December 29th, 1966, marked
the first day allocated for work on "Penny Lane” in EMI Studio Two
starting at around 7 pm. This was the third song brought into the studio with
the intention of taking part of their next album, which eventually became
"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." However, neither this song
nor John's "Strawberry Fields Forever" ended up on the album, as
we'll explain later.
With their new-found freedom
to not rush inside the recording studio and get things exactly the way they
wanted them, a new approach instituted for recording “Penny Lane.” In his book
“Here, There And Everywhere,” engineer Geoff Emerick explains: “One of Paul
McCartney's favorite albums of 1966 was The Beach Boys' 'Pet Sounds,' and he
often played it on his portable gramophone during breaks, so it wasn't
altogether unsurprising when he announced that he wanted a 'really clean
American sound' on...'Penny Lane.' I'd
spent a lot of time mastering American records, and I was convinced that the
best way to give Paul what he wanted was to record each instrument totally on
its own so that there would be no leakage (or 'bleed,' as it was known)
whatsoever. Paul's trust in me was such that he simply said offhandedly, 'Okay,
well, let's do it that way, then.'”
Standard procedure had
usually been that the Beatles would lay down a rhythm track together and then,
with this accomplished, all overdubs would be added on top to create the
finished recording, which changed dramatically for this song. “Unlike any other
Beatles track recorded to that point,” Geoff Emerick continues, “it started
with Paul playing piano, not with the four of them playing a rhythm track
together; every single part except the main piano piece was an overdub. For
days, the others sat at the back of the studio watching Paul layer keyboard
after keyboard, working completely on his own. As always, his sense of timing
was absolutely superb: the main piano part that everything was built on was
rock solid despite the fact that there were no electronic metronomes to lay
down click tracks in those days. In fact, Ringo wasn't even employed to tap out
a beat on the hi-hat. It was that bedrock of Paul's original piano track that
gave the whole song such a great feel.”
Mark Lewisohn, in his book
“The Beatles Recording Sessions,” explains this day's events: “The most
important contribution was the main piano piece, so Paul took great care in
perfecting this, recording six takes until he was satisfied, although only the
fifth and sixth were seen through to completion. This piano went onto track one
of the four-track tape. Happiest with the sixth take he then began to apply the
overdubs, working alone in the studio. Onto track two of the tape went another
piano, played this time through a Vox guitar amplifier with added reverberation
to give an entirely different sound.” According to Kevin Howlett's liner notes
for the 50th Anniversary release of the "Sgt. Pepper" album, the
effect used on the amplifier consisted of "the tremolo control set at a
low speed."
Ringo was then apparently
summoned to help out with the recording that went onto track three of the
four-track tape. “Onto track three went yet another piano, played at half-speed
and then speeded-up on replay to give another different effect. A shaken
tambourine also surfaced for this overdub." Kevin Howlett details further
about the piano on track three, saying that Paul used "the studio's 'Mrs.
Mills' piano - a 'prepared' instrument that produced a honky-tonk sound."
Track four, the last on the
four-track tape, may very well have gotten John and George in on the act as
well. “Superimposed onto track four were two-tone high-pitch whistles from a
harmonium, again fed through a Vox guitar amplifier, various strange percussion
effects, one of them sounding at times like a machine gun, and extremely fast
and sometimes drawn-out cymbal notes.” Undoubtedly, Paul played the harmonium,
these high pitched sounds being heard in the finished song a little bit in the
instrumental section and overwhelmingly during the song's final ringing chord.
The machine gun-like percussion effects can be heard in the second chorus and
at the conclusion of the third chorus (just after the lyric “meanwhile back”)
and the fast drawn-out cymbals are most noticeable in the final seconds of the
song. A sampling of each isolated track of this original four-track tape can be
witnessed on the PBS Special entitled "Sgt. Pepper's Musical
Revolution."
