On April 13th, 1966, their fifth recording date for what became
the “Revolver” album, The Beatles entered EMI Studio Three at 8 pm, their
second session that day, to concentrate on what would become the A-side of
their next single. The earlier session on this day (2:30 to 6:30 pm) saw
George’s song “Love You To” to completion, which allowed an hour-and-a-half
break to switch gears entirely in preparation for a more pop-oriented track.
Richard Lush made his Beatles session debut on this day as 2nd
engineer, a role he was destined to repeat with frequency during their
recording career. Eighteen-year-old Lush remembers: “I was pretty nervous…I
knew that Beatles sessions were private. One was rarely allowed to open the
door and peek in, and I certainly took a while before they knew me as Richard.
Until then it was ‘Who is that boy sitting in the corner hearing all of our
music?’ But everything worked out in the end.”
The primary engineer for this session, the equally young Geoff
Emerick, recalls many specific details regarding this session in his book
“Here, There And Everywhere.” Emerick relates: “Paul strolled into the studio,
marched straight over to the piano and confidently proclaimed, ‘Gather round,
lads, and have a listen to our next single.’ John gave Paul a sideways glance
of disapproval – he never liked losing – but nevertheless joined Ringo and the
two Georges for a private concert. Paul pounded out a catchy melody, instantly
hummable, filled with memorable hooks. I couldn’t make out the lyric entirely,
but it seemed to involve book writing. Each time he would come to the chorus,
Paul would stop playing and gesture to John and George Harrison, pointing out
the high harmony part he planned on assigning each. By the time he finished the
first run-through, it was obvious to everyone in the room that this was an
instant hit.”
Right from the start, Paul wanted a new technique devised
concerning the sound of the bass guitar on this song. “Even before he got down
to the brass tacks of teaching the others their parts,” Emerick continues,
“Paul turned to me. ‘Geoff,’ he began, ‘I need you to put your thinking cap on.
This song is really calling out for that deep Motown bass sound we’ve been talking
about, so I want you to pull out all the stops this time. All right, then?’”
“I nodded an affirmative. Paul had long been complaining that the
bass on Beatles records wasn’t as loud or as full as the bass on the American
records he so loved. He and I would often get together in the mastering room to
listen intently to the low end of some new import he had gotten from the
States, most often a Motown track. Even though we had DI (Direct Inject) boxes
available, I rarely used them to record Paul’s bass…Instead, I followed the
standard EMI directive of placing a microphone in front of his bass amplifier.
The bass sounds we were getting were decent – partly because Paul had switched
from his signature Hofner violin ‘Beatle’ bass to a beefier Rickenbacker – but
still not as good as what we heard on those American records.” For the record,
as explained in Mark Lewisohn’s book “The Beatles Recording Sessions,” engineer
“Jerry Boys has a clear recollection of John Lennon demanding to know why the
bass on a certain Wilson Pickett record far exceeded any Beatles disc.”
Therefore, John and Paul both were very vocal about wanting a heightened bass
quality to their records.
Emerick continues, "Fortunately, as Paul and John turned to
George Harrison and began showing him the chords to ‘Paperback Writer,’
inspiration struck. It occurred to me that since microphones are in fact simply
loudspeakers wired in reverse…why not try using a loudspeaker as a microphone?
Logically, it seemed that whatever can push bass signal out can also take it in
– and that a large loudspeaker should be able to respond to low frequencies
better than a small microphone. The more I thought about it, the more it made
sense.” However, as other data indicates, this experiment was left off for the
next day.
“Paperback Writer’ is the son of ‘Day Tripper’ – meaning a
rock’n’roll song with a guitar lick on a fuzzy, loud guitar,” stated John
Lennon in 1980. However, who played the “fuzzy, loud guitar”? “Well, what
happened was that we fell in love all over again with my Epiphone Casino,”
McCartney explained in the November 2005 Guitar Player magazine, “which I
played on a lot of Beatles records – the ‘Paperback Writer’ riff, the solo on
‘Taxman,’ and so on. It always feeds back nicely.”
Upon listening to the first attempt of the two rhythm tracks
recorded on this day, the vibrantly booming bass guitar is not present, this
obviously being overdubbed onto the complete second take of the song. Instead
we hear Ringo on drums (tapping out a beat on the hi-hat during what would be
the a cappella vocal sections of the song, John playing rhythm on his newly
acquired Gretsch “Chet Atkins” 6120 electric guitar (also quietly strumming
guitar chords during the same sections), the “fuzzy” lead guitar and a subtle,
almost indecipherable, bass guitar.
Given Paul’s quote above, it appears it indeed was Paul playing
lead guitar which leaves the bass guitar work to George Harrison, since this
rhythm track did not have any overdubs at this time. Adding to this conclusion
are photos of the session on this day which shows George playing another new
instrument to The Beatles line-up, a Burns Nu-Sonic bass guitar. John’s Gretsch
electric guitar was apparently never used again by the group after this day.
