Showing posts with label Abbey Road. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Abbey Road. Show all posts

Thursday, July 10, 2014

Oh! Darling

This McCartney song placed on Abbey Road was recorded at Abbey Road Studios on April 20, with overdubs added on April 26, July 23, and August 8 and 11.  McCartney, thinking that his voice sounded too clear, went into the studio every day for a week to sing it until it attained a throaty quality.  An earlier version of the song was performed in the Let It Be film.  An off-the-cuff version of the song can be heard (with modified, humorous lyrics) on Anthology 3.

Harrison commented that the track is "mainly Paul shouting," with the other Beatles doing "a few things in the background."  Lennon liked the song very much, although he believed it was more his own style and that he could have performed it better.

McCartney plays bass, Harrison lead guitar and synthesizer, and Starr drums.  McCartney handles lead vocal, with Lennon doing a backing vocal.

SITEMAP

Home
About
Beatles Albums: Background and History
Beatles Biography
Beatles Connections: Official Websites for the Beatles Inner Circle
Beatles Discography
Beatles Films
Beatles General Discussion Topics
Beatles History
Beatles News
Beatles Roadies: Neil Aspinall and Mal Evans
Beatles Solo Discography
Beatles Songs Discussed on BeatlesFacts.org
Beatles Songs - Solo
Beatles Timelines
Beatles Trivia Quiz
Books About the Beatles
Books by John Lennon and George Harrison
Quarrymen
Sitemap
Sites Related to Beatles History
Songs Covered by the Beatles
The Beatles Official Website
The Lennon Pages
Contact
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , ,

Thursday, June 4, 2009

You Never Give Me Your Money

The Beatles facts for "You Never Give Me Your Money" are noteworthy because of the details relating to the song's inspiration. Apple Corps Ltd. was losing money because of a poor business plan that originally called for people to submit their artistic projects to the company--paintings, music, books, electronics, poetry, and much more. Apple, however, had no organized system to deal with (or execute) the massive number of submissions they received. (James Taylor is one of the few artists who was successfully signed by Apple and went on to have a successful, sustained career.) Also, Lennon and McCartney were fighting to own their own song publishing company.

The song was part of the B side of Abbey Road, beginning the suite (which was McCartney's idea). It leads into "Sun King," "Mean Mr. Mustard," "Polythene Pam," "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window," "Golden Slumbers," "Carry That Weight," and "The End."

It was recorded at Olympic Sound Studios on May 6, 1969. Overdubs were added in July and August at Abbey Road Studios.

McCartney plays bass and sings lead. McCartney and Lennon provide backing vocals. Lennon plays lead guitar, Harrison plays rhythm, and Starr plays drums and tambourine.

Harrison was very fond of the track because he thought it to be very melodic.

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , ,

Thursday, February 19, 2009

The White Album

The White Album has about as many Beatles facts as any other album by the group. The double LP was recorded from May 30, 1968 to October 14, 1968, and the Beatles themselves admit it was "the beginning of the end" as band members more and more recorded their tracks (or parts of others' tracks) separately or in different studios at Abbey Road. (A few tracks were recorded at Trident Studios.) It was this time, in fact, that Ringo temporarily left the group. Also, Yoko began attending the sessions, and the album marks the first time other artists recorded with the Beatles, artists such as Eric Clapton ("While My Guitar Gently Weeps"), Jackie Lomax, and Dave Mason. It was released in the UK on November 22, 1968 and in the U.S. on November 25, 1968. Until 1977, it was the best-selling double LP of all time.

George Martin believed that the group should have recorded a solid single album, but the Beatles had written many songs while in India and had a backlog that they were determined to put out in this double-package format. Even then, many songs did not make it onto the final product, such as Harrison's "Not Guilty," Lennon's "What's the New Mary Jane," and several others. (The two mentioned above are included on Anthology.

