MOTHER NATURE’S SON AND ITS INCREDIBLE RECORDING PROCESS.

Paul recorded his demo of "Mother Nature's Son" on May 29th, 1968 at "Kinfauns," George's home in Esher, Surrey.  The Beatles met on this and the previous day to make demo recordings of songs they would officially record in EMI Studios for their next album.  This extensive recorded list of demos occurred on George's Ampex four-track machine, the results of these sessions surfacing on bootleg recordings.

This charming demo features Paul double-tracked on acoustic guitar as well as double-tracked vocals, harmonizing with himself quite effectively during later moments of the song (this idea dropped for the official recording).  The lyrics and structure of the song were complete at this stage, the intro and conclusion not being finalized until it was brought into the studio

Paul first debuted "Mother Nature's Son" in EMI Studio Two as a rehearsal only on June 11th, 1968, during the recording of the similar sounding track "Blackbird." John was working on his song "Revolution 9" in EMI Studio Three on the same day but happened to stop into the control room of Studio Two to witness Paul's rehearsal of "Mother Nature's Son."  Over the talkback microphone, John suggested something for the arrangement.  "A little bit of brass band, you know.  A very nice little bit of brass band."  Paul then replied, "Yes, that would be lovely."  John then adds, "A little bit of Nilsson's brass band," Harry Nilsson being John's newly found favorite artist of the time. Coincidentally, he recorded a version of "Mother Nature's Son" for his 1969 album "Harry," although he utilized strings instead of brass.

The day “Mother Nature's Son” was brought into the studio for official recording was August 9th, 1968.  The session began around 7:30 pm in EMI Studio Two, the first order of business being further work on George's track “Not Guilty,” a song which went through extensive work but later dropped from the album's line up.  This session was due to end at 10 pm but, after the other Beatles left, Paul stuck around to start work on “Mother Nature's Son” with just himself on acoustic guitar and vocals, this extending the session to 2 am the following morning.

Paul plowed through 25 'takes' of the song with just live acoustic guitar and vocals, tapping his feet to keep the beat similar to what he had done when recording "Blackbird" nearly two months earlier. The majority of the takes were complete and could have lingered as a basis for the completed song, but Paul was experimenting with subtle ideas throughout the takes, hoping to stumble upon something that worked best.  For instance, the original instrumental guitar introduction lulled at twice the length of what he ended up with on the finished recording. The complete 'take 2' is featured on the compilation album “Anthology 3,” beginning with Paul's request to the engineering team: “Can you take this thing off my voice; I've got like this speaker...I can hear. Uh, thank you...OK, leave it on, then. Good.”  The conclusion of the song on this take was an adlib idea he quickly dropped, which changed the tempo and time signature for the final few measures.  After the finished take, he stated: “Next item on this evening's agenda, I'd like to give you my version of 'London Derriere!'"  Another take ended after the line "I'm sitting, singing songs for everyone," which Paul followed with "...and this is one of them!”

Paul was quite fond of 'take 24' but recorded one more just to be on the safe side, deciding afterward that 'take 24' would be the keeper.  Because of the lateness of the hour, they left off further work on the song for another day. John's suggestion of "brass band," as mentioned above, was remembered and George Martin welcomed the task of putting together a score for brass, undoubtedly with Paul's input, and hiring musicians for an upcoming session. George received a payment of 25 pounds for this arrangement designed for two trumpets and two trombones.

That upcoming session turned out to be August 20th, 1968. George Harrison was not present because of taking a quick trip to Greece, and John and Ringo took to putting the finishing touches onto John's previously recorded track “Yer Blues” in EMI Studio Three from 5 to 5:30 pm that day.  However, in EMI Studio Two, Paul began a solo session at 8 pm to complete “Mother Nature's Son,” one of three McCartney songs on the “White Album” to not feature any other Beatle (the others being “Blackbird” and “Martha My Dear”).

Before the brass instrumentalists were due to arrive, Paul took to adding some overdubs himself.  One overdub was drums, detailed by Alan Brown, technical engineer on this day: “Paul wanted an open effect of his drums (to give a bongos sound), and we ended up leaving the studio itself and putting the drums in the corridor, halfway down, with mikes at the far end.  It wasn't carpeted then, and it gave an interesting staccato effect.”  Engineer Ken Scott also remembers an experiment Paul wanted to use for recording the drums, this recollection possibly being instituted on this day: “Right at the back of the building, there's a staircase that goes from the basement up to the top floor.  Paul suggested we use that as a natural echo chamber, with a speaker at the bottom and a microphone about half-way up, for the bass drum sound.”

Other overdubs Paul recorded were a timpani and a second acoustic guitar track to accentuate certain portions of the original recording.  It was no doubt during this guitar overdub that engineer Alan Brown recalls when he details the following on this day: “It was quite late at night, the whole building was quiet, and there was Paul playing this enchanting song.  I love the phrase 'sitting in my field of grass (sic).'  It has a completeness about it.  It isn't just any old field; it's a field of grass.  We were all moved by it. Simultaneous to this recording session, Russia was invading Czechoslovakia.  Of course, we didn't know it at that moment, but it did seem such a contrast of events.”

