John Lennon's suggested idea in the studio that they record a song with a single phraze being “you know my name, look up the number,”and nothing else, apparently occurred on May 17th, 1967. The Beatles entered EMI Studio Two at around 7 pm and soon began recording this new song idea since producer George Martin was not present at all. Otherwise, Mr. Martin may have stiffled the attempt with common con logic. Instead Geoff Emerick and Richard Lush held the reigns as engineers for this session and onward they plowed ahead.
“In mid-May, George Martin took off for a two-week holiday in the south of France,” Geoff Emerick relates in his book “Here, There and Everywhere.” “The Beatles nonetheless soldiered on without him, and I was officially listed on the tape box as both producer and engineer of...an unusual collaboration between John and Paul called 'You Know My Name (Look Up The Number).' Frankly, George going on vacation in the middle of these sessions did not go down well in anybody's book. We were all tired (from the exhausting “Sgt. Pepper” sessions), yet he was the only one taking time off. By this point, I doubt very much if the band were crediting George Martin with their success anyway. In fact, they probably welcomed the opportunity to get some work done without him.”
To help explain the atmosphere of this session, Geoff Emerick relates the familiar environment with George Martin as their producer: “I had noticed that The Beatles would often try to get a take down quickly whenever George left the room. It was kind of an in-joke, and it was always done lightheartedly, but there was an underlying message: to show him in a subtle way that they didn't really need him. Of course, when George would return and listen back to what they'd done, he'd always waffle a bit, saying something along the lines of 'Well, that's interesting, but I think perhaps you need to do another take.' He'd always manage to find some fault with what they'd put down on tape because it was an insult to his ego to think that they could make a good, solid recording without his input.”
“But things were definitely more relaxed when George Martin wasn't around. There was always a certain protocol when he was at a session: we in the control room felt that we had to be on our best behaviors, and even The Beatles seemed slightly constrained by his presence at times. When he wasn't there, we'd all let our hair down and have a bit of fun. There was just a different dynamic, and you can hear it in (“You Know My Name”)...a lot looser, a lot more up, than anything they'd recorded in quite a while.”
The final version of this song can be broken down into five different parts, each bringing the lyrics “you know my name, look up the number” into various musical styles. However, on this first day, May 17th, 1967, all four members of The Beatles, with George wearing a "Stamp Out The Beatles" shirt, took to rehearsing and then officially recording 14 takes of the rhythm track, eventually chosen as the first part of the song.
Author Mark Lewisohn, during the writing of his book “The Beatles Recording Sessions,” gained access to the actual session tape for this day and, after listening to the complete recordings, wrote that 'take 10,' which was considered at the time to be the best, consisted of “guitars, bass, handclaps, bongos and a little vocals.” This take apparently consisted of both John and George on guitars, Paul on bass and Ringo on drums with guide vocals from John and Paul, as had been the custom during most recent “Sgt. Pepper” sessions. Bongos and handclaps had to have been overdubbed afterward since this take was “marked down for being edited into the master at a later stage,” as Mark Lewisohn stipulates.
Since both released versions of the song (the single and the “Anthology 2” mix) begins with a recording of the group from this day with the instrumentation of piano, bass, guitar, and drums, this seems to indicate that The Beatles were experimenting with different instrumentation. As we'll see below, 'take 10' was later replaced with 'take 9' as the official version of the rhythm track for "Part 1." Photographic evidence from this day shows John on piano with both George and Paul playing Epiphone Casino electric guitars and Ringo on drums, Paul overdubbing bass afterward as had been the case during many “Sgt. Pepper” tracks recorded earlier that year. This appears to be the instrumentation used on 'take 9' as heard on the song's released version. By 2:30 am the following morning, all involved left EMI Studios for the evening.
