The Beatles entered EMI Studio Two on August 11th, 1964 to begin recording their fourth British album “Beatles For Sale,” which was due out in December. This three-hour evening session, from 7 to 11 pm, was devoted entirely to John and Paul’s recent composition “Baby’s In Black.”
It took fourteen takes of the rhythm track to get a keeper, which encompassed John on acoustic rhythm guitar, George on electric lead guitar, Paul on bass, Ringo on drums along with harmonized vocals from John and Paul. After the fourteenth take, Lennon was heard commenting, “Can we hear that rubbish back?”
Only five of these takes made it through the entire song, five others not making it past the guitar introduction from George Harrison. In fact, George’s lead guitar fills throughout the song as well as his solo, which entailed him bending various notes with his tremolo arm, were the sticky points that led them to take the entire three hours to finish the song. Thirteen edit pieces of the twangy introductory notes were attempted, but none of them ended up being used on the song at all. They worked out another solution.
In the November 1987 issue of Guitar Player magazine, George Harrison explained how they achieved the volume swells heard on the lead guitar parts of this song. While admiring Colin Manley, guitarist for the British group The Remo Four, and his use of a volume pedal, Harrison stated: “I could never co-ordinate it…So what we’d do is, I played the part, and John would kneel down in front of me and turn my guitar’s volume control.”
This unorthodox lead guitar style prompted George Martin to exclaim “You want the beginning like that, do you?” This definitely indicated the change in roles George Martin was beginning to have in the studio with The Beatles. The group had specific ideas that they insisted on using, and George Martin began viewing them more as artists than as youngsters needing direction, even if it was against his better judgment.
Some other overdubbing was necessary as well, which included both John and Paul double-tracking their vocals during both occurrences of the bridge (“Oh, how long will it take…”) and during the chorus after the second bridge. This gave a fullness that creates an illusion of multiple harmonies when in fact there were only two. A tambourine played by Ringo was also overdubbed, which came in very quietly on the second bridge with the accent on the second and fifth beat of each measure, switching to the first and fourth beat after the second measure of the final verse. John also added electric rhythm guitar strumming in the bridges and the choruses that follow them.
The first mono mix was made on August 14th in-between The Beatles next recording sessions on that day, although this mix was never used. October 26th was the date the actual mono mix was created in the control room of EMI Studio Two by George Martin, engineer Norman Smith and future Moody Blues producer Tony Clark as 2nd engineer.
The stereo mix was made on November 4th in the control room of Studio Two by George Martin, Norman Smith and 2nd engineer Mike Stone. The original rhythm track is heard primarily in the left channel while the vocals are centered in the mix. All of George and John’s guitar overdubs are heard in the right channel exclusively, as is Ringo’s tambourine overdub.
Two more recording sessions for “Baby’s In Black” resulted from their 1965 concerts at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, California. Capitol Records decided to record these appearances as they did in 1964 just in case The Beatles gave them the thumbs up this time to release a live album at the end of year. They didn’t. The August 29th recording, which was produced by Engeman and engineered by Hugh Davies, was unlistenable because of technical problems, but the August 30th recording fared much better. The producer on this session was Capitol Vice-President Voyle Gilmore with Pete Abbott engineering. Although the recording of “Baby’s In Black” made on this day didn’t get released on the long-awaited “The Beatles At The Hollywood Bowl” album in 1977, it did surface on the single “Real Love” released in 1996. This recording, however, was included as a bonus track on the 2016 released album "Live At The Hollywood Bowl."
One final recording session was held on January 5th, 1966 at CTS Studios in London. This was in order to augment the live recording of “Baby’s In Black,” as well as other songs, from the August 15th, 1965 live concert at Shea Stadium in New York City. Paul added a bass track to the song in preparation for the television film “The Beatles At Shea Stadium.”
Song Structure and Style
Lennon and McCartney were becoming more comfortable with the use of a chorus, unlike the common 'verse/ verse/ bridge/ verse' structure of their earlier compositions. For "Baby's In Black," we have a complicated 'chorus/ verse/ chorus/ verse/ bridge/ chorus/ chorus (solo)/ bridge/ chorus/ verse/ chorus" formula, which would work out to be ababcaacaba. Although McCartney (and some writers) mistakenly credit the song to be in 3/4 time, the song is actually 6/8 time and performed in a very "country and western" (or hillbilly) style, especially in regards to the melody lines and vocal delivery.
