PIGGIES AND ITS INCREDIBLE RECORDING PROCESS.

Before we start down the road, McCartney Confirms a 50th Anniversary Edition of The White Album shall definitely take place. Exact details are scarce, but it looks like on November 22 this year we will definitely see something similar to the 50th Anniversary Edition box set Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band from last year – which was beautifully done.

A new mix remastered by Giles Martin and Sam Okell? Definitely some demos and studio outtakes, from what Sir Paul said. The mono version of the album included? And maybe some bonus materials, including a new stereo mix of the ‘Hey Jude’/’Revolution’ single (like they did with ‘Strawberry Fields’/’Penny Lane’ for Pepper)? Time will tell.

Okay, on we go with PIGGIES.

On May 29th, 1968, The Beatles met at George's 'Kinfauns' home in Esher, Surrey, to record demos of the songs they were planning on officially recording for their next album.  While the vast majority of the demos they recorded developed into tunes while they were in India earlier in the year, "Piggies" culled from George's backlog of song ideas that, in this case, dated back to early 1966.

This demo is quite similar in structure to the finished product and consists of George double-tracked on acoustic guitar and, in most places, vocals as well. An instrumental section had already formed in place, George whistling where a harpsichord solo would eventually be. The final verse, as mentioned above, includes George hesitantly singing about “pork chops” instead of “bacon,” seemingly because he hadn't yet decided which lyric to go with yet. The demo ends somewhat awkwardly, George not as yet concocting a suitable conclusion to the song. Nonetheless, the song already displays the charm heard on the finished product.

George brought “Piggies” into EMI Studios on September 19th, 1968, this being the third of five Harrison composition to be recorded for the “White Album,” the first two being “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” and “Not Guilty” (the latter song eventually being dropped from the album's lineup). The Beatles entered EMI Studio Two at around 7:15 pm, although plans changed sometime after they arrived.

George Martin was on vacation at this time, Chris Thomas filling the producer position in his absence. Chris Thomas recalls about this day: “All four Beatles were there for the session and we were working in (EMI Studio) number two. I wandered into number one and found a harpsichord, not knowing that it had been set up overnight for a classical recording. So we discussed wheeling the thing into number two but (engineer) Ken Scott said, 'No, we can't, it's there for another session!' So we moved our session into number one instead.”

As found in the book “The Beatles Recording Sessions,” Chris Thomas continues about this session: “George Harrison agreed that my harpsichord idea was a good one and suggested that I play it. (Thomas had studied part-time at the Royal Academy of Music as a child.) This I did, but while George and I were tinkling away on this harpsichord he starting playing another new song to me, which later turned out to be 'Something.' I said, 'That's great! Why don't we do that one instead?' and he replied, 'Do you like it, do you really think it's good?' When I said yes he said 'Oh, maybe I'll give it to Jackie Lomax then, he can do it as a single!” This, of course, never happened, “Something” being recorded by The Beatles the following year and becoming the first and only George Harrison song to be released as a Beatles A-sided single and one of his most famous compositions.

After much deliberation and rehearsal, the group took to recording the rhythm track to “Piggies,” eleven takes being put to tape. This rhythm track consisted of Chris Thomas on harpsichord, George on acoustic guitar, Ringo on tambourine and Paul on bass, described by Mark Lewisohn as “individual string plucking managing to evoke the sound of a pig grunting.” The last take, 'take 11,' ranked suitable for overdubs, but held off for another day. This session notes as concluding at 5:30 am the following morning.

Sometime during this session, however, another new Beatles song was taking shape. “There were a couple of other songs around at this time,” Chris Thomas recalls. “Paul was running through 'Let It Be' between takes.” Although other McCartney compositions were yet to occur on tape for the "White Album" at this point, Paul decided to wait another three-and-a-half months before he readied this song for the studio.

Possibly on this day, another big McCartney tune was premiered. Technical engineer Alan Brown distinctly remembers assisting Paul to quickly tape a demo version of “The Long And Winding Road” on the grand piano located in EMI Studio One. The tape was given over to Paul after this demo recording ended, undoubtedly for him to review and refine the song for proper recording in January of 1969.

The following day (that is, later that day), September 20th, 1968, The Beatles reconvened in EMI Studio Two at around 7 pm to perform overdubs on “Piggies.” Being that the rhythm track for the song occurred in EMI Studio One, recorded on four-track tape. Therefore, the first order of business was to make a tape copy of the rhythm track onto eight-track tape to allow for four open tracks for overdubbing, in the process turning 'take 11' into 'take 12.'

The first overdub recorded was George's lead vocal, which was left single-tracked throughout with ADT (“Artificial Double Tracking”) added to the lines “play around in” (heard twice in the song) and “damn good whacking” (heard once in the song). George requested something unique for the vocals in the bridge of the song, this being a nasal sound as if he was pinching his nose. Technical engineer Ken Townsend relates how he accomplished this effect: “We fed the microphone signal through a very sharp echo chamber filter, an RS106, so that it chopped off everything above and below the 3.5-kilohertz level, creating a very narrow band of sound.”

The final verse of the song immersed in a very “butch” voice in harmony with John and Paul. At the end of the vocal track, George requested another try at perfecting it, saying “One more time” which was caught on tape and actually made it onto the finished product.

As you may have noticed, John Lennon hadn't been involved in the recording of the song very much. However, he found a very interesting way of contributing to the track: He busied himself in the control room of EMI Studio Two compiling snorting pig sound effects and having them recorded on a tape loop for inserting onto the recording. He was very familiar with this process having done similar extensive work in compiling sound effects for “Revolution 9” back in June. He once again raided the EMI sound effects collection. “There's a tape called 'Animals and Bees (volume 35) which includes pigs,” recalls Stuart Eltham. “It's from an old EMI 78rpm record, and The Beatles may have used a combination of that and their own voices. That always works well – the new voices hide the 78rpm scratchiness, the original record hides the fact that some of the sounds are man-made.”

With these overdubs complete, the session ended only four hours later, at 11 pm. This completed The Beatles contribution to “Piggies,” but more was to come before the song was deemed complete.

With the deadline for the completion of the “White Album” coming up quickly, all loose ends needed to be tightened up. On October 10th, 1968, with the vacationing George Martin back in the producers' chair, the final session for “Piggies” was held in EMI Studio Two beginning around 7 pm. George Martin had written orchestral scores for both “Piggies” and John's song “Glass Onion,” then recorded on this day. Eight classical string instrumentalists were present, these undoubtedly performing their parts for both songs quickly before being dismissed, approximately around 11 pm. After numerous mixes of other “White Album” songs were created by the engineering team, as well as Paul finishing up his song “Why Don't We Do It In The Road” in Studio Three, the session finally ended at 7:15 am the following morning.

