All the Songs
Page 48
Production
On January 22, the Beatles recorded for the first time in their new studio on Savile Row. They worked on several titles, including, “Dig a Pony,” then under the working title “All I Want Is You.” Two days later, several takes of Get Back were recorded. On January 28, they recorded additional takes and, during the lunch break, they discussed how to best play the song. It was not until January 30, during the famous concert on the rooftop, that they recorded the final version. After a false start, the performance of each of the Beatles was perfect, amazing because the song was difficult to play live. The Beatles enjoyed the technical challenge, and despite the freezing temperature, they succeeded admirably in recording it. The performance ended with John saying, “Thank you, brothers… Hands getting too cold to play the chords.” Billy Preston was at the keyboard, John sang and simultaneously played rhythm guitar, Paul sang backing vocals and played bass, George was on lead guitar on his sublime Telecaster (he assumed a rock ’n’ roll stance by kneeling at John’s feet, laughing), and Ringo was on drums. At the beginning, we can hear Ringo shouting, “Hold it!” to stop his bandmates because he was still holding a cigarette. Based on the performance, it was clear that the Beatles enjoyed playing the song. Glyn Johns recorded the performance live from the studio in the basement of the building on the 3M eight-track machine. Phil Spector mixed the track on March 23 and deleted the phrase All I want is you, which was at the beginning and at the end of the song.
Across The Universe
Lennon-McCartney / 3:45
1970
SONGWRITER
John
MUSICIANS
John: vocal, guitar
Paul: bass, piano, backing vocal
George: tambura, sitar, maracas, backing vocal
Ringo: drums
Lizzie Bravo, Gayleen Pease: backing vocals
Orchestra: 18 violins, 4 violas, 4 cellos, 1 harp, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, 2 acoustic guitars, 14 female vocalists
RECORDED
Abbey Road: February 4, 1968 (Studio Three), February 8, 1968 (Studio Two) / April 1, 1970 (Studios One and Three)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 9
MIXING
Abbey Road: February 8, 1968 (Studio Two) / October 2, 1969 (Room 4) / March 23, 1970 (Room 4) / April 2, 1970 (Room 4)
Olympic Sound Studios: January 5, 1970 (Studio One)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producers: George Martin, Phil Spector
Sound Engineers: Martin Benge, Geoff Emerick, Ken Scott, Jeff Jarratt, Glyn Johns, Peter Bown
Assistant Engineers: Phil McDonald, Richard Lush, Alan Parsons, Roger Ferris
Genesis
“Across the Universe” was not written in Rishikesh, as Barry Miles claimed in Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now. The first recording sessions for the song started on February 4, 1968, eleven days before John flew to Madras. The link to the chorus, Jai guru deva om, a Sanskrit phrase meaning “Victory to God Divine,” is misleading. John was inspired by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, whom he had discovered the previous year. Pete Shotton, John’s close friend, commented that the song had “perhaps the most eloquent testament to John’s feelings about [transcendental mediation].”2 Paul confirmed that Lennon had borrowed the change-the-world theme from the Maharishi’s philosophy.
The words come to John unexpectedly. He was lying in bed next to Cynthia, his first wife, and thinking about her reproach. “I was lying next to my first wife in bed, you know, and I was irritated. She must have been going on and on about something and she’d gone to sleep and I’d kept hearing these words over and over, flowing like an endless stream. I went downstairs and it turned into sort of a cosmic song rather than an irritated song; rather than a ‘Why are you always mouthing off at me?’ or whatever, right?” Fortunately, “The words stand, luckily, by themselves. They were purely inspirational and were given to me as boom! I don’t own it, you know; it came through like that.”3 John regretted that the Beatles did not spend more time on the song. He even accused Paul of having more or less subconsciously sabotaged the song. He was disappointed with the recording sessions in February 1968 and gave the song to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) of Great Britain for a charity drive on December 12, 1969. Later, in March 1970, Phil Spector revived “Across the Universe” and released it as part of the Let It Be album.
