“The Beatles couldn't get into the studio for the next couple of nights,” says Geoff Emerick in his book “Here, There And Everywhere,” “which forced them to record 'Baby You're A Rich Man'...at Olympic Studios...It was around this time that The Beatles began frequenting outside studios more and more, for a variety of reasons.”
Geoff Emerick goes on to
explain what these reasons may have been: “Perhaps they simply had cabin fever
and were sick of staring at the same four walls. There weren't really any
amenities at Abbey Road: there were no
couches or armchairs in our cramped control rooms, just a couple of
uncomfortable, hard chairs. In contrast, when they went into Olympic...there
would be large control rooms with plush leather sofas and comfortable chairs to
sit in, all accented by low lighting and a modern décor...In addition, by
mid-1967, every other major studio in London had an eight-track machine, and we
still had only four-track, which really made us seem like we were lagging far
behind...There was also a much more relaxed attitude toward drugs in other
studios, and it wouldn't surprise me if the staff at those facilities would
partake with clients, so perhaps The Beatles related to the other engineers
better...I imagine they thought it was really cool to share a joint with the
control room staff. In contrast, we must have seemed really straight and
square.”
In any event, on May 11th,
1967, just days after the contracts were signed for the new “Yellow Submarine”
film project, The Beatles entered Olympic Sound Studios for work on the first
new song to be used for this movie. “Olympic was one of the top independent
studios in Britain,” Mark Lewisohn explains in his book “The Beatles Recording
Sessions,” “turning out many hit records. The Rolling Stones had taken to
recording there, even though studio manager Keith Grant was equally keen to
promote the venue's valuable film soundtrack work.”
George Martin was still used
as producer of the session, although the aforementioned Keith Grant oversaw
engineering duties. “The Beatles said that this was the fastest record they'd
ever made,” Grant relates. “They were used to a much more leisurely pace. We
started the session at about 9 pm.”
Twelve takes of a rhythm
track were recorded first with the instrumentation being John on piano, Paul on
bass, George on electric guitar and Ringo on drums. Keith Grant remembers,
“They kept on playing, version after version, then we spooled back to the one
they liked and overdubbed the vocals.” Take 12 was deemed the best rhythm
track, onto which John sang lead vocals with Paul and George singing backing
vocals. (Legend has it that John sings “Baby, you're a rich fag jew” as a
reference to Brian Epstein toward the end of the song...listen carefully to see
if you can detect it!) Other overdubs
included Paul playing an additional piano, Ringo on tambourine and then
maracas, George and Ringo adding handclaps, John double-tracking his lead
vocals in spots, and Eddie Kramer (future producer for Jimi Hendrix and Kiss
who happened to be 2nd engineer on the session) adding a little vibraphone. A
droning sound resembling a tamboura is also present on the finished recording,
undoubtedly played by George.
Attending this session was
friend and fellow musician Mick Jagger, who may have contributed something to
the proceedings as well. Author Mark Lewisohn, while listening to the tape in
preparation for his book “The Beatles Recording Sessions,” spotted the
following notation on the tape box: “The Beatles + Mick Jagger?”. It has been
speculated that he joined in on the sing-along choruses of the song, although
never verified.
One other overdub at this
session was a very interesting instrument called a Clavioline, played by John.
Eddie Kramer explains: “We wanted to make sure that they walked out of (Olympic
Studios) being completely blown away. Which they were...There was a Clavioline
that happened to be in the studio, and John played it. This was a French
electronic instrument with a small keyboard. It had a little strip which you
put your thumb on and moved it up and down the length of the keyboard as you played,
to get vibrato.”
