The long nine-hour recording session held on October 18th, 1964 saw seven songs from beginning to completion, as well as putting the finishing touches on a previously recorded track. Among the songs completed on this day was "I'll Follow The Sun."
The session began at 2:30 pm in EMI Studio Two with edit pieces being recorded for "Eight Days A Week" followed by recording "Kansas City/Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey!", "Mr. Moonlight" and "I Feel Fine," which would become their next single. At approximately 8:30 pm, while roadie Neil Aspinall was out getting some fish and chips for the group, they started working on "I'll Follow The Sun."
Eight takes of the full band arrangement (many of them ending with eruptions of laughter) were required before everyone was satisfied, but a couple of adjustments needed to be made as the session progressed. Engineer Geoff Emerick explains: "At first they couldn't think of anything for Ringo to do - he played drums on a run-through, but it sounded all wrong, too aggressive and distracting; Paul wanted something more subtle. After a good deal of discussion, Paul came up with the idea of having Ringo just slap his legs in time, and that worked well. Enthralled, I watched (engineer) Norman (Smith) carefully position a mic between Ringo's knees; then, back in the control room, he cranked up the EQ to add some extra depth to the sound."
Paul explains further about this idea. "On the record we got Ringo to tap his knees. We were thinking in terms of singles and the next one had to always be different. We didn't want to fall into The Supremes trap where they all sounded rather similar, so to the end, we were always keen on having varied instrumentation. Ringo couldn't keep changing his drum kit, but he could change his snare, tap a cardboard box or slap his knees."
Another adjustment had to do with the simple guitar solo. Geoff Emerick continues: "I found George Harrison's simpleminded eight-note solo - not even a solo, really just the melody line - downright embarrassing. He wasn't even supposed to play that solo: for the first few takes, John did it, on acoustic guitar. Despite the overall good vibe of the day, George Harrison seemed annoyed, perhaps because he hadn't been given much to do. At one point he marched into the control room and complained loudly, 'You know, I'd like to do the solo on this one. I am supposed to be the lead guitarist in this band, after all.'"
George Martin reluctantly interceded for Harrison who was finally allowed to play the solo as an overdub. "Nobody was satisfied with the result," Emerick concludes, "he wasn't happy either and wanted to make another attempt at it, but a weary and slightly annoyed George Martin finally put his foot down, saying, 'No, we have to move on.'"
An effective touch to the recording was John's descending harmony lines in the bridge, or "middle-eight" as The Beatles would call them. According to Geoff Emerick's book "Here, There and Everywhere," George Martin took the time to write this counter-melody for John to sing and taught it to him that day. After Paul double-tracked his vocals during the first half of each verse, the song was complete. Being around 9:30, it was time for a tea break and then back to record three more songs before midnight.
The mono mix of "I'll Follow The Sun" was made three days later on October 21st in Room 65 of Abbey Road Studios. The vocals were left mostly dry, adding just a touch of reverb. George Martin, Norman Smith and 2nd engineer Ron Pender were the only personnel in attendance for this mixing session.
The stereo mix was made on November 4th in the control room of EMI Studio Two by George Martin, Norman Smith and 2nd engineer Mike Stone. This time around, they added quite a bit of reverb to accentuate the vocals.
Song Structure and Style
The structure used in "I'll Follow The Sun" is one very familiar to The Beatles up to this point, consisting of a 'verse/ verse/ bridge/ verse' format (or aaba). Another verse follows, which is actually half solo / half verse, and then a repeat of the bridge and verse before it suddenly concludes.
The brief two measure introduction, with George Harrison's picking guitar riff, is actually a preview of the final two measures of the first and third verse. The first verse, like all of them, are a standard eight measures long and features Paul's double-tracked vocals in the first four measures and single-tracked vocals in the last four measures. The awkward chord pattern used in the first four measures makes it hard to determine the home key, but we comfortably arrive there (in the key of C) as the fifth measure appears.
After the verse concludes with Harrison's guitar riff, a structurally identical second verse follows. The only difference here, other than different lyrics in the first four measures, is the chording in the last two measures, which alter the key chord to a "seventh" as a segue to the bridge.
The bridge is also eight measures long but differs vocally from the verses by the appearance of John's lower harmonies as suggested and written by George Martin. Although both of the melodic phrases in the bridge conclude at the home key, the final measure moves abruptly to an unexpected chord to segue back into the awkward chord pattern of the third verse. This third verse is almost identical to the first verse except for a few words, the first verse beginning with "one day you'll look to see I've gone" and the third verse beginning with "one day you'll find that I have gone."
We then move into another verse which contains the simple eight-note sliding guitar solo from George Harrison in the first four measures. The remainder of the verse brings back the single-tracked vocals from Paul to once again highlight the title of the song. This verse also ends with a "seventh" chord because of it preceding a repeat of the bridge. This second bridge is followed by a repeat of the third verse, which concludes the song after the finger-picking riff from George Harrison.