Across the Universe
For the fiftieth anniversary of NASA and in commemoration of the fortieth anniversary of the song’s recording, “Across the Universe” was transmitted into space. The transmission was aimed at the North Star on February 4, 2008. Paul commented on the event: “Amazing! Well done, NASA! Send my love to the aliens. All the best, Paul.”1
Production
When John recorded “Across the Universe” for the first time on February 4, 1968, he did not know “how to capture on tape the sounds he was hearing in his head.”4 The first take was the rhythm track, John on acoustic guitar, George on tambura, and Ringo on tom-toms, all three instruments fed through a revolving Leslie organ speaker and subjected to flanging. Then John recorded his lead vocal and added another guitar, and George created a splendid sitar intro, which Ken Scott enhanced by flanging. After a second vocal take, with the tape recorder running slightly slowly for faster playback, John and Paul suddenly came upon the idea of recording falsetto harmonies. However, finding vocalists on a Sunday without prior arrangements was not easy, even for the Beatles. Paul came up with a solution by simply stepping outside the studio to recruit two girls from among the fans who stood out front. The two lucky girls were Lizzie Bravo, a sixteen-year-old from Brazil, temporarily living in London, and Gayleen Pease, seventeen, a Londoner. After their performance, backwards bass and drum tracks were recorded and then erased, and various sound effects, including some humming, were added and similarly deleted. On February 8, Geoff Emerick, absent during the previous session, found the performance superb: “He put so much feeling into the song, and his vocal was just incredible.”5 But John hesitated. He was still unsure what the song needed in the way of instruments. George Martin played an organ and John added a Mellotron piece, both were immediately erased and replaced by a tone wah-wah pedal guitar (John), piano (Paul), and maracas (George). John finally recorded several vocals, encouraged by his bandmates. In vain! Frustrated, he decided to shelve the song. Later, he offered the song to the comedian Spike Milligan for use on a charity album for the World Wildlife Fund, No One’s Gonna Change Our World, compiled on October 3, 1969, by George Martin, who, at the last minute, added some bird sounds from Abbey Road’s sound effects library at the beginning and end. The song was sped up slightly (see Past Masters 2). Two years later, on April 1, 1970, Phil Spector expanded the version of February 8, 1968, by adding an orchestra of strings, brass, and female vocalists. The speed of John’s vocal was slowed by nearly a semitone, and the final mix was made on April 2. “Across the Universe” never did find its proper form. It remains one of the Beatles’ few failures.
I Me Mine
George Harrison / 2:25
1970
MUSICIANS
George: vocal, guitar
Paul: bass, acoustic guitar, organ, electric piano, backing vocal
Ringo: drums
Orchestra: 18 violins, 4 violas, 4 cellos, 1 harp, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, 2 acoustic guitars
RECORDED
Abbey Road: January 3, 1970 (Studio Two) / April 1, 1970 (Studios One and Three)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 18
MIXING
Olympic Sound Studios: January 5, 1970 (Studio One)
Abbey Road: March 23, 1970 (Room 4) / April 1, 1970 (Studios One and Three) / April 2, 1970 (Room 4)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producers: George Martin, Phil Spector
Sound Engineers: Phil McDonald, Glyn Johns, Peter Bown
Assistant Engineers: Richard Lush, Richard Langham, Roger Ferris
Genesis
George composed “I Me Mine” in five minutes in January 1969. He played it for Ringo during
the film Let It Be. Both John and Paul had little interest in the song. John, who did not participate, preferred to waltz with Yoko while his bandmates rehearsed. However, “I Me Mine” is a beautiful song, melodious and subtle. George was inspired once again by Indian teachings and denounces everyone’s selfishness. He explained, “After having LSD, I looked around and everything I could see was relative to my ego, like ‘that’s my piece of paper’ and ‘that’s my flannel’ or ‘give it to me’ or ‘I am.’ It drove me crackers, I hated everything about my ego.”1 George was looking for truth, and asked himself, “Who am I? The truth within us has to be realized: when you realize that everything else that you see and do and touch and smell isn’t real, then you may know what reality is and can answer ‘who am I?’”2
FOR BEATLES FANATICS
When Phil Spector decided to extend the song, he copied the part between 0:31 and the end of the song (January 3 version), and inserted it at 1:20.
