reached their
zenith (with the tracks <i>Flying</i> and <i>Blue Jay Way</i> in particular)
and Paul McCartney's hokeyness factor reached new heights (or lows, depending
on your perspective) with <i>Your Mother Should Know</i>. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The EP-release featured 6 new tracks. The album version
added 5 more, being the previous stand-alone singles featuring <i>Strawberry
Fields Forever</i>, <i>Penny Lane</i>,
<i>All You Need is Love</i>, <i>Baby You're a Rich Man</i> and <i>Hello Goodbye</i>.
<i>Hello Goodbye</i> was released as a single shortly before the US album and UK EP. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The film, which was the focal point of the whole
project, was an unmitigated disaster. The band hoped to film various unscripted
'magical' journeys taken by ordinary, everyday people (such as John Lennon's
uncle Charlie). Filmmakers the Beatles aint. No longer under the watchful eye
of their now-dead manager Brian Epstein, the band was free to embark on all
sorts of stupid ideas... this film being the first. Epstein had previously
stopped the band from pursuing various other silly ideas (one of which was a
guest appearance on <i>Doctor Who</i> where they would play future versions of
themselves as old men). </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The filming of <i>Magical Mystery Tour</i> was dogged by
many fans following the bus in their cars, which caused a lot of traffic
congestion and rendered the band unable to film as freely as they'd hoped.
Also, the broadcast on BBC TV was in black and white, which certainly didn't
help the film's colourful palette. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- I have this film on video. I have only watched it once.
It is terrible and only worth watching for the music segments featuring the
band's songs.</span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="postbody"><b><span lang="EN-US">1. Magical Mystery
Tour</span></b><span lang="EN-US"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US"><br />
- <span class="postbody">Track 1 on the EP. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Co-written by Lennon and McCartney, though Lennon later
said it was mainly McCartney's song. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Written as the theme tune for the TV-movie, the lyrics
pretty much explain the plot and idea behind the whole thing. McCartney's call
to 'roll up, roll up' was also a thickly-veiled reference to rolling joints. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- McCartney started his writing of the song with only a name and three chords (the same progression used for the title track on <i>Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band</i>, albeit in a different key). </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The song was recorded in a fairly disogranized and
haphazard manner. When it was time to record the trumpets, the brass section
started their session without any sheet music - the score was written as they went,
allegedly by one of the four trumpet players. McCartney and Lennon hadn't
prepared anything for them to play. It's probably pretty fair to say that were
very high at this point in time. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The version featured in the context of the TV-movie is
actually slightly different and has never been officially released in a
strictly-audio format. It features an extended intro and a monologue section
spoken by Lennon. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- McCartney sings the main vocals, and also provides harmony vocal, bass and piano tracks.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- Lennon provided backing vocals and an acoustic guitar track, Harrison did some rhythm guitar and backing vocals, and Ringo played maracas and tambourine in addition to his drums.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- Lots of the recording was made at different speeds and then slowed down/sped up to get everything in sync for the final version.</span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Mal Evans and Neil Aspinall played some additional
percussion on the recording (cowbell and finger cymbals).</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- Runs for nearly 3 minutes and took 9 takes to complete. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="postbody"><b><span lang="EN-US">2. Fool on the Hill</span></b><span lang="EN-US"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US"><br />
<span class="postbody">- Written by McCartney. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The lyrics took inspiration from the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (the Beatles' future spiritual leader), who was
often not taken seriously because he often giggled and laughed. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The song was written while the band recorded the <i>Sgt.
Peppers</i> album. Lennon thought highly of the song, especially its lyrics. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- A solo demo of the song featuring just McCartney later
turned up on the <i>Anthology</i> albums. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The bulk of the song was recorded in September 1967.
About a month later McCartney decided to add the flutes in. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- Along with the lead vocals, McCartney also plays the bass, piano,
and recorder tracks. </span></span></span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Lennon plays acoustic guitar, harmonica, and maracas on the recording. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Harrison also added in a
harmonica track as well as his acoustic guitar. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Richard Taylor, Christopher Taylor and Jack Ellory were
brought in to play the flutes. </span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- Ringo added in some maracas and finger cymbals along with his drum track. </span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">-
The harmonica tracks added by Lennon and Harrison for the middle
section were also reversed to give the song a more psychedelic feel. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The video clip was shot near Nice, in France.</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">-
Runs for three minutes, and took 6 takes to finish. The original edit
was a full minute longer but McCartney removed this from the end of the
song and no recordings of the 'full' version exist.</span></span><br />
</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="postbody"><b><span lang="EN-US">3. Flying</span></b><span lang="EN-US"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US"><br />
<span class="postbody">- The first song written by all four members of the band, and one of only two
songs to be credited in such a fashion. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- This is the first officially released instrumental by the band, and one of only about 3 officially-released Beatles
instrumentals. The band had previously worked on the instrumental <i>12 Bar Original</i> for <i>Rubber Soul</i>, but it was never included on the album.</span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Originally titled <i>Aerial Tour Instrumental</i>. The song was inspired by the style of Booker T and the MGs.</span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Originally featured a jazz-like outro, but this was later
cut and replaced with some tape loops put together by Lennon and Ringo. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The full version lasted for about 9 and a half minutes.
It was cut down to well under 3 minutes for the final released version. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Lennon plays the mellotron, and Harrison and
McCartney
provide acoustic guitars tracks (along with McCartney also doing the
bass). Ringo provides some maracas in addition to the drums. The
chanting parts were done by all four band members. </span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">-
Harrison's distorted acoustic guitar track was achieved by running the
instrument through the speaker of a Hammond organ. Harrison doubled his
guitar track, and Lennon also doubled the mellotron. McCartney's
acoustic contribution was the guitar solo. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The video clip that accompanies this song features
aerial shots of iceland
washed over in different colours. These shots are outtakes from the movie <i>Dr Strangelove</i>, provided Denis O'Dell - an associate of Apple Music who had worked on said movie. <i>Dr. Strangelove</i>'s director, Stanley Kubrick, noticed the unauthorised use of his outtakes when the <i>Magical Mystery Tour</i> TV movie went to air and rang O'Dell to complain.</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- Took 8 takes to finish recording. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="postbody"><b><span lang="EN-US">4. Blue Jay Way</span></b></span><span class="postbody"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US"><br />
<span class="postbody">- The 6th and final track on the original <i>Magical Mystery
Tour</i> EP. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- written by Harrison. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Harrison was waiting
for a friend to arrive at a house in LA. This house was on the street Blue Jay Way, which
is apparently notoriously hard to get to and sits up on some hills. Harrison
wanted to go to bed but his friend (Derek Taylor, a British journalist) was
taking a while to get there, so Harrison filled the time by writing this song
on his hammond
organ. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Harrison breaks away
from his usual forays into Indian music here (and he will only really use that
style again for the b-side <i>The Inner Light</i>). The song retains an
influence from Indian drone-music, but no Indian instruments are really used. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- At the end of the song there is a strange warping of the
loop that closes it. It sounds like a malfunction in the loop but it is in fact
an edit to cover up what was meant to happen during this song in the TV-movie.
It was planned for George to be hit by the bus, but as this idea was abandoned
during the filming of the movie the references/gap in the song had to be taken
out accordingly. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The song is in the same key and tone as the previous
track <i>Flying</i>, though this is unintentional and these two tracks probably
shouldn't have been placed together on the EP. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The song utilises a plodding, almost-turgid rhythm in
keeping with the 'waiting'-themed lyrics. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Many effects and ideas are re-used from the <i>Revolver</i>
and <i>Sgt. Pepper's</i> albums heres. Tape loops, flange-liked effects
on the
cymbals, tape played at different speeds, the all permeating-organ that
sounds like disorientating fog... etc,
etc. One weird thing also embedded in the recording is a backwards
recording of the entire song, running concurrently with the forwards
version.</span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The song also uses a strange scale for it's chords,
remniscent of Indian raga-music but probably more in keeping with certain modes
of 19th century classical music. </span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- The mono mix of the recoding does not retain the majority of the backwards track. </span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">-
Harrison sings the lead vocals, plays the organ and also provides some
backing vocals. Lennon and McCartney also provide backing vocals, and
Ringo supports Harrison with some lead vocals. Further instrumentation
credits: Lennon on tambourine, McCartney on bass, and Ringo on drums. It
is unknown who plays the cello on the recording. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The song runs for almost 4 minutes and took 3 takes to complete. </span></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="postbody"><b><span lang="EN-US">5. Your Mother Should
Know</span></b><span lang="EN-US"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US"><br />
<span class="postbody">- The 2nd track from the EP. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Written by Paul McCartney, specifically for the
TV-movie. He envisioned it as a musical production number, and this segment of
the film starts with the Beatles descending a big staircase in white suits. </span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- The song's title is a reference to the early '60s play and film <i>A Taste of Honey.</i> </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Recording was a bit troubled on this song. It was
recorded in one session, and then a second session was booked where it was
re-recorded. The second recording was then scrapped altogether and a third
session was booked so that overdubs could be added to the original.
Surprisingly, the song itself sounds remarkably smooth. </span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- For some unknown reason the vocals change from the left channel to the right for the third verse and then move back again. </span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- McCartney plays a piano track, bass, and provides the lead vocals. </span><span class="postbody">Lennon
plays organ on the recording and does some backing vocals, as does
Harrison, who also plays tambourine on the recording. No guitar features
on the song at all.</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- Runs for two and a half minutes, and took a staggering 52 takes to finish. </span></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="postbody"><b><span lang="EN-US">6. I Am the Walrus</span></b><span lang="EN-US"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US"><br />
<span class="postbody">- Written entirely by Lennon. Some consider it to be his last great
Beatles song, or the last song he put real effort and innovation into. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The lyrics are reflective of Lewis Carroll's poetry, of
which Lennon was a fan. Lennon later remarked that he actually got his
interpretation of <i>The Walrus and the Carpenter</i> wrong as he hadn't realised
that the Walrus was the bad guy (being the capitalist-figure of the poem). </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Lennon also wrote the first two lines whilst on acid.
The rhythm of the part where he sings 'Mister City Police man..." was
inspired by the sound of a police siren going past his house. Lennon also heard
that an old teacher of his was getting his students to analyse Beatles lyrics,
so he put in some deliberately confusing and nonsensical lines as well. Beyond
all this there has also been a lot of conjecture from fans about 'who' the
Walrus is and what the song is really about. Lennon made direct references
to this song in at least two more songs he wrote - the Beatles song <i>Glass
Onion</i> and his solo song <i>God</i>. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- It's rumoured that the Eggman is a reference to Eric
Burdon, singer from the Animals. He was referred to as 'Eggs' by a lot of his
friends because he liked to break eggs over the bodies of naked girls. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Every major chord is used in this song. Most impressive
is the outro, where the bass and guitar descends through the notes whilst the
strings move through them upwards. Also, as the outro is 7 bars long, each
4-bar phrase starts on a completely different chord. Listen to it, it rules. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The dialogue heard throughout the outro is from the <i>Magical
Mystery Tour</i> film, and from a BBC radio recording of <i>King Lear</i>. </span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- <i>I Am the Walrus</i> was designated as the B-Side for the <i>Hello Goodbye</i>
single, which led to some friction within the band as Lennon
(encouraged by Yoko Ono) wanted the Beatles singles to move into a more
artsy direction. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Lennon plays an electric piano, the mellotron and a
tambourine, as well as provides the lead vocals. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- McCartney only plays bass, and Harrison
guitar, Ringo drums. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The strings, brass and woodwinds were all session
musicians, orchestrated and conducted by George Martin. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The Mike Sammes singers provided the backing vocals.
Mike Sammes was responsible for a lot of backing vocals throughout 60s-UK pop
music.</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- The mono mix features a few differences - extra beats in certain sections and such.</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- The band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) took this song as their inspirational starting point when they formed.</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- Runs for four and a half minutes, and took 17 takes to complete. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
<span class="postbody"><span lang="EN-US"><b>7. Hello Goodbye</b></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">
<span class="postbody">- Written by McCartney. </span></span><br />
<span class="postbody"><span lang="EN-US">- Released as a single
in November 1967 with <i>I Am the Walrus</i> as its B-Side. It was also included on the <i>Magical Mystery Tour </i>album in the U.S. three days after the single came out. </span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US">
</span><span lang="EN-US">
<span class="postbody">- McCartney wrote this song rather quickly after being
asked by a Beatles-related employee how he wrote his songs. He promptly sat
down at the Harmonium and put this together. The employee shouted out the
opposite to whatever McCartney sang and that's how the rather poor lyrics came
together. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Lennon didn't like this song very much, and felt fairly
insulted that this was chosen as the A-side of the single over <i>I Am the
Walrus</i>. I can see his point. Both McCartney and George Martin felt that <i>Hello,
Goodbye</i> was the most commercial song. Lennon would come to resent such
decisions. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The 'surprise' outro was written on the fly in the studio (and dubbed <i>Maori Finale</i>), and was the only part of the song that Lennon liked.</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- McCartney sings the lead vocals and plays bass, piano, conga, and bongos on the recording. Lennon provides guitar, harmony vocals, and organ, and Harrison plays the lead guitar track as well as providing harmony vocals and handclaps. Ringo recorded drums, maracas, and tambourine. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Ken Essex and Leo Birnbaum played violas for the
recording. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Three separate music videos were filmed for this song,
but none were aired by the BBC at the time due to musician union rules about
miming on television. McCartney directed the main video clip.</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- Runs for three and a half minutes and took 21 takes to complete. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b>
<b>8. Strawberry Fields Forever</b><br />
Released as a single previously. See full song info <a href="http://georgejohnpaulringo.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/penny-lanestrawberry-fields-single-1967.html">here</a>.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>9. Penny Lane</b><br />
Released as a single previously. See full song info <a href="http://georgejohnpaulringo.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/penny-lanestrawberry-fields-single-1967.html">here</a>.<br />
<br />
<b>10. Baby You're a Rich Man</b><br />
Released as the B-side of <i>All You Need Is Love</i>. See full song info <a href="http://georgejohnpaulringo.blogspot.com.au/2014/02/all-you-need-is-love-single-1967.html">here</a>.<b> </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>11. All You Need is Love</b><br />
Released as a single previously. See full song info <a href="http://georgejohnpaulringo.blogspot.com.au/2014/02/all-you-need-is-love-single-1967.html">here</a>.</div>
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<![endif]-->Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03013702384786937618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773535862530977016.post-46233712551861973902014-03-08T03:18:00.002-08:002014-03-08T03:18:46.827-08:00The Family Way (Album) 1967<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iHchhj9jdpk/Uxr8gmmcJvI/AAAAAAAALFk/Gd8XUc1TNjM/s1600/the_family_way.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iHchhj9jdpk/Uxr8gmmcJvI/AAAAAAAALFk/Gd8XUc1TNjM/s1600/the_family_way.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
- I'm not going to address this one track-by-track, as there isn't much that can said in that fashion.<br />
- Released in January 1967, this is the soundtrack to the film of the same name.<br />
- The film isn't particularly well-remembered. It was based on a
telefilm from 1961, and starred Hayley Mills and Hywell Bennett. John
Mills also co-starred in a supporting role. Wikipedia describes it as a
'comedy-drama'. I haven't seen it.<br />
- The album was originally credited to the George Martin Orchestra, and
the tracks titled as 'movements' (EG. 1st movement, 2nd movement).<br />
- In 1996 the album was remastered and re-issued with extra tracks - roughly 60% of these tracks are credited to Paul McCartney.<br />
- McCartney plays bass and piano on the album, and provides some light
vocals (not really that much in the way of singing words though).<br />
- The George Martin orchestra provides the rest - Clarinet, guitar, flute, violins and cello.<br />
- It's very string-heavy and woodwindy. Most of the songs repeat the
same motif, and it's very gentle sounding. You can hear the beginnings
of McCartney's <i>Fool on the Hill</i> in some of it. <br />
- A single <i>Theme from the Family Way</i> was issued in 1967. <br />
- This album is considered the first solo effort from any Beatle.Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03013702384786937618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773535862530977016.post-17175356275947961612014-02-17T03:30:00.002-08:002014-02-17T03:30:21.338-08:00All You Need Is Love (Single) 1967<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fglWO3UmJp4/UwHyrtOX1lI/AAAAAAAALBE/ST6jBBWIBuw/s1600/beatles-all-you-need-is-love.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fglWO3UmJp4/UwHyrtOX1lI/AAAAAAAALBE/ST6jBBWIBuw/s1600/beatles-all-you-need-is-love.jpg" height="319" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />
<b>1. All You Need is Love</b><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">
<span class="postbody">- Written by Lennon. It's said that the song was written
on commission by the BBC, who asked for the Beatles to contribute a song to
their live <i>Our World</i> special, an unprecedented global broadcast. They
asked for a song that had a simple message many nationalities could understand.
McCartney later said that Lennon had already written this song and that it was
tailored to this effect after they were asked, but Lennon, Ringo and George
Martin all maintained that the song was written entirely from scratch for
this special. The vocals for the single were (mostly) recorded live from this
special. Some pilot instrumentation was pre-recorded beforehand, and a few other things were later fixed up afterwards. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Lennon used his previous song <i>The Word</i> as a
starting point, in terms of the kind of message he wanted to write about. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The song was released as a single in the UK the day before the band's performance
of it went to air on the <i>Our World</i> special, on the 7th of July, 1967. Its B-side is the track <i>Baby You're a Rich Man</i>.</span><br />
<span class="postbody">- This was the last song that the band wrote before their manager, Brian
Epstein, commited suicide. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The live performance featured the band sitting around on
stools, surrounded by friends such as Mick Jagger. Lennon was nervous about the
performance, and parts of it were later re-recorded for the single. McCartney
was caught offguard by some of the instrumentation during the performance, and he also went out of his way to wear a red rose after
Lennon specified that McCartney should only wear the colour green. </span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- It is unclear and unconfirmed as to whether McCartney also attempted to write a song for the <i>Our World</i> special. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Due to the 'world' theme of the special, the song was
given a few international touches - such as the French national anthem at the
beginning, and the various snippets of other European classicial pieces and
famous standards during the long fade out (including the earlier Beatles hit <i>She
Loves You</i>). One piece of music included was from the American song <i>In The Mood</i> by Glen Miller, which resulted in an out-of-court settlement due to the fact that it was still in copyright. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Usually McCartney is thought of as the more
boundary-pushing Beatle in terms of songwriting structure, but here Lennon
employs some very unusual time signatures (for pop songs anyway)... the verses
are in 7/4 (and in one case, 8/4), and some of the choruses are in the more usual
4/4 (though it gets mixed back and forth as the song goes on... one chorus is
in 6/4, etc, etc). Aside from Pink Floyd's <i>Money</i>, this is the only song written in 7/4 to reach the Top 20 in the US charts. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The song was later included on the <i>Magical Mystery
Tour</i> album/EP. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- An remixed, edited version of the song was also included on the <i>Yellow
Submarine</i> soundtrack. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Lennon played the banjo and the harpsicord for the
recording. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- McCartney performed his usual bass duties, and also
played the double-bass. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Harrison did lead
guitar, as well as a violin track. His guitar solo had some mistakes in it due to the live nature of some of the recording, but it was one of the few elements of the song left uncorrected in the </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Starr added some additional percussion as well as his
drum track. It's not really clear what percussion Starr added. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- George Martin played a piano track and wrote the
orchestration, which included session musicians playing a variety of string,
wood and brass instruments, and an accordian, all of which was conducted by Mick Vickers. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Various other people sang backing vocals and clapped
their hands - among these were Mick Jagger, Marianne Faithful, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Jane Asher and Patti Harrison.</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- The song runs for nearly 4 minutes, and took a staggering 58 takes to complete. </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<b>2. </b><span class="postbody"><b><span lang="EN-US">Baby You're a Rich
Man</span></b><span lang="EN-US"> </span></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">
<span class="postbody">- B-side to <i>All You Need is Love</i> and later included
on the <i>Magical Mystery Tour</i> album/EP. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Like <i>A Day in the Life</i>, this song was created by
joining two songs together. The verses were from a Lennon song <i>One of the
Beautiful People</i> and the choruses were an unfinished McCartney song called <i>Baby
You're a Rich Man</i>. </span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- Some have suggested that the song was written by Lennon about Brian Epstein, and that one of the lines is (or was in earlier versions) "Baby you're a rich fag jew". </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Recorded for use in the <i>Yellow Submarine</i>
movie/soundtrack but was eventually left off (and later reinstated for
subsequent re-releases). Eventually used as this B-side and also included on <i>Magical
Mystery Tour</i> (though it wasn't intended for that release). </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Lennon does all the main vocals, a piano track and
provides the strange Indian-oboe like sound (which is a clavioline, an early
kind of synthesizer). </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- McCartney plays a piano track. </span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- Both McCartney and Harrison provide harmony vocals. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Harrison and Ringo provided the handclaps, and Ringo
also overdubbed some maracas and tambourine. </span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- Some extra instrumentation on a vibraphone was also provided by Eddie Kramer. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- It's possible that Mick Jagger sang some of the backing
vocals, as his name is sometimes included in the session credits for this song
and he was present at the recording. Also, fellow Rolling Stone Brian Jones is
sometimes erroneously thought to have played the clavioline part, but this
isn't true.</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- First track completely recorded at the band's new 'home base' studio at Abbey Road. </span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- Runs for just over 3 minutes and took 12 takes to complete. </span></span></div>
Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03013702384786937618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773535862530977016.post-55137254279849172532013-12-24T05:08:00.001-08:002013-12-24T05:08:16.890-08:00Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Album) 1967<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--W-PQeVBVnM/UrmHHfegxPI/AAAAAAAAK2o/L7z9g1yxd84/s1600/sgtpeppers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--W-PQeVBVnM/UrmHHfegxPI/AAAAAAAAK2o/L7z9g1yxd84/s320/sgtpeppers.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="postbody"><span lang="EN-US"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="postbody"><span lang="EN-US">- The 8th studio album
by the Beatles. </span></span><span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">Released June 1967. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Although the band decided to give up touring and playing
live in 1966, it wasn't until this album that it really took effect. Without
the strictures of having to play any of the tracks live the band was free to do
whatever they liked in the studio. Likewise, the pressure was off in terms of
what the public expected, as Beatlemania was starting to die in the arse. The
time was right for something completely different. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- At least 4 tracks from the <i>Sergeant Peppers</i>
sessions didn't make it onto the album, these are the previously mentioned <i>Strawberry
Fields Forever</i> and <i>Penny Lane</i> (which were held off to be released as
a stand-alone single and eventually went onto the US-issued album for <i>The Magical
Mystery Tour</i>), <i>Only a Northern Song</i> (which remained unreleased until
the <i>Yellow Submarine</i> movie two years later) and <i>Carnival of Light</i>
(which has remained unreleased to this day). </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- <i>Sergeant Peppers</i> is often listed as the first
concept album. This is really only half-true... it was intended to be a concept
album (this was mainly McCartney's idea) but the end result wasn't really what he
was aiming for. Lennon in particular wasn't too fussed with the idea so the
band kind of did a bit of a concept album and then wrote a bunch of unrelated
songs to fill in the middle. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The concept itself was an extension of the promo-video
clips the band had been making. The idea was that as they weren't going to tour
themselves, the album could tour for them. So the band invented alter-egos for
themselves, brought on in part by their newly acquired facial hair (which
McCartney started in order to cover up the motorcycle-accident scar on his
lip). </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Before the band came up with the Sergeant Pepper idea
the <i>original</i> concept was to write a series of thematically-linked songs
about childhood and everyday life. This can be heard in the lyrics in many of
the songs. The early release of the two songs that deal most strongly with this (<i>Strawberry
Fields Forever</i> and <i>Penny Lane</i>) meant that this idea was abandoned,
but <i>A Day in the Life</i>, <i>She's Leaving Home</i> and a whole host of
others fit in with this theme as well. Prior to this album very few Beatles
songs had such themes. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- 8-track recording had been just invented but was yet to
become available in the UK.
Hence, <i>Sergeant Peppers</i> is recorded on 4-track. Nonetheless, several
more innovations were made during the course of recording, particularly in
reference to effects. One such innovation that they had been toying with (and
was to come into proper use with this album) was the running of tracks at
different speeds, EG. The speeding up of vocals for <i>Lucy in the Sky</i> to
give the song an otherworldly quality. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The UK release of the album ended on a strange sound, a
high frequency tone run on a loop (which Lennon said was "especially
intended to annoy your dog"). The US release of the album left it
off. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Aside from the ending, this album marks the first time
the US and UK releases
were exactly the same. Prior to this the standard idea had been to release similar
albums on both sides of the atlantic, with one or two changes to tailor to the
American audience (the fact that a lot of the band's singles were released in
different forms in America meant that a lot of UK-released b-sides were
included on US-released albums as they otherwise wouldn't have been heard by
American fans). It's confusing and dumb, and the band had wanted to stop it
for a while, and 1967 was when they started wising up and felt strong enough to
stand up against industry practices. After 1967, other UK bands such
as the Rolling Stones started following their example and stopped doing American-tailored
album tracklistings. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- The album took an unprecedented four months to record. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Perhaps almost as famous as the songs on the album is
its artwork, which won a grammy. The collage of 70 famous people was made up
of actresses, actors, famous philosophers and other luminaries chosen by
Lennon, McCartney and Harrison (the various Indian gurus are attributed to Harrison). Amongst those pictured are original Beatles
bassist Stu Sutcliffe, Karl Marx, Oscar Wilde, Lenny Bruce, Marlon Brando and
William S. Burroughs. Lennon borrowed some family war medals from original
Beatles drummer Pete Best for his costume. Lennon also asked for Hitler to be
featured in the collage but was politely ignored. Anyone featured in the
collage who was still alive had to be contacted by the label's legal department
to make sure they gave permission for their likeness to be used. Mae West
refused on the grounds that she would never be in a 'lonely hearts club', but
later relented when the band sent her a personal letter. The band's manager,
Brian Epstein, was worried about the whole thing after the recent debacle re:
the US-issue cover for the <i>Paperback Writer</i> single (which infamously
featured the band dressed as bloody butchers surrounded by doll parts). The
collage also varies slightly in different countries, for example the Russian
version features Rasputin instead of Karl Marx, etc, etc. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The band originally wanted to make the album a package
including pencils and pins and such, but this was abandoned as it would've been
too expensive to mass produce. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Reviews at the time were outstandingly positive and full
of impossible hyperbole. Various critics even went as far as calling it the
album of the century. <i>Rolling Stone</i> magazine later listed it as the greatest
album of all time. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- A TV special was planned but later abandoned. It
would've been an album-long video clip (in keeping with the album's concept).