George, however, appears to have used this short-scale Burns bass guitar a
couple more times during the “Revolver” sessions.
The book "The Beatles Recording Sessions" indicate that
some overdubs for the song took place on this day, these possibly being Paul's
lead vocals, which were then double-tracked, and Ringo's tambourine. After
these ended, the session was over for the day (or should I say, next day) at
2:30 am. Six-and-a-half-hours being needed to get just the rhythm track and
some simple overdubs may seem excessive but, as Geoff Emerick recounts, “The
Beatles had done no rehearsing beforehand; there had been no preproduction
whatsoever. What an incredible experience it was to see each of the songs
develop and blossom within the confines of those four walls!”
The next day, April 14th, 1966, the group filed back into EMI
Studio Three to perform the rest of the overdubs necessary to complete the
recording of “Paperback Writer.” Five hours were used to accomplish these
tasks, from 2:30 to 7:30 pm with Phil McDonald back in his usual role as 2nd
engineer. His handwritten notes, as seen in the book "The Beatles
Recording Sessions," show that much experimentation took place on this
day, as well as overdubs that ended up not being used.
This experimentation included trying to create the beefier bass
guitar sound Paul asked for on the previous day. “I broached my plan, gingerly,
to Phil McDonald,” remembers Geoff Emerick. “His response was somewhat
predictable: ‘You’re daft; you’ve completely gone around the twist.’ Ignoring
him, I took a walk down the hall and talked it over with Ken Townsend, our
maintenance engineer. He thought my idea had some merit. ‘Sounds plausible,’ he
said. ‘Let’s wire a speaker up that way and try it.”
“Over the next few hours, while the boys rehearsed with George Martin,
Ken and I conducted a few experiments. To my delight, the idea of using a
speaker as a microphone seemed to work pretty well. Even though it didn’t
deliver a lot of signal and was kind of muffled, I was able to achieve a good
bass sound by placing it up against the grille of a bass amplifier, speaker to
speaker, and then routing the signal through a complicated setup of compressors
and filters – including one huge experimental unit that I secretly borrowed
from the office of Mr. Cook, the manager of the maintenance department.”
“With renewed confidence, I returned to the studio to try it out
for real. Paul…looked at me in a funny way as I set up the big, bulky
loudspeaker in front of his amp instead of the usual microphone, but he didn’t
say anything, and neither did George Martin…They returned their attention to
the rehearsals, giving me the opportunity to cautiously raise the fader
carrying the bass signal.”
Paul then overdubbed his distinctive bass guitar performance for
the song using his Rickenbacker 4001S. Emerick continues: “Paul’s distinctively
fluid bass line…consisted mostly of notes played high up on the lowest strings,
which helped round out the tone further still. It sounded absolutely huge, so
much so that I became somewhat concerned that it might actually make the needle
jump out of the groove when it was finally cut to vinyl. But Paul loved the
sound.”
Simultaneous to Paul playing his bass overdub was harmony vocals
from John and George, some of these sung in falsetto. According to Phil McDonald's
notes, these overdubs were recorded onto the only open track of the four-track
tape, track two, which quite possibly wiped out George's bass work from the
rhythm track he recorded the previous day. Most noteworthy of these harmonies
are the title line of the nursery rhyme “Frere Jacques” as heard in the third
and fourth verse. “It was Paul’s idea that John and George should rekindle
childhood memories with this unusual backing vocal,” says the book “The Beatles
Recording Sessions.” “You can’t really hear the words,” George Martin explains,
“because they are so soft. I must confess, I didn’t spot this little diversion
on the number, but George (Harrison) reassured me that it was just one of those
weird things that happened for the sake of it. There was no connection
whatsoever between the famous Brother Jack and the knack of writing
paperbacks."
Phil McDonald's notes also indicate that simultaneous to these
harmony vocals and Paul's bass, George Harrison was "playing guitar
fills." While Paul's 2005 quote above stipulates that he played the iconic
guitar riffs in the song, and that 'take one' of the rhythm track recorded the
previous day already includes these riffs that sound identical to the finished
product, George appears to have played some guitar on this overdub while Paul
simultaneously played bass.
“According to studio documentation,” states Andy Babiuk’s book
“Beatles Gear,” “another new sound tried out for ‘Paperback Writer’ came from a
‘jangle box’ put through a Leslie rotating speaker. The jangle box was also
known as the ‘tack piano,’ and was Abbey Road’s modified Steinway upright
piano. The instrument’s hammers were brushed with cellulose, which then dried
hard, and some of its strings were re-tuned. The result was a percussive
jangling piano sound.” This early overdub, played by George Martin according to
Phil McDonald's notes, was deemed unsuitable and abandoned, as was George
Martin trying his hand at providing an organ part. Phil McDonald's notes do
indicate, however, that they all were "having a good time.”
At 7:30 pm, the session was over; giving the group an hour break
before beginning what was to become the B-side of the single, namely “Rain.”