Production
The short sequence of “I Me Mine” in the film Let It Be was not taped during the Get Back project in January 1969. Consequently, the Beatles needed to record the song. On January 3, 1970, Paul, Ringo, and George returned to the studio to work on the still unreleased Get Back album. John was vacationing in Denmark with Yoko, her ex-husband Anthony Cox, and their daughter Kyoko since December 29. George made fun of his absence just before launching into take 15: “You will all have read that Dave Dee is no longer with us. Micky and Tich and I would just like to carry on the good work that’s always gone down in number two!”3 (Number two refers to Studio Two at EMI.) (See Anthology 3.) “I Me Mine” was the last new song the Beatles recorded. Take 16 was the best rhythm track: George was singing a guide vocal and playing acoustic guitar, Paul was on bass, connected directly to the console (via a DI box), and Ringo was on drums. Overdubs were recorded at the completion of the basic rhythm track, George played electric guitar, and Paul the Hammond organ. George recorded his lead vocal, which he double-tracked in the last verse, and all provided backing on the bridges. After additional instruments were added—electric piano and lead guitar—Paul and George each played acoustic guitar in unison. The song was supposed to be completed at this stage, which was 1:34, but Phil Spector re-edited it on April 1. The final total time was 2:25. On this new master, he recorded strings and brass, arranged by Richard Hewson. Unlike the arrangement for “The Long and Winding Road,” this arrangement is not so pompous and George did not complain. The following day, Spector made the stereo mix.
Dig It
Harrison-Lennon-McCartney-Starkey / 0:50
1970
SONGWRITER
John
MUSICIANS
John: vocal, bass
Paul: piano
George: lead guitar
Ringo: drums
Billy Preston: organ
George Martin: shaker
RECORDED
Abbey Road: January 24 and 26, 1969
NUMBER OF TAKES: UNKNOWN
MIXING
Olympic Sound Studios: March 4 and 13, 1969
Abbey Road: March 27, 1970 (Room 4)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producers: George Martin, Phil Spector
Sound Engineers: Glyn Johns, Mike Sheady
Assistant Engineers: Neil Richmond, Roger Ferris
Genesis
In the official Beatles’ discography, “Dig It” was the second all-group composition coming after Magical Mystery Tour’s “Flying.” John wrote and improvised “Dig It” during two studio jams. Based upon a sequence of I-IV-V chords, the jam was an excuse to free-associate a series of mostly nonsensical lyrics. All the Beatles contributed to the lyrics and the song was credited to all of them. After a reference to Dylan’s “Like A Rolling Stone,” all four threw in names: FBI, CIA, BBC, the bluesman B. B. King, actress Doris Day, and Matt Busby, manager of Manchester United, one of the best soccer clubs in the England.
FOR BEATLES FANATICS
The improvisation from which this song originates began as a genuine cover of “Like a Rolling Stone” before changing into “Dig It.” Spector might not have had much choice in extracting a short sequence for the song: the first six minutes of the track featured six-year-old Heather, Linda’s daughter, on backing vocal!
Production
John led his bandmates through two recorded versions of his song “Dig It.” The first version was recorded on January 24. It featured simple lyrics, Can you dig it, yeah? The arrangement was more bluesy, including a predominant slide guitar. The second version, recorded on January 26, was 12:25. A tiny 0:49 fragment of this take appeared on Let It Be. John played a Fender six-string bass and sang lead vocal. Paul was on piano, George on lead guitar, Ringo on drums, and Preston on organ, while George Martin furiously shook a shaker, as can be seen in the movie. Apparently, the atmosphere was happy and relaxed. Phil Spector mixed the piece on March 27, 1970. On the Let It Be album, the segment between 8:52 and 9:41 was used for the song. At the end, Spector inserted a funny comment, John sarcastically saying, And now we’d like to do “Hark, the Angels Come.”
