All the Songs
Page 24
Yellow Submarine
Lennon-McCartney / 2:37
1966
SONGWRITER
Paul
MUSICIANS
Ringo: vocal, drums
John: backing vocal, acoustic guitar
Paul: bass, backing vocal
George: backing vocal, tambourine
Brian Jones, Mick Jagger, Marianne Faithfull, Pattie Boyd, Mal Evans, Neil Aspinall, John Skinner, Terry Condon, Alf Bicknell: backing vocals and sound effects
RECORDED
Abbey Road: May 26, 1966 (Studio Three) / June 1, 1966 (Studio Two)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 5
MIXING
Abbey Road: June 2–3, 1966 (Studio Two) / June 22, 1966 (Studio Three)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producer: George Martin
Sound Engineer: Geoff Emerick
Assistant Engineers: Phil McDonald, Jerry Boys
RELEASED AS A SINGLE
“Eleanor Rigby” / “Yellow Submarine”
Great Britain: August 5, 1966 / No. 1 on August 11, 1966
United States: August 8, 1966 / No. 11 on September 10, 1966
Genesis
One night, as he was falling asleep in his little room at the Ashers’ house, Paul had an idea for a children’s song. “The color yellow came to me, and a submarine came to me.”1 He thought it would perfectly suit Ringo and he composed a melody with a rather simple vocal range. Apart from John, their musician friend Donovan helped out with the lyrics: Sky of blue, and sea of green / In our yellow submarine. “It was nothing really, but he liked it and it stayed in.”2 Ringo also participated with a slip of the tongue! Instead of saying, every one of us has all he needs, he sang, every one of us has all we need. This error was immediately accepted!
FOR BEATLES FANATICS
There is a replica of a yellow submarine at the Liverpool John Lennon Airport.
Production
On May 26, George Martin was not available because he had food poisoning. Judy, his secretary and future wife, was in charge of representing him. After a long rehearsal, the recordings started: John was on acoustic guitar, Paul on bass, Ringo on drums, and George on tambourines. The fourth take of the rhythm track was good. The singing was then provided by Ringo, accompanied by his comrades’ backing vocals (which were overdubbed). The tape recorder was slowed down to slightly raise the pitch to normal speed. John decided then to repeat the lyrics of the third couplet in order to make it more dynamic. A few days later, Phil McDonald accidentally deleted the two first sentences (around 1:44). Martin and Emerick had to be clever in order not to incur John’s anger … After a reduction on a second machine, two new tracks were available.
On June 1, George Martin returned. This second session degenerated into chaos. In order to create a suitable atmosphere, the Beatles had invited a few friends and members of the staff: Brian Jones, Mick Jagger, Marianne Faithfull, Pattie Boyd, Mal Evans, Neil Aspinall, John Skinner, Terry Condon, and Alf Bicknell … Very soon, joints were going around. Everyone searched in the studio’s reserve, called the trap room, to find a weird instrument in order to create sound effects: glasses, whistles, bells, sirens, chains … John chose to blow bubbles with a straw in a bucket. As he got inspired, he then asked Geoff Emerick to record his voice underwater! A microphone covered with a condom was plunged into a milk bottle full of water: they could not get the desired effect, so the idea was dropped (Ken Townsend remembered a plastic box being used instead of a condom). It was party time! You could hear Pattie Boyd screaming on the second line around 0:56. John and Paul imitated various voices and Mal Evans was wandering around the studio carrying a bass drum, followed by all the participants in the party! After everyone had added side effects and backing vocals, George Martin, no doubt inspired by Paul, decided to add the solo of a brass band. There are two stories about this solo: Martin was certain there was a brass band playing; on the other hand, Emerick claimed it was taken from a record, cut and edited randomly. The goal was to avoid paying musicians and royalties. In the introduction, an imaginative poem by John was read by Ringo with marching feet in the background (actually the sound of shoveling coal!). The idea was dropped during the mono mix of June 3, but you can hear it on the re-edit from the 1996 single “Real Love.” The stereo mix was done on June 22.