Three weeks later, on June 7th, 1967, The Beatles returned to EMI Studio Two to continue work on “You Know My Name (Look Up The Number).” George Martin was back from vacation at this time, so he was present as producer on this day, Geoff Emerick and Richard Lush being delegated as engineers. “George Martin returned from his holiday when we were half done with it,” Geoff Emerick writes, “and he must have felt that the inmates had been running the asylum – but I guess he also figured, if you can't beat them, join them!” As indicated above, possibly with George Martin's input, the overlooked 'take 9' with John on piano was deemed more suitable than 'take 10'. This would therefore be considered "best" from this point on. “Various bits and pieces,” as Mark Lewisohn describes in “The Beatles Recording Sessions,” were overdubbed onto 'take 9,' this undoubtedly including handclaps on the snare beats as heard in the released versions of the song.
Other than these overdubs onto 'take 9,' it appears that the remainder of this recording session was unfruitful. In his 1987 interview with author Mark Lewisohn, Paul describes this session with these words: “We started off, and we just did twenty minutes, 'you know my name, look up the number – you know my name, look up the number,' and we tried it again and it didn't work.” Upon listening to the master tape made on this day, Lewisohn describes it as “almost 20 minutes of rhythm track recording, beginning with take 20 and consisting of an amateurish flute track (played, presumably, by a Beatle), electric guitar, drums, organ, and tambourine. Paul McCartney can be heard discussing the chord structure with George Harrison, suggesting the music was pre-planned. But when the playing starts, that is the last impression one receives.”
An interesting footnote regarding what transpired during this session and the following couple of days is that the “Sgt. Pepper” album, their laborious but groundbreaking achievement of the past six months, was finally released to almost unanimous acclaim. In his book “Here, There and Everywhere,” engineer Geoff Emerick relates: “For weeks afterward, it seemed that there was a new glowing review published almost daily, and George (Martin), Richard (Lush) and I read each one excitedly, taking great pride in all the hard work and effort we had put into the album. The Beatles themselves were quite pleased; it was a frequent topic of conversation in the studio. They were highly amused at some of the more academically oriented reviews that praised them for a musical sophistication they were largely unaware of. Lennon, in particular, took great delight in reading some of those reviews out loud in his finest toff-nosed upper-class voice, often ending the recital with a decidedly Souse 'What the fook is that twat on about?'”
Regarding the accomplishments of this day, five takes of this experimental addition to “You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)” were recorded, discordant, and far removed from the task at hand that they were labeled “Instrumental – Unidentified” on the tape box. By 2 am the following morning, the session was over. The Beatles left the studio to rethink what next to do to further develop the song.
On June 8th, 1967, the following day's session was extremely productive compared to the previous day. The Beatles entered EMI Studio Two again at around 7 pm along with George Martin, Geoff Emerick, and Richard Lush to lay down rhythm tracks for what became all four of the remaining parts of “You Know My Name (Look Up The Number).” All four of the remaining sections continued the chord progression and key of the first recorded section, but with very different approaches. “We did these mad backings,” John related in 1969 about the as-yet-unreleased track, Paul explaining in 1987, “We tried it again, and we had these endless, crazy fun sessions." Geoff Emerick states regarding this evening's session: “One night The Beatles had their friends come by to add party ambiance, and to my surprise, a rather sheepish-looking George (Martin) marched straight down into the studio and contributed to the handclaps and crowd noise.”
The first thing tackled this day was “Part 2” of the song, twelve takes being recorded of a ska-influenced rendition of the song's progression. 'Take 12' was deemed the best, this consisting of the song's pattern repeated three times with a brief outro tacked onto the end, the instrumentation appearing to be Paul on piano, John and George on guitar, and Ringo on drums. As with the previously recorded "Part 1," this section was recorded without vocals, to be overdubbed later.
“Part 3” came next, which was described by Geoff Emerick as being played in a “lounge lizard style.” The sound effects cupboard under the stairs leading up to the control room was raided for this section, bongos, maracas, and skulls apparently utilized by The Beatles and their guests. While no vocals were committed to tape, Paul is to the fore on piano during this section, as is Ringo on bongos. Four takes of this section were recorded, 'take four' being determined as the best. As in “Part 2,” “Part 3” consists of the song's pattern run-through three times and then rounded off with a brief outro before it dissolves.