In the meantime, from 7:30 to 8:00, George Martin, Geoff Emerick
and Phil McDonald huddled in the control room of EMI Studio Three to create the
mono mix for the worldwide release. Two attempts were made to create this mono
mix, presumably their second attempt being the keeper.
Creating this mono mix was a good amount trickier than most. “It
is the first time that we have had echo on a Beatles track,” George Martin
remembers. Geoff Emerick explains how they achieved the “fluttering echo at the
end of each chorus added at the mix stage. It was accomplished by routing the
vocals into a separate two-track machine and then connecting that machine’s
output to its input. At the end of each chorus, Phil had the job of slowly
increasing the record level until it just reached the point of feedback. If he
went one notch too far, the echo would get out of control, so there were many
attempts at doing the mix. Every time he’d go past that point, or not far
enough, we’d have to stop and remix the entire song again.”
“That’s because, in the archaic EMI way of thinking, edits were
frowned upon. Management didn’t want anyone taking a razor to master tapes, so
multitrack editing – which would allow us to join the start of one take onto
the end of another – was rarely allowed in those days…we’d have to get the mix
right from start to finish. If we messed up the middle, or even in the very end
of the fadeout wasn’t quite right, we would have to start all over again…As a
result, you got that adrenaline going, and the mixes themselves became
performances.”
The “separate two-track machine” mentioned above eventually ended
up in the hands of one of The Beatles. “I bought off EMI this big machine for 3
pounds,” explains George Harrison, “with a sort of speed thing on it. It gave
us the replay head. It was the thing we did ‘Paperback Writer’ on, you know,
‘Paperback writer, writer, writer, writer, writer.’ It’s ancient. It looks like
it’s got a sort of oven at the bottom of it. It’s just an antique…they’re
called STEEDs. I’ve got (it) in the kitchen now.”
Facilitating Geoff Emerick’s concern about the needle jumping out
of the groove of the record, he recalls: “It was eventually left to my mate
Tony Clark to cut the master lacquer.” Tony Clark explains: “It was EMI’s first
high-level cut and I used a wonderful new machine just invented by the backroom
boys, ATOC – Automatic Transient Overload Control. It was a huge box with
flashing lights and what looked like the eye of a Cyclops staring out at you.
But it did the trick. I did two cuts, one with ATOC and one without, played
them to George Martin and he approved of the high-level one.”
Since the song was destined for the next single and blocked from
the ensuing “Revolver” album, no stereo mix surfaced at the time. However,
since no new Beatles album would be released for the Christmas buying season
that year, EMI decided to release its first “greatest hits” package, entitled
“A Collection Of Beatles Oldies.” Since “Paperback Writer” would definitely be
included in this set, and there would be stereo copies of the album made
available, a required stereo mix would take place soon.
This stereo mix occurred on October 31st, 1966, in the control
room of EMI Studio One by the same team of Martin, Emerick, and McDonald. They
intended to mix this song along with “I Want To Hold Your Hand” and “She Loves
You” in stereo for the first time but, since “Paperback Writer” took two hours
to do, they left the other two for another day. “Unfortunately, the stereo
mix…does the song no justice,” Emerick admits. “It’s completely disjointed, and
it isn’t at all the balance that we intended. To me, the mono mix is much more
exciting.”
The stereo mix places the rhythm track entirely on the left
channel along with the tambourine, while the overdubbed bass guitar and an
isolated set of harmonies (the higher-pitched “paperba…” harmonies that begin
each chorus and the “Frere Jacques” harmonies) are entirely on the right
channel. The lead vocals, as well as the other harmonies, are centered in the
mix. The stereo mix is also slightly shorter, the “paperback writer” phrases at
the end totaling just over four instead of six in the mono mix. Paul’s lead
vocals in the harmonized choruses are also noticeably higher in volume on this
stereo mix. Incidentally, the channels were reversed when the stereo mix was
first released in the US.
A newer stereo mix of "Paperback Writer" was made by
Giles Martin (son of George Martin) and Sam Okell at Abbey Road Studios in 2015
for inclusion on the re-release of the compilation album "Beatles 1."
This excellent stereo mix positions the elements of the recording in a more
coherent manner with less drastic separation between the left and right
channels. And since the "fluttering echo" heard periodically in the
song was initially done during the mixing stage, and this was a new mix, Giles
Martin had to recreate the effect, which results in something less forceful but
more palatable for the listener. A job very well done!
Between March 22nd and June 15th, 1993, Paul McCartney and his
band recorded a version of the song which he released on his “Paul Is Live”
album later that year. Also, sometime between July 17th and 21st, 2009, another
live rendition of the song was recorded by Paul at New York’s Citi Field for
the live album “Good Evening New York City.”
Song Structure and Style.
This tune follows a pretty straightforward format, consisting of
verses and a repeating chorus which acts as an introduction. The structure ends
up as “(intro) chorus/ verse/ verse/ chorus/ verse/ verse/ chorus/ outro” (or
abbabbac). No instrumental (or solo) section is needed but, with such a
characteristic guitar riff puncturing through the speakers, it is definitely
not missed.