Regarding the sound effects
used, Geoff Emerick relates about the “sound effects cupboard under the stairs
in Studio Two. If the Beatles ever got stuck for an overdub, they'd head into
that cupboard to find something – there was so much paraphernalia there: wind
machines, thunder machines, bells, whistles – you name it. Whenever that door
was opened, we knew that something fun was about to happen.” Upon listening to
the isolated recordings contained on this first four-track tape, as included on
certain editions of the 50th Anniversary release of "Sgt. Pepper,"
the "machine gun-like" effects sound somewhat like a quickly tapped
bongo drum, but not fully verified.
Probably because no recorded
vocals appeared as of yet, the title of the song was simply “Untitled” at this
point. Although there was obviously much more to be done to the song, two mono
mixes were created of the days' work by producer George Martin and engineers
Geoff Emerick and Phil McDonald; no doubt created for acetate cutting purposes.
By 2:15 the next morning, the session was finally complete.
The group met up once again
in EMI Studio Two later that evening, December 30th, 1966, with many overdubs
in mind for “Penny Lane.” Documents show that the session began at 7 pm, but it
appears that this was one of the occasions that the Beatles didn't show up
until much later, as Geoff Emerick indicated. “Not much was done on this day,
the session beginning with engineering work being performed on the songs “When
I'm Sixty-Four” and “Strawberry Fields Forever.” The book “The Beatles
Recording Sessions” indicate that, when the proposed overdubs for “Penny Lane”
did commence, it was already “well into the early hours of the morning.
The first order of business
with “Penny Lane” was to make a reduction mix of all four tracks of the
previous day's take onto just 'track one' of a new tape, clearing three open
tracks for more overdubs. This new reduction mix turned 'take 6' into 'take
7.' “Four-track recording was a real
limitation with this particular song,” Geoff Emerick relates, “so we were
constantly having to bounce tracks together and do reductions (which we
sometimes called 'premixes'). In the end, there were so many keyboards blended
together; they ended up becoming a sound of their own; listening to the
finished recording, it's hard to pick out individual instruments. Some of the
overdubs even got buried altogether because of the density of the
instrumentation and the number of bounces. Nonetheless, 'Penny Lane' contains a
lot of great sounds.”
The only overdubs they got
around to recording on this day were Paul's lead vocals and John's backing
vocals (heard during the second line of the choruses), both of which appear on
'track four' of the new tape. The same engineering team of Martin, Emerick, and
McDonald then made a pair of mono mixes of this song for Paul to review. Since
the time had reached 3 am on what was now New Year's Eve, the session ended not
only for the day but the year, holding off the rest of their overdub ideas
until 1967.
On January 4th, the group resumed
work on “Penny Lane” to start off the new year. Documents show this session,
which was in EMI Studio Two, began at 7 pm once again, the overdubs made on
this day filling up the two open tracks of the tape. Onto track two was yet
another piano part, this one performed by John, and a guitar part played by
George, which is barely discernible on the finished recording. On track three
Paul overdubbed his lead vocals. Although all four tracks of the tape had
filled, no tape reduction took place at the end of the session, which may
indicate that they may not have been quite happy yet with what they
accomplished on this day. At 2:45 am the next morning, their first session of
1967 ended.
Later that day, January 5th,
1967, the Beatles once again met sometime after 7 pm in EMI Studio Two for
another recording session. It appears, however, that the primary purpose of
this session was to create what turned out to be a sound effects tape intended
for an upcoming “happening” called “Carnival Of Light.” Paul was approached by
friend David Vaughan and asked if the Beatles would record some experimental
music then played at this event at the Roundhouse in London. Most of this
day’s' session laid devoted time to Vaughn’s project. However, Paul first decided to
replace his lead vocal overdubbing for “Penny Lane” done on the previous day,
this new performance also contained acceptance onto 'track three' of the tape.
By 12:15 am, the session ended for the day.
The following day, January
6th, 1967, they reconvened in EMI Studio Two at around 7 pm. This time they
were not distracted by other projects but focused entirely on adding overdubs
to “Penny Lane.” Up to this point, the only primary instrument recorded for the
song was piano, albeit mostly piano tracks overdubbed on top of each other.