The Beatles then moved on to what became “Part 4,” which could only be described as quirky and silly in imitation of something conjured up by “The Goons,” a favorite comedy troupe of theirs. Paul leads the way on this twice repeated instrumental run-through of the song's pattern on piano, six takes of which were put to tape on this day, the sixth being the best. Mark Lewisohn describes this section in “The Beatles Recording Sessions” as “a most peculiar recording, with sound effects and noises which would not have been out of place in a 'Carry On' film soundtrack.” The British “Carry On” series of films and television shows were very popular at the time, their current film at that moment entitled “Don't Lose Your Head” featuring actor Charles Hawtrey (as in how Lennon's statement “Charles Hawtrey and The Deaf-Aids” that opens the “Let It Be” soundtrack album came about). Also heard prominently on the recording is Ringo on bongos and both a bird whistle and harmonica played by those in the present crowd.
Then came “Part 5,” which only took a single take to perfect. Once again, Paul is on piano, Ringo on drums, and presumably John on bass and George on vibraphone toward the song's conclusion. This section is agreeably described by musicologist Alan Pollock as “a cool jazzy backing track” with a swinging ride beat,” the appearance of the vibraphone and a saxophone in the final measures confirming the group's intention...“the greatest tea-room orchestra in the world,” as David Frost labeled them during their “Hey Jude” promo film shoot.
But who was this mysterious saxophonist? “Brian Jones is playing sax on it, I believe,” Lennon stated during his 1980 Playboy interview. When Mark Lewisohn asked Paul if it was Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones or The Undertakers playing saxophone on the song, Paul replied, “It was Brian Jones of The Stones. He turned up very, very nervous with a sax, and we said, 'Oh, we thought you'd bring a guitar!' and he'd brought a sax. I invited him to the session. Absolutely definitely Brian of The Stones...Unequivocably, as they say.”
The confusion as to which Brian Jones actually played on “You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)” is understandable. The Undertakers were a Liverpool group that included a musician named Brian Jones that played tenor saxophone. This group also featured lead vocalist and bassist Jackie Lomax whom George Harrison signed to Apple Records. His recording of George's song “Sour Milk Sea” also became a primary inspiration for Paul's composition “Get Back,” all of this indicating that The Undertakers were associates of The Beatles throughout most of their career.
Regarding Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones being present in the studio on this day, Geoff Emerick confirms that he was “one of the guests. He had been asked to play some guitar on the track, but he turned up with a saxophone instead. It was an instrument I didn't know he could play – in fact, I'm not so sure even he realized he could play it! But such was the spirit of the times that Paul and John's reaction was, 'Okay, well, let him blow the sax, then,' which he did...though not very skillfully. Brian was a quiet bloke – nothing like the other Stones I had met – but he was also extremely out of it that night, so stoned that he didn't even seem to be sure of where he was.”
At that point in The Rolling Stones' career, Brian Jones became somewhat withdrawn, his drug habit possibly a contributing factor. He was shying away from playing any guitar on his group's recordings. Their most recently released album, January 1967, “Between The Buttons,” has him playing almost anything else but guitar, including organ, vibraphone, tuba, trumpet, trombone, and even kazoo! The next three Rolling Stones albums also show him only minimally playing guitar instead of experimenting with flute, mellotron, and other instruments. Their December 1967 release “Their Satanic Majesties Request” includes him playing saxophone on three tracks, so when he showed up for a Beatles session on June 8th, 1967, with a saxophone instead of a guitar, it wasn't too unusual.
“It was time to let off some steam,” Geoff Emerick explained. “The prevalent feeling in the group seemed to be: 'after all those years of hard work, now it's time to play.' For all the fun we were having in the studio, there's no question that The Beatles really were quite unfocused at this point. Richard (Lush) and I were having a great time doing these sessions, but George Martin was starting to complain a bit about the band's lack of productivity. Personally, I saw it as just a bit of harmless light relief after all the intensity that had gone into 'Pepper.'”