The intro (or first occurrence of the chorus) is eight measures
long and can be divided up into two four-measure sections. The first four
measures are strictly a cappella as performed by multiple overdubs by Paul,
John, and George in a somewhat answering “row, row, row your boat” fashion.
Their recent infatuation with The Beach Boys is definitely felt here, “Sloop
John B” and the highly respected layered harmony ending of “God Only Knows”
undoubtedly being the catalyst to this heavily rehearsed orchestration of the
repeat of the song’s title.
A noted similarity can easily be made here with “Nowhere Man,”
which also begins with a detailed four-measure a cappella introduction. Since
this was the previous US single, “Paperback Writer” makes the second Beatles
single, to begin with, a cappella harmonies from the group. So goes the continued
deserved reputation of The Beatles as an excellent songwriting force with
harmonies as their definite strong suit.
Paul’s predominantly double-tracked lead vocals begin things by
singing the title phrase of the song as stretched out between the first two measures,
allowing the last syllable held for the next two measures as a harmonic texture
for the harmonies layered on top of it. Three harmony overdubs are added, one
sung in falsetto by John and George in harmony to Paul’s lead vocal but only
going as far as singing “paperba….” and holding it out until nearly the entire
four measures are complete.
The second harmony from John and George consist of the “paperback
writer” phrase starts on the second measure when Paul sings the word “writer,”
and then those harmonies hold out the word “writer” from the third measure
throughout the fourth measure (actually mistakenly stopping a little short each
time the chorus appears). The third harmony overdub consists of John and George
layering on another falsetto “paperback writer” phrase that stretches out
between the third and fourth measure. Although it’s hard to tell, Paul’s voice
may very well have been included in these harmony overdubs. Nonetheless, much
time and work were needed to put all this detail together.
All of the harmonies chop off as Ringo slaps his snare drum on the
final eighth beat of the fourth measure, the vocal microphones still being up
during the remaining four measures of the intro/chorus (witnessed by some
slight clearing of throats). Ringo, while hesitating at first, comes in on the
four-beat of the fifth measure with a pounding bass drum/snare rhythm that
takes us through the remainder of this section. The obvious highlight of these
remaining measures, however, is the thrillingly distorted guitar riff from Paul
which zig-zags its way through an entire octave and repeats twice. Paul was
proud enough of this riff that he performs a slight variation of it as an
overdub onto “Got To Get You Into My Life” on June 17th.
The last two beats of the eighth measure of the intro/chorus debut
Paul’s startling bass overdub which also acts to introduce the first verse of
the song and, thereby, the beginning of the story. “Dear Sir or Madame” starts
the first twelve-measure verse which also introduces John’s rhythm guitar,
Ringo’s hi-hat to complete his full drum kit rock beat, and the drummer’s
overdubbed tambourine. Paul’s vocals are double-tracked but also treated to ADT
for even more prominence. Eight full measures on the chord of G finally changes
on the ninth measure when the title of the song is heard, going to C for a
couple of bars. We then bounce right back to G after three-part-harmony kicks
in on another repeat of the title phrase. Simultaneously, the drums, bass and
rhythm guitar accentuate the word “writer” with cymbals crashing, while Paul
reprises the guitar lead in the eleventh and twelfth measures. The final
measure brings some trademark drum fills from Ringo as a falsetto harmony
extends to the final end of the verse.
The second verse is also twelve measures long and is practically
identical except for different lyrics and a surprising final two measures. As
the harmonies and guitar riff are ringing out in the eleventh measure, the
engineers take an audio snapshot of what is there and fill the twelfth measure
with an echo-laden image which is then quickly faded down as the twelfth
measure is complete. A pretty amazing production feat for 1966!
An interesting sub-point to be brought out here is that, from
listening to the original session tape from this overdubbed recording, the
harmonies at this point staggered away uncomfortably and left a somewhat
embarrassing gap. Whether the addition of the echo was an afterthought left for
the mixing stage to cover over these awkward gaps, or whether this was all
planned during the actual recording sessions, has never been determined.
Immediately following this effect was an identical repeat of the
chorus, the only difference being a distinguishable “cough” heard from a vocal
microphone being left up. Then begins verse three, the most prominent
difference between this and verse one being the addition of John and George’s
falsetto “Frere Jacque” harmonies. Another variation here is that the guitar
riff Paul plays in the final measure concludes with two lower notes this time
around. Verse four then follows, repeating the exact pattern of verse two with
the echo effect at the end. Listen, however, for a falsetto harmony (presumably
John) coming in late on his first “Frere.”
A final occurrence of the chorus then follows, the echo at the end
starting right on the word “writer” in the eleventh measure this time around on
the mono mix, making quite a startling impression as compared to the first time
it was heard in the second verse. (The stereo mix is quite subdued by comparison.)
The second half of this final chorus stands characterized by the guitar riff
played both times with the lower notes at the end of the third verse. Also,
Paul’s throbbing bass trills at the end take up the full eighth measures
instead of just the last two beats as previously in the song. And not only is
there noticeable coughing on the open microphones, someone (possibly George) is
putting in a little practice hitting their upcoming falsetto harmony.