The mono and stereo mixes of “Piggies” were created the following day, October 11th, 1968, in the control room of EMI Studio Two between 6 pm and midnight by George Martin and engineers Ken Scott and John Smith. These men made four tries of the mono mix and three of the stereo, the only noticeable difference between the mono and stereo mixes fit the different placements of the pig sound effects and a louder acoustic guitar in the mono mix.

George Martin and his son Giles Martin included segments of "Piggies" on two selections found on the 2006 album "Love."  On the track "Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite!/I Want You (She's So Heavy)/Helter Skelter," laughing sounds on the original recording of "Piggies" is included.  The track "Strawberry Fields Forever" includes a bit of the cello and harpsichord of "Piggies" as well, these composite tracks being constructed sometime between 2004 and 2006 in Abbey Road Studios.

One final recording of “Piggies” was done sometime between December 1st and 17th, 1991 during George's brief Japanese tour and later released on his album “Live In Japan.” As mentioned above, George premiered the extra lost verse during this tour as he had done with other songs in the set list, such as “Taxman.”

The structure of "Piggies" is quite simple and entirely in 4/4 time, unlike the previous four "White Album" tracks that contained time signatures that frequently jumped around.  This structure consists of 'verse/ verse/ bridge/ verse (instrumental)/ verse' (or aabaa).  A simple introduction and conclusion are tacked on as well to round out the composition.

A two-measure introduction starts things off, which is a preview of the last two measures of the first and third verse. Chris Thomas entirely plays this introduction on harpsichord, the most dominant instrument of the entire song.

The first verse then begins which is eight measures in length. George appears with single-tracked lead vocals and acoustic rhythm guitar along with Paul playing snorting staccato bass notes on the one- and three-beats of each measure alternating with Ringo playing tambourine beats on every two- and four-beats. These are the only elements heard in the first five measures, apart from John's snorting pig which is first heard strategically after the lyric “life is getting worse” (in the stereo version). For the sixth measure, George's guitar, Paul's bass, and Ringo's tambourine stop to allow the harpsichord to come in with a simple ascending quarter-note scale underpinning George's double-tracked lyric “play around in.” The last two measures are actually a repeat of the introduction, the instruments being George and Paul resuming their guitar and bass roles along with Ringo on tambourine playing a steady rhythmic beat. Chris Thomas's harpsichord reprises his introductory part here as well along with a backdrop of strings.

This moves smoothly into the second verse which is also eight measures long. George goes back to single-tracked vocals along with the same Beatles instrumentation of guitar, bass, and tambourine as heard in the final two measures of the previous verse. One additional feature here is the cellos playing a background counter-melody line for the entire verse. The sixth measure break mimics the first verse, the only difference being that the cellos follow the ascending harpsichord notes. The seventh measure is virtually identical to what was played in the first verse, apart from Ringo hesitating to come in with the tambourine on the downbeat as if he wasn't sure if he was supposed to play or not. The eighth measure includes a sharp 16th note ascending scale which is used as a transition for the key change that appears in the bridge that follows.

This bridge is seven measures long and is accented throughout with anticipatory eighth notes from the strings. George's vocals are sung through the effect outlined above which sound like the result of having his nose pinched. George continues his acoustic guitar and Paul changes to eighth note bass playing while Ringo continues his steady tambourine rhythm. The harpsichord plays flowing chords on the one- and three-beats of the first two measures and plays a bluesy line in the fourth measure which is shadowed by the cellos. In the fifth through seventh measures, the harpsichord plays eighth note chords along with the strings while George's “damn good whacking” vocal line is double-tracked for added emphasis.

The instrumental verse is next which is also eight measures long and features an interesting interplay between the harpsichord and the intricate string arrangement. This follows the final verse which is ten measures long, the two additional measures facilitating what listeners initially view as the conclusion of the song. The only harmonies of the song are in this final verse, The Beatles comically singing about “piggies living piggy lives” immediately followed by more pig snorts (stereo version). The elements included here are identical to the second verse and are performed nearly the same as well. The eighth and ninth measures, however, transcend into minor chords but then make their way back to a final major chord in the tenth measure.

But just when you think the song is done, we hear George saying “One more time” which is spliced into a corny two chord 'Amen'-like conclusion tacked on by George Martin's orchestral score, lest we think the song's finale is too somber. And as usual, John Lennon gets the last word with his swine grunts that fade into the sunset.

After George guided Chris Thomas through the structure of the song, he sang and played a simple rhythm guitar and was treated to the expertise of those around him, watching his political commentary develop into something unique. Even though John, Paul, and Ringo played rather slight roles in the proceedings, their performances were appropriately silly (John) and steady (Paul and Ringo). Both Chris Thomas and George Martin should get a good deal of credit in portraying this less-than-serious composition in the way that it should have been. It's what we could expect from George Martin after all, with his prior extensive work in producing comedy records for Peter Sellers, Dudley Moore, and many others.

Stop by my blog next week and discover the intricate details showcased upon ROCKY RACCOON.

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BLACKBIRD AND ITS INCREDIBLE RECORDING PROCESS.

Before we start down the road, McCartney Confirms 50th Anniversary Edition of The White Album. Exact details are scarce, but it looks like on November 22 this year we will definitely see something similar to the 50th Anniversary Edition box set Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band from last year – which was beautifully done.

A new mix remastered by Giles Martin and Sam Okell? Definitely some demos and studio outtakes, from what Sir Paul said. The mono version of the album included? And maybe some bonus materials, including a new stereo mix of the ‘Hey Jude’/’Revolution’ single (like they did with ‘Strawberry Fields’/’Penny Lane’ for Pepper)?

Okay, on we go with Blackbird.

The first time "Blackbird" spooled onto tape occurred May 29th, 1968, as one of many demo recordings made at George Harrison's 'Kinfauns' home in Esher, Surrey on an Ampex four-track machine.  This recording consists of Paul on acoustic guitar and vocals, both double-tracked, with a slight bit of bird sound effects courtesy of John in the background.  The structure of the song hadn't been settled on yet, and the ending was different than we know it now, but the lyrics were all in place at this point.

Paul was proud enough of “Blackbird” that it was the first McCartney composition he brought into EMI Studios for their new album. It was the fourth “White Album” song utilized but the first to mark completed, accomplished in one day, noted June 11th, 1968. Documents show the session commenced in EMI Studio Two at 6:30 pm.