Some footage was shot for <i>A Day in the Life</i> before the idea was nixed,
and it remained unreleased until the 1980 John Lennon documentary <i>Imagine</i>.
It can also be seen on the <i>Anthology</i> documentary series.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- The album's influence was felt over the course of the '70s, with a tie-in feature film released in 1978 (which really had nothing to do with the Beatles). Lennon also made reference to the album in his solo song <i>How Do You Sleep?</i>, attacking McCartney's creative domination of the band from <i>Sergeant Pepper </i>onwards (the band had taken a break between their last live shows and the recording of this album, and McCartney took the opportunity to push the band in a new direction. From this point on McCartney would be the keenest bandmember in terms of creative control). </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="postbody"><span lang="EN-US"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="postbody"><b><span lang="EN-US">1. Sgt. Pepper's
Lonely Hearts Club Band</span></b><span lang="EN-US"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US"><br />
<span class="postbody">- Opening track on the album. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Written by McCartney, after taking inspiration from a
discussion with Beatles main-man and roadie Mal Evans. Evans asked McCartney
what the S and the P stood for on his in-flight tray (they stood for Salt and
Pepper, but somehow this became Sgt. Pepper and the concept grew from there).
Evans also claims to have helped write the overall song, but I'm thinking
that's most likely bullcrap. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The band's road manager, Neil Aspinall, came up with the
idea of making one of the alter-egos (the main one, Sgt Pepper, which was
McCartneys' alter-ego for the album) a compere-styled figure. This leant itself
to the style of lyrics McCartney wrote for the song. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The sample of the orchestra tuning up at the beginning
was taken from the recording session for the orchestrated parts of <i>A Day in
the Life</i>. The crowd sounds were from George Martin's master-tapes from the
<i>Goon Show,</i> recorded back in 1960. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- The song was written just one day before the album's recording session started. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- McCartney provides the lead vocals, as well as both lead guitar and bass. Harrison plays two guitar tracks, and Lennon only contributes some harmony vocals. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- Four guest musicians also featured on french horns. The horn lines were based around McCartney's vocal melodies (the idea of John Burden, one of the hornplayers) </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Capital Records in the U.S.
released this song as a U.S.
single in 1978 with <i>With a Little Help From My Friends</i> as the joint
A-Side and <i>A Day in the Life</i> as the B-Side. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Although the band never performed the song live, many
other artists have done so. Most notably, the song was covered by Jimi Hendrix
within a few mere days of its official release on the album.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="postbody"><b><span lang="EN-US">2. With a Little Help
From My Friends</span></b><span lang="EN-US"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US"><br />
<span class="postbody">- Written by McCartney and Lennon. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- As was becoming standard, a song was written for each
album for Ringo to sing. Lennon later stated that he only contributed a little
bit to this song, but popular wisdom says that he actually wrote the melody on
a piano (without using the index finger on his good hand, due to it being hurt
at the time - leading to the song provisionally being titled <i>Bad Finger
Boogie</i> [this is also where the band Badfinger draw their name from,
apparently]).</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- This is one of the last songs, if not <i>the</i> last song, that McCartney and Lennon wrote together. </span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- Ringo sings the lead vocals, with McCartney, Lennon and Harrison all singing harmonies. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- McCartney wrote the lyric notes to be within a small
range (as Ringo's range wasn't as good as the others). McCartney worked with
Ringo to help him achieve the relatively-more difficult final note. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- One of the original lines was "What would you do if
I sang out of tune? Would you throw ripe tomatoes at me?" but Ringo
insisted on changing it in case fans threw tomatoes at him should he ever sing
it live. Another line, "</span></span><span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">What do you see when you turn out the light? / I can't tell you, but I know it's mine" is apparently a reference to masturbation.</span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Interestingly, the lyrics are written in a way to
reflect a conversation between the rest of the band and the singer. Lines are
sung by the others as a question, and then Ringo answers it. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The song follows directly on from the song <i>Sgt.
Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band</i>. Arguably, not including the reprise at
the end, these are the only two songs on the album that are part of the
'concept' of the album. As McCartney's alter-ego was Sgt. Pepper,
Ringo's alter-ego was Billy Shears. </span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- The only instrument Lennon plays on the recording is the cowbell. McCartney plays the bass and piano tracks, and Harrison provides two guitar tracks. Ringo also overdubbed some tambourine in addition his drumming, and George Martin plays the organ. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The cheering at the beginning was taken from one of the
band's live sets (in this case from their show at the Hollywood Bowl). </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Three different covers of the song have reach #1 in the
British charts (the most famous being by Joe Cocker, also used as the theme
song for the TV show <i>The Wonder Years</i>).</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- Runs for two minutes and 45 seconds, and took ten takes to record. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="postbody"><b><span lang="EN-US">3. Lucy in the Sky
with Diamonds</span></b><span lang="EN-US"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US"><br />
<span class="postbody">- Written primarily by Lennon, but McCartney helped piece
it together and do the lyrics. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The title comes from Julian, Lennon's young son, who
drew a picture at the time and told his dad it was a picture of 'Lucy in the
sky with the diamonds'. It's disputed who this Lucy actually is as at the time
Julian Lennon knew more than one little girl called Lucy. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Lennon's lyrics were also influenced by Lewis Carrol's <i>Through the Looking Glass</i>, a book that Lennon would draw on for other songs
around this time. The way the lyrics are sung also bring to mind a nursery
rhyme, and McCartney also contributed a few key phrases.</span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The verses are in 6/8 timing. You don't even notice it
unless you count along with it, but it's quite a strange timing for a pop song.
The choruses switch to standard 4/4. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The song also shifts key between each segment, meaning it is in a different key for the verses, choruses and bridge section.</span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Lennon's vocals are double-tracked and slightly sped up.
</span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Harrison plays the
tamboura (an Indian lute-like instrument) in addition to lead and rhythm guitar. He used a slide for the lead bits. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Lennon plays the main piano track, and Ringo contributes some maracas in addition to the drums.
</span><br />
<span class="postbody">- McCartney plays a Lowrey organ (an electronic organ
similar to the Hammond
organ) and used a special organ 'bell stop' that would give it a celesta-like sound (the celesta is a small upright piano-like instrument that sounds a bit like a
glockenspiel). </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The abbreviation of the title to LSD wasn't intentional
and the band didn't notice it until someone later pointed it out to them.</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- In later years, Lennon was quite unhappy with the way he sang the song, and he actually preferred the Elton John version (on which he played 'reggae guitars' under the pseudonym Dr Winston O'Boogie) </span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- Runs for three and a half minutes, and took 8 takes to complete. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span class="postbody"><span lang="EN-US">4. Getting Better</span><span lang="EN-US"> </span></span></b><span lang="EN-US"><br />
<span class="postbody">- One of the last songs that Lennon and McCartney wrote together from scratch, with the idea starting for the lyrics starting with McCartney.</span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The lyrics are interesting in the way that they contrast
the two personas of Lennon and McCartney. Throughout the song McCartney's
optimism is tempered by Lennon's pessimism (in particular the lines "I used to
be cruel to my woman..." and "it can't get no worse"). </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The title comes from a phrase often said by Jimmy Nicol,
the band's stand-in drummer from when they toured Australia. </span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- McCartney sings the lead </span>vocals and plays <span class="postbody">bass for the track.</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- Lennon contributes harmony vocals and rhythm guitar. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- George Martin struck
the strings of a pianette with a mallet to get the accented sound that drives the
song along. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Harrison played the
tamboura for the end section and also did some backing vocals.</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- Ringo laid down a conga track in addition to his drums. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- During recording, Lennon accidentally took LSD (he
allegedly meant to take an 'upper' instead) and complained to George Martin
that he wasn't feeling well. Martin took Lennon up to the roof to get some air,
but when Harrison amd McCartney realised that
Lennon had taken LSD and was currently on the roof they quickly rushed up get
him before he could jump off. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The song was first played live by McCartney in 2002. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The song should be pretty well known to contemporary
Australians as it was used as the theme song to the TV show <i>Better Homes and
Gardens</i>.</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- Runs for 2 minutes and 47 seconds, and took 7 takes to record. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="postbody"><b><span lang="EN-US">5. Fixing a Hole</span></b><span lang="EN-US"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US"><br />
<span class="postbody">- Written by McCartney </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Recorded at Regent Studios rather than Abbey Road (as Abbey Road wasn't
available that night). It was the first time in a long time that the band had
recorded outside of Abbey Road.
</span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The lead vocal was recorded at the same time as the
rhythm track (assumedly guitar/bass/drums). This was the first time the band
recorded vocals straight in rather than overdubbing them. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- A strange and unknown man calling himself 'Jesus Christ'
was present throughout the session. He had a cup of tea and promised to be
quiet and disappeared again after the recording was finished. McCartney later
said that he found himself hanging around his front gate and brought him along
to the studio. Lennon later also claimed to have found him and brought him in. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- It's usually assumed that the song is a metaphor for
heroin injection, but McCartney actually wrote it as an 'ode to pot'. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Beatles roadie and all-round self-made superstar Mal
Evans claimed to have helped write this song (amongst others). He was paid a one-off fee for lyric contributions but (understandably) not given a songwriting credit. Evans ended up dying in an altercation with the police in 1976.</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- McCartney performs the lead vocals as well as two guitar tracks. Lennon plays the bass and Harrison did some lead guitar. McCartney, Lennon and Harrison all also provided backing vocals. Ringo provided some maracas in addition to his drums. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The song also features a harpsicord, which was probably played by McCartney (it was recorded at the same time as the
bass, which may explain why Lennon played the bass track in this song). Some accounts have suggested that George Martin might have payed the harpsicord track.</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- Runs for two and a half minutes and took 4 takes to complete.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="postbody"><b><span lang="EN-US">6. She's Leaving Home</span></b><span lang="EN-US"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US"><br />
<span class="postbody">- McCartney started writing this after reading a newspaper
story about a girl who'd left home and didn't return. He wrote the verses and
Lennon wrote the chorus. It was also Lennon's idea to sustain the notes and
hold them for such a long time. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The girl who inspired the song was Melanie Coe, and she
later said that the lyrics got most of her story right. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- McCartney sings most of the vocals but Lennon comes in
for the chorus part, singing the bits from the parents' point-of-view. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- One of only four Beatles songs to not feature any of the
band playing an instrument. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Interestingly, the change from the verse to the chorus
doesn't really change notes, it stays on the C chord. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- George Martin wasn't available to work on the song at
the time of writing so McCartney took the song to Mike Leander (another
producer and arranger, who worked mainly for Decca records). Leander wrote the
orchestration based around the song. When George Martin found out he was a bit
hurt that the song had been taken to someone else, but he duly conducted the
piece for recording anyway. This marks the only time someone other than Martin
wrote orchestration for a Beatles track with the band's permission (Phil
Spector would later write orchestration for parts of the <i>Let It Be</i>
album, but he did it without the band knowing). </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The harp was played by Sheila Bromberg, the first female
musician to appear on a Beatles recording. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- George Harrison and Ringo don't feature at all in this
song.</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- The stereo mix of the song is slowed down significantly, putting the song in the key of E rather than its normal key of F. </span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- Runs for almost 3 minutes and took 9 takes to record (although it was the first take that was judged the best and this is the one that ended up on the album). </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="postbody"><b><span lang="EN-US">7. Being for the
Benefit of Mr. Kite!</span></b><span lang="EN-US"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US"><br />
<span class="postbody">- Written mainly by Lennon, though McCartney helped out a
little bit. Lennon wrote the song after seeing a 19th century circus poster he
bought in an antique shop. The lyrics are lifted almost verbatim from the
poster. </span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- The bridge was originally ihtended to feature Lennon scatting (and this was recorded) but it was ditched in favour of McCartney's distorted guitar track. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- One of the more layered songs to appear on the album,
Lennon wanted to get a 'carnival' atmosphere with the song and many overdubs
followed... </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- One track features multiple recordings of fairground
organs and calliopes (a pipe-like instrument used at old-style carnivals),
which George Martin had trouble splicing together to good effect. Eventually
they chopped up the tape and rearranged the pieces at random. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Lennon later said that he didn't really put much effort
into the song and that he didn't think much of it. Much later, in 1980, he
would change his view and describe the song as a 'pure watercolour'. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Banned by the BBC due to the phrase 'henry the horse',
which they thought alluded to heroin.</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- Lennon sings the lead vocals, which were recorded at a slower speed to make it easier for him sing all the words. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Lennon plasy the hammon organ, piano and harmonica in
this track. He also contributed some tape loops. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- McCartney plays an acoustic guitar track. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Harrison contributes
harmonica and tambourine tracks. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Ringo also plays harmonica on this song! </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- George Martin plays the harmonium (a kind of
pipe-organ), lowry organ and glockenspiel. He also contributed some tape loops.
</span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Roadies Mal Evans and Neil Aspinall also contribute some
harmonica playing!</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- Runs for two and a half minutes and took 9 takes to complete. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="postbody"><b><span lang="EN-US">8. Within You Without
You</span></b><span lang="EN-US"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US"><br />
<span class="postbody">- Witten by Harrison.
His only track on this album. </span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- Harrison originally recorded [i]Only a Northern Song[/i] for the album but George Martin rejected it. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Originally written as a 30-minute song, it makes use of
a mixolydian-styled scale (which I don't understand fully, but it's like a
major scale that starts on a semi-tone). Harrison
wrote it on Klaus Voorman's harmonium while smoking a lot of pot. It was trimmed down to
size for the album. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- A very Indian-sounding song, Harrison
is the only Beatle to feature on it and it was partially based on a piece of music by Ravi Shankar. Neil Aspinall plays the tamboura, and the
rest is provided by an Indian group called the Asian Music Circle (instruments featured: dilrubas, svarmandel, tabla, tamboura). About 11 English musicians also contributed violins and cellos to the mix.</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- Harrison provides lead vocals, guitar, sitar and tamboura. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- George Martin arranged the string section that features.
</span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The song was also sped up a little bit (which changed
its key). The original tempo-version can be heard on the <i>Anthology</i>
albums. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Harrison added some
laughter near the end to 'lighten' the song up a bit, in keeping with the
overall feel of the <i>Sgt. Pepper</i>'s album. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- the lyrics allude to the Hindu concept of Maya, where
the human world is in fact a false reality (OMGZ, The Matrix!), and LSD. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- I put this song on a mix CD at work and nearly all my
co-workers hated it with a passion.</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- Runs for 5 minutes and took 2 takes to finish. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="postbody"><b><span lang="EN-US">9. When I'm Sixty-Four</span></b><span lang="EN-US"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US"><br />
<span class="postbody">- Written by McCartney. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- McCartney wrote this song when he was 16, and the band
used to play it live in the early days whenever their equipment broke down. A
few more lyrics were added in for the [I]Sgt. Pepper[/I]'s version and the arrangement no doubt became more sophisticated. The song was written as, and intended to be, a tribute to McCartney's father - an obscure jazz musician who had played around London in the 1920s. In 1966, when McCartney re-polished the song, his father was 64 years of age (hence the title).</span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The song garnered some backlash from Beatles fans due to
the parent-friendly nature of the song. It's pretty clear by this stage that
McCartney wanted to appeal to everyone and not just the younger generation.
Lennon later paid out this song in particular in 1980, saying that he would
'never dream of writing a song like that'. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- This song was almost made the B-Side to either <i>Strawberry
Fields</i> or <i>Penny Lane</i>.
Instead it was decided to make those songs a double A-Side. If <i>When I'm
Sixty-Four</i> had been made the B-Side it would not have featured on
the album. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The song was in the key of C, but the
recording was sped up to get the song into the key of D. This was to give the
effect of McCartney's voice being younger and to aid the song's overall
honky-tonky vaudeville feel. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Also aiding this feel was a trio of clarinets, which
also (unusually for the time) harmonize with the vocals at one point. S</span></span><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">ome well-respected clarinet players did the clarinets -
there are two regular clarinets and one bass clarinet. </span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- McCartney sings the lead vocals, with Lennon and
Harrison providing backups. McCartney also whistles during the outro on the original vinyl version of the song, but subsequent edits don't feature this. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Harrison doesn't play
any instrument on the track. Ringo plays tubular bells in addition to his drum
track. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- McCartney plays the honky-tonk styled piano, and Lennon
does the sole guitar track. </span><span class="postbody"></span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The song later also appeared in the <i>Yellow Submarine</i>
movie and soundtrack.</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- Run for two and a half minutes, and took 4 takes to complete. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="postbody"><b><span lang="EN-US">10. Lovely Rita</span></b><span lang="EN-US"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US"><br />
<span class="postbody">- Written by McCartney. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- McCartney took inspiration for the lyrics after he was
issued with a parking ticket. This song is a sarcastic jibe at the traffic
warden, apparently a woman named Meta Davis. </span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- This song is unusual amongst <i>Sergeant Pepper</i> tracks in that the band recorded it as a band (IE. All playing the song together at the same time). The densely layered vocals were influenced by the Beach Boys. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Both McCartney and George Martin recorded piano tracks.
Martin's piano track was twisted electronically to get the strange warbling
effect for the solo. It was also recorded at a lower key and then sped up to fit with the song. </span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- McCartney sang the lead vocals, which were also recorded in a lower key before being sped up.</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- Lennon provided some backing vocals and played an acoustic guitar for the recording. Harrison also did the same.</span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The kazoo sound is Lennon, McCartney, Ringo and Harrison all playing paper over combs. Mal Evans may have
also hummed along on one of his own. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Pink Floyd were present during recording of this song
and watched for the duration.</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- Runs for nearly 3 minutes and took 11 takes to finish. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="postbody"><b><span lang="EN-US">11. Good Morning, Good
Morning</span></b><span lang="EN-US"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US"><br />
<span class="postbody">- Written by Lennon. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Lennon got the idea from a catchy jingle from a cereal
commercial. Other lyrics allude to a sitcom at the time called 'Meet the Wife'. </span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- The song is written in a strange mix of metres... 5/4, 3/4 and 4/4. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Guest musicians were brought in, in this case the brass
section from Sounds Incorporated. They were recorded at very close proximity to
get a different tone and more compressed sound (EG. One mic was put right into
the opening of the sax). </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Lennon provided a series of animal sounds and had them
arranged so that each animal was followed by another that could eat it (lolwut?). The final animal sound, that of a chicken, segues into the beginning of <i>Sgt.
Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)</i>, which is the following track on
the album. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Lennon doesn't actually play any instruments on this
track, he only does vocals. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- McCartney and Harrison provide backing vocals.</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- McCartney plays the guitar solo and a bass track. Harrison provides guitar, and Ringo recorded drums and tambourine. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- George Martin arranged and conducted the brass bits.</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- Lennon didn't think much of the song, thinking that the recording was rushed just to fill up the album. </span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- Runs for two and a half minutes and took 8 takes to record. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="postbody"><b><span lang="EN-US">12. Sgt. Pepper's
Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)</span></b><span lang="EN-US"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US"><br />
<span class="postbody">- Obviously, like the proper version of the song, this is
written primarily by McCartney. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The idea for a reprise came from roadie Neil Aspinall,
who said, as Sgt Pepper's was a 'welcoming' song, something else should bookend
the other end of the album - giving the effect of a band playing a show with a set opener and a set ender. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- This is the second shortest Beatles song, running just over a
minute. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- It's pretty much the same as the first track on the album,
though played at a slightly faster tempo and with different lyrics. Also, the
key is the reverse of the proper version of the song (<i>Sgt Peppers</i> is in a G
Major key with a bit of a shift to F, whereas the reprise is in F with a bit of
a shift to G). The key shifts in this unusual way at the very end in order to segue into <i>A Day in the Life</i>. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The applause at the end carries over into the final song
on the album.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="postbody"><b><span lang="EN-US">13. A Day in the Life</span></b><span lang="EN-US"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US"><br />
<span class="postbody">- This is actually two songs joined together, the main portion
being a song written by Lennon and the middle section being an unfinished song
by McCartney. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The lyrics are fairly disparate but are actually in
keeping with the album's overall theme of everyday life. Lennon took
inspiration from a couple of newspaper articles (in particular the death of
Tara Browne - a friend of the band's and heir to the Guinness fortune) and
McCartney's section is more of his usual twee youth-orientated nostalgia. Bridging the whole
thing is a sly reference to drug-using, being the McCartney line 'I'd love to turn
you on', which resulted in the song being banned by the BBC. Lennon also took some inspiration from his serious acting debut in the film <i>How I Won the War</i> (an early form of cross-promotion?) and several references came into the song courtesy of the newspaper <i>The Daily Mail</i>. George Martin
maintained afterwards that the whole song was primarily about drugs. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The working title of the song was <i>In The Life of...</i>.
</span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The two sections of the song were seperated by a long
part featuring one piano chord and Mal Evans counting as the band was unsure
how to musically link the two together. A ringing alarm clock was recorded for
the end of this section as a marker for where McCartney's part would start, it
was intended to edit this out once the gap had been filled. McCartney decided
to keep the clock though as it fitted with his lyrics. This is all of course rather
elementary as George Martin later said that it would've been nearly
impossible to edit the sound out anyway. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- McCartney had an idea that an orchestra could improvise
something to fill the gap (something neccessitated by the different keys that his and Lennon's sections were in). Martin didn't want to leave it to chance though so
he composed a crescendo-like piece they could loosely ad-lib around. This piece
actually consisted of the lowest note the orchestra could play and then a
squiggly line over 24 bars that led to the highest note they could play, with a
nominated note for each bar so the orchestra would know roughly where they
should be at each point. McCartney and Martin conducted the orchestra together,
and this ended up being the most expensive part of the whole album in terms of recording costs.
McCartney originally wanted a full 90-piece orchestra, but ended up getting
around 40 instead. The piece was recorded 4 seperate times to compensate, through the use of 'ambisonics' - an early form of surround sound recording. Each
orchestra member was also given a piece of a party costume to wear during the
recording - EG. A gorilla mask, a balloon, etc. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The recording of this song was filmed for an intended
television special. It never came to fruition, although some footage could later
be seen in the promotional video for the song . </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Ringo goes to double-time for McCartney's more brisk
section of the song. Interestingly, he retains this speed when the song reverts
back to Lennon's section. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Originally the song was to end with the band all humming
a note together. It lacked impact though so they instead opted for a more
instrumental version - the final chord is the sound of Lennon, McCartney, Ringo
and Mal Evans all playing an E major on pianos, and George Martin playing it on
a harmonium. The chord rings out for an astonishing 40-odd seconds, which was
achieved by turning up the recording equipment to a ridiculously attuned level
- so that each nuance of vibration was captured. This is why you can hear all
sorts of unintentional and intentional background sounds at the end, like paper
rustling and recordings of the band talking (some of which are run backwards,
like 'Will Paul return as Superman?') These last sounds were featured in the
final 2 seconds of the track and were placed on the last groove of the record
so that they would play endlessly if the listener had a manual record player. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- After this 'final' chord is another sound, a very high
tone that most human ears are unable to hear. This was Lennon's idea and he
claimed that it was put there mainly to irritate people's dogs. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The song took 34 hours to record, which is probably the
longest amount of time the band ever spent on one single song - about 3 and a
half times longer than most of their tracks on previous albums. The final track runs for 5 minutes.</span><br />
<span class="postbody">- A few south asian countries excluded this track from
their locally-released versions of the album, owing to the alleged drug
references. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Lennon does the vocals for his section of the song and
also played an acoustic guitar track, as well as the piano. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- McCartney did his usual bass stuff, as well as a piano
track and the vocals on his section. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Harrison only
contributed some maracas to this song. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Ringo did his drums and a congo track, as well some piano for
the final chord.</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- The orchestra consists of 12 violinists, 4 viola players, 2 bass violinists, 3 trombonists, 3 trumpeters, 2 french horn players, 2 clarinet players, 4 bassoon players, an oboe player, a tuba player, a harp player, and two percussionists. </span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- Several celebrities were present during the recording of the song, including Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Marianne Faithful, Donovan, David Crosby and Mike Nesmith. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="postbody"><span lang="EN-US">- Riding high on the
success of Sgt. Pepper's, the band then released this single in July 1967. </span></span><span lang="EN-US"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03013702384786937618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773535862530977016.post-61292670749114226322013-01-19T05:48:00.001-08:002013-01-19T05:48:17.768-08:00Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields (Single) 1967<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--w5A3-UMuA0/UPqkE8aX2DI/AAAAAAAAI8A/9OESrbbmzok/s1600/pennylanesingle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--w5A3-UMuA0/UPqkE8aX2DI/AAAAAAAAI8A/9OESrbbmzok/s320/pennylanesingle.jpg" width="319" /></a></div>
<br /><div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="postbody"><b><span lang="EN-US">Penny Lane</span></b><span lang="EN-US"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US"><br />
<span class="postbody">- The first side of a double A-Side single released by the band in February
1967. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Recorded during the <i>Sergeant Peppers</i> sessions and
released 4 months ahead of the album. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Written by McCartney, the lyrics concern his
childhood home and the nostalgia associated with it. This ties into his original theme for the upcoming album, which was to be all about childhood. Ultimately the band didn't go with this idea. Lennon contributed some lyrics for the third verse.</span><br />
<span class="postbody">- George Martin felt it was the band's strongest single
from their whole career, mainly due to the similar themes and high quality of
the two songs involved. He wanted both songs included on the <i>Sergeant
Peppers</i> album but the band decided to release them only as a single due to
their manager, Brian Epstein, pressuring them for more material to bridge the
gap between albums. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Failed to reach #1 in the UK due to a Englebert
Humperdinck single (lol!), this was the first time this happened since <i>Love
Me Do</i> in 1963. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Features a more contasting verse-chorus form, as opposed to
the band's usual use of the Tin Pan Alley-influenced AABA structure (where they
placed more importance on verses, and broke things up with a bridge). </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- <i>Penny Lane</i> was eventually included on the <i>Magical
Mystery Tour</i> album, despite not being featured in the TV-movie of the same
name. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The first Beatles UK-single to feature a picture
sleeve. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- McCartney sings the lead vocal, with Lennon providing harmony. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Instrumentation: Lennon plays two seperate piano tracks,
and some congas. McCartney plays <i>three</i> seperate piano tracks, as well as
the recorder. Harrison played the firebell
(wtf), and Ringo added some extra bits and pieces percussion-wise. George
Martin also played a piano track (that makes 6 piano tracks all up!), and
orchestrated the session-played wind, brass and string sections. David Mason, a
much-respected trumpet player amongst London
orchestras, played the piccolo-trumpet for the solo. There was also a second bassist who played some acoustic bass to help compliment McCartney's own bassline (I'm not sure quite why they felt the need for a second bassplayer).</span><br />
<span class="postbody">- All this crazy orchestration was influenced directly by
the Beach Boys' <i>God Only Knows</i>, one of McCartney's favourite songs at
the time. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- Despite the overkill of instrumentation that got recorded, not all of it made it into the final song. Both Lennon and Harrison's guitar tracks don't feature, and the piano and vocal tracks were significantly altered. Lots of the instruments were recorded at different speeds and slowed down or sped up to match the pace of the song.</span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Features some of McCartney's best lyrics (except for maybe the crude reference to 'finger pies'), he switches
from third person to first person when he switches from verse to chorus. He
also abruptly changes key when switching from one section of lyrics to another,
which is an unusual thing for a pop singer to do. Several lyrics also make
strange allusions (such as the nurse feeling she is in a play, and she is
anyway), which McCartney has since put down to LSD-use. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Alternate takes of the song (one of which is featured on
the <i>Anthology </i>album) featured different instrumentation, such as the use of
English Horns.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- Penny Lane signs have been stolen from Liverpool ever since the song's release. The council eventually decided to introduce "theft-proof" signs in 2007, but these were stolen too. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- Runs for three minutes and took 9 minutes to complete. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="postbody"><b><span lang="EN-US">Strawberry Fields
Forever</span></b><span lang="EN-US"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US"><br />
<span class="postbody">- The second A-Side to the single. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Written by Lennon, although McCartney composed the intro. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Halfway through the song an orchestral score appears.