Amid all this fun, however, it appears that it was on this day that Paul remembered a serious commitment that manager Brian Epstein had arranged for them to fulfill. During the “Sgt. Pepper” sessions, Epstein arranged for The Beatles to supply the British segment of a Live Via Satellite show entitled “Our World,” broadcasted over all seven continents. A new song needed to be written for them to be shown recording live in the studio on a given day, John Lennon agreeing to write a new piece for the occasion.
Geoff Emerick remembers, “The issue was forgotten...until some weeks later, during one of the 'You Know My Name' sessions, Paul happened to ask John casually, 'How are you getting on with that song for the television broadcast? Isn't it coming up fairly soon?' John looked questioningly at Neil (Aspinall), who was the keeper of the band's diary. 'Couple of weeks' time, looks like,' Neil responded after consulting his tattered book. 'Oh God, is it that close? Well, then, I suppose I'd better write something.' The 'something' that John Lennon came up with – written to order, literally in a matter of days – was the song 'All You Need Is Love.'”
From that point on, other than an editing session for “You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)” the following day, all Beatle efforts then went toward writing and recording their entry for the live broadcast that was set for June 25th, 1967, a mere two-and-a-half weeks later. The productive recording session for "You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)" on this day, however, concluded at 1 am the following morning.
The editing mentioned above session occurred on June 9th, 1967, the only purpose of this session being to edit together the five instrumental segments that were to make up “You Know My Name (Look Up The Number).” The Beatles met with George Martin, Geoff Emerick, and Richard Lush in the control room of EMI Studio Two at 7 pm to edit these five performances together, a precursor to a similar editing job performed two years later for the “Abbey Road LP.
Calling this new edit “take 30,” it consisted of “take 9” of “Part 1,” “take 12” of “Part Two, “take four” of “Part 3,” “take 6” of “Part 4,” and “take one” of “Part 5.” When this was done to everyone's satisfaction, the combined mix totaling 6:08, a mono mix was made for acetate cutting purposes. John and Paul knew that they would need to add their vocals at a future session but, since they realized that writing and preparing to record “All You Need Is Love” for the June 25th live broadcast deadline was the most pressing issue right then, they adjusted their efforts accordingly.
As it turned out, after “All You Need Is Love” was complete, they took a month break from the recording studio. When they did begin recording again on August 22nd, their new “Magical Mystery Tour” project was their primary concern. On August 24th, The Beatles met the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi whom they became infatuated with, traveling the next day to Bangor, North Wales, to study Transcendental Meditation. While there, their manager Brian Epstein passed away, leaving them realizing that they were now in charge of directing their own affairs. With all of these pressure events taking place, the frivolous nature of their “You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)” project seemed inappropriate. Therefore, as it turned out, it was put on the shelf for nearly two years.
“There was another song I wrote around 'Pepper' time that's still in the can, called 'You Know My Name (Look Up The Number),'” John stated in an early 1969 interview. “That's the only words to it. It just goes on all the way like that, and we did these mad backings. But I never finished it, and I must.” Geoff Emerick recalls, “It sat on the shelf for nearly two and a half years before it was finally finished at Lennon's instigation.” Lennon's determination resulted in him and Paul finally adding their vocals to the song, as well as some sound effects, during an April 30th, 1969 recording session at EMI Studio Three, the primary purpose of this session being for George to overdub a new guitar solo onto the song “Let It Be.”
They entered the studio at 7:15 pm and, after George's guitar solo was perfected, John and Paul proceeded to add their vocals to “You Know My Name (Look Up The Number).” Chris Thomas was producer on this day, with Jeff Jarratt and Nick Webb as engineers, so with the above-mentioned intimidating presence of George Martin out of the way, John and Paul could create any silliness that popped into their heads at the time. “John and Paul weren't always getting on that well at this time,” recalls 2nd engineer Nick Webb, their managerial disagreements, in particular, taking a toll on their friendship. “But for that song, they went onto the studio floor and sang together around one microphone. Even at that time, I was thinking, 'What are they doing with this old four-track tape, recording these funny bits onto this quaint song?' But it was a fun track to do.”