The song’s conclusion comprises a vamping on the G chord from the
rhythm track that includes a simple repeating guitar phrase from Paul. Vocal
wise, two sets of intertwined harmonies repeat until the song fades away, the
first being a staggered duplication of the title phrase sung in falsetto that
stretches out to two measures in imitation of the lead voice in the chorus.
Just as this ends another set of harmonies enter with a quick repeat of the
song’s title. With some adlib fluctuations of the first phrase setting in on
their fourth repeat (“wri-i-i-ter”) and some interesting gurgling’s from John’s
rhythm guitar occurring in places, the song fades off into the sunset. Yet
another Beatles timeless classic is born!
Paul again enters center stage, understandably because of this
being primarily his creation. His top-notch vocals, bass, and lead guitar loom
extremely fitting for the occasion, Paul knowing full well how to continue the
aura and allure of the group on the radio airwaves. John’s songwriting
inventiveness of the period, as incredible as it was, ranked somewhat less
commercial due to his infatuation with his mind-expanding chemical activities
of the time.
Speaking of John, his rhythm guitar work and vocal hijinks on this
track show him as cooperative and contributive. George’s bass work may have
been mostly panned out of the finished track, but his harmonies show him as a
team player with vocal ability. Ringo does well in reprising his drum fills
(mostly unheard during the “Rubber Soul” sessions) and puts in an impressively
powerful performance on the drum kit, aided and abetted by Geoff Emerick’s
engineering as mentioned earlier experiments. And Ringo can also really rattle
that tambourine.
Lyrically, the open-letter to a publishing house by a want-to-be
author is engaging enough for minimal scrutiny, although it needn’t be taken
too literally as a complete story. If that would be the case, as the book “A Hard
Day’s Write” explains, “it’s about a paperback writer who has written a novel
based on another novel, which is also about a paperback writer…The lyric was
driven more by the sound of the words than their logic.”
As it is, Paul is beseeching the receiver of his letter, “won’t
you read my book, it took me years to write.” Paul explains that his book is
“based on a novel by a man named Lear,” which seems to be a reference to
Victorian painter Edward Lear. While he didn’t write novels, he did write
nonsense poems and songs that John was a fan of. If you’ve ever read either of
Lennon’s books, you’d understand why he would like Edward Lear’s writings.
Lear’s limericks include this famous passage: “They dined on mince, and slices
of quince, which they ate with a runcible spoon; And hand in hand, on the edge
of the sand, they danced by the light of the moon.”
Paul’s novel consists of a family consisting of “a dirty man,” “a
clinging wife” and a son who has a “steady job” at the “Daily Mail.” Paul
doesn’t disguise his intent, saying both “I need a job” and “I need a break,”
indicating his frustration at spending years in authorship of a “thousand-page”
novel without someone to publish it. He’s even willing to sell the rights to
the publishing house, confidently stating “it will make a million for you
overnight.”
Although McCartney has released a couple of books, “Blackbird
Singing” and “High In The Clouds: An Urban Furry Tail,” the former was a
collection of favorite song lyrics written in poem form while the latter was a
children’s book co-written by Philip Ardagh. We have yet to see a McCartney
novel but, since he tackles everything from Classical and Ballet to painting
and writing movies, I’m sure we’ll see a novel at some point. Maybe he’ll even
find a cure for cancer!
Next Song – Rain:
On April 14th, 1966, which was the sixth day of recording sessions
for what became their “Revolver” album, The Beatles entered EMI Studio Three to
work on two songs that would not be on that album but released as their next
single. The first session of the day, running from 2:30 to 7:30 pm, was spent
completing the a-side of the single, namely “Paperback Writer,” and then, after
an hour break, they returned to begin work on “Rain,” which would be the
B-side.
Before work on the rhythm track emerged, studio engineers
implemented an important recording technique. “One of the things we discovered
when playing around with loops on ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ was that the texture
and depth of certain instruments sounded really good when slowed down,”
remembers engineer Geoff Emerick. “With ‘Rain,’ The Beatles played the rhythm
track really fast so that when the tape was played back at normal speed,
everything would be so much slower, changing the texture. If we’d recorded it
at normal speed and then had to slow the tape down whenever we wanted to hear a
playback it would have been much more work…It all seems very simple now – and,
of course, tricks like this are easily accomplished in today’s computers – but
in 1966 it was a pretty revolutionary technique, one that we would repeatedly
use to great effect on Beatles recordings.”
“The drums became a giant drum kit,” Paul explains. “If you slow
down a footstep, it becomes a giant’s footstep; it adds a few tons to the
weight of the person. So we got a big, ponderous, thunderous backing and then
we worked on top of that as normal, so that it didn’t sound like a slowed-down
thing, it just had a big ominous noise to it. It was nice; I really enjoyed
that one.”