Engineer Geoff Emerick, in his book “Here, There And Everywhere,” recounts the events of this day as well as the atmosphere present during “White Album” recording sessions: “The Beatles – who clearly didn't like being in one another's company anymore – were able to split up into small groups, working simultaneously in two or even all three of the studios in the Abbey Road complex. This soon became standard operating procedure for much of the 'White Album.' It was as if the four band members were so much in separate spaces personally, they wanted to make their record in separate spaces physically. On those evenings, I would normally work with Paul, because I had the best rapport with him. Another engineer would accompany John or George Harrison, with the taciturn (and rarely consulted) Ringo shuttling between studios as he was needed. That was the situation on the night that we worked on Paul's first contribution to the album, the poignant ballad 'Blackbird.'”

Emerick continues: “Neither Ringo nor George appeared that particular evening, and John wanted to start compiling sound effects for what would ultimately become 'Revolution 9,' so as soon as he learned that another studio was available, he decided to head off with (producer) Chris Thomas and Phil (McDonald) – accompanied, as usual, by Yoko. That left George Martin and me alone with Paul, which came as a blessed relief to me after all the stress of the preceding sessions; it always was a lot easier to deal with one Beatle.”

“Playing his left-handed acoustic guitar, Paul began running the song down, and I loved it immediately. Perfectionist that he was, he performed it over and over again, trying to get the complicated guitar part right all the way through. At one point a cameraman appeared to do a little filming for an Apple promo, and that interrupted the flow a little bit, but Paul just carried on, with his new lady friend sitting cross-legged at his feet. Paul had recently broken up with Jane Asher, and that might have been another reason why he was so subdued during the 'White Album' sessions...I suppose it's possible that Paul invited the girl along as an answer to John bringing in Yoko. But in contrast to Yoko, she didn't stay long, and George Martin had to leave early, too.”

The Apple promo film clearly shows Paul rehearsing “Blackbird” repeatedly, making mistakes along the way but clearly bringing it to perfection as he progressed. During the beginning of this filmed segment, on the floor off to Paul's right is the woman mentioned above. This was Francie Schwartz, Paul's current girlfriend, very soon to be replaced by Linda Eastman who would become his wife shortly later. In the film, George Martin walks over to converse with Paul during these rehearsals which appears to be an annoyance to Paul who continues his rehearsals of the song despite George's interruption. George Martin apparently left for the evening shortly after this moment in the film.

Emerick then relates: “After they'd gone, Paul remarked to me that he wanted the track to sound as if he was singing it outdoors. 'Fine,' I said, 'then let's do it outdoors.' He looked surprised, but there was a little spot outside of the echo chamber with just enough room for him to sit on a stool. I ran a long mic lead out there, and that's where we recorded 'Blackbird.' Most of the dubbed bird noises came from a sound effects record, but a few sparrows and finches singing outside the Abbey Road studio on a soft summer eve aided some live added tweets alongside Paul McCartney.”

Once official recording began in this unique location, Paul recorded 32 takes of the song with just himself on acoustic guitar and vocal along with his tapping feet which were specifically miked by Geoff Emerick at Paul's request.  Emerick, in the book "Recording The Beatles," explains how the tapping on the finished recording "has incorrectly revealed identified as a metronome in the past," but evidence of Paul's foot tapping shown during the playing of the song easily gets the credit seen in the Apple promo film shot on this day.  Only 11 of these takes were complete, take 4 acknowledged as one of these which eventually appeared on the compilation album “Anthology 3.” Upon examination of this take, we can see that Paul continued experimenting with the structure of the song as well as the performance nuances itself. One other complete take from this day, which has surfaced on bootleg recordings, show Paul ending the song just after the beginning of a verse with the lyric “Blackbird singing in the dead of night.....” and then asking Geoff Emerick “What do you think, what do you think?” Take 32 was the keeper, however, Paul then double-tracking his vocals during the refrains.

Mark Lewisohn, in his book “The Beatles Recording Sessions,” explains the one final overdub recorded on this day: “There was one other addition to the four-track tape: chirruping blackbirds, courtesy of 'Volume Seven: Birds Of Feather,' from the Abbey Road taped sound effects collection, the doors of the trusty green cabinet opened earlier and raided by John Lennon. 'I taped that on one of the first portable EMI tape-recorders, in my back garden in Ickenham, about 1965,' recalls Stuart Eltham. 'There are two recordings, one of the bird singing, the other making an alarm sound when I startled it.'”

Paul explains the desire to have this sound effect on the song: “The only point where we were thinking of putting anything on it was where it comes back in at the end – stops, and then comes back in. So, instead of putting any backing on it, we put a blackbird on it, so, there's a blackbird singing at the very end. Somebody said it's a thrush, but I think it's a blackbird...He did a very good job, I thought. He sings very well on that.”

But why not make a bigger production of the song? Paul explains: “It's simple in concept because we couldn't even think of anything else to put on it. Maybe on 'Pepper,' we would have worked on it until we could find some way to put violins on it or trumpets. But, I don't think it needs it. There's nothing to the song. This is just one of those pick-it-and-sing-it songs. It doesn't need anything else in the backing because, as a song, there's nothing to it.”

Before this session was over, six attempts of the mono mix were made in the control room of EMI Studio Two by Geoff Emerick, although none surfaced on the released record. By 12:15 am, the session ended.

A simple tape copy of 'remix mono 6' took place in the control room of EMI Studio Two on August 27th, 1968, which staff considered the finished mono mix of the song at this time. This tape copy, along with three other tape copies made on this day, were taken away by roadie Mal Evans, no doubt to let the Beatles hear its results.

Both the stereo and mono mixes pressed and heard by the public happened on October 13th, 1968, by George Martin and engineers Ken Scott and John Smith in the control room of EMI Studio Two. The stereo mix ensued first, with only one attempt needed for both stereo and mono. The mono mix, for some reason, was designated “remix 10” even though only six attempted mono mixes ran the course thus far. The only notable difference between the stereo and mono mixes exposes the placement of the bird sound effects, the mono mix leaving the blank space in the song completely quiet – quiet enough to pick up the sound of actual birds singing during Paul's outdoor performance.

Sometime in January of 1969, during the recording of Mary Hopkin's album “Postcard,” Paul and British folk singer Donovan, both of which performed on the album, were recorded singing and doodling on acoustic guitars while engineers were setting up equipment and adjusting the mix. Among the songs they ran through was “Blackbird,” Paul including a convincing blackbird imitation in between the vocal lines. He also stops the song at one point to explain to Donovan, “I sang the song to Diana Ross the other night – she took offense!...not really.”

