With just about half of the “Rubber Soul” album complete, The
Beatles convened in EMI Studio Two on November 3rd, 1965, for a nine-hour
recording session to fully record the recently completed composition
“Michelle.” Two sessions held priority,
the first comprising four-and-a-half hours (from 2:30 to 7:00 pm) with a second
session of the same length occurring immediately afterward (from 7:00 pm to
11:30 pm).
“Michelle” was the only song on the entire album that needed more
than the four tracks on the recording console.
The first session was utilized to fill the first four tracks, track one
containing the rhythm track consisting of drums and acoustic guitars. Since this rhythm track only needed one take,
a good amount of rehearsal was no doubt performed first in order to get the
arrangement down perfectly.
From listening to Paul’s previously recorded demo of the song on
acoustic guitar, we can easily assume that Paul played one of the acoustic
guitars himself on this rhythm track since the ascending and descending jazz
chords in the fourth measure of the verses were already perfected by him
previously. According to Andy Babiuk's
book "Beatles Gear," "Photographs taken while they worked on
'Michelle' show capos on McCartney's Epiphone Texan, on Harrison's J-160E, and
on Lennon's Spanish classical guitar," this hand-made Spanish guitar being
purchased by John from its maker in Madrid, Spain on July 2nd, 1965, while The
Beatles were on tour. The capos they
used on their acoustic guitars as mentioned in the above quote were needed to
lift the key of the song, a device they rarely used before but now used on many
"Rubber Soul" tracks. Ringo,
surprisingly, went back to using his 1964 Ludwig drum kit (his third Ludwig
set) instead of his newer 1965 kit he had used during the “Rubber Soul”
sessions so far. He never went back to
his 1965 set during his time with The Beatles but kept it nonetheless for
safekeeping. (Since three acoustic
guitars and drums were recorded live for this rhythm track, Ian MacDonald’s
suggestion that Paul performed the entire song with overdubs, as indicated in
his book “Revolution In The Head,” is found to be inaccurate.)
Many have noticed that the tempo of the rhythm track slows down at
the end, which is usually believed to be accidental. “It slows down on the last part,” McCartney
corrects, “only because we thought it sounded better that way.” George Martin concurs, “Paul asked for the
music to be slowed on the last part of ‘Michelle’ to add more emphasis to
it. I think it achieves the desired
effect.”
The remaining three tracks of the four-track tape easily filled up
with overdubs before the first recording session termed completed. Track two contained Paul’s lead vocal, track
three contained one set of three-part harmonies from John, Paul, and George (as
arranged by George Martin), and track four contained the same harmony vocals
double-tracked to give a richer and fuller sound. Therefore, seven voices sing on the finished
song. With all four tracks filled, a
tape copy was made that combined both harmony vocal tracks (tracks three and
four) onto track three. This left track
four open for more overdubs in the second session of the day.
Jerry Boys, occasional tape operator on Beatles sessions, happened
to come into the control room during Paul’s lead vocal performance. “I stood there quite spellbound,” Jerry
remembers. "It sounded lovely. George (Martin) asked me what I thought of
The Beatles singing a song with French lyrics, and I got the impression that
with me being a young chap he was sounding me out, perhaps because they weren’t
too sure themselves. I said it sounded
very pleasant, which it certainly did!"
It was undoubtedly at this point, just as the afternoon session
ended and the evening session began, that food was brought in for the group by
their roadie Mal Evans. Photographic
evidence shows mashed potatoes and peas lingered on their plates, as well as
other food. Ringo even had a chance to
participate in a card game with Mal and road manager Neil Aspinal on the studio
floor, evidenced by photos taken from up in the control room.
Usually the case, arrangements to Beatles songs, as well as
additions to the actual songwriting, occurred during the recording
sessions. This was the case during the
evening session on this day; first off concerning Paul’s overdubbed bass
part. “The bass line for this was
thought up on the spot,” Paul remembers.
“I would never have played ‘Michelle’ on bass until I had to record the
bass line. Bass wasn’t an instrument you
sat around and sung to. I remember that
opening six-note phrase against the descending chords in ‘Michelle’ was like a
great moment in my life. I think I had
enough musical experience after years of playing, so it was just in me. I realized I could do that. It’s quite a well-known trick. I’m sure jazz players have done that.”
