PLAYLIST OCT.14th 2012 HR 1 The Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour - Magical Mystery Tour (EP) (Lennon-McCartney) Lead vocals: Paul and John When Paul McCartney was in the U.S. in early April 1967 he came up with the idea for a Beatles television film about a mystery tour on a bus. During the April 11 flight back home he began writing lyrics for the title song and sketching out some ideas for the film. Upon his arrival in London, Paul pitched his idea to Brian Epstein who happily approved. Paul then met with John to go over the details and the two began work on the film’s title track. The title track was written primarily by Paul but was not finished when McCartney brought the song in to be recorded on April 25, 1967. John helped with the missing pieces during the session. On U.S. album: Magical Mystery Tour - Capitol LP 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 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 The Beatles - Baby, You’re A Rich Man - Non-LP track (Lennon-McCartney) Lead vocal: John The Beatles’ fifteenth single release for EMI’s Parlophone label. The Beatles were contractually obligated to deliver four new songs for inclusion in the “Yellow Submarine” animated film project. “Baby, You’re A Rich Man” was the first song recorded especially for that project. Earlier in the year, George Harrison’s initial offering for the “Sgt. Pepper” album, “Only A Northern Song,” had been rejected for that album and was now being earmarked for use in the “Yellow Submarine” animated film. But with the rush-release of “All You Need Is Love” as a single following the “Our World” world television transmission on June 25, 1967, a B-side was needed. George Martin chose “Baby, You’re A Rich Man,” effectively removing it from consideration for the “Yellow Submarine” feature film. “Baby, You’re A Rich Man” was, in fact, two separate songs (John’s “One Of The Beautiful People” and Paul’s “Baby, You’re A Rich Man”) that the composers combined to make into one song. Recording took place at Olympic Studios on May 11, 1967, and the song was completed in 12 takes. It is the first Beatles song to be recorded and mixed for record outside of Abbey Road. Surprisingly, the “All You Need is Love”/“Baby, You’re A Rich Man” single is the first instance of George Martin being given credit on the record label as producer on a Parlophone Beatles single. Mick Jagger attended the session and may have participated in the backing vocals at the end of the song. Issued July 7, 1967 in the UK and July 17, 1967 in the U.S. On U.S. album: Magical Mystery Tour - Capitol LP 2.12 BREAK The Beatles - Don’t Bother Me – With The Beatles (Harrison) Lead vocal: George George Harrison’s first recorded original song. While some may see it as a misfortune that Harrison was surrounded by two of the most gifted songwriters in history, this proximity gave him great insight into the mechanics of writing a song from scratch. His first attempt was more than a throwaway composition. He called “Don’t Bother Me” an “exercise” to see if he could write a song, and it was written while George was sick in a bed at the Palace Court Hotel in Bournemouth where The Beatles were playing six nights at Gaumont Cinema in mid-August of 1963. It was during this engagement (on August 22) that photographer Robert Freeman took the iconic “artsy” cover photograph of the band in half lighting that would grace the cover of both the British “With The Beatles” album and the American “Meet The Beatles!” album. Using the basic Lennon-McCartney song structure George crafted a “Beatles song” that was on par with the material the band was currently working up for their second album. Getting the other Beatles and producer George Martin to take his work seriously was another matter, and it would take years for Harrison to finally be given his due. Normally he was relegated to one or two songs per album. Aside from the financial windfall George received from having an original composition on albums selling in the multi-millions worldwide, George said, “It showed me that all I needed to do was keep on writing and maybe eventually I would write something good. It did, however, provide me with an occupation.” Recorded on September 11 and 12, 1963. On U.S. album: Meet The Beatles! - Capitol LP The Beatles - Little Child – With The Beatles (Lennon-McCartney) Lead vocal: John Composed in about two hours just days before being recorded, “Little Child” was originally written for Ringo Starr to sing on The Beatles’ second album. When he passed, John and Paul penned a similar and simpler song for him to sing entitled “I Wanna Be Your Man.” John Lennon provides the lead vocal. Overdubs include John’s harmonica part and Paul on piano. The song was never performed in concert by The Beatles. Recorded September 11 and 12, and October 3, 1963. On U.S. album: Meet The Beatles! - Capitol LP 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 The Beatles - Hold Me Tight – With The Beatles (Lennon-McCartney) Lead vocal: Paul Initially recorded during the marathon “Please Please Me” session on February 11, 1963, the song was not chosen for inclusion on The Beatles’ debut album and the tape containing that day’s recording had been lost, recorded over or destroyed. On September 12, 1963, their fourth recording session for the “With The Beatles” LP, the song was started from scratch. “Hold Me Tight” had been written by Paul and John sometime in 1961 and the song was part of their set list from 1961 through 1963 during their Cavern Club and Hamburg club days. On U.S. album: Meet The Beatles! - Capitol LP The Beatles - Money (That’s What I Want) – With The Beatles (Bradford-Gordy) Lead vocal: John Originally recorded by Barrett Strong and released as a single on Motown’s Tamla and Anna labels in 1959 and 1960 respectively, peaking at #23 in 1960. It was a part of The Beatles’ live repertoire from 1960 to 1964. On July 18, 1963, the group, with George Martin on piano, performed the song live in the studio -- vocals and all -- for six full takes, the final take being deemed the best.