Volume Two, 1966–1970

THE BEATLES’RECORDED LEGACY

JOHN C. WINN

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Copyright © 2009 by John C. Winn

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Three Rivers Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group,a division of Random House, Inc., New York. www.crownpublishing.com

Three Rivers Press and the Tugboat design are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-PublicationWinn, John C.That magic feeling / John C. Winn.—1st pbk. ed.Includes bibliographical references and discography.p. cm.1. Beatles—Discography. 2. Beatles—History—Chronology. I. Title.ML156.7.B4W547 2009782.42166092'2—dc22 2008051921

ISBN 978-0-307-45239-9

Printed in the United States of America

Design by Nancy Beth Field

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

First Paperback Edition

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That Magic Feeling  

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To the memory of my grandfathers, Sterling Winn and William Delorey

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CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ■ ix

PREFACE ■ xi

1966: Take This, Brother ■ 1

1967: A Little Bit Older ■ 77

1968: You Become Naked ■ 145

1969: Financial Imbalance ■ 237

1970: Will You Forgive Me? ■ 359

APPENDIX A: Master Newsreel List

for the Years 1966–1970 ■ 383

APPENDIX B: John Lennon’s Home Tapes 1966–1970 ■ 387

GLOSSARY ■ 389

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY ■ 391

DISCOGRAPHY ■ 393

INDEX ■ 397

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Although I had to do all the dirty work myself, such as transcribing press confer-ences, this book would simply not exist without the support and help of a lot ofother people.

First and foremost are Scott Raile and John McEwen. Scott has given me invalu-able feedback on the majority of the manuscript, and has always been there to nit-pick over the finer points of arcane Beatle trivia over the last twelve years. Were itnot for John McEwen, you’d be reading a guide to audio recordings only—his ex-pertise in the field of Beatles video and generosity in sharing the material are un-paralleled.

Other fellow Beatle fans and authors who provided encouragement, recordings,and facts include Mark Ashworth, Chazz Avery, Andrea Bucchieri, Jay Donnelly,Harald Gernhardt, Don Giller, Ted Greenwald, Randy Hall, Chris Hanzl, Walt Ja-neck, Mike Johnson, LRE King, Katz Kisaki, Tim Kocher, Allan Kozinn, JasonKruppa, Mark Lewisohn, Chip Madinger, Warren Raab, Tim Riley, Bamiyan Shiff,Doug Sulpy, Dirk Van Damme, and Michael White.

Special thanks to my agent, Matthew Elblonk, for his persistence in getting thisrevised edition published. A tip of the hat to Andrew Croft for helping to launch mywriting career in the pages of his Beatlology magazine. Thanks to all my friendswho have talked Beatles with me over the years: Oliver Graham, Chris Mirski, Do-minic Robillard, Karyn O’Bryant, and especially Abby Dees. Lots of love to my par-ents, grandparents, and Aunt Cathy and Uncle Jim for helping to raise a fineBeatlemaniac.

Finally, eternal gratitude to my best friend, Janis, for believing in me and givingme the confidence to have faith in myself and my abilities.

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PREFACE

xi

This book is meant to be used in conjunction with Volume 1, so I won’t rehash therationale and definitions from the earlier preface. But in case you’ve been able toacquire only this volume, here’s how a typical entry works:

The header contains a number (sequential within eachchapter—this would be the sixth entry for that year),followed by a categorical designation for the entry. Inentries where less than all four Beatles participate in arecording, I’ve also included the capital letters of theirfirst names (Paul and George in this instance). For thispurpose, Pete Best and Jimmy Nicol count as officialmembers, and all studio sessions for Beatle product areexempt from the rule (thus the entry for “Yesterday” isnot labeled with a P, even though Paul is the only Bea-tle to sing or play).

Date: Host:Time: Interviewer:

Location: Broadcast:Producer: Length:

These are all fairly straightforward, but note that thedate of an entry is the final date new sound was addedto a recording. For instance, most of the song “SlowDown” was recorded June 1, 1964, but it wasn’t com-pleted until George Martin’s piano overdub three dayslater; thus it falls under June 4. Under Location,“EMI Studio 2” should be taken to read Abbey RoadStudio 2, London; similar shortcuts are used forJohn’s (“Kenwood”), George’s (“Kinfauns”), and Ringo’s(“Sunny Heights”) London homes.

