Showing posts with label White Album. Show all posts
Showing posts with label White Album. Show all posts

Thursday, July 10, 2014

Yer Blues

There are many interesting Beatles facts associated with "Yer Blues," a track on the White Album.  The song was written by Lennon in India while he was, in his own words, "up there trying to reach God and feeling suicidal," a sentiment echoed in the song's lyrics. (Insert Dylan reference here.)  The song was originally titled "Your Blues," but Lennon, feeling that the song's connotations were too heavy, thought that "Yer Blues" would lighten the track's mood.  McCartney did not agree with the name change.

Lennon performed the song at the Toronto Rock 'n Roll Revival Concert in September, 1969.  A bootleg album for the Rolling Stones' unreleased film called Rock 'n Roll Circus includes a performance of "Yer Blues" by Lennon, Yoko Ono, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, and Mitch Mitchell.

The song was recorded at Abbey Road on August 13,, 1968, with overdubs done on August 14.  The count-in was added on August 20.  Lennon handles the lead vocal and plays lead guitar.  Harrison also plays lead, McCartney bass, and Starr the drums.

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Saturday, March 28, 2009

McCartney: The Album

One of the primary Beatles facts for the album McCartney is that it was the first solo album released by the Beatle. Recorded from November 1969 to March 1970, it was released on April 17, 1970. The other Beatles tried to delay its release since it might potentially conflict with the impending release of the controversial Let It Be LP and film. Phil Spector was still mixing the album as late as March of 1970. McCartney not only declined to postpone the release of his album but declared on April 10, 1970 that he was leaving the band, in part because of his dissatisfaction with Spector's work on Let It Be. The group, of course, had already begun to slowly disintegrate during the White Album sessions.

A portion of the album was recorded at McCartney's home in London on a four-track tape recorder. Another portion was recorded at Abbey Road Studios under the pseudonym of Billy Martin. Some of the tracks were instrumentals (see below).

Except for some backing vocals from his wife Linda McCartney, Paul played all instruments on the album and sang all lead vocals. The instrumentation was quite varied and included electric and acoustic guitars, bass, drums, organ, Mellotron, and mini-xylophone.

While George Harrison thought the album had merit, John Lennon thought that the LP lacked distinction given McCartney's perpetual desire for perfection in the recording studio.

The tracks include:

The Lovely Linda
That Would Be Something
Valentine Day (instrumental)
Every Night
Hot as Sun/Glasses (instrumental)
Junk
Man We Was Lonely
Oo You
Momma Miss America
Teddy Boy
Junk (instrumental)
Maybe I'm Amazed
Kreen-Akrore

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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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Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Beatles Song: Mother Nature's Son

This McCartney song is related to numerous Beatles facts. It was recorded at Abbey Road on August 9, 1968 and issued on The White Album. The song shows the fragmentation occurring within the Beatles since McCartney, George Martin, and session musicians worked on this without the other Beatles present, a growing trend in 1968.

Other great facts are that the bongos and timpani were put in the hall to make them sound distant. When John and Ringo entered the studio, the session became filled with a great deal of tension until the two Beatles left. The song was inspired by a lecture about nature by the Maharishi while the Beatles were in India. Lennon later said that his "Jealous Guy" was inspired by the same lecture.

McCartney sings and plays acoustic guitar, bongos, and timpani. Session musicians play brass, scored by George Martin. The brass is most prominent at the end of the song.

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