Since all four tracks of the master had tape filled, a reduction mix was made to open up tracks for the brass overdub, this taking 'take 24' into 'take 26.'  Then, sometime during the late hours of the evening, the two trumpet and trombone musicians arrived, their identity now unknown.  “Paul was downstairs (on the studio floor) going through the arrangement with George (Martin) and the brass players,” Ken Scott recalls, “Everything was great; everyone was in great spirits.  It felt really good.  Suddenly, halfway through, John and Ringo walked in, and you could cut the atmosphere with a knife!  An instant change.  It was like that for ten minutes and then as soon as they left it felt great again.  It was very bizarre.”  Such were the tensions in the band at the time.

After the brass musicians recorded their parts, which seemingly extended into the early hours of the next morning, eight attempts of a mono mix of “Mother Nature's Son” followed, although improved mixes took place at a later date.  With Paul's juices flowing, however, Paul decided to record two more songs.  The first was a simple acoustic guitar and vocal song he called “Etcetera,” with only one take put to tape, then taken away by Paul at the end of the day and never seen nor heard again.  This was trailed by a semi-experimental track called “Wild Honey Pie” which was overdubbed upon and mixed on this day, the song actually appearing on the finished “White Album” three months later.  Finally, at 4 am, the session ended.

On August 23rd, 1968, four sets of tape copies settled of five recently recorded tracks, "Mother Nature's Son" included, all of which were signed for and taken away by Mal Evans, no doubt given to each Beatle for review.

Both the stereo and mono mix of “Mother Nature's Son” were made on October 12th, 1968 in the control room of EMI Studio Two by producer George Martin and engineers Ken Scott and John Smith.  It appears that The Beatles were present and influential in creating these mixes, as Ken Scott recalls, “The Beatles would go to extremes with the 'White Album.'  Like when it came to mixing they would say, 'Right, let's add full top (treble) and full bass to everything.'  Some of the time it would sound good, sometimes it wouldn't. When it did they would say, 'OK, let's do it like that.'  Most people just used top and bass where necessary, trying to keep the sound as natural as possible.  The Beatles weren't necessarily after a natural sound.”

Sometime in 1993, Paul recorded a new version of “Mother Nature's Son” as a soundcheck during his “New World Tour” of that year.  The results, which feature Paul on guitar and Paul “Wix” Wickens on keyboards, ended up being broadcast on his June 19th, 1995 radio show “Oobu Joobu” as well as on a limited edition CD release entitled “Oobu Joobu Ecology.”

Also, sometime between April 1st and May 18th, 2002, a live rendition of the song was made by Paul and his band, this appearing on both the albums “Back In The U.S.” and “Back In The World.”  The structure is quite straightforward, consisting of 'verse/ verse/ refrain/ verse/ refrain/ verse' (or aababa) with a simple introduction thrown in. What's unique here is the refrain which surprisingly has no lyrics whatsoever other than "doo, doo, doo" sung to a distinctive melody line.

The introduction actually consists of two parts, the first being a somewhat nondescript slowly played acoustic guitar piece of no fixed meter, one that Paul developed in the studio on the day of recording. There are seven single guitar notes plucked in succession followed by an awkward sounding thumping on the bass drum as an overdub.  The second part begins the 4/4 meter, four measures in length, consisting of only Paul on acoustic guitar playing the fingerpicking style heard throughout most of the song while his foot tapping to keep the beat bleeds through the microphone.

The first verse then begins, which is ten measures in length, the first eight measures consisting entirely of Paul playing his acoustic guitar, foot tapping and vocals as recorded on the initial rhythm track. A single note of brass playing is heard stretching throughout measures nine and ten as Paul repeats his fingerpicking style from measures seven and eight.

Verse two is only eight measures long this time while adding various elements, such as a delicate brass arrangement throughout and, in measures five through eight, Paul's overdubbed bongo-like drums playing eighth-note beats. Also noteworthy is Paul interrupting his fingerpicking style in the fourth measure to play an impressive ascending guitar run, this mimicked by the brass.

This is followed by the first eight measure refrain which is also entirely in 4/4 time except for measure four which is in 2/4 time.  In addition to Paul's guitar work and “doo, doo, doo” singing, he continues the bongo-like drum work but adds bass drum beats in quarter-note rhythm for the first four measures and then a half-note rhythm for the final four measures. The brass accentuates Paul's melody line nicely, harmonizing with it most of the way.

Verse three is next which, except for different lyrics, is a virtual repeat of verse two minus the bongo-like drumming. A repeat of the refrain then appears, the only difference here is an interesting counter-melody played by the brass section and some rhythmic differences in Paul's drum work, especially in the final three measures. Paul also adds the vocalization “yeah, yeah, yeah” at the end of measure six, just to add a little “She Loves You” throwback for those who may notice.

One final ten-measure verse is thrown in to complete the song, the first eight measures stripping away all brass and drum overdubs to reveal only Paul's acoustic guitar along with him humming and “ooh” ing the melody line. One overdub is heard here though, this being an additional acoustic guitar that adds some tasty and complimentary frills. Paul's ascending guitar run of the second and third verse is heard here also, this time being thickened by Paul double-tracking it with the overdubbed guitar. The final two measures bring the brass section back in for a simple ending arrangement with a final “blue-note” to add an unexpected anticipatory chord to hang in the air while Paul repeats the song's title for the last time.