[A.] Zip Your Zucchini—takes 2–6 (stereo)(3:55)

[B.] Zip Your Zucchini—take 17 (mono)(2:19)

[C.] Zip Your Zucchini—RM 8 (2:14)Mixed: 30 January 1964

Studio session subentries are generally grouped intoblocks of raw sessions followed by finished mixes. Forthe hypothetical song above, we have a continuousstereo recording of five takes, a mono recording of alater take, and a finished mono mix (RM stands forremix mono; RS for remix stereo) created January 30,1964. For concert recordings and TV/radio perfor -mances, the songs are listed in the likely order of per-formance. “Intro” and “outro” can consist of stagepatter or merely audience screaming between songs.All timings in this book are meant to be approximate,not definitive; when faced with different lengths onvarious sources, I always went with the recording clos-est to the presumed correct pitch.

RELEASE HISTORY

1964: C was released on a single and is available on aCD single of the same title.

1976: A and B surfaced on the vinyl bootleg BeatlesTut- Tut Album in very good quality.

The release history is an attempt to show the geneal-ogy of each recording. It always includes the first ap-pearance, whether on a legitimate or bootleg source,any subsequent upgrades in sound quality or length,and the currently available commercial issues. Sound- quality assessments are obviously subjective, and aremeant for comparative purposes only.

Any questions, corrections, comments, or additions?Drop me a line at DinsdaleP@aol.com—I’m alwaysglad to talk Beatle.

6. Studio session P, G

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1966: TAKE THIS, BROTHER

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January 5 John Lennon attends a party at the home of singer P. J. Proby in London.

January 8 While Paul visits his family in Liverpool, the rest of the Beatles attend a party at Mick Jagger’sLondon townhouse.

January 12 John and Ringo fly to Port of Spain, Trinidad, for a vacation with their wives.

George and Pattie nightclub at Dolly’s disco with Mick Jagger.

January 21 George marries Patricia Ann Boyd at Esher Register Office; in a reversal of Ringo’s wedding, Paul isthe only other Beatle in the country and stands in as best man. A reception follows at Kinfauns.

January 23 John and Ringo return to London from their vacation in Trinidad.

January 31 Paul and George, with Jane and Pattie, attend the premiere of the play How’s the World TreatingYou? at Wyndham’s Theatre in London.

February 3 Paul attends Stevie Wonder’s show at the Scotch of St. James nightclub.

February 4 George and Pattie attend the play Little Malcolm and His Struggle Against the Eunuchs at the GarrickTheatre.

February 8 Newlyweds George and Pattie fly from London to Barbados for their honeymoon.

February 12 John and Ringo nightclub at the Scotch of St. James.

February 13 John, Paul, and Ringo attend a party at Brian Epstein’s house.

February 21 U.S. release of “Nowhere Man”/“What Goes On” single.

February 23 Paul attends a performance of electronic music by Luciano Berio at the Italian Institute.

February 25 George and Pattie return to London from their Barbados honeymoon.

March 4 UK release of Yesterday EP.

Maureen Cleave’s interview with John is published in the Evening Standard. Buried in the middle ofthe piece is the following quote from John: “Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn’targue with that; I’m right and I will be proved right. We’re more popular than Jesus now. I don’t knowwhich will go first—rock- and- roll or Christianity.” Reaction is minimal in Britain; when read within thecontext of the entire article, the statement is less inflammatory.

March 6 Paul and his girlfriend, Jane Asher, fly from London to Klosters, Switzerland, for a brief ski vacation.

March 20 Paul and Jane return to London.

March 24 The Beatles, their wives, and Brian Epstein attend the premiere of the film Alfie (in which Paul’sgirlfriend, Jane Asher, plays a small role) at the Plaza Haymarket Cinema.

