Wednesday, January 28, 2009

I'm a Loser

This Lennon composition was written on the plane during the Beatles summer 1964 tour. The interesting Beatles fact here is that Lennon, clearly in his Dylan period, was once again confessing publicly through the song that he was insecure and needed help. Lennon thought this was one of his best early works. It was performed live on the TV show Shindig. It was recorded August 14, 1964 and appeared on Beatles for Sale.

Lennon sings lead vocal and plays acoustic guitar and harmonica. McCartney plays bass and provides backing vocal. Harrison plays lead guitar, and Starr plays drums.

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Ringo's Drumming

A really interesting Beatles fact is that Ringo was known for his "funny fills" since he was a left-handed drummer using a right-handed drum kit. He has always admitted that he is not a good drummer in the technical sense. Indeed, he was the first Beatle to leave the group, which occured in 1968 during The White Album sessions. He felt he wasn't drumming well, and the group had to coax him back into the studio. Lennon sent Ringo a telegram saying that he was the best drummer in the world, and Harrison had the studio decked out with flowers.

All this having been said, Lennon is once responded to the question "Is RIngo the best drummer in rock and roll?" by saying "He's not even the best drummer in the Beatles." By 1968, McCartney (a more-then-competent drummer) would frequently go back to the studio in the evenings (even before Starr quit) to dub in the drum parts. Everyone close to the Beatles was aware of this, but it remained unspoken.

Neverthless, George Martin has always complimented Ringo's playing, saying that he never failed to provide what a song needed. Harrison and Lennon are also on record as saying that even though Ringo has a different style and doesn't always use proper technique, he's a "great" or "damn good" drummer" who provided the necessary backbeat. McCartney has said in the past that Ringo is an excellent drummer, but that he received very strict guidance on almost every track recorded by the Beatles.

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Beatles News: McCartney to Appear on Colbert Report

Sir Paul McCartney will apear on the Colbert Report today, Wednesday, January 28, 2009. Macca will be on the show to talk about his latest CD, Electronic Arguments, a collaboration between McCartney and a musician called Youth. Together, the two musicians issued the CD under the pseudonym of a band called The Fireman.

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She's a Woman

A great Beatles fact for "She's a Woman" is that it was written and recorded on the same day at Abbey Road Studious: October 8, 1964. Released as the B side to "I Feel Fine," the song was released in the UK and and U.S. on November 27, 1964 and November 23, 1964 respectively. The song was a part of the Beatles' touring repertoire from 1964 to 1966. Part of the song is heard during Help! when the group is on Salisbury Plains.

McCartney handles bass, piano, and vocal. (Note how prominent the bass is on this track, and also how much the piano helps keep a background melody sustained.) Harrison plays lead, Starr plays drums, and Lennon plays rhythm, with the distinctive opening downstroke on his Rickenbacker 325 sustained throughout the entire song.

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Tuesday, January 27, 2009

I'm Looking Through You

The interesting Beatles fact for "I'm Looking Through You," a McCartney composition, is that Paul wrote this about his relationship with Jane Asher. The two were engaged at one point, but Asher allegedly found McCartney in bed with another woman and has declined to speak of her former relationship for all these years. The song was recorded on October 24, 1965, and November 6 and 10, 1965 at Abbey Road. Anthology contains a slower version with maracas and acoustic guitars featured prominently. On Capital version of Rubber Soul, the intro for this song contains two false starts on the opening (with an acoutic guitar). On the slow version, Starr plays a Hammond organ.

McCartney plays bass and sings lead vocal. Lennon plays acoustic guitar and sings harmony vocal. Harrison plays lead (some say Harrison plays the acosutic as well). Starr plays drums.

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Misery

"Misery" is a joint Lennon-McCartney composition originally written for sixteen-year-old Helen Shapiro when she toured the UK with the Beatles in February and March of 1963. The cool Beatles fact is that although Shapiro was the most popular pop singer in Great Britain at the time, her management declined the song. It was recorded on February 11, 1963 at Abbey Road and was included on the Please Please Me album, the group's first.

McCartney and Lennon share lead vocals. Lennon plays rhythm guitar, Harrison lead, McCartney bass, and Starr drums.

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Mean Mr. Mustard

The BeatlesFact for "Mean Mr. Mustard," a Lennon song, was that it was written by John in 1968 while in India. Lennon had actually read an account of a mean man similar to the Mr. Mustard in his song, a man who actually did hide five-pund notes in his nose. Lennon regarded the song as a "piece of garbage." An early home recording of the song can be heard on Anthology. "Sun King" and Mean Mr. Mustard" were recorded as a single song for the Abbey Road album on July 24, 1969.

Lennon and McCartney do the lead and harmony vocals respectively. McCartney plays fuzz bass, Lennon piano, Harrison lead, and Starr drums and tambourine.