Sometime in 1996, George Martin and Geoff Emerick returned to the master tapes of “Blackbird” to create a stereo mix of 'take 4' as mentioned above. This was included on the compilation album “Anthology 3” to give a clear perspective of how the recorded song had taken shape.

And then, sometime between 2004 and 2006, George Martin and his son Giles Martin worked with the master tape of “Blackbird” in order to combine a few instrumental segments with the master tape of “Yesterday,” this becoming the track “Blackbird” ”Yesterday” on the compilation album “Love.” The key of “Blackbird” dropped so as to match the key of “Yesterday,” seamlessly splicing them all together to appear as if it gelled by Paul all at the same time. A masterful job.

Since Paul performed “Blackbird” live quite regularly throughout the years, many recordings have been made and surfaced on live albums. Sometime in May or June of 1976, a recording of the song appeared on the album “Wings Over America,” while another version of the song recorded on June 14th, 1976 at the Cow Palace in Daly City, California got included on a bonus CD in the Deluxe Edition Box Set of “Wings Over America.” On January 25th, 1991, Paul and his band performed the song on the MTV “Unplugged” show, this version appearing on his album “Unplugged (The Official Bootleg).” Then, sometime between April 1st and May 18th, 2002, “Blackbird” was recorded live for release on both “Back In The U.S.” and “Back In The World.” A recording of the song took place at Paul's June 27th, 2007 concert at Amoeba Music in Hollywood, California, this version appearing on the British and Irish release entitled “Paul McCartney Live In Los Angeles.” Another recording made at Citi Field in New York City sometime between July 17th and 21st, 2009 made it onto the album “Good Evening New York City.”

Since "Blackbird" was a solo performance, Paul, supportive to experimenting with the structure of the song as he was recording it, ushered various configurations tried and abandoned before he settled on what we've come to view as the finished product.  What he ended up with was the following:  'verse/ verse/ refrain/ verse (instrumental)/ refrain/ bridge/ verse' (or aababca).  Interestingly, Paul continues to deviate from this structure to this day, each live performance varying from the next with subtle lyrical differences as well.

As far as the official studio recording is concerned, the arrangement flows the same throughout; Paul on acoustic guitar and single tracked vocals except during the refrains which have double-tracked vocals. His tapping feet are audible until the end of the second refrain just before the song retards and stops momentarily, but then reappears on the bridge and continues until the song is near completion. During the momentary break, the blackbird sound effects kick in (they come in a little earlier in the mono mix) and reappear periodically throughout the rest of the song; the last blackbird calls just after the song ends.

The more complex feature of the song points to the time signature changes that wind through the structure that Paul ended up using. For instance, a two-measure introduction begins the piece, which is actually an instrumental foregleam of the first two measures of each verse. The first of these two measures is in 3/4 while the second measure is in a standard 4/4 time, which is the primary time signature of the song. The first verse then follows, which is ten measures long, the first measure being in 3/4 time, measures two through four in 4/4 time, measure five in 2/4 time, and measures six through ten in 4/4 time. The final two measures (nine and ten) are actually an instrumental repeat of the previous two measures (seven and eight). Kapeesh?

The second verse mirrors the same by all accounts except that it is only eight measures long, omitting the final two instrumental measures heard in the first verse. Then comes the refrain which is five measures long, measures one through four being in 4/4 time while the fifth measure is in 2/4 time. The final lyrical line of the refrain (“into the light of the dark black night”) extends into the next section of the song, which is a fully instrumental verse eight measures in length as the second verse was.

The second refrain enters next, which extends to nine measures in length. The first five measures are identical to the first refrain while measures six and seven repeat the introduction of the song but then extend the final high chord for two more measures of 4/4 while the song slows down to a glaring halt. When the song picks up again, we hear a section that is different from anything else heard in the song, which we'll call a bridge. This bridge is instrumental and consists of three measures, the first two being in 3/4 time and the third measure being in 2/4 time.

Paul then goes into the final vocal verse, which is lyrically the same as the first. However, with this being the final segment of the song, he extends it to twelve measures, repeating the final two 4/4 measures twice. This means we hear the lyric “you were only waiting for this moment to arise” three times in a row for emphasis. And that's that!

Stop by my blog next week and discover the intricate details showcased upon PIGGIES.

Please feel free to leave any comments or corrections and share these articles plus the 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.

I’M SO TIRED AND ITS INCREDIBLE RECORDING PROCESS.

John recorded a demo version of "I'm So Tired" at George Harrison's 'Kinfauns' home in Surrey on May 28th, 1968 on an Ampex 4-track machine.  The Beatles met on this day as well as the following day to record demos of the songs they'd recently written in preparation for them officially recording the songs in EMI Studios, these sessions beginning on May 30th.

John plays acoustic guitar and double-tracks his vocals on this demo, Paul also being heard adding some “woooo”s here and there as well as someone adding some strategic tambourine hits in the latter half of the song. This demo recording is substantially longer than the finished version, John repeating the first verse after the third verse is sung as well as adding yet another additional verse followed by a third chorus.

This final verse, undoubtedly intended to be used for a solo of some kind, included the following ad-libbed vocal recitation from John for the time being: “When I hold you in your arms, when you show me each one of your charms, I wonder should I get up and go to the funny farm.” The first phrase of this recitation ended up becoming a striking feature of another of John's “White Album” songs, namely “Happiness Is A Warm Gun.” This demo of “I'm So Tired” ends with five repeats of the phrase “I'd give you everything I've got for a little piece of mind” instead of three on the finished recording, this followed by John stating “I'll give you all I've got, Derek!” possibly addressed to press officer Derek Taylor who may have been present at 'Kinfauns' on this day.

After well over four months of recording the “White Album,” with less than a week to go before the deadline for the finished album arrived, The Beatles finally got around to officially recording John's “I'm So Tired” for the album. In a marathon recording session on October 8th, 1968, the group entered EMI Studio Two at around 4 pm with the intention of fully recording two John Lennon compositions, “I'm So Tired” and “The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill.” First on the agenda, though, was adding some overdubs to George's song “Long Long Long” which had begun the previous day. With this complete, John was caught on tape exerting his authority and whipping the boys up for recording his two new songs. “Quick, quick, the red light's on, let's go, let's make a record!” he can be heard demanding on the session tapes for this day.

