In Studio Guest Peter Asher
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1 In studio guest Peter Asher 1 2 Playlist Sept. 29th 2013 Abbey Road out this week in 1969 FEATURED LP of the morning 9AM The Beatles – Mean Mr. Mustard - Abbey Road Recorded July 24th. Written in India as we heard on the White LP demos from Esher. When the band is playing it during the Let It Be sessions Pam was then a Shirley. Lennon 1.00 The Beatles - Her Majesty - Abbey Road The Beatles – Polythene Pam - Abbey Road Recorded July 25th w/ “She Came in Through The Bathroom Window “. The only Beatles song inspired by a woman in New Jersey who dressed in polythene (but not jack boots or kilts). Written in India, demoed for the White LP. Lennon 1.00 2 3 The Beatles – She Came In Through The Bathroom Window - Abbey Road Recorded July 25th 1969. Written while in NYC to announce Apple. Based on a true story about some Scruffs breaking into Paul house at St. John’s Wood. Paul wrote w/ Joe Cocker in mind…who later coved it as he did with most Beatle songs. McCartney 1.00 The Beatles – Golden Slumbers - Abbey Road Recorded w/ “Carry That Weight” as one song on July 2nd 1969 Based on a 400 year old poem by Thomas Decker whose original words were: Golden Slumbers kiss your eyes; Smiles awake you when you rise. Sleep pretty wantons do not cry, And I will sing a lullaby…..Paul wrote the rest of the lyrics. 3 4 McCartney .7 / Decker .3 The Beatles – Carry That Weight - Abbey Road Recorded July 2nd 1969 Featuring all 4 fabs on “Carry That Weight” but Ringo bowed out on the “I never give you my pillow” line. The Beatles – The End –Abbey Road Recorded July 23rd 1969 John, Paul and George take turns on the lead fills at the end….of The End. McCartney 1.00 9.12 BREAK Let’s listen to the advancement of the Lennon & McCartney songwriting team from 1962 to 1966 and then we’ve got an fascinating guest with a remarkable Beatles story…stay tuned… 4 5 The Beatles - P.S. I Love You – Please Please Me (McCartney-Lennon) Lead vocal: Paul Recorded in ten takes on September 11, 1962, with Andy White on drums. The b-side of “Love Me Do,” released October 5, 1962, in the UK. The Beatles originally intended this to be the A-side of their first Parlophone single but because another song with the same title had been released by Peggy Lee they were persuaded to put this on the b-side. One of the three original compositions they performed during their EMI audition. Written mostly by Paul McCartney in April or May 1962 while The Beatles were in Hamburg, Germany. John has said it was Paul’s attempt to mimic “Soldier Boy” by The Shirelles, which was a hit in April of 1962. One of several Beatles songs Paul McCartney owns with Yoko Ono. Starting with the songs recorded for their debut album on February 11, 1963, Lennon-McCartney’s output was attached to their Northern Songs publishing company. Because their first single was released before John and Paul had contracted with a music publisher, EMI assigned it to their own, a company called Ardmore and Beechwood, which took the two songs, “Love Me Do” and “P.S. I Love You.” Decades later McCartney and Ono were able to purchase the songs for their respective companies, MPL Communications and Lenono Music. On U.S. albums: Introducing… The Beatles (Version 1) - Vee-Jay LP The Early Beatles - Capitol LP 1962 5 6 The Beatles - It Won’t Be Long – With The Beatles (Lennon-McCartney) Lead vocal: John The first original song recorded for their second album, “With The Beatles.” Composed primarily by John in July 1963 with the intention of writing a follow-up single to the as yet unreleased “She Loves You.” The lyrical similarity to the chorus of “She Loves You” (both songs contain the phrase “yeah, yeah, yeah”) was no accident. Beatles manager Brian Epstein had encouraged John and Paul to try to write songs that would appeal to the American market, specifically American teenagers. Soon American colloquial sayings and words started showing up in their songs. Ten takes were attempted on July 30, 1963 and the song was left unfinished. The group resumed work later that evening, in all logging 23 full or partial takes and edit pieces. It is the first original Beatles song with a call-and-response gimmick, with John and Paul alternating “yeah” throughout the song. The first song Neil Young performed live for an audience at his high school cafeteria in Canada. On U.S. album: Meet The Beatles! - Capitol LP 1963 The Beatles - I’m Happy Just To Dance With You - A Hard Day’s Night (Lennon-McCartney) Lead vocal: George Written by John and Paul specifically to give