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Beatles News: James McCartney Planning to Record Album

A great Beatles fact is that James McCartney, thirty-one-year-old son of his famous father, Sir Paul, is now working with a Merseyside band called the Dead 60s. This represents without a doubt the younger McCartney's attempt to tap into his father's Mersey Liverpool musical roots, the "Mersey scene" representing the fertile ground from which the British Rock Invasion grew in the 1960s. It is reported by many that James is an excellent guitarist and that Sir Paul will accompany his son on whatever CD James ultimately goes into the studio to record. James is given credit on the packaging for performing on both Flaming Pie (1997) and Driving Rain (2001). If and when James records the approximately twenty songs he is said to have written, he will join Dhani Harrison, Zak Starr, Julian Lennon, and Sean lennon in pursuing the musical heritage of their fathers.

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Beatles History: MGM Releases "My Bonnie"

On January 27, 1964, MGM Records, taking into account the phenomenon of Beatlemania, released the single "My Bonnie" by Tony Sheridan, on which the Beatles were merely the backing band. The interesting Beatles fact is that when Sheridan later came out with an album, the words "The Beatles" filled almost the entire front of the light green package, with Tony Sheridan in small print. In reality, the Beatles had recorded "My Bonnie" during their second trip to Hamburg in 1961. The B side of Sheridan's record was "The Saints" ("When the Saints Go Marching In"). Disappointed fans who bought the Sheridan single and LP were left wondering "Where are the Beatles? We don't hear them."

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Beatles History: The Making of "Instant Karma"

The great Beatles fact about this song is that John Lennon wrote, recorded, and mixed "Instant Karma" (subtitled We All Shine On) in a single day--January 27, 1970. The song has remained one of Lennon's solo signature tunes and is often featured in films and documentaries to symbolize Lennon's optimistic side and occasional ebullience.

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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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I Need You

"I Need You" is a Harrison composition written for girlfriend Patti Boyd while he was filming Help! in the Bahamas. The track was recorded on February 15, 1965 at Abbey Road. The Beatles fact here is that some sources believe the song could have been recorded as late as March, 1965.

Harrison sings lead vocal, and Lennon and McCartney sing backing vocals. Harrison plays lead guitar, McCartney bass, Lennon acoustic guitar, and Starr the drums.

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Drive My Car

"Drive My Car" was a Lennon-McCartney collaboration, with Lennon contributing about one third of the lyrics. The really interesting Beatles fact for this song is that the original line was "You can give me golden rings" instead of "You can drive my car." Neither Lennon nor McCartney liked the original line, which was changed in the studio.

There were small difference between John and Paul's vocals on the last verse, but George Martin did not think the minor mistake worth the trouble of recording the song again.

McCartney played the lead guitar lick on bass, after which Harrison laid down the same line on lead guitar over the bass. Harrison felt that the lead riff had an Otis Redding feel to it.

McCartney played bass, piano, and sang lead; Lennon played tambourine and also sang backing vocal; Harrison played lead guitar and sang backing vocal; Starr played drums.

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Good Day Sunshine

"Good Day Sunshine" is a McCartney composition on which Lennon is thought to have contribted a very small portion of the lyrics. The interesting Beatles fact here is that the song was written at John's house on an especially sunny day, and McCartney claimed the song was influenced by the Lovin' Spoonful. It was recorded on June 8, 1966 at Abbey Road and released on Revolver.

McCartney does the lead vocal, with Lennon and Harrison providing backing vocals. Starr plays drums and George Martin plays the piano, at times using a bit of a honky tonk style.

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And I Love Her

For "And I Love Her," the pertinent Beatles fact is that McCartney had the original idea, and Lennon helped with about a third of the song. Lennon cliamed the middle eight represented his contribution. It was recorded February 25, 26, and 27, 1964 at Abbey Road Studios, shortly after the group had returned from America. By the mid-70s the song has been covered by other artists 372 times. It was released on the Parlophone LP A Hard Day;s Night and on the United Artist's soundtrack A Hard Day's Night. The song was also released on July 20, 1964 in the U.S. and rose to number 12 on the Top 40 chart.

McCartney sings the vocal, and Lennon and Harrison both play accoustic guitars (Harrison uses a classical model). Starr plays bongos.

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Beatles General Discussion

The following articles have appeared on BeatlesFacts.org thus far. To read about any particular Beatles fact, simply click on the link.