The group decided to tackle “I'm So Tired” first, beginning roughly at around 6 pm. The basic rhythm track filled the first four tracks of the eight-track tape, Paul's bass on track one, Ringo's drums on track two, John and George's electric guitars on track three, and John's lead vocal on track four. It took 14 takes for them to get a usable rhythm track, the compilation album “Anthology 3” containing a composite of takes 3, 6 and 9 to give us an idea of how the song had evolved in the studio until the perfected “take 14” came around.

With four more tracks to fill on the tape, overdubs commenced. Track five contained backing vocals from John and Paul, track six contained a drum overdub from Ringo for the choruses, lead guitar fills from George in the vocal gaps and electric piano from Paul, track seven contained yet more drums from Ringo during the choruses, and track eight contained John on organ and George on distant guitar.

Interestingly, at the end of the song, John spoke closely into the microphone during the backing vocal overdub on track five, requesting another go at recording that overdub. His almost indecipherable request was “Monsieur, monsieur, monsieur, how about another one......?” Humorously, in late 1969, many who were hungry for clues to Paul's supposed death insisted that, when played backwards, John was saying “Paul is dead, miss him, miss him, miss him.” This made for a spooky but mistaken story and, in effect, ruined a lot of record player needles in the process.

By around 4 am the following morning, “I'm So Tired” made headway to completion upon the stubborn nic-pic satisfaction of John. “One of my favorite tracks,” he stated when interviewed, adding “I just like the sound of it, and I sing it well.” They then began and finished “The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill” before the session was over at 8 am.

Both the stereo and mono mixes of “I'm So Tired” were created a week later, October 15th, 1968, by the engineering team of George Martin, Ken Scott and John Smith in the control room of EMI Studio Two. A decision surfaced to take out a good portion of John's organ, and most of George's lead guitar fills in both mixes, feeling that it muddied up the arrangement a little too much. It took five tries to perfect the stereo mix and three tries to get a usable mono mix. The mono mix emphasizes Paul's backing vocals in the choruses much more prominently than the stereo mix.

On January 3rd, 1969, The Beatles ran through an interesting version of the song at Twickenham Film Studios in London during rehearsals for what became the “Let It Be” movie. Committed to tape on this day was a full version of “I'm So Tired” with Paul on vocals, him humorously imitating John's singing. After the line “get myself a drink, no, no, no,” Paul adds “lay off the booze, boy!” Paul even tries to imitate John's indecipherable muttering at the end of the song: “emesegeh, megasegeh, emeh, emehsegeh, emeh....”

Sometime early in 1996, George Martin and engineer Geoff Emerick returned to the master tapes of October 8th, 1968 to combine the best parts of takes 3, 6 and 9 of the rhythm track The Beatles recorded for “I'm So Tired” to include in the compilation album “Anthology 3.”

Unlike the previous two "White Album" tracks, "I'm So Tired" has a very standard format, 'verse/ verse/ chorus/ verse/ chorus' (or aabab).  John chose to omit a couple of verses and a chorus from the demo he recorded back in May of 1968, his succinct message not needing to be repeated or drawn out any further.

The first verse, like all three verses, plays seven measures long, all of which are in a plodding 4/4-time signature except for measure six which is in 2/4. The first measure delivers an ascending three-note guitar figure from John's guitar which then continues through the verse playing a sleepy chord pattern along with George's guitar. John sings lead single-tracked throughout while Paul and Ringo hold down the rhythm end of the song, all performing at a convincingly insomniatic pace suitable to the lyrics. The first verse only includes elements from the original rhythm track, so therefore what we hear is actually performed live in the studio with no overdubs.

The second verse begins immediately afterward which mirrors the first throughout with a couple of exceptions in measures five through seven. John's vocals rise out of his lethargic state into one of irritation on the line “I wonder should I call you, but I know what you would do.” Also during these measures, we hear John's overdubbed organ kick in, which has been treated with the manual “wobble” effect of ADT (Artificial Double Tracking) as done on Eric Clapton's guitar work on “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.”

Next comes the first chorus which is six measures long, all of which are in 4/4 time. On top of the original rhythm track is John's organ holding out single chords, John and Paul's backing vocals (Paul performing a higher harmony), and Ringo's overdubbed drum work, most notable because of the snare accents. The intensity of the chorus builds as it progresses until it climaxes in the fifth measure with the line “I'd give you everything I've got for a little piece of mind.” As this last word sounds, the sixth measure begins with all instrumentation dropping off entirely. The second half of the last measure brings in the subtle guitar introduction heard at the beginning of the song as a segue into the third verse that follows.

This third verse is very similar to the second verse in that it consists of the original rhythm track recording with John's organ overdub being faded in again in the fifth through seventh measures. One additional element here is a small trace of George's lead guitar overdub which is heard in the seventh measure after the highly emphasized word “get.”

This small trace goes directly into the second and final chorus which, this time, is ten measures long given that measures five and six are repeated two more times for emphasis before the song comes to a startling finish. All elements of the previous chorus are heard here as well with the addition of yet another drum overdub from Ringo, him accenting the snare drum with sixteenth notes. Therefore, there are actually three Ringo’s playing during this chorus, his performance during the rhythm track, an identical drum pattern overdub, and then the above-mentioned snare drum overdub. Also, discernible here is Paul's electric piano which can be subtly heard as a backdrop throughout.

The last climax phrase repeats three times, the first two times followed by a 'Beatles break' with minimal else going on. During the first break, all that appears is a simple drum fill from Ringo. During the second break, Ringo plays a more elaborate drum fill along with three guitar chops and a thumb-roll from Paul on the electric piano. Then after the third vocal phrase sounds, everything drops off completely, the only thing left to hear being John's mumbled request for another take of the background vocal track, which apparently didn't happen since this request was captured on the "take" they kept.

The performance from all four Beatles stands very compelling, depicting an angry insomniac rage at the point of desperation. It was accurately portrayed, undoubtedly, because of the actual lateness of the hour when the song laid its recorded piece, finishing about 4 am in the morning (with four more hours to go, mind you, since they immediately continued on with “The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill”). Lennon hit the nail on the head vocally and instrumentally, while both Paul and Ringo contributed stellar performances. A lot of what George inputted disappeared, however, but his heavy chording during the choruses did help create the thick feel that John wanted for the song.

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MARTHA MY DEAR AND ITS INCREDIBLE RECORDING PROCESS.

Ian MacDonald, in his book “Revolution In The Head,” makes an interesting observation which he proposes could have been a musical inspiration for today’s song. “McCartney's most rhythmically unorthodox song, 'Martha My Dear,' was recorded ten days after a period of intense rehearsal work on Lennon's similarly irregular 'Happiness Is A Warm Gun.' Since, like 'Happiness,' it includes an ascending bass phrase which temporarily expands the meter (fourth bar: 6/4), it's possible that McCartney, his musical funny bone tickled by his partner's eccentricities, here set out to create something equally tricky for his own amusement.”

