Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Blackbird

This McCartney composition was written after McCartney read a newspaper account of a 1968 race riot in America. The Beatles fact for this song is that it symbolized the plight of the average young (and poor) black woman. In his 2003 BACK IN THE USA tour, McCartney told audiences how girls were called "birds" in Great Britian, and hence the title: "Blackbird.". Lennon says he gave McCartney one line for the song.

The song was recorded at Abbey Road on July 11, 1968 using three microphones. One mike was used for McCartney's voice, one was used to pick up his acoustic Martin D-28, and the last was used to record the sound of his steady foot-tap. The sound of birds chirping was added later, although there was some dissent in the group over whether the song was improved by the addition of these sounds. The song was actually written next to a windowsill after McCartney woke up one morning. "Blackbird was also performed during the WINGS OVER AMERICA tour in 1976.

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