Today, however, they took to adding more key elements, namely Paul on bass
guitar, John on rhythm guitar, and Ringo's main drum part. “None of the
instruments were taped pure,” says Mark Lewisohn's book “The Beatles Recording
Sessions,” “being heavily limited by engineer Geoff Emerick and recorded at 47
½ cycles to speed up on replay.”
Also overdubbed at this point
was John on conga drums, which was also limited and slowed down. “He just
tapped idly on a couple of conga drums,” Geoff Emerick explains. “He actually
liked doing that kind of thing because he could loon around; he never treated
the recording process all that seriously. Overdubbing different kinds of
instruments, things other than his normal six-string Rickenbacker electric or
Gibson acoustic guitar, provided light relief for him: if he didn't have much
to do, he'd get bored easily.”
All four tracks of the
four-track tape were now full again, which meant yet another required tape
reduction. Afterward, 'take 7' now became 'take 8,' with two open tracks
available for more overdubbing. Interestingly, both John and George Martin
overdubbed more pianos onto the recording (which now totaled six pianos on the
song), as well as handclaps (undoubtedly by all four Beatles) and, during the
instrumental break, John, Paul and George humorously scat singing where they
knew brass instruments would fill in later. A good portion of this handclap and
scat singing overdub arises on the "Super Deluxe Edition" box set of
the "Sgt. Pepper" album along with another interesting overdub flown
in which we'll detail later. The session ended at 1 am and proved a much more
productive day for a single song that grew as a quite lengthy project.
The Beatles took off for the
weekend, but George Martin was kept busy by Paul for these two days. “Paul had
very definite thoughts about the instrumentation he wanted on 'Penny Lane,'”
relates Geoff Emerick. “George Martin was tasked with creating an arrangement
for flutes, trumpets, piccolo, and flugelhorn, to which were added oboes, cor
anglais (English horn), and bowed double bass.” So, when Monday came around,
January 9th, 1967, the session at EMI Studio Two turned ready for overdubbing
the first portion of these classical instruments, using the score that George
Martin had come up with over the weekend.
Four flutists and two
trumpeters (Leon Calvert and Freddie Clayton) were recorded on this day, three
of these musicians also overdubbing piccolos and a flugelhorn at this session.
Two mono mixes developed at the end of the day by the usual engineering team of
Martin, Emerick, and McDonald, no doubt to allow Paul to inspect the recording
of the song thus far. By 1:45 am, the session was complete.
Another “Penny Lane” session
occurred the following day, January 10th, 1967, this time in EMI Studio Three.
Sometime after the usual 7 pm, the Beatles arrived for what amounted to a
not-too-productive day. “The Beatles Recording Sessions” book describes the
results of this days' work as “superimpositions of various effects including scat
harmonies and a hand-bell, taken from the trap room and shaken whenever the
lyrics mentioned the fireman or his fire-engine.” Since the session is
specified to have been complete at 1:40 am the next morning, it's probably safe
to say that the Beatles didn't arrive precisely at 7 pm and spend over
six-and-a-half hours to record a hand-bell and some “scat harmonies,” the
latter of which isn't discernible in the finished recording. Or maybe it did
take that long...It may have taken Ringo all that time to get the hand-bell
exactly the way Paul wanted it! Or maybe
they just hung out and smoked some doobies...who am I to say?
Two days later, though, on
January 12th, 1967, a more productive session commenced. The second set of
classical instrument overdubs took place in EMI Studio Three, between the hours
of 2:30 and 11 pm. Two trumpets (including Bert Courtley), two oboes, two cor
anglais and a double-bass were recorded onto 'take 9' of “Penny Lane.” The
bassist, Frank Clarke, relates: “They wanted me to play one note over and over,
for hours.” Interestingly, it was probably at this session that a decision was
made to insert a small section of the classical instruments overdub played
backwards in the open section of the final chorus, also heard on the above mentioned
"Sgt. Pepper" box set. This backward instrumental section, of course,
was decided against later and replaced by a final overdub and described below.