For people listening to it for the first time in the '60s, it kinda caught them
off guard. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The "Strawberry Fields" of the title is the name of a Salvation
Army house near Lennon's childhood neighbourhood. The allusions to Lennon's childhood fit with the originally concept for the upcoming <i>Sergeant Peppers</i> album.</span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Lennon wrote the song in 1966 while filming <i>How I Won
the War</i> in Spain.
It was a lot shorter at first and without some bits. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Three alternate takes (including Lennon's acoustic demo
version) later appeared on the <i>Anthology</i> albums. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Lennon wanted the song to have a 'dream-like' sound. He
felt the original recording to be a bit too rough and loud and wanted to do
something different with it. He asked George Martin to write an accompanying
score, and so Martin wrote one for three cellos and four trumpets. Lennon
didn't really like it so a second 'score' track was put together, this time
made up of other instruments - including the mellotron and swarmandel, as well
as slide guitar and some backwards cymbal-sounds. Lennon reviewed both
score tracks and decided he liked both. This caused a problem as they were in
different keys and tempos. George Martin had to run one version at a slower
than recorded speed, whilst the other was sped up, and then spliced them
together using editing scissors and tape. This accounts for the strange shift
in pitch that makes the song so unique and helps achieve Lennon's 'dreamlike'
quality. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- McCartney plays bass, mellotron and timpani drum. Lennon's
lead vocals are double-tracked and he also played a piano track, rhythm guitar and bongos. Harrison
played slide-guitar (the first time he would use the slide for his recorded
music - something that would later become his trademark in his solo work), as well as the maracas
and swarmandel (an Indian zither-styled instrument). George Martin arranged and
conducted the cellos and trumpets featured. Ringo provided a drum truck and also played the timpani.</span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The low vocals almost buried in the mix during the outro
are <i>not</i> 'I buried Paul' (as many fans have tripped over themselves to
believe) but 'cranberry sauce' (it is at it's most obvious in the <i>Anthology
</i>out-takes). </span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- The fade-out and returning fade-in is widely believed to be the first in pop music. The idea was George Martin's.</span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The song was later included on the <i>Magical Mystery
Tour</i> album. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- This is one of the Beatles songs most often-cited to
have cracked the pop music game wide open. Brian Wilson later said it was one
of the reasons he gave up work on the famously abandoned Beach Boys album <i>Smile</i>.
The singer from Paul Revere and the Raiders, a popular US band at the time with
their own TV show, bought the single and was blown away by the song to the
extent that he was at a loss as to what his band would record next, feeling
that the the bar for pop music had just been raised completely beyond reach.</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- The song lives on as the namesake for a John Lennon memorial in New York's Central Park. Lennon donated money to the real Strawberry Fields (an orphanage) throughout most of his adult life, a tradition that Yoko Ono carried on after his death. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
- Runs for just over 4 minutes and took 26 takes to complete.</div>
Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03013702384786937618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773535862530977016.post-13036563578026634322012-12-30T17:05:00.001-08:002012-12-30T17:05:31.430-08:00Revolver (Album) 1966<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jzvRBd2Qz7M/UODkvQhs1kI/AAAAAAAAImM/VPljibWySLA/s1600/beatles-revolver.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jzvRBd2Qz7M/UODkvQhs1kI/AAAAAAAAImM/VPljibWySLA/s320/beatles-revolver.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">- The seventh studio album by the band, released in August 1966.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- Recorded over two and a half months.<br />- The tracks <i>Rain </i>and <i>Paperback Writer</i> were both recorded as part of the <i>Revolver</i> block but released as a pre-promotional standalone single (meaning neither track actually featured on the album).</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- Electric guitar very much takes centrestage on this recording, diverging from the folk-ish sound of <i>Rubber Soul</i> whilst pursuing the seeds of psychedelia that could be seen on that previous album. this was foreshadowed with the <i>Paperback Writer</i> single.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- As a result, t</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">his album is generally seen as being the musical starting point for the psychedelic era. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- Ten of the fourteen tracks were Lennon-McCartney compositions (though by this point they were mostly working on songs separately). Harrison contributed (an unprecedented) three tracks and even Ringo gets a song credit. As a result the album features a more diverse selection of original
material than ever before, with the other
members of the band having more input than before. Ringo also sings his
(arguably) most famous Beatles track (<i>The Yellow Submarine</i>) and
contributed some lyrical ideas. </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- The cover art was created by Klaus Voorman, a friend of the band from their Hamburg club days back in 1962. The art has been heavily influential on album covers from later Beatles-like bands such as Jet and The Vines.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- The title of the album is a pun (much like '<i>Rubber Soul</i>') that references guns and the revolving motion of a record on a turntable.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- When the Beatles went on tour after this album's release they did not play many songs from it (if any at all), owing to the advanced stages of composition they were now reaching. The recording techniques and layers of instrumentation now meant that many of their songs were difficult to replicate live.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- Many of the songs saw a lyrical shift towards third-person storytelling (as opposed to songs written in the first person).</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- The album reached number one on both the British and American charts, and is now often regarded as one of the greatest albums of all time (at least according to VHS, <i>Time </i>magazine, <i>Rolling Stone</i>, <i>Guitar World</i>, etc).</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- In addition to the Beatles, some seventeen other people provided vocals and extra instrumentation on the album. This includes a string quartet, fellow celebrities Donvan, Brian Jones and Marianne Faithfull, and a horn section.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">This album is the first time an automatic double-tracker
was used to record vocals. Lennon in particular was very pleased with
this as he hated recording his vocals twice, and this invention soon
became regulation on pop recordings. This invention also eventually led
to the invention of the chorus effect and chorus pedal for guitar. </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- Other innovations made on <i>Revolver</i> include: tape looping, highly compressed vocals, other vocal effects achieved through rotating speakers and "vari-speeding", backwards guitar tracks, the increased incorporation of Indian instrumentation into pop music, deliberately hidden images in the artwork, and a song based around just one note.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- <i>Revolver</i> would be the last Beatles album to feature different tracklistings in America and the UK.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>1. Taxman </b><br />- Written by Harrison, and arguably his first 'hit'. <br />- Harrison was 'inspired' to write this after finding out exactly how much of his earnings were being taxed (a higher percentage than normal due to how much the band was earning). The lyrics mark the emergence of Harrison's more tongue-in-cheek style. <br />- The distinctive bass-riff has inspired several other songs by later bands such as the Stone Roses, Ride and The Jam. <br />- Harrison asked Lennon to help him with the lyrics. Lennon didn't really want to help him but he felt bad because Harrison had been locked out on the songwriting front for the last few years and so he wrote some one-liners for use in the song. McCartney wasn't interested in helping Harrison either (McCartney was very much against Harrison-written songs taking up too many slots on the album) and Harrison knew this, hence why he went to Lennon. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- The lyrics mark the first time that public figures are mentioned in a Beatles song by name.<br />- Harrison continued to play the song live right into the 1990s, even adding extra lyrics such as "if you're overweight I'll tax your fat".</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- The bit where Harrison sings 'Taxman!' just on its own towards the end of the bridge is a deliberate homage to the '60s TV show <i>Batman</i>. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- Harrison sings the lead vocals, with Lennon only providing backing vocals and some tambourine. Harrison also plays two separate guitar tracks on the recording. Ringo incorporates some cowbell into his drumming.<br />- As well as bass, McCartney also played the lead guitar on the track, much to Harrison's delight (Harrison later remarked in interviews about how happy he was to have McCartney contribute to the song, even noting that the famous solo features a little indian-sounding bit as a nod to him). <br />- An alternate take featured different backup vocals. They're kinda bad and can be heard on the Anthology albums.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>2. Eleanor Rigby </b> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- Written primarily by Paul McCartney, although all four members contributed to the lyrics. <br />- The song is one of the first indications of how far the band was moving away from the more straight-ahead pop of the era. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- Working title was '<i>Ola Na Tungee</i>'.<br />- McCartney wrote the song on his piano, with the lyrics originally centered around the names 'Daisy Hawkins' and 'Father McCartney'. He later settled on Eleanor, after the actress Eleanor Bron (who had co-starred with the band in the movie <i>Help!</i>). Ringo added the line about "writing a sermon that no one will hear" and suggested putting in a bit about darning socks (lol, wtf) and Harrison came up with the "ahhhhh look at all the lonely people" refrain featured at the start of the song and throughout. Lennon claimed in subsequent interviews that he wrote most of the lyrics by himself but pretty much everyone else involved has gone on record to say that he only contributed a single line at most. Pete Shotton, a friend of Lennon's, also contributed some ideas to the lyrics - mainly the last section of the song where the priest's and Eleanor's lives intersect at a funeral. <br />- None of the band plays any instruments on the actual recording, however McCartney, Lennon and Harrison all sing on it. The instrumentation is made up of 4 violins, 2 cellos and 2 violas, all conducted by George Martin. Microphones were placed very close to the instrumets to get a raw and up-close sound. It's said that McCartney's vision for the arrangement came from the score to the film<i> Fahrenheit 451</i>. <br />- George Martin also takes credit for the combining of the two different vocal parts that work together in parts of the song, a musical vocal technique known as 'counterpoint', perfected in the renaissance era. <br />- <i>Eleanor Rigby</i> was released as a single in the UK concurrently with the album <i>Revolver</i>. <br />- All sorts of things have been written in praise of this song - McCartney won a grammy for his vocals in it, and esteemed musical analysts and composers such as Howard Goodall have gone as far as saying it pretty much single-handedly saved pop music. <br />- There is a real grave in Liverpool marked 'Eleanor Rigby'... she died at some point in the '40s and McCartney has remarked that his use of the name may have been subconscious as he and Lennon spent a lot of their childhood in the area where the grave is featured.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- Liverpool has an Eleanor Rigby statue in honour of this song. It was erected in 1982. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- Runs for two minutes and took 15 takes to complete.<br /><br /><b>3. I'm Only Sleeping </b><br />- My absolute favourite Beatles song ever. This song got me into the Beatles and, more specifically, into the album <i>Revolver</i>. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- Written mostly by Lennon. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- Lennon sings the lead vocals, with McCartney and Harrison providing harmony.<br />- The lyrics were initially simply about Lennon's love for sleeping in, though re-writes later brought in some drug-overtones. <br />- The rhythm guitar played throughout is electronically compressed to give it a strange 'dream-like' sound. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- The further compound this dreamy quality the instrumentation was slowed down slightly after recording, and Lennon's vocals were then slowed down even more before being sped up to match the speed of the rest of the song.<br />- The guitar solo was composed very carefully by George Harrison in a fashion that would allow it to melodically fit when played backwards, and it was subsquently run backwards after recording. It it comprises of two guitar tracks, one with a fuzz effect and one without.<br />- Around the 2 minute you can hear McCartney yawning, a few seconds before it if you really strain to hear it you can also hear Lennon saying 'Yawn, Paul'.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- Runs for three minutes and took 13 takes to complete.<br /><br /><b>4. Love You To </b><br />- Written by Harrison. <br />- The only Beatles song to not feature Lennon or McCartney in any fashion. McCartney recorded some backing vocals but they were eventually not used for the final mix. <br />- Harrison plays the sitar throughout this track, as well as a tambura (another classical indian string instrument). It is the first Beatles song to seriously show the influence that Ravi Shankar's sitar-tuition had on Harrison, with the guitarist basing the entire song around the hypnotic drone of traditional Indian music.<br />- Also features more backwards guitar work from Harrison. He also uses a fuzz pedal to replicate the Indian drone-sound on guitar.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- Ringo plays a tambourine throughout the track. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- Anil Bhagwa (who I assume was an indian session musician of sorts, or someone Harrison met via Shankar) plays the tabla (an Indian percussion instrument) for the track. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- Some other additional Indian musicians were used (the Asian Music Circle), playing sitars and swarmandal (a harp-like instrument). They were encouraged to just jam on the song in an open-ended sort of fashion, and their improvisation was edited into the song.<br />- Provisionally titled <i>Granny Smith</i>.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- Runs for two and a half minutes and took seven takes to complete.<br /><br /><b>5. Here There and Everywhere</b> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- Written by McCartney. <br />- Both McCartney and George Martin list this as one of their favourite Beatles songs. And, even at his most bitter and anti-Paul, Lennon could say that this was one of McCartney's greatest songs.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- In the early stages of writing, the band tentaively offered a vocal-less version of the song to instrumental band The Shadows. They must have changed their minds though as The Shadows never received a copy to listen to.<br />- It's a rather subtle and moving tune, the major-orientated verses segue into minor-based choruses. McCartney intended for the backing vocals to be reminiscent of the Beach Boys, perhaps influenced by similar bittersweet tracks of the era such as <i>God Only Knows</i>. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- McCartney's high-vocals in the chorus were influenced by the style of Marianne Faithfull, and were recorded at a slower speed and then sped up. They were also double-tracked to further help achieve this effect. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- Lennon doesn't play any instruments on the recording but he does provide backing vocals. McCartney plays both bass and rhythm guitar.<br />- Harrison plays his 12-string guitar for the recording. <br />- All four Beatles contributed clicking fingers to the recording. Huzzah!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- The band never played this song live, but McCartney would later play it solo during the '90s. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- McCartney later re-recorded the song in 1983 for the film <i>Give My Regards to Broad Street</i>. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- Took 14 takes to finish and runs for about two and a half minutes.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /><b>6. Yellow Submarine </b> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- The song originated as a few bits and pieces and ideas by McCartney, specifically as the album's song for Ringo to sing. Lennon and '60s singer Donovon helped contribute some lyrics and the song wasn't really written properly until the band were all together in the studio. <br />- Lead vocals by Ringo. Backing vocals by McCartney, Lennon and Harrison.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- Harrison does not play any guitar on this track but his does provide some tambourine. Ringo also provides a maracas track.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- Ringo originally recorded a spoken word introduction for the song but this was dropped before release.<br />- Contrary to the oft-speculated belief that the song is somehow about drugs, McCartney has exasperatedly explained time and time again that it was written simply as a kids song for Ringo to sing. <br />- George Martin used a whole gaggle of sound effects that he had previously collected together for use on the radio comedy series <i>The Goon Show</i>. These were added in a week after the song was recorded. The cash register sound effect is the same one later used on the Pink Floyd song <i>Money</i>. Some sound effects were also created from scratch, EG. Lennon blew through a straw into water for a bubbling sound, McCartney talked through tin cans for the captain's voice, the sound assistants swished some heavy chains about in a bathtub full of water for suitably water-y sounds. <br />- Several famous guests came onboard to make the party/crowd sounds, none were listed in the song's notes on the album but known contributers include - Pattie Boyd, Marianne Faithfull, Brian Jones, Neil Aspinall and the band's chauffeur. <br />- Released as a double A-side single in the UK with <i>Eleanor Rigby</i>. The single got to Number 1. <br />- The U.S. release of the single failed to get to #1, instead peaking at #2 - most likely due to the 'bigger than jesus' controversy that Lennon had sparked in the U.S. at the time of the single's release. <br />- The band later used this single as the starting point for a 1968 animated film (they owed United Artists a third film as part of their contract with them - they weren't enthusiastic at the time, probably due to the lacklustre reception of their television project <i>The Magical Mystery Tour,</i> so they saw an animated film as their easy way out. They didn't even do their own voices for said film, but did agree to a cameo appearance at the end after they saw the final project and were impressed with the result).</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- Runs for two minutes and 45 seconds, and took 5 takes to complete.<br /><b><br />7. She Said She Said </b><br />- Written primarily by Lennon, though it is unclear whether or not McCartney was involved in the composition. Harrison made the claim that he helped come up with the bridge, which is probably true since it was rare for Harrison to claim any sort of involvement with Lennon-McCartney compositions. <br />- The lyrics concern LSD and one of Lennon's first acid-trips, in this case one that involved a real-life conversation with Peter Fonda. <br />- The incident that inspired the song was a get-together in the band's rented house in California, attended by the band, Peter Fonda and the Byrds. Everyone except for McCartney took some acid. Peter Fonda was really wasted and kept talking about his near-fatal childhood gunshot accident. Harrison was freaking out due to the drugs and Fonda was trying to comfort him by saying "I know what it's like to be dead". Lennon cracked the shits and told him to shut up because he was bringing everyone down and Fonda started complaining. At this point in time Fonda was only known for being Henry Fonda's son, he hadn't made the film <i>Easy Rider </i>yet. Both Harrison and Lennon weren't happy with Fonda's behaviour at the time, Harrison later remarked that "he was very uncool", recalling how Fonda kept showing them all his bullet wound. <br />- This was the final song to be recorded for <i>Revolver </i>and was hastily put down on tape when it was found that the album was still a song short with the deadline looming. <br />- The song was recorded from scratch in just 9 hours, complete with overdubs. George Martin was exhausted afterwards. McCartney had some kind of argument with Lennon near the beginning of the session and left in a huff, hence he isn't featured in the finished recording at all - Harrison plays the bass instead. <br />- The song's key is somewhat in dispute amongst music analysts... it is speculated that the guitars are either played with a capo on the first thret or that the guitar was sped up a semitone (something the band often mucked about with during this period). </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- The complicated bridge section is in 6/4 timing.<br />- Ringo's drumming is arguably at it's most innovative in this song... on its own it would sound quite chaotic and crazed, but somehow it all fits with the song. He also plays a shaker on the recording.<br />- In addition to guitar, Lennon plays the harmonium. He also sings the lead vocals and backing vocals, with some added harmonising from Harrison.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- Runs for two and a half minutes and took four takes to finish.<br /><br /><b>8. Good Day Sunshine</b> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- Written mostly by Paul McCartney, with some small input from Lennon. <br />- Neither Lennon or Harrison contribute any instrumentation on this one, it's all McCartney and Ringo, with George Martin playing the piano. I guess the band was starting to feel more comfortable with arranging songs without other bandmembers being all that involved in the recording process - probably due to the fact that they had made a conscious decision to no longer play live sets, meaning the rest of the band didn't neccessarily have to learn a song if they didn't really want to (lol).</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- McCartney also provides a piano track in addition to the bass. No guitar features on the track at all. <br />- Harrison and Lennon aren't completely missing though, they provide harmony vocals and hand claps. <br />- McCartney wrote the song after being influenced by the upbeatness of American soul-pop band The Lovin' Spoonful (who are best known these days for the song <i>Summer in the City</i>).</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- The song ends in a different key to that in which it starts.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- McCartney re-recorded the song for the 1984 film <i>Give My Regards to Broad Street</i>, and has performed it live a couple of times since.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- Runs for just over two minutes, and only took one take to record.<b> </b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>9. And Your Bird Can Sing </b><br />- <span style="font-size: x-small;">W</span>ritten by Lennon<span style="font-size: x-small;">, though McCartney <span style="font-size: x-small;">may have contributed to the bridge.</span></span><br />- Lennon later felt that this song wasn't much more than filler and listed it as amongst his worst songs. <br />- <span style="font-size: x-small;">P</span>rovisionally titled <i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Y</span>ou <span style="font-size: x-small;">D</span>on't <span style="font-size: x-small;">G</span>et <span style="font-size: x-small;">M</span>e</i>. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- Originally written in the key of D, the song was transposed up to an E through the use of a c<span style="font-size: x-small;">apo.</span><br />- <span style="font-size: x-small;">T</span>here is a wide array of speculation as to what the song is about, the<span style="font-size: x-small;">o<span style="font-size: x-small;">ries include</span></span> -<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span>smoking pot (an alternate take of the song on <i>Anthology</i> features the band giggling in a possibly marijuana-induced manner, and the 'seven wonders' line may have been an in-joke referring to the McCartney's theory of 'seven levels' which he scrawled down on a piece of paper whilst high), a payout on Frank Sinatra - who had taken a few thinly veiled swipes at the band in the media at the time, Mick Jagger (the 'b<span style="font-size: x-small;">i</span>rd' of the title referring to his girlfriend at the time, Marianne Faithfull), or Lennon's failing marriage to his first wife Cynthia (she had given him a horrible mechanical b<span style="font-size: x-small;">i</span>rd in a cage for his birthday, which he felt was an apt metaphor for their relationship). </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- Lennon sings the lead vocals, with McCartney and Harrison harmonising.<br />- Harrison and <span style="font-size: x-small;">McCartne<span style="font-size: x-small;">y</span></span> play dual lead guitar for the riff throughout the song. A Byrds-style sounding 12 string guitar was used for the intro at one point but was later dropped for the final edit of the recording. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- Lennon also plays a tambourine on the recording in addition to guitar<span style="font-size: x-small;">.</span><br />- <span style="font-size: x-small;">A</span>nother song with handclaps!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- Took ten takes to record and runs for two minutes.<br /><br /><b>10. For No One</b><br />- <span style="font-size: x-small;">W</span>ritten by McCartney. <br />- Another ballad (this, along with <i>Here, There and Everywhere</i> earlier on the album, is one of McCartney's best songs). </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- Written about the end of a relationship, and inspired by McCartney's troubles with his partner at the time. The original title of the song was <i>Why Did It Die?</i>, and he wrote it in the bathroom of a ski resort in Switzerland while on holidays. <br />- Harrison and Lennon do not appear on the track at all. Ringo plays the drums, maracas and tambourine, and McCartney plays the piano, bass and clavichord (a stringed European keyboard-like instrument). <span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"></span></span><br />- <span style="font-size: x-small;">F</span>eatures Alan Civil on the french horn for the solo-part of the song. Civil was reputed to be the greatest french horn player in the UK at the time and subsequently felt his performance in this piece was his most accomplished - mainly owing to the fact that McCartney pushed him to play a note that was beyond the instrument's usual range. Civil actually got<span style="font-size: x-small;"> irritated at the time as McCartney asked for something better after Civil had managed to play the 'impossible' note<span style="font-size: x-small;">. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">-</span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> McCartney recorded <span style="font-size: x-small;">the bass a full step lower (Bb) th<span style="font-size: x-small;">an the rest of the song and then sped the recording up so that it would be in key (C). This was further complicated when Civil recorded hi<span style="font-size: x-small;">s french horn track in the lower key (<span style="font-size: x-small;">Bb)</span> and the whole track had to be shifted back down again (to Bb). The<span style="font-size: x-small;"> result soun<span style="font-size: x-small;">ded a little strange so it was then s<span style="font-size: x-small;">ped up to <span style="font-size: x-small;">be in <span style="font-size: x-small;">another key (B... the note between Bb and C).</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">- <span style="font-size: x-small;">Lennon liked this song a lot.</span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- Runs for two minutes and took 14 takes to finish.<br /><b><br />11. Doctor Robert </b>- <span style="font-size: x-small;">W</span>ritten primarily by Lennon, though McCartney may have helped finish it off with the "well, well, well<span style="font-size: x-small;">" bridge section</span>. <br />- <span style="font-size: x-small;">S</span>everal songs on <i>Revolver</i> were singled out by the press for being about drugs. Most of the time the press was mistaken, <span style="font-size: x-small;">and</span> one song that wasn't singled was this one - the one that <i>is</i> primarily concerned with drugs and pretty much nothing else. In seems quite strange in hindsight, as it's pretty obvious! <br />- Lennon claims the Doctor Roberts of the title is a reference to himself, as he was the pill distributor of the band, but it's more likely he is referring to a real Doctor - either Dr. Robert Freymann or Dr. Charles Roberts - both renowned in the era for handing out copious amounts of amphetamines to celebrities. Other theories include Bob Dylan<span style="font-size: x-small;"> and art dealer Robert Fraser.</span><br />- In addition to providing lead vocals and guitar, Lennon also plays a harmonium for this track - giving it an almost 'christmas carol'-like feel, and Harrison shakes up some maraca action. <br />- <span style="font-size: x-small;">F</span>or music buffs, the song appears to be in the key of A at the outset but this is a bit of trickery (probably subconsciously) employed by Lennon before the song segues <span style="font-size: x-small;">into</span> it's actual key of B major.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- Runs for just over two minutes and took 7 takes to complete.<br /><b><br />12. I Want to Tell You </b> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- <span style="font-size: x-small;">W</span>ritten by Harrison, and the marking the first time more than <span style="font-size: x-small;">two</span> of his songs were included on a Beatles album.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- This slot was originally intended to be for a<span style="font-size: x-small;">nother Lennon song</span>, but Lennon wasn't feeling very creat<span style="font-size: x-small;">ive</span> so the band worked on an extra H<span style="font-size: x-small;">arrison song instead - hence why three of his songs made it onto the album.</span> Harrison originally intended to record <i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Isn't It a Party</span></i><span style="font-size: x-small;"> but the others didn't like it, meaning the song remained unrecorded until Harrison's first solo album.</span><br />- <span style="font-size: x-small;">A</span>lthough not as overtly Indian-sounding as some of Harrison's other recently penned tracks, this song makes use of a drone-like structure<span style="font-size: x-small;">...</span> never really straying from the one chord and featuring relatively-flat lead vocals from Harrison. The song also features a strong bass and piano presence, and Harrison uses a distinctive guitar riff to sep<span style="font-size: x-small;">a</span>rate the otherwise similar verses and choruses. <br />- Lennon and McCartney add in a lot of dynamic backing vocals, something they often found to be a lot of fun on Harrison's songs. <br />- <span style="font-size: x-small;">T</span>he second Beatles song to begin with a fade in. <br />- McCartney sings over the outro, something done in a fashion which wikipedia tells me is 'melisma' (which can apparently mean one of two things - either the singing is done in a female fashion, or a syllable is matched over several notes rather than one). This is something often employed in some genres of traditional chanting, and also harkens back to the Indian-influence used in Harrison's work. <br />- <span style="font-size: x-small;">W</span>orking titles for the song include <i>Laxton's Superb</i> and <i>I Don't Know</i>. <br />- <span style="font-size: x-small;">T</span>he lyrics concern Harrison's frustration at assembling his thoughts in a coherent or understandable manner and other internal difficulties. This song can (lyrically) probably be seen as a lead up to the bands meditation retreat to India. <br />- <span style="font-size: x-small;">M</span>ore handclaps from all of the band, Ringo also overdubbed some maracas. Lennon doesn't play any instrument on this track other than a tambourine. The piano was played by McCartney. Harrison<span style="font-size: x-small;"> plays both g<span style="font-size: x-small;">uitar tracks and his</span></span> vocals are double-tracked.