“We devoted three full days
to it, which in that era was a lot of time,” remembers engineer Geoff Emerick.
While the third session he mentions was not a “full day,” comprising only an
approximate hour to do a vocal harmony overdub, they did rack in substantial
sixteen-and-a-half hours in entirety to complete the finished song.
This beautiful track was the next-to-last song recorded for the
“Revolver” album, recording of this composition starting on June 14th, 1966.
They entered EMI Studio Two on this date at 7 pm for a seven-hour session
devoted entirely to the song. Much time was no doubt used to run through and
perfect the arrangement with only four recorded takes of the rhythm track on
this day. The rhythm track consisted of Paul on rhythm guitar, Ringo on drums
and George playing a simple lead guitar part in the bridges of the song. These
early takes were much faster than the finished song as we know it and didn’t
feature any vocals. The first three of these takes were breakdowns, the fourth
being the only one that made it all the way through to the end.
Considering this fourth take to be the keeper at that point, they
took to overdubbing the distinctive harmony “oohs” with John, Paul and George
undoubtedly huddled around a single microphone as in earlier sessions. Even
with this overdub, only two of the four tracks filled up space. “We also
planned the track layout very carefully,” Geoff Emerick continues, “so that
there was a completely separate track that we could dedicate to bass, allowing
Paul to focus on each and every note when he recorded the overdub.”
A good amount of time must have been spent on these Beach
Boys-like harmonies, arranging and coaxing being done by producer George
Martin. Geoff Emerick explains: “George’s
real expertise was and still is in vocal harmony work, there’s no doubt about
that. That is his forte, grooming and working out those great harmonies.”
George Martin humbly acknowledges: “The harmonies on that are very simple, just
basic triads which the boys hummed behind and found very easy to do. There’s
nothing very clever, no counterpoint, just moving block harmonies. Very simple
to do…but very effective.”
At 2 am the next morning, after seven hours of work, they called
it a day. However, they decided to scrap it all and start again fresh two days
later. At least they figured out how to approach the song and worked out the
harmonies, so it wasn’t a total loss.
June 16th, 1966 was that next session, which again started at 7 pm
in EMI Studio Two. Deciding to slow the tempo down somewhat, they recorded nine
more takes of the rhythm track (takes 5 through 13) with the same
instrumentation as before. John once again sat out musically on these rhythm
tracks, take 13 being the best. The only difference this time around was that
Paul sang lead vocals while playing the guitar, possibly as a guide on a
separate track he would replace later. Take 7 from this session can be heard
(with the block harmonies added in) as a bonus track on the “Real Love” CD
single released in 1996.
Onto take 13, they layered a good amount of overdubs, these
including two sets of block harmonies by John, Paul and George (snapping their
fingers toward the end), George Harrison double-tracking and extending his lead
guitar passages in the bridges, and Paul’s bass guitar. Since the bass guitar
overdub took up one of the four tracks by itself, all four tracks on the tape
were full. A “tape reduction” of take 13 was then made to create one more open
track, thereby turning take 13 into take 14.
Paul then recorded his stunning lead vocals on the open track.
Paul remembers this vocal session: “When I sang it in the studio, I remember
thinking, I’ll sing it like Marianne Faithfull; something no one would ever
know. You get these little things in your mind, you think, I’ll sing it like
James Brown might, but of course, it’s always you that sings it, but in your
head, there’s a little James Brown for that session. If you can’t think how to
sing the thing, that’s always a good clue: imagine Aretha Franklin to come and
sing it, Ray Charles is going to sing it. So that one was a little voice, I
used an almost falsetto voice…My Marianne Faithfull impression.”
What also helped to get the desired Marianne Faithfull sound was
the recording technique. As Mark Lewisohn explains in “The Beatles Recording
Sessions,” his vocals were “slowed down on the tape to sound speeded up on
playback.” The vocal track sounded well complete by 3:30 am the next morning,
and they once again called it a day, confident with the song’s final results.
Nearly complete, anyway, as it turned out. At 7 pm the next day
(June 17th, 1966), they again entered EMI Studio Two at 7 pm to put the
finishing touch on the song. By about 8 pm, Paul had double-tracked his lead
vocals, further enhancing the desired Marianne Faithfull affect. A couple
subtle differences can easily be noted between the two lead vocal tracks. The
first is Paul’s downward melodic lines in the last verse on the words “love
never dies, watching her eyes.” The second is Paul singing “I’ll be there”
during the conclusion instead of “You’ll be there” as he had sung the previous
day. After doing a little more work on the previously recorded song “Got To Get
You Into My Life,” the first mono mix of “Here, There And Everywhere” was
created by George Martin, Geoff Emerick, and 2nd engineer Phil McDonald,
although this was never released.