March 25 Robert Whitaker shoots a series of photos of the Beatles at Oluf Nissen’s studio in the Vale, Chelsea.Most notably, the group pose in butchers smocks surrounded by raw meat and dismembered babydolls.

March 26 Paul and his brother Michael watch their father’s racehorse win the Hylton Plate at Aintree RaceCourse.

March 28 George and Ringo attend Roy Orbison’s concert at the Walthamstowe Granada Cinema.

April 1 John and Paul visit the Indica Gallery, which opened the previous month with a £5,000 contributionfrom Paul.

April 6 Sessions for the Revolver LP begin at EMI Studios.

April 18 John and George attend the Lovin’ Spoonful’s concert at the Marquee Club.

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May 1 The Beatles give their final British concert, performing at the New Musical Express Poll Winners’Concert at the Empire Pool. Though most of the show is videotaped for ABC, the Beatles’ set goesundocumented due to contractual disputes.

May 19 John and Paul, along with Keith Moon, spend all night listening to the advance copy of Pet Sounds,brought over by Beach Boy Bruce Johnston.

May 20 John and Cynthia attend a party in London with Mick Jagger.

May 27 John and Bob Dylan are filmed in the backseat of Dylan’s limo en route from John’s Weybridge hometo the May Fair Hotel. That night, John and George attend Bob Dylan’s concert at the Royal AlbertHall; later, Paul, Bob Dylan, and the Rolling Stones socialize at Dolly’s, a nightclub.

May 30 U.S. release of “Paperback Writer”/“Rain” single.

John’s limo is pulled over for speeding while attempting to evade a carful of Beatles fans.

May 31 Ringo is photographed at home for Beatles Monthly magazine.

June 1 George attends Ravi Shankar’s concert at the Royal Albert Hall; soon afterward they meet for the firsttime at Peter Sellers’s home.

June 10 UK release of “Paperback Writer”/“Rain” single.

June 16 Paul purchases a farm near the Mull of Kintyre in Campbeltown, Scotland.

The Beatles receive cholera vaccinations (for their upcoming far eastern tour) at BOAC Air Terminal,Victoria Railway Station.

June 20 U.S. release of “Yesterday” . . . And Today LP.

June 22 The Beatles attend the pre–opening night celebrations at Sibylla’s, a nightclub cofinanced byGeorge.

June 23 The Beatles fly from London to Munich to begin their final world tour.

June 27 The Beatles fly from Hamburg to London Airport to catch a connecting flight to Japan, their nextscheduled destination. A decidedly unscheduled typhoon reroutes them to Alaska, where they spendthe night at a hotel in Anchorage.

July 3 The Beatles fly from Tokyo to Manila with a stopover in Hong Kong.

July 4 The Beatles offend Imelda, wife of Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos, by missing a ceremonialluncheon at Malacañang Palace.

July 5 The Beatles are harassed by police, government officials, and angry mobs as they make their way tothe airport without the promised escorts. They fly from Manila to India via Bangkok, arriving at NewDelhi to hundreds of Indian Beatles fans, much to their bewilderment.

July 8 The Beatles return to London Airport in the early morning hours.

UK release of Nowhere Man EP.

July 29 Datebook, a U.S. teen fan magazine, publishes Maureen Cleave’s March 4 interview with John, underthe misleading banner headline “More Popular Than Jesus.”

August 2 George visits his mother- in- law’s home in Devon.

August 5 UK release of Revolver LP.

UK release of “Yellow Submarine”/“Eleanor Rigby” single.

August 8 U.S. release of Revolver LP.

U.S. release of “Yellow Submarine”/“Eleanor Rigby” single.

August 11 The Beatles fly from London to Chicago (via Boston) for their final concert tour; that night, Johnexplains his remarks about religion, with a pair of remarkable press conferences at the Astor TowersHotel in Chicago.

August 19 At the evening concert at Memphis’s Mid- South Coliseum, a cherry bomb is thrown onstage during“If I Needed Someone.”

August 29 The last Beatles concert, at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, is taped by press officer Tony Barrowon a C- 60 cassette with a portable recorder pointed toward the general direction of the stage. On the

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flight back to Los Angeles after the show, the Beatles agree to cease touring for at least theimmediate future.