Andy Babiuk, in his book
“Beatles Gear,” gives more detail about this instrument. “The Clavioline was a
monophonic keyboard – meaning only one note sounded at a time, precluding
chords. It was in effect a predecessor of modern synthesizers...The instrument
consisted of two units: the keyboard,
with built-in valve (tube) sound generator; and the separate
amplifier-and-speaker box...A built-in octave transposer switch gave the
keyboard's single oscillator a five-octave range. The overall volume was
controlled by a knee-operated lever. The Clavioline's unusual sound, heard
whirling intermittently through 'Baby You're A Rich Man,' had also been evident
on 'Telstar,' a bit hit for the British group The Tornados on both sides of the
Atlantic in 1962.”
As for John Lennon's use of
the instrument on this day, one apocryphal story suggests that he achieved his
rapid-fire wail by rolling an orange up and down across the keyboard. This, of
course, still has zero confirmation but makes for an interesting anecdote when
relating the details of the recording session on this day.
As far as the vocals were
concerned both Keith Grant and Eddie Kramer discussed this evening's session
with engineer George Chkiantz, who related:
“They were both amazed at John Lennon's voice. They'd long been
wondering what it would be like to record and they were saying how great it
was. They couldn't believe anyone could sing that well.”
After all overdubs were
complete; everyone stayed a little longer to put it all together. A tape
reduction occurred, so two attempts at this followed, the second one considered
the better one. Then the one and only mono mix of the song was made, making
“Baby, You're A Rich Man” the first Beatles song to be recorded and mixed for
record entirely outside of Abbey Road. Keith Grant explains: “It was finished and mixed by about 3 am.”
Paul himself remembers this day in his book “Many Years From Now” as “a rather
exciting recording session at Olympic, in Barnes, where Keith Grant mixed it,
instantly, right there. He stood up at the console as he mixed it, so it was a
very exciting mix, we were really quite buzzed. I always liked that track.”
“Whenever they did a track at
an outside studio,” relates Geoff Emerick, “I usually had to do a lot of repair
work to the tapes because they simply couldn't achieve the sound they were used
to anywhere else. This time around, though, they actually got the entire song
done – including the final mix – in a single session...It had been a long time
since they'd been so efficient. I had to admit that the results were pretty
good...Keith Grant did the session himself, and he knew what he was doing. In
addition, Olympic's mixing console was a totally different design than ours and
was capable of passing lower frequencies, so there was quite a smooth bass
sound, which I thought was great.”
The next time attention
surfaced to the song was on August 22nd, 1968, when George Martin made a copy
of this mono master in the control room of EMI Studio Two. It was reportedly
taken away by George Martin for some unknown reason.
Since the song was only
released in mono as a single, a stereo mix wasn't made until October 22nd,
1971, by George Martin and Geoff Emerick at his AIR Studios in London. Certain
differences are evident, most noteworthy is the presence of George Harrison's
guitar part which is not as prominent in the mono mix. The end of a vocalized
“eleven” which is present at the very beginning of the mono mix (possibly
someone attempting to identify what take it was) was faded out of this stereo
mix. Also, there is an effect referred to by some as a “spin” that appears at
strategic places in the verses of the song (such as after the lines “eye can
see” and “enough to know”). These “spin” effects are missing in the stereo mix.
This stereo mix is also nine seconds shorter than the mono mix. In the U.S.,
this stereo mix was first heard on the CD release of the album “Magical Mystery
Tour.”
A further stereo mix of the
song was made in 1999 in preparation for the release of the album “Yellow
Submarine Songtrack.” The engineering team working on this project comprised
Peter Cobbin, Paul Hicks, Mirek Stiles and Allan Rouse. The technology of the
1990's made for a cleaner and more vibrant version of the song, the excitement
of the recording session coming through very well for the listener.
The structure of "Baby
You're A Rich Man" is quite standard for Beatles compositions, namely a
'verse/ verse/ chorus/ verse/ chorus' format (or aabab) with an introduction
and repeating conclusion added to bring the tune home.