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- McCartney recorded his bassline <span style="font-size: x-small;">the day after<span style="font-size: x-small;">. It was <span style="font-size: x-small;">t</span></span>he first time he did <span style="font-size: x-small;">this separately, <span style="font-size: x-small;">marking the beginning of increased songwriting independence within the band</span>.</span></span> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- Runs for two and a half minutes and took 3 takes to finish.<br /><br /><b>1<span style="font-size: x-small;">3. </span>Got to Get You Into My Life </b><br />- Written by McCartney. <br />- Lennon later said that this song and <i>For No One</i> were two of his favourite McCartney-written Beatles songs. <br />- McCartney was influenced by American soul music, particularly the big-horn Memphis variety mainly featured on the Stax label. <br />- <span style="font-size: x-small;">A</span> lot of work was done on this song in the studio, with the song changing a fair bit between takes - with different fade outs and the like. <br />- <span style="font-size: x-small;">H</span>umourously, McCartney later confided that the lyrics weren't about a girl but specifically about marijuana. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- Harrison plays two <span style="font-size: x-small;">separate guitar tracks, <span style="font-size: x-small;">and Ringo provides a tambourine track in <span style="font-size: x-small;">addition to his drums. Georg<span style="font-size: x-small;">e Martin also plays the organ on this recording.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">- The guitar tracks by Harrison and <span style="font-size: x-small;">Len<span style="font-size: x-small;">non <span style="font-size: x-small;">ended up being almost mixed out of the song altogether.</span></span></span> </span></span></span></span><br />- <span style="font-size: x-small;">R</span>eleasd as a U.S. single in 1976 with <i>Helter Skelter</i> as its b-side, to help promote a Billboard Hot 100 compilation album. It was the last time the Beatles would be in the U.S. charts until the release of their anthology single <i>Free as a Bird</i> in 1995. <br />- Joe Pesci recorded a version of this in the late '60s, when he was a struggling singer known as Joe Ritchie. <br />- <span style="font-size: x-small;">S</span>ome session musicians (Eddeie Thornton, Iam Hamer, Les Condon, Alan Branscombe<span style="font-size: x-small;"> and Peter<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Coe)</span></span> were brought in to play trumpets and saxophones. This song marks the first time the band uses traditional brass instruments in a recording. Some of these musicians were from a band called <span style="font-size: x-small;">Georgie F<span style="font-size: x-small;">ame and the Blue Flames, who<span style="font-size: x-small;"> McCartney had seen play in the club (and who had inspired him to insert some horns into his song).</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">- Engineer Geoff Emerick decided to put the microphones directly into the bells of the brass instruments to make them sound punchier. This quickl<span style="font-size: x-small;">y became standard practice for recording brass in rock songs. McCartney still wasn't convinced they were in-your-face enough, so they <span style="font-size: x-small;">the five bras<span style="font-size: x-small;">s instru<span style="font-size: x-small;">ments were also double-tracked.</span></span></span></span> </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- Runs for two and a half minutes and took 8 takes to complete.<br /><br /><b>14. Tomorrow Never Knows </b><br />- Written by Lennon. <br />- The first song recorded during the<i> Revolver</i> sessions. <br />- Automatic double-tracking was used for Lennon's vocals, and they were recorded after being run through a Leslie speaker cabinet (which is normally used as a speaker for a Hammond Organ, and helps create the suitable effects for such an instrument). <br />- The lyrics concern the comparison between LSD-induced 'ego'-death and actual death. Lennon had just read a book co-written by Timothy Leary that concerned psychedelia and drug-taking in particular (some of the lyrics are directly lifted from this book<span style="font-size: x-small;">)</span>. <br />- The song was provisionally titled <i>Mark I</i> as Lennon was too embarrassed about the philosophical nature of the lyrics to give it a proper name. He eventually settled for a Ringo saying, <i>Tomorrow Never Knows</i>, and it is one of the earliest Beatles songs to feature a title that isn't mentioned in the lyrics. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- This is also the first Beatles song to use <span style="font-size: x-small;">rhyming lyrics.</span><br />- <span style="font-size: x-small;">T</span>his song is pretty much as close as the Beatles got to succeeding in their quest to base a song entirely around just one chord, in this case C. It marks yet another time the band was influenced by the Indian drone-style, though this time it was Lennon and McCartney rather than Harrison. <br />- Lennon wanted the vocals to sound like 'a thousand monks chanting'. He came up with the idea of having himself tied to a rope and then spun around a microphone while he sang. Martin didn't take him seriously, but Lennon was completely serious (it was <i>that</i> part of the Beatles era). They eventually came up with the Leslie speaker idea instead. <br />- The song's unique sound also comes from the drum track being electronically (and manuall<span style="font-size: x-small;">y</span>) compressed, the cymbals being run backwards and the use of looped tape effects. McCartney came up with the looped tape effect by taking off the eraser head on his tape recorder and then running a continuous loop of tape through it while he recorded something, so that it would constantly overdub itself - making a highly condensed and saturated effect. He brought the idea to the session and showed it to Martin, and the band quickly got to work recording a variety of sounds for use in the song... the seagull-like effect is actually McCartney laughing and shouting, one other effect is an orchestral chord ringing out, and the others were taken from mellotrons (a kind of electronic piano that used tape) and an Indian-sounding scale played on a guitar. The looped-tape effect would later also be used on <i>Revolution No. 9</i> and on the unreleased track <i>Carnival of Light</i> (recorded in the <i>Sergeant Peppers</i> sessions). <br />- Lennon plays the tambourine and hammond organ on this track. McCartney did the backwards guitar bits. Harrison played the sitar and probably the Tambur as well (a persian string instrument used for the drone-effect). Ringo also plays a tambourine in addition to the drums. George Martin played the honky-tonk styled piano.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- Runs for almost three minutes and took three takes to record.</span>Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03013702384786937618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773535862530977016.post-83529033595900185542012-08-19T05:38:00.001-07:002012-08-19T05:38:08.891-07:00Paperback Writer (Single) 1966<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-S_tb1uywix0/UDDeDsF9P0I/AAAAAAAAGlg/Knr7IgmAIxA/s1600/paperback+writer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="316" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-S_tb1uywix0/UDDeDsF9P0I/AAAAAAAAGlg/Knr7IgmAIxA/s320/paperback+writer.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span class="postbody"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></b></span><br />
<span class="postbody"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">Paperback Writer </span></b></span></div>
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<span class="postbody"><span lang="EN-US">- About six months after <i>Rubber Soul</i>, the band released their next stand-alone single. </span></span><span lang="EN-US"><br />
<span class="postbody">- Written mostly by McCartney. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Influenced by their contemporaries and rivals The Beach
Boys. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The first Beatles single to not be a love song of any
kind. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- One of the last new songs the band would perform live
before quitting their live shows. The band would mask the harder parts to sing
(such as the harmonising refrain) by encouraging the audience to scream louder
by doing a 'woo' or a head wobble just beforehand. </span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- McCartney sings the lead vocals, with Lennon and Harrison harmonising. Ringo plays tambourine as well as his usual drum track. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- The recording features a bigger bass sound than previous
Beatles sounds. McCartney achieved this by using a loudspeaker instead of a
microphone to record from his bass amp. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- This was attempt by McCartney to write a melodic song
based around a single chord. Most of the song is based around G as a result.<br />- Took two takes to record and runs for two minutes and fifteen seconds.</span></span></div>
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<span class="postbody"><b><span lang="EN-US">Rain</span></b><span lang="EN-US"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US"><br />
<span class="postbody">- The b-side to <i>Paperback Writer</i>. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Written by Lennon. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Both this song and <i>Paperback Writer</i> were written
during the <i>Revolver</i> sessions but eventually not included on that album
in favour of releasing them as a stand-alone single before the album's release.
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<span class="postbody">- Lennon wrote the song after the band toured Australia. On
their arrival into the country they were met with rain the likes of which they
had never seen. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Owing to the band's reluctance to continue performing
live, a promotional video was made to this song and given to various TV
stations around the world to play. This is pretty much the first time such a
thing was done, making the Beatles the originator of the music video. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- Also owing to the fact that the band would no longer be
playing their songs live, they started to become more enthusiastic about
musical experimentation. The sound of Lennon's vocals were altered by recording
them on a slowed-down tape recorder and then speeding the tape up to normal
speed to match the tempo of the song. Similar things were done in the opposite
direction to alter backing tracks as well. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- This song is the first recording to feature backwards
vocals as well. Both Lennon and George Martin take credit for this innovation. </span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- McCartney came up with the idea of slowing the song down to give it an Indian-like drone vibe. This shifts the key down from A into G. </span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- Arguably the band's first truly psychedelic song. </span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- Lennon sings the lead vocals, with McCartney and Harrison providing backing vocals. Ringo provides an additional tambourine track. </span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- Ringo has often cited the drumming in this song as being his best work. </span><br />
<span class="postbody">- In the video clip to the song, certain closeups show
McCartney's lip to be scarred and his tooth chipped due to a recent moped
accident. The persistant "Paul is Dead" malarkey takes some of it's folklore from
here.</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="postbody">- Runs for three minutes and took eight takes to record. </span></span></div>
Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03013702384786937618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773535862530977016.post-40233225013904564812012-06-13T01:29:00.002-07:002012-06-13T01:29:55.051-07:00Rubber Soul (Album) 1965<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />- The sixth studio album by the band, released in December 1965. This means that they'd released six albums in just two and a half years!<br />- Recorded in a four week block in order to make the Christmas sales season.<br />- First Beatles album to be recorded in one big ol' block, as opposed to dates here and there between shows and commitments. I think this shows, and for a lot of people <span style="font-style: italic;">Rubber Soul</span> is the first true 'album' the Beatles released.<br />- </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">This is the point when the band really starts to open out and the beginning point for what some would call their 'psychedelic' period. The band was moving away from their r+b, rock roots and more becoming more and more influenced by contemporary artists such as The Byrds, the Yardbirds, Bob Dylan and The Beach Boys. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- Eleven of the fourteen songs were Lennon/McCartney compositions. Two were written by Harrison (he would now usually get two song slots each album) and one was 'written' by Ringo (he shared writing credit with Lennon and McCartney).<br />- The cover was the first Beatles album cover <span style="font-style: italic;">not</span> to feature their name. </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">The image came about after the Beatles watched some slides of photos by photographer Bob Freeman. One such slide fell askew, giving the photo an elongated effect, and the band asked for a photo to be stretched purposely to match said accident. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- T</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">he American release of the album had it's tracks re-arranged and some replaced with older tracks to give the album a more overall 'folk' style, to match the current popularity of that genre in America at the time. </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><br />- This album marks the true start of the Beatles' psychedelic era (as evidenced by the warped photo that appears on the cover).<br />- Martin and the Beatles began experimenting more with a wider array of instruments, most notably with the sitar - perhaps one of the most influential things the band ever did in regards to the modern pop genre.</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Also, several recording breakthroughs were made in the course of making this album, most notably the recording of an instrument at half-speed and then speeding it up to match the tempo of the track (as it was near impossible to play said instrument, in this case the harpsicord, at the pop-tempo employed by Beatles tracks) Also, George Martin used electronic sound processing for the first time, giving certain tracks a very heavily compressed sound - leading to the psychedelic sound the band helped popularize. </span><br />
- <span style="font-size: x-small;">This album also saw the lyrics move beyond simple love songs and the band started incorporating more sophisticated storytelling techniques. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- The title 'Rubber Soul' is a kind of pun that McCartney came up with to describe 'English' soul music.<br />- The Beatles would take a three month break after the recording of this album (their first proper break in a few years).</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">- Rubber Soul's influence was most keenly and immediately felt in the form of the Beach Boys' album Pet Sounds, which began a short sequence of one-upmanship between the two bands.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">1. Drive My Car</span><br />- Written mainly by McCartney, with some lyrical input from Lennon.<br />- McCartney had already wirtten the song on his own by the lyrics were derivative of older Beatles songs, so he and Lennon sat down to rewrite the words together.<br />- The song was used as an album opener because of it's lighthearted and upbeat nature... McCartney has tried to claim since that the words 'drive my car' were an "old blues euphemism for sex" but I think that's just him trying to sound cool.<br />- The doubling of bass and rhythm guitar was suggested by Harrison, giving the song a heavier bottom end than previous Beatles tracks. </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">He also composed the guitar riff that plays throughout the verses (though, as usual, he didn't get any official songwriting credit for it). </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- McCartney sings the lead vocals, and plays the piano and lead guitar (including the solo). Lennon only provided backing vocals and some cowbell, and Harrison played both the rhythm guitar and bass!<br />- Ringo added tambourine and cowbell alongside his drum track. Branching out Ringo!<br />- Runs for two and a half minutes.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">2. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">- </span></span>Written by Lennon, with McCartney contributing the bridge section.<br />- The first notable western pop song to use sitar (other rock bands had used it previously in a background fashion but never in anything all that 'pop').<br />- The song's lyrics are characteristic of this album and the way it showcases more aggressive, antagonistic and female-sided relationship-based songs. The final line of <span style="font-style: italic;">Norwegian Wood</span> even implies that the singer sets fire to the home of the girl in the song!<br />- Lennon later said he wrote the song about an affair he had whilst married to his first wife, Cynthia.<br />- The percussion featured on this recording is rather sparse, with Ringo playing a pair of finger-cymbals, some tambourine and the maracas.<br />- Harrison became intrigued by the sound of the sitar and Indian music in general whilst the band was filming the movie <span style="font-style: italic;">Help!</span> and he saw that some background musicians were using one. He went and bought a sitar from a hock shop and decided to use it to give <span style="font-style: italic;">Norwegian Wood</span> a different edge... he hadn't really learnt how to use it yet and just picked out notes to match the song's melody. He got lessons from Ravi Shankar afterwards and would continue to explore Indian sounds in other Beatles tracks from here on in.<br />- Lennon played both guitars on the recording - one a six string acoustic, the other a 12 string.<br />- Lennon sings the lead vocals, with McCartney providing harmony.<br />- The song is in triple time, which is rare amongst Beatles tracks, and earlier versions of it were played in a different key.<br />- Runs for just over 2 minutes.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">3. You Won't See Me </span><br />- Written by Paul McCartney.<br />- The song was written in descending scales but also re-arranged at the last minute to reflect a more upbeat motown rhythm.<br />- One of McCartney's most bitter songs to date, the lyrics concern his troubles with the mrs (Jane Asher).<br />- At nearly three and a half minutes it was the longest song the band had ever recorded (so far), reflecting the growing trend towards longer songs at the time (in part encouraged by Bob Dylan's sometimes epic ballads).<br />- The song was never played live by the band, though McCartney did eventually play the song live in 2005.<br />- McCartney supplies the lead vocals, as well as piano and his usual bass. Lennon doesn't play any instruments on the recording other than a tambourine, though he did do harmony vocals along with Harrison.<br />- The hammond organ on this track is credited to Mal 'organ' Evans, who was one of the band's longstanding roadies. His contribution consists solely on one note held down towards the end of the song, lol. Guess they just wanted to get their mate's name in lights.<br />- The song's tempo slows down a little bit towards the end.<br />- Apparently it took two takes to record, but the arrangement was worked on in the studio for at least 14 hours before this.<br /><br /><b>4. Nowhere Man</b><br />- Written by Lennon, with a little bit of help from McCartney.<br />- Lennon sings the main vocals, with McCartney and Harrison doing backup.<br />- One of the earliest Beatles songs to not be about love/relationships in any form or shape.<br />- The lyrics were born out of Lennon's frustration. He had been trying to write the lyrics to the song for nearly 5 hours until he decided to use that as the germ of an idea, with himself being a nowhere man in a nowhere land, IE. He had nothing in terms of ideas for lyrics. He used this as a base to then explore his own lack of sense of direction at that point in his life. Fans at the time had a different perception of the song, with many seeing it as a payout on the older generation who didn't "get it".<br />- This song was used as the basis for a character in the 1968 animated Beatles film <i>Yellow Submarine</i>.<br />- Released as a single in the U.S. in February 1966, where it went to #1.<br />- Amazingly, both Lennon and the rest of the band didn't really think much of this song at the time of recording. It was written as filler!<br />- Took 4 takes to complete, and runs for two and a half minutes.</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">5. Think For Yourself </span><br />- Written by Harrison.<br />- Harrison's most accomplished song to date. At this point Harrison was starting to catch up to Lennon and McCartney. This would spell trouble for the division of what songs would get chosen for Beatles' albums in the near future.<br />- Harrison provides the lead vocals and guitar on the recording, with Lennon providing an organ track instead of any guitar. Lennon and McCartney both provide backing vocals. Ringo overdubbed some maracas and tambourine.<br />- Many thought this song was a jibe at Harrison's then current-girlfriend Pattie Boyd. The lyrics were, however, a more general warning against listening to lies. In later years Harrison said that he felt that the lyrics were probably inspired by the government but that he couldn't remember for sure (drugs, lol)<br />- Features the use of a fuzzbox on a bass, one of the first times this had been used in a pop recording, though McCartney also added a regular bass track to keep the melody intact.<br />- Runs for almost two and a half minutes and took only one take to complete.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">6. The Word</span><br />- Written by Lennon.<br />- Lennon's first attempt to write an anthem-ish message song.<br />- McCartney and Lennon often liked to set themselves fun challenges, one such challenge that they visited and re-visited was the idea of basing a song around one note only (inspired by songs like <span style="font-style: italic;">Long Tall Sall</span>y, which they enjoyed playing). This song is an example of this, with the entire thing based almost entirely around D major.<br />- Apparently Lennon and McCartney smoked a lot of pot while writing this song (two things they didn't normally combine).<br />- Lennon sings the lead vocals, with McCartney and Harrison providing backing vocals. McCartney also plays the piano track in addition to his regular bass duties.<br />- George Martin plays the harmonium solo.<br />- Ringo provides a maracas track as well as his drum track.<br />- Runs for two minutes and forty seconds, and took 3 takes to record.<br /><br style="font-weight: bold;" /><span style="font-weight: bold;">7. Michelle</span><br />- Written mainly by McCartney, this is the last track of Side A.<br />- McCartney first started composing in 1959 as a joke song inspired by lefty French students, with the lyrics made up mainly of french-sounding groans and moans.<br />- The original version (which was really just the song's intro) was in the key of C major. This was changed to F major for the recording.<br />- Lennon suggested to McCartney that he should rework it as a proper song for <span style="font-style: italic;">Rubber Soul</span>.<br />- McCartney got some help from a friend of his, a french teacher named Jan Vaughn, to provide the french phrases used in the song.<br />- Lennon provided the "I love you, I love you, I love you" stuff in the bridge, he had heard someone emphasizing the you part in another song and suggested using something similar.<br />- George Martin claims to have written the guitar lead heard in the bridge and outro. He probably did, his influence on Beatles songs shouldn't be underestimated.<br />- McCartney sings the lead vocals, Lennon and Harrison do the back up.<br />- McCartney plays bass <span style="font-style: italic;">and </span>guitar on this one, with Lennon providing rhythm guitar. In addition to this, Harrison provides two guitar tracks (one lead and one rhythm). Some fans and Beatleologists claim that McCartney may have actually played all the guitar tracks but that this was too early in the game for him to take all the credit officially.<br />- This song got nominated for a Grammy in 1967. The Beatles had been previously nominated in 1966 nine times but failed to win anything. <span style="font-style: italic;">Michelle</span> won song of the year, and signaled the turning tide in how important everyone was starting to realise the band was.<br />- Took two takes to record, and goes for two minutes and forty seconds.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">8. What Goes On</span><br style="font-weight: bold;" />- Written by Lennon back when he used to play in the Quarrymen, in the late '50s.<br />- The band originally hoped to record it as a follow up to their <span style="font-style: italic;">Please Please Me</span> single but they ran out of time.<br />- Lennon decided to resurrect it as a token song for Ringo to sing on <span style="font-style: italic;">Rubber Soul</span>.<br />- McCartney and Ringo worked on the bridge/extended bits in the song. It wasn't much of an addition to the song (Ringo apparently wrote just five words) but Ringo was given his first songwriting credit for his troubles! (A man's gotta eat, right?)<br />- This is a very country-ish track (the country 'arrangement' of it was probably influenced by Ringo's love of country and western music). Harrison provides the lively lead guitar work, much in the same style he employed for the band's cover of Carl Perkins' <span style="font-style: italic;">Everybody's Trying to be My Baby</span>.<br />- Ringo sings the lead vocals, with Lennon and McCartney doing harmony back up.<br />- Recorded in one take. During the same sessions an unused 6 and a half minute instrumental referred to as <span style="font-style: italic;">12 Bar Original </span>was recorded. It was later released as part of the mid-90s <span style="font-style: italic;">Anthology</span> series.<br />- Released as the B-side on the <span style="font-style: italic;">Nowhere Man</span> single in America.<br /><br /><b>9. Girl</b> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">-Written by Lennon. McCartney claims to have helped co-write it, but after the Beatles broke up Lennon wasn't much of a fan of admitting which of his songs McCartney helped on, so it's a bit hard to tell.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- Apparently it was partially based on an instrumental song McCartney had written back in 1963, and Lennon resurrected it after being inspired by the Greek-o-mania that had come from the recent film <i>Zorba the Greek</i>.<br />- It's a bit of a sick joke that the country music shite-o-rama <i>What Goes On</i> sits between this track and <i>Michelle</i> in the album's track listing. It's like watching a movie marathon where the first movie is <i>The Godfather,</i> the second movie is <i>Big Momma's House </i>and the third movie is <i>Citizen Kane</i>.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- Lennon sings the lead vocals and plays an acoustic guitar track. <br />- The band gets away with quite a bit for a song released in the mid-60s. The backing vocal sung by McCartney and Harrison is 'tit-tit-tit-tit-tit-tit' and the sucking sound is allegedly meant to signify a mad toke on a reefer.<br />- Harrison plays a 12 string acoustic on the recording, as well as a regular acoustic track. He had originally added a fuzz-pedal lead bit but this was edited out.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- The last song recorded for the album <i>Rubber Soul</i>. It runs for two and a half minutes and took two takes to record.<br />- Capitol Records intended to release this as a single in 1977 to help promote their Beatles compilation <i>Love Songs</i>. It was canned at the last minute.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- Lennon 'sequelised' this song on a solo album in 1980 as <i>Woman</i> (the grown up version of 'Girl').<br /><br /><b>10. I'm Looking Through You</b> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- Written entirely by McCartney.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- Another McCartney song about his break up with Jane Asher.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- Lennon plays an acoustic guitar on the recording, and McCartney also provides an acoustic guitar track alongside his bass.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- Ringo at his most multi-instrumental! Ringo provides the drum track, tambourine, a 'matchbox' track (where Ringo taps on a miked-up box of matches) and the organ (you know, that bit which goes 'DAH DAH' on the same note). </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- I'm not sure about the vocals, it sounds like it might just be McCartney doing both lead and backups.<br />- The band recorded three different versions of this song before settling on the one that would be included on the album. One of the alternate versions would eventually show up on the <i>Anthology</i> albums, featuring a different rhythm and missing some of it's parts.<br />- The version included on the U.S. release features a false guitar start.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- Runs for two and a half minutes, and once the arrangement was settled it took only one take to record. <br /><br /><b>11. In My Life</b><br />- Primarily written by John Lennon, though McCartney contributed to it (what and how much he contributed has remained in dispute).<br />- Lennon said that McCartney wrote the bridge section of the song, whereas McCartney claims to have written all the actual music and melody (with Lennon supplying the lyrics). After the Beatles finished, this and <i>Eleanor Rigby</i> are the two main songs that they would disagree so strongly about in reference to who wrote them.<br />- Rolling Stone magazine placed it 23rd in their 500 greatest songs of all time list, and Mojo magazine placed it 1st.<br />- Written somewhere around late 1964. Lennon wrote the lyrics in response to a journalist's suggestion that he write songs about his childhood. Lennon was less than happy with the result, and felt the whole concept rather boring, so he enlisted the help of McCartney about a year later to re-write it. The line that refers to friends who are dead is said to directly mean Stu Sutcliffe, the Beatles' first bassist.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- Lennon sings the lead vocals and plays a guitar on the track, and McCartney and Harrison provide harmony vocals. Harrison also did two seperate guitar tracks (one lead and one rhythm). Ringo plays the tambourine in addition to his drum track.<br />- Lennon asked George Martin to play a baroque-sounding piano piece for the instrumental-bridge section of the song. Martin wrote a suitably classical sounding piece for the section but when he went to record it he found that the song's tempo was too fast for him to physically play it. So (and this is the groundbreaking part) Martin recorded the solo at half-speed and simply speeded it up, which also gave the piano a decidedly un-piano sound (it sounds very much like a harpsichord). Subsequently, of the many cover versions performed of this song, very few of them feature this solo.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- Runs for nearly two and a half minutes and took three takes to record.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- George Harrison played the song on his 1974 <i>Dark Horse</i> tour, which Lennon disapproved of.<br /><br /><b>12. Wait</b><br />- Co-written by Lennon and McCartney, Lennon wrote the verses and McCartney the bridges.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- Both Lennon and McCartney sing the lead vocals together for most of the song, with McCartney singing on his own for just the bridge.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- Harrison provides two seperate guitar tracks (one for lead and one for rhythm). Ringo also provides a bit extra with tambourine and some maracas.<br />- Originally recorded for <i>Help!</i> but left off the album because the band felt it was below-par.<br />- In order to fill out <i>Rubber Soul</i> quickly enough to get it released before Christmas the band decided to pull this song out of the archive and re-dubbed certain parts to bring it in line with the overall feel of the new album.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- Runs for just over two minutes and took four takes to complete.<br /><b><br />13. If I Needed Someone</b><br />- Written by Harrison.<br />- Harrison was influenced by the Byrds, who had in turn been influenced by his own use of the electric 12-string guitar on <i>A Hard Day's Night</i>. Harrison based this song around a riff he had adapted from a Byrds song, and sent a tape of it to the Byrds prior to release.<br />- Music nerds: this song is in the key of A Mixolydian. Meaning it is basically in a major scale, only the starting note is moved down a semitone.<br />- Harrison sings the lead vocals, though McCartney and Lennon harmonise with him quite heavily throughout. Harrison also double-tracked his vocals for his solo vocals in the bridge section.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- The first Beatles song to make use of a capo.<br />- This is the only Harrison-composed song to ever be played by the band whilst they were on tour.