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.

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