Geoff Emerick continues: “John and Paul dubbed on all manner of loony sound effects and sang and harrumphed in their full repertoire of comic Goon-like voices.” As the full 6:08 long mono mix of the five edited segments of the song played through their headphones, the two Beatles vocalized accordingly to whichever segment was playing at the time, also adding in lounge applause and voices during “Part 3” to give the recording the appropriate atmosphere. “Eventually, we pulled it all together,” Paul explained in 1987, “and I sang (sings in jazzy style) 'you know my name...' and we just did a skit, Mal and his gravel. I can still see Mal digging the gravel. And it was just so hilarious to put the record together.” What Paul here recalled is what Mark Lewisohn describes in “The Beatles Recording Sessions” as “Mal Evans running a spade through a heap of gravel,” this being heard in “Part 4” of the recording.
“Part 3” features Lennon taking on the role of “master of ceremonies,” addressing the fictional crowd with the words, “Good evening and welcome to Slaggers, featuring Denis O'Bell.” Paul then takes on the persona of Denis O'Bell and begins singing “you know my name...” as the imaginary patrons politely applaud. John continues giving encouraging remarks from the wings. The singer's name was an obvious take on Denis O'Dell, who produced the “Magical Mystery Tour” film and had become director of Apple Films and Apple Publicity.
Lewisohn describes their overdubs as “John and Paul handclapping, coughing, sputtering and slipping in the odd vocal reminiscent of Bluebottle in 'The Goon Show,'” this impersonation being heard in “Part 4.” “Part 5” primarily features Lennon's indecipherable British statesman's voice, described by musicologist Alan Pollack as sounding like “White Fang” from the American Soupy Sales TV show. After three mono mixes were made of this tomfoolery, the third deemed best, the song was once again transferred to the archives for future release.
The primary focus in The Beatles camp at that time was two-fold; one being the preparation and release of their previously recorded “Get Back” album scheduled for release sometime in June, hence the need for George to re-record his guitar solo on “Let It Be” on that day, the other being the recording of newly written songs which would eventually be included on “Abbey Road.” “You Know My Name (Look Up The Number),” however fun it was to record, didn't appear to fit into either of these projects, so this 6:08 mono mix languished in the EMI tape library for the time being.
But with these events going on in John's life and his highly publicized activities with new wife Yoko Ono, he still kept this recording in the back of his mind. Simultaneous to Beatles releases of 1969, he concocted a new project as an outlet for his own music, calling it “Plastic Ono Band." Under this name, the first release was his anthem “Give Peace A Chance,” this single being released on July 7th, 1969. Then, after he announced to his bandmates that he wanted to leave The Beatles, Lennon released the second “Plastic Ono Band” single, “Cold Turkey,” on October 20th, 1969.
Wanting to keep his “Plastic Ono Band” project in full swing, he devised a plan to take two previously recorded Beatles tracks that hadn't been released yet for a new single. Apple Records announced in a press release that this new single would feature John and Yoko accompanied by “many of the greatest show business names of today,” the press rightfully interpreting this to mean this was actually a Beatles release of some sort. This single was a pairing of “You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)” as the a-side and a leftover “White Album” track from 1968 entitled “What's The New Mary Jane” as the b-side. A catalog number “APPLES 1002” was designated for this single in Britain, showing that this idea went much further than a planning stage. It was scheduled to be released on December 5th, 1969, the same week that The Beatles' “Come Together / Something” record was at #1 in the US.
In preparation for this proposed new “Plastic Ono Band” single, John met with engineers Geoff Emerick, Mike Sheady, and Nick Webb in EMI Studio Two on November 26th, 1969, to make songs ready for release. Since the tape box designates both Geoff Emerick and John Lennon as producers, it's clear to see who actually was in charge on this day. This session began in the control room at 7 pm, the first order of business being to make a tape copy of the 6:08 mono mix of “You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)” from April 30th, 1969, which was now called “remix mono 4.” Interestingly, only mono mixes were ever made of the song up to this point, so instead of going back to the master tape on this day and creating a new mix in stereo, John and Geoff Emerick opted to just stay with the mono mix to simplify things. By the second half of 1969, all single releases were in stereo, such as his current “Cold Turkey” single, but they apparently felt that keeping this mono would suffice.