When being interviewed by Mark Lewisohn in 1987 for his book “The
Beatles Recording Sessions,” Paul elaborates about this bass part a little
further: “I’ll never forget putting the
bass line in ‘Michelle’ because it was a kind of Bizet thing. It really turned the song around. You could do that with bass; it was very
exciting." Photos during these
sessions, possibly rehearsing "Michelle," show Paul playing his
Rickenbacker bass with a capo, something quite unusual for a bass guitar. "I'd try anything once," Paul
explains with a laugh, "So...I'll try a capo...I would just mess around
with any experimental effect.”
After the bass part was overdubbed, another acoustic rhythm guitar
was overdubbed as well as the acoustic lead guitar heard during the song's solo
and conclusion. "The guitar solo in
'Michelle' is my composition, actually," George Martin stated in
1993. "I wrote down the notes and
said, 'I'll play this; George, you can do these notes with me on guitar. We'll play in unison.'" Since no keyboards appear on the recording,
the unison piano work of George Martin most likely played off microphone. These overdubs transferred onto track four of
the new tape which then concluded the recording of the song at 11:30 pm.
The first mono and stereo mix of “Michelle” were performed on
November 9th, 1965 in Room 65 of EMI Studios by George Martin and engineers
Norman Smith and Jerry Boys. The drums
were mixed slightly louder on the mono mix as was a slightly longer fade at the
end. The stereo mix had Paul's lead
vocals panned exclusively to the right channel.
Both of these mixes made it onto the US versions of the "Rubber
Soul" album.
Paul apparently was present for these mixes as he remembers them
well: “I remember ‘Michelle’
particularly. Because it was only on
four little tracks, it was very easy to mix.
There were no decisions to make; we’d made them all in the writing and
in the recording. We would mix them, and
it would take half an hour, maybe. Then
it would go up on a shelf, in a quarter-inch tape box. And that was it. That was the only thing we ever did to
‘Michelle.’ We never remixed it for
dance; we never did a funky mix. That
was the end of it, and it’s still around, and it’s still a popular song, still
clocking up numbers on the little tachometer or whatever it is they’ve
got: four million broadcast
performances. From that one little
thing. Minimum effort, minimum expense,
minimum everything. It’s lovely,
absolutely the best way to do it.”
On November 15th, 1965, during further mixing work for the “Rubber
Soul” album, George Martin and Norman Smith, with 2nd engineer Richard Lush,
created one more mono mix of “Michelle” which ended up on the British mono
version of "Rubber Soul." This
mix took place in the control room of EMI Studio One.
A further stereo mix was also made in 1986 by George Martin for
the first appearance of “Rubber Soul” on compact disc. This mix, which centered Paul's lead vocals,
was also utilized when the CD was re-mastered and re-released on September 9th,
2009.
A further recording of the song was done sometime between March
22nd and June 15th of 1993 during Paul McCartney’s “New World Tour.” This version of “Michelle” was included on
his live album “Paul Is Live.” It was
also recorded during a live performance in Mexico City, the results appearing
on the international release “Back In The World” (which did not get released in
the US).
Song Structure and Style
While “Michelle” has an irresistibly effective melody and chord
structure, when analyzed, we may be surprised to find some offbeat
idiosyncrasies. While containing the
standard fare of verses, bridges, and solos, the number of measures in each
element is quite unique within The Beatles catalog up to this point. Nonetheless, the song comprises the following
format: ‘verse/ verse/ bridge/ verse/
bridge/ verse (solo)/ bridge/ verse’ (or aabababa). Other familiar features are an introduction
and conclusion with a fade-out.
It’s interesting to note, first off, that the song is in the key
of F, which is also quite unusual for the group. McCartney is the only Beatle to work with
this key, as he had done a few months earlier on his first ground-breaking ballad
of the year, namely “Yesterday,” as well as 1963’s “Hold Me Tight.” His other crooner from that year, their cover
of “Till There Was You,” even shares the same “ham-fisted” jazz chord described
above. One usual thing, though, is
Paul’s wavering from major to minor, the verses displaying F major as the home
key while the bridges sweep around F minor.