<br />- Harrison played it live with Eric Clapton in 1992.<br />- The Hollies recorded their own version of this song in 1966 (making this one of the first Harrison-penned songs to be recorded by another group). The single wasn't much of a success for the Hollies, and a slanging match erupted between the Beatles and the Hollies in the press afterwards.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- Runs for two minutes and nineteen seconds, and took one take to record.<br /><br /><b>14. Run for Your Life</b><br />- Written by Lennon.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- Lennon sings the lead vocals and contibutes both electric and acoustic guitar tracks.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- McCartney and Harrison sing backing vocals, and Harrison plays both lead and rhythm tracks.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- Ringo supplies a tambourine track in addition to his drumming.<br />- Features rather aggressive lyrics for a Beatles song, with Lennon taking inspiration from the line 'I'd rather see you dead then be with another man' from an earlier Elvis song.<br />- Lennon later remarked in interviews that this was the Beatles song he most regretted writing, and he often named it as amongst his worst songs.<br />- George Harrison reportedly liked it the most out of all the songs on this album.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">- Runs for two minutes and 17 seconds, and took five takes to record.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span>Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03013702384786937618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773535862530977016.post-45457238130481468442011-11-08T23:30:00.000-08:002011-11-08T23:42:55.437-08:00We Can Work It Out (single) 1965<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-F2TRHTyK-bs/Trou7r6znZI/AAAAAAAAD9Q/Im5v3r276gk/s1600/workitout.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 318px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-F2TRHTyK-bs/Trou7r6znZI/AAAAAAAAD9Q/Im5v3r276gk/s320/workitout.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5672898283563097490" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" ><br />1. We Can Work It Out</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />- 5 months after the release of Help! and it's related singles, came this single and the album </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Rubber Soul</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> (both released on the same day in early December 1965).<br />- this song is one of the few post-1963 Beatles songs to be co-written 50/50 between McCartney and Lennon.<br />- this single was the first single to ever be designated as a 'double A-side'. McCartney wanted </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >We Can Work It Out </span><span style="font-size:85%;">to be the A-side, whilst Lennon favoured </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Day Tripper</span><span style="font-size:85%;">. Radio stations had a field day marketing it as the first double a-side and it became one of the band's fastest selling singles.<br />- McCartney did the verses, writing about his experiences with his then-wife Jane Asher, and Lennon contributed the bridge section.<br />- George Harrison suggested the waltz-timing for the bridge, making this the first Beatles song to switch time signatures mid-song.<br />- the band spent 11 hours non-stop working on this song, the longest they had spent in one sitting on a single track to date.<br />- McCartney sings the lead vocals, which he double-tracked in two different sessions.<br />- Lennon plays the harmonium on the recording, as well as acoustic guitar. Ringo provides some tambourine along with his usual drums.<br />- A video of the Beatles performing this song (with no audience) was specially recorded for promotional purposes, making it the first music video.<br />- Runs for just over two minutes, and took two takes to record.<br /><br /></span> <span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >2. Day Tripper </span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />- Lennon wrote this song under pressure to deliver another commercial hit single. He wrote the famous guitar riff that opens the song and majority of the lyrics, whilst McCartney contributed some of the bridging chords.<br />- the song is written to make the listener think it is a standard 12-bars blues-type deal but then prematurely flips back into where it began... this kind of gimmick-ish self-awareness and playing with conventions would start to characterize the band's songs during the mid-60s and was reflective of their sense of humour (and some might say cockiness) in regards to music.<br />- Lennon implied in later years that the song's lyrics were a swipe at McCartney's hesitance to take LSD.<br />- Lennon later felt that the recording for this song was a bit rushed.<br />- McCartney sings the lead vocals despite Lennon being the primary composer. Both Lennon and Harrison provide backing vocals.<br />- Ringo overdubbed some tambourine.<br />- Much like </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >We Can Work It Out</span><span style="font-size:85%;">, a special promo video was shot for this song.<br />- Runs for about two minutes and fifty seconds, and took 3 takes to finish.</span>Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03013702384786937618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773535862530977016.post-43258420069674382692011-07-12T22:31:00.000-07:002011-07-13T06:30:26.487-07:00Help (Album) 1965<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-v_mLTRtAJB0/Th2d5QLmFVI/AAAAAAAADbg/Y6o_ao4uHzI/s1600/beatles-help-album.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 318px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-v_mLTRtAJB0/Th2d5QLmFVI/AAAAAAAADbg/Y6o_ao4uHzI/s320/beatles-help-album.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628828716204692818" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />- The fifth studio album by the band, released in August 1965.<br />- It was released to coincide with the film <span style="font-style: italic;">Help!</span> It features seven tracks from this movie, plus seven other songs. Only two songs overall were covers.<br />- Harrison got two of his original compositions included on the album, the first McCartney and Lennon allowed such a thing since the band's second album back in 1963.<br />- The cover was meant to show the band spelling out 'help' in flag-signage, but it didn't look aesthetically pleasing to the photographer so they instead spell out something like 'NUJV'.<br />- Two of the songs featured on the album were intended to be featured in the film alongside the other seven songs, but the director rejected them. These were <span style="font-style: italic;">You Like Me Too Much</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">Tell Me What You See</span>.<br />- Two other tracks were recorded for the album but ultimately ditched because the band weren't happy with them. These were <span style="font-style: italic;">If You've Got Trouble</span> (ultimately replaced by <span style="font-style: italic;">Act Naturally</span>) and <span style="font-style: italic;">That Means a Lot</span> (which the band decided to give to P. J. Proby to release as a single). Both of these songs ended up on the <span style="font-style: italic;">Anthology</span> compilations a couple of decades later.<br />- Other songs written for the album but rejected include: <span style="font-style: italic;">Yes It Is</span> (which ended up as a pre-album B-side) and <span style="font-style: italic;">Wait</span> (which later turned up on the <span style="font-style: italic;">Rubber Soul</span> album).<br />- The U.S. release of the album only featured the seven songs that were in the movie, alongside a bunch of instrumental tracks from the film composed by Ken Thorne and conducted by George Martin.<br />- This was the last Beatles album to feature any covers until <span style="font-style: italic;">Let It Be</span> (and even that doesn't really count).<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">1. Help</span><br />- Released as a single prior to the album's release. See full song info <a href="http://georgejohnpaulringo.blogspot.com/2010/10/help-single-1965.html">here</a>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">2. The Night Before</span><br />- Written by McCartney.<br />- It's kind of a mix between a very 60s-sounding pop song and a more traditional blues arrangement.<br />- McCartney sings the lead vocal, and Lennon plays an electric piano instead of guitar. Harrison and Lennon provide harmony vocals in the verse and chorus.<br />- This is probably the first recording where Lennon <span style="font-style: italic;">doesn't</span> play guitar.<br />- The guitar solo is actually played by McCartney, and achieved by overdubbing two guitar leads over each other.<br />- Took just two takes to complete and runs for two and a half minutes.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">3. You've Got to Hide Your Love Away<br /></span>- Written by Lennon, who also provides the lead vocals.<br />- A very Dylanesque track, it features little more than acoustic guitar and some sparse percussion. Lennon even apes Dylan's gruff way of singing. Lennon would revisit this folksy style of song throughout the rest of the band's career.<br />- The line 'two foot small' was meant to be 'two foot tall' but Lennon muddled up the words. He decided to leave the mistake-version in for 'the pseuds' (I assume this means 'pseudo-intellectuals', a long time bugbear of Lennon's).<br />- Folklore has it that this song is about Brian Epstein, the band's gay manager (this doesn't mean he managed their gay tendencies, it means he himself was gay). Lennon acknowledged that the song was a shift towards a more personal style of lyric-writing but actually confirmed what it was about (it may have been just as easily about an extra-marital affair Lennon was having another woman while married to his first wife Cynthia).<br />- Lennon plays a 12-string acoustic guitar, and Ringo plays tambourine, a shaker and some maracas. A guy named John Scott was brought in to play the flute for the bridge section (which is actually two different kinds of flutes put together in the recording). Both McCartney and Harrison also play acoustic guitar in the track.<br />- One of the first Beatles songs not to feature any bass at all. Very few other Beatles songs would do the same.<br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;">- You can barely hear but Harrison is actually singing a harmony in the chorus.<br />- Runs for just two minutes and took 9 takes.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">4. I Need You</span><br />- Written by Harrison, who also sings the lead vocals.<br />- Thought to be about Pattie Boyd (the first of several songs she inspired!)<br />- Harrison uses a volume/tone pedal to help colour the song up a bit. Along with his more successful use of it on <span style="font-style: italic;">Yes It Is, </span>it's considered to be one of the first times such a thing was used in a recording.<br />- Lennon plays an acoustic guitar instead of an electric in the recording, and both he and McCartney provide backing vocals.<br />- A rather melancholy song, and quite a dud.<br />- Runs for 2 and a half minutes, and took five takes to record.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">5. Another Girl</span><br />- Written by McCartney, he wrote the lyrics whilst on holidays in Tunisia.<br />- The lyrics reflect McCartney's increasing distance from his girlfriend at the time, Jane Asher.<br />- Around this time the band put lesser songs along these lines to a 'test'... meaning that all 4 members of the band had to seriously like it for it to be included on an album.<br />- Harrison did about 10 rejected takes of lead guitar with his new tone pedal before McCartney decided to do the lead himself. This marked the beginning of a trend where McCartney would sometimes take lead guitar duties, which must've annoyed Harrison a bit.<br />- Aside from the lead guitar overdub, most of the song was completed in just one take. The song itself runs for two minutes.<br />- Lennon plays acoustic guitar, and both he and Harrison provide backing vocals.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size:85%;"> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">6. You're Going to Lose That Girl<br /></span></span>- Written by Lennon.<br />- Features an unusual and effective key change between two parts of the song.<br />- The lyrics reflect the third-person technique used previously in <span style="font-style: italic;">She Loves You</span>.<br />- McCartney plays piano on the recording, and Ringo dubs in some bongo action. Lennon's guitar track is acoustic, and both McCartney and Harrison provide backing vocals.<br />- The recording was actually a bit rushed as the band was due to start filming the <span style="font-style: italic;">Help</span> film, which accounts for the way the backing vocals sometimes warble from an offkey note into the right one, and why McCartney's piano-playing hits an occasional bum note.<br />- Harrison later re-recorded his guitar solo but it was never used.<br />- The record company planned to release this as a B-side to the special single release of the song <span style="font-style: italic;">Girl</span> to help promote the 1977 Beatles compilation <span style="font-style: italic;">Love Songs</span>. It was canned at the last minute.<br />- Runs for two minutes and twenty seconds, and took three takes to complete.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">7. Ticket to Ride</span><br /></span></span><span style="font-size:85%;">- Released as a single prior to the album's release. See full song info<a href="http://georgejohnpaulringo.blogspot.com/2010/06/ticket-to-ride-single-1965.html"> </a><a href="http://georgejohnpaulringo.blogspot.com/2010/06/ticket-to-ride-single-1965.html">here</a>.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >8. Act Naturally</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />- The first track on Side B of the album.<br />- This is a country song that was originally written by Johnny Russell in 1961, and recorded by Buck Owens as a hit in 1963.<br />- It was tradition to give Ringo a song on each album to sing... he originally sang the Beatles' original </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >If You've Got Trouble</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> but the rest of the band decided to drop this song altogether as it was a real piece of crap (even Ringo didn't like it!). As Ringo was a big fan of country music </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Act Naturally</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> was chosen as a quick replacement.<br />- Only McCarney provides backing vocals.<br />- The band mucked about with the arrangement (hence the multiple takes) before d</span><span style="display: block;font-size:85%;" id="formatbar_Buttons" ><span onmouseover="ButtonHoverOn(this);" onmouseout="ButtonHoverOff(this);" onmouseup="" onmousedown="CheckFormatting(event);FormatbarButton('richeditorframe', this, 8);ButtonMouseDown(this);" class="" style="display: block;" id="formatbar_CreateLink" title="Link"><img src="http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif" alt="Link" class="gl_link" border="0" /></span></span><span style="font-size:85%;">eciding to keep it like Buck Owens' rockabilly version.<br />- This song was also released as the B-side for the U.S. single </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Yesterday</span><span style="font-size:85%;">. HOWEVER when this single was re-released in 1971, </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Act Naturally</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> was actually included as the A-side as the American record company had always considered it better than </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Yesterday</span><span style="font-size:85%;">!<br />- At one point the band was allegedly going to record a song written by their recording engineer, Norman Smith. He was apparently offered 15 000 pounds for the band to buy the song outright but when McCartney and Lennon realised they had yet to record a song for Ringo to sing on </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Help!</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> the plan was scrapped altogether. Poor Norman!<br />- In 1989 Ringo and Buck Owens teamed up to do a duet version of this song as a single.<br />- I really, really, </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >really </span><span style="font-size:85%;">hate this song. And yet it's still better than </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >If You've Got Trouble</span><span style="font-size:85%;">.<br />- Took 13 takes, and comes in at two and a half minutes.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >9. It's Only Love</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />- Written mainly by Lennon, with some input from McCartney.<br />- Lennon didn't think very highly of it afterwards, he liked the melody but thought the lyrics were too run-of-the-mill.<br />- The song's working title was </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >That's a Nice Cap</span><span style="font-size:85%;">.<br />- Lennon sings the lead vocal and plays a 12-string acoustic guitar, with Harrison playing not one but two guitar tracks. There are no backing vocals.<br />- The guitar solo is played through the speaker of a Hammond organ, which is what accounts for the unusually bright sound.<br />- Ringo had trouble with the drums for this song, which is why it took a few takes. He overdubbed some tambourine afterwards, perhaps hoping to make it sound stronger.<br />- Runs just under two minutes, and took six takes.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >10. You Like Me Too Much</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />- Written by Harrison, another song about Pattie Boyd. It's likely that Lennon helped him with structuring it.<br />- Harrison sings the lead vocals.<br />- Features Lennon playing electric piano, and both McCartney and George Martin play two seperate parts on a normal piano at the same time. Ringo gets to add in some tambourine as well as his drum track.<br />- Lennon also plays acoustic guitar but as usual for songs not written by himself or McCartney he was reluctant to provide any backing vocals, so McCartney sings harmony alongside a second vocal track from Harrison.<br />- The piano and bass were dubbed into the song seperately to the rest of the instruments, the piano bit in question is the boogie-woogie intro and outro.<br />- Runs for two and a half minutes and took 8 takes.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >11. Tell Me What You See</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />- Written mainly by McCartney, though it has the fairly dubious distinction of being one of the few Beatles song he has very little memory of.<br />- The electric piano on this track is played by McCartney. He also provided some extra instrumentation in the form of the guiro, an Afro-Cuban percussion instrument. Ringo also overdubbed some tambourine and claves.<br />- The guitar played in this recording is a typical electric guitar but played in a more acoustic-style of strumming to suit the song's folkish style.<br />- Runs for two and a half minutes, and took four takes.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >12. I've Just Seen a Face</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />- Written by McCartney, another folk-ish styled track for the album (and almost Simon and Garfunkelesque).<br />- Was tentatively titled </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Aunty Jin's Theme</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> after McCartney's aunt.<br />- Lennon, McCartney and Harrison all play acoustic guitar on this track. Like </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >You've Got to Hide Your Love Away</span><span style="font-size:85%;">, it's one of the few Beatles songs to not feature any bass.<br />- McCartney sings both the lead vocal and the backing harmony vocal, probably because the backing vocals were too high for Lennon to hit.<br />- Ringo uses the brushes on his snare for this track and also overdubbed some maracas.<br />- McCartney still continues to play this song in his live set.<br />- Runs for two minutes, and took six takes.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">13. Yesterday</span><br />- Written by McCartney.<br />- McCartney famously claims to have composed this in a dream and then eagerly recorded it after waking up so that he wouldn't forget it. This was most likely in 1964.<br />- The song was written in pieces a long time before finally turning up in a recording... McCartney was afraid he had unknowingly plagiarised an already existing song (due to the manner he had written it) and so he showed it to everyone he could in order to check it wasn't something that already existed before he felt comfortable enough to think it was his own song.<br />- After this it still took some time for the song to appear, most likely because George Martin and McCartney disagreed about the arrangement of the track or perhaps because...<br />- ...the rest of the band didn't really like the song. They felt it was too different to everything else they had been recording and they vetoed it being released as a single in the U.K.<br />- The record company considered releasing it as a solo Paul McCartney single after this but McCartney decided it wasn't worth causing trouble in the band over.<br />- The song <span style="font-style: italic;">was</span> ultimately released as a single, but only in the U.S.<br />- A string quartet (two violins, a viola and a cello) features in the recording along with McCartney and his acoustic guitar, but none of the other Beatles contribute anything to the track.<br />- McCartney was initially afraid that George Martin's idea for the arrangement (just acoustic guitar and strings) might be a bit too easy listening. Martin also had to talk him into using the one-word title <span style="font-style: italic;">Yesterday</span>, as McCartney at that point felt one-word titles were a bit cheesy.<br />- A full band version was attempted but it didn't really go ahead. Some concerts in Japan apparently featured the entire band playing it together.<br />- The working title for this song, for a long time, was <span style="font-style: italic;">Scrambled Eggs... </span>this was because of the nonsensical working lyrics McCartney originally used before finishing the song.<br />- It was offered to Chris Farlowe to record and release as a single but he turned it down because it was too soft.<br />- Although it wasn't released as as single, it did see release as the title track of a UK-released EP in 1966 along with <span style="font-style: italic;">Act Naturally, You Like Me Too Much</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">It's Only Love</span>. A tenth anniversary single was also rfeleased in 1976 with <span style="font-style: italic;">I Should've Known Better</span> as the B-side.<br />- The song is the most covered song ever, with over 3000 known cover versions released since 1965!<br />- Runs for just two minutes and took two takes to complete.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">14. Dizzy Miss Lizzy</span><br />- A cover; originally by Larry Williams, who released it as a single in 1958.<br />- Was originally recorded with the intention of putting it on a compilation album for release in the U.S. McCartney was so happy with how it turned out that they ended up putting it on the <span style="font-style: italic;">Help!</span> album instead.<br />- The lead vocals are sung by Lennon. McCartney supplies an electric piano track in addition to his bass.<br />- Brian Epstein originally suggested it as a possible cover. Ringo later brought the idea up again, leading to this recording.<br />- The Beatles extended the song a bit longer than the original version by adding an extra verse, most likely something they may have done while playing it in their Hamburg days.<br />- Lennon later played it live on his own after the band broke up.<br />- Runs for nearly 3 minutes, and took 7 takes.</span>Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03013702384786937618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773535862530977016.post-27262511375026514682010-10-22T05:50:00.000-07:002010-10-22T06:07:45.261-07:00Help (Single) 1965<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MsMI2Le-Dn0/TMGMlTmR_xI/AAAAAAAACcs/HCGbVJCbkTQ/s1600/help+single.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 299px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MsMI2Le-Dn0/TMGMlTmR_xI/AAAAAAAACcs/HCGbVJCbkTQ/s320/help+single.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5530856389931564818" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />1. Help<br /></span>- Title track and pre-single for the band's forthcoming album of the same name, and also the name of their forthcoming second film.<br />- Released in July 1965.<br />- Written mostly by Lennon, with McCartney helping with a few odds and ends.<br />- The lyrics reflect Lennon's difficulty with coping with the success of the band and his own general insecurities.<br />- One of Lennon's favourite Beatles tracks that he wrote, mainly because he felt it came more from the heart than a lot of others he had written. He also liked it because it wasn't written for any purpose other than as an outlet for his feelings.<br />- In later years Lennon said he regretted not recording it at a slower tempo. He tried to record it at a slower tempo at the time but George Martin and the rest of the band felt it needed to be faster since it was slated as the next single.<br />- The single version and the album version have slightly different lyrics, and the American version starts with an instrumental intro.<br />- Lennon plays a 12-string acoustic guitar on the recording and does the lead vocals. McCartney and Harrison provide backing vocals, and Ringo plays a tambourine track as well as his usual drum stuff.<br />- Took 12 takes and runs for two and a half minutes.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">2. I'm Down<br /></span>- B-side to <span style="font-style: italic;">Help!</span><br />- Written by McCartney.<br />- One of the more energetic Beatles song, very much influenced by 50s R+B artists like Little Richard.<br />- An alternate take exists where the song is played at a slower tempo and without the backing vocals.<br />- The lyrics are very much a tongue-in-cheek swipe at Lennon's lyrics for <span style="font-style: italic;">Help!</span> from McCartney. It's somewhat fitting that they should appear on the same single together.<br />- The band often closed their live set with this song throughout 1965, and McCartney purposely wrote this song for such a purpose (they had previously often closed their set with <span style="font-style: italic;">Long Tall Sally</span>, which has a similar structure/feel).<br />- McCartney sings the lead vocals, with Lennon and Harrison providing the backing vocals. Lennon also plays the organ on the recording (the first time he would do so), and Ringo plays some bongos.<br />- Took 7 takes and runs for two and a half minutes.</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span>Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03013702384786937618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773535862530977016.post-49441229156078803652010-09-17T06:12:00.000-07:002010-09-17T06:19:25.763-07:00Bad Boy (US-only track) 1965<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_MsMI2Le-Dn0/TJNqsx7_zjI/AAAAAAAACYc/d-Jl23ocyiI/s1600/beatles_vi.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_MsMI2Le-Dn0/TJNqsx7_zjI/AAAAAAAACYc/d-Jl23ocyiI/s320/beatles_vi.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517871286010760754" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" ><br />#. Bad Boy<br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;">- Features on the US-only album </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Beatles VI</span><span style="font-size:85%;">, released in June 1965.<br />- Was eventually released onto the UK market as part of a compilation album a year and a half later (December 1966).<br />- Originally written, performed and released by Larry Williams as a single in 1959.<br />- The band recorded the song on Williams' birthday, the 10th of May.<br />- Lennon sings the lead vocals.<br />- Recorded in the same session as </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Dizzy Miss Lizzy</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> during the making of the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Help! </span><span style="font-size:85%;">album. Both were intended as US-only tracks, but </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Dizzy Miss Lizzy</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> ended up getting included on </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Help!</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> due to a shortage of material.<br />- This is one of the only official Beatles studio recordings that isn't found on one of their official UK albums, singles or EPs.</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span>Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03013702384786937618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773535862530977016.post-78015301007189667282010-06-22T00:35:00.000-07:002010-06-22T03:53:18.753-07:00Ticket to Ride (Single) 1965<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_MsMI2Le-Dn0/TCCWDrme7LI/AAAAAAAACFE/j-rTNp89nqs/s1600/ticket.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 275px; height: 278px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_MsMI2Le-Dn0/TCCWDrme7LI/AAAAAAAACFE/j-rTNp89nqs/s320/ticket.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485549336125172914" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />1. Ticket to Ride</span><br />- Released in April 1965, and later featured in the <span style="font-style: italic;">Help!</span> film (originally titled <span style="font-style: italic;">Eight Arms to Hold You</span>) and on the album of the same name.<br />- Written by Lennon, this remained one of the Beatles tracks that he was most proud of (especially the double-time ending).<br />- McCartney claims to have written about 40% of it but Lennon disputed this and responded that McCartney was only responsible for the way Ringo plays the drums in it.<br />- Popular myth/folklore has it that the song was originally titled <span style="font-style: italic;">Ticket to Rye</span> (as in the train station Rye) and that the title was changed so as not to confuse American fans. I doubt that's true, but it's pretty funny either way.<br />- This song was 'heavier' sounding than any other Beatles songs before it, especially in terms of the drums and the drone-style bass.<br />- This may be due to the fact that it was the first time the band layed down all the rhythm tracks before building on top of it with melody and vocals. A lot of Beatles fans see this song as the first in their 'middle period'.<br />- Lennon plays a 12-string acoustic guitar on the recording, and McCartney contributes both guitar and bass tracks. Harrison doesn't play guitar at all on the recording, instead just singing some harmony vocals.<br />- Ringo provides handclaps and tambourine alongside his drum track. Multi-talented!<br />- Some footage of the band performing this song only survives thanks to the fact that it was included in it's entirety as part of a Doctor Who episode broadcast in 1965. In the episode the Beatles were originally due to appear as old man-versions of themselves, suggesting that they were going to be around for a long, long time. Brian Epstein vetoed the idea as 'silly' and this archival footage was used instead.<br />- Later, in the 70s, Lennon claimed that this was the first heavy metal song of all time and that he, by association, invented heavy metal. One of his more arrogant and ridiculous claims.<br />- Runs for three minutes, and took 2 takes. This was the longest running Beatles song to date.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">2. Yes It Is<br /></span>- B-side to the <span style="font-style: italic;">Ticket to Ride</span> single.<br />- Written by Lennon, and possibly about his deceased mother.<br />- Took many takes to complete, and is the song the band spent the longest amount of time to record throughout all of 1965.<br />- Of the songs Lennon wrote for the Beatles, this was one of his least favourite.<br />- Harrison makes interesting use of a volume pedal to get some weird-ish almost violin-like sounds out of his guitar.<br />- <span style="font-style: italic;">Yes It Is</span> features a higher level of harmonising from Lennon, McCartney and Harrison than usual. Harrison's vocal contributions in particular would become more frequent from this point on.<br />- Ringo adds a tambourine track alongside his drums.<br />- Runs for two minutes anf forty seconds, and took 14 takes.</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span>Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03013702384786937618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773535862530977016.post-80371502293154894222010-04-05T00:12:00.000-07:002010-04-07T18:36:29.319-07:00Beatles for Sale (Album) 1964<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MsMI2Le-Dn0/S70y_2ffcaI/AAAAAAAAByU/GbqwwOevA30/s1600/BeatlesForSale.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MsMI2Le-Dn0/S70y_2ffcaI/AAAAAAAAByU/GbqwwOevA30/s320/BeatlesForSale.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5457574395983655330" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />- The fourth studio album recorded by the band, released in December 1964.<br />- Many regard this album as the point where the band started putting a bit more effort into their lyrics. Lennon becomes more introspective and McCartney moves towards storytelling.<br />- The band started working on this album only six days after they finished the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >A Hard Day's Night</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> album.