Regarding the melody lines they sang, McCartney explains, "It was very much co-written and we both sang it. Sometimes the harmony that I was writing in sympathy to John's melody would take over and become a stronger melody. Suddenly a piebald rabbit came out of the hat! When people wrote out the music score, they would ask, 'Which one is the melody?' because it was so co-written that you could actually take either."
While Lennon and McCartney may have considered John's lower part the melody and Paul's higher part the harmony, as was usually the case, sheet music many times show both melody lines while some editions showed John's lower part as the melody in the chorus and verses and Paul's dominant higher harmony as the melody in the bridge.
An examination of the song begins with the two-measure introduction, the first measure being an awkward but distinctive guitar run from George Harrison which signals the band to kick in for the second measure. The chorus then kicks in immediately on the downbeat with John and Paul's single-tracked harmonies. The six-measure chorus is made up of three melodic phrases that, while very distinguishable in the song, unusually consist of the lowest notes of the entire song. The last measure consists of a repeat of George Harrison's introductory guitar passage, which segues nicely into the first verse.
The verse uniquely comprises seven measures and features John and Paul's almost tongue-in-cheek hillbilly slurring of notes on the words "she" and "him," which shows them poking fun at the C&W music of their day. We then go into an identical repeat of the chorus, except for the absence of the guitar passage at the end.
The second verse then begins, which this time features the slurred hillbilly notes on "I" and "her." Then we see the bridge for the first time, which is an even four measures long. The dominant harmony line from Paul reaches the highest notes of the entire song, landing on the words "Oh, how long." The vocals in this bridge appear double-tracked for the first time which, by adding a subliminal fullness to the sound, makes this section the song's true highlight.
Another unique feature of the bridge is its melodic downward arc which combines perfectly with the single-tracked chorus that immediately follows it, the effect being that we've gone from the highest note to the lowest note of the song within a combined ten measures. The lyrics show them fitting perfectly together, the last lyrical phrase of the bridge actually nudging its way into the first measure of the chorus. What we end up with here is the phrase "till she sees the mistake she has / made, Dear, what can I do," eliminating the word "oh" that usually starts off the chorus.
The end of this chorus shows the return of Harrison's guitar passage, which then actually begins his guitar solo. This instrumental section is played against the chorus chord structure, comprising the usual six measures. The solo shows George bending notes throughout while not paraphrasing any melody line heard in the song, which was usually the norm for the rehearsed solos he would perform up to this time. While his pitch and timing were off on occasion, with a degree of awkwardness as the result, he is to be admired for his willingness to "mix-it-up" in the spirit of experimentation that The Beatles were reaching for.
The solo goes directly into a repeat of the bridge and chorus as heard just before the solo, this time continuing the rich double-tracked vocals right through the chorus. Another new feature of the song appears, ever so quietly, in the form of a tambourine which appears to slightly increase in volume as the song progresses to the end.
After this we see a repeat of the first verse, this time without cymbals and accenting the one and four beat of each measure. This move breaks the continual tension displayed throughout the song, with the effect of driving the focus onto the significance of the lyrics. A final repeat of the chorus follows with full orchestration as before. The song appropriately ends with George's guitar flourish bending and Ringo's tambourine shaking.
Even though the song was a pure 50-50 collaboration, the convincing illusion is that this is John's song, probably because of his singing the lower melody line. This has led many writers to assume John was the main contributor to this song, if not its sole author. Meanwhile, his acoustic rhythm guitar works as efficient background to the mix.
Paul keeps within the framework appropriate for country music with his bass work while effectively mastering his hillbilly higher harmonies without missing a beat. George struggles somewhat to convincingly adapt to the country landscape, but ends up with a suitable performance. Ringo ends up with the easiest end of the stick, not being required to do much more than keep a steady 6/8-time signature with a slight change of emphasis during the last verse. Overall, the performance shows the group with a confidence that reveals the pride they feel for this song.
