The first day that Paul introduced his song “Two Of Us” to the rest of the group, he titled “On Our Way Home,” which occurred on January 2nd, 1969, their first day of filmed rehearsals at Twickenham Film Studios. The intention hoped to capture the group writing and rehearsing new material intended for a live performance at a yet-to-be-decided-upon location. These filmed rehearsals, of course, comprised a good portion of what eventually became the “Let It Be” movie.
This first day began at approximately 11 am, except Paul, who found himself held up in traffic that forced his late arrival around 12:30. Once there, he led his bandmates through multiple rehearsals of “I've Got A Feeling” before they took a break for sandwiches. Afterward, Paul spent the rest of the day introducing the band “Two Of Us” while playing acoustic guitar. They went through nine versions of the song, starting and stopping along the way to clarify the chord and time-signature changes.
“It sort of, like, goes into a waltz, but you'll get the idea,” he states concerning the “on our way home” segments of the song. It took a fair amount of instruction from Paul to direct them through these particular changes, John and George following on electric guitars with Ringo plodding away cautiously on drums. Paul sang lead throughout, George included some harmonies and slight lead guitar lines periodically as he became more and more familiar with it. John eventually joined in on vocals too, Paul suggesting Lennon sing lead while the song's composer would harmonize with him. Paul already had all the lyrics written at this time, and even suggested three-part harmonies in places, however, dropped later.
Paul also demonstrated an idea he had of performing what he called a “lightning middle-eight” for the second occurrence of the bridge in the song, this running through the “you and I have memories...” lyrics twice as fast to shorten its length the second time around. He asked the others their opinion of this idea, which was eventually omitted. Humorously, Paul demonstrates the vocal line emphasis of the verses by repeatedly singing “Two of us, Henry Cooper,” referring to the British heavyweight boxer of that time. Paul switches to bass toward the end of the rehearsals as the chord changes become more ingrained in the minds of John and George, Ringo also catching on to the time-signature changes by this point. All said, The Beatles had a good grasp of this new McCartney composition structure as the day’s rehearsal ended.
The following day, January 3rd, 1969, was not quite as productive as a whole, but they did run through “Two Of Us” once to reacquaint themselves with the progress made the day before. After a weekend off, however, they met again at Twickenham to work extensively on the song once again. They ran through twenty rehearsals of “Two Of Us,” which, at this point, played as a straight-ahead rocker with electric guitars, witnessed early in the “Let It Be” movie as filmed on this day. It was during the rehearsals of this song that tempers flared between George and Paul, who insisted the guitarist’s complicated guitar riffs need to be simplified. This uncomfortable interchange even appeared unedited in the “Let It Be” film:
Paul: “I'm trying to help you, but I always hear as though I'm annoying you...I'm not trying to get ya. What I am really trying to just say is, 'Look lads, should we try this?...This one is like, 'Should we play guitar all through “Hey Jude”? Well, I don't think we should.”
George: “Yeah, OK, well, I don't mind. I'll play, you know, whatever you want me to play, or I won't play at all if you don't want me to play. Whatever it is that will please you, I'll do it!”
“Two Of Us” was touched on again briefly during their January 8th rehearsal at Twickenham, while the song reached eight rehearsed versions at the January 9th session, still arranged as an electric guitar rock song. Six performed run-throughs also took place the following day, January 10th, although shortly afterward, during their lunch-break, George decided to quit The Beatles. His leaving, of course, turned out to be temporary, but the rest of this day was filled with half-hearted rehearsals and jam sessions by the three remaining Beatles, Yoko chiming in with vocal hijinks at times.
Of notable interest is the rehearsal session of January 21st, 1969, this marking the first day of the returning George Harrison. They changed locations for the rest of the January rehearsals, per George's insistence, from Twickenham Studios to their new Apple Studios basement in Savile Row, London. Although “Two Of Us” was not rehearsed on this day, a noteworthy bit of Lennon dialog was. Before they ran through one of their 21 versions of John's song “Dig A Pony,” John stated, in a BBC announcer-like voice, “I Dig a Pygmy by Charles Hawtrey and the Deaf-aids...Phase One in which Doris gets her oats.” Bruce Spizer, in his book “The Beatles On Apple Records,” relates: “Charles Hawtrey was a British actor, and 'deaf-aids' is slang for hearing aids, although the group often used the term when referring to their amplifiers. 'Doris' pops up elsewhere during the sessions and may have been an inside joke (such as his "Doris Day" reference in the released version of the song "Dig It").” This dialog ended up on the released “Let It Be” album as the introduction to “Two Of Us,” presumably at Lennon's suggestion.