Harrison, Lennon, and Starr felt at this point that they were becoming a back-up band for McCartney (although Starr quit because he felt he wasn't drumming well). McCartney was paying extraordinary attention to his own material at the expense of working on the others' material, although there are some notable exceptions. Starr noted in Anthology, for example, that the feuding went out the window when the group was working on a solid track, such as "Yer Blues."

Many present at the sessions, such as former Quarryman Pete Shotton, felt that Yoko's presence stifled communication among the band members, who no longer felt as if the sessions were intimate enough to offer constructive criticism. At one point, Ono moved her bed into the studio because she was ill, and biographers have stated that she went as far as offering criticisms for various tracks, a gesture that didn't sit well with Harrison, McCartney, or Starr.

There are even great facts surrounding the actual white packaging. The official title of the LP was The Beatles, which was embossed on the cover together with serial numbers to make each copy completely distinctive. (The numbering was allegedly McCartney's idea.) Inside the album was a large fold-out sheet with a collage of pictures of the Beatles on one side and the lyrics to all album songs on the other. The package also contained decent-sized, individual color pictures of each band member. The design for the collage was done by Jeremy Banks.

The working title for the album was A Doll's House. After "Cry Baby Cry," part of a McCartney song is heard with the lyric "Can you take me back where I feel good, brother can you take me back." This track is not listed on the album even though "Wild Honey Pie," another snippet, is included.

Lennon liked his work on the White Album very much. Harrison liked the LP as well, although like George Martin, he felt that there was too much material for the listener to deal with. Starr thought it was a better exercise in pure rock and roll, unlike the very experimental Sgt. Pepper. McCartney has always defended the album simply on the basis that it was a Beatles' album and sold well, although he has also added that it has merit because it shows the band in an atmosphere where it was free to experiment.

The White Album also fed the "Paul Is Dead" mania because there are bits and pieces of sentences from "Revolution 9" which, when played backwards, seem to reveal Lennon saying "Turn me on dead man" or other fragments alluding to Paul's demise. As far as this track in general, McCartney, Starr, and Harrison did not like it at all and fought unsuccessfully to keep it from being included.

The tracks included:

Back in the U.S.S.R.
Dear Prudence
Glass Onion
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
Wild HOney Pie
The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Happiness Is a Warm Gun
Martha My Dear
I'm So Tired
Blackbird
Piggies
Rocky Raccoon
Don't Pass Me By
Why Don't We Do It in the Road
I Will
Julia
Birthday
Yer Blues
Mother Nature's Son
Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey
Sexy Sadie
Helter Skelter
Long, Long, Long
Revolution I
Honey Pie
Savoy Truffle
Cry Baby Cry
Revolution 9
Good Night

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , ,

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Abbey Road: The Album

The Beatles' final album, released before Let It Be, is the source of several interesting Beatles facts. George Martin was surprised that McCartney wanted to record with the Beatles again, but he assured Martin, who was leery, that the group felt they should get back into the studio and make a really good record after the debacle of Let It Be.

Lennon and McCartney, openly hostile to each other at times, had different visions of what the album should be. Lennon wanted to do straightforward rock and roll, while McCartney wanted to do a kind of rock opera. The compromise resulted in Side A being done as Lennon wanted, with side B as McCartney desired. Side B was filled with bits of partial songs that neither Lennon nor McCartney had ever finished, so they were run together in many cases. Starr, however, thought this effect stunning and believed it was some of their best work. Abbey Road is also the only album on which Ringo ever did a drum solo.

The album was recorded from February 22 to August 19, 1969 at Abbey Road, Olympic Studios, and Trident Studios. While the album is regarded by most fans and critics as great work, far more professional than the Let It Be tracks, there was still some bickering in the studio among all four Beatles. Comments by many engineers and close Beatles' friends bear out this fact. McCartney admitted to being more of a bossy producer at this stage, and George and Ringo were at times openly hostile. Nevertheless, the group, while still not in the studio together for all sessions, were able to record a great album as evidenced by the complex, rehearsed harmonies on "Because." Also, it is a fact that Harrison, Lennon, and McCartney took turns playing lead in the final guitar solo at the end of Side B. Both Lennon and McCartney felt that Harrison's "Something" was the best song on the album. With Harrison's "Here Comes the Sun," this period marks the complete maturation of Harrison as a songwriter.