August 30 The Beatles fly overnight from Los Angeles to London.

August 31 The Beatles arrive back at London Airport.

September 5 John flies to Hanover, West Germany, to the set of How I Won the War.

September 6 John has his hair cropped into a crew cut for his role as Private Gripweed; filming begins for How IWon the War.

September 14 Shooting of How I Won the War concludes at Celle, West Germany.

George and Pattie Harrison fly to Bombay to study yoga and meditation; George also begins sitarlessons under the guidance of Ravi Shankar.

September 15 Paul attends a free- form music concert at the Royal College of Art.

John and Neil Aspinall travel to Paris.

September 16 Paul and Brian Epstein join John and Neil for the weekend.

September 18 John and Neil travel to Almeria, Spain, to continue filming How I Won the War.

September 19 George holds a press conference at the Taj Mahal Hotel in Bombay.

Shooting for How I Won the War continues on location in Carboneras, in southern Spain.

September 27 Brian Epstein checks in to the Priory Hospital for recuperation and a complete physical following hisapparent suicide attempt earlier in the month.

October 4 Ringo and Maureen fly from London to Spain and join John on the set of How I Won the War.

October 15 Dressed in an Arabian costume, Paul attends the opening night celebration for the undergroundpaper International Times, held at the Roundhouse in London.

October 22 George and Pattie fly from India to London.

October 26 George welcomes Ravi Shankar on the arrival of Ravi’s flight at London Airport.

October 31 Donovan arrives at George’s bungalow for a week- long visit.

November 6 John’s last day of location shooting How I Won the War.

Paul flies from Kent to France and spends a week driving through the countryside before meeting upwith Mal Evans at Bordeaux.

November 7 John flies from Madrid to London.

November 9 John is formally introduced to Yoko Ono, the artist of Unfinished Paintings and Objects, the daybefore the avant- garde exhibit opens at the Indica Gallery.

November 11 John and Cynthia attend a Ben E. King performance at the Scotch of St. James nightclub.

November 12 Paul and Mal drive from Bordeaux to Spain, where they had intended to visit John on the film set.Since his part has wrapped early, they drive to Seville, fly to Madrid, have a layover in Rome, andfinally arrive in Nairobi, Kenya, for a safari vacation.

November 19 Paul and Mal Evans return to London from their African safari.

November 20 John and George attend a party in honor of the Four Tops at Brian Epstein’s house.

November 24 The Beatles reconvene at EMI Studios for new sessions, beginning with “Strawberry Fields Forever,”and culminating in the LP Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

December 1 Paul attends the Young Rascals show at the Scotch of St James nightclub.

December 2 Paul attends another Young Rascals show at Blaises nightclub in the Imperial Hotel.

December 9 UK release of A Collection of Beatles Oldies LP.

December 16 UK release of Pantomime: Everywhere It’s Christmas, the Beatles’ fourth annual Christmas flexi- discfor fan club members.

December 18 Paul and Jane Asher attend the world premiere of the film The Family Way at the Warner Cinema.Paul composed the movie’s incidental score.

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December 31 George, Pattie, Brian Epstein, Eric Clapton, and friends decide to take their patronage elsewhereafter George is refused admittance to Annabel’s, an upscale nightclub, for not wearing a tie. Instead,the party rings in 1967 at J. Lyons & Co., a small restaurant in southern Soho.

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2. Newsreel footage G

Date: 22 January 1966Location: London

Broadcast: 22 January 1966ITV

Length: 0:59

As Ringo had a year earlier, George consented to meetthe press the day following his wedding to PatriciaBoyd. This ITV News footage from the press conferencecaptures the newlyweds’ entrance, Pattie sporting a

knitted beret, as the couple sit on a desk and kiss forthe benefit of photographers. As Tony Barrow strugglesto control proceedings in the background, George pro-fesses his desire to take things slow when it comes tostarting a family.

RELEASE HISTORY

This footage was included on the video compilationBeatles 1962 to 1970.

