The Quarry Men perform at a Garden Fete held at St. Peter’s Church, Woolton, Liverpool. After an outside performance on a makeshift stage in a field behind the church, The Quarry Men begin setting up their instruments in the church hall for an evening dance; they are scheduled to play alternating sets with the George…
Since 2014, the almost surreal clip of the song “Strawberry Fields Forever” gained space for The Beatles fans. Filmed on January 30 and 31, 1967 in Knole Park, Sevenoaks England, the video was one of the first examples of what would come to be known as a music video.The film features reverse recording effects, stop…
Not A Second Time is innovative. In the beginning of the song Lennon suddenly throws the melody up almost an octave. In the second verse Lennon varies the melody by singing the same note first with the mouth shut, and the next with open mouth. The melody ends with a low joking minor key? singing…
On September 16th, 1968, with just over three-and-a-half months already spent on recording the “White Album,” Paul brought “I Will” into EMI Studio Two for the first time. Paul, John and Ringo arrived sometime after the usual designated time of 7 pm to begin the recording process, George not taking part in the recording and…
Paul was the main guy who composed the song Got To Get You Into My Life to which he also contributed vocals. It was said to be a homage to the Motown Sound with its happy and colorful brass instrumentation.But actually, it was a homage to pot according to McCartney. And if you think about…
A fascinating aspect of “There’s a Place” lies in its gorgeous harmonies. Listen carefully for how Lennon and McCartney let their voices flutter on ending words like “place” and “go,” and the intricate harmonies during the bridge. Their close singing on “don’t you know that it’s so” remain some of the underrated pleasures of this…
Ringo on piano in Don’t Pass Me By, White Album, 1968.Ringo’s piano, according to Bruce Spizer’s book “The Beatles On Apple Records,” was “miked through a guitar amplifier and Leslie speaker,” thus creating the odd swirling effect heard on the finished recording. Upon listening to the finished recording, it appears that the drums were also…
Lullabies were popular in sheet music in the early 20th century, inspired by the success of Johannes Brahms’ Wiegenliedand Chopin’s Opus 57. For “Golden Slumbers”, Paul came across a tune called “Cradle Song”. “I can’t read music and I couldn’t remember the old tune,” McCartney recalled in The Beatles’ 1995 Anthology film. “So I started…
Two lyrics in “Only a Northern Song written by George.That song was released in Yellow Submarine album, January 1969. The original February 13, 1967 take resurfaced on the Anthology 2 compilation; it featured the basic track with organ, bass, drums and the vocals Harrison originally recorded. The bass and guitar from April 20 were used…
Almost unanimity among the authors who write about the Beatles songs, that one of the biggest difficulties of George Harrison with his compositions, was when giving a title to them. Choosing a title for “Love You To” had already been a problem and the song was recorded with the working title of “Granny Smith”, a…