Both the mono and stereo mixes released were created on June 21st,
1966 in the control room of EMI Studio Three by the same Martin, Emerick, and
McDonald team. The stereo mix was created first, which separates the
double-tracked lead vocals entirely, one on the left and the other on the
right. The same follows with the double-tracked lead guitar passages from
George Harrison. The rhythm track is mostly in the right channel while the
block harmonies are primarily in the left channel.
The mono mix has some subtle differences in the final chord of the
song. First is the absence of the block harmonies and the second is the quick
fade-out as compared to the more natural-sounding fade appearing in the stereo
mix.
A further mix of this song, as mentioned above, was done in
preparation for the Anthology project of the mid-’90s. A mono mix of the original
take 7 was combined with the stereo block harmonies for a pseudo-stereo mix, this
not making the grade for the “Anthology 2” set, but added as a bonus track on
the “Real Love” CD single as an afterthought.
Paul has recorded the song on different occasions as well, the
first being a new studio rendition for his “Give My Regards To Broad Street”
soundtrack album and film. This recording took place between November 1982 and
July 1983. Differences from the original song include his introductory lyrics,
singing “I need a love of my own” instead of “I need my love to be here.” A
small horn section is included to replace the block harmonies and George
Harrison’s lead guitar passages while the second verse and the repeat of the
bridge and final verse are completely omitted.
On January 25th, 1991, Paul performed the song for “MTV
Unplugged,” the recording of which he released on the album “Unplugged (The
Official Bootleg).” The full song is performed this time around with Paul “Wix”
Wickens simulating the block harmonies, and guitar leads on accordion.
Sometime between March 22nd and June 15th, 1993, Paul performed
the song live resulting in the recording that appeared on the album “Paul Is
Live.” A further recording he made between April 1st and May 18th, 2002 during
a live performance that his label released on the double-disc “Back In The US”
and the internationally released “Back In The World.”
Song Structure and Style
The structure of this song demonstrates how one can take the
essential standard formula of a pop song and weave it into an imaginative and
beautiful piece of work. Hardly just another cranked-out filler for an album,
but a masterful display of maturity in songwriting within the bounds of the
usual ‘verse/ verse/ bridge/ verse/ bridge/ verse’ format (or aababa). A brief
introduction and conclusion round out the arrangement with no solo or
instrumental section needed.
Like “Do You Want To Know A Secret?” from three years previous, an
adlib introduction begins the proceedings without any true sense of meter,
although it roughly is captured in an estimated four measures. The elements of
this introduction comprise Paul on rhythm guitar while setting the stage
lyrically: “To lead a better life, I need my love to be here.” The
double-tracked block harmonies from John, Paul, and George, enter at this early
stage as well, adding an air of richness right off the bat.
A couple of tom beats from Ringo set the meter for the entrance of
the first verse, which is eight measures long. The jazzy chord pattern of the
rhythm guitar, which also harkens back to the early Beatle years (reminiscent of
“Ask Me Why” but also pre-shadowing the bridge of “Sexy Sadie”) is joined on
the downbeat by Paul’s overdubbed bass and Ringo’s gentle drum work. The
building three-part harmonies of the first half of the verse cover nearly two
measures each before they take their collective breath. However, the second
half of the verse shows them harmonizing by single measures, taking a breath at
the end of each measure. Ringo ends the verse with a subdued but engaging tom
break. The entire arrangement just described is repeated identically for the
second verse.
The background harmonies take a break for the four-measure bridge
that follows which begins with a gentle but highly compressed cymbal crash from
Ringo. Immediately after the first line, namely “I want her everywhere,” Paul
performs a serious squeak on guitar while switching between the first two
chords. As his line “I need never care” is being completed, George begins his
double-tracked rising-and-falling lead guitar passage which appears rushed in
the third measure. It then stabilizes for the fourth measure as it is reduced
to a single tracked performance, this finishing up the bridge.
The third verse then commences with the same instrumentation as
the previous two, including the reemergence of the lush harmonies. In the
repeat of the following bridge immediately afterwards, Paul makes sure his
guitar doesn’t squeak this time around. George also makes sure his guitar
passage in the last two measures keeps tempo. I guess practice makes perfect.