She Said She Said
Lennon-McCartney / 2:34
1966
SONGWRITER
John
MUSICIANS
John: vocal, rhythm guitar, organ
Paul: bass (?)
George: lead guitar, backing vocal, bass (?)
Ringo: drums
RECORDED
Abbey Road: June 21, 1966 (Studio Two)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 4
MIXING
Abbey Road: June 21, 1966 (Studio Two) / June 22, 1966 (Studio Three)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producer: George Martin
Sound Engineer: Geoff Emerick
Assistant Engineers: Phil McDonald, Jerry Boys
Genesis
“She Said She Said” was the last song recorded for Revolver. Written by John at the last minute, it had remarkable power and sound, and somehow represented the very essence of the album. Writer Ian MacDonald stated that the record was Paul’s creation, but what would Revolver be without “Tomorrow Never Knows,” “Doctor Robert,” “I’m Only Sleeping,” or “She Said She Said”? John Lennon gave the psychedelic and innovative tone to the whole album; he was the one who surprised listeners with his dreamy atmosphere, his intimate and provocative lyrics. This does not disparage McCartney’s great talent in any way because his musical intelligence was exceptional. But to say that one of the two musicians dominated the other would be an oversimplification. This was not to forget George’s essential contribution, because his Indian sounds and philosophy gave the album its definitive aura.
The song was created around a rather bizarre incident: while the Beatles were beginning their new American tour in August 1965, they rented a house in Benedict Canyon in North Hollywood. During a party with the Byrds and Peter Fonda, the future Wyatt from the film Easy Rider, John, George, and Ringo (without Paul, who preferred to abstain) decided that their second LSD trip would be voluntary (because the first time, they had been given the drug without their knowledge) … While they were all tripping, Peter came up to John and told him, “I know what it’s like to be dead.” John, flying high, did not want to hear about it and wanted to enjoy the sunshine, the pretty girls, and the party. Peter insisted, “I know what it’s like to be dead.” Annoyed, John fled from this ominous person, “Don’t tell me about it! I don’t want to know what it’s like to be dead!”1 This “conversation” triggered the song. George stated that he helped John gather a few scattered elements and structure them into a song. The first version was very acoustic and was called “He Said.” Only in the studio, at the end of the session, did John come up with its final title.
Production
“She Said She Said,” recorded on June 21, had a rather irregular rhythmic signature that was pretty typical of John. After rehearsing it for the better part of the session, the group needed three takes to lay down the rhythm track. Although this was not specified on the recording files, Paul did not think he played on it. “I think we’d had a barney [a fight] or something and I said, ‘Oh, fuck you!’ and they said, ‘Well, we’ll do it.’ I think George played bass.”2
Paul no doubt participated in the first takes before leaving the session. This was too bad, because Ringo performed superbly on drums, one of his best performances, along the lines of “Rain.” Compression added extra power to his playing, which made it one of the major highlights of the piece. The sound of the guitars was another hallmark of “She Said She Said”—George’s playing, saturated with Indian sounds, mixing perfectly with John’s arpeggios. “The guitars are great on it,”3 John said in 1980. After having recorded his vocal (which was doubled and slightly sped up), supported by George’s backing vocal, J
ohn added a part on the Hammond organ, and George then doubled his guitar work. The mixes were done at the end of the session. The final version was produced the next day.
