Technical Details
To record the three-part harmony and to limit track leak from the RLS10 White Elephant, Norman Smith positioned the singers as follows: John at the Neumann U48 microphone by himself and Paul facing George on another U48 in a figure-eight pattern (the microphone picks up the signal from its front and back while ignoring signals from the sides). The microphone was positioned perpendicular to the speakers to eliminate as much leakage as possible. Note that the Beatles did not begin using headphones until 1966.
I’m Down
(B-side of “Help!”)
1965
SINGLE
RELEASED
Help! / I’m Down
Great Britain: July 23, 1965 / No. 1 for 3 weeks, starting on August 7, 1965
United States: July 19, 1965 / No. 1 for 1 week, starting on September 4, 1965
I’m Down
Lennon-McCartney / 2:30
1965
SONGWRITER
Paul
MUSICIANS
Paul: bass, vocal
John: backing vocal, organ
George: lead backing vocal, rhythm guitar
Ringo: drums, bongos
RECORDED
Abbey Road: June 14, 1965 (Studio Two)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 7
MIXING
Abbey Road: June 18, 1965 (Studio Two)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producer: George Martin
Sound Engineer: Norman Smith
Assistant Engineer: Phil McDonald
Genesis
“I’m Down,” written by Paul with, in all probability, John’s help, is a tribute to Little Richard. Paul confided to Barry Miles, “I used to sing his stuff but there came a point when I wanted one of my own, so I wrote ‘I’m Down.’”1 He confessed, “And inasmuch as they are hard to write, I’m proud of it. These kind of songs with hardly any melody, rock ’n’ roll songs, are much harder to write than ballads, because there’s nothing to them.”2 Paul’s voice is hoarse, as in “Long Tall Sally.” The song is full of energy—one of the Beatles’ most dynamic songs. They used “I’m Down” to conclude their American tour at Shea Stadium on August 15, 1965. That day, with an audience of 55,000 fans, Paul shouted out “I’m Down” next to John, unleashed at the keyboard, playing without restraint and accompanied by a wild laugh from George. John said later, “I was putting my foot on it and George couldn’t play for laughing.… I was doing all Jerry Lee—I was jumping around and I only played about two bars of it.”3
FOR BEATLES FANATICS
At the end of the first take (as heard on Anthology 2), we hear Paul say, “Plastic soul man, plastic soul.” Plastic soul is an expression used by an old blues singer to describe Mick Jagger’s singing. Some time later the Beatles used it, with a slight modification, as the title of their sixth album, Rubber Soul.
Production
Recorded on June 14, this qualifies as one of Paul’s best performances. In a surprising demonstration of his musical versatility, he sang the beautiful vocal for “Yesterday” after bringing his voice to the breaking point on “I’m Down.” Seven takes were needed to immortalize “I’m Down.” The basic rhythm track included Ringo on drums, Paul on bass, George on rhythm guitar, and John playing for the first time on a Vox Continental portable organ. Paul sang, but was not double-tracked. Two distinctive choruses were added, and Ringo played the bongos in the coda. Finally, the two solos were recorded: George on his Gretsch Tennessean and John on a Vox Continental. George’s solo is explosive, and in the background we hear a fragment of another solo from a previous take (from 0:47 to 0:58). “I’m Down” was mixed in mono and stereo on June 18. The result is electrifying—a true cure when you feel a bit down!
Rubber Soul:
Setting a New Direction
1965
Drive My Car
Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)
You Won’t See Me
Nowhere Man
Think for Yourself
The Word
Michelle
What Goes On
Girl
I’m Looking Through You
In My Life
Wait
If I Needed Someone
Run for Your Life
ALBUM
RELEASED
Great Britain: December 3, 1965 / No. 1 for 8 weeks
United States: December 6, 1965 / No. 1 for 6 weeks
June 20, 1966 (Yesterday and Today) / No. 1 for 5 weeks
On October 12, 1965, four months after the last recording session for Help!, the Beatles started the first session for Rubber Soul. Brian Epstein still wanted to produce two albums a year. The Christmas holidays were approaching. It was time to get back to work. According to both John and Paul, this time they were coming up short. Nevertheless, Rubber Soul consisted mostly of new songs. Even better, this new album was a major turning point in the Beatles’ career in terms of musical composition and recording technique. Previously, the Beatles produced rough-cut diamonds. This time, however, their production exceeded all the usual standards of popular music and, right up until their separation, set a new path for the remainder of their career.