The song appears to have been somewhat difficult for Paul to play, some near misses and fret buzzing heard even in the finished master. Nonetheless, the imperfect but relaxing effect of the song is more than suitable, the intended feel for the song achieved nicely for the listener to close his eyes and enjoy.  George Martin's brass arrangement is just busy enough to be impressive without smothering the delicate nature of the piece. While Ringo probably could have put in an appropriate performance to fit the song's mood (undoubtedly better than Paul's drum work here), John and George aren't necessarily missed. The fractured comradery of The Beatles at this time indeed disguised nicely by Paul on this track, his masterful display on vocals and guitar propelling the album well as a segue for John's rousing next track.

Stop by my blog next week and discover the intricate details showcased upon “Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey.”

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.

YER BLUES AND ITS INCREDIBLE RECORDING PROCESS.

May 28th, 1968, marked the first of two consecutive days that the Beatles assembled at George's "Kinfauns" home in Surrey, Kent, to create demos of songs they were considering for their upcoming album due to officially start recording on May 30th of that year.  John had written a slew of new songs while in India and "Yer Blues" entered among the first to be demoed on this day inside George's house.

This recording consisted of John on two different acoustic guitar parts and double-tracked vocals along with George doodling on lead acoustic guitar passages and Paul and Ringo on bongos and tambourine.  The lyrics were pretty much in place at this point with a couple of exceptions.  The third verse flowed as “My mother was of the earth, my father was of the sky, but I am of the universe, and that's the reason why,” John reversing the identification of his parents in the finished version. Also, the fourth verse states “Feel so insecure, now, just like Dylan's 'Mr. Jones',” which he changed to “suicidal” when the song officially got recorded. John gets tripped up with his tempo and time-signature changes during this demo as well.  Otherwise, this is a very compelling acoustic version of the song.

The official recording of “Yer Blues” at EMI Studios appears predated by a conversation that transpired on August 12th, 1968, when George Harrison wanted to record his lead vocals onto his song “Not Guilty” in the control room. Engineer Ken Scott recalls:  “George had this idea that he wanted to do it in the control room with the speakers blasting so that he got more of an on-stage feel...I remember that John Lennon came in at one point and I turned to him and said, 'Bloody hell, the way you lot are carrying on you'll be wanting to record everything in the room next door!'  The room next door was tiny, where the four-track tape machines were once kept, and it had no proper studio walls or acoustic set-up of any kind.  Lennon replied, 'That's a great idea; let's try it on the next number!'  The next number was 'Yer Blues,' and we literally had to set it all up – them and the instruments – in this minute room.  That's how they recorded 'Yer Blues,' and it worked out great!”

John brought “Yer Blues” into EMI Studio Two the following day, on August 13th, 1968, the session beginning sometime after the usually designated 7 pm.  The first order of business was recording a re-remake of the song “Sexy Sadie” which took the time to approximately 1 am the following morning. Then, as John previously requested, they had the studio crew set up all of their instruments in this small control room annex, amplifiers, drums, microphones, etc., and began recording “Yer Blues.” Ringo recalls:  “And 'Yer Blues' on the 'White Album,' you can't top it. It was the four of us.  That is what I'm saying: it was really because the four of us were in a box, a room about eight by eight, with no separation.  It was this group that was together; it was like grunge rock of the Sixties, really – grunge blues.”

They recorded fourteen takes of the song, consisting of John on lead guitar and off-mike guide vocal, George also on lead guitar, Ringo on drums, and Paul playing his newly acquired Fender Jazz Bass, this being one of the very few songs he used it on. Between takes eight and nine, John, George and Ringo were inspired to perform an impromptu jam which they liked enough to ask the engineering staff to cut it out of the original tape and add it to another reel entitled “Various Adlibs” for them to listen to privately as a keepsake, this tape never surfacing anywhere since.  However, they ended up liking 'take six' the best, and it appears that John punched in a second guitar solo replacing his guitar work in the second half of the solo section of the song, evidenced by still being able to hear George's guitar solo in the background on the released album.  Now, since all four tracks of the four-track tape had filled, a couple of tape reductions were made to open up more tracks for overdubs, the second attempt, which they called “take 16,” deemed the keeper.

A unique editing idea was then presented. Someone, probably John, wanted to edit the beginning of “take 14” of the backing track onto the end of the song. Therefore, the engineering team did a reduction mix of “take 14,” now calling it “take 17,” and then actually spliced the four-track tape to line up the beginning of “take 17” at a strategic spot toward the end of “take 16.” Usually, any splice needed in a Beatles recording was done later at the two-track quarter-inch tape stage, so this was a unique maneuver, to say the least.  Since this edit pieced together two sections of the song which were at different tempos and time-signatures, it is definitely noticeable to the listener.  After the final edit, the hour showed 5:30 am and time to convene for the day.

