REVOLUTION 9, AND ITS BIZARRE, EVEN LUDICROUS RECORDING PROCESS.

"Revolution 9" stems directly from their recording of "Revolution 1," which transpired on May 30th and 31st, as well as June 4th, 1968.  (The brass and lead guitar overdub for "Revolution 1" on June 21st did not play a part in "Revolution 9.")

While the majority of what made up “Revolution 9” consisted of tape loops, certain elements of the underlying last six minutes of the original “Revolution 1” did surface on the finished product.  These include John's repeated shouting of the words “Right” and “Alright” along with his moaning during his initial lead vocal performance, as well as his and Yoko's banter that include her off-the-wall phrase “you become naked,” recorded on 'take 18' of the initial rhythm track on May 30th, 1968.

The first day that attention loomed to what we know as “Revolution 9” was June 6th, 1968.  The Beatles had assembled in EMI Studio Two on this day at 2:30 pm for work on Ringo's song “Don't Pass Me By,” this rather extensive work taking until approximately midnight.  Before they left for the evening, however, sound effects had begun being acquired for future use in “Revolution 9.”  Mark Lewisohn's book “The Beatles Recording Sessions” describes the effects John assembled as “some of his own making, others culled from his own and the Abbey Road collections.”

There were twelve of such sound effects compiled on this day, some of which, we can easily assume, were taken directly from the “trusty green cabinet” of the EMI tape library, although some may have been made by Lennon in his home studio beforehand.  George and Ringo presumably retrieved the ones taken from the EMI library as George had indicated in interviews since they were both present on this day and were out of the country when the remaining sound effects were collected.  This means that the “number nine, number nine” tape was acquired on this day.  Engineer Richard Lush remembers:  “The 'number nine' voice came off an examination tape.  John thought that was a real hoot!  He made a loop of just that bit and had it constantly playing on one machine, fading it in or out when he wanted it, along with the backward orchestral stuff and everything else.”  Engineer Stuart Eltham relates:  “Abbey Road used to do taped examinations for the Royal Academy of Music.  The tapes aren't around now.”  Therefore, the identity of the voice appears lost forever.

John had this to say about that particular tape loop:  “The 'number nine...' was an engineer's voice.  They have test tapes to see that the tapes are all right, and the voice was saying: 'This is number nine megacycles...'  I just liked the way he said 'number nine' so I made a loop and brought it in whenever I felt like it...It was just so funny, the voice saying 'number nine,' it was like a joke, bringing 'number nine' in it all the time, that's all it was.  There are many symbolic things about it, but it just happened.”

John elaborated further on the personal significance of this number.  “In June 1952, I drew four guys playing football and 'number nine' is the number on the guy's back, and that was pure coincidence.  I was born on 9th October.  I lived at 9 Newcastle Road.  Nine seems to be my number, so I've stuck with it, and it's the highest number in the universe, after that, you go back to one...It's just a number that follows me around, but numerologically, apparently I'm a number six or a three or something, but it's all part of nine.”

As for the twelve sound effects collected on this day, five of them showed simply labeled as “Various,” the “number nine” recording undoubtedly being one of them.  The other six were labeled as follows:  “Vicars Poems,” “Queen's Mess,” “Come Dancing Combo,” "Organ Last Will Test," “Neville Club,” “Theatre Outing” and “Applause/TV Jingle.”  Note must be taken, though, that not all of these sound effects were necessarily used for “Revolution 9” since some of these became part of the stage adaptation of Lennon's book “In His Own Write,” the London premiere of which was at the Old Vic theatre in London on June 18th, 1968, directed by actor/friend Victor Spinetti.  On this day, however, the session ended after the sound effects were recorded and labeled, the EMI doors apparently closing at 2:45 am the following morning.

The next session concerning “Revolution 9” was June 10th, 1968.  With both George and Ringo absent on this day, they both flying out to America from June 7th to the 18th, John utilized this studio time by himself (with Yoko undoubtedly by his side) to assemble more sound effects for his brainchild “sound collage” masterpiece.  He arrived in EMI Studio Three at 2:30 pm to capture three more sound effects onto tape for eventual use on the finished product, although none of these received labels at the time.  It also appears that none of the effects yet recorded for this track were cut into loops yet, only committed to tape to be cut and spliced together at a future session.  This session was over early, John and Yoko documented to have left the studio at 5:45 pm.

The next day, June 11th, 1968, with George and Ringo still out of the country, both John and Paul assembled in EMI Studios for more work on what became the “White Album.” However, Paul arrived at 6:30 pm and worked alone in EMI Studio Two working on a new composition of his entitled “Blackbird” while John arrived at 7 pm and worked alone (along with Yoko) in EMI Studio Three compiling yet more sound effects for “Revolution 9.”

Producer George Martin had recently acquired a new assistant, the young Chris Thomas, who ultimately got his feet wet by becoming a producer for certain Beatles sessions during the making of the “White Album.”  Engineer Geoff Emerick, in his book “Here, There And Everywhere,” explains: “One by-product of Chris's being there as surrogate producer was that 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 rest 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...That was the situation on the night that we worked on...'Blackbird.'”

Emerick continues: “Neither Ringo nor George was present on that particular evening, and John wanted to (continue) 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 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.”

The book “The Beatles Recording Sessions” mentions how surrogate producer Chris Thomas recalls “going with John to find sound effects tapes and helping him make up loops,” so it appears that actual tape loops were now being created for use during the mixing stage of “Revolution 9.”  The sound effects assembled on this day, however, were unnumbered and undocumented, so there is no telling which effects they decided upon during this session.  It did end rather early though; John and Yoko left the studio at around 10:15 pm.

The next session for “Revolution 9” occurred on June 20th, 1968, beginning at 7 pm.  George and Ringo finally returned to the country, and George (but not Ringo) was present on this day, but Paul had flown out to New York at 6 pm, an hour before the session began, and therefore not present.  There was almost no recording session in Beatles history that Paul wasn't present for, but this marked one of them.  However, this wasn't the only reason why this session was especially unique for EMI Studios as Geoff Emerick recalls: “George Martin had booked all three Abbey Road studios for the complicated mix of the sound pastiche known as 'Revolution 9.'...It was just John and a rather unenthusiastic George Harrison working on the track.  The two of them, accompanied by Yoko, would occasionally venture out into the studio to whisper a few random words into a microphone.  Just as we had done when we mixed 'Tomorrow Never Knows' two years previously, every tape machine in the facility was required for the playback of tape loops, with every available maintenance engineer once again standing around in his white coat holding pencils in place.  The big difference was that on this night there was a good deal of resentment among the staff because the session was running quite late – well past midnight – and they wanted to go home.  I didn't blame them; many of them had been there since nine in the morning – they didn't turn up in mid-afternoon like we did.  Plus, the session had to be dead boring for them because they couldn't even hear any sound; they were just standing in the various control rooms, holding pencils while the tape went round and round.  Occasionally one of the loops would break, and they'd have to get on the phone and let us know, which, of course, annoyed John no end.”