It took until January 23rd, 1969, for The Beatles to return to rehearsing “Two Of Us,” happily in their Apple Studios basement in Savile Row. Although the recently recruited keyboardist Billy Preston was present on this day, the four Beatles ran through two renditions of the song without his participation.
It was at the next session at Apple Studios, January 24th, 1969, that The Beatles decided on the acoustic guitar arrangement of “Two Of Us” as we've come to know it. George plays bass lines on the thickest strings of his electric guitar while Ringo focuses primarily on the toms of his drum kit. One of the 21 versions recorded on this day appeared on the 1996 compilation album “Anthology 3,” which features opening mumblings about John playing an introductory three-note figure on guitar at designated places in the song: John: “OK, what is there...you'll hear it, yeah.” Paul: “Just the first occasion you get.” John: “I did with my thumb.” Just before the third verse is sung, Paul exclaims to John, “Take it, Phil,” in reference to the Everly Brothers arrangement they had chosen for the song. Another version of “Two Of Us” recorded on this day closes with Paul's statement “And so we leave the little town of London, England,” Engineer Glyn Johns chose the narrative finally on his first attempt at putting together a “Get Back” album, yet never officially released.
On the next day's Apple Studios session, January 25th, The Beatles tried seven more takes for “Two Of Us,” at times using exaggerated German, French, Scottish and Jamaican accents, along with humorous vocal sound effects and Bob Dylan impersonations from John. They obviously had the song well-rehearsed but blew off some steam by having fun. Also, it was on this day they briefly broke into the 1957 Everly Brothers hit “Bye Bye Love” in-between takes of “Two Of Us,” continuing the spirit of the arrangement they had chosen for Paul's song.
Their January 26th Apple Studios session saw them touch on “Two Of Us” once, and then five more times at their January 28th session. Three more run-throughs of the song occurred on January 29th, which was the day that they decided to perform what became their final live appearance as a band on the rooftop of their Apple building the following day. Interestingly, as of this day, Paul dumped the song’s working title “On Our Way Home” because during an impromptu jam called “Dig It,” John recites the title of as many of their new compositions he can think of, referring twice to Paul's composition as “Two Of Us.”
On January 31st, 1969, the day after their famous rooftop concert, The Beatles worked at perfecting three songs for the film crew and studio engineers they deemed unsuitable for the roof, this day's performances described as “Apple Studio Performance” on the tape boxes. The first of these songs, “Two Of Us,” was filmed and recorded seven times, after which they recorded various cover songs to wind down before they began work on perfecting “Let It Be” and “The Long And Winding Road” for the cameras. Mark Lewisohn, in his book “The Beatles Recording Sessions,” indicates that “take 12” of "Two Of Us" was chosen for the “Let It Be” album, indicating that there may have been some performances on this day that were breakdowns, not making it to the conclusion of the song. Also of note here is John whistling the coda to “Hello Goodbye” at the song's conclusion, a 1967 Beatles recording that contains a similar outcome after a 'Beatles break.'”
Sometime in early March of 1969, John and Paul called a meeting with engineer Glyn Johns at EMI Studios. The purpose of the meeting was to delegate Glyn Johns the job of compiling the next Beatles album. Legend has it that the two Beatles pointed to a big pile of eight-track tapes from the ten days in January that they recorded at Apple Studios in Savile Row and said to Johns: “Remember that idea you had about putting together an album? There are the tapes, go and do it!”
With this arduous task at hand, Johns booked time at Olympic Sound Studios in London and began preparing stereo mixes of versions of the songs found on those tapes. Still identifying the song as “On Our Way Home,” Johns worked at perfecting a stereo mix of “Two Of Us” on both March 10th and 11th, 1969, hand-picking a version of the song he favored as recorded on January 24th. Many assume George Martin was present at these mixing sessions, although unconfirmed.