1. Studio session

Date: 5 January 1966Location: CTS Studios, LondonProducer: George Martin

Broadcast: 1 March 1966, 8:00–8:50 p.m.BBC1The Beatles at Shea Stadium

[A.] Dizzy Miss Lizzy (2:47)[B.] Can’t Buy Me Love (2:05)[C.] Baby’s in Black (2:07)[D.] I’m Down (2:07)[E.] I Feel Fine (2:06)[F.] Help! (2:19)[G.] Ticket to Ride (2:14)

Although it wasn’t exactly publicized at the time, theBeatles didn’t cover up the fact that most of the Sheaconcert film had to be overdubbed in a studio due totechnical limitations. To their credit, they had al-ready refused to release both Hollywood Bowl con-certs recorded by Capitol for similar reasons, but withNEMS putting their own money into the Shea project(via Subafilms), the group was persuaded to bring therecordings up to par. This was achieved in a Londonfilm- dubbing studio, with George Martin at the helmand the Beatles doing their best to match their new vo-cals and instrumental tracks to the images on celluloid.

Paul beefed up his bass tracks for A–D, with Johnalso fortifying his organ on the latter song, probably

having a ball trying to re- create his manic elbow styl -ings. Both E and F were completely rerecorded by thewhole band, and the studio atmosphere is most evidenton these numbers, although they do a good job of in-vesting the songs with concert- level energy. It’s notclear whether any overdubbing was done to G, and as“A Hard Day’s Night” was largely obscured by dialogue,it was left untouched.

There wasn’t time to fix up “Twist and Shout” or“Act Naturally,” so earlier recordings were added to thesoundtrack. In the case of “Twist and Shout,” Capitol’s1965 Hollywood Bowl recording was deemed suitable,but “Act Naturally” proved more difficult. A couple ofshows into the tour, the group had dropped the song infavor of “I Wanna Be Your Man,” and thus no suitablelive recording existed. Instead, the original studio ver-sion was sweetened with crowd noise and dropped in.Although the record featured acoustic rather than elec-tric rhythm guitar, it’s doubtful many viewers noticedthe difference.

RELEASE HISTORY

The Beatles at Shea Stadium soundtrack has been re-leased on dozens of bootlegs over the years; the earliesttitles on vinyl included Shea, the Good Old Days andthe misleading Last Live Show. The best CD source isprobably Shea!/Candlestick Park.

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3. Interview G

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Date: 22 January 1966Location: London

Broadcast: 25 February 1966WABC- AM, New York City

Length: 1:45

One interview from this press conference seems to orig-inate from an ABC- TV report with an unknown Ameri-can journalist. George doubts that the marriage willhave much of an impact on the Beatles’ popularity, hop-ing that the fans are becoming more interested in themusic and less concerned with their personal lives. He also refuses to rise to the bait when the reporterpresses him to speculate about Paul’s marriage plans.

Pattie says she wants to have three children, whichprompts George to sing a line from Len Barry’s recenthit “1- 2- 3” (ironically, Barry’s follow- up single, whichentered Billboard’s Top 40 this very day was titled“Like a Baby”!). Pattie patiently answers a couple ofpatronizing questions before smooching George for thebenefit of ABC’s cameras.

RELEASE HISTORY

This interview circulates among collectors in goodquality from a radio rebroadcast on George’s twenty- third birthday.

4. Interview GDate: 22 January 1966

Location: LondonLength: 1:47

In this interview for a Reuters newsreel, Pattie ex-presses a wish to remain away from the public eye,much as Cynthia and Maureen were doing. She reiter-ates her desire to have three children (“Thirty- nine,”interjects George), but sadly the couple failed to pro-

duce any progeny during their eleven- year marriage.The newlyweds then recount their meeting on the filmset of A Hard Day’s Night, with George revealing thatPattie snubbed him on his initial request for a date.

RELEASE HISTORY

1996: 46 seconds of this interview was released on FabFour CD & Book Set. The full clip circulates on video.