The repeat of the third verse then appears with Paul somehow
forgetting to accent the two- and four-beat in his guitar rhythm like the rest
of the song, this time accenting all four beats for the first measure. He then
remembers his pattern and plays it correctly for the remainder of the song. One
might suggest that an edit occurred at the beginning of the final verse with
Paul coming in cold at that point and momentarily forgetting the pattern he
played, although no indicated edits appear on the available documents. Another
difference in this verse is the presence of finger snaps in the third measure
audible from the harmony track, these snaps continuing for the remainder of the
song. The third measure also reveals the clever double-tracking effect of Paul
harmonizing with himself on the lines “love never dies, watching her eyes.”
A simple four-measure conclusion of the song next occurs, which
finally puts together the lyrical content of the verses to form the title of
the song “here, there and everywhere.” The same chord pattern of the first four
measures of the verse interacts as a backdrop for this conclusion, block
harmonies and all, with George playing a falling five-note passage with his volume
pedal to bring things to a close on the final ringing chord.
There are no pretenses made at this point in their career
regarding who plays guitar. John and George may have been the guitarists in the
band throughout the years but, since this is primarily a Paul creation, he may
as well play guitar himself instead of going through the motions of teaching it
to someone else. And a fine job he did.
His bass guitar work was done simply but appropriately, being put
down on its own designated track to get the right timbre. Laying down the lead
vocals separately as an overdub was also a good idea, his guide vocal on take 7
(as released on the “Real Love” CD single) not quite making the grade because
of being performed while playing the guitar. The finesse needed to capture the
mood and hit the notes with the desired accuracy could only be done with the
utmost attention to detail, not to mention with the use of double-tracking and
vari-speed. Paul’s vocals on the George Martin-arranged harmonies come forth
superbly.
The rest of the band were minor players on this track, but their
contributions were nonetheless essential. Both John and George cooperated
nicely on the vocal harmonies; the finger snaps probably an off the cuff adlib
addition at this stage, remained intact because of being embedded on this
track. While George’s lead guitar work is very simple, their appearances in the
song stand out as an important ingredient that would surely be missed had they
not been there. And Ringo’s restraint on the drum kit suits the song very well;
his light drum fills fit perfectly in the arrangement.
‘Here, There And Everywhere’ has a couple of interesting
structural points about it. Paul himself explains. “Lyrically the way it
combines the whole title: each verse takes a word. ‘Here’ discusses here. Next
verse, ‘there’ discusses there, then it pulls it all together in the last
verse, with ‘everywhere.’ The structure of that is quite neat.”
Adding to this examination of Paul’s lyrics is the observation of
ending every verse with the word “there,” which leads perfectly into what
follows. The first verse (aka, the “here” verse) ends with the phrase “nobody
can deny that there’s something there,” which segues nicely into the second
verse (or, the “there” verse). This verse ends with the phrase “someone is
speaking, but she doesn’t know he’s there,” transcending nicely into the
bridge, which begins the emphasis on the word “everywhere,” although it will
receive its own full treatment in the “everywhere” verse that follows it. This
final verse concludes with the line “hoping I’m always there,” moving back into
the “everywhere” bridge with perfect uniformity. Quite “neat” indeed!
The poetic phrases that make up the lyrics, while pigeonholed into
this framework and rhyme scheme, transcend cliché and reveal some touching
depictions of romanticism. “Changing my life with the wave of her hand,” one of
the composers’ favorites, explains the realization that a shy wave
"hello" from this woman was the start of a move from bachelorhood and
freedom to marital bliss. His life would never be the same after that small
gesture. Of course, a failed engagement to Jane Asher and three marriages
later, I guess that “wave of her hand” changed his life only for a few years.
Next Song – Yellow Submarine:
“Yellow Submarine” and “Eleanor Rigby” may have been written
approximately at the same time, but recording of the Ringo vocal song for the
upcoming “Revolver” album wasn’t begun until nearly a month after “Eleanor
Rigby” was complete (except for a last-minute vocal overdub on June 6th, 1966).
May 26th, 1966 was the date the group first gave its attention to “Yellow
Submarine” in EMI Studio Three, the session beginning at 7 pm.
“I have a clear memory of them doing the rhythm track of ‘Yellow
Submarine,’” explains engineer Geoff Emerick. “As it happened, George Martin
was out sick with food poisoning the night we began work on it; he sent his
secretary (and future wife), Judy, along to keep an eye on things…and I suppose
to make sure we all behaved ourselves! She sat in George’s place at the console
making sure that The Beatles got everything they wanted…while I took the helm.
George’s absence clearly had a liberating effect on the four Beatles – they
behaved like a bunch of schoolboys with a substitute teacher filling in. As a
result, there was a lot of clowning around that evening – silliness that George
Martin would not have tolerated – and so rehearsals took up a lot more time
than the session itself.”
