Thursday, February 12, 2009

Beatles Song: Back in the U.S.S.R.

Another song with great history and Beatles facts behind it is McCartney's "Back in the U.S.S.R.," issued on The White Album. The working title was "I'm Backing the U.S.S.R.," a title McCartney liked because he realized that the kids in the Soviet Union really liked the Beatles, even though the Soviet government had banned the group's records.

The song also has roots in Chuck Berry's "Back in the U.S.A.," which the Beach Boys had already covered. Mike Love of the Beach Boys had contributed to the chorus to McCartney's parody while with the Beatles and the Maharishi in India.

It's a fact that Ringo has always admitted he wasn't drumming well during The White Album sessions and has acknowledged on many occasions that he was very unhappy about his inability to get the drumming right for this track--and Paul's decision to play the drums himself. (McCartney would continue to overdub instrumentation by Harrison and McCartney during these sessions.)

The song, originally written for fashion model Twiggy, was performed by Billy Joel to a crowd of thousands in Moscow in 1987.

McCartney sings lead, and Harrison and Lennon do backing vocals. McCartney plays lead guitar, piano, and drums. Lennon plays a six-string bass, and Harrison plays a jazz bass. Starr does not appear on this track, and it is thought that this track was the catalyst for his temporarily quitting the band.

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