4a. Newsreel footage GDate: 22 January 1966

Location: LondonLength: 4:37

British Pathe’s archive has several minutes of silentfootage of the newlyweds’ press conference, includingshots of George’s parents, Brian Epstein, and TonyBarrow watching the proceedings, and Pattie showing

off her wedding ring for the cameras. At the end, Mr.and Mrs. Harrison squeeze onto a couch with the newMr. and Mrs. Harrison and pose for further pictures.

RELEASE HISTORY

This silent footage circulates on video.

5. Newsreel footage GDate: 8 February 1966

Location: London AirportLength: 0:23

George and his new bride decided to wait a couple ofweeks before taking off to Barbados for a lengthy hon-eymoon. Cameras followed the couple through the ter-minal at London Airport to the steps of their BOAC

flight, George in a casual suit and Pattie in a modblack- and- white outfit with stylish shades.

RELEASE HISTORY

This footage circulates on video, and was included inITV’s Reporting ’66: End of Beatlemania.

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6. Speech G

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Date: ca. 25 February–early March 1966Location: London

Length: 0:46

At some point early in the year, George agreed torecord a brief message of thanks for the readers ofBravo, the magazine that would sponsor their upcom-ing tour of Germany. The message is spoken entirely inGerman, and George was probably chosen to be thespokesman because he was easily the Beatle most flu-ent in that language.

RELEASE HISTORY

1966: This recording was issued on a 7- inch flexi- disc,Die Goldenen OTTO- Sieger 1966, included with issue13 of Bravo magazine, dated March 21. It’s been copiedon numerous bootlegs such as Beatles 4 Ever and Liveat the Circus Crone.

7. InterviewDate: 25 March 1966Time: 3:00–3:30 p.m.

Location: The Vale, LondonInterviewer: Tom LodgeBroadcast: Radio Caroline

Length: 20:52

Once Paul returned from his Swiss skiing holiday, theBeatles could begin convening after a long respite. Oneof the first such occasions was around this time atNEMS’s offices, when the “trunk photo” eventuallyused on the “Yesterday” . . . And Today album coverwas shot. But of course, the alternate picture that ini-tially graced the sleeve was much different, stemmingfrom a March 25 session with photographer RobertWhitaker.

Before donning the butcher smocks and gatheringthe doll parts and raw meat, however, a somewhat un-welcome publicity task awaited the group. Brian Ep-stein was half owner in the newly merged Disc andMusic Echo paper, and to promote its inauguration, afree flexi- disc single would be mailed as a premium toreaders who sent in coupons. The disc, titled Sound ofthe Stars, was to feature interviews with a number ofBritish pop stars. With Epstein’s involvement, andNEMS’s Tony Barrow producing the recording, theBeatles’ participation seemed mandatory.

At least that’s how it sounds during the uneditedinterview, with none of the group having anything in-teresting to say, and Radio Caroline DJ Tom Lodgehaving no interesting questions to pose. Instead, hetries desperately to fill time, receiving little assistancefrom his interview subjects. As the tape begins, Lodgeasks such inane questions as “What’s it like being aBeatle?” and “What do you think of this microphone?”John, just starting to use LSD recreationally aroundthis time, mentions “hallucinations,” and Paul know-

ingly sniggers about “poiple hearts . . . All them popgroups take ’em.” In fact, when Ringo’s earnest answerto a question about answering mail induces riotouslaughter for no apparent reason, it appears some of thelads may be high, and the tape is switched off.

As we rejoin them, Tony Barrow is heard admittinghe has nothing particular in mind for this recording,which is a pity for anyone having to listen to the nextfifteen minutes. Such “wacky” jokes as Paul’s twins,ages “four and five,” and having Gershwin and Trotskyghostwrite their songs, come across as forced ratherthan whimsical. In desperation, Lodge even asks Ringowhen he first had sex! Even more embarrassing are hisattempts to get the Fabs to send greetings to otherRadio Caroline DJs; they obviously don’t listen to hisstation and recognize almost none of the names, al-though John is sure they used to work with TonyBlackburn.