Someone else who proudly enjoyed the recording was Ringo: “My
favorite piece of me is what I did on ‘Rain.’ I think I just played amazing! I
was into the snare and hi-hat. I think it was the first time I used this trick
of starting a break by hitting the hi-hat first instead of going directly to a
drum off the hi-hat. I think it’s the best out of all the records I’ve ever
made. ‘Rain’ blows me away…I feel as though that was someone else playing – I
was possessed!”
The band recorded five takes of the rhythm track during this
five-hour evening session (from 8:30 pm to 1:30 am the next morning) which
featured John and George on electric guitars, Paul on bass and a “possessed”
Ringo on drums. All agreed the fifth take deemed the best, and proceeded to
overdub John’s lead vocals. A decision was made to alter the speed of his lead
vocals as well, but in the opposite direction. John recorded his vocal track
with the tape slowed down to 42 cycles per second instead of the normal 50
cycles per second. This made his voice sound somewhat faster when played back
at the regular speed.
Geoff Emerick, from the book “The Beatles Recording Sessions,”
explains: “An offshoot of ADT (Artificial Double Tracking) was that we had a
big audio oscillator to alter the frequency of the tape machines. We would
drive it through a power amp, and the power amp would drive the capstan wheel
and enable you to speed up or slow down the machine at will. John – or George
if it was his song – used to sit in the control room on mixes and actually play
the oscillator.” The desired result was a quickly recorded rhythm track played
against a slowly recorded vocal track – another Beatles first!
This completed the work for the day, and the group was out the
door at 1:30 am. First, though, John wanted something to take home. “Because
(John) and the other three Beatles owned Brenell recorders,” Emerick recalls,
“they were able to take open-reel tapes home with them whenever they wanted to
listen to works in progress. (When) we recorded the backing track and vocal to
‘Rain,’ John asked for a rough mix and Phil dutifully ran a copy off for him.”
“Usually if we were working on a song we’d take a little rough mix
of it home,” George Harrison recalls. “It was always on a reel-to-reel…We were
halfway through ‘Rain’ when we left the studio at night, so John said, ‘Can I
have a rough mix of that?’ In those days they made a three- or four-inch spool,
the copy tape. That means they would play the rough mix onto a little spool,
and when they finished they would cut the tape off and hand it to you in a box,
so the tail was sticking out – it’s called ‘tails out.’ John didn’t know that
at the time (I don’t think I knew it, either), so when he got home he threaded
it on his machine as if it were ‘heads out,’ and played it. He heard the song
backwards, and heard enough to think, ‘Wow, amazing!’ It obviously gave him a
buzz because he came in raving about it the next morning, and so we experimented”
In 1969, Lennon himself explained the event. “I took the tracks
home to see what gimmicks I could add because the song wasn’t quite right…I got
home from the studio stoned out of my mind on marijuana and, as I usually do, I
listened to what I’d recorded that day. Somehow I got it on backwards, and I
sat there, transfixed, with the earphones on, with a big hash joint. I ran in
the next day and said, ‘I know what to do with it, I know…Listen to this!’ So I
made them all play it backwards.”
The next day in question was actually two days later, April 16th,
1966, this time in EMI Studio Two, an eleven-hour session utilized to complete
the song. With all the experimenting and overdubbing to be done, these were
eleven hours well spent.
Geoff Emerick details the events that begin the day. “John marched
into the control room, tape in hand, and demanded that we all listen to his
‘incredible’ discovery. George Martin tried to explain what had happened, but
the ever-impatient Lennon didn’t care. All he knew was that this was the sound
he wanted for the song’s fadeout and he was off to have a cuppa: getting it
accomplished was our job. So, George, had me copy the track of John’s singing
the last verse onto our two-track machine. I then instructed Phil (McDonald) to
turn the copy over so it would play backwards, and we flew it into the
multitrack at the proper spot. Lennon was thrilled with the result. From that
point on, The Beatles got backwards fever: almost every overdub we did on
‘Revolver’ had to be tried backwards as well as forwards.”
John apparently wanted more than what he ended up getting. “The
next day, I went in, and I said…’ Why don’t we have the whole of the song
again, you know, backwards?’ We didn’t do that, but we just laid my voice track
and guitar track over the last half-minute backwards. You can hear it at the
end. It sounds as if I’m singing Indian.”
John may not have gotten the whole song backwards, but he did get
backwards guitars thrown in per his suggestion. George Harrison explains: “We
turned the tape over and put it on backwards, and then played some guitar notes
to it. I think he and I both plugged in guitars, just playing little bits,
guessing, hoping it fitted in. George Martin turned the master upside down and
played it back. We were excited to hear what it sounded like, and it was magic
– the backwards guitarist! The way the note sounded, because of the attack and
the decay, was brilliant. We got very excited and started doing that on
overdub. And then there was a bit of backwards singing as well, which came out
sounding like Indian singing.”