But, since we know that the origin of the song consisted of the verse
only, we can easily identify the song as being in F major.
The proceedings begin with a four-measure introduction which
premier a fragrant descending acoustic guitar riff spiced with an overdubbed
Bizet-like bass line. As we are soon to
see, this introduction is actually the last four measures of the bridge, not to
mention that it will also reappear as the final word in the conclusion.
Immediately afterward, the first six-measure verse begins with the
simple rim-shot drum beat and vocals appearing precisely on the downbeat. Another element that emerges simultaneously
is the six-voice “oooh” harmonies that add a dreamy backdrop throughout the
song. This verse is then repeated
identically lyrically and all, the only difference is that measures three
through five in the first verse give the lyrical phrase in English (“These are
words that go together well”) while the second verse repeat it in French (“Sont
les mots qui vont tres bien ensemble”).
The only other difference is Paul’s reiterating “my Michelle” in the
first verse and him repeating “tres bien ensemble” in the second verse.
The first bridge then occurs, which is uncharacteristically ten
measures long. This is where the song
shifts to a minor key, which convincingly depicts the singer’s frustration at
not being able to express his love accurately.
The first two measures, which contain Lennon’s anguished “I love you, I
love you, I love you” lyrics, are sung by Paul without the distraction of
background vocals. This effective vocal
element reaches the highest register of the song and stands out as an emotional
highlight, followed by the return of background harmonies and the touching
lyrical impact of Paul’s line “that’s all I want to say.”
The bridge concludes with a repeat of the introductory passage but
with a mostly single-note melody line on the lyrics, “I will say the only words
I know that you’ll understand.” Most
likely, we see in this melody line the hand of Lennon, since he habitually kept
melody lines to one note, such as in both “Help!” and “Girl” which were both
written in the same year.
Next, we see a carbon-copy repeat of the second verse, followed by
a second bridge. While most Beatles
bridges are lyrically the same (witness “You Won’t See Me” and “Ticket To Ride”
as recent examples), Paul continues the narrative in “Michelle” right through
the bridges by changing the lyrics to “I need to, I need to, I need
to…etc.” This rather new pattern is
beginning to see consistency as of 1965, such as in “Norwegian Wood” and “The
Word,” both of which differ the lyrics in successive bridges.
We then move into the solo section of the song, which Harrison
performed on top of the verse chord pattern.
Paul first adds a nice touch by emphatically emphasizing the simple
phrase he longs for Michelle to hear, namely “I love you.” While this stretches through the first three
measures, the background harmonies continue to ring out behind the beautiful
acoustic guitar solo.
This is then followed by the final bridge, which also has a
different set of lyrics. “I want you; I
want you; I want you” is painfully exclaimed this time around with the desire
for her to “understand.” We then repeat
the second verse a third time, ending with Paul enunciating every consonant of
the word “ensemble.”
An emotive conclusion then appears which repeats the opening
guitar passage for the last time, the difference here points that the
single-note melody line sung by Paul is replaced with one that portrays an
exhaustive resolve that he’ll just have to keep trying to “say the only words”
he knows to get through to her. This
final melodic stroke becomes the spine-tingling climax of the song. After the background harmonies return for the
last time on the words “my Michelle,” the song then fades into the distance by
repeating the solo section in a slightly slower tempo for emphasis. Breathtaking.
Paul is obviously the major player here, playing bass guitar,
performing at least two acoustic guitar parts, as well as lead and harmony
vocals. His original Chet Atkins-like
guitar parts are somewhat de-emphasized by the other elements in the
arrangement, although his classy ascending and descending jazz chords in the
first verse and conclusion are well heard and impressive. His bass work suitably stays simple
throughout the verses while the walking bass lines of the bridges move the song
along nicely. And, Paul knows how to
create a vocal image that makes us feel like we’re witnessing this frustrated
appeal with a French girl, doing it pitch-perfect as usual.
George also follows suit with a nice initial acoustic guitar track
and performs a satisfying well-rehearsed guitar solo three times in the
song. John’s acoustic guitar work is
hardly discernible on the finished song, his true involvement spurs as harmony
vocalist, which is also done superbly with George and Paul following the expert
precision of George Martin’s arrangement.