George a song in the movie “A Hard Day’s Night.” Completed in four takes on March 1, 1964, with filming slated to begin the next day. The b-side of “I’ll Cry Instead” in U.S. On U.S. album: A Hard Day’s Night - United Artists LP Something New - Capitol LP 1964 The Beatles - I’ve Just Seen A Face - Help! (Lennon-McCartney) Lead vocal: Paul Written by Paul at the Asher family home on Wimpole Street. Paul had the tune prior to coming up with the lyrics and originally named the song “Auntie Gin’s Theme” because his aunt liked it. George Martin’s instrumental “Help!” album includes an orchestrated version of “I’ve Just Seen A Face” using the title “Auntie Gin’s Theme.” Recorded in six takes at the same June 14, 1965 McCartney-dominated session that produced “Yesterday” and “I’m Down.” One of only five Beatles songs Paul chose to perform live on his Wings Over America tour in 1976. On U.S. album: Rubber Soul - Capitol LP 1965 The Beatles - Tomorrow Never Knows - Revolver (Lennon-McCartney) 6 7 Lead vocal: John The first song recorded for what would become the “Revolver” album. John’s composition was unlike anything The Beatles or anyone else had ever recorded. Lennon’s vocal is buried under a wall of sound -- an assemblage of repeating tape loops and sound effects – placed on top of a dense one chord song with basic melody driven by Ringo's thunderous drum pattern. The lyrics were largely taken from “The Psychedelic Experience,” a 1964 book written by Harvard psychologists Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert, which contained an adaptation of the ancient “Tibetan Book of the Dead.” Each Beatle worked at home on creating strange sounds to add to the mix. Then they were added at different speeds sometime backwards. Paul got “arranging” credit. He had discovered that by removing the erase head on his Grundig reel-to-reel tape machine, he could saturate a recording with sound. On U.S. album: Revolver - Capitol LP 1966 We just heard a song from every year of the Beatles recording career chronologically from 1962 -1966 which brings us to the year 1967 and our first guest of the morning…welcome David Groggin aka Mr. Bonzai 7 8 The Beatles - I Am The Walrus - Magical Mystery Tour (EP) (Lennon-McCartney) Lead vocal: John The Beatles’ sixteenth single release for EMI’s Parlophone label. John Lennon pushed to have his “I Am The Walrus” as the A-side of the coupling with Paul’s “Hello, Goodbye,” but his song was deemed too unconventional and less 8 9 commercial than Paul’s catchy tune. The title is inspired by the Walrus and the Carpenter from Lewis Carroll’s “Through The Looking Glass.” Lennon described his lyrics as purposely being Dylan-esque. In his 1980 Playboy interview he explained, “In those days I was writing obscurely, a la Dylan, never saying what you mean, but giving the impression of something.” The “I Am The Walrus” session is notable because it was the first Beatles recording session following the untimely death of their manager, Brian Epstein. Ironically, Epstein had stopped by the last time the Beatles were recording (for “Your Mother Should Know” at Chappell Recording Studios on August 23, 1967). He was found dead on August 27, aged just 32. All four Beatles met at Paul’s St. John’s Wood house on September 1 to discuss how they should proceed. Among other business matters, it was decided that they would press on with the “Magical Mystery Tour” project, temporarily postponing a planned visit to India to study Transcendental Meditation. The basic rhythm track was recorded in a six-hour session beginning at 7:00 p.m. on September 5, 1967. Sixteen takes were attempted, only five of them were complete run-throughs. Starting the next day overdubs were added to create John Lennon’s textured masterpiece. Specifically, additional bass from Paul, more drums from Ringo and John’s memorable lead vocal on Sept. 6, and a 16-piece orchestra under the direction of George Martin, and 16 members of the Mike Sammes Singers, a large group of vocalists who did much session and television work, that brought the “Ho-ho-ho, hee- hee-hee, ha-ha-ha” section to life, in separate sessions on Sept. 27. Issued November 24, 1967 in the UK and November 27, 1967 in the U.S. On U.S. album: Magical Mystery Tour - Capitol LP 9.42 BREAK The Beatles - Revolution 1 - The Beatles (Lennon-McCartney) 9 10 Lead vocal: John The first song recorded during the sessions for the “White Album.” At the time of its recording, this slower version was the only version of John Lennon’s “Revolution,” and it carried that titled without a “1” or a “9” in the title.