The emphasis isn't on the musicianship of the group per se, but on the song itself. Nonetheless, all four Beatles play their part with enough skill to convincingly depict the charming sentiments of the song. Paul's simple bass lines don't do much more than emphasize the chord changes, while his vocals are predictably right on pitch. The higher register singing in the bridge is noteworthy for credit, especially as a counterpoint to Lennon's lower harmonies, which are also executed easily but perfectly. Lennon's acoustic rhythm guitar work is played somewhat aggressively but is well executed nonetheless. Harrison's sporadic guitar picking throughout the song is well performed, although his overdubbed simple guitar solo could have been improved upon. And, of course, the award goes to Ringo for "best knee slapping in a pop record."
Although the acoustic arrangement The Beatles went for on "I'll Follow The Sun" gives the impression of it being inspired by the burgeoning folk music scene of the time, deeper examination shows this to be a false impression. The melody line and chord progressions used are anything but folk-like, being more akin to the Buddy Holly-style electric guitar/drums arrangement originally used in the 1960 home recording. What we see here is a nice blend of both folk and "pop/rock" elements to create a soothing and charming effect.
There are two credible interpretations of the lyrics to "I'll Follow The Sun." Some authors suggest that it's not a romantic love song at all. Their analyzation of the lyrics shows it to depict the singer leaving his girl for greener pastures. No reasons are given except that "tomorrow may rain," which may symbolize the stormy trappings of attachment. He knows that the result of his departure is that he will "lose a friend" but, after all, "the time has come" for him to leave. He even crassly presumes upon himself as the Casanova with the line "someday you'll know I was the one." She can't live without him but he apparently can live without her.
A second view is that the girl is treating the singer badly and he is giving an ultimatum, saying "one day, you'll look to see I've gone." After he leaves, she would then realize that he "was the one" which would satisfyingly explain the line "in the end you'll know."
Although McCartney has never explained what his sentiments were, the resulting song may never have been thought through that fully in the first place, being that most of the lyrics came from the pen of a 16-year-old.
Next Song – Mr. Moonlight:
The Beatles entered EMI Studio Two on August 14th, 1964 for their second recording session for the "Beatles For Sale" album. Their first session for the album on August 11th resulted in only one song being completed, which was "Baby's In Black." This evening session, which ran from 7 to 9 pm, started out putting another original composition, "I'm A Loser," in the can for possible consideration for their next single. At approximately 8 pm, the Beatles launched into "Mr. Moonlight" as a contender for the album, the first cover song they chose to include.
Four takes of the song were made on this evening, only two of which made it through to the end. The first didn't get passed John's vocal introduction, John himself calling for the band to stop. McCartney encouragingly interjects "nearly!" while Lennon replies, "yes, not bad, that one." This first attempt can be heard on the "Anthology 1" album.
Take four on this day was temporarily deemed as best, although they understandably thought differently later. The primary reason undoubtedly was George Harrison's rather experimental shaky guitar solo which, even during the live performance, impelled McCartney to give out a couple of cat-calls that would mark the track as unusable. This performance is also included on "Anthology 1."
After the band took an hour break from 9 to 10 pm (during which time mono mixes of "I'm A Loser" and "Baby's In Black" were made) they returned to the studio for more recording. Instead of working more on "Mr. Moonlight" they started and completed another cover song as a contender for the album, the 1959 Little Willie John song "Leave My Kitten Alone." They worked until 11:15 on this song, even double-tracking Lennon's vocals. This excellent recording, unfortunately, was decided to be omitted from the "Beatles For Sale" album and didn't get officially released until "Anthology 1." Instead, The Beatles were insistent on including "Mr. Moonlight," which they re-attempted at a later date.
That later date was a marathon recording day on October 18th, 1964. They entered EMI Studio Two at 2:30 to begin nine hours of recording, resulting in the final completion of eight songs. After putting the finishing touches on "Eight Days A Week" and blistering through "Kansas City / Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey!," they started over on "Mr. Moonlight."
Takes 5 through 8 showed the group running through the song with the same instrumentation as on August 14th, namely John on rhythm guitar while singing lead, George on lead guitar while singing harmony vocals and Paul on bass guitar while singing harmony vocals. The verdict is still out on what instrument Ringo is playing. Some writers suggest bongos, some a packing case (such as a guitar case) and some say he played the toms of his drum kit, such as he did when performing it live.
The first couple of takes still contained George Harrison's guitar solo, but this was quickly ruled out. Engineer Geoff Emerick explains: "The stumbling block again was Harrison's guitar solo - not the notes he was playing, but the odd, sped-up tremolo sound he was using...Lennon thought the unconventional sound was terrific - and, personally, so did I - but George Martin insisted that it was simply too weird. After some discussion, it was decided to overdub a cheesy organ solo instead. Even though I loathed the sound, I was most impressed to see Paul playing it - up until that point, I'd had no idea that he could even play keyboards."