Geoff also recalls how the song was introduced in the studio:
“When Paul first ran the song down on piano, it sounded to my ears more like a
children’s song than a pop track, but everyone was enthused and got down to
work.” George Harrison also recalls this day: “All I know is just that every
time we’d all get around the piano with guitars and start listening to it and
arranging it into a record, we’d all fool about.”
“It was Lennon who finally got over his attack of the giggles,”
Geoff continues, “and took on the role of a responsible adult, admonishing the
others…” come on. It’s 20 to 10 (or 9:40 pm), and we still haven’t made us a
record!”…This, of course, only had the effect of sending everyone into another
fit of laughter. But eventually, they settled down and began recording the
backing track.”
According to Mark Lewisohn’s book “The Beatles Recording
Sessions,” the four takes of the rhythm track “had a much longer introduction
than was eventually released on disc, with acoustic guitar (John), bass guitar
(Paul) and tambourine (George) all preceding Ringo’s drums and the part of the
song where the lyrics would come in…The song’s other variation at this stage
from what the Corporation released was a full, rounded ending. On record, it
was faded out.”
The fourth take was deemed the best, although it was necessary to
perform a tape reduction in order to free up more tracks for the various
overdubs that the song would need. This tape reduction then transformed into
take five. Onto this, engineers added the main vocals of the song. “Then Ringo
and the others added their vocals,” Geoff explains, “with the tape slightly
slowed down so that their voices would sound a little brighter on playback.”
The precise recording speed of these vocals, according to Mark Lewisohn, was 47
1/2 cycles.
One final vocal overdub followed before the evening was over.
Geoff recounts: “At a certain point, John decided that the third verse needed
some spicing up, so he dashed into the studio and began answering each of
Ringo’s sung lines in a silly voice that I further altered to make it sound
like he was talking over a ship’s megaphone.” George Harrison recalls: “John’s
doing the voice that sounds like someone talking down a tube or ship’s funnel
as they do in the merchant marine.” By 1 o’clock the next morning, they could
retire for the night knowing that they indeed made some good progress in
recording the song, completing the rhythm track along with the lead and harmony
vocals.
“After that first night of working on ‘Yellow Submarine,’ the
‘Revolver’ sessions were suspended for nearly a week because of George Martin’s
illness,” Geoff relates. “When we finally returned to the studio, a recovered
George was back in the producer’s chair…but, despite his return, that was to be
the day the lunatics really took over the asylum!” This twelve-hour session, on
June 1st, 1966, began at 2:30 pm in EMI Studio Two. John Lennon describes this
day by saying: “We virtually made the track come alive in the studio.”
The first order of business concerned concocting a rather bizarre
feature to the song that they eventually dropped entirely. “Most of that
afternoon was spent trying to record a spoken-word introduction to ‘Yellow
Submarine,’” recounts Geoff. “Back in 1960, there had been a well-publicized
charity walk by a doctor named Barbara Moore from Land’s End to John O’Groats –
the two points farthest apart on the British mainland. John, who often had his
head buried in a newspaper when he wasn’t playing guitar or singing, had
written a short medieval-sounding poem that somehow tied the walk to the song
title, and he was determined to have Ringo recite it, accompanied by the sound
of marching feet.”
“I pulled out the old radio trick of shaking coal in a cardboard
box to simulate footsteps, and Ringo did his best to emote, deadpan, but the
final result was, in a word, boring. Even though we spent hours and hours
putting it together, the whole idea was eventually scrapped .” Mark Lewisohn
adds that it was to be “faded up into the acoustic guitar intro and lasting for
as long as 31 seconds. It consisted of at least four separate superimpositions,
dominated by Ringo’s speaking voice but aided and abetted by George, Paul and
John all doing likewise, mixed into one mélange.” John Lennon’s poem included
the lines: “And we will march to free the day to see them gathered there, from
Land O’Groats to John O’Green, from Stepney to Utrecht, to see a yellow
submarine, we love it!”
With this complete, it was time for a break. The Beatles met up
with some friends for dinner who also received a special invitation. Geoff
recalls: “Paul had conceived ‘Yellow
Submarine’ as a singalong, and so a few of the band’s friends and significant
others had been invited along for the evening session. By then, everyone was
distinctly in a party mood…Following a long dinner break (during which we
suspected more than food entered the digestive system), a raucous group began
filtering in, including Mick Jagger and Brian Jones, along with Jagger’s
girlfriend Marianne Faithfull and George Harrison’s wife, Pattie. They were all
dressed in the finest Carnaby Street outfits, the women in miniskirts and
flowing blouses, the men in purple bell-bottoms and fur jackets.”