After recording for the LP was finished, Lennon was quoted as saying that the Beatles had been "together" more than at any recent time in the past, although he would later say that he thought Side B to be inferior because it was just bits of songs. George Martin remembers the album as a positive experience. That having been said, the Beatles broke up shortly after the LP was finished, with Lennon saying he wanted a divorce from the group.

The actual cover of the album, now iconic, played into the "Paul is dead" hysteria since McCartney walked across the street in bare feet. All of the above facts make this last Beatles album totally unique.

The tracks include:

Come Together
Something
Maxwell's Silver Hammer
Oh Darling
Octopus's Garden
I Want You (She's So Heavy)
Here Comes the Sun
Because
You Never Give Me Your Money
Sun King
Mean Mr. Mustrad
Polythene Pam
She Came in Through the Bathroom Window
Golden Slumbers
Carry That Weight
The End
Her Majesty

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: ,

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Come Together

The composition and recording of "Come Together" touches on several interesting Beatles facts. Lennon, who wrote the song after being in an auto accident that shook him up severely, was taken to court by Big Seven Music because of the similarity of the opening and first two lines of the song to Chuck Berry's "You Can't Catch Me." Not admitting guilt, Lennon resolved the matter by agreeing to record three Big Seven songs, which he did on Rock 'n Roll and Walls and Bridges. The phrase "Here come(s) old flat-top" was indeed lifted straight from the Berry song, although Lennon's song seems to bear little resemblance to Berry's. Lennon's troubles foreshadowed Harrison's, who would later be sued for allegedly copying the melody of "He's So Fine" for "My Sweet Lord."

The song, according to Lennon, was a piece of "gobbledygook" written in the studio. The song was supposed to be a campaign song (and hence the phrase "come together") for Timothy Leary, who wished to challenge Ronald Reagan for the gubernatorial seat in California.

Another great Beatles fact is that the opening "Shoot!" uttered by Lennon is really "Shoot me!" although the bass and hand-clap smother the word "me," a fact noted by recording engineer Geoff Emerick. The track was one of Lennon's favorites because he liked the weird lyrics and regarded the melody as "funky."

The track was recorded on July 21, 1969 at Abbey Road and was released as a single (the B side to "Something") in the UK and U.S. on October 31 and October 6, 1969 respectively.

Lennon sang lead and McCartney did backing vocal. Lennon played lead guitar (as he was doing more frequently), Harrison rhythm, McCartney bass, and Starr drums.

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , ,

Sunday, January 4, 2009

January 3-4, 1970: "I, Me, Mine" is the Swan Song

The last recording sessions of the Beatles as a group took place at EMI on January 3 and 4, 1970. George, Paul, and Ringo recorded Harrison's "I, Me, Mine," which was released on the Let It Be Album.  This session was actually held, however, after Abbey Road was finished and released.  A little known Beatles fact is that Paul, George, and Ringo went back and worked on "Let It Be" and "I, Me, Mine" long after the Abbey Road sessions were concluded and the Let It Be tapes were in the can.  Ringo, in fact, was still laying down drum tracks into April of 1970,

The last recording session with all four members present was for "I Want You/She's So Heavy" for Abbey Road the previous year.   Abbey Road was definitely the last album released by the Beatles, but it was not the last album that at least three of the Beatles worked on.

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , ,

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Olympic Studios to Close in London

London's Olympic Studios was the site where the Beatles recorded "All You Need Is Love" and "Baby You're a Rich man." The recording facility is scheduled for closure in 2009. The owner, EMI, said that the studios were no longer profitable and that the company would rather forcus its money and energy on Abbey Road Studios.

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)