With the Apple Records label picking up steam, Paul decided to present the song “Two Of Us” to a New York trio named Mortimer, recently signed to Apple, as a contender to record and release. In order for them to become acquainted with the song, Paul arranged for engineers Peter Mew and Chris Blair to prepare a mono mix of The Beatles' recording of “Two Of Us” in Abbey Road, Room 4, on April 25th, 1969 between 11:30 am and 12:30 pm. An acetate disc was cut of this mix to give to the group so they could record and release their rendition by the end of June. The song by Mortimer listed under the name "On Our Way Home," but its release did not materialize due to Allen Klein cutbacks at Apple Records to save the company from losing money.
On May 28th, 1969, George Martin and engineers Glyn Johns and Steve Vaughan met at Olympic Sound Studios to perform the master tape banding and compilation for the proposed “Get Back” album. “Two Of Us” was delegated as the third song on side two, directly following a rough demo version of a McCartney composition entitled “Teddy Boy.” George Harrison was the only Beatle to be in town at the time to approve of this album, but it was duly rejected by Paul (and possibly John and Ringo) when they reviewed results of this day's work.
On January 5th, 1970, Glyn Johns booked yet more time at Studio One of Olympic Sound Studios to compile a second master tape banding and compilation of a new “Get Back” album. This time around, the same stereo mix of “Two Of Us” he prepared for the previous attempt at a “Get Back” album was placed as the second track of side two, following directly after George's song “For You Blue.” This, however, suffered the same fate as his earlier attempt at a Beatles album, the band members not agreeing as to whether they liked it or not. Also, it rubbed John Lennon the wrong way that Glyn Johns requested a producer's credit for the album, even in an unpaid capacity.
As a remedy to this problem, John and George Harrison recruited their new friend and established producer Phil Spector to oversee the production of the album, newly titled “Let It Be.” Spector, along with engineers Peter Bown and Roger Ferris, entered Room 4 of Abbey Road Studios to create a new stereo mix of “Two Of Us” on March 25th, 1970. After Spector saw an advance of the movie, which included the January 31st filmed version of “Two Of Us,” he decided to incorporate a performance of the song from this day onto the album instead of the January 24th recording that Glyn Johns proposed using on the aborted “Get Back” albums. Two tries for a good stereo mix of the song took place on this day; the crisp and brightly produced second attempt deemed best. It was on March 27th, 1970, also in Room 4 at Abbey Road Studios, that Spector added John's “I Dig a Pygmy...” dialog to the beginning of “Two Of Us” to start the album, engineers Mike Sheady and Roger Ferris assisting in this endeavor.
It was sometime in 1996 that George Martin and engineer Geoff Emerick returned to the January 24th, 1969 master tapes of “Two Of Us” to create a stereo mix of one of the takes for inclusion on the compilation album “Anthology 3.” Then, in 2003, the production team of Paul Hicks, Guy Massey, and Allan Rouse pulled out the master tape of “take 12” of the song as recorded on January 31st, 1969 to create an even cleaner sounding stereo mix for inclusion on the album “Let It Be...Naked," this mix digitally correcting an acoustic guitar mistake by John. They also created a quick mix of a few concluding seconds of an unknown take of "Two Of Us" for inclusion on the "Fly On The Wall" disc that accompanied the "Let It Be...Naked" album. This conclusion featured John's whistling, which instead of "Hello Goodbye," resembled the likes of "Turkey In The Straw.”
Song Structure and Style
After a humorous spoken-word introduction from John Lennon, the structure of “Two Of Us” consists of 'intro/ verse/ intro/ verse/ bridge/ verse/ bridge/ verse/ intro' (or ababcbcba). While the standard 'verse/ verse/ bridge/ verse/ bridge/ verse' (aababa) repeats, as in a good portion of The Beatles' catalog, the intro of this song appears three times, even acting as the conclusion. Also unique here is the three times it occurs preceded by silence, either at the beginning of the song or after a 'Beatles break.'
The intro is four measures long, featuring Paul's repeating octave-alternating acoustic guitar figure as the focal point throughout. Ringo enters the picture in measure two by tapping out quarter beats on his kick drum, John adding an ascending three-note riff as this measure concludes before his simple acoustic guitar strumming fills the remaining measures. Also heard in measures three and four, George plays a descending bass line on his electric guitar (measure three) and then an ascending one (measure four) while Ringo plods away on his floor tom dampened with a tea towel.