John himself recounted this session in 1980:  “There were about ten machines with people holding pencils on the loops – some only inches long and some a yard long.  I fed them all in and mixed them live.  I did a few mixes until I got one I liked...I spent more time on 'Revolution 9' than I did on half the other songs I ever wrote.”

Concerning John's involvement with the mixing stage of this track, Geoff Emerick relates:  “By the time of the 'White Album,' it was not uncommon for various Beatles to sit behind the mixing board alongside me; they were no longer afraid to touch the equipment. On this night John sat with me behind the console like a kid with a new toy.  He was the composer, and he knew what he wanted, so he manned the faders instead of me, although I served as an extra pair of hands, doing bits of panning and looking after the overall level, so things didn't get out of hand and distort.”

“The whole thing was extremely haphazard,” Emerick continues.  “If he'd raise a fader and there was no sound, he'd say, 'Where's it gone?'  A curse word might escape his lips from time to time, but that was about it.  He never really lost his temper that night, though you could tell from his tone of voice that he was getting irritated.  Yoko, as always, was by his side, whispering in John's ear and lifting the odd fader on occasion.  Every once in a while, Lennon would shoot a glance at George Martin and me to see if we approved of what he was doing.  Personally, I thought the track was interesting, but it seemed as though it was as much Yoko's as it was John's.  Certainly, it wasn't Beatles music.”

To identify and/or categorize all of the sound effects that appear in “Revolution 9” is a true Herculean task.  Author and historian Mark Lewisohn, in preparation for writing his book “The Beatles Recording Sessions,” was treated to the experience of actually hearing the source tapes for all of the Beatles recording sessions including this track.  He reveals the following from what he observed:

“A close study of the four-track tape reveals the loops and effects to include:  George Martin saying 'Geoff...put the red light on,' heavily echoed and played repeatedly.  A choir, supplemented by backward violins.  A symphonic piece, chopped up and played backward.  A brief extract of the 10 February 1967 'A Day In The Life' orchestral overdub, repeated over and over.  Backward mellotron (played by John), miscellaneous symphonies and operas.”

Of the classical music pieces heard therein, sources have cited the following as their sources:  Beethoven's Choral Fantasy “The Streets Of Cairo,” Schumann's “Symphonic Studies” (backwards tape), Vaughan Williams motet “O Clap Your Hands,” and the final chord of Sibelius' “Symphony No. 7.”  Also included are Farid al-Atrash's Arabic song “Awal Hamsha” (just after the seven-minute mark), a French horn/Oboe duet, a backward electric guitar, and a tape loop previously used in the Beatles song “Tomorrow Never Knows.” Various straightforward sound effects are also heard, such as gunfire, loud crashing cymbals, crowd laughter, breaking glass, car horns, and a crowd of American football fans chanting “Hold that line / Block that kick!, “some sources citing that they come from an Elektra Records Sound Effects album. All in all, at least 45 different sound sources have been identified.

One interesting element of “Revolution 9” recorded on this day involved John, Yoko, and George.  Mark Lewisohn relates:  “The original tape does indeed show that John and George went on the studio floor to read out bizarre lines of prose – in voices sometimes equally bizarre – into a couple of microphones, abetted by Yoko Ono humming at a very high pitch.  These ran for the duration of 'Revolution 9,' then faded in and out of the master at John's whim.  Among John's random pieces were 'personality complex,' 'onion soup,' 'economically viable,' 'industrial output,' financial imbalance,' 'the watusi,' 'the twist' and 'take this brother, may it serve you well.'  George's contributions included 'Eldorado' and shared with John Lennon and whispered six times over, 'There ain't no rule for the company freaks!'  At the end of their long overdub, still whispering, John said to George, 'We'd better listen to it then, hadn't we?”

Upon listening, it's of interest to hear that after several minutes of fading in and out the large variety of sound effects, John opted to hone in on individual sounds to finish off the track.  After isolating his voice saying “Take this, brother, may it serve you well,” he cut directly to the final section of “Revolution 1” with his and Yoko muttering somewhat incoherent phrases.  Then, just after Yoko's words “you become naked,” he cuts directly into the isolated football crowd chant of “Hold that line / Block that kick” and then fades out the track with this extensive tape loop being the final thing heard.

Engineer Alan Brown explains yet another unintentional effect heard prominently on the finished recording.  “In 'Revolution 9' we had the STEED system of tape echo fed via a tape delay system.  The track ran for so long that there is one point where the delay runs out and you can hear the tape being re-wound, live.  Even that impromptu thing, an accident, contributed to the finished result.”

All in all, this unique recording session ended at 3:30 am the following morning.  Actually accomplished on this day was viewed as assembling the “master version” of “Revolution 9,” not the actual mixing of the track which was to happen the following day (actually later that day).

There were, in fact, two recording sessions on June 21st, 1968 in EMI Studio Two.  The earlier session was primarily for adding brass to John's “Revolution 1” while the second was to mix “Revolution 9” into stereo.  John and George were the only Beatles present on this day and, after an hour break from the end of the first session, they returned for their second session at 10 pm that evening.  Documentation indicates that an additional overdub to “Revolution 9” surfaced at this session, but the identity of the overdub is not known.

John, along with George Martin and engineers Geoff Emerick and Richard Lush, made two attempts at creating this stereo mix in the control room of EMI Studio Two, the second attempt being the keeper.  Mark Lewisohn writes that John “had a marvelous time” working on this stereo mix, “pushing different images through on both channels and panning the words 'number nine' across the stereo in fractions of a second.” John also thought to pan the final “Hold that line / Drop that kick” chanting back and forth repeatedly during most of the closing seconds. The track clocked in at 9:05, the longest Beatles track ever.  With this complete, as well as creating a stereo mix of “Revolution 1,” this session ended at 3:30 am the following morning.