The introduction is eight measures
long and consists of the basic rhythm track of piano, guitar, and drums with
the overdubbed tambourine throughout all eight measures. Interestingly,
George's guitar thumps propel the beat of the song nicely in this introduction,
even slightly overshadowing Ringo's usual time-keeping role in the early
moments of the song. The overdubbed maracas appear at the beginning of the
second measure, Paul's bass emerges in the middle of the third measure, John's
'snake-charming' Clavioline appears first at the very end of the third measure,
and then the handclaps come in in the fifth measure. All these elements are
brought in one at a time as if to build up the arrangement layer by layer.
The first eleven-measure
verse then appears as the Clavioline fades from view and John and Paul's unison
vocals appear, sung partially in falsetto. The instrumentation of the
introduction continues throughout the verse with the Clavioline filling in the
open spaces of the lyrics in measures five and nine. John and Paul sing in unison
during the entire verse except for two lines, namely “what do you want to be”
(measure six) and “far as the eye can see” (measure ten) which are sung by John
solo. Another feature is the two breaks that appear in the verse; the first is
in measure seven with only a slight piano springs forth along with all
percussion, the second in measure eleven which cuts out all percussion and only
features piano chords playing an eighth-note rhythm that swells in volume as
the measure ends.
The second verse begins immediately
afterwards. Noteworthy differences include Ringo's drum fills in the first two
measures and Paul's first harmony in the third measure on the word “people.”
John's solo lines “often enough to know” and “nothing that doesn't show” are
both mimicked by George on guitar this time around. The final piano swell in
the eleventh measure is this time accented by a vibrant drum fill from Ringo in
anticipation of the first chorus that follows.
The high point of the song is
then reached in this first twelve-measure chorus with John and Paul repeating
the song's title for the first three measures in an excitedly unison high pitch
notes. Paul swings into harmony in the fourth measure for the word “too.”
John's vocals are sung solo but double-tracked in the fifth through eighth
measure while his Clavioline appears in the open spaces in measures four, seven
and eight. Full instrumentation, as previously heard in the verses, continues
throughout this chorus until the twelfth measure where another break occurs, the
only elements present is the piano swell, a tambourine, and a stray hand clap
at the beginning of the measure.
Then comes the third verse,
which this time features a very mellow first line sung single-tracked by John
until Paul joins in on the third measure with a harmonized “people.” Ringo
plays some meandering 'lead drums' in the first two measures while the
Clavioline appears in measures five, seven and nine this time. A droning sound
which very much resembles a tamboura is heard quite prominently throughout this
verse as well, undoubtedly played by George as he did in the song “Lucy In The
Sky With Diamonds” which the band recorded two months prior. Ringo ends this
verse with a snare drum fill to usher in the following chorus.
This second chorus is identical
to the first in most respects, the most notable differences being more
appearances of the Clavioline (measures four, seven, eight, nine, ten and
twelve) and an extemporaneous extra “baby” from Paul in the eighth measure.
There is no break at the end of this chorus, the instrumentation continuing in
full force with Paul yelping out an “Oh-oh-oh-oh” in the final measure.
McCartney’s yelp moves
directly to the conclusion of the song which is a continual repeat of the first
four measures of the chorus sung with energetic spontaneity until it fades out.
Full instrumentation appears throughout this conclusion, including
uninterrupted Clavioline noodling from John. The conclusion in the stereo mix
extends only eight measures until it is faded away while the mono mix extends
for eleven measures.
All four Beatles were fully
involved in the making of this song, playing on the rhythm track as well as
multiple overdubs. With team spirit abounding, they all played in top form;
John on piano and his wild Clavioline, Paul on bass and piano, George on guitar
and possibly tamboura, and a very spirited Ringo on drums and percussion. This
post “Pepper” track may not have been as masterfully written or recorded, but
one thing that is obvious is the fun atmosphere of the recording session that
easily comes through to the listener. Everyone involved was undoubtedly having
a blast recording this song. And the undeniable hook of the chorus can't help
but get you to sing along, even if you have no idea why anyone would keep all their
money “in a big brown bag inside a zoo!”
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