While it is true that Ringo doesn’t shine on this track, he once again
can be counted on to do exactly what needs to be done to make a well-written
song a success.
Combined with a masterly written melody line, the simple lyrics
come across with the sentiment of Shakespeare.
The quaint lyrics simply tell of an English-speaking man who desperately
wants to tell a beautiful (“ma belle” translates as “my beautiful”)
French-speaking woman that he loves her.
He may not have developed the story any further than this, but there was
no need. As the song concludes, the
listener is left wondering whether he ever did “find a way” to get the message
through.
Not to burst any bubbles, but there is one thing that suggests
Paul should have put a little more work into the lyrics. After all, we’re to believe that the only
French words he knows translate “these are words that go together well”? I don’t know about you, but I don’t think any
woman could be wooed by that sentence, even if you’re Paul McCartney. Hadn’t he ever heard of the word “amour”?
Next Song – What Goes On:
“I was always saying to The Beatles, ‘I want another hit, come on,
give me another hit.’” This comment from
George Martin was particularly valid in the early months of 1963 when a follow-up
to their first British chart-topper “Please Please Me” was needed. Therefore, on March 5th, 1963, at around 2:30
in the afternoon, the group assembled for a session in EMI Studio Two to show
him what they had.
George Martin remembers, “I would meet them in the studio to hear
a new number. I would perch myself on a
high stool and John, and Paul would stand around me with their acoustic guitars
and play and sing it – usually without Ringo or George unless George joined in
the harmony. Then I would make suggestions
to improve it, and we’d try it again.
That’s what is known in the business as a ‘head arrangement.’”
On this occasion, The Beatles premiered four songs to George
Martin for consideration for their next single, two newly written compositions
and two written many years before. The
two first chosen by Martin were the recently written numbers, “From Me To You”
and “Thank You Girl,” the former becoming their next British #1 single and the
latter becoming its b-side. With a
little studio time left, one of the older written songs began life in the
studio called “One After 909,” although they never finished nor released it at
the time. The other older written song
that they didn’t have time for that day was the early incarnation of “What Goes
On,” a full John Lennon composition. At
this point, this song was the least suitable for recording and apparently
didn’t get past the George Martin “high stool” test.
With just over half of the “Rubber Soul” album completed by
November 4th, 1965, and with a December 3rd release date fast approaching, the
group prepared “What Goes On?” to finally be suitable for recording and
release. With a new set of verses
written by Paul and Ringo in tow, they entered EMI Studio Two on this day at 11
pm for a late-night session to get more needed work done for the album.
Much preparatory work was first needed, so with all the
arrangement bugs worked out, they recorded only one take of the rhythm track
which was deemed good enough. The
instrumentation consisted of John on electric rhythm guitar, George on lead
guitar, Paul on bass and Ringo on drums as well as a guide vocal off microphone
to guide the song along. Also noticeable
on the rhythm track is off-the-cuff remarks and voices from the other group
members, such as John yelling out “I already TOLD you why” after Ringo sings
“tell me why” at the end of the second verse (most likely a reference to their
1964 composition “Tell Me Why.”
With this rhythm track complete, overdubs commenced. First was Ringo’s lead vocals which remained
single-tracked (his fiasco double-tracking “Matchbox” in June of 1964 showed
him not too capable with this procedure) and John and Paul’s harmonized
background vocals. A small lead guitar
flourish at the songs’ conclusion was the only instrumental overdub necessary
for the song. By approximately 2 am the
next morning, “What Goes On?” was complete, leaving the remaining
hour-and-a-half hours of the session for attempting the recording of an ad-libbed
instrumental tentatively titled “12-Bar Original” which was eventually
discarded as a bad idea and never saw the light of day (until “Anthology 2,”
that is).
Both the mono and stereo mixes of “What Goes On?” were created on
November 9th, 1965 in Room 65 of EMI Studios by George Martin and engineers
Norman Smith and Jerry Boys.