The following day or actually later that day, August 14th, 1968, The Beatles returned to EMI Studio Two at around 7 pm to add overdubs onto “Yer Blues.”  John overdubbed his lead vocals with Paul adding backing vocals in strategic spots. 

Thinking the song was complete, a mono mix was also performed on this day in the EMI Studio Two control room by producer George Martin and engineers Ken Scott and John Smith.  Four attempts were made at getting the perfect mono mix, then adding a good degree of ADT (“Artificial Double Tracking”) to the guitar solos in the process; the third try suited all best.  They also added some "slap-back" echo onto John's vocals during the "mother was of the sky" sections of the song, something John used a lot during his solo career years later.  The last section of the song was manually faded out on this mono mix since it was actually a performance of the beginning of the song that went on for quite a while.  After the group worked at recording yet another new song, John's “What's The New Mary Jane,” a tape copy of “Yer Blues” was made for review by John.  The session finally ended at around 4:30 am the following morning.

One final element was chosen necessary to complete “Yer Blues,” however.  On August 20th, 1968, John and Ringo entered EMI Studio Three at 5 pm for a quick half-hour session to complete the song.  One simple overdub took place, Ringo calling out “two, three...” as the song's introduction, Ringo nailing this performance in one try! Once recorded, this small section of tape was edited by engineers Ken Scott and John Smith on to the beginning of the mono mix made on August 14th.

The stereo mix of the song was done on October 14th, 1968, in the control room of EMI Studio Two by the same engineering team of Martin, Scott, and Smith.  While applying ADT and "slap-back" echo, this stereo mix is quite similar to the mono with the exception of the introductory “two, three...” being quieter and the fade out being fifteen seconds shorter. A further tape copy of the mono mix of the song occurred on October 18th, 1968 by engineer John Smith in the control room of EMI Studio One.  Mark Lewisohn's book “The Beatles Recording Sessions” explains the purpose of this tape copy as for “ironing out master tape imperfections” in preparation for the discs to be cut by Harry Moss on that day and the next.

One slight recording of the song deserves to be mentioned here, one apparently done sometime in November of 1968. The Beatles owed their official fan club another Christmas message for 1968 but did not want to be bothered to assemble in EMI Studios to record one. Disc jockey Kenny Everett was sequestered to tape separate messages from each Beatle and assemble them all into a recording that could be pressed and distributed to their fan club members in Britain and the U.S.

George's message was taped from a telephone call to America where he was busy producing the first Jackie Lomax album, and both John and Paul's contributions were taped individually at their respective homes. As for Ringo, the liner notes on the British cover for the disc explains that it was recorded “in the back of Beatle Ringo's diesel-powered removal van Somewhere In Surrey.” If this is true (?!?), in the background of his message you can faintly here playing the finished recording of “Yer Blues,” which Ringo has since stated was one of his favorite songs on the “White Album.”

On December 11th, 1968, John Lennon performed the song for a film called “The Rolling Stones Rock And Roll Circus.”  This proposed film included performances by The Rolling Stones, The Who, Jethro Tull, Taj Mahal, Marianne Faithfull, and a quickly assembled “supergroup” called The Dirty Mac which consisted of John Lennon and Eric Clapton on guitar, Keith Richards on bass and Mitch Mitchell (of the Jimi Hendrix Experience) on drums.

“The first time I performed without The Beatles for years was the 'Rock And Roll Circus,” explained John.  “It was great to be on stage with Eric and Keith Richard and a different noise coming out behind me, even though I was still singing and playing the same style.  It was just a great experience.  I thought, 'Wow! It's fun with other people,' you know.  I did 'Yer Blues,' and then Yoko came on and did her blues.”  Photographer Michael Randolph relates:  “John repeatedly fluffed his lines and had to tape a lyric sheet to the microphone.  The lyrics in question had actually come from a ripped-up poster taken from the 'White Album.'”  And still, he reverted back somewhat to his original third verse, singing "My mother was of the earth, my father was of the sky."

This film intended to air on British television, but this never happened.  It was eventually released on VHS and Laserdisc as well as on audio CD in 1996 and then on DVD in 2004.

One final recording of “Yer Blues” was on September 13th, 1969, by the hastily formed Plastic Ono Band for a Rock & Roll Revival Concert in Toronto, Ontario.  John remembers:  “It was late, about 11 o'clock one Friday night, I was in my office at Apple, when we got a phone call from this guy saying, 'Come to Toronto.'  They really were inviting us as King and Queen to preside over the concert and not to play.  But I didn't hear that part, and I said, 'OK, OK. Just give me time to get a band together.'  So, I thought, 'Who could I get to come and play with me?'  So it all happened like that.  We left the next morning.”

The band John scraped together was Eric Clapton on guitar, Klauss Vorrmann on bass, Alan White on drums along with himself and Yoko.  “We didn't know what to play because we never played together before.  On the airplane, we're running through these oldies.”  Since Eric was already familiar with “Yer Blues” because of playing it with John the previous year on the “Rock And Roll Circus,” it was an obvious choice. The performance was filmed and recorded, the audio results appeared on the album “Live Peace In Toronto 1969,” the video footage surfaced under different names throughout the years, most notably as “Sweet Toronto.”