This notwithstanding, “Martha My Dear” documents as written by Paul alone in October of 1968 while the song first recorded attempts occurred on October 4th. The song was therefore recorded almost immediately after its creation, George Martin had already written an orchestral score for the song that he also recorded on this same day, undoubtedly from a demo tape that Paul must have provided to him in advance. With inspiration at a very high level, and with the deadline for the finished album looming very near, all involved worked quite fast to get this song 'in the can.'

As mentioned above, Paul recorded a demo of the song for George Martin to use in creating the orchestral score from which this polished producer recorded in the studio, although the demo has not surfaced anywhere.  Paul’s demo recording, if it exists, must have been recorded in the first couple of days of October 1968.

Then, on October 4th, 1968, Paul and George Harrison entered Trident Studios in London at 4 pm to begin working on the song.  Paul recorded his piano part with guide vocal as the basis to build the song.  He may have run through the song a few times without the tapes rolling but, in the end, this piano/vocal part succeeded in one take.  Onto this, Paul got behind the drums and overdubbed a drum part in Ringo's absence.  This became the rhythm track for the song, which marked finished by 6 pm in time for studio musicians to enter to record the score for his previously recorded “Honey Pie” rhythm track.

Then, after this group of musicians left, another set of studio musicians entered, 14 in number, to record the orchestral score that George Martin recently prepared for “Martha My Dear.”  As the above photographic evidence suggests, these musicians recorded their parts in two shifts; six brass musicians with George Harrison on electric guitar and Paul guiding them on piano and vocals, and then eight string musicians recorded their part.  By midnight, these overdubs were complete, musician Leon Calvert contributing both a trumpet and flugelhorn part in this arrangement.

As we see, this was a very productive day in the studio.  However, it still continued.  Paul kept producer George Martin and engineer Barry Sheffield in the control room so that he could record more overdubs, this taking the session to 4:30 am the following morning.  Paul re-recorded the vocal track to “Martha My Dear” and then double-tracked it, providing handclaps as well during an instrumental section of the song.  After a quick vocal overdub onto “Honey Pie,” the session finally ended in the wee hours of the morning.

Later that day, October 5th, 1968, another session at Trident Studios began at around 6 pm with at least Paul and George Harrison present, George overdubbing some vocals onto his previously recorded song “Savoy Truffle” on this day.  Afterward, Paul took to overdubbing more onto “Martha My Dear,” this being his masterful bass guitar part.  Mark Lewisohn, in his book "The Beatles Recording Sessions" suggests that Paul also recorded an electric guitar part for the song on this day, although it may have been George's guitar from the previous day that we hear on the song, if not both.  This completed the recording of "Martha My Dear," resulting in George Martin and Barry Sheffield creating both a mono and stereo mix of the song, only one attempt needed to create each of these.  After final mixes of a couple other songs took place, this session ended at around 1 am the following morning.

On October 7th, 1968, tape copies of both the mono and stereo mixes of the song were made in EMI Studio Two by George Martin and engineers Ken Scott and Mike Sheady, this undoubtedly needed for transferring the recordings made at Trident Studios to compile them in EMI Studios, mastering them if they felt necessary.  At this point, the song was ready for release on both the mono and stereo versions of the “White Album.”

In January of 1969, during the sessions that became the “Let It Be” album, Paul would tinker around with the song on the piano, this being done three times:  twice at Twickenham Film Studios (January 10th and 14th) and once at Apple Studios (January 25th).  While committed to tape, none of these recordings received an official release.

The only other known time the song was committed to tape by Paul was briefly during a sound check on April 28th, 2015 at the Budokan in Tokyo during his “Out There” tour.  A bootleg recording of this snippet of the introduction of “Martha My Dear” has surfaced, showing that Paul indeed needed to brush up on his ability to play the piece.  As he stated above: “It's quite hard for me to play.”

And no wonder it was so hard for Paul to play.  The time signature changes are quite complicated and difficult to decipher, different sheet music sources describing them in different configurations.  One explanation, shown below, offers the easiest to grasp.

Before we delve into that, the overall structure of the song should unfold its shape, which is 'verse (intro)/ verse/ bridge 1/ bridge 2/ verse (instrumental)/ bridge 1/ verse' (or aabcaba).  At the end of the song, we hear Paul play a simple descending overdubbed bass line seemingly as an afterthought, which could be considered as a brief conclusion to the song.

The first introductory verse is eight measures long and is played entirely by Paul on the piano, this being the only element heard in this verse.  The time signature changes can be parsed out like this:  the first measure is in 3/4 time, the second measure is in 2/4 time, and the rest are in a standard 4/4 time.

The second verse, which is the first vocal verse, is also eight measures long and contains the same time signature changes.  We can more readily explain when the different changes occur in this verse by indicating which lyrics are sung.  The first measure, which is in 3/4 time, comprise the lyrics “Martha, my dear,” while the second measure, which is in 2/4 time, encompass the lyrics “though I spend my.” The remainder of the verse is in 4/4 just as the initial instrumental verse was. Paul's piano, while still faintly heard in the background, is engulfed by the string arrangement which mimics Paul's piano work perfectly from the previous verse. Paul's vocals are also of prime focus here, them being double-tracked for a nice thick sound.

Then we push forward into the first bridge which is eight measures long, all measures being in 4/4 time. Paul's double-tracked vocals are in the forefront here as well with his piano work buried because of the fine orchestral score.  The strings play staccato eighth notes while the tuba and trombone highlight the quarter notes throughout most of these measures.  Leon Calvert's flugelhorn makes an appearance during the instrumental break in the eighth measure while Paul's vocals transcend into the section of the song that follows.

This next section we refer to as “bridge 2” because it's much different from the previous section of the song, which we refer to as “bridge 1,” but it still acts as a 'bridge' back to another verse which follows immediately afterwards.  "Bridge 2” is nine measures long and also features some rather tricky time signature changes.  The first measure is in 2/4 (“good look a-”), the second measure is in 4/4 (“-round you, take a”), the third measure is back to 2/4 (“good look, you're”) and the fourth measure returns to 4/4 (“bound to see, that”).  Measures five through eight are also in 4/4 time while the final ninth measure is in 2/4, this comprising of a three-note instrumental segue into the verse that follows.