One final thing needed to be done to get “Revolution 9” to its releasable state, and that was accomplished on June 25th, 1968 in the control room of EMI Studio Two by John and the engineering team of Martin, Emerick, and Lush.  A decision was made to edit the previously made stereo master from 9:05 to 8:15, reducing the length to a good degree but still managing to be the longest Beatles track in their released catalog.  This having been done, as well as creating yet another stereo mix of “Revolution 1,” a tape copy of “Revolution 9” was made for John's listening pleasure.  By 8 pm, this session was complete for the day.

Since Paul was not involved in the creating of this recording, most of the time being out of the country, the question remained of what his reaction to the finished “Revolution 9” would be. Geoff Emerick relates: “A few days later, all four Beatles reunited in the studio, and John proudly played the two tracks that he had completed while the rest were away.  I could see from the dark cloud that came over Paul's face that he was totally underwhelmed with 'Revolution 9' when he first heard it, and there was an awkward silence after the track faded out.  John looked at Paul expectantly, but Paul's only comment was 'Not bad,' which I knew was a diplomatic way of saying that he didn't like it. Ringo and George Harrison had nothing to say about the track at all.  They looked distinctly embarrassed, and you could tell that neither one of them wanted to get caught in the middle of this.”

“'Not bad?' Lennon said derisively to Paul.  'You have no idea what you're talking about.  In fact, this should be our next bloody single!  This is the direction The Beatles should be going in from now on.'  Yoko, with an appalling lack of tact, managed to aggravate things further still by blurting out, 'I agree with John. I think it's great.'...Judging from his look of disdain, I was quite sure Paul was thinking, 'You've got to be kidding,' but, to his credit, he didn't rise to the bait and didn't argue...he simply didn't see it as Beatles music, and he certainly didn't agree that it was the direction that The Beatles should go in.”  One can only imagine what would have transpired if John got his way in releasing “Revolution 9” as the next single instead of “Hey Jude”!

The usual custom of the time was to create both a stereo and mono mix for release of each Beatles recording.  The mono mix of “Revolution 9” occurred on August 20th, 1968 in the control room of EMI Studio Three by engineers Ken Scott and John Smith, but not in the usual way.  Since the complicated stereo mix could in no way be duplicated for a separate mono mix, a decision was made to create a straightforward dub of the stereo mix that combined both channels into one.  This was improved upon, though, on August 26th, 1968, by the same engineering team to ready it for release on the mono pressings of the album.

One final process was needed before the final release of the “White Album” was prepared, and that was the track selection and final sequencing of the album.  This was done during a record-breaking 24-hour session at EMI that stretched from 5 pm, October 16th to 5 pm October 17th, 1968.  Decisions were made on this day to omit songs from the album, these turning out to be George's “Not Guilty” and John's “What's The New Mary Jane.”  However, there was also strong consideration for one more omission.  Geoff Emerick writes: “When they were sequencing the 'White Album,' I heard through the grapevine that John and Paul ultimately had a huge row over 'Revolution 9.'  Paul absolutely did not want it on the album, and John was just as adamant that it would be on there.  In the end, of course, he got his way.”

During this sequencing session, however, a decision was made to infuse a quiet introduction to “Revolution 9.”  An interesting recording of a conversation between George Martin and Apple office manager Alistair Taylor was added to the track, then chosen as the opening segment to the entire recording.  Alistair is heard begging forgiveness from George for forgetting to bring a “bottle of Claret” for him.  “Well, do it next time,” George instructs.  “Will you forgive me?” Alistair asks.  After George says “Yes,” Alistair then proceeds to call him a “cheeky bitch!”  The actual date of this spoken word recording has never been documented.

Stop by my blog next week and discover the intricate details showcased upon “GOOD NIGHT.”

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.

CRY BABY CRY AND ITS INCREDIBLE RECORDING PROCESS.

On May 28th, 1968, The Beatles gathered at George's 'Kinfauns' house in Esher, Surrey, to record demo versions of songs that they had recently written in preparation for recording their next album.  As was usually the case when starting any recording project, John would go first.  He recorded a number of new songs in a row on that day onto George's Ampex four-track machine, the first, "Cry Baby Cry," indicating he was especially proud of this song at the time.

John confidently plays acoustic guitar and sings on this demo recording and then goes to the effort of double-tracking his vocals.  This is a solo performance by John alone with just some extraneous Beatle voices heard in the background at times.  All the correct lyrics and chords are in place at this point, but there are some variations to the arrangement.  For instance, there is no opening chorus as in the finished version; the first verse bears the first thing heard. And for the final chorus, John plays it once through in the usual 4/4 time signature and then changes it to 3/4 waltz time to repeat the chorus three more times while omitting the final measure.  He then starts to perform the chorus a fifth time but only makes it about halfway through until it falls apart, apparently assuming it will have faded out by that time when the song winds up officially recorded.

Two days later, on May 30th, 1968, The Beatles entered EMI Studios to start recording what eventually became the “White Album.”  It wasn't until July 15th, 1968, however, that they brought “Cry Baby Cry” into EMI Studio Two for the first time.  Between these two dates, however, tensions mounted and tempers flared between the group members, resulting in a far-from-friendly atmosphere.

Engineer Geoff Emerick, in the book “The Beatles Recording Sessions,” explains the events of an early recording session on this day:  “I lost interest in the 'White Album' because they were really arguing amongst themselves and swearing at each other.  The expletives were really flying.  There was one instance just before I left when they were doing 'Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da' for the umpteenth time.  Paul was re-recording the vocal again, and George Martin made some remark about how he should be lilting onto the half-beat or whatever and Paul, in no refined way, said something to the effect of 'Well you come down and sing it.'”

In his book “Here, There And Everywhere,” Emerick continues the story.  “Somehow I saw the session through to its ragged conclusion.  Paul seemed to calm down a bit, though little else got accomplished that night other than a few run-throughs of John's new song 'Cry Baby Cry.' Distracted and distressed, I couldn't give it my full attention, though:  the only thought that kept going through my head was, 'I wonder if I'll ever get to finish this song.'” This evening session, which ran from 9 pm to 3 am the following morning, comprised the group going through approximately 30 unnumbered takes of the song which were committed to tape but amounted to nothing more than rehearsals.

Geoff Emerick did show up at EMI Studio Two at 4 pm the following day, July 16th, 1968, but not to continue work on “Cry Baby Cry” as The Beatles intended.  “The next afternoon, I walked dejectedly into the control room, where both Richard (Lush) and George Martin were sitting quietly,” Geoff Emerick continues.  “None of The Beatles had arrived yet: they were late as usual.  I took a deep breath, and at last, the words came out.  'That's it, George,' I announced.  'I've decided I can't take it anymore.  I'm leaving.'...'What are you talking about?' he said.  'You can't leave in the middle of an album.'  'I can, George, and I am.'”  Geoff was asked by studio manager Alan Stagge to stay on until the end of the week so they could find a replacement, but he insisted on leaving immediately.

