"What You're Doing" surfaced as the problem child of their British "Beatles For Sale" album. It took them three recording sessions to complete it to everyone's satisfaction; the third session took place on the last possible day they could squeeze it in before the deadline.
As soon as they returned from their American tour, they premiered the song on September 29th, 1964 in EMI Studio Two. They spent the first four hours this day (2:30 to 6:30 pm) beginning two new songs, "Every Little Thing" and "I Don't Want To Spoil The Party," but didn't finish either one. After a half-hour break, they went back to "I Don't Want To Spoil The Party" and completed it. Thereafter, at approximately 9:45 pm, they spent the next hour laying down the rhythm track for "What You're Doing." The last of seven takes was deemed 'best' for the time, and they planned to finish it off the next day.
The first thing they chose to tackle the next day (September 30th) was "Every Little Thing," which they completed in the first three hours. After an hour break, they returned to the studio at 6:30 pm intending to also complete "What You're Doing." Five additional takes of the song occurred (8 through 12), with take 11 being deemed 'best.' Whether they considered it complete at this point is not known, but eventually, they scrapped altogether. They were to improve on the arrangement and try again at another time.
From listening to 'take 11,' we can see why they felt the song needed further refinement. The characteristic drum pattern, ala The Ronettes, did not exist yet. John awkwardly performed a lower harmony throughout almost the whole song, while the bridge is only heard once in the song instead of twice as it sounds when hearing it. The instrumental section is in a raised key and features Harrison playing the distinctive guitar riff in this higher key. A two-second 'break' even occurred between the final verse and the conclusion of the song, which they later dropped. They must have been somewhat confident in this recording since Paul double-tracked his vocals in the bridge. While this early version would have made an interesting track for the "Anthology 1" set, it, unfortunately, was overlooked.
Some mono mixes followed of completed songs for the new album in the next three weeks, but none made for "What You're Doing," probably because of an early decision made that the song needed improvement. With the final deadline for recording the album ended on October 26th, 1964, The Beatles entered EMI Studio Two on this day to record the last two songs for the album. After being present for some mono and stereo mixing sessions, they first recorded Ringo's contribution to the album, "Honey Don't," from 4:30 to 6:30 pm and then, after an hour break, started from scratch on "What You're Doing."
With new arrangement ideas in place, they worked from 7:30 to approximately 9:00 pm on the song, resulting in takes 13 through 19. Only three of these seven takes were complete, but take 19 was the keeper. The Beatles all played their usual instruments with vocals, John and George chiming in only on the first word of the first two phrases of each verse instead of throughout as done in the first version. They also perform harmonized "oohs" in the third phrase and then harmonize on the final word "me."
There were at least two overdubs performed for the song, both having to do with Paul. He double-tracked his vocals throughout the song and then played a piano overdub for the bridge only. Many sources claim George Martin performed the piano, but Paul himself clears this up in an interview from 1964. "Ringo does a nice bit of drumming decoration in the introduction, and I double-track on the vocal as well as playing some piano."
Both the mono and stereo mixes of the song were performed the next day, October 27th, 1964, in the control room of EMI Studio Two by producer George Martin and engineers Norman Smith and Ken Scott. The only noticeable difference between the two is that the drums and rhythm track is somewhat quieter in the stereo mix. Otherwise, both fade-outs are virtually identical.
Song Structure and Style
The general format used on "What You're Doing" was pretty standard fare for Lennon/McCartney songs up to this point, consisting of 'verse/ verse/ bridge/ verse' (or aaba). This is not to say that they were unimaginative with the songs' structure, because there are several surprises along the way, which is also standard fare for The Beatles. They also throw in an interesting introduction, an instrumental section, a repeat of the bridge and third verse, and an equally interesting conclusion with fade-out.
I like to think of the first version of the song they recorded in September as the unadulterated structural ideas formed by the group themselves. Although this early arrangement was very precise and well-thought-out, it’s loosely performed. While this same loose concept worked well for "She's A Woman," which the fellows recorded about a week later, the pop format found in "What You're Doing" needed further refinement to bring it to the concise, defined performance that EMI required in order to be convincing. The finished product, as we have all become acquainted with, was no doubt under the scrupulous instruction of producer George Martin, who knew all too well what it takes to make a song sound good.