Instrumentally, “bridge 2” adds some more familiar musical elements for Beatles songs, these being drums and electric rhythm guitar.  In order to transcend the changing time signatures, Paul plays what amounts to a 2/4 polka-style drum beat throughout the first seven measures, stopping in measure eight and then playing a nice drum fill in the final measure. The guitar plays quarter-note rhythm guitar chops throughout the first seven measures, with the exception on the sixth measure where it plays a triplet-like pattern and the eighth measure where a strummed chord rings out during the break, this break also featuring the flugelhorn riff heard in “bridge 1.”  Horns play background chords during the first six measures of “bridge 2,” strings briefly joining in on the sixth measure with more striking staccato eighth-notes.  The tuba and trombone also enter the fray in measure seven for the low end but trail off in measure eight.  The horns then kick in for the final three segue notes in the final measure.

Next heard is an instrumental verse which is quite similar to the arrangement heard in the first vocal verse, the main difference being the strident horns taking the place of Paul's vocals.  The drums fade away here, the percussive end gets handled by Paul's handclaps, double-tracked by him during his lead vocal overdub while the electric guitar is still present, each adding a nice full touch to the masterful arrangement.  The drums do reappear, however, at the very end of the final measure with a quick snare drum flam.

A repeat of “bridge 1” is heard next which is instrumentally quite similar to its first occurrence except for a high note held out by a trumpet for the first four measures and a simple 4/4 drum beat from Paul which culminates in a fill in the final measure, the drums' final appearance in the song.

The final verse appears next which, apart from minor changes in lyrics, is virtually the same instrumentally from the first vocal verse of the song.  One difference, however, is Paul's overdubbed bass guitar which virtually follows the low-end string part note for note.  Paul then adds the final touch by descending the scale by himself on bass while the strings hold out the final note of George Martin's score.

Paul may have been inspired to write “Martha My Dear” after working with The Beatles at mastering the changing time signatures of John's “Happiness Is A Warm Gun” as some suggest, but what resulted is a true jewel in both McCartney's early career as well as the “White Album.”  Paul laid down the template with his introductory piano verse and, while he takes a backseat on the keys for the rest of the song, he leaves it to the classically trained instrumentalists to interpret his brainchild perfectly.  Paul then creates his own rock combo by overdubbing himself as bassist, guitarist and even drummer, adding to the guitar part George Harrison apparently contributed the first day, setting a precedent for what he truly was capable of as a future solo artist.  Most of all, Paul loved being a Beatle and fought tooth and nail to keep the band together as a workable unit.  When that did eventually fail, “Martha My Dear” shouts testimony to what his future would hold.  After the initial shock wore off, that is.

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HAPPINESS IS A WARM GUN AND ITS INCREDIBLE RECORDING PROCESS.

On May 28th, 1968, just two days before the group planned to lay down tracks for the "White Album," the Beatles met at George's "Kinfauns" home in Esher, Surrey to record demos of recently written songs.  Among the first songs recorded on this day was a piece of John's that could easily have been titled "I Need A Fix," this eventually marked the middle section of "Happiness Is A Warm Gun."

Only John appears on this demo, which was recorded on an Ampex 4-track machine, him singing and playing acoustic guitar simultaneously. Not too much of the song formulated at this point, John struggling with the chord changes at times (even exclaiming “Oh sh*t, wrong chord” at one point). A small segment even mentions Yoko Ono by name, as mentioned above. In any event, he appeared far from ready to bring this composition into the recording studio, this not happening until nearly four months later.

Sometime after this, John recorded a home demo of himself playing guitar in the finger-picking style he learned in India, this bit eventually surfaced as the introduction to what became the finished recording of “Happiness Is A Warm Gun.” The only vocalization heard by John in this home demo is the recognizable “doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo” as eventually repeated in the finished song, as well as him saying to Yoko, “Mama, you're so beautiful this morning, I'd like to grab your weave!”

With only about three weeks left until the completion of the “White Album” was due, John had now finalized his composition “Happiness Is A Warm Gun In Your Hand,” as it was titled at first, and brought it into the studio for The Beatles to begin working out the arrangement and then record it. September 23rd, 1968, was the first day they attempted the song, they all arrived at EMI Studio Two sometime after the usual 7 pm to learn the song and then hash out the arrangement.

After they worked out some ideas, 45 takes of the song took place. Chris Thomas, who was acting as producer in the absence of the vacationing George Martin, remembers: “'Happiness Is A Warm Gun' went to a great many takes. We used to make jokes out of it. 'Take 83!'” These takes consisted of John on electric rhythm guitar with guide vocal, George on fuzzed lead guitar, Paul on bass and Ringo on drums. The tape captures much discussion between the group about how to tackle the complicated time signature changes as well as comparing the difficulty of certain sections of the song with others. By 3 am the following morning, however, they all left for the day without anything usable committed to tape.

Later that evening, September 24th, 1968, the group reconvened at EMI Studio Two at around 7 pm for another go at the song. With the same instrumentation as the previous day, the group tried 25 more takes of the rhythm track. This time they nailed down what they felt could be used as the rhythm track for the finished song, this being 'take 53.' However, they decided that the final section of the song, the “happiness is a warm gun...” chorus section was performed better on 'take 65.' So, a decision was made to slice these two takes together to create the perfect rhythm track for adding overdubs. Being that it was now, 2 am the following morning; everyone decided that the editing of these two takes, as well as the overdubs, would finalize at the next session. Therefore, everyone went home...or at least somewhere else.

The next session was later that day, September 25th, 1968, again at EMI Studio Two, this time beginning at 7:30 pm. First on the agenda was an edit of the first two sections of the song from 'take 53' and the third section from 'take 65' (the result of which they still called 'take 65'), created by producer Chris Thomas and engineers Ken Scott and Mike Sheady. Onto this newly created rhythm track, The Beatles overdubbed the remaining elements featured on the released version of “Happiness Is A Warm Gun.”

These overdubs consisted of John's remarkable lead vocal, John, Paul and George's extensive backing vocals, Ringo on tambourine as well as added snare drum beats, Paul adding an additional bass guitar as well as a piano, John on organ and, very surprisingly, Paul playing a tuba that happened to be in the studio that day. The enjoyable time they had performing these overdubs, understandably, were what caused John, George, and Paul to all claim that this song was their favorite on the “White Album.” By 5 am, the group left for the morning satisfied that yet another track for the album was 'in the can.'

The lights in EMI Studios weren't exactly turned off quite yet though. Between 5 and 6:15 am, the same engineering team of Thomas, Scott, and Sheady worked at creating a usable mono mix of the song, two attempts failed during these early morning hours and deemed unusable. However, acetates were created of one of these mixes for The Beatles to hear, the acetate discs still labeled as the songs' title, “Happiness Is A Warm Gun In Your Hand.”