“Phil (McDonald) and I put up a few ambient microphones around the
studio,” Geoff continues, “and I decided to also give everyone a handheld mic
on a long lead so they could move around freely – there was no way I was going
to try to contain that lot!...The whole marijuana-influenced scene that evening
was completely zany, straight out of a Marx Brothers movie.”
Mark Lewisohn explains: “Just inside the doorway of Studio
Two…there is a small room cum cupboard called the trap room which houses a many
and varied collection of assorted oddments – everything from cash till to old
hosepipes and a football supporter’s rattle…in 1966 it was full to overflowing
with such items. The Beatles decided to raid it, and almost all of the effects
on ‘Yellow Submarine’ came from there.”
Geoff remembers: “The cupboard had everything – chains, ships
bells, handbells from wartime, tap dancing mats, whistles, hooters, wind
machines, thunder-storm machines…everything!...The entire EMI collection of
percussion instruments and sound effects boxes were strewn all over the studio,
with people grabbing bells and whistles and gongs at random. To simulate the
sound of a submerging, John grabbed a straw and began blowing bubbles into a
glass – fortunately, I was able to move a mic nearby in time to record it for
posterity.” Because of the inspiration of the moment (and possibly the drugs),
John introduced the idea of recording his voice underwater, either by singing
while gargling (nearly choking in the process), submerging himself into a tank
of water (which George Martin talked him out of), or submerging a microphone
into a bottle of water (which they tried). Check out Geoff Emerick’s book
“Here, There And Everywhere” for the hilarious details.
The party atmosphere spread to the EMI staff as well, employees
John Skinner and Terry Condon joining in on the fun. “There was a metal bath in
the trap room,” explains Skinner, “the type people used to bathe in front of
the fire. We filled it with water, got some old chains, and swirled them
around. It worked really well. I’m sure no one listening to the song realized
what was making the noise.” Among the other sound effects used on the recording
was Brian Jones tapping drinking glasses, The Beatles chauffeur Alf Bicknell
rattling old chains, and roadie Mal Evans beating a bass drum as they all
joined in singing the final chorus.
"I was bashing chains in a bucket of water for sound effects
and shuffling sand," Mal Evans recalls. In fact, according to “The Beatles
Recording Sessions,” “Engineer Ken Townsend remembers Mal Evans marching around
the studio wearing a huge bass drum on his chest, with everyone else in line
behind him, conga-style, singing ‘We all live in a yellow submarine’” after the
session was over.
The raucous atmosphere of this recording session shifted well
simulated during the second verse of the song. “On the final track, there’s
actually that very small party happening,” George Harrison recounts. “As I seem
to remember, there are a few screams and what sounds like a small crowd noise
in the background.” Geoff continues: “Those background screams during the
second verse came from Pattie Harrison, which was always ironic to me,
considering how quiet she usually was.”
The instrumental section of the song was not filled with an
instrument at all, but sound effects interspersed with muffled nautical voices
performed mostly by John and Paul reportedly shouted into tin cans. “When John
ran back into the echo chamber (of Studio Two) and ad-libbed his “Captain,
captain” routine to the sound of clanking bells and chains,” Geoff recalls, “we
were all doubled over with laughter. The ambiance around his voice was just
perfect, and that was the way that all those bits happened. Although the record
sounds quite produced, it was actually spur of the moment – John and the others
were just out there having a good time. Somehow it worked, though, despite the
chaos.” According to written sources, other adlib phrases heard in this section
of the song include “full speed ahead,” “full stern ahead, Mr. Bosun,” “Aye,
Aye, Sir” and “lock the chambers” (or possibly “cut the cable / drop the
cable”).
The chaos was controlled, however, by someone experienced in how
to do it well. “George Martin had made his name producing comedy records with
The Goons and Peter Sellers,” explains Barry Miles in “Many Years From Now,’
“and sound effects were one of his specialties.”
There was one technical mishap that occurred while putting together
the sound effect section of the song, this concerning the answering voices in
the final verse that John had recorded during the first recording session for
the song. Geoff explains: “The verse begins, “As we live / a life of ease,” but
you don’t actually hear John’s voice until the third and fourth lines. In fact,
I had recorded him repeating the first two lines also, but a few days later,
Phil McDonald accidentally erased the beginning of them – one of the few times
his usually accurate drop-in skills failed him. From his station in the machine
room, he got on the intercom and let George and me know of his gaffe while The
Beatles were out of earshot. I could hear the distress in his voice and could
sympathize – almost every assistant had made a similar mistake at one time or
another.”