Good Day Sunshine
Lennon-McCartney / 2:07
1966
SONGWRITER
Paul
MUSICIANS
Paul: vocal, bass (?), piano, hand claps
John: rhythm guitar (?), backing vocal, hand claps
George: bass (?), backing vocal, hand claps
Ringo: drums
George Martin: piano
RECORDED
Abbey Road: June 8–9, 1966 (Studio Two)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 3
MIXING
Abbey Road: June 9, 1966 (Studio Two) / June 22, 1966 (Studio Three)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producer: George Martin
Sound Engineer: Geoff Emerick
Assistant Engineers: Richard Lush, Phil McDonald, Jerry Boys
Genesis
George had launched side A with “Taxman,” whereas Paul opened side B with “Good Day Sunshine.” This superb song, which was one of the favorites of Leonard Bernstein, was inspired by “Daydream” by the Lovin’ Spoonful, a song that did really well on the charts in the spring of 1966. “‘Good Day Sunshine’ was me trying to write something similar to ‘Daydream.’ John and I wrote it together at Kenwood, but it was basically mine, and he helped me with it.”1 Although the Beatles denied it, the lyrics were ambiguous: I feel good in a special way implies other pleasures apart from sunbathing, especially after they had written “Got to Get You into My Life,” an ode to cannabis. “Good Day Sunshine” was certainly an expression of optimism and sunlight.
Production
On June 8, the Beatles rehearsed this song by Paul. Its working title was “A Good Day’s Sunshine.” After a rather long discussion, they settled down to produce the rhythm track. Paul was on piano (the Steinway B Grand Piano), Ringo on drums, and, no doubt, John was on rhythm guitar and George on bass. Although three takes were recorded, the first one was used for the overdub. In order to make the voices more dynamic, the sung parts were recorded with a slightly slowed-down tape recorder. Paul sang lead, and John and George the backing vocals. The very next day, Ringo added another bass drum, a snare drum, and cymbals. George Martin decided to record a piano solo for the song’s middle eight and, as he did for the vocals, he slowed down the tape recorder: at normal speed it sounded honky tonk. Then there were hand claps and new backing vocals for the end of the song. As they did in “And I Love Her,” the song was raised half a tone for this part. This gave the vocal a different dynamic, and they concluded the song in a remarkable way. The mono mix was carried out the same day and the stereo mix on June 22. The final title, “Good Day Sunshine,” was then agreed on.
FOR BEATLES FANATICS
On vacation on the Côte d’Azur during the summer of 1966, Pattie Boyd went around the clubs with her French friend Zouzou to give the disc jockeys the first buzz about “Good Day Sunshine.”
And Your Bird Can Sing
Lennon-McCartney / 1:58
1966
SONGWRITER
John
MUSICIANS
John: vocal, rhythm guitar, hand claps, tambourine (?)
Paul: bass, lead guitar, backing vocal, hand claps
George: lead guitar, backing vocal, hand claps
Ringo: drums, tambourine (?), hand claps
RECORDED
Abbey Road: April 20 and 26, 1966 (Studio Two)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 13
MIXING
Abbey Road: April 20, 1966 (Studio Two) / April 27, 1966 and May 12, 1966 (Studio Three) / May 20, 1966 (Studio One) / June 6, 1966 (Studio Three) / June 8, 1966 (Studio Two) [editing only]
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producer: George Martin
Sound Engineer: Geoff Emerick
Assistant Engineers: Phil McDonald, Jerry Boys
Genesis
“And Your Bird Can Sing” was a song by John with a rather mysterious title and lyrics: “Another of my throw-aways,”1 he said in 1972. There was much speculation about this bird—a bird in British slang can mean either a “whore” or a “girlfriend.” The names of Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithfull were mentioned, as were those of Paul and Jane Asher. It was more likely that John was in the middle of a psychedelic delirium when he wrote it. Besides, on Anthology 2, you could hear him crack up laughing with Paul during the recording. Surely an effect of Mary Jane. In a 1995 interview, Paul stated about this episode, “One of my favorites on the Anthology is, ‘And Your Bird Can Sing,’ which is a nice song, … Sounds great just hearing us lose it on a take.”2
Production
The rhythm track was recorded on April 20 after two takes. During this second take, John and Paul giggled uncontrollably. And John sang, while laughing, When your bike is broken, instead of When your bird is broken. Although five mixes were done by the end of this session, the song was entirely redone six days later. This was sad, because with a break toward the end and whistles on the coda, this first version would probably have been better than the one used on the record.