BEATLES GENERAL DISCUSSION

January 4, 2009: Breakfast with the Beatles: Check Out the Best Beatles Radio Program Ever
January 5, 2009: The Lost Chord of "A Hard Day's Night": Different Theories
January 13: Reissues of Beatles CDs, Let It Be, The Shea Stadium Concert, and Other Projects
January 16, 2009: Lennon's Final Days
January 20, 2009: John Lennon's Political Activism
January 21, 2009: Quarrymen
January 24, 2009: Dhani Harrison's Band: thenewno2
January 26, 2009: Lennon: He Hated the Sound of His Voice
January 26, 2009: The Beatles: Kings of the Billboard Music Chart
January 26, 2009: The Beatles: Live on Sullivan Only Twice in 1964
January 28, 2009: Ringo's Drumming
January 28, 2009: Beatlemania and "Yeah, yeah, yeah!"
January 30, 2009: Lennon's Dylan Period
January 30, 2009: Lennon's Lost Weekend"
January 30, 2009: John Lennon's Pseudonyms
January 30, 2009: Apple Scruffs
January 31, 2009: Lennon's Greatest Faux Pas
January 31, 2009: The Beatles Visit Elvis
January 31, 2009: The Beatles Barely Escape from the Philippines
February 1, 2009: Lennon's Obsession with #9
February 2, 2009: The Beatles in India
February 3, 2009: The Beatles in Hamburg
February 3, 2009: John Lennon's Birth
February 3, 2009: The Birth of Beatlemania in the United States
February 4, 2009: HERE, THERE, AND EVERYWHERE by Geoff Emerick
February 4, 2009: Sir George Martin
February 5, 2009: Harrison's Friar Park
February 5, 2009: May Pang
February 7, 2009: DJ Murray the K: The Fifth Beatle
February 7, 2009: Lennon's Eccentric Friend: Magic Alex Mardas
February 8, 2009: The Beatles Buy a Greek Island
February 8, 2009: Ravi Shankar
February 8, 2009: John Lennon's Guitars
February 8, 2009: John Lennon's Last Years
February 9, 2009: The Beatles' Legacy
February 10, 2009: George Harrison's Guitar Style
January 22, 2011: Pete Best
January 22, 2011: Brian Epstein
January 22, 2011: George Martin
January 23, 2011: Derek Taylor
January 23, 2011: The Cavern
January 24, 2011: Magic Alex
January 26, 2011: George Harrison
January 28, 2011: Paul Mccartney
January 31, 2011: Savile Row
January 31, 2011: Jane Asher
February 1, 2011: Bob Dylan
February 1, 2011: Ravi Shankar
February 1, 2011: Beatlemania
February 2, 2011: Northern Songs
February 8, 2011: Yoko Ono
February 14, 2011: Stuart Sutcliffe
July 11, 2014: The Beatles' Rooftop Concert

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Monday, January 26, 2009

The Beatles Live on Sullivan Only Twice in 1964

One of the most unusual (and little known) Beatles facts is that the Beatles did not appear live on The Ed Sullivan Show three weeks in a row in February of 1964. Here's how the shows were taped and aired.

There were seven dress rehearsals. Two had live audiences but were not taped. On February 9, the Beatles taped three songs before an audience at 4:30 pm for their third appearance, to be aired on February 23. On that same day, they performed live at 8:00 pm for their historic first American viewing. On February 16, they did a dress rehearsal before a live audience at 2:30 pm in Miami at the Deauville Hotel. They performed live the same day at 8:00 pm for their second appearance on Sullivan, who had taken his show to Florida that week.

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The Beatles: They Were Kings of the Billboard Music Chart

A remarkable Beatles fact is that in April of 1964, shortly after Beatlemania had spread to America, the Beatles had twelve songs on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart. They occupied the first five spots with

1) Can't Buy Me Love
2) Twist and Shout
3) She Loves You
4) I want to Hold Your Hand
5) Please Please Me

Also placing in the top 100 for the prestigious Billboard rating were

I Saw Her Standing There
From Me to You
Do You Want to Know a Secret
All My Loving
You Can't Do That
Roll Over Beethoven
Thank you Girl

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Lennon: He Hated the Sound of His Voice

It is an undesputable Beatles fact that John Lennon was a harsh critic when it came to both his voice and some of his songs. In many interviews, especially the 1980 Playboy interview from 1980, Lennon mentioned several songs he'd written that he thought were "crap." The example he used most was "It's Only Love."

He was also dissatisfied with the quality of his own voice. Lennnon once told biographer Ray Coleman that "I can't say I ever liked hearing myself." He asked George Martin many times to "do something" to his voice to mask its normal sound. This may explain why so many Beatles tracks altered Lennon's voice through engineering techniques, such as on "Strawberry Fields Forever," Tomorrow Never Knows," and many others. John's opinion of his voice may also be a reflection of his lifelong, self-confessed insecurity. As for George Martin's opinion, he thought Lennon's voice to be one of the best he'd ever heard. Tens of millions of fans agreed.