“John realized the line was gone the next time we played the
multitrack – nothing ever got by him – and he wasn’t too happy about it, but
rather than pin the blame on Phil, George, and I quickly concocted a story
about needing the track for one of the overdubs. We all tended to close ranks
and protect one another at times like that, and I know that Phil was very
relieved that he didn’t have to face John’s wrath.” In actuality, John’s first
line “as we live” is what they accidentally recorded over, the second line “a
life of ease” wasn’t, this appearing in the released mono mix.
Another interesting feature of the song that appeared during this
session was the brass band that is introduced by Ringo at the end of the second
verse with the words: “And the band begins to play.” While the “Recording
Sessions” book attributes this to “outside session musicians,” Geoff Emerick
has quite another story.
“Throughout the day, George Martin and I had been overdubbing
various nautical sounds (like waves in the second verse) from sound effects
records in the EMI library. That same library was to be put to good use later
that night when it came time to add a solo to the song. By then, everyone was
too knackered – or stoned – to give much attention to the two-bar gap that had
been left for a solo, and with the enormous amount of time that had already
been spent on the track, George Martin wasn’t about to begin the long process
of having George Harrison strap on a guitar and laboriously come up with a
part.”
“Instead, someone – probably Paul – came up with the idea of using
a brass band. There was, of course, no way that a band could be booked to come
in on such short notice, and in any event, George Martin probably wouldn’t have
allocated budget to hire them, not for such a short section. So instead, he
came up with an ingenious solution – one that, with the passage of time, he has
apparently forgotten.”
“Phil McDonald was duly dispatched to fetch some records of Sousa
marches, and after auditioning several of them, George Martin and Paul finally
identified one that was suitable – it was in the same key as ‘Yellow Submarine’
and seemed to fit well enough. The problem here was one of copyright; in
British law, if you used more than a few seconds of a recording on a commercial
release, you had to get permission from the song’s publisher and then pay a
negotiable royalty.”
“George wasn’t about to do either, so he told me to record the
section on a clean piece of two-track tape and then chop it into pieces, toss
the pieces into the air, and splice them back together. The result should have
been random, but, somehow, when I pieced it back together, it came back nearly
the same way it had been in the first place! No one could believe their ears;
we were all thoroughly amazed. But by this point, it was very late at night,
and we were running out of time – and patience – so George had me simply swap
over two of the pieces, and we flew it into the multitrack master, being
careful to fade it out quickly. That’s why the solo is so brief, and that’s why
it sounds almost musical, but not quite. At least it’s unrecognizable enough
that EMI never suffered grief by the original copyright holder of the song.”
According to the Ian MacDonald’s book “Revolution In The Head,” the recording
was most likely a 78rpm record of “Le Reve Passé,” a composition by Georges
Krier and Charles Helmer from 1906.
Another sound effect reportedly fetched from the EMI library on
this day was the sound of a cash register, the same sound effect that would
eventually wind up on Pink Floyd's song "Money" seven years later,
their album "Dark Side Of The Moon" also being recorded at EMI
Studios. Briefly heard (with discerning ears) during the instrumental section
of "Yellow Submarine," this effect seems quite unusual for its
context. I don't know of too many submarines equipped with cash registers. :-)
With this accomplished, and with the motley crew of visitors filed
out of the studio, the recording of “Yellow Submarine” was complete, being 2:30
am the following morning and only mixing to be done to get it to its completed
state.
The first mono mix, described by Mark Lewisohn as a “rough remix,”
was performed on June 2nd, 1966, the day after the recording was complete. This
was created by George Martin, Geoff Emerick and Phil McDonald in the control
room of EMI Studio Two directly after the group spent the day recording George
Harrison’s “I Want To Tell You.” Although this mix never saw the light of day,
we can assume that it contained the spoken work introduction they labored over
the previous day.
The released mono mix was created the following day, June 3rd,
1966, also in the control room of EMI Studio Two by the same EMI staff. Five
more mono mixes followed on this day; presumably, the fifth being the released
version for the mono album and single. The decision was definitely made at this
point to scrap the spoken word introduction since it didn’t appear on record.
They did decide to begin the song with John’s acoustic guitar and Ringo’s
vocals coming in at the same time, and they were careful to fade down the sound
effects at the end of the instrumental section so as not to hinder Ringo’s
vocal line “As we live a life of ease” at the start of the final verse. They
were also careful to fade it back up quickly enough to hear John’s answering
line for “life of ease.”
