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Home , Geoff Emerick, Mal Evans, Neil Aspinall

MUSC-21600: The Art of Rock Music Prof. Freeze

Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite (1967)

LISTEN FOR • Victorian psychedelic carnival piece (cf. album’s title, costumes) • Sinister melody, creeping melodic bass, and surreal sound effects • Instrumental breaks with avant-garde techniques o Swirling chromatic solos recorded at half speed, sped up o Random splicing of taped organ music

CREATION Songwriters , Paul McCartney Album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band Label Capitol MAS-2653 (U.S.), Parlophone PMC-7027 (UK) Musicians John Lennon (double-tracked lead vocals and harmony vocals, Hammond organ, tape loops and harmonica), Paul McCartney (bass guitar), (harmonica, backwards lead guitar), (drums, tambourine, shaker and harmonica), (piano, harmonium, Lowrey organ, glockenspiel, tape loops and Hammond organ), (bass harmonica), (harmonica), Geoff Emerick (tape loops) Producer George Martin Engineer Geoff Emerick Recording EMI Studios (London); February–March 1967; stereo Charts Album 1, UK 1

MUSIC Genre Psychedelic rock Form Simple verse with extended bridges Key D minor (intro, second part of verses), C minor (first part of verses only), E minor (final break) Meter 4/4 (3/4 in first instrumental bridge) MUSC-21600 Listening Guide Freeze “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite” (The Beatles, 1967)

LISTENING GUIDE Time Form Lyric Cue Listen For 0:00 Intro (3) • Dark, burlesque sound created through minor mode, timbre (harmonica and organ), descending lines, and tonal instability: it begins in d minor and ends, in bar 4, in c minor. 0:06 Verse 1 (7+7) “For the benefit” • Vocal enters (Lennon) with 0:22 fairground-caller declamation. • Sparse accompaniment with harmonium, bass, and drums with tinny high-hat backbeat. 0:37 Verse 2 (7+5) “The celebrated Mr. Kite” • Sinister vocal inflections, like 0:51 articulation of “d” in “world.” • Shuffle groove without high-hat and with more even emphasis on all four beats. 1:00 Instr. Verse (14+10+1) • Change to triple meter. • Same harmonic progression as in verses, but a step higher (begins in D minor, ends in E minor) and in double the number of measures. • Whirl of timbres, including calliope and chromatic swirls on the organ (recorded at half speed and sped up). 1:27 • Signal-like piano fill in original 4/4 meter announces return of fairground caller. 1:29 Verse 3 (7+6) “ begins” • As before, but second phrase extended by one measure and overlapping with a reminiscence of the triple-meter music of the first instrumental verse. 1:56 Instr. Verse (7+8+2) • Whirling dervish of organ tape loops, randomly assembled by throwing snippets of tape onto floor and pick up the pieces. • Second phrase extended two measures. 2:29 • Final chord held for two measures, with the overdubbed tape loops finally coordinated with underlying music.

2 MUSC-21600 Listening Guide Freeze “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite” (The Beatles, 1967)

LYRICS For the benefit of Mr. Kite Messrs. K and H assure the public There will be a show tonight on trampoline Their production will be second to none The Hendersons will all be there And of course Henry The Horse dances the Late of Pablo Fanques Fair, what a scene! waltz!

Over men and horses hoops and garters The band begins at ten to six Lastly through a hogshead of real fire! When Mr. Kite performs his tricks without a In this way Mr. Kite will challenge the world! sound And Mr. H will demonstrate The celebrated Mr. Kite Ten summersets he’ll undertake on solid Performs his feat on Saturday at ground Bishopsgate The Hendersons will dance and sing Having been some days in preparation As Mr. Kite flys through the ring, don’t be A splendid time is guaranteed for all late! And tonight Mr. Kite is topping the bill!

SOURCES • Alan W. Pollack, “Notes on ‘Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite’” Soundscapes.info, Feb. 10, 1996, http://www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/DATABASES/AWP/bftbomk.shtml. • http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/beatles/beingforthebenefitofmrkite.html.

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