John Lennon's reaction to this news on this day, according to Emerick, was as follows:  “Come on, Geoff, you can't be serious about this...We need you, man, you can't just walk out on us in the middle of an album.  I mean, everyone always says what a great record 'Pepper' was, even though I think it's the biggest load of sh*t we've ever done...Anyway, it's nothing you're doing wrong, you know – it's just working in this sh*thole of a place.”

Engineer Richard Lush explains how The Beatles felt about their home studios:  “They always had a bee in their bonnet about EMI being very organized and 'establishment.'  They thought that we were like that too, and of course, George Martin was very suit and tie.” Explaining how the staff would all wear white coats in a very stuffy atmosphere, engineer Martin Benge adds: “They were never really at ease with all that.  I think they felt the place could be much more laid-back and relaxed and much less formal, but that's the way Abbey Road was in those days.”

In any event, Geoff Emerick gave up his coveted role as chief engineer for the greatest rock and roll band of all time.  He did not work with the group again until April 14th, 1969 for the recording of “The Ballad Of John And Yoko” and then throughout the majority of the “Abbey Road” album.

On July 16th, 1968, however, with engineer Ken Scott filling in at the last minute, The Beatles got to lay down ten official 'takes' of “Cry Baby Cry,” the tenth one being deemed best.  'Take one,' as heard on the 1996 release “Anthology 3,” shows how the arrangement was well worked out already on this day, the only noticeable difference being a quick acoustic guitar introduction from John.  The instrumentation consisted of John on acoustic guitar and guide vocal, Paul on bass, George on organ and Ringo on drums.  With all the tracks filled on the four-track tape, two attempts at a tape reduction were made to open up more tracks for overdubbing which resulted in 'take 12' being the keeper. This first recording session of the day ended at 9 pm, an hour break followed.

They all reconvened at 10 pm for a three-hour overdub session that lasted until 2 am. The only overdubs recorded at this time were George Martin on harmonium and John on piano.

There was no recording session for the next day due to The Beatles attending the world premiere of the animated movie “Yellow Submarine.”  However, the day after, July 18th, 1968, they were back in EMI Studio Two at 2:30 pm to fill up the remaining tracks of “Cry Baby Cry” with overdubs.  John Lennon recorded a new lead vocal (the guide vocal on the rhythm track for the first chorus), Paul recorded backing vocals, George added occasional lead guitar lines, George Martin added a new harmonium overdub, Ringo played tambourine, and all chimed in with various 'tea-party' sound effects during the verse that detailed how “The Dutchess of Kirkcaldy” arrives “late for tea.”  At 9:30 pm, this session, and the song were complete.

But not really!  As mentioned above, a small snippet of a tune unofficially titled by many “Can You Take Me Back” was recorded on September 16th, 1968, in EMI Studio Two sometime between 7 pm and midnight.  The Beatles (minus George) were in the process of recording Paul's song “I Will” when Paul broke into an unrehearsed off-the-cuff song that contained the repeated lyric “Can you take me back where I came from.”  This “song” was designated as 'take 19' and lasted 2:21, then copied onto one of two “odds and ends” tapes they were keeping for posterity.  The instrumentation consisted of Paul on acoustic guitar and vocal, John on maracas and Ringo on bongos.  We'll see how this converges with “Cry Baby Cry” a little later.

The following day, September 17th, 1968, attention focused on the original recording of “Cry Baby Cry” from July 18th, but for a different reason.  EMI Studios had finally incorporated capabilities for eight-track recording, which proved a major upgrade from four-track The Beatles had been using since late 1963.  The thought surfaced that “Cry Baby Cry” could use more overdubs, so a tape copy was made to facilitate eight-track recording on the song.  Sometime near 5 am during this late night session (which would in actuality be September 18th) this tape copy occurred. However, in the end, most decided that “Cry Baby Cry” sounded good enough the way it was and no additional overdubs were made, making this tape copy useless.

Both the stereo and mono mixes of the song were done on October 15th, 1968 in the control room of EMI Studio Two by George Martin and engineers Ken Scott and John Smith. John's acoustic guitar was flanged on both the stereo and mono mixes on this day as well.  It took five tries to get a suitable stereo mix, the fifth attempt undoubtedly being the best which panned the vocals predominantly to the left channel during the choruses and centered in the mix during the verses.  Only one remix was needed to get a suitable mono mix on this day.

On the next day, October 16th, 1968, John and Paul met at EMI Studios with George Martin, Ken Scott and John Smith for the long process of putting together the running order of the album.  This took place in the control rooms of Studios One, Two and Three as well as Rooms 41 and 42, this procedure taking a full 24 hours, from 5 pm until 5 pm the following day (October 17th), making this the longest session The Beatles ever had.  "I remember arriving at the studios on Thursday, 17 October 1968, 9 pm, to find The Beatles still there," engineer Alan Brown recalls.  "They had been there all night, finalizing the master tapes for what we now call the 'White Album' and banding it up (putting the songs in order and editing the master).  They were all over the place, Room 41, the front listening room, - anywhere - almost every room they could get.  It was a frantic last-minute job."

It was on this day that a 28-second portion of the "Can You Take Me Back" song snippet recorded September 16th, 1968 found its place onto the end of "Cry Baby Cry" for both the stereo and mono mixes.  They apparently felt that a direct segue from "Cry Baby Cry" into "Revolution 9" wouldn't work well on its own, so this insertion was implemented to create a suitably 'creepy' link-piece between the two tracks.

Sometime in 1996, George Martin returned to the master tape of “Cry Baby Cry” to create a releasable version of 'take one' of the song for inclusion on the compilation album “Anthology 3.”  George also returned to these tapes with his son Giles Martin sometime between 2004 and 2006 to use elements of “Cry Baby Cry” in two tracks from the highly acclaimed album “Love.”  George Martin's harmonium, as well as other elements, appear on the track “Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite! / I Want You (She's So Heavy) / Helter Skelter” and the “Can You Take Me Back” segment was used on the track “Come Together / Dear Prudence – Cry Baby Cry (Transition)”

The structure for the main section of "Cry Baby Cry" consists of only two elements repeated back and forth, namely 'chorus/ verse/ chorus/ verse/ chorus/ verse/ chorus/ verse/ chorus/ chorus/ chorus' (or ababababaaa).  No instrumental or solo section was deemed necessary by John who decided just to keep his imaginary story-line going nonstop.