Rubber Soul is an album of change: new look, new sound, new instruments, new recording technique, new state of mind. Help! was a collection of pop songs. Rubber Soul brought a new way of thinking about music. Between these two albums, the Beatles were on a European tour, which began at the Palais des Sports (Sports Palace) in Paris. John had just published his second book, A Spaniard in the Works, and Ringo was about to become a father. Together they had concluded their second American tour with the largest concert ever at Shea Stadium in New York before an audience of 55,000 fans, and they had met their childhood idol, Elvis Presley. Thus, on October 12, when they walked into the studio, they must have been exhausted. Nevertheless, the album offers pure jewels. John demonstrates his talent as an innovator and songwriter creating some of his best songs, including “Girl,” “Norwegian Wood,” and “In My Life.” Paul, the genial lyricist, created Michelle. George contributed two excellent songs, “Think for Yourself” and “If I Needed Someone,” and Ringo co-composed his first title, “What Goes On.”
George’s Sitar
George, who considers Rubber Soul the best Beatles album, joined with Western youth in discovering Indian culture. On Rubber Soul, he introduces the sitar as a new instrument.
On November 11, the final recordings were made. Within a month, the four from Liverpool had once more achieved their goal, but it was the last time they kept the pace of two albums a year. In the United States, songs from Rubber Soul appeared on the American Rubber Soul as well as Yesterday and Today.
As soon as it was released, Rubber Soul breezed to the top of the charts. The album received positive reviews and was often cited as one of the Beatles’ greatest and one of the top albums of all time. The title Rubber Soul meant nothing by itself. It was just a pun on rubber sole and a reference to Mick Jagger in the slang of some bluesmen (see “I’m Down”): “It was just a pun on sole à l’anglaise—rubber sole. Nothing more,” according to John Lennon. Paul McCartney said, “I think the title Rubber Soul came from a comment an old blues guy had said of Jagger. I’ve heard some out-takes of us doing ‘I’m Down,’ and at the front of it, I’m chatting on about Mick. I’m saying how I’d just read about an old bloke in the States who said, ‘Mick Jagger, man. Well you know they’re good—but it’s plastic soul.’ So ‘plastic soul’ was the germ of the Rubber Soul idea.”1
An Inspiring Album
Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys was very impressed by the quality of the songs on Rubber Soul, and found in the album inspiration to compose what became one of the greatest rock albums of all time, the extraordinary Pet Sounds.
The cover set the tone of the album: innovative and smoky. George commented, “I liked the way we got our faces to be longer on the album cover. We lost the ‘little innocents’ tag, the naiveté, and Rubber Soul was the first one where we were full-
fledged potheads.”2 Robert Freeman’s superb photo was the result of pure chance. A photo shoot was organized at John’s house in Weybridge, where each Beatle wore a turtleneck. Back in London, Freeman invited the Beatles over to show them the slides. He projected them onto a piece of cardboard to show what they would look like as an album cover. Suddenly, the cardboard fell backwards a little, elongating the picture. Paul, “[The picture] stretched and we went, ‘That’s it, Rubber So-o-oul, hey hey! Can you do it like that?’ And he said, ‘Well, yeah. I can print it that way.’ And that was it.”3
A Small Group with a Strange Name
Norman Smith, the exceptional sound engineer who had recorded all the Beatles’ music since their debut on June 6, 1962, left his position after recording Rubber Soul. One of the main reasons was the atmosphere within the group. Paul acted more and more as the leader, and his colleagues—John in particular—followed him only with difficulty. Early in 1967, Smith began managing a small group with the odd name of Pink Floyd that he found promising…
The Instruments
The sound of the Indian sitar was revolutionary on the album. George used this instrument in “Norwegian Wood.” Paul took up his Rickenbacker 4001S bass, which he had used once in 1964. He used a new 50W Fender Bassman amplifier. George would later use this amplifier for his guitar. There is a harmonium part in “We Can Work It Out.” John acquired a new Spanish classical guitar, probably a José Ramirez A1 Segovia. Finally, a distortion petal, a Tone Bender, was used on the bass in “Think for Yourself.” Otherwise, the Beatles used the same instruments as on Help!