<br />- The constant touring and promotional work was starting to wear the band down a bit by this point, hence the inclusion of a couple of covers on this album after having previously made the switch to all-originals for </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >A Hard Day's Night</span><span style="font-size:85%;">.<br />- Three of the covers were recorded within 5 takes on a single day.<br />- McCartney described the songwriting process at the time: management would give them a week before recording to start writing some new material. McCartney would go round to Lennon's house and they'd sit down to write a song each day, usually taking roughly 3 hours.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >1. No Reply</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />- Written by Lennon. Most</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> of his songs on this album would have a similarly downbeat-feel, though this particularly song was actually written during the making of </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >A Hard Day's Night</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> (and was presumably left off that album due to it's less than joyful tone).<br />- Lennon considered offering it to Tommy Quickly after it was rejected for </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >A Hard Day's Night</span><span style="font-size:85%;">, but eventually decided to keep it for himself.<br />- Lennon intended to sing all the parts but his voice was failing at the time, so McCartney took on the higher-melody bit in the bridge section.<br />- The song doesn't really have a chorus yet was still considered strong enough to open the album.<br />- Both guitar tracks are acoustic. Lennon recorded some handclaps and McCartney provided the<br />cowbell.<br />- Originally written with a waltz-like beat, though this abandoned prior to recording in favour of the bossa nova-styled rhythm.<br />- Runs for just over two minutes, and took 8 takes to record. </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">2. I'm a Loser</span></span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />- Lennon wrote this song mid-flight whilst the band was on tour with Jackie DeShannon in the U.S.<br />- Having recently met Bob Dylan, Lennon shows the D-man's influence here in his tone and lyrics (most specifically the use of the word 'clown'). The song also shows the growing influence that country music was having on the band (mainly courtesy of Ringo, who was a huge country music fan).<br />- The lyrics reflect Lennon's insecurities regarding the fan reaction the Beatles were experiencing at the time.<br />- Was going to be released as a stand-alone single in the UK until Lennon came up with </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >I Feel Fine</span><span style="font-size:85%;">, which was used instead.<br />- Lennon plays some harmonica on the recording, as well as providing an acoustic guitar track and the lead vocals. McCartney does some harmony vocals. Ringo added in a tambourine track to go alongside his drums.<br />- Runs for two and a half minutes, took 8 takes to complete.</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">3. Baby's in Black<br /></span></span></span><span style="font-size:85%;">- Another track written by Lennon, though McCartney co-wrote some of the melody.<br />- The song was written while the band was on tour in Australia and New Zealand, with McCartney most likely responsible for the guitar solo (which was a little beyond Harrison's playing ability at the time).<br />- The song has 6/8 time (very few Beatles songs have timing along these lines) and is played slower than the usual speed - giving the impression of a waltz.<br />- It's considered fairly likely that this song is about Astrid Kirchherr, the girlfriend of Stuart Sutcliffe (the band's first bassplayer, who died of a brain hemorrhage in 1962 whilst the band was playing Hamburg).<br />- Lennon and McCartney sing the bulk of the vocals together, and sang them into the same microphone at the same time for the recording (McCartney's idea). This has since made it hard for anyone else to sing on their own as it's difficult to tell who is doing which harmony.<br />- Harrison had difficulty mastering the solo during recording, resulting in multiple takes.<br />- Ringo does some more tambourine work in addition to his drums.<br />- The band often performed this whilst on tour from 1964 up until they stopped playing live in 1966.<br />- A live-version of this was released as the B-side to the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Anthology</span><span style="font-size:85%;">-related single </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Real Love</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> in 1996.<br />- Runs for just over two minutes and took 14 takes to finish.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >4. Rock and Roll Music<br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;">- One of six covers used to 'fill out' the album. The band opted to cover mostly rock and R&B standards that they had been playing live for the last few years.<br />- Originally written and peformed by Chuck Berry.<br />- Lennon does the lead vocals, pushing the range beyond Berry's more even delivery. The Beatles version is also played in a different key to Berry's.<br />- The band changed the lyric "If you wanna rock with me" to "If you wanna </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >dance</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> with me".<br />- Released as a single in some countries (but not the UK or U.S.). Got to #1 in Australia and Norway.<br />- McCartney, Lennon and George Martin all play the same piano part for the recording.</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" > </span><span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />- After this song was recorded the band decided to start including it in their live set again.<br />- Runs for two minutes and took only 1 take to complete.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >5. I'll Follow the Sun</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />- Written by McCartney.<br />- A downbeat ballad, McCartney apparently wrote this when he was 16. Owing to the band's more rock-orientated reputation he didn't feel comfortable reworking it for the band until their 4th album (when they were desperate for material).<br />- There is a recorded version of this song from the band's earliest days (1960), featuring Stuart Sutcliffe on bass. The original version is a bit more skiffle-ish and has a different bridge.<br />- Lennon and McCartney both provide acoustic guitar tracks, McCartney does the lead vocals while Lennon harmonises with him.<br />- Ringo slaps his knees for some added percussion.<br />- McCartney still performs this song live, and has done so as recently as 2007.<br />- Run time: 1 minute and 45 seconds. Took 8 takes.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >6. Mr. Moonlight<br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;">- A blue standard written in the early 60s. The earliest recorded version turned up in 1962 as a B-side to a minor single by Piano Red.<br />- The band started performing this during their Hamburg days.<br />- Lennon does the main vocals.<br />- The Beatles version is probably the most well-known version.<br />- Many Beatles fans allegedly consider this to be the worst song the band ever recorded. I'd like to refer such people to some of the Beatles tracks Ringo sung between 1965 and 1968...<br />- Features an organ solo. I think McCartney might have played this.<br />- Harrison was originally to have played a slide-guitar solo but this was abandoned during recording in favour of the aforementioned organ solo.<br />- Harrison provides some percussion on an African drum, and Ringo's percussive sounds were played on a guitar case.<br />- Runs for two and a half minutes and took 8 takes.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >7. Kansas City / Hey Hey Hey Hey<br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;">- This is the last track on Side 1.<br />- </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Kansas City</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> is a blues track originally recorded by Little Willie Littlefield in 1952. </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Hey Hey Hey Hey</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> is a 1958 Little Richard track that was originally released as the B-Side to </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Good Golly Miss Molly</span><span style="font-size:85%;">.<br />- Little Richard often performed these two songs together as a live medley, which is why they feature as a medley here (and were played by the band live as such).<br />- McCartney does the lead vocals for both songs, with Lennon and Harrison providing backup.<br />- McCartney really went for it with the vocals as he was aware that the recording levels had been set rather low.<br />- Harrison plays an african drum on the recording in addition to his lead guitar duties. George Martin provides the piano track.<br />- Runs for only two and a half minutes, and took 1 take to lay down.<br />- A second take was attempted but the band ended up going with the first version.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >8. Eight Days a Week<br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;">- Opening track to side 2 of the album.<br />- Written by McCartney and Lennon as a possible title track for a 2nd Beatles movie (the idea being that the movie could be called </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Eight Arms to Hold You</span><span style="font-size:85%;">... no doubt a reference to the band's four members. The movie ended up being called </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Help! </span><span style="font-size:85%;">instead).<br />- Like </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >A Hard Day's Night</span><span style="font-size:85%;">, the title 'Eight Days a Week' is another Ringo-ism.<br />- Along with </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >No Reply, Baby's in Black</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> and </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >I'm a Loser</span><span style="font-size:85%;">, it was a possible candidate for a UK-release single. </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >I Feel Fine</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> presumably took the place of all these possible singles.<br />- It </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >was</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> however released as a single in the U.S. anyway (with </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >I Don't Want to Spoil the Party</span> as the B-side), where it reached #1.<span style="font-size:85%;"><br />- Lennon sings the lead vocals, though McCartney wrote the bulk of the song.<br />- Harrison plays multiple guitar tracks.<br />- The band never performed this song live, and didn't think very highly of it.<br />- Outtakes of the recording reveal the level of experimentation the band was heading towards... there are 6 alternative versions that showcase very different arrangements. Eventually, for the released version, an intro was dubbed onto the final take from an alternate version.<br />- The first known recorded song (ever!) to feature a fade-in. To this day, very few pop songs feature such a thing.<br />- Runs for two minutes and 45 seconds, and took 15 takes to complete.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >9. Words of Love<br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;">- Originally written and performed by Buddy Holly in 1958.<br />- The band performed this live throughout 1961 and 1962. Lennon and Harrison would harmonise the vocals when they played it live.<br />- The Beatles performed many Buddy Holly songs live in their early days but this is the only cover of his that they ever recorded in the studio.<br />- Lennon and McCartney do the vocals for the recorded version. The song is very close to Holly's version.<br />- Ringo plays two instruments on this track - drums, and percussion achieved by paying on a packing case (to try and emulate a similar sound on another Buddy Holly track, </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Every Day</span><span style="font-size:85%;">).<br />- This is the last song recorded for the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Beatles for Sale</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> album, and was purely chosen to make up the numbers.<br />- The original mono mix of this track runs for 9 seconds longer than the stereo mix.<br />- Runs for just over two minutes and took 3 takes to finish.<br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >10. Honey Don't<br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;">- Another cover, this was originally a rockabilly track written and performed by Charles Perkins. He initially released as the B-side for his 1956 single, </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Blue Suede Shoes</span><span style="font-size:85%;">.<br />- The band used to perform this in their live set for their Hamburg days, with Lennon providing the lead vocals.<br />- Ringo actually asked Perkins himself if the band could record this song for the album. Perkins was chuffed and immediately gave them permission.</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />- Ringo sings the vocals for the recorded version. It features an early Ringo trademark - before each of the two solos he calls out to George (Harrison). It's kind of funny, and it's allegedly something he took great pleasure in doing. The first time he says, "Rock on George, one time for me!" and the second time it's "Rock on George for Ringo one time!" despite the fact that it happens twice in the song.<br />- All four Beatles covered this song again at some point in their solo careers.<br />- Runs for almost three minutes and took 5 takes.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >11. Every Little Thing<br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;">- McCartney wrote this in the hope of having it released as a stand-alone single after </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >A Hard Day's Night</span><span style="font-size:85%;">. It wasn't to be, and was held over for inclusion on </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Beatles for Sale</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> instead.<br />- The lead vocals are sung by Lennon. It's one of the rare occasions where Lennon sings a song primarily written by McCartney. McCartney does some harmony vocals.<br />- The lyrics are about McCartney's then-girlfriend, Jane Asher.<br />- It took several takes to record this as the band (McCartney in particular) kept goofing off.<br />- Features a timpani drum (that big epic sounding drum in the chorus), played by Ringo.<br />- It's possible that the guitar solo is played by Lennon (the style is more Lennonesque than Harrisonish), though it's almost definitely played on Harrison's actual guitar.<br />- George Martin plays the piano on the recording.<br />- Runs for two minutes, took 9 takes to finish.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >12. I Don't Want to Spoil the Party<br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;">- Written by Lennon, this is another step towards country music territory for the band.<br />- Was left off the U.S. version of the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Beatles for Sale</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> album as it was thought to be too depressing.<br />- Featured as the B-side on the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Eight Days a Week</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> single.<br />- Lennon sings the lead vocals, with some harmonising from McCartney.<br />- More Lennon lyrics about insecurity and frustration.<br />- Ringo adds in a tambourine track to go with his drums.<br />- Runs for two and a half minutes and took a whopping 19 takes to complete.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >13. What You're Doing<br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;">- Written by McCartney.<br />- One of the few Beatles songs to start with a drum intro, this was influenced by the song </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Be My Baby</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> by the Ronettes.<br />- There's no real chorus, it's all verses and bridges.<br />- George Martin plays the piano.<br />- Features some odd rhyming patterns (McCartney rhymes two-syllable words with pairs of one-syllable words and lets them run over into the next part of the phrase).<br />- The lyrics almost certainly concern Jane Asher.<br />- Some earlier takes featured a slightly different version of the song, with McCartney and Lenon both singing lead and the lead guitar a full octave higher.<br />- The song's innovative style (achieved mostly in the studio) is an early precursor to the band's </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Rubber Soul - Revolver</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> period.<br />- Runs for two and a half minutes, and took 19 takes to finish. The reason it took so long to finish is due to McCartney's insistence at getting the song's level of perfection exactly to where it was in his head.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >14. Everybody's Trying to be My Baby </span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />- Last track of the album.<br />- Originally a Carl Perkins adaptation of an older song by Rex Griffin. Songwriting credit for this track is still in dispute to this day.<br />- Harrison does the vocals. Poor old George, put at the end of the album!<br />- The band often played this in their live set at the time.<br />- The false ending on the recording is something they used to do with the song live in their Hamburg days.<br />- Harrison later performed the song with Perkins himself in 1986.<br />- George Martin plays the piano track.<br />- Runs for nearly two and a half minutes, took only 1 take.<br /></span><br /></span>Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03013702384786937618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773535862530977016.post-28379694238180665062010-02-15T04:27:00.000-08:002010-02-15T04:45:37.682-08:00I Feel Fine (single) 1964<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_MsMI2Le-Dn0/S3lBrj2zHbI/AAAAAAAABjc/pgpnFIg2rOk/s1600-h/ifeelfine.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 318px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_MsMI2Le-Dn0/S3lBrj2zHbI/AAAAAAAABjc/pgpnFIg2rOk/s320/ifeelfine.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5438450241641848242" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">1. I Feel Fine<br /></span>- Released in November 1964, and written while the band was working on their next album, <span style="font-style: italic;">Beatles for Sale</span>.<br />- Written by Lennon, he based it on a riff he had written by for the background of another song, <span style="font-style: italic;">Eight Days a Week</span>, which would feature on their forthcoming album.<br />- This song marks the point where the Beatles would start using guitar riffs prominantly in their songs.<br />- Lennon didn't think much of this song to begin with, but after jamming on it with Ringo he felt it could be an A-side.<br />- The song bears a slight resemblance to a Bobby Parker cover the band used to perform back in 1961, this may be where Lennon originally got his 'inspiration' from.<br />- Lennon sings the lead vocals, with Harrison and McCartney providing harmonising. McCartney provided the barking sounds near the end.<br />- Lennon plays the riff and the guitar solo, with Harrison relegated to rhythm work.<br />- This song also marks a point where the band started experimenting with recording techniques and using different sound effects to push the boundaries of what could be put into a song. Here the band uses feedback as part of the song's intro... Lennon would remain proud in the following years that the Beatles were the first band to put feedback into a studio recording. It sounds absolutely magic.<br />- The feedback was originally an accident... Paul let the note ring out on his bass. Lennon had a semi-acoustic nearby and it's pickup picked up the bass note, so he leaned into his amp to cause it to feedback and distort. The result sounded cool so Paul got George Martin to splice it onto the front of the song.<br />- The guitar riff is actually played on an acoustic, with an effect added to make it sound more electric.<br />- Took 9 takes, runs for two minutes and twenty seconds.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">2. She's a Woman<br /></span>- B-side to the stand-alone single <span style="font-style: italic;">I Feel Fine</span>.<br />- Written by McCartney as an attempt at doing something Little Richard-ish, he was obviously still jazzing on from his success with <span style="font-style: italic;">Long Tall Sally</span>. The song was intended from the get-go as a B-side for <span style="font-style: italic;">I Feel Fine</span>, and also because the band wanted a rockier song to play live in their set.<br />- The vocals are sung in an unusually high register for the band (as McCartney was trying to get to that Little Richard sound). McCartney also double-tracked his vocals.<br />- The lyric 'turn me on' referred to marijuana.<br />- Some alternate takes and live versions of this song feature an extended outro.<br />- McCartney plays the piano on the recording.<br />- Ringo plays a chocalho (a shaken Brazillian percussion instrument) on the recording.<br />- 6 takes, runs for 3 minutes. <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_MsMI2Le-Dn0/S3lBsPlMckI/AAAAAAAABjk/y9yYM5kreZY/s1600-h/Ifeelfine2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_MsMI2Le-Dn0/S3lBsPlMckI/AAAAAAAABjk/y9yYM5kreZY/s320/Ifeelfine2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5438450253379170882" border="0" /></a>US single cover<br /></div>Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03013702384786937618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773535862530977016.post-24103336785958716742010-01-22T21:44:00.000-08:002010-01-23T23:11:56.551-08:00A Hard Day's Night (Album) 1964<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MsMI2Le-Dn0/S1vyk6UhR0I/AAAAAAAABSY/OpwHmBtXY6A/s1600-h/harddaysnightalbum.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MsMI2Le-Dn0/S1vyk6UhR0I/AAAAAAAABSY/OpwHmBtXY6A/s320/harddaysnightalbum.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5430200491669800770" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />- The third studio album recorded by the Beatles, released in July 1964.<br />- This album also functions as a soundtrack to the film of the same name, a now-acclaimed comedy/musical starring the band as themselves. Some songs featured on the album weren't included in the final cut of the film.<br />- This is the first Beatles album to feature all-original material.<br />- It's also the only Beatles album where Lennon wrote the larger amount of songs.<br />- Ringo doesn't sing on any tracks on this album.<br />- As mentioned in my write-up for the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Can't Buy Me Love </span><span style="font-size:85%;">single, George Harrison had recently gotten his hands on a newly-invented 12-string rickenbaker guitar. This guitar is what is mostly responsible for the warm, twangy sound that this album has. Harrison's guitar work on </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >A Hard Day's Night</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> is also largely responsible for the influencing the sound of another highly influential band, the Byrds.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >1. A Hard Day's Night<br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;">- The opening and title track of the album.<br />- The title comes from a Ringo-ism (IE. One of the endearingly nonsensical things that usually came out of his mouth, often said without him even realising that they didn't really make sense).<br />- One account says that the director (Richard Lester) heard Ringo say it and promptly used it as the title of the film. Another account is that the band nominated it for the title. Either way, Lennon took inspiration from this phrase to write a song that would fit it. Prior to Ringo's words the film was probably going to be called </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Beatlemania</span><span style="font-size:85%;">.<br />- Lennon wrote the song in one night, eager to be the one to write the A-side of the single that would be released alongside the album (at this stage he and McCartney were very competitive [in a healthy way] and it's here that Lennon starts to dominate the songwriting for a while). He wrote it on the nearest thing at hand, the back of a greeting card.<br />- McCartney wrote the bridge, and also sang this part as Lennon couldn't hit the high notes.<br />- George Martin plays piano on the recording.<br />- The solo and outro feature Harrison playing his rickenbacker in conjunction with George Martin accompanying the notes on piano at half speed (which was then sped up to match the recording).<br />- At the time of recording McCartney was still a bit unsure of what to play on bass, and the various surviving takes reveal some subtle experimentation and variation as a result.<br />- Released as a single in the UK on the same day as the album.<br />- Capitol Records in America had rights to the music but not the soundtrack (as the film company owned the rights to the soundtrack) so <span style="font-style: italic;">A Hard Day's Night</span> is just one of eight tracks from the album to be released as a single in the U.S., with Capitol Records keen to release as many singles as they could from in it in order to cash in (as they couldn't release the entire album itself).<br />- The first Beatles song to win a Grammy.<br />- Music analysts and fans were divided for many years over what exact chord rings out at the beginning of the song. For the guitar nerds reading, different camps cited the following chords: G7add9sus4, G7sus4 and G11sus4. Harrison finally confirmed that it was actually an Fadd9 in an online chat in 2001, though he also said he that didn't know what bass note McCartney plays in the ring out at the same time (most people think it's a D). Both Lennon and George Martin also play in the ring out.<br />- Here's some lolzworthy extra analysis courtesy of Wikipedia...<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Jason Brown, Professor for the Faculty of Computer Science</span><a style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_Science" title="Computer Science" class="mw-redirect"></a><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> at Dalhousie University</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada,</span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> whose research interests include graph theory</span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">, combinatorics</span><a style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combinatorics" title="Combinatorics"></a><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">, and combinatorial algorithms </span><a style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algorithm" title="Algorithm"></a><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">, announced in October 2004 that after six months of research he succeeded in analyzing the opening chord by de-composing the sound into original frequencies using a mathematical technique known as the Fourier Transform</span><a style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourier_transform" title="Fourier transform"></a><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">.</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;"> According to Brown, the Rickenbacker guitar wasn't the only instrument used. "It wasn't just George Harrison playing it and it wasn't just the Beatles playing on it... There was a piano in the mix." Specifically, he claims that Harrison was playing the following notes on his 12 string guitar: a2, a3, d3, d4, g3, g4, c4, and another c4; McCartney played a d3 on his bass; producer George Martin was playing d3, f3, d5, g5, and e6 on the piano, while Lennon played a loud c5 on his six-string guitar.</span><br />- Runs for two and a half minutes, and took nine takes to complete.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">2. I Should Have Known Better</span><br />- Lennon wrote this song after he met and became a huge fan of Bob Dylan. This song is a primary example of Lennon putting more effort into his lyrics as a result of being influenced by Dylan.<br />- One of the last Beatles songs to feature harmonica. Recording was actually postponed for a day after Lennon became upset over this harmonica part. The song was subsequently 're-arranged' slightly to fix the issue.<br />- Lennon plays both an electric guitar track and an acoustic guitar track for the recording.<br />- An orchestral version of this song was arranged by George Martin and featured on the U.S. soundtrack version of <span style="font-style: italic;">A Hard Day's Night</span>.<br />- This song appears as the B-side to the U.S. single for <span style="font-style: italic;">A Hard Day's Night, </span>and also appears as the B-side for the 1976 UK re-release single of <span style="font-style: italic;">Yesterday</span>.<br />- <span style="font-style: italic;">I Should Have Known Better</span> was also released as a single on it's own in some European countrites during 1964.<br />- The Beach Boys covered this song for one of their albums in 1965.<br />- This song initially took 3 takes to record, but due to Lennon's aforementioned disatisfaction with the harmonica part it took a whopping 22 takes to re-record the next day, with a final running time of two minutes and 40 seconds.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >3. If I Fell<br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;">- Primarily written by Lennon with some help from McCartney.<br />- The intro was added at the last minute, after about 10 takes of recording the song.<br />- </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >If I Fell</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> is notable for it's unusual structure at the time (including the aforementioned stand-alone intro) and the subtle chord changes that mark it's progression (the song uses varying and unpredictable types of D chords and doesn't really have a verse-chorus structure).<br />- The harmonised vocals were sung by McCartney and Lennon into one microphone together (ooh la la).<br />- Lennon plays an acoustic guitar on the recording.<br />- Some re-released versions of this song on compilation albums over the years have accidentally featured alternate takes where McCartney's voice strains and/or cracks.<br />- Allegedly Kurt Cobain's favourite Beatles song.<br />- Featured as the B-side on the U.S. single for </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >And I Love Her.</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />- Released as an export-only single in the UK with </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Tell Me Why</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> as it's B-side.<br />- Released as a single in Norway, where it reached #1.<br />- Runs for two minutes and 20 seconds, and took 15 takes to complete.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >4. I'm Happy Just to Dance With You</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />- Written by Lennon.<br />- Sung by Harrison, with some backing vocals from Lennon.<br />- Lennon wrote it specifically for Harrison to sing, and later disparagingly said that he would never have sung it himself, suggesting that very little effort was put into it.<br />- Even taking the above into account, there is at least one strange chord used in it - being the B7th that appears in the chorus.<br />- One of the first Beatles songs to feature Ringo using a syncopated rhythm, something that would later become his signature on certain more famous Beatles tracks.<br />- Included as the B-side on the U.S. single for </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >I'll Cry Instead</span><span style="font-size:85%;">.<br />- Runs just under two minutes and took four takes to record. </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" ><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">5. And I Love Her</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />- Written by McCartney.<br />- Lennon once claimed to have written the bridge but McCartney has gone on record to say that he wrote the entire song, including the bridge. Other sources indicate that Lennon probably did write the bridge as the original composition didn't even have a bridge and it was added after George Martin suggested it mid-recording (and Lennon apparently returned with a bridge after only half an hour).<br />- McCartney has vocally claimed the rather dubious honour of being the first person to title a ballad with only the second half of a sentence. I know the Beatles had a lot of 'firsts' but that's just being ridiculous... it's almost as silly as Lennon's assertion that he invented heavy metal.<br />- </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >And I Love Her </span><span style="font-size:85%;">probably marks the first big radical style-shift for the band, with the song having a very pronounced flamenco/latin American sound. Despite this, it still sounds resolutely Beatles-ish, and I guess therein lies the success.<br />- McCartney sings the vocals on his own, with some double-tracking.<br />- The song changes key just for the solo, which Harrison plays on a special Flamenco guitar.<br />- The first Beatles song in a minor key to end on a major key.<br />- Both Harrison and Lennon play acoustic guitars, with Harrison adding in some percussion on the claves (similar to clapsticks). Ringo plays bongos. Originally the song was performed in a slightly more electric fashion but the decision to go all-acoustic was made during recording.<br />- Different releases feature different versions of this song. Sometimes McCartney's vocals are double-tracked in the chorus, and sometimes the song ends sooner (depending on the edit).<br />- Released as a single in the U.S., with </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >If I Fell </span><span style="font-size:85%;">as the B-side.