The first chorus begins immediately on the downbeat, John's vocal and flanged acoustic guitar appearing simultaneously with George Martin's harmonium making its first appearance in the fourth through seventh measure.  This first chorus is only seven measures long, one measure shorter than most of the choruses in the song.  John omits the final lyric “so cry baby cry” as heard in the other choruses to allow for the missing measure.

The first verse then appears which is eleven measures long, this actually consisting of two sections that are six measures each, the last measure of the second section lopped off as extraneous because of the second chorus that follows.  The first two measures only contain John on vocal and acoustic guitar, this changing in the third verse as Ringo first arrives in the song with snare drum tapping.  The fourth measure brings in Paul on bass, playing a throbbing rhythm which begins quietly and then swells in volume until it descends again and disappears by the end of the sixth measure.  John's piano overdub appears first in the fifth measure and then continues throughout the rest of the verse, playing descending bass notes in measures seven through ten and then a silly fumbling figure after the lyric mentions the Queen “playing piano.”  Paul's bass repeats the throbbing rhythm during the tenth and eleventh measures.

The second chorus is next, which is now a full eight measures in length.  John's vocals are now treated with a good amount of ADT (“Artificial Double Tracking”) to give it a fuller sound.  John plays piano throughout this chorus while Ringo plods heavily with a snare and kick drum beat as well as a tambourine overdub.  John is still on acoustic guitar while Paul kicks in on bass, Ringo adding a nice drum fill in the final measure.

The second verse, which is also eleven measures long as all the rest are, has full instrumentation this time around.  This consists of John on piano and vocals (no acoustic guitar this time), Paul on bass playing a more regular pattern, George on organ focusing on the higher keys and Ringo playing a rhythmic drum beat with interesting hi-hat accents.  Ringo performs a drum fill in the fourth measure and then a cymbal crash midway through the fifth measure to create a climactic moment, reprising this in the tenth and eleventh measures.

This is followed by another chorus which is nearly identical to the previous one instrumentally.  Noticeable differences are Paul's backing vocals in the seventh and eighth measures on the words “cry baby cry” and Ringo not performing a drum fill in the final measure this time around.

The third verse is next which is a little more subdued in volume to allow for the 'tea party' sound effects the group recorded to coincide with the “Dutchess” arriving “late for tea,” these effects heard mostly in measures one through four.  The instrumentation is similar to the previous verse but with certain differences, one being the omission of George's organ which he replaces with two lead guitar passages in measures five and six and then measure eleven.  This is followed by yet another chorus, Paul now beginning his harmony in the fifth measure with the lyric “she's old enough to know better.”  John here begins to add a noticeable vibrato to his voice, detected mostly in the word “sigh-igh-igh-igh,” such as heard in The Bee Gees' song “Words” which was a recent British Top Ten hit at that time.  Ringo once again decides not to perform a drum fill in the final measure.

The fourth and final verse is also mostly subdued, Ringo only hitting the ride cymbal on half notes during measures one through three and then eighth notes in measures seven through nine, he performed his usual drum fills and cymbal crashes in the usual places from the previous two verses.  While Ringo is on the ride cymbal, the only other instrumentation is Paul's bass and John's descending bass piano notes. Interestingly, John performs a thumb roll on the piano during Ringo's drum fill in the tenth measure, adding to the swell in volume at that point.

Next comes a three-times repeated chorus, the first two being seven measures long and the third being the standard eight measures in length.  The instrumentation here is John on vocals (still singing with vibrato) acoustic guitar and piano, Paul on bass and harmony vocals and Ringo on drums and tambourine.  Interestingly, Ringo performs a drum fill at the end of where the eighth measure would be in the first two of these choruses, giving the illusion of there being eight measures when in fact it's in the first measure of the next chorus where he performs these drum fills.  The third chorus ends suddenly on the eighth measure with all instruments ringing out on a minor chord, followed by a bum note by John on piano.

This is then followed by an eighteen-measure rambling “can you take me back” verse which consists of Paul on acoustic guitar playing a quarter note pattern and vocals, John on maracas played on the quarter-note beats and Ringo on bongos playing on the half-note beats.  This section works nicely here, especially because the beat coincidentally is the same as the body of the song we just heard.  It also creates a creepy atmosphere that leads perfectly into the cacophony of sound that follows it on the album.

Stop by my blog next week and discover the intricate details showcased upon “REVOLUTION 9.”

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.

SAVOY TRUFFLE AND ITS INCREDIBLE RECORDING PROCESS.

October 3rd, 1968 highlights the first day George Harrison brought the song "Savoy Truffle" into the recording studio.  Since no demo recording is known to exist, George may have taken studio time to teach the others his newly written composition during the session running from 4 pm until 2:30 am the following morning.  This may very well be the case especially since only one 'take' was committed to tape during the long session, the remainder of the time undoubtedly being used for rehearsal.

However, they were not in their usual EMI Studios on this day.  Instead, they were at London's Trident Studios, as they were for this entire week due to either a needed change of scenery or because EMI was already booked solid.  By the end of the session, 'take one,' which ended up fine for the finished product, was complete.  This take consisted of George on lead guitar, Paul on bass, and Ringo on drums.  John did not contribute to the recording and may not have been present on this day at all.  In fact, John did not appear in any capacity on “Savoy Truffle” throughout its recording process.

The second session for the song was on October 5th, 1968, the fifth and final Trident recording sessions of this week.  The first thing on the agenda was George committing to tape his lead vocals for the song, overdubbed with a good amount of “Artificial Double-Tracking” (or ADT) to create the desired effect.  Paul also overdubbed sporadic harmony vocals recorded to George's satisfaction; attention then went to adding overdubs to Paul's previously recorded “Martha My Dear.”  Then commenced some assorted mono and stereo mixes of other songs, ending the session at 1 am the following morning.

With a good portion of “Savoy Truffle” being complete, George decided to shift gears and introduce yet another original composition for inclusion on the album, “Long Long Long.”  It wasn't until after this new song appeared fully completed that George returned his attention to “Savoy Truffle,” the delay possibly the result of a need for a brass overdub to be arranged.  “George Martin suggested that I score 'Savoy Truffle' for saxophones,” remembers Chris Thomas, Martin uncharacteristically delegating this responsibility instead of tackling it himself as usual.  “I must say that I found it a real chore,” Thomas continues.

