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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