This is where George Martin truly earns his role as the "fifth Beatle."
Voice: Highlighting McCartney's Vocal Versatility
Yesterday
soft, lyrical voice (w/ string quartet parts arranged by George Martin); released as a single, then included on Help! (1965)
Why Don't We Do It in the Road
"shouting" style of the old R&B tradition; on the White album (1968)
Oh! Darling
also, shouting-style vocal; on Abbey Road (1969)
Golden Slumbers
starts as crooning style, moves to more harsh (0:32 in excerpt above); on Abbey Road (1969)
Honey Pie
voice filtered (i.e., electronically modified) on "Now she's
hit the big time ..."; on the White album (1968)
Guitar (Backwards)
I'm
Only Sleeping
Listen carefully to the guitar solo excerpted above (which occurs at 1:32 in the original recording) ... electronically filtered
& backward; on Revolver (1966)
Unusual Instruments Found in Beatles Recordings
Eleanor Rigby
string ensemble (similar instrumentation was also used on "Yesterday" & "She's Leaving Home"); on Revolver (1966)
You've Got to Hide Your Love Away
flutes (occurs at 1:47 in the original recording); on Help! (1965)
Because
harpsichord (intro); on Abbey Road (1969)
Penny Lane
released as a single on Feb. 17, 1967 (Strawberry Fields Forever / Penny Lane)
flute (during verse at 0:07) & brass (during chorus at 0:22)
piccolo trumpet solo; later in the recording (not included in this excerpt), the piccolo trumpet plays a countermelody between phrases of the
vocal melody (2:33 in the original recording)
Got to Get You Into My Life
brass & saxes; on Revolver (1966)
Norwegian Wood
use of sitar: from Rubber Soul (1965)
sitar - G. Harrison heard the name
"Ravi Shankar," went out and bought an album ... then decided that he wanted to
learn to play the sitar, an instrument used primarily in the performance of Indian classical music.
Yellow Submarine
brass band; on Revolver (1966)
Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite
carousel organ & bass harmonica; from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)
Honey Pie
clarinets (and lots of 'em); from the White album (1968)
A Day in the Life
full orchestra (1:39 in the original recording); from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)
Within You Without You
tabla (drum) & dilruba (long-necked Indian lute); from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)
Tape effects & Signal Processing
In My Life
tape effects (1:28 in the original recording) - speeded up piano solo (sounds a bit like a harpsichord); from Rubber Soul (1965)
Strawberry
Fields Forever
released as a single on February 17, 1967 (Strawberry Fields Forever / Penny Lane) as the band was working on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (released June 1, 1967)
"Strawberry Fields" - the Beatles recorded two takes of this song, because John didn't
like the first. He asked George Martin to come up with a string arrangement for the 2nd version. Lennon liked
the 1st half of the first recording & 2nd half of the second, so he asked George Martin to edit them together ... even though they were recorded at different tempos and in different keys. George Martin succeeded by speeding up one of the recordings by 5%, so that the tempo and pitch aligned between the takes miraculously!!
Strawberry Fields: Take 1, then Take 7
Take 7 at beginning
intro is played on the Mellotron (flute setting) [more about this instrument in the Art Rock chapter; see Moody Blues]
Here is Take 1 (used from 0:45)
Here is the released version of the recording (the edit point is @ 0:59): "Let me take you down, 'cause I'm" /edit/ "going to Strawberry Fields"
Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite
spliced-together & overdubbed fragments at conclusion (1:51 in the original recording); from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)
Tomorrow Never Knows
tape-generated & manipulated sounds; on Revolver (1966)
In the excerpt above:
0:04 - tape effects (occurs at 0:45 in the original recording)
0:10 - filtered voice
0:15 - tape effects
0:27 - backward guitar
text based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead
Revolution 9
tape montage (similar to much "electronic music" composed in the 1950s & 1960s); on the White album (1968)