The Beatles were now back at EMI Studios, they continuing their recording here for the remainder of the “White Album” sessions.  After sitting for six days, the tape of “Savoy Truffle” recorded at Trident Studios was now added to in EMI Studio Two on October 11th, 1968, the session beginning at 3 pm.  The six saxophonists, including Art Ellefson, were hired to record Chris Thomas's score for a three-hour session that was to end at 6 pm.

Engineer Brian Gibson, as related in Mark Lewisohn's book “The Beatles Recording Sessions,” remembers:  “The session men were playing really well – there's nothing like a good brass section letting rip – and it sounded fantastic.  But having got this really nice sound George (Harrison) turned to (engineer) Ken Scott and said, 'Right, I want to distort it.'  So I had to plug-up two high-gain amplifiers which overloaded and deliberately introduced a lot of distortion, completely tearing the sound to pieces and making it dirty.  The musicians came up to the control room to listen to a playback and George said to them, 'Before you listen, I've got to apologize for what I've done to your beautiful sound.  Please forgive me, but it's the way I want it!'  I don't think they particularly enjoyed hearing their magnificent sound screwed up quite so much but they realized that this was what George wanted and that it was their job to provide it.”

Another problem apparent at this point was the quality of the recording done at Trident Studios.  Geoff Emerick, in his book “Here, There And Everywhere,” explains:  “All The Beatles tapes that had been recorded at Trident sounded peculiar to me because of what I suspected to be technical problems.  I was vocal about my opinions, and word eventually got back to some people at Trident, who asked me to come in to talk to them about it.  They made it clear that they would prefer it if I kept my opinion to myself in future.”  Engineer Ken Scott left EMI and began working at Trident sometime later.  “The first thing he did upon arriving was to sort out the studio's technical problems,” continues Emerick, “and from that point on their tapes sounded fine.”

As for the other Beatles recordings done at Trident, such as “Hey Jude,” “Dear Prudence” and “Martha My Dear,” alterations were made to the sound quality at EMI to match the high standards of the rest of their catalog. Unfortunately, such efforts were not made for “Savoy Truffle,” resulting in what Ian MacDonald describes in his book “Revolution In The Head” as “a violently compressed production.” Fortunately, the remastering done for the 2009 release of the album rectifies this issue to a good degree.

On October 14th, 1968, the finishing touches to “Savoy Truffle” were recorded, this being the final session needed to complete the entire “White Album.”  The same morning, Ringo and his family flew out for a two-week vacation to Sardinia, so he wasn't present for this final session, nor for the sequencing and final mixing work for the album, confident that his fellow bandmates would take care of that satisfactorily.  The rest of them (George and Paul at least) were present and arrived on this day around 7 pm.

After creating a couple stereo mixes for other “White Album” songs, they set their sights on finally finishing off “Savoy Truffle.”  Overdubs comprised George on a second electric guitar and (possibly) organ, Chris Thomas on electric piano, and possibly Paul on tambourine as well as bongos.

With this complete, both the mono and stereo mixes for the song were created on this day by George Martin and engineers Ken Scott and John Smith with input from George and Paul.  Six attempts at the mono mix took place, the sixth chosen as 'best.' The startling lead guitar overdub was faded down at the end of the second verse, but not after the first chord is heard.  The end of the guitar solo is different here also, extending into where the vocals come back in.

Two attempts of the stereo mix were made on this day as well, the second being the keeper.  The lead guitar overdub at the end of the second verse was not faded down this time, but extraneous sounds heard during the solo in the mono mix were properly faded down in this stereo mix.  More pains were taken to make the end of the guitar solo sound more concise this time around.

During these mixing sessions, the subject of the distorted sax overdub became a concern for George Martin.  Ken Scott recalls:  "When we were mixing it, George Martin walks into the control room.  He said, 'Uh, isn't it a bit bright?' And George (Harrison) just turns around to him and says, 'Yeah, and I like it!' and just turns around, and we carry on working. George Martin just walked out."

Sometime between 2004 and 2006, George Martin and his son Giles returned to the song during the making of the soundtrack to the Cirque du Soleil show “Love” and its accompanying album.  George Martin thought enough of Chris Thomas's brass score that he included it in the mashup of “Drive My Car/The Word/What You're Doing.”

The structure used for "Savoy Truffle" poses quite standard for Beatles compositions, namely 'verse/ verse/ bridge/ verse (solo)/ bridge/ verse' (or aababa) with a brief introduction appearing at the beginning of the first two verses.  However, as usual for this time in their career, there are a good degree of intricacies thrown in for good measure.

After a brief snare drum fill from Ringo, a three-measure introduction enters which consists of the rhythm track instruments from George on rhythm guitar, Paul on bass and Ringo on drums with Chris Thomas's overdubbed electric piano taking the spotlight.  Two full measures in 4/4 time are heard, but then all of this drops off with a final open hi-hat beat for the third measure which is in 3/4 time.  On the rhythm track, George plays the melody line by himself as a guide, his lead vocal line “Creme Tangerine” being overdubbed on top of this later.

The first verse begins next, which is fifteen measures long and is fully in 4/4 time.  The downbeat comes in on the last syllable of the word “Tangerine” from the introduction, the bass, and drums from the rhythm track coming back in at the same time.  At the beginning of the second measure, George begins his rhythm guitar playing again and is joined by the brass section for the first time.  Ringo plays a steady 4/4 drum pattern riding on his hi-hat throughout most of the verse with anticipated kick drum and snare beats on measures three, six, seven and eleven.  George adds in some overdubbed lead guitar chops in the twelfth through fourteenth measures while he changes to falsetto during the key line “you'll have to have them all pulled out after the Savoy Truffle,” joined by Paul on harmony for this line.  The fifteenth measure consists of four accented notes by all instruments, followed by a 'Beatles break' with only a couple simple snare drum beats and percussive taps (bongos?) in the open space.

This is followed by a repeat of the introduction, the only difference being a slight variation in the electric piano part.  The second verse then appears which in most respects is instrumentally identical to the first. George's rhythm guitar is played with a stronger amount of gusto for this verse and Ringo adds in a drum break at the end of the seventh measure.  Paul adds harmony vocals from the fourth measure on this time around with an excited “whoo” on top of Ringo's anticipated cymbal accent on the eleventh measure.  George's overdubbed lead guitar chops in the twelfth through fourteenth measures are now shriller to the ear (stereo mix only) as a tambourine is faintly heard for the first time in these measures as well.  During the 'Beatles break' in the final measure one can hear Paul make a subtle pigeon-like “coo” in the background amid the drum beats.