After this session ended to satisfaction, two mono mixes followed by the usual
engineering team just before the doors closed for the evening at 11 pm.
Geoff Emerick relates:
“Combined with Paul's stellar bass playing and superb vocals...the track was
beginning to sound full, polished, and quite finished to me.” Upon listening to
the song at this point, as available in bootlegs, I'm sure that most listeners
and record-buyers would have been quite impressed with these stellar results.
The instrumental section, for instance (as evidenced on the compilation album
“Anthology 2”), works quite well, and would be considered a good step up from
their most recent album release “Revolver.”
However, Paul thought it
could better progress. During this session, Paul kept talking about something
he had seen on television the night before. He was watching “the second of a
five-part, late-night BBC2 television series 'Masterworks' at home on the
Wednesday evening of January 11th,” explains the book “The Beatles Recording
Sessions.”
“Paul couldn't stop talking
about it,” Geoff Emerick details. “'What was that tiny little trumpet that
fellow was playing?' he asked us. 'I couldn't believe the sound he was
making!' George Martin's classical
training never came in handier. 'That's called a piccolo trumpet,' he said,
'and the chap playing it was David Mason, who happens to be a friend of
mine.' 'Fantastic!' exclaimed Paul.
'Let's get him in here and have him overdub it.'”
“He saw me playing Bach's
Brandenburg Concerto Number 2 in F Major with the English Chamber Orchestra
from Guildford Cathedral,” remembers David Mason. “The next morning, I got a
call, and a few days later I went along to the studio.” That call was received
on Friday, January 13th, 1967, and arrangements were made for him to come to a
session in EMI Studio Two exactly four days later on January 17th. The session
began at the usually scheduled time of 7 pm.
George Martin, in his book
“All You Need Is Ears,” explains some technical concerns for this days'
session: “Now, the normal trumpet is in B flat. But there is also the D
trumpet, which is what Bach mostly used, and the F trumpet. In this case, I
decided to use a B-flat piccolo trumpet, an octave above the normal. It was a
difficult session, for two reasons. First, that little trumpet is a devil to
play in tune, because it isn't really in tune with itself, so that in order to
achieve pure notes the player has to 'lip' each one. Secondly, we had no music prepared.
We just knew that we wanted little piping interjections. We had had experience
of professional musicians saying: 'If the Beatles were real musicians, they'd
know what they wanted us to play before we came into the studio.' Happily, David Mason wasn't like that at all.
By then the Beatles were very big news anyway, and I think he was intrigued to
be playing on one of their records, quite apart from being well paid for his
trouble. As we came to each little section where we wanted the sound, Paul would
think up the notes he wanted, and I would write them down for David. The result
was unique, something that had never been done in rock music before, and it
gave 'Penny Lane' a very distinct character.”
David Mason concurs: “I took
nine trumpets along and we tried various things, by a process of elimination
settling on the B-flat piccolo trumpet...We spent three hours working it out.
Paul sang the parts he wanted, George Martin wrote them out, I tried them. But
the actual recording was done quite quickly. They were jolly high notes, quite
taxing, but with the tapes rolling we did two takes as overdubs on top of the
existing song. I read in books that the trumpet sound was later speeded up, but
that isn't true because I can still play those same notes on the instrument
along with the record...I've spent a lifetime playing with top orchestras, yet
I'm most famous for playing on 'Penny Lane'!” As for his pay, the special
Musicians' Union rate of 27 pounds, 10 shillings passed hands for his services.
“True professional that he
was,” Geoff Emerick relates, “Mason played it perfectly the first time through,
including the extraordinarily demanding solo which ended on a note that was
almost impossibly high. It was, quite simply, the performance of his life. And
everyone knew it...except, obviously, Paul. As the final note faded to silence,
he reached for the talkback mic. 'Nice one, David,' Paul said matter-of-factly.