After requesting “Green Door,” a 1956 hit for JimLowe, and “Priscilla,” a hit for Eddie Cooley and theDimples the same year, they make a dedication toDonny Andrews, bassist for the Liverpool group theRemo Four. Finally, the conversation turns toward pol-itics, and George struggles to make some valid pointsabout military spending and the BBC’s monopoly onterrestrial radio. But in the end, only a fraction of thistape was suitable for the flexi- disc.

RELEASE HISTORY

1966: The flexi- disc Sound of the Stars contained ex-cerpts from this interview; a bit at the start of side 1and a further 1:37 to close out side 2.

1996: The unedited source tape was released on the CDDon’t Touch That Dial 2.

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8. Home demo P

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Date: ca. late March 1966Location: 34 Montagu Square, Marylebone

[A.] Eleanor Rigby (0:16)

In March 1966, as Paul was helping Barry Miles set upthe Indica Bookshop, the two discussed setting up arecording studio that could be used by poets and exper-imental musicians. Paul ended up installing a pair ofRevox tape recorders in a flat Ringo was leasing, wherethis demo fragment was most likely recorded. In Paul’sauthorized biography, Many Years from Now, BarryMiles writes: “Paul recorded most of the demo versionsof ‘Eleanor Rigby’ at the experimental recording studiothat he had set up in Marylebone.”

The tape originally contained Paul’s off- air copy ofthe documentary The Beatles at Shea Stadium, airedMarch 1 on BBC TV. Sometime in the following weeks,Paul erased the tape’s first two minutes with a guitardemo of his new composition. According to their chauf-feur Alf Bicknell, the Beatles taped demos at George’shome on April 10, 1966; this may also come from thatsession. Following the Shea documentary, the tape ap-parently concludes with an instrumental resembling

“I’m Looking Through You,” which may mean evenmore material from 1965 was being taped over.

Paul recalls writing the melody to “Eleanor Rigby”on the upright piano in the Ashers’ basement musicroom (the same piano he and John had used to compose“I Want to Hold Your Hand”), by “vamping an E- minorchord.” The demo sounds a half step lower in pitch,with Paul’s double- tracked vocal accompanied by hisacoustic guitar. The circulating excerpt consists of therefrain “All the lonely people/Where do they all comefrom?/All the lonely people/Where do they all belong?”The full demo reportedly includes the working lyric“Father McCartney” during the second verse; hope-fully the unedited tape will appear someday to verifythat fact.

RELEASE HISTORY

2001: This recording turned up out of the blue on a tapebeing auctioned via the Internet. The sample clip wasavailable on the website www.beatles- auction.com.

2002: A was included on the CD- R As It Happened,Baby!

8a. Home demo PDate: ca. 1966

Location: 34 Montagu Square, Marylebone

[A.] tape experiments (4:14)

In the same vein as the “Eleanor Rigby” demo, but farless structured, is this recording of Paul and variousfriends fooling around with his Revox machines in thebasement studio. Playing with the tape echo, Paul bab-bles in various silly accents (Scouse, Irish, and so on),with his mates chiming in here and there. Although therecording date is unknown, Paul does mention the

“Carousel of Light” at one point. While this phrase isfairly close to Carnival of Light, the January 1967 fes-tival to which Paul contributed a Beatles sound col-lage, this is most definitely not that recording.

RELEASE HISTORY

2004: On June 12, BBC Radio 4’s series The ArchiveHour broadcast Barry Miles’s documentary Z Is forZapple, which opened and closed with this recording.The entire show circulates on CD- R.

9. Studio sessionDate: 6 April 1966Time: 8:00 p.m.–1:15 a.m.

Location: EMI Studio 3Producer: George Martin

[A.] Tomorrow Never Knows—take 1(stereo) (3:13)

[B.] Tomorrow Never Knows—monitor mix oftake 1 (mono) (2:02)

The sessions for Revolver started off with a bang thisevening thanks to a recording that would end up lyri-cally, melodically, and sonically unlike anything theBeatles had attempted before. It began life with the

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unassuming working title “Mark I,” and John, its au-thor, already had some idea of how he wanted it tosound, although getting it right took some doing.