The lyrics depict the frustration of the singer because he's trying to win over a girl while she's preoccupied with her deceased former boyfriend. "What can I do?" the singer asks, because he thinks "of her, but she thinks only of him." His patience is wearing thin, asking "how long will it take?" while viewing her longing for her ex as a "mistake" that she'll soon regret when he gives up. Though the singer harshly calls her feelings "a whim," it is only evidence of the song being a pastiche of country music anyway, not to be taken too seriously. And, of course, it rhymes with "him."
Next Song – Rock And Roll Music:
October 18th, 1964 was a hectic day in the recording studio for The Beatles. This was a day off during their UK concert tour which started on October 9th. Since the deadline for completing their "Beatles For Sale" album grew very close, they crammed this Sunday session in before they left for Edinburgh, Scotland the next day.
This session in Studio Two of EMI ran over nine hours long and knocked out seven new Beatles songs from start to completion, in addition to performing a couple edit pieces to "Eight Days A Week" at the beginning of the session. The session began at 2:30 pm and lasted a little past 11:30 pm in the evening.
After the edit pieces were completed, they spent considerable time completing four new songs before taking a tea break and conversing with their publisher Dick James. With the break over at approximately 10 pm, it was now time to go back to work. "They had gotten all the hard work behind them and now had to knock off three more songs before it got too late," engineer Geoff Emerick relates, "because they were due up in Scotland the next day to resume touring. In essence, the rest of the session was a live performance, very much like their debut album."
The last hour and a half of the session was taken up with recording three of the groups favorite cover songs. After recording George Harrison's enthusiastic rendition of "Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby," John Lennon stepped up to the microphone for a single take of "Rock And Roll Music." No overdubs were needed, not even the vocals. The echo delay used on George's previous track was used here as well which eliminated the need for double-tracking. The two minutes and thirty seconds needed to record this song occurred around 11 pm that evening.
One controversial aspect about this song is its instrumentation. This controversy centers around the identity of the pianist on this song. Most writers take the stance that George Martin played the piano as he did on previous Beatles recordings, such as "Misery" and "Long Tall Sally." This conclusion is drawn no doubt from Mark Lewisohn's "The Beatles Recording Sessions," which state this being the case.
Another theory is presented in the liner notes to the British "Beatles For Sale" album, written by Derek Taylor. He claims that the piano part was recorded with John, Paul and George Martin all sitting at the piano at the same time. While this interesting claim seems to be an eyewitness account, it obviously had to have been done as an overdub, while most sources claim there wasn't any.
The most convincing theory is made by someone who was actually there on that day. Second engineer Geoff Emerick, in his book "Here, There And Everywhere," states this about the recording of this song:
"Then with time running short, Paul moved over to the piano, where he pounded out a rollicking version of Chuck Berry's 'Rock And Roll Music.' The entire song, including John's scorching vocal, was performed live, with George Harrison playing Paul's Hofner bass."
Adding to the validity of this account is the fact that the bass work is quite simplistic as opposed to the busy bass lines Paul was known to concoct. (Note Paul's bass work on similar rockers like "Boys" and "I Saw Her Standing There.") Not to be overlooked is Paul's piano work as it appeared on Beatles songs prior to this date, such as on "Little Child" and the recently recorded "She's A Woman." The recording also appears to have only one discernible guitar part, which could very easily be that of John Lennon. Adding these facts to the truth of the matter that his is an eyewitness account, Geoff Emerick's book has to be viewed as the definitive account regarding the musicians on this song.
Some may also object to the fact that George is here sited as playing Paul's left-handed bass guitar, this feat being cumbersome and, as some assert, impossible for a right-handed guitarist to do. However, note this quote from Mark Lewisohn's 2013 book "Tune In" in which he outlines the group's instrumentation during their 1962 performances of the song "Peppermint Twist." "Pete (Best) came out front to sing it and do a little dance while Paul relished a few minutes behind the drums and George picked up Paul's left-handed bass and tried to find the notes as a right-hander. It was a cabaret moment." Therefore, not only was it indeed possible for George to play Paul's left-handed bass, but he had gained practice over the years in doing just that. (Note the photographic evidence thereof.)
The mono mix of the song was made in the control room of EMI Studio Two on October 26th, 1964 by George Martin and engineers Norman Smith and Tony Clark. The stereo mix was made on November 4th in Studio Two by Martin, Smith and 2nd engineer Mike Stone.