Drive My Car
Lennon-McCartney / 2:27
1965
SONGWRITER
Paul
MUSICIANS
Paul: vocal, bass, piano, lead guitar (?)
John: vocal, tambourine (?)
George: lead guitar, backing vocal
Ringo: drums, tambourine (?), cowbell
RECORDED
Abbey Road: October 13, 1965 (Studio Two)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 4
MIXING
Abbey Road: October 25–26, 1965 (Studio Two)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producer: George Martin
Sound Engineer: Norman Smith
Assistant Engineers: Ken Scott, Ron Pender
Genesis
Paul was pleased with his tune, but not his lyrics. He hurried to John’s house in Weybridge to rewrite the song. The basic idea was to work with a phrase about a ring, You can buy me a golden ring. Neither Paul nor John were inspired and they didn’t get anywhere with this phrase, which Paul didn’t like to begin with. After a cigarette break, Paul somehow came up with another phrase, and they settled on drive my car instead of golden rings. “To me it was LA chicks saying, ‘You can be my chauffeur,’ and it also meant ‘You can be my lover.’ Drive my car was an old blues euphemism for sex, so in the end all is revealed.”1 He added, “Once you’ve got the great idea, they do tend to write themselves.”3 Paul wrote the music and was coauthor of the lyrics with John. Paul credits the song in his favor, 70/30.
FOR BEATLES FANATICS
In the background of the mix, between 1:42 and 1:52, we can hear some guitar phrases. Probably leakage from previous recordings.
Production
The Beatles recorded “Drive My Car” on October 13. The session began at 7 P.M. and lasted past midnight—to 12:15 A.M., to be exact. It was the first time a recording session ended after midnight, a practice that quickly became a regular occurrence. The rhythm track was completed in only four takes. In 1977, George revealed that when Paul arrived at the studio to work on one of his titles, he usually imposed the musical arrangement he had envisioned on the others without asking them their opinion. However, this day, George reacted differently, “For ‘Drive My Car’ I simply played a guitar line that was, in fact, very close to ‘Respect’ by Otis Redding. I played this part, and Paul followed me on bass.” Later, he was less clear: “I played the bass line on ‘Drive My Car.’ It was like the line from ‘Respect’ by Otis Redding.”3 However, it was more than likely that Paul was on bass.
One thing is certain, the effect is striking, giving the bass a totally new prominence. The rhythm track, supported by Ringo on drums and probably John, who did not play guitar, on tambourine (even though Mark Lewisohn mentions a rhythm guitar) is highly effective. The Beatles came close to the “soul” sound of their idols. George used his Fender Stratocaster Sonic Blue, Paul without a doubt his Rickenbacker 4001S. Ringo added a cowbell and Paul a piano part. The guitar solo is the subject of some debate. Presumably, George played the guitar solo, but some suggest it was Paul. The album notes do not cite him on guitar, but credit him with the piano. It is likely that they played the introduction together, George on his Strato and Paul on his Epiphone Casino. Finally, the vocal parts were recorded. Paul and John sang in harmony and George came in with “beep beep.” The mono mix was made on October 25 and the stereo mix on October 26, the same day that the Beatles collected their Medal of the British Empire (MBE) from the Queen.