For this first attempt (A), a simple tape loop ofslowed- down guitar and resonant percussion was pre-pared to drone and scrape away in the background.With George Martin’s “Here it comes” playback warn-ing, Ringo and Paul added a simple but relentlessdrum and bass backing on top of this, the result allgoing on track 1 of the four- track tape. John also sanga guide vocal on track 4, but seems to have been listen-ing to the loop in his headphones rather than whatPaul and Ringo were playing, as his vocal lags behindthroughout.

A monitor mix of this take (B) appears in two seg-ments on the Anthology DVD, as George Martin playsback the tape with Paul, George, and Ringo at AbbeyRoad, occasionally isolating each of the two tracks.

Although the recording as it stood was already rev-olutionary by their standards, John had somethingmore extreme in mind. By take 3, a satisfactory back-ing track was laid down on track 1 of the tape. Thisconsisted of Ringo’s drums and Paul’s bass, this time

without any accompanying tape loop. John wanted amore ethereal sound on his vocal than mere double- tracking could give him (something akin to thousandsof chanting monks or the Dalai Lama atop a moun-tain). Presumably, with no Himalayas nearby, the clos-est thing at hand in Studio 3 was the swirling sound ofthe Hammond organ’s rotating Leslie speaker.

Much to his delight, when John’s voice was fedthrough the Leslie, it produced the desired gyratingtone, and he recorded a lead vocal on track 4 of thetape, with the Leslie effect switched on for the secondhalf of the song. Alongside this, George played a tam-boura drone on the same track. There was more workto be done, but that would have to wait for the follow-ing day.

RELEASE HISTORY

1996: A was officially released on Anthology 2.

2003: B was released on the soundtrack of the Anthol-ogy DVD.

10. Studio sessionDate: 7 April 1966Time: 8:15 p.m.–1:30 a.m.

Location: EMI Studio 3Producer: George Martin

[A.] Got to Get You into My Life—take 5(mono) (2:52)

Today’s afternoon session saw an important addition to“Mark I” as each Beatle arrived with several tape loopsof various sped- up and distorted guitars and sound ef-fects such as wine glasses being rubbed. Five of thesewere placed on different mono machines, the tensiontaken up by people holding pencils. These signals wereall patched into a mixer controlled by the group’s newrecording engineer Geoff Emerick, who alternatedamong the signals and fed the results onto track 2 ofthe “Mark I” tape. Track 3 of the tape would not befilled for a couple more weeks.

This evening session was devoted to Paul’s ode tomarijuana, “Got to Get You into My Life.” By the fifthtake, a basic track of acoustic guitar, drums, andGeorge Martin on organ was completed, with added vo-cals: Paul’s lead and some nice harmonies from Johnand George. The song was lyrically complete at thisstage, with the additional words “somehow, someway,”after the title line; what would eventually be a guitar

break near the end was for now a repeated “I need yourlove” in rising harmony.

Although take 5 (A) was temporarily marked “best,”they started again the next day with a slightly differ-ent arrangement. With only two tracks of the tapefilled this evening, the version released on Anthology 2is understandably in mono; if you listen closely, thereappears to be a second organ part mixed out (clickingkeys can be heard) that duplicates the eventual brassline after each refrain.

In addition, 21 seconds from the end of this takewas included in the Anthology documentary; althoughthe music overlaps entirely with the CD, the vocaltrack is left up a bit longer, allowing us to hear Paul’scomment “D’you want to do another one, George?” aswell as a bit more clowning from John and George.

RELEASE HISTORY

1996: A was officially released on Anthology 2. The ex-cerpt with extra vocals was also released on the An-thology home video the same year; it can be found onthe bootleg CD Abbey Road Video Show. Its appearanceon the Anthology DVD has been ruined by aligning thevocal and music tracks out of sync.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

John C. Winn has studied the Beatles’ recordings for more than thirty years, and haswritten six books and numerous articles about the band’s musical output. He wasborn in Berkeley, California, and currently lives in Vermont, surrounded by thou-sands of Beatles CDs, LPs, cassettes, DVDs, books, and magazines. His favoritealbum is Revolver.

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That Magic Feeling  

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