At first blush, the structure of "Yer Blues" seems quite complicated but, upon further examination, it actually only consists of nine verses (or aaaaaaaaa), each containing twelve measures (hence, a "twelve-bar-blues").  However, with John Lennon's eccentric sense of timing, various interesting things happen along the way.

After a simple verbal and hi-hat count-in, Ringo rounds out the simulated two-measure introduction with a drum fill to signal John's anticipated first line “Yes, I'm / lonely,” the final word starting off the beginning of the first twelve measure verse.  All measures in this verse are in 6/8 time with the exception of measure ten which is in 4/4.  This tenth measure comprises a 'Beatles break' of sorts, the drums and bass ringing out along with the remnants of John's vocalized “Woooh” as this measure begins. Basically explained, John and George harmonize an interesting guitar run in the first two beats of this measure, the final two measures run with John's line “girl, you know the reason why.”

Instrumentally throughout the first eight measures of this verse we hear Paul plod away with an uncharacteristically simple bass pattern, John playing a triplet-like chord piece during the three and four beats on measures one, three, five and seven (adding another surprising one also in measure eight), George playing single-note phrases in the open spaces left by John's guitar, and Ringo playing spirited drum-work with fills at the end of each even-numbered measure.  The ninth measure shows both George and John gearing up with guitar phrases in preparation for the above-mentioned harmonized guitar run in the tenth measure that follows, this being the signature of the majority of the verses in the song.  We also see Paul and Ringo setting up for this guitar phrase through a raising bass run and drum fill respectively, while John sings “If I ain't dead already.”  Measures eleven and twelve wind through the expected blues chord changes to set up another verse, George playing a similar single-note guitar passage as heard throughout most of the verse so far while John and Paul lumber through the chord changes and Ringo adds yet another drum fill.

The second verse is nearly an identical copy of the first, albeit, with slightly altered lyrics and a quick harmony from Paul on the line “girl, you know the reason why” in the tenth measure being the only differences.

Then comes the third verse which alters the structure significantly from the first two.  The first three measures comprise three consecutive 'Beatles breaks' in a row, the time signature changing to a 4/4 swing beat with only the one- and four-beat played by John (chopping guitar chords) Paul (bass notes) and Ringo (three swing-style snare beats) for the first two measures.  During the breaks, John sings his startling lyric lines in typical old-style blues fashion with the instrumental accents baiting him along.  The third measure contains only the instrumental accent on the downbeat while the fourth measure ushers the song back into the 6/8 feel heard in the majority of the song thus far.  This fourth measure consists of John climactic final line, “and you know what it's worth” while Ringo flails away with a rapid-fire drum fill mostly contained on the snare drum and Paul appropriately raising up on the bass neck for a suitable bass line.  This is followed by the remaining eight measures of the verse and identical in scope to the first two, John excitedly adding some extra triplet-like guitar chops throughout and Paul reprising his harmony in measure ten.

The fourth verse is a virtual repeat of the third except for the different set of lyrics in the first four measures.  Interestingly, you can easily hear John's guide vocal underneath his later recorded lead vocals during the first four measures, most notably on the lines “feel so suicidal, just like Dylan's 'Mr. Jones.'”  The fifth verse sounds like it will also repeat the pattern of the previous two verses but, with a very audible vocal coaxing from John during the rhythm track in the first three measures, we are treated to a continuation of the 4/4 swing beat throughout the rest of the verse with Ringo's snare and Paul's bass leading the way in the fourth measure.  Full instrumentation ensues thereafter, Ringo loudly riding on his cymbal and John bashing away on rhythm guitar while George timidly fumbles through some ad-lib lead guitar phrases.  John also finishes out his usual lyrics, screamed out somewhat awkwardly because of the time signature change.

Two concurrent instrumental verses follow, numbered six and seven, the first being highlighted by John's interesting syncopated guitar solo which swims in a healthy dose of ADT during the mixing stage.  The second of these verses, which would be the seventh, features an overdubbed guitar solo (presumably also by John) also drenched with ADT while a lumbering ad-lib solo from George from the rhythm track plays in the background. Just after the downbeat of the eleventh measure, however, the above-mentioned startling edit to the 'take 14” rhythm track occurs, coming in directly at the start of Ringo's introductory drum fill which is also so drenched in ADT it sounds almost as if it has been double-tracked.  Two full instrumental verses from this take are heard here in the mono mix (faded out during the fifth measure in the stereo mix) with John's subtle guide vocal heard quite clearly throughout.

The listener can almost cut Lennon's enthusiasm as heard in the recording of this track with a knife. The strategic placements of his rhythmic guitar chops in the earlier verses are erratically multiplied in later verses just by sheer adrenaline, while his guitar solos (the first one anyway, as demonstrated in the “Rock And Roll Circus” film) show he had a definite statement to make with this song, one that apparently came across as intended.  George and Paul played more of a perfunctory role here, but Ringo sure rose to the occasion, thrashing his heart out and feeling very much a part of the band that he ended up temporarily quitting a little over a week later.

Stop by my blog next week and discover the intricate details showcased upon MOTHER NATURE’S SON.

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.

BIRTHDAY AND ITS INCREDIBLE RECORDING PROCESS.