The eight-measure introduction divides into two parts, the first four measures taken up by Ringo's bass and snare drum rhythm (ala the Ronettes' "Be My Baby). We actually can detect Lennon thumping the same beat on his acoustic guitar during the third and fourth measures. Then, directly on the one-beat of the fifth measure, the rest of the band join in for the final four measures of the introduction. While Ringo continues this exact drum rhythm, George introduces his two-measure guitar riff that is repeated twice to fill out this section of the song. John and Paul also come in on their acoustic guitar and bass, respectively, pivoting back and forth from the D (the home key of the song) and G chord. The end of the introduction features Ringo going into a usual steady drum pattern with closed hi-hats.
The first verse, which is an interesting nine measures long, can be best analyzed by dividing it up into four sections. The first, second and fourth sections continue the pivot between the chords D and G while George's guitar riff (quieter in the mix in order to highlight the vocals) continues to repeat in the background. Each of these sections begins with John and George belting out the word that Paul is singing as lead vocalist, in this case, note the words "look," "I'm" and "me." Each of these sections is two measures long.
The unique section of the verse is the third, which comprises an odd three measures. This section is different in many different ways. The pivoting D and G chords are put aside and replaced by B minor for the first measure and G for the second and third measure. John and George harmonize "oohs" all through this section, while Paul continues lead vocals. George also sets aside his guitar riff for some rhythm guitar stabs. Although the addition of this three-measure section makes the verse unsymmetrical (the usual Beatles verse had an even number of measures as most pop music did at that time), the delivery is convincing enough that nobody notices. This trick was actually more usual for Lennon compositions even for 1964 as evidenced by the nine-measure verse of "I Should Have Known Better."
The second verse follows this exact pattern except for one major difference. This verse goes directly into a bridge and therefore is only eight measures long instead of nine, the last measure being chopped off. The need for this is to keep the pivoting chord pattern of D to G in place. The bridge begins in G, and the verse usually ends in G, so they viewed the last measure of the verse as not needed. This being the case, George had also to chop off the second half of his guitar riff when the bridge starts.
The eight-measure bridge adds a nice change of pace to the song's structure. Paul sings this section solo throughout while George gives us a break from the repeated guitar riff by joining John in a rhythm guitar role. The whole band gives us a climatic 'Beatles break' for the seventh and eighth measure by letting the A chord ring out, allowing Paul's eight-none word "me" fill the entire gap. Ringo gives a small drum fill on the last beat of the final measure to bring in the rest of the band for the third verse.
The third verse goes back to the usual nine-measure structure of the first verse but with a whole new set of lyrics. Many times Lennon and McCartney just repeated the first verse again at this point, but they felt strongly enough about the song to give this one its' own third verse. An interesting feature of this verse is the background vocal flubs of either John or George (or both). Someone got the lyrics to the second and third verse mixed up and belted out the wrong first words to the first two lines of the verse. Instead of shouting "please," they shouted "you," and then instead of yelling "you," they yelled, "and." Since it was the last possible day for recording the song before the deadline was up, they apparently thought this was good enough.
The instrumental section of the song is next, which follows the pattern of a verse but, because a repeat of the bridge follows it, is also cut short to eight measures. As well performed as George's guitar solo is, Paul's barrelhouse piano work appears here for the first time in the song and plays as a distinctive backdrop to the guitar solo. The rumbling style of piano playing reappears by Paul and George Martin four months later on George Harrison's "You Like Me Too Much."
After an identical repeat of the bridge, the third verse is then repeated, although this time the background vocalists get the words right. Another difference with this repeat of the third verse is how it is extended to thirteen measures this time around. The reason this happens is to repeat the key lyrical phrase of the song three times, as was their habit in recently recorded songs (see "Eight Days A Week" and "I Feel Fine").
A conclusion is then added afterward, which counts as ten measures long although it was faded out, giving the impression of going on indefinitely. This is meant as a reprise of the introduction, although there are a few notable differences. The distinctive drum rhythm returns as heard by itself in the introduction, but after the first two measures, Paul adds a high A note on the bass guitar during the next two measures. As the band kicks in on the fifth measure, Paul also brings in a return of his rumbling piano chords to round out the song as it fades out. George, of course, keeps his two-measure guitar riff going to leave the final impression of the song forever playing through our heads after the song is long over.
Paul is definitely 'center stage' on this song, with his double-tracked vocals and highly mixed bass guitar work. In fact, this song is an early example of The Beatles taxing the recording equipment at EMI to the limit as they were to continue doing as their career progressed. The Beatles habitually complained early on that the bass wasn't loud enough in their recordings, so they got their way this time around. The brash sound of George's guitar work on this track is also evidence of them deliberately overloading the recording consoles.