'Can we try another pass?' There was a moment of silence. 'Another pass?' The trumpeter looked up at the control room
helplessly. He seemed lost for words. Finally, he said softly, 'Look, I'm
sorry. I'm afraid I just can't do it any better.' Mason knew that he had nailed it, that he had
played everything note-perfect and that it was a prodigious feat that he could
not possibly top.”
“Quickly George Martin
intervened and addressed Paul emphatically, one of the few times in recent
weeks that I saw him assert his authority as producer. 'Good God, you can't
possibly ask the man to do that again...it's fantastic!' A dark cloud gathered over Paul's face. Even
though the exchange was occurring in the privacy of the control room, out of
earshot of Mason and the other Beatles, George's remark clearly embarrassed and
angered him...For an uncomfortable moment, the producer and his headstrong
young artist glared at each other. Finally, Paul returned to the talkback mic.
'Okay, thank you, David. You're free to go now, released on your own
recognizance.' Handled with typical McCartney
humor, the confrontation was over.”
David Mason recalls,
“Although Paul seemed to be in charge, and I was the only one playing, the
other three Beatles were there too. They all had funny clothes on,
candy-striped trousers, floppy yellow bow ties, etc. I asked Paul if they'd
been filming because it really looked like they had just come off a film set.
John Lennon interjected, 'Oh no mate, we always dress like this!'”
This session finally
completed the recording of “Penny Lane,” three full weeks being needed to get
it to its' complete state, which was a huge amount of studio time for one song
in those days. With this complete, the usual engineering team made three mono
mixes of the song, the third one ('remix 11') deemed as the best. A tape copy
of this mono mix was made and quickly dispatched, along with a mono mix of
“Strawberry Fields Forever,” to Capitol Records in the U.S. Management had
already decided that these two songs be pulled from the forthcoming album and
released as a long-overdue single (to divert attention back to the Beatles and
away from the new teenage heartthrobs, The Monkees). Capitol quickly printed
promotional copies of this new single and distributed them to radio stations
across America.
However, a decision was made
to further improve on this mono mix. “After some contemplation, Paul decided
that Mason's piccolo trumpet flourish at the very end was superfluous,”
explains Geoff Emerick. “And so, a week later, the song was remixed and the
piccolo removed from the end of the song.” This new mono mix was created in the
control room on EMI Studio One on January 25th, 1967 between 6:30 and 8:30 pm
by the usual team of Martin, Emerick, and McDonald. Three attempts at this mono
mix were made, the third ('remix 14') deemed as best, a tape copy of this mix
developed between 9 and 10 pm on this day to be dispatched to Capitol Records
in the U.S. immediately to replace the previous mono mix. This new mono mix is
the one that was released worldwide for purchase by the public. However, the
aforementioned promotional copies that Capitol distributed with the rare
piccolo trumpet ending was what American radio listeners became acquainted with
at the time.
Since “Penny Lane” was not
included on the “Sgt. Pepper” album as originally planned, there was no
pressing need to create a stereo mix, singles being released only in mono at
that point. Capitol Records decided to include the song on an album they put
together entitled “Magical Mystery Tour” and, since no stereo mix was
available, they created their own mock stereo version by panning the high
frequencies to one channel and the low frequencies to the other channel.
A true stereo mix finally
appeared on September 30th, 1971 by George Martin in his AIR Studios in London.
While this mix still did not include the ending trumpet flourish from David
Mason, it did include a trumpet flourish not heard before, which appears just
after the phrase “clean machine.” While this new mix appeared on the U.K.
version of the compilation album “The Beatles/1967-1970” (“The Blue Album”), it
apparently didn't find its way to Capitol in the U.S. They, instead, created
yet another mock stereo version from the mono mix they previously had, using
this new mix for the American “Blue Album” release, this version having a
little less treble-bass separation from the one they created for the “Magical
Mystery Tour” album.