The only recording session needed to complete the song "Birthday" took place on September 18th, 1968, in EMI Studio Two beginning at 5 pm.  After Paul designed the song's riff on piano and the other Beatles arrived, it was time to work out the song's structure and record the backing track before they would adjourn to Paul's house to watch the movie "The Girl Can't Help It."

At approximately 6 pm, the first of 20 recorded takes of the rhythm track started, which consisted of Paul on lead guitar (Epiphone Casino) playing the guitar riff in the lower octave, John on lead guitar (Epiphone Casino) playing the guitar riff in the higher octave to thicken the sound, George on bass guitar (Fender VI) also playing this iconic guitar riff and Ringo, of course, on drums.  The 20th take deemed the best, featuring Paul shouting a countdown from one to eight off-mike during the drum break after the second verse, this being needed to count out eight measures until the other instruments were to come back in.  At around 8:30, after they were all satisfied with this rhythm track, all in attendance, producer Chris Thomas and George's wife Pattie included, went around to Paul's house just in time for the start of the movie.

After the movie was over, they all filed back into EMI Studio Two for more work on “Birthday,” having been inspired by the film to create the best “rocker” they could muster.  The rhythm track spun on a four-track machine so, to add overdubs, a tape copy needed to appear to transfer the rhythm track to their eight-track machine to help open up more tracks. Two attempts occurred, the second (“take 22”) used for the overdubbing.

The overdubs included Paul's “Long Tall Sally”-like lead vocal, John's lead, and backing vocal, and handclaps by John, Paul, George, Ringo, Yoko Ono, Pattie Harrison and Mal Evans.  Two backing vocalists particularly heard on the recording is Yoko and Pattie singing “Birthday” three times by themselves during each of the two bridges in the song.  Also overdubbed was, according to Mal Evans review in the 1968 edition of "The Beatles Monthly," "George playing tambourine with a gloved hand to avoid getting more blisters."

There is one other overdub that is quite unique and explained differently by different sources.  Bruce Spizer's book “The Beatles On Apple Records” describes it as “Paul's piano through a Leslie speaker.”  John Lennon described it in his Playboy interview as “one interesting sound...We put the piano through a guitar amplifier and put the tremolo in, which may have been the first time that happened.”  Ian MacDonald's book “Revolution In The Head” described it as a “heavily filtered and flanged piano.”  Mal Evans described it at the time in the “The Beatles Monthly” magazine as a “curious sound, a carefully prepared upright piano played by Paul – 'prepared' to give it a very special sound with reverberation, wow-wow and technical things like that.”  Andy Babiuk's book “Beatles Gear,” said that it “was more likely produced by the three settings of the MRB (mid-range boost) control fitted to some Vox amplifiers of the period.”  No matter how accomplished, it can be heard especially during the instrumental section (after the first bridge) and as the final chord rings out during the song's conclusion.

By 4:30 the following morning, this fun song was complete and, between 4:30 and 5 am, the mono mix was created in the control room of EMI Studio Two by Chris Thomas and engineers Ken Scott and Mike Sheady.  After this single attempt at the mono mix finalized, everyone had by then filed out of the studio, tackling a very productive day indeed!

The stereo mix stalled until October 14th, 1968, created by the returning producer George Martin along with Ken Scott and John Smith in the control room of EMI Studio Two, only one attempt needed to accomplish.  The solitary noticeable difference between the two lays toward the end of the song when Paul screams out “daaaaance” just before the final verse.  On the stereo mix, it is heard twice, possibly because of a faulty edit, but in the mono version, one of them is covered over by other elements of the recording.

On June 30th, 1990, a live recording of “Birthday” by Paul and his band took place at Knebworth Park in Stevenage, England, this version included on his live album “Tripping The Live Fantastic.”

The structure of "Birthday" gives the impression of being a standard 12-bar blues at first glance.  However, as Paul explained above, they decided haphazardly to proceed in different directions as they were putting the song together in the studio.  Paul's statement, "We said, 'We'll go to there for a few bars, then we'll do this for a few bars,'" becomes very apparent when the structure is examined.  It parses out to 'verse (instrumental)/ verse/ pre-bridge/ bridge/ verse (instrumental)/ segue/ bridge/ verse' (or aabcadca).

The proceedings kick off with a quick left-handed drum roll from Ringo not unlike what he performed as the introduction to “She Loves You” five years earlier.  From here we enter into the first verse which is strictly instrumental, this verse being twelve measures in length. The elements consist of the rhythm track, which is Paul on lead guitar playing the lower octave riff, George mimicking him on bass (which we also hear during the open spaces in-between the riffs) and Ringo's exuberant drums.  John's lead guitar is also present, him playing the higher octave version of the riff simultaneous to what Paul was playing.

The second verse then follows which is also twelve measures in length, the only difference between the first and the second being the addition of Paul and John's harmony lead vocals, Paul's higher Little Richard impersonation being more prominent.

Then the song goes into what we'll call a “pre-bridge,” which separates into two parts of eight measures each, totaling 16 measures in full.  The first eight measures consist entirely of Ringo on pounding drums, George on tambourine and Paul shouting out a count of the first eight measures off microphone (and no, these utterances are not masked clues about his supposed death).