Next comes the first bridge which is eight measures in length.  The full instrumentation from the rhythm track is present, with George emphasizing the two- and four-beats of measures one, two, five and six with staccato guitar chops.  Ringo's work is cut out for him in this section with accented cymbal crashes in measures three, four, seven and eight, these crashes also being emphasized by guitar, bass and horns, assorted drum fills encasing these crashes at every turn.  Also present are a backdrop of Hammond organ throughout the bridge, a slight “ooh” from Paul in the sixth measure after the line “the sweat is going to fill your head,” and a tambourine hit in the final measure.

What follows next is an instrumental verse which, since it doesn't follow an introduction this time, is a full sixteen measures in length.  The brass take on a fuller role during this section of the song while George's overdubbed solo is highly distorted and is a somewhat spiced-up version of the melody line.  This continues for the first twelve measures, but a reprise of the key line of the verses come in vocally by George and Paul in measures thirteen through sixteen.  Ringo disregards the anticipated crashes usually heard throughout the previous verses, replacing them with drum fills in measures two, four and twelve and then finishing off his usual accents in measure sixteen. The organ is also present as a pad for this entire verse.

After a nearly identical repeat of the bridge is heard, the only difference, a new set of lyrics. The final verse then commences which is similar to the instrumental verse in that it doesn't follow an introduction and is, therefore, sixteen measures long but with a repeat of the final four measures for emphasis, making a total of twenty measures in length.

Lyrically it is a repeat of the first verse but with Paul joining in on harmony vocals from the fifth measure on to the end.  The organ is faintly detected in the background, and a strident overdubbed rhythm guitar is present as well.  The tambourine brings the song home in this final verse as Paul even adds another trademark “whoo” on the downbeat of the twelfth measure after the line “you know it's good news.”  Paul also differentiates the repeated last lyric “you'll have to have them all pulled out” with an altered falsetto harmony.  The final four accents of all instrumentation brings the arrangement to a startling conclusion and acts as a brilliant transition to the subtlety of John's “Cry Baby Cry” which immediately follows it on the album.

Musicianship is at an all-time high on this track, George taking the lead in directing the proceedings.  His guitar work is stellar, including his amazingly appropriate guitar solo, while his vocals are also top notch.  Paul's bass flows suitably subdued in the mix, but his vocal work and sporadic excited exclamations add to the celebratory nature of the recording.  Ringo puts in a very detailed performance as well, showing himself as a well-seasoned professional who was up for any task.

Stop by my blog next week and discover the intricate details showcased upon “CRY BABY CRY.”

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.

HONEY PIE AND ITS INCREDIBLE RECORDING PROCESS.

On May 29th, 1968, The Beatles met at George's “Kinfauns” bungalow in Esher, Surrey, the second of two consecutive days, to record demos for the “White Album.”  The example for “Honey Pie,” recorded on this second day, consists of Paul on acoustic guitar and lead vocals, overdubbing himself on another acoustic guitar as well as various background vocal effects.  Other elements on this demo include tambourine and percussive thumping (undoubtedly the back of an acoustic guitar) as well as other extraneous voices that can easily show attributed to the other three Beatles that were present on this day.

There are various lyric and arrangement differences on this demo, the most noticeable being the omission of the introductory section (“she was a working girl”) of the song.  Verse one as we know it (“making me crazy”) never appears in the demo, the first verse here being what we know as the second verse (“position is tragic”). The official third verse is the second verse on the demo (“driving me frantic”) which is followed by the first bridge although he didn't quite have the lyrics nailed down yet (singing “la, da, da, da, dee, dee” at the end).  Next, Paul sings the “driving me frantic” verse and goes directly into a solo section, singing the melody line as “da, da, da.,” etc.  This is followed by the second bridge which is ultimately the same as the released version but with the minor lyrical change “blew her boat away to sea” instead of “across the sea.”  Then Paul repeats the “position is tragic” verse, followed by two solo verses sung with various overdubbed Paul vocals before it concludes suddenly.  Interestingly, the version of this demo that appears on “Anthology 3” edits out the middle solo, second bridge, and third verse.

The Beatles entered London's Trident Studios on October 1st, 1968, for what became a week's worth of recording sessions at this facility.  Trident Studios were used by the group earlier in these sessions (such as with the recording of the song “Hey Jude”) primarily to take advantage of their eight-track recording capabilities, something EMI had yet to institute.  However, by this point, The Beatles did have access to eight-track recording at EMI so this week's work was either for a “change of scenery,” as Mark Lewisohn's book “The Beatles Recording Sessions” suggest, or because this week was already fully booked at EMI.  In any event, they started this week off by recording the rhythm track for Paul's “Honey Pie” on this day, the session beginning at 4 pm.

Two reels of tape were filled with rehearsals for the song, although the finished rhythm track on this day was deemed “take one.”  This rhythm track consisted of Paul on piano, George on bass, John on electric guitar and Ringo on drums.  The solo section of the song begins with a quick lead guitar passage played by John, something that George greatly admired. “Sounded like Django Reinhardt or something,” George related in 1987.  “It was one of them where you close your eyes and just happen to hit all the right notes...sounded like a little jazz solo.”

Once this was complete, George Martin, along with engineer Barry Sheffield, made a rough mono mix for himself so that he could write a score for brass and woodwinds for a future recording session.  At 3:30 am the following morning, the session was over with work to be resumed later that day.

This day was October 2nd, 1968, also at Trident Studios and starting at 4 pm.  It may very well be that Paul was the only Beatle in attendance on this day, the only accomplishments to “Honey Pie” being his lead vocal as well as lead guitar in the introductory passage of the song.  This session was complete also at 3:30 am the following morning, indicating that either Paul was late on this day or there was a good amount of unproductive goofing around during the session.

The Beatles decided to start work on George Harrison's composition “Savoy Truffle” for the next session on October 3rd but resumed work on “Honey Pie” on October 4th at Trident Studios, this session also beginning at 4 pm.  A good portion of this session was taken up working on yet another new Paul track, namely “Martha My Dear,” Paul beginning the session with this song.  At 6 pm, however, attention turned to “Honey Pie” as seven-session musicians entered the studio to record the brass and woodwind arrangement that George Martin had recently prepared. By 9 pm this was complete, these musicians leaving to allow for fourteen other session musicians to enter for recording brass and strings for “Martha My Dear.”