<br />- Runs for two and a half minutes and took 21 takes to finish.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >6. Tell Me Why<br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;">- Written by Lennon, most likely while he was in New York.<br />- Written in the style of the Motown girl trios Lennon was so fond of, as can be heard in it's all-in pace, doo-wop style chord progressions and the falsetto segment of the vocals (I love the falsetto bit!)<br />- Was the last song to be written for </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >A Hard Day's Night</span><span style="font-size:85%;">, when it was realised there was one more spot on the album to fill.<br />- Lennon sings the lead vocals, with backing from both himself and McCartney & Harrison.<br />- The version of this song that features in the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >A Hard Day's Night</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> film, whilst exactly the same in every other respect, runs at a slower speed.<br />- Two and a half minutes, 9 takes.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >7. Can't Buy Me Love<br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;">- Released as a single prior to the album. See full song info <a href="http://georgejohnpaulringo.blogspot.com/2009/12/cant-buy-me-love-single-1964.html">here</a>.</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" ><br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >8. Any Time at All</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />- The first song of Side 2 of the album.<br />- Written mainly by Lennon, who also does the lead vocals.<br />- Lennon was later a bit dismissive of it, saying it was derivative of his previous song </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >It Won't Be Long</span><span style="font-size:85%;">.<br />- The bridge was suggested and composed by McCartney. It was originally intended to have vocals but the band ran out of time (!) and so the bridge was kept as an instrumental break instead, with McCartney bringing the piano to the fore as a substitute.<br />- The song didn't really have a beginning or an ending, so the snare crack at the beginning was dubbed in at the mxing stage from an alternate take, as was the song's final chord.<br />- McCartney plays piano on the recording, as well as his usual bass duties. He also sings backing vocals along with some extra backing vocals from Lennon.<br />- Runs for just over two minutes, 11 takes.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >9. I'll Cry Instead</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />- Written by Lennon.<br />- One of two songs from the album that didn't make the final cut of the movie, though the 1981 theatrical re-released would reinstate this song over the top of an introductory photo montage.<br />- For film-editing reasons, this song was recorded in two parts that could be easily put together depending on however long the accompanying scene went for.<br />- One of the band's earliest forays into the rockabilly/country & western genre (to add to the effect, McCartney does a walking-style bass line and Harrison plays his guitar track on a "Country Gentleman" Gretsch guitar)<br />- Lennon provided both an electric guitar track and an acoustic one. Ringo also added in some tambourine over the top of his drums.<br />- Released as a single in the U.S., with </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >I'm Happy Just to Dance With You </span><span style="font-size:85%;">as the B-side.<br />- The version of this song featured in the U.S. market was slightly longer than the U.K. version.<br />- Joe Cocker recorded a cover of this in 1964 not too long after it came out and released it as his first single.<br />- Just under two minutes, 8 takes.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">10. Things We Said Today</span><br />- One of only three tracks on the album primarily written by McCartney.<br />- McCartney wrote this on an acoustic guitar while on a cruise in the Caribbean. The lyrics are about his girlfriend at the time, Jane Asher.<br />- Lennon plays piano on the recording, along with his usual guitar duties. McCartney also adds in an acoustic guitar track as well as bass.<br />- The song segues from a ballad in minor to a more major-orientated rock song for the bridge. People in the 60s would slow-dance for the verses and then do quicker, more rock-orientated dancing for the faster bit.<br />- McCartney revisted this song and included it in his live set for his 1989 world tour.<br />- Featured as the B-side on the <span style="font-style: italic;">A Hard Day's Night</span> single in the UK.<br />- Runs for two and a half minutes, and took 3 takes.<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">11. When I Get Home<br /></span>- Written by Lennon.<br />- Another early Lennon song influenced by the black girl group The Shirelles.<br />- Lennon shifts from minor to major for the parts where the song changes, an effective but groundbreaking trick that the band was starting to use more and more.<br />- Lennon sings the lead vocals, with McCartney and Harrison providing harmonising. McCartney also plays the cowbell on the recording.<br />- Billy Joel used to cover this song in his early band, The Hassles. They even recorded it at their first recording session in 1967.<br />- Runs for two minutes and fifteen seconds, took 11 takes to finish.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">12. I'll Be Back<br /></span>- Written by Lennon.<br />- Based around the chords used for the popular Del Shannon hit <span style="font-style: italic;">Runaway</span> (a song that George Harrison's supergroup The Travelling Wilburys would record in 1990), though <span style="font-style: italic;">I'll Be Back</span> admittedly sounds very little like it's source material.<br />- Originally written in 6/8 timing as a waltz-like tune, though this was abandoned in favour of the more typical 4/4 timing during recording when Lennon found it too difficult to sing. Early takes of the original version can be heard on the <span style="font-style: italic;">Anthology </span>albums, including a more rocked-up electric guitar version.<br />- Even in 4/4 the song still has a strange structure, consisting of two and a bit verses and two seperate bridges.<br />- Another minor and major switcheroo tune.<br />- Lennon and Harrison play acoustic guitars for this one, with McCartney providing harmonising to Lennon's lead vocals. McCartney also plays the cowbell, again.<br />- This song seems to fade out before it's finished and hence ends the album on a rather melancholy note.<br />- Runs for two minutes and twenty seconds, 11 takes.</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span>Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03013702384786937618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773535862530977016.post-70763114950344895272010-01-05T22:23:00.000-08:002010-01-05T23:01:49.309-08:00Long Tall Sally (EP) 1964<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_MsMI2Le-Dn0/S0Q0bf9IuWI/AAAAAAAABOI/ZfejDXipk8w/s1600-h/long_tall_sally_UK.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_MsMI2Le-Dn0/S0Q0bf9IuWI/AAAAAAAABOI/ZfejDXipk8w/s320/long_tall_sally_UK.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423517498299955554" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />- A 4-track EP, this release only features one original song.<br />- This is the band's first official EP of previously unreleased material.<br />- The title track is the band's famous cover of </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Long Tall Sally</span><span style="font-size:85%;">.<br />- The EP is made up of three covers and one original track, all of which were recorded during the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >A Hard Day's Night</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> sessions.<br />- Some of the songs were repackaged with other early Beatles tracks as an album for the U.S. market.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >1. Long Tall Sally<br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;">- Originally recorded by Little Richard in 1956, it was a big hit for him. Little Richard's trademark "oohs" are to blame for the many times the Beatles did this in their earlier tracks.<br />- McCartney sings this in a higher key than even Little Richard himself. The song had already been covered by a lot of other artists and the Beatles wanted to set their version apart from the tamer previously-recorded versions, hence the higher register for the vocals.<br />- It has a great energy to it, but besides that there isn't much else to say.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >2. I Call Your Name<br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;">- This is the only original Beatles song to be featured on the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Long Tall Sally</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> EP.<br />- Written mainly by Lennon, who had been working on it as early as his pre-Beatles days. He originally wrote it for Billy J. Kramer, who used it as a B-side for his 1963 #1 single </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Bad to Me</span><span style="font-size:85%;">.<br />- Lennon was unhappy with Kramer's version and the fact that it had been relegated to B-side status so the band recorded their own version of it for this EP. If Kramer had used it as a single then the Beatles would probably have never even recorded their own version.<br />- The bridge-section of the song sees the Beatles try their hand at a bit of ska for the first time. Ringo chucks in some cowbell.<br />- Ringo Starr recorded a tribute version with the help of Tom Petty, Joe Walsh (The Eagles), Jeff Lynne (ELO) and session drummer Jim Keltner for a television special commemorating the 10th anniversary of John Lennon's death.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >3. Slow Down</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />- Originally written and performed by Larry Williams, this 12-bar blues number was the B-side of 1958 hit single </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Dizzy Miss Lizzy</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> (which the Beatles also covered a bit later).<br />- The vocals were provided by Lennon. George Martin overdubbed some piano accompaniment three days after the band recorded it.<br />- The band often played this in their live set during their Hamburg days in 1962.<br />- This was released as a B-side on the U.S. single </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Matchbox</span><span style="font-size:85%;">.<br />- An earlier version was recorded by the band in 1963 for the BBC.<br />- Took 5 takes to record and goes for nearly 3 minutes.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >4. Matchbox<br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;">- This is a rockabilly/blues song originally released by Carl Perkins in 1956. It has been reworked by various bluesmen since, though the Beatles version is fairly closely modelled on Perkins own original arrangement.<br />- The Beatles used to play this live as early as 1961. Original drummer Pete Best used to do the vocals.<br />- Lennon also did the vocals for it live at least once. A recording of him performing it in Hamburg during 1962 still exists.<br />- For the studio version the vocals were passed on to Ringo, making this his third recorded vocal performance for the band. Not surprisingly, Ringo gets the words wrong to at least one line. He had previously sung it with the band for an earlier BBC recording as well.<br />- George Martin played some piano for the recording, and Harrison played his new 12-string rickenbacker (previously heard on the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Can't Buy Me Love</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> single). Lennon did the guitar solo.<br />- Carl Perkins himself was present during the recording of this and three other songs (</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Slow Down</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> and two songs from </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >A Hard Day's Night</span><span style="font-size:85%;">). Apparently he made the band a little bit nervous (Ringo referred to him as 'Mr. Perkins'), though they did all jam together on three songs Perkins' often featured in his live sets. Unfortunately though, no recordings exist of this.<br />- As previously mentioned, this was released as a<span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" ></span><span style="font-size:85%;"> single in the U.S. in 1964.<br />- McCartney often still plays this in his soundcheck when performing live, even as recently as 2007.<br />- Took 5 takes to record, and runs for just under 2 minutes.<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_MsMI2Le-Dn0/S0Q0jz2GprI/AAAAAAAABOQ/WT6572fhCfc/s1600-h/The-Beatles-Long-Tall-Sally+album.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 304px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_MsMI2Le-Dn0/S0Q0jz2GprI/AAAAAAAABOQ/WT6572fhCfc/s320/The-Beatles-Long-Tall-Sally+album.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423517641078122162" border="0" /></a><br />U.S. album<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_MsMI2Le-Dn0/S0Q040BqraI/AAAAAAAABOY/7uAzh674JZI/s1600-h/matchbox+single.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 317px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_MsMI2Le-Dn0/S0Q040BqraI/AAAAAAAABOY/7uAzh674JZI/s320/matchbox+single.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423518001903873442" border="0" /></a>U.S. single<br /></span></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span>Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03013702384786937618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773535862530977016.post-31134810165539932462009-12-25T04:27:00.000-08:002009-12-25T04:50:56.730-08:00Can't Buy Me Love (single) 1964<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_MsMI2Le-Dn0/SzS0t-MZEeI/AAAAAAAABAg/wQ0JIebBeEo/s1600-h/Can%27t_Buy_Me_Love.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 319px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_MsMI2Le-Dn0/SzS0t-MZEeI/AAAAAAAABAg/wQ0JIebBeEo/s320/Can%27t_Buy_Me_Love.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419154953515635170" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />1. Can't Buy Me Love<br /></span>- Released a full 4 months after the last Beatles release, this single would later turn up on the <span style="font-style: italic;">A Hard Day's Night </span>album.<br />- Written and sung by McCartney. He wrote it while the band was on tour in Paris.<br />- Actually recorded in Paris, one of the few Beatles songs to not be recorded in the UK.<br />- George Harrison later re-recorded his guitar solo when the band returned to the UK. Remnants of the original recording of the solo can still be heard on the actual song, underneath.<br />- Helen Shapiro watched the band record song and observed Ringo overdubbing his cymbals. Apparently he did this a lot.<br />- The band was under a lot of pressure to deliver another hit after finally cracking the U.S. market with <span style="font-style: italic;">I Want to Hold Your Hand</span>. Perhaps they were preoccupied with this when they came up with the slightly anti-capitalist slant in the lyrics.<br />- Capitol Records planned to release <span style="font-style: italic;">Roll Over Beethoven</span> as the next big U.S. single until they were given this song instead.<br />- George Martin suggested altering the structure so that the song started and ended on a hook, and re-arranged the song accordingly. McCartney was happy with the result and so the changed version was the version recorded.<br />- One of the few Beatles songs to use a 12-bar blues structure (here it is used for the verses).<br />- One of the first Beatles song to feature only one member of the band doing the vocals. Lennon and Harrison recorded backing vocals but these were eventually dropped in favour of double-tracking McCartney's singing.<br />- It was included in the film <span style="font-style: italic;">A Hard Day's Night</span> only because the director rejected the song <span style="font-style: italic;">I'll Cry Instead</span>.<br />- Runs for just over two minutes and took four takes to record.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">2. You Can't Do That<br /></span>- B-side to <span style="font-style: italic;">Can't Buy Me Love</span>. This song was also later featured on the <span style="font-style: italic;">A Hard Day's Night </span>album, though it was dropped from the film version because the lyrics were too bitter.</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><br />- Written by Lennon. His lyrics take on a more personal tone from this point onwards, in this case alluding to his jealous side.<br />- Was slated to be the 6th official Beatles single until McCartney wrote <span style="font-style: italic;">Can't Buy Me Love</span>.<br />- Lennon sings the main vocals, with McCartney and Harrison providing back up.<br />- Lennon plays the guitar solo, the first time he does this in a Beatles song.<br />- Ringo overdubbed some bongos and cowbell. It's the first time he plays cowbells on a recording.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span>- Just prior to the recording of this song George Harrison was presented with a 12-string Rickenbacker electric guitar (only the second one made). This is the first Beatles recording to noticeably feature it... a lot of the other songs on <span style="font-style: italic;">A Hard Day's Night</span> would feature Harrison using it as well. More on that later.<br />- George Martin recorded a piano track to be used in the song for when it reappeared on the <span style="font-style: italic;">A Hard Day's Night</span> album, but for some reason this never went ahead.<br />- Runs for two and a half minutes and took nine takes to complete.</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_MsMI2Le-Dn0/SzS04BwdH9I/AAAAAAAABAw/Q78QFuxpfMI/s1600-h/cantbuymeUS.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 316px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_MsMI2Le-Dn0/SzS04BwdH9I/AAAAAAAABAw/Q78QFuxpfMI/s320/cantbuymeUS.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419155126270894034" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">U.S. single cover</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MsMI2Le-Dn0/SzS0yEPzGsI/AAAAAAAABAo/vtOzKZT_JWI/s1600-h/cantbuy+meresissue.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 318px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MsMI2Le-Dn0/SzS0yEPzGsI/AAAAAAAABAo/vtOzKZT_JWI/s320/cantbuy+meresissue.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419155023860013762" border="0" /></a>1992 CD reissue<br /></div>Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03013702384786937618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773535862530977016.post-38444464591491817212009-12-13T20:26:00.000-08:002009-12-13T20:53:01.827-08:00I Want to Hold Your Hand (single) 1963<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_MsMI2Le-Dn0/SyXEMLMJeQI/AAAAAAAAA-o/J2maNLceug0/s1600-h/IWANTHOLDHANDuk.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 250px; height: 250px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_MsMI2Le-Dn0/SyXEMLMJeQI/AAAAAAAAA-o/J2maNLceug0/s320/IWANTHOLDHANDuk.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414949840424106242" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">1. I Want to Hold Your Hand<br /></span>- The last Beatles release of 1963, this stand-alone single was released four days after <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://georgejohnpaulringo.blogspot.com/2009/11/with-beatles-album-1963.html">With the Beatles</a>.</span><br />- Written by Lennon and McCartney after their manager, Brian Epstein, told them to aim a single at the American market. The song is an even collaboration between the two, and was written on the piano.<br />- The song's structure is remniscent of the pre-vinyl era (1885 to 1930) populist music of New York city, a style sometimes known as Tin Pan Alley.<br />- Lennon and McCartney sing in harmony for the majority of the song - the vocal melody is not clearly defined enough to the extent that it can be sung successfully by just one singer.<br />- The first Beatles single to get the #1 spot on the American <span style="font-style: italic;">Billboard</span> Top 100 chart. Capitol Records weren't confident the single would sell though and Brian Epstein convinced them to spend a then-whopping $40 000 on pre-promotion. The single sold out so quickly that Capitol Records were forced to enlist the help of rival labels to press more copies.<br />- The first Beatles song to have an advance order from fans that exceeded 1 million copies.<br />- The first Beatles song to be recorded on a four-track rather than a two-track.<br />- Recorded with German lyrics for the German market as <span style="font-style: italic;">Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand</span>.<br />- Shot to #1 in the UK when it was released, knocking the previous Beatles single <a href="http://georgejohnpaulringo.blogspot.com/2009/11/she-loves-you-single-1963.html"><span style="font-style: italic;">She Loves You</span></a> down to #2. This is the first instance of an artist knocking themselves out of the #1 spot in British music history.<br />- Bob Dylan was very impressed when he first heard this song. He thought the line "I can't hide" was actually "I get high", and was surprised upon meeting the Beatles that none of them had smoked pot (yet).<br />- All four band members provide handclaps for the recording.<br />- Runs for just under two and a half minutes, and only took 4 takes to record.<br />- The 20th anniversary re-release of this single by Capitol Records airbrushed out a cigarette held by McCartney in the sleeve photo.<br />- The U.S. version of the single features <span style="font-style: italic;">I Saw Her Standing There</span> as the B-side.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">2. This Boy</span><br />- The B-side to the UK release of <span style="font-style: italic;">I Want to Hold Your Hand</span>.<br />- Written completely by Lennon. He wrote this as another Motown/Smokey Robinson-styled tune. More specifically, it's a 'do-whop' song.<br />- The middle-eight section/bridge was originally meant to be a guitar solo, but this was dropped during recording.<br />- Lennon sings the main vocals, with harmonising from McCartney and Harrison.<br />- The lyrics are rumoured to be about Lennon's mother, Julia, who was often beaten by her partner John Dykins.<br />- An instrumental version of this song was arranged for use in the film <span style="font-style: italic;">A Hard Day's Night</span>, and was re-titled <span style="font-style: italic;">Ringo's Theme (This Boy<span style="font-style: italic;">)</span></span>. This version was released as a single on it's own in 1964, but it failed to make any impact.<br />- I love this song, Lennon's vocals rule in it.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MsMI2Le-Dn0/SyXD-jAE06I/AAAAAAAAA-Y/MlgbadDeSP4/s1600-h/iwantholdyourhandUS.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 318px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MsMI2Le-Dn0/SyXD-jAE06I/AAAAAAAAA-Y/MlgbadDeSP4/s320/iwantholdyourhandUS.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414949606297752482" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">U.S. single cover<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_MsMI2Le-Dn0/SyXECZUXpyI/AAAAAAAAA-g/Px-n9I3zsIs/s1600-h/iwantholdyourhandJAPAN.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 319px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_MsMI2Le-Dn0/SyXECZUXpyI/AAAAAAAAA-g/Px-n9I3zsIs/s320/iwantholdyourhandJAPAN.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414949672417994530" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Japan single cover.</span><br /></div>Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03013702384786937618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773535862530977016.post-17187757938988312932009-11-22T21:00:00.000-08:002009-11-24T02:47:56.375-08:00With the Beatles (album) 1963<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_MsMI2Le-Dn0/Swu5ufgSC0I/AAAAAAAAA1g/xpplV6--rhc/s1600/wiuthtebeatles.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 318px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_MsMI2Le-Dn0/Swu5ufgSC0I/AAAAAAAAA1g/xpplV6--rhc/s320/wiuthtebeatles.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5407619985970432834" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">- Features 14 new tracks, 8 of which are original and 6 of which are covers (mostly contemporary R&B and mo-town staples).<br />- Released in November, 1963.<br />- Unlike the previous album, this one doesn't include the new singles (<a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://georgejohnpaulringo.blogspot.com/2009/10/from-me-to-you-single-1963.html">From Me to You</a>, <a href="http://georgejohnpaulringo.blogspot.com/2009/11/she-loves-you-single-1963.html"><span style="font-style: italic;">She Loves You</span></a>) released prior to it.<br />- Released in the U.S. (with a few track differences and two less songs) as </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Meet the Beatles.<br />- </span><span style="font-size:85%;">Features the first recording of a song written by George Harrison.<br />- Ringo starts to mix it up a bit percussion-wise on this album. In one instance he uses something called an 'Arabian loose-skin bongo'.<br />- The band was also given more time to put this album together than the hastily slapped-together <a href="http://georgejohnpaulringo.blogspot.com/2009/10/please-please-me-album-1963.html"><span style="font-style: italic;">Please Please Me</span> </a>album, and so they went to town with double-tracking everything.<br />- The album cover harkens to early promotional photos taken of the band back in Hamburg by their friend Astrid Kirchherr.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >1. It Won't Be Long</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />- Such a great album starter. A spiritual successor to the previous album's opening track - equally vibrant and raucous, and even more modern.<br />- Written mainly by Lennon with some input from McCartney in regards to lyrics and arrangement.<br />- Pretty standard for this period of the band's songwriting: features call-and-answer vocals, a vocal solo at the end, an unusual chord for the song to end on, and an unusual bridge that bucks the trends of the genre. The unexpected chords and notes that the band often used for the bridges in their earlier songs mark certain exact points where the Beatles really pushed the boundaries of the era.<br />- The lyrics apparently feature the word 'Yeah' 56 times!<br />- Lennon intended for this to be another big Beatles single, but </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >I Want to Hold Your Hand</span> was chosen instead.<span style="font-size:85%;"><br />- This is the first time Lennon would double-track his lead vocals, something that would become commonplace for the rest of his career.<br />- The original mono version of this song had a few vocal glitches in the final chorus.<br />- Runs for just over two minutes, and took 17 takes.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >2. All I've Got to Do<br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;">- Another Lennon track, this time influenced by Smokey Robinson, The Miracles, Arthur Alexander and other similar mo-town artists.<br />- This is one of three songs that Lennon pretty much wrote all by himself for this album (the other two are the aforementioned </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >It Won't Be Long</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> and </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Not a Second Time</span><span style="font-size:85%;">). Lennon later said that he was specifically aiming this song at an American audience, hence the phone references (as at the time phones apparently weren't really a part of British culture yet).<br />- Ends with Lennon humming over the verse as it fades out.<br />- This song was never played live, the only time the entire band played it together was during their recording of it for this album. As a result there were a lot of incomplete takes.<br />- Goes for the exact same amount of time as the previous song on the album, and took the same amount of takes.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >3. All My Loving</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />- Written by McCartney. Unlike a lot of other Beatles song from this time, the lyrics were written before the music.<br />- McCartney wrote this while the band was on tour with Roy Orbison. He envisioned it as a country & western styled song and primarily wrote the music on the piano. The lyrics were inspired by his girlfriend of the time, Jane Asher,<br />- The country & western angle was dropped before recording when McCartney realised it had the potential to be a single.<br />- Harrison's lead guitar work was modelled after country guitarist Chet Aitkens. Unusually (for a pop song), the guitar solo takes place over a specially written bridge that doesn't feature anywhere else in the song. Usually in pop songs a guitar solo will be played over a verse or a bridge that has previously featured in the song as a vocal part.<br />- The incredibly fast rhythm guitar parts were supplied by Lennon, who liked this song very much.<br />- This song recieved a lot of praise from the press and music critics due to it's letter-styled lyrics and general composition. As a result it had a lot of airplay despite not being a single in the U.K.<br />- The only places where it </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >was</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> a single were Scandanavia, where it reach #1 in Finland, and Canada.<br />- The song's popularity eventually led to it being re-released as the leading track on a 1964 E.P. of other previously released material.<br />- McCartney did all the vocals on the recorded version, but George Harrison provided the harmony vocals whenever it was performed live.<br />- Folklore says that this was playing on the hospital P.A. when John Lennon was officially pronounced dead in 1980.<br />- Runs for just over two minutes and took 14 takes to record.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >4. Don't Bother Me<br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;">- Considered to be the first song written by George Harrison. Ever!<br />- Harrison had previously co-written two unreleased Beatles tracks, </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Cry for a Shadow</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> (an instrumental co-written with Lennon) and </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >In Spite of All the Danger</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> (a McCartney song for which Harrison was given credit for writing the guitar solo). Both remained unreleased until they featured on the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Anthology </span><span style="font-size:85%;">series in 1995.<br />- Harrison sings the lead vocals, none of the others provided any back up vocals.<br />- Harrison didn't think very highly of this song but thought it was a handy exercise in songwriting. He proved to himself that he could write a whole song and it encouraged him to keep trying.<br />- Characteristically for Harrison (but not for the band at the time), the lyrics are downbeat and the song remains mostly in a minor key. This may also be because he wrote the song while he was sick with the flu.<br />- Ringo provides some latin-styled percussion.<br />- This song also features in the film </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >A Hard Day's Night</span><span style="font-size:85%;">.<br />- There are demo recordings still in existence of Harrison's early attempts at this song, though none have been officially released.<br />- Runs for two and a half minutes and took 15 takes.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >5. Little Child</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />- Written mainly by McCartney, who was inspired by a song from the Disney movie </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men</span><span style="font-size:85%;">.<br />- Is very much 'filler' material, something that McCartney even admitted himself.<br />- It was originally written for Ringo to sing, but he was eventually given something else.<br />- Lennon sings the lead vocals, and also provides some of his patented harmonica action.<br />- McCartney plays the piano on this recording... this is the first song to feature him doing so. Due to the prominence of piano and harmonica, the guitar can hardly be heard throughout.<br />- Runs for just over a minute and a half, and took 18 takes to complete.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >6. Till There Was You<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size:85%;">- This is a cover of a Meredith Wilson song from the musical play </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >The Music Man</span><span style="font-size:85%;">. It is the first of six covers to feature on the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >With The Beatles</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> album.<br />- Is the only Broadway tune to be covered by the Beatles.<br />- McCartney first became a fan of this song after hearing Peggy Lee's cover of it in 1961. The song became a part of the band's live set long before they even realised it was from a Broadway musical (lol, sucked in!)<br />- Ringo plays bongos on the recording.<br />- The 'original' Peggy Lee version featured a flute, though Harrison replicates the melody here on his guitar. The Beatles version is also faster and a bit more simplified.<br />- Runs for just over two minutes, and took 8 takes to record.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >7. Please Mr. Postman<br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;">- The last song of Side 1 of </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >With the Beatles</span><span style="font-size:85%;">, and another cover.