On April 26, thirteen takes were carried out, but the tenth one was kept for the overdubs. John was on rhythm guitar, George on lead, Paul on bass (giving an excellent performance), and Ringo on drums. Ringo added, apart from tambourines—(or was it John?), a drum part with cymbals at the bridges. John then recorded his voice, supported by Paul and George. But what distinguished this song was the guitar solo that was the envy of many novice guitar players. In fact, it was a guitar duo, played by George and Paul on their Casino Epiphones. In an interview with Mojo magazine in 2011, Paul confided in Michael Simmons, “George and I would work out a melody line, then I would work out the harmony to it.… That’s me and George both playing electric guitars. It’s just the two of us, live. It’s a lot easier to do with two people, believe me.”3 The mono mix of May 12 for the American public for Yesterday and Today was in fact the edit of take 10 and of the end of take 6. The stereo mix was on May 20 and the mono for Revolver on June 6, with an edit of mixes 9 and 10 done on June 8. Despite the opinion of the composer, it was an excellent song that made the guitars sound great.
For No One
Lennon-McCartney / 1:59
1966
SONGWRITER
Paul
MUSICIANS
Paul: vocal, bass, piano, clavichord
Ringo: drums, tambourine, maracas
Alan Civil: French horn
RECORDED
Abbey Road: May 9 and 16, 1966 (Studio Two) / May 19, 1966 (Studio Three)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 14
MIXING
Abbey Road: June 21, 1966 (Studio Three)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producer: George Martin
Sound Engineer: Geoff Emerick
Assistant Engineer: Phil McDonald
Genesis
In March 1966, Paul went skiing with Jane in Klosters-Serneus, in Switzerland. In the cottage they rented, he isolated himself in the washroom—probably after a fight—to write a song about the end of a love affair: “Why Did It Die,” the working title of “For No One.” The lyrics, which were once again inspired by his difficult relationship with Jane, expressed his disillusionment. Later on, he said to Barry Miles, “I don’t have an easy relationship with women, I never have. I talk too much truth.”2 A sad balance sheet of a failed affair, “For No One” was also one of his best songs. John also confirmed this. He said several times that “For No One” was one of his favorite songs, a “superb work.”
FOR BEATLES FANATICS
Alan Civil supplied a different story about the recording of the solo: “It was rather difficult to understand what they wanted. So I played something in a medium register, a rather baroque solo.”1
Production
On May 9, ten takes were required to record the rhythm track. Paul was on piano and Ringo on drums. Paul then sat down at a clavichord, the ancestor of the pi
ano (rented by George Martin through the AIR company): “It was a very strange instrument to record, and Paul played it.”3 Ringo added a drum part with a snare drum and maracas. Paul then recorded his voice, on May 16, on the tape recorder that had been slightly slowed down to gain over half a tone at normal speed. Martin and Emerick proceeded to reduce the whole song on another machine, while deleting the drums. Paul wanted the solo part to be played by a French horn, which was an instrument he had loved since childhood. Dennis Brain, a famous musician, was hired, but died in a car accident before the session. Alan Civil was then chosen to replace him. In the studio, Martin noted the solo that Paul was humming for him. He pointed out to him that one of the notes went beyond the register of the French horn. Paul insisted on trying it anyway. When Alan Civil examined the part, he noticed the same thing. “George, you’ve written a D.”4 George Martin and Paul did not comment, so Alan understood that they expected him to do something extraordinary. After many tries, he finally got the note out. Paul, who was not really paying attention to his performance, asked him to do another take. But when Alan got annoyed, Paul gave up. Along with Anil Bhagwat, he was the first freelance musician to be mentioned on a Beatles record cover. Paul and Ringo finished the session by recording a bass and a tambourine part, respectively. The final mono and stereo mixes were completed on June 21. Neither John nor George participated in the recording.
Technical Details
Contrary to Norman Smith, Geoff Emerick used very little reverb on Revolver. Certain songs benefited from this, for example “For No One.”