Technical Details
There is a noticeable difference between the mono and stereo mixes of this song. The stereo mix enhances Ringo’s cowbell and has more reverberation on the vocals.
Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)
Lennon-McCartney / 2:03
1965
SONGWRITER
John
MUSICIANS
John: vocal, rhythm guitar
Paul: bass, piano, backing vocal
George: sitar, lead guitar
Ringo: drums, tambourine, finger cymbals
RECORDED
Abbey Road: October 12 and 21, 1965 (Studio Two)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 4
MIXING
Abbey Road: October 25–26, 1965 (Studio Two)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producer: George Martin
Sound Engineer: Norman Smith
Assistant Engineers: Ken Scott, Ron Pender
Genesis
“Tears welled in Cynthia’s eyes … ‘There were an uncountable number,’ John insisted, ‘in hotel rooms throughout the bloody world! But I was afraid for you to find out. That’s what “Norwegian Wood” was all about, the lyrics that nobody could understand. I wrote it about an affair and made it all gobbledygook so you wouldn’t know.’”1 This conversation between John and his wife was reported by Peter Brown, Brian Epstein’s and the group’s personal assistant. This charming song with an Irish flavor tells the story of an extramarital affair. John explained later to Peter Schiff, “I was trying to be sophisticated in writing about an affair. But in such a smokescreen way that you couldn’t tell. But I can’t remember any specific woman it had to do with.”2 His childhood friend, Pete Shotton, suggested that it was a female journalist. Speculation points to an affair with Maureen Cleave, a well-known journalist and the author of the famous Evening Standard article in which John made comments about Jesus Christ and Christianity that caused a scandal at the time (see Revolver). Was she the bird involved?
John took full credit for “Norwegian Wood” in 1980, but seems to have forgotten his partner. According to Paul, John had begun the song in January or February 1965 while on a skiing vacation in the Swiss Alps with his wife Cynthia and George Martin and his future wife. When Paul later joined him at Kenwood, his contribution was significant. It was Paul who came up with the idea of having the main actor set his mistress’s apartment on fire as revenge when he wakes up and finds that she has left. According to Paul, credit is 60/40 in John’s favor. John later told Playboy that he hadn’t the faintest idea where the title came from. But Paul remembers that Peter Asher, Jane’s brother, had his room done in wood, which was fashionable at the time. Norwegian wood might have sounded more poetic.
Production
On October 12, the Beatles returned to the studio to begin the recording sessions for Rubber Soul. After “Run for Your Life,” they started “Norwegian Wood” under the working title “Thi
s Bird Has Flown.” The basic rhythm track was recorded, and John tried to find an arrangement expressing his intent. George had become familiar with Indian music during the filming of Help! and became fascinated with Ravi Shankar. He bought a sitar from a shop on Oxford Street called Indiancraft and played it for the first time in “Norwegian Wood.” “We would usually start looking through the cupboard to see if we could come up with something, a new sound, and I picked the sitar up—it was just lying around. I hadn’t really figured out what to do with it. It was quite spontaneous. I found the notes that played the lick. It fitted and it worked.”3 This had enormous repercussions in the music world. From the Yardbirds to the Kinks and even the Stones, a multitude of artists and bands adopted this sound. John finally found the sound he was looking for.
On October 21, after trying different versions of the song, they arrived at the final arrangement with take 4. John was simultaneously on the vocal and played his Jumbo J-160 E, George was on his Framus Hootenanny twelve-string, and Paul was on bass and backing vocal. George later added his famous sitar, which, just like John’s vocal, was not doubled. Ringo completed the piece with a bass drum, tambourine, and finger cymbals on the final guitar chord. On the tape we hear some hand claps, as if someone slapped his thigh (at about 0:44 and 1:34), but it is hard to figure out exactly what the sound is. Mono and stereo mixes were made on October 25 and 26.
All the Songs Page 19