The second eight measures of this section sound especially powerful, possibly the heaviest The Beatles have ever expressed in their career!  Both Paul and John play power chords on electric guitars with Ringo on drums and George on bass, while George's tambourine is still banging away and the hand-clapping group is going at it in full force on eighth-note beats.  After a fast snare drum fill from Ringo at the end of the tenth measure, John is the first vocal heard in the eleventh measure (“Yes, we're going to a party, party”) while Paul and George chime in on harmony in their successive turns, reprising the “aah” harmony format they so successfully performed on “Twist And Shout” five-and-a-half years earlier.  With the tension rising to an all-time high in the fifteenth and sixteenth measures, Ringo accents the snare beats on sixteenth notes which transcend into a snare drum roll at the end of the final measure.

The bridge of the song arrives next and lasts ten measures long.  With a cymbal crash from Ringo, the excitement lulls only slightly, the absence of the tambourine and hand-clapping taking the energy level down by only a notch or two.  Paul's lead guitar ascends and descends repeatedly throughout the first eight measures until it rises to a crescendo in the ninth measure, followed by three bending guitar chords high on his guitar neck.  While John plays a staccato rhythm guitar pattern, George keeps up his bass guitar work, and Ringo keeps the energy going on the drums (playing another snare drum fill in the final measure), Yoko and Pattie (and I suspect, Paul and John in falsetto) sing “Birthday” in measures one, three and five. Paul and John harmonize lead vocals once again to fill in the gap whenever the girls aren't singing, begging them to “dance” and to “take a cha-cha-cha-chance.”  Paul then voices his enthusiasm with a long-winded exclamation of “Daaaaaaaaance, yeah” which transcend the final three measures of the bridge.

Next comes another instrumental verse, identical to the first instrumental verse but with a couple of additional elements. These additions are heard in every even-numbered measure, one being Paul's highly altered piano playing and the other being George's rapid-fire tambourine playing.  Interestingly, neither of these elements are present in the odd-numbered measures – only in the even-numbered measures.

Then comes what we'll call a “segue,” a four-measure instrumental section that connects the instrumental verse with a repeat of the bridge that follows.  While the song comes to a virtual halt, both Paul and John play a particular guitar passage on their electric guitars, Paul the lower octave and John the higher octave.  George also plays the identical riff on bass guitar, all three Beatles playing the same guitar riff at the same time.  Ringo comes in with a snare beat and cymbal crash in measure two (along with a quick tambourine shake from George) and then repeats the same drum beats in measure four with one additional snare drum beat to take us into the following bridge.

This second bridge is nearly identical to its first occurrence, the only differences being a fast-paced snare drum fill from Ringo in the fourth measure, a “woooh” from Paul in the seventh measure, and a seemingly faulty edit of Paul's “Daaaaaaaaaance” scream on the downbeat of the ninth measure.

The final verse is next heard, which is in effect a combination of the third instrumental verse (with the unique piano overdub) and the second verse (with Paul and John's harmonized vocals).  The group hand-claps appear here again as well, although at a slower tempo this time around, while George's rapid-fire tambourine plays straight through the entire verse.  This verse is actually fourteen measures this time, two more measures being added to bring the song to a suitable conclusion. An anticipated downbeat is accentuated by most of the instrumental elements in the twelfth, thirteenth and fourteenth measures, this last downbeat being the final beat of the song which allows the cymbal crash and final chord to ring out. The most notable element during the fade-out is the highly effected piano chord which adds a distinctive touch to this elaborate piece of high-energy rock 'n' roll.

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

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JULIA AND ITS INCREDIBLE RECORDING PROCESS.

John recorded various demo versions of "Julia" in 1968, four of which have surfaced as bootleg recordings.  While one of these versions is an instrumental, the rest consists simply of Lennon on guitar and vocals demonstrating the same Travis-picking style used on the authorized released version.

Three of these demos were undoubtedly recorded sometime in May of 1968 in the music room of John's 'Kenwood' residence in Weybridge, Surrey.  The fourth demo, recorded at George Harrison's “Kinfauns” home in Esher, Surrey on May 29th, 1968, consists of John double-tracked on acoustic guitar and features John's overlapped vocals as heard on the released version.  The “Kinfauns” demo, as well as the other demos, show John still developing the structure and struggling with the difficult finger-picking style.

After four-and-a-half months in the studio recording what became the “White Album,” John finally premiered “Julia” in EMI Studio Two on October 13th, 1968.  This, in fact, was the final song recorded for the album, two previously recorded songs ended up deleted (“Not Guilty” and “What's The New Mary Jane”) in favor of including “Julia” on the completed album.  Even though The Beatles had been utilizing EMI Studios 8-track recording machines by this time, it apparently was decided that eight tracks over-killed for this somewhat simple recording; therefore engineers switched to their tried-and-true four-track system.

Only John is featured on the recording but at least one other Beatle was present on this day, Paul is present in the control room and caught on tape conversing with John on the studio floor.  An interchange between John and Paul via use of pressing the studio's “talkback” key, McCartney bolstering Lennon's endeavors during “take two,” is featured on the compilation album “Anthology 3.”

