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.”
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