Take eight was the final rhythm track, over which McCartney overdubbed his Hammond organ parts which, in effect, replaced Harrison's guitar solo in the song. George instead was relegated to hitting an African drum on the two-beat of every measure the band went into a 'break' in the song. That being accomplished, they commenced recording what would become their next single, "I Feel Fine."
One good thing that did come out of the first version they attempted on August 14th was John's vocal introduction. When the time came for mono mixing the song on October 27th in the control room of Studio Two, they made two mixes; one for the vocal introduction of Take Four, and one for the rest of the song of Take Eight. They then edited both of these mixes together to form the mono mix we've all come to know, which fades out after three repeats of the song's title at the end. This mono mix was prepared by producer George Martin and engineers Norman Smith and Ken Scott.
On November 4th, 1964, George Martin, Norman Smith and 2nd engineer Mike Stone created the stereo mix of the song in the control room of Studio Two. Once again, they made separate mixes of Take Four (John's vocal introduction) and Take Eight (the rest of the song) and edited them together. This time the mix lasted a few seconds longer to include four repeats of the song's title at the end which displays an additional higher harmony. Another difference was some Hammond organ sounds as the song began to fade at the end. Apparently, they turned the fader down on the organ overdub during the mono mix but inadvertently left it up during the stereo mix.
Both the stereo and mono mixes of "Mr. Moonlight" on the British "Beatles For Sale" album are identical to what was released in the US on "Beatles '65."
Song Structure and Style
This Latin sounding track follows a pattern that is somewhat unique, being that it is made up entirely of verses with no bridge, chorus or refrain in sight. More than this, the first verse is different than any other of the three verses in the song, not only in lyrics but in structure and length.
After a searing introductory scream from John, we enter into a two-measure full-band musical introduction which creates anticipation for what is to come. The first verse then begins, which is a whopping 24 measures long. The first four vocal phrases of the song alternate between three-part harmony and John's solo vocal lines. The sixteenth measure consists of a "Beatles break" with only Paul's ascending bass line and George's African drum segueing into the remaining eight measures of the verse. The twenty-second measure is also taken up with a break, which is quickly followed by a return of the African drum and the harmonized title of the song, which finally concludes this unique verse.
Then we enter into the second verse, which structurally is repeated three times until the song fades out. These verses are all sixteen measures long, with the first of these beginning with two vocal phrases in three-part harmony. This time the break appears in the eighth measure and contains the familiar African drum and ascending bass line. The second and final break of the verses occurs in the fourteenth measure once again highlighting the title of the song.
The next verse consists of the Hammond organ solo in the first eight measures and, after the usual break, a full repeat of the final eight measures of the previous verse. Utilizing the first half of a verse for a solo section is something not new in The Beatles cannon, as they performed this trick many times before (such as in "From Me To You" and "A Hard Day's Night"). We then go back into the second verse once again with the entire same arrangement until we hear them repeat the title of the song three more times (or two in the mono mix) with the harmonies progressively rising as the song fades away.
Lennon's convincing vocal delivery is the best, and some say only, thing that makes "Mr. Moonlight" work for the group. In fact, it was Lennon who insisted on covering this obscure song as a platform for his lead vocal, which he obviously enjoyed to sing. The key was even lowered slightly from G on the original version to an odd F# Major, probably to allow him to hit the high notes better. While the campiness of the song may come across as laughable to some, John's vocal attack and straight delivery gives the proceedings plausibility.
Paul's excellent knack for harmonies comes into play here also, as well as his suitably subdued bass lines. While his Hammond organ chording and solo have been lambasted by authors left and right, describing it as "tasteless," "cheesy" and "gold lame ghastliness," we're so used to hearing it now that it's become an essential ingredient of the song. While both Lennon's and Harrison's guitar work are basically rhythm throughout, Ringo's percussion, whatever he was hitting (my vote is for his tom toms), is played with a much skilled Latin feel. And let's not forget George's African drum pounds. Job well done, George!
There have been a few songs that have lyrics depicting the singer addressing a heavenly body ("Hey, Mr. Sun" and "Mr. Sun, Mr. Moon" come to mind), but not with the sincerity and gut-wrenching appreciation displayed in "Mr. Moonlight." After all, he came "one summer night" and from his beaming rays he helped the singer find his true love "from the world," although the love they feel for each other came "from above." Although we're not exactly sure why both the singer and his girl want Mr. Moonlight to "come again, please," it is especially urgent, being that he is on his "knees, begging" for his return. Hopefully they're not having relationship problems and need his magic "beam" to fix things.
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