The session is stipulated to have begun at 7 pm with John trying first to get a good recording of the acoustic guitar, him playing his Gibson J-160E with a capo on the second fret.  “Take two,” which is mostly instrumental with a few snatches of guide vocal from John, shows him still stumbling somewhat with the intricate guitar work.  When the track breaks down, Paul encourages John by saying “Try it again, there were one or two little discrepancies.” John then replies, “There was just the one wasn't there?... Couldn't I go from there, you know?...'Cause that one was perfect, wasn't it?” Paul then said, “It was great, that one. It was great; we could drop in...”

However, the decision was to start again fresh, which John did with “take three,” this being the keeper as far as the guitar was concerned.  Onto this John double-tracked his acoustic guitar and then layered three tracks of vocals, one overlapping the other in strategic spots and then double-tracked (and even triple-tracked) in others.  At approximately 1 am the following morning, the recording of the song was complete.

Both the stereo and mono mix of the song was created on this day as well, which took place in the control room of EMI Studio Two by George Martin and engineers Ken Scott and John Smith.  Only one attempt needed for each of these mixes with little difference detected between the stereo and mono versions.  After these and various other last minute “White Album” song mixes were created, the session for this day finally ended by 6 am.

Sometime between 2004 and 2006, George Martin and his son Giles Martin returned to the master tape of the song in Abbey Road Studios for inclusion on the compilation album “Love.”  A segment of John's acoustic guitar work from “Julia” reappeared as a transition piece directly after a newly mixed version of “Eleanor Rigby” with added elements from a few other Beatles tracks flown in as well.

The structure of "Julia" is pretty straightforward, namely 'intro/ verse/ verse/ bridge/ verse/ intro/ verse/ verse' (or abbcbabb).  Since this song is presented in a 'singer/songwriter' style with one performer, no solo section is included, although the final verse is predominantly an extended instrumental verse.

The intro section counts eight measures long and consists mostly of John single tracked as guitarist and vocalist, however, a touch of double-tracked vocals can be heard in the sixth measure on the words “just to reach you.”  His vocals come in directly on the downbeat of the first measure and maintain mostly a single-note melody line throughout, which is somewhat of a trademark for Lennon compositions (see the verses in “Help!” and the bridge of “Girl” for two examples).

The first verse comes next, which is twelve measures in length and brings in a second acoustic guitar playing the identical pattern to thicken up the sound.  (The double-tracked acoustic guitar continues then for the rest of the entire song.)  As the final syllable of the word “Julia” from the intro punches through into the first measure of this verse, a second Lennon vocal appears on top to begin the actual verse lyrics.  This layering effect was also used before by John in a Beatles recording (see the verses of “Any Time At All”), however, this vocal counterpoint comes across even more effectively.  John sings single tracked for the first eight measures and then double-tracked for the remaining measures on the words “so I sing a song of love, Julia.”

The second verse then appears, the very beginning displaying yet another Lennon vocal overlaying the double-tracked “Julia” from the end of the first verse, there being three John Lennon vocals at that instant.  Apart from this verse having fourteen measures long instead of twelve, the arrangement of this verse is the same as the first, the final two measures being strictly instrumental and used as a segue into the bridge that follows.  In measures nine and ten, John's vocals are double-tracked but then switch to triple-tracked for the word “Julia” in the eleventh through thirteenth measures.

The bridge then appears, which is ten measures long and continues to feature John's double-tracked guitar and triple-tracked vocals.  The paused line “in the sun,” contrasting the descending chord pattern of the guitar, becomes the spine-chilling centerpiece of the entire song.

The third verse also carries fourteen measures long as the second verse.  John sings single-tracked for the first “Julia” and then double-tracked for the second “Julia” of the third and fourth measures.  John goes back to single-tracked vocals for measures five through eight and then double-tracked again for “so I sing a song of love, Julia” in measures nine through thirteen.

A reprise of the introduction enters, the lyrics differ this time, however.  The first lyric line “When I cannot sing my heart” is single-tracked while the second line “I can only speak my mind, Julia” is double-tracked.  This, then, moves directly into the fourth verse, which counts twelve measures long this time, with a third overlapping Lennon vocal in the first measure like we heard at the beginning of the first verse.  The vocals are single-tracked for the first eight measures and then triple-tracked for the last final four measures as at the end of the second verse.  John dramatically raises his usual melody line on the words “song of love” this time around.

This moves directly into the final verse and extended into seventeen measures so as to encompass the song's conclusion.  The first eight measures are instrumental for the most part, the only vocalizations are triple-tracked humming in the third and fourth measures and triple-tracked “calls me” in the seventh and eighth measures.  John then continues the raised melody line for the words “song of love” as in the previous verse, adds the word "for" for the first time, and then shortens the first syllable of “Julia” from what he sang at the end of all the previous verses.  However, he repeats “Julia” a second time in the same shortened way, and then a third time with the elongated first syllable as before, all vocals triple-tracked.  The final double-tracked acoustic guitar chord then rings out to conclude this extremely diverse second side of the “White Album” with a satisfying sigh.

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

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.