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Rooftop Tribute Concert Cancelled

File this under a Beatle fact that may not come to pass. Tentative plans had been made for a band called the Bootleg Beatles to perform on top of 3 Saville Row in London on January 30, 2009 to commemorate the fortieth anniversary of the famous rooftop concert by the Beatles that ended the sessions for Let It Be. The Westminster Council has put tight restrictions on the Bootleg Beatles and conditions under which they can perform, and the show is, as of now, no longer scheduled. BBC Radio plans to broadcast an early morning event at Saville Row when fans gather to commemorate the occasion.

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Beatles News: A Tribute to George Harrison by Cat Stevens and Klaus Voorman

A confirmed Beatles fact is that Yusef (aka Cat Stevens) and Klaus Voorman have issued a rendition of George Harrison's "The Day the World Gets 'Round," a song from Harrison's 1973 album Living in the Material World. The artistic cover for the issue was designed by Voorman, who designed the Revolver cover. Voorman, sometimes referred to as the fifth Beatle, also plays bass on the record. Stevens feels that the song captures Harrison's great love and happiness. The song may be downloaded from Yusef's website.

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Beatles News: Paul McCartney to Perform at Grammy Awards

A great Beatles fact for anyone wanting to see a live performance by Sir Paul McCartney is that Macca will perform at the Grammys on February 8, 2009. The former Beatle is himself nominated in two categories. McCartney will appear onstage with Dave Grohl, drummer from the Foo Fighters.

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Beatles News: McCartney and Nancy Shevell: Thumbs Up on Marriage

A brand new Beatles fact is that Sir Paul McCartney is planning on marrying forty-nine-year-old Nancy Shevell, although no date has been set. Macca and Shevell are now free to marry since Shevell's divorce to millionaire Bruce Blakeman is now finalized. McCartney's children, who objected to their father's union with Heather Mills (especially daughter Stella McCartney), are said to be comfortable with their father's choice.

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Baby's in Black

The interesting Beatles fact here is that "Baby's in Black," issued on Beatles for Sale, was the first song recorded for the album. It was written equally by Lennon and McCartney and recorded August 11, 1964 at Abbey Road. The song was part of the Beatles' set list for live performancess during their tours from 1964 to 1966.

McCartney, Lennon, and Harrison play bass, rhythm, and lead guitars, respectively. McCartney and Lennon share lead vocals. Starr plays drums and tambourine.

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Got to Get You Into My Life

"Got to Get You Into My Life," issued on Revolver, is almost exclusively a McCartney composition, although Harrison and Lennon may have contributed a few lyrics. It was recorded April 7 and 8, 1966 at Abbey Road. The interesting Beatles fact here is that this was the first time brass was used on one of the band's songs--"soul trumpets," as McCartney called them. Many, including Lennon, feel that the song has a Motown feel to it. Lennon thought it was one of McCartney's best compositions. McCartney performed the song with Wings in 1979.

McCartney plays bass and sings lead vocal, double-tracked; Harrison plays lead guitar; Lennon plays tambourine; Starr plays drums; George Martin plays organ; Eddy Thornton, Ian Hamer, and Les Conlon play trumpet; Alan Branscome and Peter Coe play tenor sax.

An alternate version, somewhat slower and featuring a fadeout with McCartney talking against the background of an acoustic guitar, can be heard on Anthology. This version does not include the brass section, but the organ is more prominent.

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Lady Madonna

McCartney's "Lady Madonna" was recorded at Abbey Road on February 3, 1968 and released as a single on March 15, 1968 and March 18, 1968 in the UK and U.S. respectively. The interesting Beatles fact about this track is that this was the last single to be released on Parlophone or Capital. From this point on, the Beatles music was released on the Apple label. McCartney admitted candidly that the song is reminiscent of a song called "Bad Penny Blues." Starr said the song reminded him of Elvis.

Assistant recording engineer Geoff Emerick stated that a cheaper microphone was used to get the piano sound "right" for the track. Backing vocalists cupped their hands around their mouths to get the sound of an old-style recording.

The Beatles recorded "Hey Bulldog" while a film crew was setting up at Abbey Road Studios for a promotional video for "Lady Madonna."

McCartney plays Rickenbacker bass, piano, and lead vocal; Lennon does backing vocal; Harrison plays lead guitar and does backing vocal; Starr plays drums; the saxophone chorus was handled by sax musicians Ronnie Scott, Harry Klein, Bill Povey, and Bill Jackman.

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Sunday, January 25, 2009

Here, There, and Everywhere

This McCartney song for Revolver was written near John's pool. An interesting Beatles fact is that the song was inspired by the Beach Boys' "God Only Knows." "Here, There, and Everywhere" was recorded on June 14, 1966 at Abbey Road Studios. Lennon was steadfast in his admiration for this song, believing it was one of the best songs Paul ever wrote. It was performed by McCartney in his film Give My Regards to Broad Street.

McCartney's lead vocal is double-tracked, with Lennon and Harrison providing backing vocals. McCartney plays acoustic guitar, Harrison lead guitar, and Starr drums.

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