<br />- Originally performed by the Marvelettes, whose version was the first single from the mo-town label to reach #1.<br />- The Beatles version isn't really all that famous... the Carpenters released a single of it in 1974 that is probably more famous.<br />- Lead vocals are sung by Lennon on the recording. I really dig it. Along with </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Twist and Shout</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> and </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >You Really Got a Hold on Me</span><span style="font-size:85%;">, these are the only covers recorded by the Beatles that I particularly like.<br />- The band used to perform this live during their Hamburg days in 1962. When it was time to record this song though they hadn't performed it at all since then (for over a year and a half) and they had a bit of difficulty nailing it quickly as a result.<br />- Runs for two and a half minutes, and took 9 takes.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >8. Roll Over Beethoven<br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;">- The first track on side 2 of </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >With the Beatles.<br />- </span><span style="font-size:85%;">A live favourite of the band from the days before they were even called 'The Beatles'. The continued playing it live right up until 1964.<br />- Harrison sings the lead vocals on the recording. He gets several of the lyrics wrong due to mishearing Berry's original lyrics, and also possibly because of how fast the band plays it.<br />- About a million bands have released covers of this song, including ELO.<br />- Originally written and recorded by Chuck Berry in 1956.<br />- This version was released as a single in the U.S. with </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Please Mr. Postman</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> as the B-side.<br />- Runs for two minutes and 40 seconds, and took 8 takes to finish.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >9. Hold Me Tight<br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;">- Written by McCartney, and dates back as far as 1961. It was inspired by the Shirelles, and he re-worked it (with some help from Lennon) as a possible single but it didn't come quite together and was eventually considered barely acceptable as album 'filler' (!)<br />- Both Lennon and McCartney had a pretty low opinion of this song. As a result the band stopped playing this song before the end of 1963.<br />- Originally recorded for the previous album, </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Please Please Me</span><span style="font-size:85%;">, but didn't make the final cut. This original recording no longer exists.<br />- McCartney's vocals seem a little bit offkey in some parts, which makes this a rarity among Beatles tracks. The song also starts out strangely, as if it is already mid-song.<br />- The final recording was sped up a little bit in the hope of giving it some pizazz.<br />- Unlike over Beatles originals, very few artists have covered this track. </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;"> <br /></span></span><span style="font-size:85%;">- Runs for two and a half minutes, and took 29 takes.</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">10. You Really Got a Hold on Me<br /></span></span></span><span style="font-size:85%;">- Another cover, this one was written by Smokey Robinson for The Miracles, who released a single of it in 1962.<br />- The Beatles started playing this one live in 1963.<br />- Lennon and Harrison sing the lead together. It took a lot of overdubs to complete.<br />- George Martin plays some piano on the recording.<br />- The band came up with the instrumental outro in the studio, and it was edited onto a seperate take for the ending.<br />- The "Oh-oh-oh" part of the vocals is a Beatles substitute for the word "though", adding some extra angst to their version.<br />- Runs for nearly 3 minutes, and took 11 takes to record.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >11. I Wanna Be Your Man<br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;">- The Rolling Stones asked the Beatles for a song, so Lennon and McCartney promptly and literally knocked this off for them whilst they watched. McCartney had already been working on it previously, but the Stones were still very impressed with how fast the duo could write a catchy song.<br />- A fairly straightforward and bluesy rock n roll track, the Stones released it as a single and had an early hit with it. The Stones version is in a lower key to the Beatles one, and has a slightly different structure.<br />- The Beatles later decided to record their own version in order to fill out the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >With the Beatles</span> album.<span style="font-size:85%;"><br />- Ringo sings the lead vocals, and also provides a percussive maracas track. When the band played it live Ringo would often forget the second verse and simply repeat the first one in it's place.<br />- George Martin plays the hammond organ on the recording.<br />- The Beatles played it live right up until 1966. The Stones ditched it from their set by the end of 1963 though, they had been inspired by the Beatles to start writing their own originals (the first original Rolling Stones track was an instrumental called </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Stoned</span><span style="font-size:85%;">, which featured as the B-side to their single for </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >I Wanna Be Your Man</span><span style="font-size:85%;">).<br />- Features in the film </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >A Hard Day's Night</span><span style="font-size:85%;">.<br />- The Beatles version runs for under two minutes and took 16 takes to record.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >12. Devil in Her Heart</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />- A cover, originally performed and recorded by the Donays (a girl group), whose version was called </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Devil in His Heart</span><span style="font-size:85%;">. This is probably one of the most obscure songs the Beatles ever covered.<br />- The band often played this live in 1962, with Harrison providing lead vocals both on stage and for the recording.<br />- The Beatles version changes a couple of lines and is a little bit faster.<br />- The band spent very little time recording this, with Lennon and McCartney always keen to rush through any material sung by Harrison (unless they had written the song for him).<br />- Harrison's vocals are double-tracked.<br />- Runs for almost two and a half minutes, and took 6 takes to record.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >13. Not a Second Time<br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;">- Written by Lennon, another attempt at doing something Smokey Robinson-ish.<br />- Has some odd chord changes, such as the end of the chorus and the notes Lennon sings at the end of the song.<br />- George Martin plays piano on the recording.<br />- Harrison doesn't feature on this recording at all.<br />- Music critic William Mann wrote a famous essay on this song for the British newspaper, </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >The Times</span><span style="font-size:85%;">, appreciating the band's supposed adherence to classical music theory. Mann was most likely unaware that no one in the band could actually read music.<br />- Runs for two minutes, and took 9 takes to complete.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >14. Money (That's What I Want)<br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;">- The last track of </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >With the Beatles</span><span style="font-size:85%;">, and another cover.<br />- Originally released as a single by Barrett Strong in 1959.<br />- Compared to the original, the Beatles version is in a lower key and a bit slower (the opposite to how they would usually perform covers).<br />- The band regularly played this live during their Hamburg sets in 1962.<br />- Lennon sings the lead vocals, and (rarely for a Beatles-recorded track), continued to perform it live post-Beatles. On the recording Lennon added a new line, "I wanna be free!"<br />- Evidently the band was trying to re-capture the magic of their previous album-closer, </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Twist and Shout. </span><span style="font-size:85%;">They come pretty close... Lennon's vocals are a lot more heartfelt here than on earlier live recordings of the band performing the song.<br />- George Martin plays piano on the recording.<br />- The mono and stereo mixes of this song have slightly different lead vocals.<br />- Runs for two minutes and 45 seconds, and took 7 takes. </span>Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03013702384786937618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773535862530977016.post-79787797783108876512009-11-07T19:31:00.000-08:002009-11-07T20:01:07.963-08:00She Loves You (single) 1963<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MsMI2Le-Dn0/SvZCCUS8SdI/AAAAAAAAAzA/MCBpcPhl-g4/s1600-h/She_Loves_Youuk.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 318px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MsMI2Le-Dn0/SvZCCUS8SdI/AAAAAAAAAzA/MCBpcPhl-g4/s320/She_Loves_Youuk.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5401577410652817874" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />1. She Loves You<br /></span>- The 4th official Beatles single, released between the albums <span style="font-style: italic;">Please Please Me </span>(1963) and <span style="font-style: italic;">With the Beatles </span>(1964). It's B-side is <span style="font-style: italic;">I'll Get You</span>.<br />- This is pretty much the Beatles' biggest selling single. It was their biggest selling single in the UK ever, and was one of five singles released in the U.S. that got into the Top 5 at the same time.<br />- A German version was released as <span style="font-style: italic;">Sie Liebt Dich</span> in both Germany and the U.S. The German branch of the record label apparently believed that the band would never be popular in Germany unless they sang in German... the band was against the idea but complied for this song and one other, <span style="font-style: italic;">I Want to Hold Your Hand</span>.<br />- As you might guess, the band was beginning to get bored of retreading the same lyrical ground - so they decided to move their 'I Love You' motif into the third person to mix it up a bit. This was McCartney's idea.<br />- McCartney's original plan was for the song to be a duet between himself and Lennon, with McCartney trying to convince Lennon that a girl loved him. He was inspired by the song <span style="font-style: italic;">Forget Him</span> by Bobby Rydell, though the idea was quickly abandoned in favour of something more straightforwardly catchy.<br />- Lennon and McCartney co-wrote this song fairly evenly whilst the band was on tour Gerry and the Pacemakers and Roy Orbison. They recorded it only two days after it was written.<br />- Interestingly (at the time), the song launchs right into the chorus at the beginning.<br />- George Martin didn't want the song to end on the jazzy 6th chord that features in the recording but the band overruled him. It was Martin's idea to the vocal harmony that the song also finishes on - he felt it was a bit of a classical cliche but also a unique touch for a pop song of the era.<br />- The band famously performed this song on <span style="font-style: italic;">The Ed Sullivan Show</span>, and it is considered by many to be the high point of 'Beatlemania'.<br />- The music press gave the band a bit of flack for this song, feeling that it was more of the same as their previous singles. Several people (including Paul McCartney's own dad) also complained about the inclusion of the colloquial words 'yeah yeah yeah' instead of 'yes yes yes', feeling that it was encouraging improper use of English.<br />- Runs for just under 2 and a half minutes.<br />- Reissued as a CD single in the UK in 1992.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">2. I'll Get You</span></span><br />- The B-side to <span style="font-style: italic;">She Loves You</span>.<br />- Predominantly written by Lennon, and intended as the next single after <span style="font-style: italic;">From Me To You</span>. <span style="font-style: italic;">She Loves You</span> ended up being the stronger song though and supplanted it.<br />- McCartney lifted one of the chord transitions from a Joan Baez song called <span style="font-style: italic;">All My Trials</span><br />- Unusually (for a Beatles song) McCartney and Lennon sing together for the majority of it, rather than taking turns or harmonising.<br />- The guitar is relegated mainly to rhythm duties so Lennon's trademark harmonica can take centrestage, and there is virtually no lead guitar work to speak of as a result.<br />- Runs for just over 2 minutes.</span> for the bridge section. <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_MsMI2Le-Dn0/SvZCWagdVcI/AAAAAAAAAzQ/4d_xMyzR6PM/s1600-h/shelovesyouUS.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 317px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_MsMI2Le-Dn0/SvZCWagdVcI/AAAAAAAAAzQ/4d_xMyzR6PM/s320/shelovesyouUS.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5401577755917505986" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">US Single cover</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_MsMI2Le-Dn0/SvZCQvnuH4I/AAAAAAAAAzI/MnVk7KtihN8/s1600-h/SHELOVESYOUreissue.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 318px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_MsMI2Le-Dn0/SvZCQvnuH4I/AAAAAAAAAzI/MnVk7KtihN8/s320/SHELOVESYOUreissue.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5401577658505895810" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">1992 CD single reissue</span><br /></div><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span>Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03013702384786937618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773535862530977016.post-29409705013572464752009-10-26T22:27:00.000-07:002009-10-27T00:15:08.078-07:00From Me to You (single) 1963<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_MsMI2Le-Dn0/SuadjVwh3XI/AAAAAAAAAvQ/LhYSg_iCwEw/s1600-h/fromemtoeyou.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_MsMI2Le-Dn0/SuadjVwh3XI/AAAAAAAAAvQ/LhYSg_iCwEw/s320/fromemtoeyou.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397174433911790962" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">1. From Me to You<br /></span>- This is the third official Beatles single. It's B-Side is <span style="font-style: italic;">Thank You Girl</span>.<br />- It was released between the albums <span style="font-style: italic;">Please Please Me </span>and <span style="font-style: italic;">With The Beatles</span> (both released in 1963), but features on neither of them. From this point on most of the band's singles would not feature on their albums.<br />- It was written as a fan-pleaser, the title is a reply to all the fan letters the band was already getting, and was inspired by the letters section of NME magainze, titled 'From Us to You'.<br />- Written by McCartney and Lennon while the band was on tour with Helen Shapiro. It was pretty much co-written 50/50.<br />- Kenny Lynch (he who tried to score a hit with a cover version of <span style="font-style: italic;">Misery</span>), who was also on tour with the band at the time and fancied himself as a bit of a songwriter, sat down with the band to help them write it... after about half an hour he got frustrated with the way they would ignore the then-established rules of writing pop songs and told everyone on the bus that they were idiots, knew nothing about songwriting and that the song was "bloody rubbish!" He also called them 'fairies' for singing the "woo" bits.<br />- The song ends on a minor chord despite being in a major key, indicating the kind of rule-breaking that annoyed Kenny Lynch so much.<br />- This is the first Beatles song to use the aforementioned "woo" device, which would become one of the band's many trademarks. McCartney's use of this was inspired by Little Richard.<br />- Lennon sings the lead vocals, and plays the harmonica again.<br />- It was George Martin's idea to do the "da-da-da-da-da-dum-dum-dah" bit at the beginning, as well as using the harmonica for the intro.<br />- Both McCartney and Lennon felt that the song could be re-arranged as a blues/ragtime-styled tune and spoke about this in seperate interviews later in their careers.<br />- Reached #1 in the UK charts but failed to make an impression in America, where it was released as their first US single. It probably didn't help that American rock n roll artist Del Shannon (best known for the song <span style="font-style: italic;">Runaway</span>) released a cover version of this song at the same time. Copies of the American first-pressing of this single are very sought after by Beatles-record collectors.<br />- It was later re-released in America in 1964 as the B-side to the US single for <span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"></span>Please Please Me</span>.<br />- It runs at just under 2 minutes and took 13 takes to record.<br />- The band also wrote an alternative version of this song with the title <span style="font-style: italic;">From Us to You</span>, for use in a radio program of the same name (it ran from 1963-1965).<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">2. Thank You Girl</span><br />- The B-side to <span style="font-style: italic;">From Me to You</span>. It doesn't feature on any of the Beatles UK studio albums, though it <span style="font-style: italic;">is</span> on <span style="font-style: italic;">The</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">Beatles' Second Album</span> (the band's imaginatively titled album for the US market).<br />- Lennon had started writing this song and then McCartney filled in some gaps. This was originally intended as an A-side but both Lennon and McCartney came to regard it as a bit of a 'hack' job quite early on, especially after they wrote <span style="font-style: italic;">From Me to You</span>. Lennon wrote the verses and McCartney did the chorus.<br />- Lennon sings the lead vocals, and also does some more of his trademark harmonica. His vocals are double-tracked here for the first time.<br />- At the time of it's recording, in 1963, two other songs were recorded as well - <span style="font-style: italic;">What Goes On</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">The One After 909. </span>These songs would not turn up on any releases until much later on - specifically the albums <span style="font-style: italic;">Rubber Soul </span>(1966) and <span style="font-style: italic;">Let It Be </span>(1970).<br />- The version released on <span style="font-style: italic;">The Beatles' Second Album</span> actually had a slightly different harmonica part.<br />- It was also released in America as the B-side to the US single for <span style="font-style: italic;">Do You Want to Know a Secret</span>.<br />- Runs for 2 minutes, and took 28 takes to finish.</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MsMI2Le-Dn0/SuadmL3lu9I/AAAAAAAAAvY/suZ91Stv_AE/s1600-h/beatles.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MsMI2Le-Dn0/SuadmL3lu9I/AAAAAAAAAvY/suZ91Stv_AE/s320/beatles.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397174482796657618" border="0" /></a> 1992 CD single cover</div>Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03013702384786937618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773535862530977016.post-85485470839296241992009-10-15T17:57:00.000-07:002009-11-07T20:02:08.627-08:00Please Please Me (album) 1963<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_MsMI2Le-Dn0/StfaaQz9gqI/AAAAAAAAAqw/ySyT6v0nxoY/s1600-h/Please-Please-Me.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_MsMI2Le-Dn0/StfaaQz9gqI/AAAAAAAAAqw/ySyT6v0nxoY/s320/Please-Please-Me.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5393019223523820194" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />- Features 14 tracks, 4 of which were original tracks that appeared on the two previously released singles. 6 of the tracks were covers, and the other 4 were more Lennon/McCartney compositions.<br />- Like the first two singles, and most of the Beatles' other output, this was produced by George Martin.<br />- Another track, </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Hold Me Tight</span><span style="font-size:85%;">, was written and recorded for the album but Martin decided that 14 tracks were enough and so this song was held over and re-recorded for the next album.<br />- Two tracks on the album are sung by George Harrison, and one is sung by Ringo.<br />- 10 of the songs (the ones that hadn't been recorded for the first two singles) were recorded in one day.<br />- The album was recorded while the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Please Please Me</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> single had yet to be released, meaning it was made before the band was yet to get a #1.<br />- When it came to selecting covers to record for the album, Martin vetoed the recording of songs by rock n roll artists like Chuck Berry and Little Richard as he felt that rock n roll was a dying fad.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >1. I Saw Her Standing There</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />- The opening track on the album, and it rules. One of my all time favourite Beatles songs.<br />- McCartney started writing it and showed what he had to Lennon and they finished it off together in 1961 whilst wagging school. Lennon mainly helped with the bridge.<br />- It's original title was </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Seventeen</span><span style="font-size:85%;">, and is rumoured to be about Iris Caldwell, sister to Rory Storm of local Liverpool band Rory Storm and the Hurricanes (who sometimes featured Ringo on the drums).<br />- McCartney admits to stealing the bassline from from a Chuck Berry song, specifically </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >I'm Talking About You</span><span style="font-size:85%;">.<br />- Bootleg recordings and alternate takes of this song reveal that McCartney sometimes changed the bassline in the chorus part of the song.<br />- The count-in at the beginning of the song would've normally been edited out of the final recording but Martin felt it was rather enthusiastic and left it in as an album starter.<br />- McCartney sings the lead vocals, with Lennon providing backup.<br />- Runs for 2 and a half minutes, and was completed in 12 takes.<br />- It was included as the B-side to the American release of the single </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >I Want to Hold Your Hand.</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />- McCartney still includes this song in his live sets today. One of the most recent performances of it featured Dave Grohl on the drums. Lennon also once performed it live post-Beatles, in 1974, with Elton John.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >2. Misery<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size:85%;">- Lennon and McCartney wrote this together whilst on tour with Helen Shapiro and Kenny Lynch in 1962.<br />- McCartney wasn't particularly proud of it, and Lennon took more credit for the songwriting overall.<br />- It was originally written with the intention of giving it to Helen Shapiro to record. Her management/record label turned it down but Kenny Lynch jumped right on it, obviously not afraid of a bit of sloppy seconds. He failed to chart with it, but is often credited as the first person to cover a Beatles song. Lynch can be seen amongst the celebrities featured on the cover of the Wings album </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Band on the Run</span><span style="font-size:85%;">.<br />- Lennon and McCartney co-sing the lead vocals, and George Martin plays the piano.<br />- Martin's piano bit took it's cues from a part played by Harrison on guitar.<br />- Runs for 1 minute and 47 seconds, and took 16 takes to complete.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >3. Anna (Go to Him)<br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;">- This is a cover of a ballad-ish Arthur Alexander song.<br />- Alexander's version was released in 1962. It was a minor hit but the Beatles version eventually became more famous.<br />- Lennon was a fan of the song and it was a part of the band's live set throughout 1962, hence it's appearance on the album, though the band would never perform it live again after it was recorded.<br />- The 'riff' (or phrase, or whatever you'd like to call it) was played on the piano for the original version but Harrison adapted it for the guitar for the Beatles' cover.<br />- Lennon sings the lead vocals, whilst McCartney and Harrison provided backing vocals. The band also performs the song in a different key to the original.<br />- Lennon had a cold on the day of the album's recording, most noticeable on this song and </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Twist and Shout</span><span style="font-size:85%;">, which accounts for the raspy tones he sometimes hits.<br />- Runs for 2 minutes and 56 seconds, and only took 3 takes to record.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >4. Chains</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />- This is a cover of a song originally released by the Cookies, and written by Carole King and her husband.<br />- A lot of Liverpool-based bands covered this track in their live sets during 1962, including the Beatles.<br />- Harrison sings the lead vocals in this recording. Lennon and McCartney provide backing vocals, and Lennon also plays the harmonica. Like <span style="font-style: italic;">Anna (Go to Him)</span>, the band performs this song in a different key due to the original being performed by a female singer.<br />- Lennon's harmonica replaces a part played on the saxophone on the original recording.<br />- The recording runs for 2 minutes and 21 seconds, and only took 4 takes to complete (though Martin ended up using the very first take).<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">5. Boys</span><br />- Another cover, originally peformed by another girl group - the Shirelles. The Shirelles released this song as a B-side.<br />- This was a live favourite for the band during their Hamburg and Cavern days in 1962, original drummer Pete Best would sing the vocals. I presume this was an inside joke on Lennon and McCartney's part, who were reputedly jealous of Pete Best's reputation as a pretty boy.<br />- The lead vocals were passed on to Ringo, from one drummer to another. Ringo also used to sometimes sing the song as a duet in his old band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes.<br />- Ringo didn't seem to mind that he was singing about boys.<br />- Runs for 2 minutes and 24 seconds, and was recorded in just one take.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">6. Ask Me Why<br /></span>- Released on the <span style="font-style: italic;">Please Please Me</span> single prior to the album's release. See full song info <a href="http://georgejohnpaulringo.blogspot.com/2009/10/please-please-me-single-1963.html">here</a>.<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />7. Please Please Me<br /></span>- Same as above. Full song info <a href="http://georgejohnpaulringo.blogspot.com/2009/10/please-please-me-single-1963.html">here</a>.<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">8. Love Me Do<br /></span></span>- Released as the band's first single. See full song info <a href="http://georgejohnpaulringo.blogspot.com/2009/10/love-me-do-single-1962.html">here</a>.<span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><br /><br />9. P.S. I Love You<br /></span></span>- Originally released as the B-side to <span style="font-style: italic;">Love Me Do</span>. Full song info <a href="http://georgejohnpaulringo.blogspot.com/2009/10/love-me-do-single-1962.html">here</a>.<span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">10. Baby It's You<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span></span></span>- Another Shirelles cover, a girl band that Lennon was a big fan of. This one was written by Burt Bacharach.<br />- The Beatles often performed this live between 1961 and 1963.<br />- Lennon sings the lead vocals, and also provides some of his trademark harmonica.<br />- Martin plays the celesta on this recording. A celesta is a kind of piano/organ that uses vibrating metal plates instead of strings. Martin also recorded a piano track as well but decided not to use it.<br />- Harrison replicates the original version's organ part on his guitar.<br />- Runs for just over 2 and a half minutes, and only took 1 take.<br />- A live recording of the Beatles playing this song later surfaced and was included on the band's <span style="font-style: italic;">Live at the BBC </span>album, released in 1994. This version was also released as a single/live EP in 1995, and reached #7 in the UK charts.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">11. Do You Want to Know a Secret?<br /></span>- This is probably one of the most hugely popular Beatles songs to have never been released on any Beatles Greatest Hits albums.<br />- Harrison sings the lead vocals on this song.<br />- Lennon and McCartney wrote about half of this song each, with Lennon taking inspiration from the song <span style="font-style: italic;">I'm Wishing</span>, from Disney's <span style="font-style: italic;">Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs</span>. The song may have been specifically written for Harrison to sing, with Lennon and McCartney mindful of keeping the vocal notes fairly simple and close together (as Harrison's vocals weren't as strong as theirs).<br />- Lennon wrote the lyrics and it's often been said that he wrote them about his wife Cynthia, whom he was forced to marry after knocking her up. The band's manager, Brian Epstein, encouraged Lennon to keep the marriage secret for the sake of the band's fans. Lennon subsequently maintained that the song's meaning was a lot more generic than that and wasn't specific to any real life events.<br />- Lennon jokingly changed the lyrics to "Do you want to hold a penis?" during the recording sessions for the <span style="font-style: italic;">Rubber Soul</span> album. It can be heard on some of the outtakes.<br />- Released as a single in the U.S. in 1964, where it got #2.<br />- Billy J. Kramer covered this song no less than 3 months after the <span style="font-style: italic;">Please Please Me</span> album was released and put it out as a single in the U.K., getting to #1. Imagine if someone did that today! You wouldn't get away with it.<br />- Runs for 1 minute and 55 seconds, and took 8 takes to complete.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">12. A Taste of Honey<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span>- Written by Bobby Scott and Ric Marlow in 1960 as an instrumental track, and considered to be something of a pop standard. Lenny Welch released the first version of it with vocals in 1961.<br />- McCartney sings the lead vocals, and was quite fond of the song.<br />- Ends on a major key, despite the rest of the song being entirely in a minor one. This was a trick of McCartney's, and he would use it to more famous effect in later songs.<br />- The band often performed this song live prior to it's recording. Lennon didn't really like the song much, and often changed the lyrics to "A waste of money".<br />- Runs for 2 minutes, and took 7 takes.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">13. There's a Place<br /></span>- Written entirely by Lennon, who was inspired by various Motown artists.<br />- In terms of harmonising vocals and the scale used by the harmonica in the intro, this song is considered to have pushed the boundaries of the band at the time (and pop music in general).<br />- Lennon's self-referential lyrics were highly unusual for pop music at the time of this song's release. Singers never sang about their own state of mind, and Lennon was unaware of being the first to do this.<br />- The harmonica intro follows a guitar part originally played by Harrison.<br />- Runs for 1 minute and 49 seconds, and took 13 takes to finish.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">14. Twist and Shout<br /></span>- A cover, and the last song on the album. Previously performed by the Topnotes and the Isley Brothers, but the Beatles' version is now the most familiar to modern listeners. It's also arguably the most famous Beatles' song that happens to be a cover. The Isley Brothers version was released in 1962 and reached #17 in the U.K. charts, generated enough money for them to start their own label at the time.<br />- Martin intentionally had the band record this song last as he knew Lennon's voice wouldn't last beyond it (especially as he had a cold at the time, and all the songs had been recorded in just one day).<br />- Lennon sings the lead vocals, though McCartney can be heard quite distinctly throughout. The vocal build up goes, in order, of Lennon, Harrison and McCartney - something owed to the version recorded by the Isley Brothers. The "woo" part though was a Beatles trademark, lifted from Little Richard.<br />- Lennon's voice took a while to recuperate after recording this, and the band was only given 15 minutes to record their vocals! The version heard on the album is the first take... Lennon's voice had virtually disappeared by the time they attempted a second take.<br />- Released as the title track of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Twist and Shout</span> EP in the UK in mid-1963. Also released as a single in the U.S. in 1964, where it reached #2.<br />- The song had a resurgence in popularity in 1986 after it featured in two comedy films at the time, <span style="font-style: italic;">Ferris Bueller's Day Off</span> and Rodney Dangerfield's <span style="font-style: italic;">Back to School</span>. It was re-released and reached #23 in the U.S. charts at the time.<span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></span>- Runs for 2 and a half minutes, 2 takes.<span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span></span>Lukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03013702384786937618noreply@blogger.com0