They took two stabs at the stereo mix on June 22nd, 1966 in the
control room of EMI Studio Three, Martin, Emerick, and 2nd engineer Jerry Boys
presiding. The second stereo mix appears to have been the keeper, the decision
being made to silence John’s opening guitar chord, leaving Ringo to vocalize
the words “In the” a cappella at the beginning of the song. Less care was given
regarding the sound effects track at the end of the instrumental section this
time around, them leaving it up somewhat longer to slightly infringe upon
Ringo’s line “As we live a life of ease.” Then, they forgot to turn it back up
again to hear the beginnings of John’s humorous answering vocals, it finally
coming in quietly on the line “every one of us” and then gradually increasing
in volume through the rest of the verse.
As for the stereo placement of the elements, all the lead and
harmony vocals are completely in the right channel while the rhythm track is
entirely in the left channel. The various sound effects and nautical voices, as
well as John’s answering lines in the final verse, are basically centered in
the mix.
Sometime in 1995, George Martin and Geoff Emerick re-entered EMI
Studios (now Abbey Road Studios) to assemble a new version of the song to
highlight elements not appearing in the standard mixes of 1966. Since the sound
effects and voices recorded on June 1st, 1966 were only faded up sporadically
during the initial mixing stages, this mix brought more of them to the fore and
at a higher level. Also tacked on to the beginning of this mix is a good
portion of the spoken word introduction that was never released before.
Surprisingly, it didn’t make the cut for the “Anthology 2” album but was
included on the CD single for “Real Love” in 1996.
In 1999, a new stereo mix was put together at Abbey Road Studios
by Peter Cobbin, Paul Hicks, Mirek Stiles and Allan Rouse for the album “Yellow
Submarine Songtrack.” This vibrant stereo mix also eliminates John’s opening
guitar chord but restores his answering line “life of ease” at the beginning of
the final verse. All of the vocals are now centered in the mix to give a good
balance.
An even newer stereo mix was made from the master tapes in 2015 by
Giles Martin (son of George Martin) and Sam Okell in Abbey Road Studios. The
purpose of this mix was for inclusion on the re-release of the compilation
album "Beatles 1."
July 4th, 2003 saw a recording of the song that appeared on his
“Tour 2003” album, and his performance on June 24th, 2005 at the Genessee
Theatre in Waukegan, Illinois made it on the album “Live At Soundstage.” His performance of the song in Uncasville,
Connecticut on July 16th, 2006 appeared on the album “Live 2006,” while his Los
Angeles performance on August 2nd, 2008 came out on the album “Live At The
Greek Theatre.” A few live recordings of “Yellow Submarine” surfaced through
the years that appeared on albums by Ringo Starr. On July 13th, 1992, a
recording of the song was made that appeared on the album “Live From Montreux.”
June 25th, 1995 was the date of recording for his album “Ringo Starr And His
Third All-Starr Band-Volume One.” Another live recording took place on October
22nd, 2001 which ended up on the albums “King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents
Ringo & His New All-Starr Band,” “Extended Versions,” and “Ringo Starr And
Friends.”
Song Structure And Style:
The group once again veers ever more comfortably into the use of a
chorus, something they didn’t use much of throughout their earlier career. The
format used here becomes ‘verse/ verse/ chorus/ verse/ chorus/ verse
(instrumental)/ verse/ chorus/ chorus’ (or aababaabb).
A slightly out-of-key vocal from Ringo starts the song off without
any instrumental accompaniment (unless you’re listening to the mono mix). An
introductory vocal pick up like this one has been used at times by the group,
“All My Loving,” “Can’t Buy Me Love” and “It Won’t Be Long” are a few that
readily come to mind. The actual downbeat of the first eight-measure verse begins
on the word “town” with John on guitar and Paul (subtly) on bass with George
rattling a tambourine throughout the verse. Ringo comes in on the fifth measure
with some strategic bass drum beats to add some seasoning.
The second eight-measure verse begins immediately with Ringo
pounding the bass drum on even quarter notes while wave sound effects permeate
the recording to help create the atmosphere of the story. The word “submarine”
appears to be clipped off prematurely in the eighth measure, possibly the result
of an early punch in for the harmony vocals that enter shortly after in the
first chorus.
The chorus is also eight measures long and characterized by the
childlike sing-a-long nature of the four-note melody line harmonized by all
four Beatles. Ringo here begins a steady 4/4 drum beat for the first time with
heavy snare-drum accents. The wave sound effects are also still prominent in
the mix.