Despite the multiple accounts of how the backwards effects fell
into play, George Martin insists otherwise. “I was always playing around with
tapes,” Martin explains, “and I thought it might be fun to do something extra
with John’s voice. So I lifted a bit of his main vocal off the four-track, put
it onto another spool, turned it around, and then slid it back and forth until
it fitted. John was out at the time, but when he came back he was amazed…They all
thought it was marvelous.”
Nonetheless, various other overdubs found a place on this session,
including Ringo’s tambourine, John, Paul and George’s harmony vocals during the
verses and conclusion, and John’s harmony in the choruses. The original bass
guitar recorded during the rhythm track was scrapped and replaced with a new
bass overdub from Paul using the same recording technique they had just
performed for “Paperback Writer” two days previously. This technique involved
“using a loudspeaker as a microphone,” explains Geoff Emerick. “We positioned
it directly in front of the bass speaker and the moving diaphragm of the second
speaker made the electric current.”
At some point during the day, a tape-to-tape reduction mix was
made in order to free up more tracks for the overdubs, which made “take 5”
become “take 6,” the unidentified overdubs then given additional designations
of “take 7” and “take 8.” This marked the end of the recording process by the
band, concentration then being paid to creating a suitable mono mix on that
day, no doubt because they were quite pleased with the progress made and were
excited to hear the finished product. The mono mixes were made using “take 7,”
which means that whatever they attempted as an overdub for “take 8” was deemed
unworthy for the finished product. It can be speculated that, since the above-mentioned
backward guitar overdubs lay undetected on the released recording, they may
have been isolated on “take 8” and then not used.
Four mono mixes were attempted at this late hour by George Martin,
Geoff Emerick, and Phil McDonald, all four with varying degrees of ADT added in
experimentation. The third mono mix ended up as the worldwide mono release of
the song. Since it evades inclusion on the “Revolver” album, it did not initially
receive a stereo mix as all singles were in mono at that point in history.
Therefore, at 1:30 am the following morning, the session was complete as well
as their next soon-to-be-released single.
A stereo mix took place on December 2nd, 1969, this occurring in
the control room of EMI Studio Two and created by the same EMI staff of Martin,
Emerick, and McDonald as well as Richard Lush as 2nd engineer. The reason for
the stereo mix at this point in time was the imminent US release of the Apple
album “Hey Jude” that was the first result of the deal made between The
Beatles’ new manager Allen Klein and Capitol Records. The album was only to be
released in stereo and was to include “Rain,” hence the re-assembly of the
original EMI team to create the stereo mix. “I was glad that the record company
was giving us the opportunity to run off new mixes from the original multitrack
tapes,” Emerick explains, “instead of subjecting them to the pseudo-stereo
processing that marred so many early Capitol releases."
Only one stereo mix was attempted, which centered the rhythm track
and placed the overdubbed bass track slightly to the right. John’s lead vocals
(including the backwards final moments) are placed entirely in the left channel
while the tambourine and background vocals are entirely in the right channel.
The song also fades a little sooner and ends a couple seconds before the mono
mix does. Beatles fans were enthused to hear the song in stereo, but Geoff
Emerick has gone on record as saying he was unimpressed by the results, saying
the song was “recorded with the intention of being released on vinyl, and as
far as I am concerned, that is the way (it) should be heard."
The situation was remedied somewhat in 2015. Giles Martin (son of
George Martin) and Sam Okell revisited the master tapes in Abbey Road Studios
to create a new stereo mix of "Rain" to be used on the DVD/Blu-ray
set of Beatles videos contained in the box set "Beatles 1+." The
elements of the recording are placed in the mix with less drastic separation
and, with newer technological procedures, the sound is immaculate.
Unfortunately, this mix can only be heard while viewing the "Rain"
videos contained in the DVD or Blu-ray set.
Song Structure and Style
Although both sides of this mid-1966 single share the same key,
the relaxed feel of “Rain” is a nice welcome in comparison to the tightly-wound
quick-paced structure of “Paperback Writer.” Despite all of the experimental
procedures utilized in the recording process as detailed above, the framework
of “Rain” is actually very rudimentary in comparison to the structurally
complex formats the group had been using of late. The results are remarkably
satisfying, suggesting that sometimes "less is more." The structure
ends up as ‘verse/ verse/ refrain/ verse/ refrain/ verse/ outro’ (or aababac)
with a subtle introduction thrown in. Having reached the three-minute mark
without an instrumental break, and probably not wanting to breach the unwritten
AM airplay rule, a solo was left off.
With five stagnated snare beats from Ringo and a discernable voice
that maybe the “four” in the countdown of the rhythm track, a four-measure
introduction vamps along nicely in the home key of G to set the stage. All of
the instrumentation comes in abruptly on the one-beat, including the fragrant
guitar leads from George, the equally fragrant overdubbed bass lines from Paul,
and the four-in-the-bar tambourine hits from Ringo. The fourth measure,
however, brings a halt to the groove temporarily while Ringo performs a
transitional snare drum roll to usher in the first verse.