Next comes the fifteen-measure verse, which demonstrates that “Two Of Us” wins the award of being the Beatles song containing the most time-signature changes. While the song is predominantly in 4/4 throughout, the verse jumps into 6/4, 3/4, and 2/4 as well. The first measure is in 4/4, but the second measure is in 6/4, extending through the lyric “nowhere/spending someone's.” Then come three more measures of 4/4 followed by another 6/4 measure (“driving / not arriving”) before returning for two more 4/4 measures. Then we go into 3/4 time for five measures, or “into a waltz,” as Paul explained to the others when he was introducing the song to them. Then comes a quick 2/4 measure during the lyric “we're going,” before one final 4/4 measure on the word “home,” which also comprises a 'Beatles break' that stops the song dead in its tracks. If we've grown up with the song, it has become 'second nature' for us to assimilate all of these changes, but for someone hearing it for the first time and possibly learning to play it on guitar, it may take a while to figure out.
Instrumentally, both Paul and John strum their acoustic guitars during this verse while George performs interesting bass lines on his electric guitar, and Ringo continues his floor tom beats, culminating in a cymbal crash on the downbeat of the fifteenth measure. John sings the lower melody line throughout while Paul sings harmony, all culminating in the final word “home” in the fifteenth measure, which is held out vocally during the instrumental 'Beatles break.'
Next, follows a direct repeat of another intro and verse that is instrumentally and vocally identical to the first except for lyrical changes. One noticeable difference in this verse, however, is an additional measure of 4/4 at the conclusion, thus making this a sixteen-measure verse. Ringo fills the break-in measures fifteen and sixteen with simple eighth-note beats on the snare drum that gradually rise in volume, acting as a segue into the bridge that follows.
This bridge is strictly in 4/4 and is five measures in length. Paul sings solo throughout except for the final words “out ahead,” which shows John joining in quietly with a lower harmony. George plays somewhat busy ascending bass lines during the first four measures, a descending pattern in the fifth measure. Ringo plays a quick open high-hat roll at the end of the first measure in imitation of Paul's fast acoustic guitar strums at this point but then drops out entirely for the second measure. The drummer then resumes his floor tom beats for the remainder of the bridge, accentuating his drum fill in the fifth measure to usher in the next verse. Likewise, both Paul and John resume their guitar strumming in measures three through five, Paul moving into double-time strums during the fifth measure.
Since this is a live studio performance with no overdubs, the verse, bridge, and verse that follows next is instrumentally and vocally identical to what was played previously, except for a new set of lyrics in the last verse. Both of these verses are sixteen measures in length, the last measure in the final verse omitting Ringo's snare drum beats to create the illusion that the song has concluded.
Instead, this is followed by an extended repeat of the intro, which acts as the song's conclusion. This final element of the recording is thirteen measures long, The Beatles manually decreasing the volume of their instruments as the measures progress to mimic the fade-out of a released record. During this mock fade-out, Paul continues his octave-alternating guitar riff while adding the phrases “We're going home,” “you better believe it,” and “goodbye” randomly in a subdued manner. John keeps strumming his guitar and, starting in the fifth measure, whistles in imitation of the coda heard in “Hello Goodbye,” delivering a final whistling riff when the song fades away to nothing in the thirteenth measure followed by him tapping twice on his guitar to deliver the final word. George switches to repeating a three-note descending bass figure in the final measures while Ringo continues his plodding floor tom beats until the song dissolves into nothing.
While a lot of comments have surfaced regarding the group's uncooperative behavior during this period, all four Beatles seem to be working together nicely while sticking to their commitment delivering a band performance without overdubs. The many filmed versions of “Two Of Us” performed on this day show them as seasoned professionals, although required multiple takes only because of Lennon's flubbed lyrics, as witnessed on outtakes.
Please feel free to leave any comments or corrections and share these articles plus this blog's website with your friends, especially Beatles’ fans. You and they might also enjoy knowing more about my Love Songs CD and my novel, BEATLEMANIAC. Just click on the “My Shop” tab near the top of this page for full details.
No comments:
Post a Comment