George's guitar work is well defined and rehearsed, displaying the classic two-measure guitar riff that has and will become synonymous with many of The Beatles best-known songs, such as "I Feel Fine," "You Can't Do That," "Day Tripper" and "Paperback Writer." John wisely chose to convert to acoustic guitar instead of his Rickenbacker electric as heard in the first version, which adds a 'folky' element to the song. His shouting background vocals in the verses may be his comedic protest to the rejection of the background vocals he awkwardly performed in the early version of the song. And Ringo did his usual steady and dependable job on the drums, cooperating fully with the suggestion of him providing "drumming decoration," as Paul described it in an interview.
Many authors have assumed that the lyrics to this song are autobiographical, depicting Paul's current relationship with then-girlfriend Jane Asher. While there may be truth to this, it has never been confirmed by Paul himself. While his and John's lyrics were beginning to take on more of a personal nature at this stage, Paul continued to write lyrics throughout the Beatle years by projecting himself into a fictional situation. Although signs of strain in their relationship are admitted by Paul to be the inspiration behind "I'm Looking Through You" and "We Can Work It Out," "What You're Doing" may be more fictional than most think.
For instance, the singer in this song is clearly the victim of a lover who is not attentive to his needs, even accusing her of "lying," which is causing his "crying." The incredibly hectic schedule Paul was involved with at the time, including his philandering with other women (even prostitutes) during the time the song was written, is not in harmony with his depiction of the singer "waiting here for you, wondering what you're gonna do." And, Paul surely couldn't personally offer the girl "a love that's true," as he does in the song.
Clever lyric writing is on display, though, with rhymes like "what you're doin'" with "feeling blue'n lonely" in the first verse. The second verse repeats this gimmick with rhyming "got me runnin'" with "there's no fun in it." The third verse shows him a little lazy, just rhyming "lying" and "crying," in the same places, but maybe he shouldn't have continued the gimmick any further anyway. Both McCartney and Lennon liked these little rhyming games and added them whenever they could, such as "tried to win 'er" and "over dinner" in the song "Lovely Rita."
Next Song – Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby:
With the deadline for their British "Beatles For Sale" album quick approaching, The Beatles designated October 18th, 1964 (a Sunday off) for a full day marathon session for recording. They entered EMI Studio Two at 2:30 pm for what turned out to be a nine-hour recording session completing eight songs. With such a tight deadline, five of these tracks wound up being cover songs The Beatles had been performing for years and could, therefore, crank out very quickly.
Much work was needed for the first five songs completed on this day and, as the hour grew very late, they knew they had to step things up. Adding to this, George Harrison, in particular, was not appearing to be having a good day. "He seemed to be distracted," stated Geoff Emerick who was the 2nd engineer on this session, "like he had something else on his mind, and I couldn't help but think that he must have been frustrated with the level of his playing that afternoon." Emerick goes on to relate in his book "Here, There and Everywhere" that George had just been pouting about not being asked to do the solo on the previous song, "I'll Follow The Sun," even going into the control room to loudly complain to producer George Martin, "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." When he did supply the solo, nobody appeared happy with the result. Something was needed to lift the tension.
Geoff Emerick continues: "After their tea break - interrupted briefly by a short visit from an annoyingly ebullient Dick James (The Beatles music publisher) - the session seemed to start coasting downhill. They had gotten all the hard work behind them and now had to knock off three more songs before it got too late, 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. First, a rejuvenated George Harrison redeemed himself with an excellent rendition of 'Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby.' Not only did he sing it with enthusiasm, but he played guitar confidently and well. Even his solo, performed live, was flawless."
Only one take of this song was needed, although it wasn't entirely a live performance. Ringo overdubbed a tambourine part which sounds throughout the song and George double-tracked his vocals during the last eight measures of each verse. "The most notable aspect," as explained by Mark Lewisohn in his book "The Beatles Recording Sessions," "was the vast amount of STEED (single tape echo and echo delay) plastered over George's vocal." Lewisohn also goes on to explain how the rest of the instruments were picked up by George's microphone and therefore since STEED was applied during the performance and not during mixing, the band also has a degree of this effect as well.
The song probably took all of 15 minutes to fully record, which is estimated to have been somewhere between 10:30 and 11:00 pm. After this, they nailed two more complete recordings, Chuck Berry's "Rock And Roll Music" (with John using the same echo effect) and Buddy Holly's "Words Of Love." They then called it a night at 11:30 and they were off to Scotland the next day.