The eight-measure third verse is formatted similarly, although it
contains some differences in the arrangement and structure. More notably, a
crowd noise prominently appears to verify the line, “and our friends are all
aboard,” with Pattie (Boyd) Harrison’s shrieking coming through loud and clear.
To accentuate the lyric “and the band begins to play,” the found Sousa march
fills the gap they left in the seventh and eighth measures of the verse. If you
listen carefully to John’s rhythm guitar in the rhythm track, he continues to
play the chord changes heard in the other verses during those measures, but
since the brass band recording is strictly in the key of G major, the
impression is that those measures were meant to break the usual chord pattern
of the other verses. This, of course, just happened to work out that way.
Many writers, such as Ian MacDonald in “Revolution In The Head,”
have noted the uncanny similarities here with Bob Dylan’s “Rainy Day Women #12
& 35” (aka “Everybody Must Get Stoned”), not only because of the similar
slow shuffle beat but the laughing party atmosphere and the brass band. Being
the huge Dylan fans that The Beatles were, they could very well have had this
in mind when putting the arrangement together, feasibly so since this Dylan
single was just released the month before and no doubt got due attention from
John and Paul.
As the brass band recording quickly fades into the distance, a
second eight-measure chorus repeats, which is identical in form to the first
with the addition of Ringo tapping his drumsticks to the beat on the harmony
vocal track. This is followed by the instrumental verse, which consists of an
elaborate set of sound effects (live as well as from the EMI library) and
submarine crew voices that appropriately paint a vivid picture to accompany the
storyline.
The fourth and final verse now appears and peels away all of the
atmospheric sounds to reveal Ringo completing his story on top of the simple
acoustic-based rhythm track. Lennon adds some exciting comic relief by
repeating most of the lead singer’s lines as if over the subs’ squawk box,
ending with an enthusiastic “a-ha” just after hearing Ringo sing what sounds
like the word “slubmarine.”
What follows is the true pay-off, or climax, of the song, this
being a twice-repeated reprise of the chorus with a pounding bass drum played
on all quarter notes but not starting until the second measure of the first
chorus. On top of this is a rousing, predominantly male, choir of singers
belting out the hypnotic and repetitious lines of the chorus mostly in unison.
The song fades just as the final measure of the second chorus is complete. The
overall first impression to the listener was probably one of shock but
amusement. Nobody had ever heard The Beatles like this before!
Ringo, of course, takes center stage on this cut, his
sometimes-off-key vocals only adding to the charm of the song. With him coming
in on the top of most “favorite Beatle” lists in America, young fans in the
states were undoubtedly pleased to finally have a Ringo lead vocal track that
was of a quality to do him justice – one that was suited perfectly with his
persona. And while his drumming was relatively simple therein, it suited the
feel of the song appropriately.
John chunks away at rhythm guitar all through the song, this being
the only actual thread holding the framework of the song in place
instrumentally. His harmony vocals, and especially his comedic vocal touches,
show he was well involved and enthused with this “Paul song,” as he described
it. Paul uncharacteristically takes somewhat of a backseat in the proceedings,
playing a subdued bass guitar in the rhythm track while adding to the harmonies
as well as the voices and sound effects in the instrumental section. George is
the least involved Beatles, the tambourine being the only instrument he plays,
although his presence is indeed felt in the harmony work and probably with the
occasional sound effect.
McCartney once stated: “People say, ‘Yellow Submarine’? What’s the
significance? What’s behind it?’ Nothing! I knew it would get connotations, but
it was just a children’s song.” As Steve Turner explains in his book “A Hard
Day’s Write,” “The rumor quickly spread that the yellow submarine was a veiled
reference to drugs. In New York, Nembutal capsules started to be known as
‘yellow submarines.’ Paul denied the allegations.”
The simple story is narrated by a father who appears to be telling
his children a tale of how when he was young, knew “a man who sailed to sea”
and related to him about living “in the land of submarines.” This man then
proceeded to “sail” with the young boy (the narrator) with him in a ship
searching for “the sea of green” where they then somehow submerged to “live
beneath the waves” and take up residence for an undetermined amount of time in
a “yellow submarine.”
They weren’t alone, though. “Our friends were all aboard,” he
relates, “many more of them lived next door,” no doubt in a different colored
sub. Their vessel was also large enough to house a marching “band” that played
as they “lived a life of ease,” not for want of anything. After all, who would
need anything more than the serenity of enjoying a “sky of blue and sea of
green”?
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