Sometime after midnight, Paul turned his attention back to “Honey Pie.”  “We put a sound on my voice to make it sound like a scratchy old record,” Paul explained in his book “Many Years From Now.”  The book “The Beatles Recording Sessions” explains this “quaint touch:  the vocal line 'now she's hit the big time!' which was heavily limited, chopping off the signals at both ends of the frequency range, and superimposed with the sound of a scratchy old phonograph, to make the end product like a vocal from a very early and worn 78 rpm record.”  While this sounds like a very inventive idea, a Michael Nesmith track entitled “Magnolia Simms,” from the album “The Birds The Bees And The Monkees,” utilized this same trick throughout the entire song, even including a simulated record-skipping effect.  This April 1968 released album predated this Beatles session by over five months, possibly influencing Paul or George Martin to experiment with the same thing.

At any rate, “Honey Pie” was completed at this session, which finally ended at 4:30 am the following morning.  Both the mono and stereo mix of the song was done later that evening, October 5th, 1968, at Trident Studios by George Martin and engineer Barry Sheffield. After overdubs for “Savoy Truffle” and “Martha My Dear” were recorded with only one attempt needed for both the mono and stereo mixes of “Honey Pie.”  John's lead guitar break in the solo section of the song is heard more fully on the mono mix, while the stereo mix fades it down noticeably after the first four measures.  A tape copy of both the mono and stereo mixes of the song occurred on October 7th, 1968 in the control room of EMI Studio Two, undoubtedly to create uniform sounding mixes for use on the finished album, the majority of which took place at EMI Studios.

The structure of “Honey Pie” is quite similar to a large percentage of the early Beatles catalog, following a basic 'verse/ verse/ bridge/ verse' format (“Please Please Me” defines a prime example).  This foundation is built upon, however, with a separate introduction that is not heard elsewhere in the song, this being reminiscent of early 20th-century songwriting (such as with “Let Me Call You Sweetheart”).  The Beatles used this approach themselves before this time, such as with “Do You Want To Know A Secret” and “Here, There And Everywhere.”  The final structure for “Honey Pie” then becomes 'intro/ verse/ verse/ bridge/ verse/ verse (instrumental)/ verse (instrumental)/ bridge/ verse/ verse (instrumental)' (or abbcbbbcbb).

While the introduction enters purposely labored for dramatic effect, it can still be parsed out to be twelve measures in length.  It consists entirely of Paul, him playing piano from the rhythm track with overdubs of lead vocals and lead guitar flourishes.  Measures five and six incorporate the above mentioned scratchy record effect along with Paul's flat vocal (“now she's hit the big time”) to simulate an old 78 rpm platter on a Victrola.  Easy evidence of the vocals being overdubbed and not performed during the piano playing surfaces in measures nine and ten during the lines “and if she could only hear me,” which are noticeably off in timing.  Paul's quiet guitar passages drift in the open spaces between vocal lines in measures two, four, six, eight and twelve, the final one incorporating an anticipatory segue into the first verse that follows.  The final measure of the introduction concludes with a descending piano line that takes us perfectly into the body of the song.

The first verse then appears which, like all the verses that follow, is eight measures in length.  The full instrumentation of the rhythm track comes in immediately, consisting of piano, guitar, bass and drums played by all four Beatles, as well as Paul's overdubbed single-tracked lead vocals.  Ringo appears to be playing lightly with brushes throughout the song while George thumps with staccato bass notes and John strums electric guitar appropriately for the nostalgic feel of the song. George Martin's clarinet and saxophone score enters in the seventh and eighth measures.  This verse goes directly into the second verse which has the exact same instrumentation but with the clarinets and saxophones playing throughout all of the measures, ending with a descending line juxtaposed nicely with the chord pattern that moves us into the bridge.

The bridge is also eight measures long and consists of the same instrumentation as the second verse.  A straight 4/4 swing beat is heard here throughout the first seven measures as in the previous verses, the only deviation to this being the eighth measure of this bridge which has all instruments perform a three-note accent followed by two slight taps by Ringo on a closed hi-hat.  This is followed by the third verse which is nearly the same instrumentally as the second verse, Paul segueing vocally into the following instrumental verse with the words “Honey pie, come back to me.”

Two instrumental verses come next, the initial focus here being John's lead guitar from the rhythm track, although all of the other instrumental elements are present here as well.  The clarinets and saxophones take a backseat in the arrangement for the first verse, playing only background chords to allow for John's guitar solo.  However, Lennon's solo is primarily heard only in the first four measures (as well as the fifth through seventh in the mono mix), propelling Paul to pick up the slack a little in the seventh and eighth measure, singing “I like that, aah, ooh, aah” in a gruff whispered Jimmy Durante-like voice.  Also noteworthy here are the third and fourth measures which both contain two accented beats performed by the instrumentalists, Ringo doing a cymbal grab on every beat followed by two light taps on the closed hi-hats after each pair.  These accented beats also occur in the eighth measure but without the cymbal grabs.

The second instrumental verse is similar but shows the clarinets and saxophones taking more of a lead role since the guitar solo is limited only to the third and fourth measure this time.  Paul also delivers the added element of ad-lib vocals with the lines:  “I like this kind of hot kind of music, hot kind of music, play it to me, play it to me, Hollywood blues.”  The accents of the third and fourth measure are still present here as in the preceding verse, but the ending accents in the eighth measure are omitted, replaced instead by an impressive harmonized ascending and then descending clarinet score.

The second bridge is then heard which is similar to the first in most respects.  John puts in double-guitar chops at the beginning of the first three measures here, however, for some reason, and then the fourth measure features yet another impressive harmonized clarinet riff.  The three-note accent in the eighth measure is this time accompanied by Paul as he vocally adds “tee, tee, tee” into the fray.

We then are treated to a repeat of the first verse lyrically but with all of the elements of the other verses.  The seventh and eighth measures begin some more ad-lib vocalizing from Paul which continues through the final instrumental verse which comes next.  This instrumental verse is essentially identical to the other instrumental verses heard earlier except for the clarinets and saxophones playing the verse melody line virtually throughout.  The two sets of accented beats in the third and fourth measures do not feature the cymbal grabs as they had before, however, while the third set in the eighth measure pushes us into one final beat that suddenly ends the song.

Although tensions were high within the group at this point, and John and George, in particular, weren't keen on doing songs like these, they all cooperated nicely and put in a suitable performance.  Paul, of course, was game to make the song as authentic as possible and, with George Martin's help providing the score, the definitive 1920's pastiche achieved authenticity.

Stop by my blog next week and discover the intricate details showcased upon “SAVOY TRUFFLE.”

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.