Paul was eager to play the acetate of this exciting new song to his recently acquired new girlfriend Linda Eastman (soon to be his Mrs.) who had just moved in with him at that time. However, all decided that some of the overdubs needed tweaking which facilitated new mono mixes created. The same engineering team of Thomas, Scott, and Sheady got to work on this later that same day in the control room of EMI Studio Two starting at about 7 pm on September 26th, 1968. A decision was now made to shorten the title of the song to "Happiness Is A Warm Gun" since the documentation on this day reflects this change.  The tuba was placed lower in the mix this time around, as was the organ overdub. Also, John had originally sung his “I need a fix...” verse twice, the first being heard simultaneously with George's lead guitar solo. On this new mix, they faded out John's vocals the first time around to accentuate George's lead guitar. It took the engineering team ten tries to master the mono mix, the results being what appears on the finished mono album.

The stereo mix held off until October 15th, 1968, created by the returning George Martin along with engineers Ken Scott and John Smith in the control room of EMI Studio Two between 6 and 8 pm. Four attempts made way at this stereo mix, but they finally nailed it sufficiently for the released album. George Martin inadvertently faded up John's omitted “I need a fix...” vocal line a little early on this stereo mix, the listener being able to hear the last word “down” on top of George's last lead guitar solo note. The organ notes in the first section of the song are much quieter in the stereo mix and are faded out a little earlier, while the bass guitar in the “I need a fix...” section of the stereo mix is also lower in volume. The slight laughter that is heard just before the final drumbeat of the song in the mono mix is removed in the stereo mix, thanks to the perfectionist George Martin.

"Happiness Is A Warm Gun" is structurally a very unique song for The Beatles in that, with the exception of their sound collage "Revolution 9," it is one of only two Beatles songs that misses a definable structure without any repeated elements at all.  It is similar only to the first recorded installment of the "Abbey Road" medley, "You Never Give Me Your Money," which is also a succession of different songs strung together.  "Happiness Is A Warm Gun" simply meanders from one song idea to the next and from one time signature to the next, adding beats-per-measure whenever it suited John's fancy.  Lennon's description of the song as depicting the "history of rock 'n' roll" may be an overstatement but, upon inspection, it actually comes pretty close.  No wonder it took the group 70 takes in two days to just get a usable rhythm track!

The first section is in a standard 4/4 time signature and easily divides into two smaller sections, the first comprising the first four measures of the song. These measures contain mostly elements from John, these being rhythm guitar (utilizing his newly acquired finger-picking style), lead vocals and subdued organ notes. Paul and Ringo appear in the fourth measure playing sixteenth notes on the bass and snare drum respectively.

The rest of this section comprises eight measures which are mostly also in 4/4 time, the only exceptions are the first measure which is in 6/4 time and the seventh measure which is in 5/4 time. These different time signatures are deemed necessary due to the extended syllables in the lyrics at those parts of the song. John continues his rhythm guitar and organ as well as lead vocal. Ringo plays a standard drum beat throughout, providing simple drum fills in measures two, six and eight. Paul plays a simple bass pattern throughout while he and George add harmonies to John's vocals in measures five through eight. George adds distorted guitar chops on most of the even-numbered beats of each measure, strategic places receiving held out guitar chords instead of just staccato chops. George compensates for the extra beat in the seventh measure in 5/4 time, since the even numbered beat then becomes an odd numbered beat.  Follow me?

Then comes section two. This also gets divided into two smaller sections, the first being completely in 3/4 time and lasting a total of 21 measures. The drumbeat is simplified for Ringo in these 21 measures, he only needing to accent the downbeat of each measure by alternatively crashing a cymbal with the kick drum and then a snare beat with the kick drum. John abandons the fingerpicking guitar work for a simple chording pattern and sings a low lead vocal in measures twelve through twenty-one. George puts in a menacing lead guitar part in measures one through eleven which mimics John's vocal melody line as will appear afterward. Paul mostly plays an “oom-pah” style bass pattern like a tuba throughout these measures, as an overdub. Paul also sings along with John in the second half of this part, him singing the same notes only a full octave higher. This part ends suddenly at the 21st measure as all instruments ring out during the final words “going down.”

The second smaller part of section two is 18 measures in length and is mostly in 3/4 time.  The difference here is that every sixth measure is in 4/4 time for some reason (or how John heard it in his head).  You'll notice that on every even numbered time the lyric "jumped the gun" occurs, the word "gun" is spread out into four syllables.  The third and fourth syllable of the word "gun" appears in the measure that is in 4/4 time, this happening three times in this section of the song.  Clear as mud?

The elements contained in this section of the song consist of John on lead vocal and rhythm guitar, Paul on bass on harmony vocal sung an octave higher than John (with the exception of the first "Mother superior jumped the gun" which is sung by John alone), George playing a lead guitar part, and Ringo playing a complicated drum pattern to compensate for the time signature changes as well as an overdubbed tambourine.

This segues nicely into the third and final section of the song, which also takes some complicated turns. The first four measures are in 4/4 time, measures five through ten being in 6/8 time, measures eleven through fourteen also being in 4/4 time, followed by a dramatic fifteenth measure of no set time frame, and finally, the song ending with a return to 4/4 time for measures sixteen through twenty.

This final section, referred to by many as the chorus, is the 50's pastiche part of the song where the title of the composition repeats. The elements consisted of John on exuberant lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Paul on bass and overdubbed 50's style piano and Ringo on drums. Extensive background harmony vocal overdubs abound here from John, Paul, and George, Paul even adding in some low "doo-wop" style moaning in between vocal phrases.

The interplay between John's lead vocal lines “when I hold you in my arms...” and the harmony hi-jinks of “ooooh, oh yeah” work to great effect in the 6/8 measures of this section. And because of the mathematical symmetry between the 4/4 and 6/8 measures, Ringo doesn't even let up on playing a simple 4/4 drum pattern throughout, with the exception on the fifteenth measure where all instrumentation stops to allow John to deliver his striking vocal climax to the song. The final comedic word is actually in the last two measures of the song with the background vocalists chiming out “is a warm gun, yeaaaaah” into the track's complete ending with faint chuckling (mono version) and Ringo's final drum flam to end the song as well as side one of the album.

Stop by my blog next week and discover the intricate details showcased upon MARTHA MY DEAR.

Please feel free to leave any comments or corrections and share these articles plus the 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.