The mono mix of the song was done in Room 65 at EMI on October 21st, 1964 by George Martin and engineers Norman Smith and Ron Pender. The stereo mix was created in the control room of EMI Studio Two on November 4th, 1964 by Martin and Smith along with 2nd engineer Mike Stone.
Two more Beatles recording sessions concerned "Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby" in the form of live appearances at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, California in 1965. Both of their concerts, August 29th, and 30th, were taped for possible release as a live album in that year, but this didn't transpire. A few of these songs did eventually make it onto the 1977 album "The Beatles At The Hollywood Bowl," but this song was not one of them.
This changed, however, sometime in 2016. Giles Martin, George's son, acquired access to the August 30th, 1965 Hollywood Bowl performance of the song and produced an excellent version of it for inclusion on the remastered release of "Live At The Hollywood Bowl" released later that year.
Song Structure and Style
What we see here is probably the closest thing to a strict 12-bar blues pattern in the entire Beatles catalog. All of the elements of this song's structure can be considered a "verse" since they all contain the same chord pattern. The last eight measures of each verse may be considered by some as a "refrain" or "chorus," although the usual blues pattern indicates that the whole twelve measures should instead signify as an entire verse. There are some idiosyncrasies, though, the most mentionable being the three instrumental sections of the song. All in all, the pattern becomes 'verse/ verse/ instrumental/ verse/ instrumental/ instrumental/ verse/ verse' (or aababbaa).
The first verse begins in an almost identical fashion to Carl Perkins classic "Blue Suede Shoes," with its 'a cappella' introduction as well as the first two measures being six measures long, the only time in the song this occurs. The similarities between both of these songs don't stop there. Note the similar lyrical lines: "Well, it's one for the money" becomes "Well, they took some honey." This is followed by a three-note swing accent from the band (identical in both songs) with two additional beats of silence to allow for a breath to be taken by the singer. "Two for the show" becomes "from a tree" in this song, followed by another swing accent from the band and two more silent beats per measure. "Three to get ready now go, cat, go" becomes "dressed it up and they called it me," which then signals the band to jump in and complete the verse with a repetition of the title of the song (also not unlike "Blue Suede Shoes"). Since Carl Perkins version of the song did not put in these extra measures in the introduction, The Beatles apparently took it upon themselves to insert these "Blue Suede Shoes" features on their own in honor of the Carl Perkins style.
The second verse is very similar to the first, the only difference being that the first two measures are now four beats long, just like the rest of the song. Next follows the first instrumental section featuring excellent Carl Perkins-like guitar runs as heard in the original. All of the instrumental sections function as a strict 12-bar blues pattern; the accents of the verses dropped to allow focus on the guitar work.
A third verse then follows, which is identical to the first two except for different lyrics. Then two instrumental sections are heard back-to-back, the second reaching a climactic point in the opening measures. The third verse then repeats (unlike the Perkins version which repeats the second verse) and then we hear the first verse again with some subtle differences. First of all, the first two measures are only four-beats long this time around, and second of all, Harrison imitates Perkins' rising note on the word "tree." The song appears to conclude at the end of the twelfth measure but, as a special Beatles surprise, they reprise the ending guitar riff which extends the verse by two full measures. The result is a suitable ending to another fine Beatles album.
Musically, The Beatles take the laid-back, ad-libbed rockabilly approach of the Carl Perkins classic and, while attempting to mimic the original, transforming it into a tour-de-force as a fitting tribute to their idol. George Harrison is the unmistakable showpiece of the song, with his remarkable well-rehearsed guitar work and vivacious vocal delivery. He sings as if he really is experiencing what these lyrics relate, which he may actually be since The Beatles were in their height of adulation at the time.
Lennon's comfortable choice of acoustic guitar adds a suitable warmth to the mix, which would have sounded a bit more abrasive with his Rickenbacker. McCartney's walking bass drives the song along very nicely, as does Starr's cohesive drumming. Note the playful drum fill in the final extended measures, which depict the band as "having a ball" playing the song.
Although the lyrics are somewhat indecipherable at first listen (such as the word "honey" in the first verse and "fifty women" in the second), the somewhat narcissistic lyrics come across as humorous and clever. One can't help but have their tongue in their cheek while singing the song. Imagine having to deal with the problem of having fifty adoring women at your door at 4:30 in the morning, or spreading yourself so thin that you end up having "nineteen dates" in one evening. I would like someone to explain to me, though, how you can take some "honey from a tree" and "dress it up" to look like George Harrison.
Please feel free to leave any comments or corrections and share these articles plus this 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.
No comments:
Post a Comment