Interestingly, the overdubbed lead guitar flourish, which presumably
ended up on a separate track, was inadvertently left out of the mono mix. They remembered to turn up this track during
the stereo mix which also gives more clarity to Ringo humming/singing the
chorus during the guitar solo and his off-mic twice repeated “in your mind” at
the end of the song. The stereo mix
features most of the rhythm track and Ringo’s lead vocals primarily on the left
channel with George’s lead guitar and the overdubbed harmony vocals primarily
on the right channel.
In 1986, George Martin created a new stereo mix of the song in
preparation for the “Rubber Soul” album appearing on compact disc for the first
time. Although somewhat clearer, the mix
is essentially the same as the 1965 stereo mix except that both Ringo’s vocals
and the background vocals are slightly panned a little bit more to the center.
On July 16th, 2006, Ringo and his “All-Starr Band” had a live
rendition of the song recorded in Uncasville, CT, for inclusion on his live
album “Ringo Starr And His All Starr Band Live 2006.” Also, in 2008, a recording was made of the
song during Ringo’s live set at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, California,
the result appearing on the album “Live At The Greek Theatre 2008.”
Song Structure and Style:
The Beatles seemed to go to great lengths to infuse some
creativity into the structure and arrangement for this song which, to a lot of
ears, appears to be a let-down in comparison to the sparkling and innovative
songwriting that surrounds it on the album.
I heartily implore you to take a closer look at the results to show that
this is, in fact, a well-written song with many elements of impressive
performance. I’m not trying to give anyone
the ‘hard sell,’ but I don’t think that it should be considered a “bad song,”
per se, as may be the general opinion.
The unfortunate thing here is that surrounded by the contents of either
its’ British or American album that contains it; it sits among the framework of
brilliance. American Beatle fans of the
’60s had a hard transition to the British track listing of the compact disc
when, where they expected the beautiful “It’s Only Love,” they got what they
considered a ‘clunky’ album-filler sung by Ringo.
Although the structure of the song was no doubt in place back in
the late ’50s, we see here another case of a humble chorus used as the primary
feature, something that was less than usual in their catalog up to this
point. The format of the song is
‘chorus/ verse/ chorus/ verse/ chorus (solo)/ verse/ chorus’ (or abababa). Three separate verses with their own lyrics
show that a lot of work weighed into the writing of the song in getting it to
this finished state, Ringo’s “five words” intermingled somewhere within.
A brief four-measure introduction started by three leading notes
from George before the downbeat, establishes the key of E major and begins what
has developed into a true country-and-western flavored piece. Being what Ringo has claimed at the time as
being his favorite genre of music, the group was undoubtedly bowing to his
favor, possibly purposely altering the previously-written composition to his
style. In fact, the habit up to this
point had been to cater to a “hillbilly” sound for most of his vocal
contributions, which were a Buck Owens cover and two Carl Perkins “rockabilly”
classics. (The unreleased “If You’ve Got
Trouble” wouldn’t have fit into this mold, not to mention it’s “throwaway”
appeal.)
The one-beat of the introduction introduces the full band
arrangement as we’ll hear unaltered throughout the song, consisting of John on
electric rhythm guitar, Paul on bass and Ringo on drums. George plays an interesting introductory
guitar phrase not unlike what we’ll hear almost non-stop throughout the
remainder of the two minutes and forty-four seconds.
Just before the first twenty-measure verse begins, we hear the
three-part harmony of Ringo, John, and Paul come in with the title of the song,
which continues in this fashion for the entire verse. In actuality, John and Paul apparently miss
the first word, just singing “goes on” the first time around. Just after the first phrase ends with the
words “in your heart,” we hear an unidentified voice from the rhythm track give
a quick “yelp” of some sort, the first of many in the duration of the song.
The first verse, like the other three, is fourteen measures
long. It features Ringo stepping into
the spotlight to tell us his story while John and Paul sing background “ooh”s,
not unlike they used in the recently recorded “Michelle.” The melody line hits quite wordy in
comparison to the simple phrases contained in the chorus, which sets off a nice
contrast. The verse actually appears to
have been cut short in structure after the phrase “tell me why,” a
sixteen-measure format seems to be more expected. However, extending it, another two measures
would be even more awkward, so it's best as it is.
An identical repeat of the chorus comes next with Ringo hitting
his snare unusually hard for the first beat.