After the tape copy of “You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)” was complete, they took to editing the song so as to be of a more suitable length for radio airplay. The rock'n'roll “Part 1” of the song was shortened and edited directly onto the lounge-sounding “Part 3, totally omitting the ska-sounding “Part 2” altogether. After “Part 3” concludes, the Goons-like “Part 4” is edited after omitting a small number of its opening measures. This then goes directly into the full English-statesman “Part 5,” the result cutting the song down to 4:20. After this was out of the way, they took to more extensive work on “What's The New Mary Jane,” stereo mixing, adding overdubs, and then editing the song to become the B-side of the single. At 3 am the next morning, the session was complete, having prepared both sides of the next “Plastic Ono Band” single.
History shows, however, this was not to be—at least two possible reasons why this single never got released. First, the other Beatles objected to these tracks designated as a “Plastic Ono Band” record. The second more plausible reason, both of these songs were registered as “Lennon / McCartney” compositions and featured other Beatles. Since an arrangement was made so that Beatles singles would be released with the Apple label, the group was licensed through the parent company EMI, Capitol Records. Therefore, the EMI distributor for Beatles releases in America required their singles be issued with a Capitol catalog number. Since John had just announced his desire to sever ties with The Beatles, he undoubtedly didn't want the artist to be listed as “The Beatles” on this single, nor did he want the hassle of dealing with EMI over distribution issues. Even though the mother plates were already made for pressing this single, including test pressings, this release was put “on hold” as of December 1st, 1969, and remained that way.
However, John would get “You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)” released one way or the other. If EMI insisted it be issued as a Beatles track and not under the “Plastic Ono Band” name, as was most likely the case, John found a way to do so. On March 6th, 1970, the song “Let It Be” was finally released as a single in preparation for the movie and soundtrack album of the same name due to debut in May of that year.
Paul was more concerned with his soon-to-be-released solo album “McCartney” to have any input concerning this single, but John put his two cents in to insist that “You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)” became its B-side. After all, the mother plates used for pressing the single in Britain were already in existence, so it was cost-effective to use it for a B-side to the “Let It Be” single. In fact, early pressings of the British single contain the “APPLES 1002-A” matrix (though crossed out) pressed into the run-out groove. This indicates that this mono mix's original intention was as the “A” side of the above mentioned “Plastic Ono Band” single. This was changed in later pressings of the British 45.
Sometime in 1995, George Martin and Geoff Emerick pulled out the master tape of “You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)” to create a stereo mix of the song to be included on the compilation album “Anthology 2.” Although the vocal overdubs weren't recorded until April 30th, 1969, the majority of the song was recorded in 1967 in-between their “Sgt. Pepper” and “Magical Mystery Tour” projects. Therefore, this newly created mix was positioned chronologically within this period on this album.
While they had the full 6:08 length at their disposal, it is unfortunate that they decided not to present the song in its entirety despite the liner notes patting itself on the back by saying: "Here it is...at almost six minutes, in extended form for the first time, including never-before-heard sections cut out by John and newly restored." In reality, while they did include all of parts 1, 2, and 3 (“Part 2” never released before), they edited out some of "Part 4" and faded out “Part 5” too soon. However, of interest here is the inclusion of more "master of ceremonies" banter from John heard in the background during "Part 3."
It appears that George Martin and Geoff Emerick didn't think Beatles' fans would be interested to hear this track as originally intended and cut it short for our sakes, possibly unacquainted with what was actually released back in 1970. I think this was a huge blunder on their part. Most of the song fans were very entertained by the Lennon / McCartney humor from the original single and desiring to hear more. At least this was in stereo for the first time, and, with a little ingenuity, true Beatles fans could be able to piece something together on their own to hear how John and Paul originally conceived the song. These fan edits can be heard in bootlegs and online to this day.
No comments:
Post a Comment