The true stereo mix finally
appeared in the U.S. on the 1980 released album “Rarities,” although Capitol
artificially inserted the ending trumpet flourish to make this version a true
rarity. Future Beatles compilation albums that appeared in the states, as well
as all CD releases, feature the unadulterated stereo mix as created by George
Martin in 1971, with one exception.
Sometime in 1995, George
Martin and Geoff Emerick created yet another mix of “Penny Lane” for “Anthology
2” which combined different takes that highlight various rare or unheard
elements. These include the original instrumental passage as recorded on
January 9th, a single-tracked vocal from Paul in the verses, the ending trumpet
flourish of January 17th, and some extraneous instrumental noodling and vocal
'clowning around' that got faded out of the released version. After this
ridiculous conclusion, Paul states “A suitable ending, I think!"
Giles Martin (son on George
Martin) worked with Sam Okell at Abbey Road Studios in 2015 to create a new
stereo mix of "Penny Lane" for inclusion on a re-release of the album
"Beatles 1." Then again, in 2016 or 2017, they paired up again to
create yet another new stereo mix of "Penny Lane" for inclusion on
the 50th Anniversary Editions of the "Sgt. Pepper" album, this stereo
mix patterned after the released mono mix of 1967. And while they were at it,
they created mixes of the first four-track tape of the song ("Take 6 -
Instrumental") and the January 6th handclaps and scat singing overdub
("Vocal Overdubs and Speech"), both of these included in various
editions of the Anniversary releases for the album.
“Penny Lane” was also
recorded live for Paul's live album “Paul Is Live,” which took place sometime between
March 22nd and June 15th, 1993.
Amid all of the elaborateness
of the recording, "Penny Lane" follows a somewhat usual structure,
this being 'verse/ verse/ chorus/ verse/ verse (instrumental)/ chorus/ verse/
verse/ chorus/ chorus' (or aabaabaabb). The lyrics are encapsulated within a
lighthearted swing beat, exhibiting a breezy but surreal recollection of Paul's
childhood memories which can't help but engage the listener.
Without the need of an
introduction, the first eight-measure verse begins immediately with a
double-tracked lead vocal and bass guitar first entering the landscape. The
plodding and multiple-overdubbed piano keeps the tempo while bass guitar
quarter-notes descends down the scale as an interesting counterpoint to the
melody line Paul is singing. Chirping quarter-note flutes are quietly heard
among the piano chords for the first three measures. A sudden change occurs in
the fourth measure (on the word “know”) as the key changes to minor, the bass
changes to holding out whole notes, and a single-note flute enters the scene
for the first time. The minor key continues for the fifth and sixth measures,
creating a somewhat mystical atmosphere as the flute temporarily fades away,
and the bass descends on whole notes as the measures change. The major key
returns in the seventh and eighth measure, as does the solo flute with an echo
to Paul's words “say hello.” The bass plays a cheerful riff during these final
measures as a nice backdrop.
The second verse then
commences which is also eight measures in length (as they all are). The drums
kick in with a simple drum pattern at this point to complete the rhythm section
of the song. Otherwise, this verse is instrumentally similar to the first verse
throughout except for the final measure. During the lyric “very strange,” Ringo
plays three prominent accents with open hi-hats while the bass falls down the
scale. All instruments stop at this point, leaving the fourth beat of this
eighth measure open for Paul to highlight the song's title, which works nicely
as a segue into the first chorus.
The first chorus is also
eight measures in length (as they all are) and features multi-tracked piano,
bass, and drums primarily. One of the overdubbed pianos, presumably the one
played through a Vox amplifier with added reverb, is used to hold out chords on
the downbeat of each measure. The third and fourth measure bring in harmonized
trumpets to fill in the space left in the vocals. The fifth and sixth measures
feature John on harmony vocals which go back to solo vocals in the seventh
measure with the lyric “I sit and.” The final measure utilizes the same final
three beats from Ringo, along with the piano and bass, accenting the words
“meanwhile back.”