Also noteworthy of mention are two renditions of "Rock And Roll Music" that The Beatles performed in London's Twickenham Film Studios in early January of 1969 during the rehearsals for what became the "Let It Be" album and film. The first was recorded on January 7th, which was quite a spirited performance with Ringo focusing on the toms during the verses, and the second was on the following day, January 8th. Neither of these versions have been officially released.
Song Structure and Style
The Beatles convincingly transform this somewhat laid-back Chuck Berry anthem into a frantic, thunderous rendition without hardly a chance to take a breath. The relaxed swing beat of the original is pushed aside for a straight-forward 4/4 hard-driving rock beat. The Beatles also chose to raise the key from the somewhat monotone E of the original to the exhilarating A, which pins Lennon to the top of his vocal range.
Apart from these obvious differences, The Beatles keep to the same basic structure of the original, namely 'chorus/ verse/ chorus/ verse/ chorus/ verse/ chorus/ verse/ chorus' (or ababababa). No instrumental or solo section is required, since the fast-moving multiple verses keep the tension flowing from start to finish as it should.
The song begins with a simple introduction which actually only consists of a guitar cue to set the rhythm of the song. Interestingly, Lennon chooses to use the E7 chord instead of the signature A chord, which differs from Chuck Berry's use of the signature E chord. This takes us directly into the fourteen measure first verse, which follows the usual 12-bar blues pattern except for a reprise of the last two measures to repeat the phrase "if you want to dance with me." All four musicians jump right into full-throttle from the downbeat of the first measure, only letting up for a full 'break' on the fourteenth measure, which actually works as the beginning of the first verse with the line "I've got no kick against...".
The first verse consists of eight measures as all four breathless verses do. The downbeat of the first measure brings the full band back into the picture as Lennon completes his lyrical phrase with the words "modern jazz." A similar 'break' occurs on the eighth and final measure of the verse, which allows John to belt out the segue back into the chorus with the words, "that's why I go for that...". This identical 'break' pattern follows every verse and chorus until the end of the song.
One interesting detail is the somewhat rumba-sounding beat that accompanies the fourth verse, which goes well with the lyrics that mention the "tango," the "mambo" and the "congo." John stresses different syllables in the word "piano" toward the end of this verse as well, Berry following the pattern of the preceding words with "pi-A-no" while Lennon playfully favors saying "PI-a-NO."
The last chorus puts the final touch on the song by replacing the 'break' with an instrumental "cha-cha-cha" as the original recording does. After such an exhilarating and exhausting rendition, George Martin wisely chooses to follow this with the mellow "I'll Follow The Sun," which allows our heart rate to go back to normal.
While all four Beatles give a wonderfully spontaneous performance on this song, the tip-of-the-hat mostly goes to John Lennon for his urgent and convincing vocal delivery. After approximately seven-and-a-half hours in the recording studio, which included mastering his excellent "I Feel Fine," he barely had it in him to scrape through the high-pitched "Rock And Roll Music" in its entirely. We can all hear him belting out the final chorus with every fiber of his being but not giving up. The listener has the sensation of cheering him on to the finish line, and as he painfully hits his final notes on "if you want to dance with me" we all feel we want to congratulate him for a job well done. He surely must have been grateful he didn't have to do another take of the song!
The highlight musically shows up in the form of Paul's piano work. His harmonic runs on the lines "if you want to dance with me" throughout the song are an anticipated feature of each chorus, as well as his 'push' after the word "piano" at the end of the fourth verse. Lennon's rhythm guitar works nicely with the piano to fill out the meat of the sound, as George Harrison's simple bass work gives the song depth. Ringo pounds away at full-tilt without much need of extensive drums fills, but keeps the song 'in the pocket' with his tight breaks and accents. The Beatles were well acquainted with the song, having performed it over the past five years, and it definitely shows.
Lyrically, the song simply depicts the singers' preference for 'rock and roll' as opposed to "modern jazz," "symphonies," "jamboree," "tango," "mambo" or "congo" music. If you want to dance with the singer, "it's gotta be rock and roll music."
Interestingly, John Lennon appears to sing "it's got a back beat; you can't blues it," while the original clearly states "you can't lose it." This apparently is another case of singing what they thought they heard on their copy of the record.
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