The first nine-measure verse features the same instrumental vibe
as heard in the intro except for Ringo playing only on the two- and four-beats
with his tambourine. Ringo appears to enjoy a field day on the drum kit,
executing four drum breaks in just the first verse. His second drum break,
which appears in the fourth measure, has him showing off his “starting a break
by hitting the hi-hat first” trick, something he actually debuted the year
before in the song “Wait.” John sings solo on this first verse, single-tracked
but with obvious ADT applied.
Verse two is identical in most ways, the main difference being the
appearance of John, Paul, and George’s background harmony vocals “when the sun
shines down.” This line is sung twice in the gaps Lennon leaves in the lead
vocal, but then harmonized with the lead vocals on the final line of the verse
“sun shines.” Ringo experiments away with three drum breaks this time around,
the third of which inadvertently extends the ninth measure to 6/4 instead of
4/4 but is kept in the final product to give a somewhat disorienting feel. The
rest of the group work around this flub in an apparent show of solidarity.
Ringo, after all, was enjoying a ‘shining moment’ in this song as I’m sure they
were all very much aware.
The first twelve-measure refrain then appears which changes the
flow of the song dramatically. Instrumentally, the guitars simply strum the
appropriate guitar chords on the half beats while the bass throbs a G note high
up on the neck on the quarter beats for the first four measures. The highlight,
though, is John harmonizing with himself the stretched out lyric
“Raaaaaaaaaaain…I don’t mind.” As he’s finishing this line in the fourth
measure, Ringo gradually comes in with a snare roll to usher back in the
relaxed groove of the song, the usual pattern of guitar vamping and bass work
rounding out the fifth and sixth measure. The whole process is then repeated
again against the lyric “Shiiiiiiiiiiine…the weather’s fine.” All the while,
the tambourine keeps plodding away on the two- and four-beats.
After a simple drum break,
the third verse begins as nearly identical musically except for the tambourine
shifting to a shaking eighth-beat rhythm throughout. The harmony answering
lines this time around offers “when the rain comes down” while the background
vocalists chime in with the lead vocals on “show you.” Ringo tones down his
drum break experiments for this verse, only two being delivered.
The repeat of the refrain is next, the only differences from the
first being the high triplet work of Paul’s overdubbed bass and Ringo’s snare
drum fills veering to the toms toward the end during measures one through four
and seven through ten.
With the eighth-beat shaking of the tambourine still being heard,
the final verse begins, Ringo putting in two drum breaks this time as well. The
background harmonies chime in with “when it rains and shines” in the gaps and
then “can you hear me” with John as the verse ends.
Then in what appears as
possibly an afterthought, the song abruptly stops as if done. But if you keep
time with the beat, you’ll see that the meanderings of the drum beats and
overdubbed bass notes are perfectly in time and are the first three measures of
what becomes a sixteen-measure conclusion to the song. George alters his guitar
vamping way down on the bass notes of his guitar as the sixth measure ushers in
the reversed Lennon vocal “when the rain comes they run and hide their heads.”
Just as this is ending, John, Paul, and George display falsetto harmonies on
the word “rain.” The lead vocal then appears with a backward playing of the
word “rain” from one of the refrains while the falsetto harmonies crash in
again as a backdrop. As the song fades away, one final reversed lead vocal,
reportedly “when the sun shines,” is heard. All the while, Ringo flails away
with a drum break at the end of every other measure.
John comes across as the main player on “Rain,” his electric
rhythm guitar working nicely in the relaxed mix of the song. Also, his lead and
harmony vocals use a slow melodic slide undoubtedly influenced by the group’s
recent infatuation with Eastern music. Coupling this with his backwards vocals
in the closing moments of the song, it’s no wonder that he himself exclaimed,
“It sounds as if I’m singing Indian.”
Paul asserts that he, as well as the others, played an important
role in making the song what it became, and this is definitely not contested.
His bass work is stellar and "in your face," possibly considered by
some to be the actual lead instrument of the piece. His harmony vocals, along
with George, pitted perfectly alongside John’s lead, as did George’s meandering
guitar passages. And, as stated earlier, Ringo shines like never before. For
someone who’s gone on record as saying he despises drum solos, he definitely
made an exception while recording this track.
On the surface, the song
contains simple statements about how people react to the weather; they “run and
hide their heads” when it rains and “they slip into the shade and sip their
lemonade” when it’s sunny. But the evidence of an altered perception of reality
creeps in with the intention of John being the educator. “I can show you,” he
insists, that when it rains, “everything’s the same.” He then senses that his
‘square’ listeners aren’t getting it, as he asks impatiently, “can you hear
me?” His overall message is that “it’s just a state of mind” anyway. If you
think being rained on is unpleasant, then it’s unpleasant. If you view it like
Gene Kelly, then that will be your experience. It’s all in the mind! Pretty
deep stuff.
He even gets a little morbid in his depiction of this
unenlightened society, saying that since they run inside when it’s raining,
“they might as well be dead.” Instead, they should all be like him: “Rain?… I
don’t mind – Shine?...the weather’s fine.”
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