The third verse appears next
and is strikingly similar to the first in most respects. However, there are no
chirping flutes in the first three measures this time; a single flute playing
held out notes in the first and third measure instead. The fourth and sixth
measures also feature a solo flute, each of these measures containing a triplet
to fill in the gaps left by Paul's vocals; measure four having a descending
triplet and measure six having an ascending triplet. A tambourine is added to
this verse as well, accented on the two and four beat of every measure. An
ascending trumpet part is heard in the seventh and eighth measures (in the
stereo mix of the song), as well as Ringo's handbell in the eighth measure to
highlight the reference to the “fire engine.”
The fourth verse then
follows, which is strictly instrumental apart from Paul's “aah” accents and are
heard periodically. The tambourine disappears for this verse but is replaced by
John's conga drum playing. Ringo opens up the presence of this verse by riding
on the cymbal instead of the hi-hats. And, of course, the most prominent
feature of this verse is the superbly performed piccolo trumpet solo by David
Mason, with his high note climax heard on the third of the three-note drum
accents as repeated from the second verse.
The second chorus then
follows which mimics the previous chorus rather closely. Differences include
the sound effects (fast bongos?) that occur in the fourth beat of both the
first and second measures. John's harmonized vocals now occur on the newly
added lyric “four of fish and finger pies in summer.”
The fifth verse then follows,
which brings in the tambourine once again while trumpets play staccato blasts
on the two and four beat of the first six measures. The cor anglais (English
Horn) then hits a single high note that holds throughout the seventh and eighth
measures. Otherwise, the general instrumentation sounds the same as the third
verse.
The sixth and final verse
then commences which still includes the tambourine and the staccato trumpets in
the first six measures. The bowed double-bass comes in on the third measure
with a descending line that holds out its final note throughout the entire
fourth measure. The sixth measure brings in Ringo's handbell once again in
reference to the “fireman.” The eighth measure has the three beat accents with
Paul's lyric “very strange” as was heard in the second verse.
The third chorus is then
heard which is quite similar to the first chorus but with the trumpets playing
a different pattern throughout. David Mason here returns with a simple
quarter-note melody line in the third and fourth measure. The other trumpets
highlight the three note accents with the rest of the instruments in the eighth
measure this time, while the “machine gun-like” sound effects (bongos?) occurs
at the end of this final measure.
The fourth and final chorus
is different than the rest in that it raises its key. A piccolo plays the
melody line in unison with Paul's lead vocals in the main body of the entire
chorus this time around. The tambourine also appears here, the only time it's
been played in a chorus. David Mason's piccolo trumpet appears again with a
rather complicated line in the third and fourth measures, and then a simpler
one in the seventh and eighth measures. To finish off the last measure, Paul
repeats the song's title, this evolving into the final chord of the song. This
final chord prominently features the highly reverberated piano played through a
Vox amplifier, the high-pitched squeal of Paul's harmonium, and Ringo's
rapid-fire cymbal work, all three of these elements from the original
four-track tape.
As related above, Geoff
Emerick had to admit that “some of the overdubs got buried altogether because
of the density of the instrumentation and the number of bounces.” This is
definitely the case here, being that no evidence of either John's or George's
guitar work appear in the finished product, nor can the Beatles handclaps be
heard anywhere.
Nonetheless, after three tape
reductions, what is heard was arranged meticulously and breathtakingly
performed. Paul takes center stage with great vocal work, bass, harmonium,
piano, piano, and piano. We can hear John's piano (two overdubs), conga drums,
and harmony vocals done flawlessly. Ringo's drums, tambourine, and percussion
overdubs work beautifully with the song as well. It's unfortunate that we can't
hear any contribution that George made to “Penny Lane” during this three-week
period, apart from the percussive effects done at the first recording session
and any handclaps in the song. Since he admits that his “heart was still in India”
at this time, I don't think he cared all that much anyway.
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Join me soon for the
Unfolding Process of "BABY YOU'RE A RICH MAN."
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