John and Paul once again come in late with the background harmonies,
singing only “goes on.” During the
breathing space of the last two measures of this chorus, we hear some more
unidentified mumbling from the rhythm track.
The second verse then appears which follows the same pattern as
the first, the most noteworthy feature being what seems to be the voice of John
from the rhythm track saying “tell me why?” just after Ringo sings “a girl like
you to lie.” And then afterwards,
Lennon’s’ infamous exclamation “I already TOLD you why!”
What appears to be another repeat of the chorus comes next,
although they cleverly just sing the first phrase in three-part harmony and,
after a “wooh” from Paul, they continue the structure of the chorus with George
vamping an ad-lib solo rather high in the mix for the remainder of the
measures. The only problem here is that
the listener probably doesn’t understand the structure of this solo section and
it becomes somewhat disorienting, not deciphering the chord changes from the
chorus and wondering when it’s going to conclude. Also disorienting is the solo itself which
meanders through some phrasings as heard elsewhere in the song, leaving the
listener feeling that he’s not sure what he’s doing. Ringo is also heard, presumably in the rhythm
track, humming/singing along to the chorus to keep himself and the group in
time.
A final identically-structured verse now comes in which has as its
feature the erratic rhythm guitar playing of John Lennon, his playing
habitually drifts into loud staccato “chops” throughout its duration. George just plays quiet assorted fills in the
background as if he’s not sure what to do.
This is followed by the final chorus which is characterized by
Ringo banging away loudly on his snare drum, noticeably different from the rest
of the song. While this doesn’t appear
to craft an edit in the rhythm track (as could be suggested), it is probably
just his way of winding the song down climactically. This last chorus is actually followed by
another four measures that act as a conclusion to the song. George’s guitar playing goes diminished while
Ringo quietly repeats the final phrase “in your mind” from, presumably, the
rhythm track. An overdubbed ending
guitar flourish from George (unheard in the mono mix) brings the song to a
conclusion with a mighty crash on a syncopated beat. The unfortunate final chord sounds
out-of-tune but, with the time constraints, was deemed suitable enough.
Ringo’s drum playing kept the country swagger going without variation
throughout the proceedings except for the ending cymbal crash. His forte on this song is his vocal work
which, within the small amount of range written into his part, is done
amazingly well. He keeps on pitch very
well with some slight reaching for the notes in the choruses that actually work
nicely with the country feel of the song.
Arguably his best vocal performance up to this point.
George is very to the fore on this song, channeling Carl Perkins
for his flavored runs that ooze throughout the arrangement. His ‘high in the mix’ guitar work, while not
always confidently played, show him well able to ad-lib a little more closely
to how he performed in the Cavern/Hamburg days, which were seemingly a million
years before. Guitar solos established
more suited structure in their recent recordings of that day, Paul even playing
them himself at times.
Speaking of Paul, his ‘walking’ bass work is phenomenal on this
song, as are his usual harmony vocals.
John’s harmonies are also spot-on, expected from someone proud to have
an early songwriting attempt finally see the light of day. John declines the use of the expected
acoustic guitar in favor of electric while playing an unusual staccato rhythm
pattern which does get a little patchy at times.
Lyrically, the song fits Ringo’s persona perfectly; he always
depicting the ‘sad and lonely’ type who is being mistreated somehow by his
significant other. Except for the
rockers “Boys" and "I Wanna Be Your Man," his vocal songs up to
this point are of this nature.
This time around, he sees his “future fold” when he spots his girl
with another guy. And, to top it off, he
had just been with his girl that “morning, waiting for the tides of time” (this
Dylan-esque phrase suggested by Ian MacDonald to be the lyrical contribution
from Ringo as cited in “Revolution In The Head”). The illusion was that everything was fine
with their relationship only to find that it was “easy for (her) to lie.” He wonders “what goes on” in a heart and mind
that would cheat so openly. He feels
that she didn’t even think of him “as someone with a name,” wondering whether
she really wanted to maintain their romance on the sly or whether she meant 'to
break his heart and watch him die.' Poor
guy!
At least the next time he sings, he’ll be in a happy “Yellow
Submarine!”
BEATLEMANIAC.
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