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.
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9th paragraph: "two attempts failed during these early morning hours and deemed usable." It should be "unusable."
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