Let It Be
Lennon-McCartney / 4:02 (album version) / 3:49 (single version)
1970
SONGWRITER
Paul
MUSICIANS
Paul: vocal, piano, bass, maracas
John: bass, backing vocal
George: lead guitar, backing vocal
Ringo: drums
Billy Preston: organ, electric piano
Linda McCartney, Mary Hopkin (?): backing vocal
Unknown musicians: 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, 1 tenor saxophone, cellos
RECORDED
Apple Studios: January 25–26 and 31, 1969
Abbey Road: April 30, 1969 (Studio Three) / January 4, 1970 (Room 4)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 30
MIXING
Olympic Sound Studios: March 4, 1969 / January 8, 1970
Abbey Road: January 4, 1970 (Studio Two) / March 26, 1970 (Room 4)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producers: George Martin, Chris Thomas, Phil Spector
Sound Engineers: Glyn Johns, Jeff Jarratt, Phil McDonald, Peter Bown
Assistant Engineers: Alan Parsons, Neil Richmond, Nick Webb, Richard Langham, Roger Ferris
RELEASED AS A SINGLE
“Let It Be” / “You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)”
Great Britain: March 6, 1970 / No. 2 on March 14, 1970, for 9 weeks
United States: March 6, 1970 / No. 1 on April 11, 1970, for 2 weeks
Genesis
“Let It Be” is one of the best-known Beatles songs and one of the prettiest composed by Paul. As with “Yesterday,” he was inspired by a dream. One night during this tense time in the Beatles’ history, Paul dreamt of his mother Marie. She had died on October 31, 1956, from cancer. “It was so wonderful for me and she was very reassuring. In the dream she said, ‘It’ll be all right.’ I’m not sure if she used the words ‘Let it be’ but that was the gist of her advice, it was, ‘Don’t worry too much, it will turn out okay.’”1
Despite his irrepressible optimism, Paul doubted his mother’s assurances. Dissension and a troubled atmosphere reigned within the group; his relationship with John was beginning to crumble; Yoko was everywhere and there were problems with Apple. He felt he was losing control of the situation. He later summarized these feelings in the song “Carry That Weight” on Abbey Road: Boy, you’re gonna carry that weight / Carry that weight a long time.
Even though it was not conceived as such, for many people “Let It Be” became a spiritual song. Its musical arrangement emphasizes the text: “Mother Mary makes it a quasi-religious thing, so you can take it that way. I don’t mind. I’m quite happy if people want to use it to shore up their faith. I have no problem with that.”2
John felt little affection for the song. In 1980, he said to David Sheff, “That’s Paul. What can you say? Nothing to do with the Beatles. It could’ve been Wings. I don’t know what he’s thinking
when he writes ‘Let It Be.’ I think it was inspired by ‘Bridge Over Troubled Waters [sic].’ That’s my feeling, although I have nothing to go on. I know that he wanted to write a ‘Bridge Over Troubled Waters’ [sic].”3 However, John was wrong because Simon & Garfunkel’s hit was released at the beginning of 1970. Paul worked on his song during the recording sessions of the White Album. Chris Thomas recalled that at the time of the “Piggies” sessions on September 19, 1968, “There were a couple of other songs around at this time, Paul was running through ‘Let It Be’ between takes.”4
We can also question John’s intentions. During the album’s mix he inserted at the beginning of the song, without asking Paul, his parody of Hark the Angels Come (see “Dig It”) and linked it to Maggie Mae, a traditional Liverpool folk song about a prostitute who robbed a sailor.
FOR BEATLES FANATICS
At 2:58, Paul plays the wrong chord on the piano, but fixes it right away.
Production
When the Beatles began the first recording sessions for “Let It Be” on January 25, they had already worked on the song at Twickenham. They began to work on the arrangement of the song. Paul was at the piano and lead vocal, John on six-string bass (sharing backing vocals with George on lead guitar), Ringo on drums, and Billy Preston on Hammond organ and electric piano. They decided to continue the following day. At a later session, on January 31, John asked Paul, “Are we supposed to giggle in the solo?” Paul replied, “Yeah.”5 On April 30, George added a new guitar solo overdubbed through a rotating Leslie speaker on take 27 (the number corresponds to the camera shot). The song was put aside for eight months, and they reworked it on January 4, 1970. Paul replaced John’s bass line, since it lacked conviction, and George, Linda, and Paul triple-tracked stunning backing vocals. Linda sang a high soprano part. It is possible that Apple recording artist Mary Hopkin also participated. George Martin scored the arrangement for two trumpets, two trombones, and tenor saxophone. After reduction, George added a new guitar solo with distortion (without Leslie), while Ringo added drums and Paul maracas. Cellos, scored again by George Martin, appear at the end of the song. Several members of the group worked together on the final take.