McCartney had written a simple straightforward number called Your Mother Should Know on the harmonium in his house while some of his relatives from Liverpool were visiting him, thus putting him in an old-fashioned music hall frame of mind. The Beatles captured this style with just Paul on piano, George on rhythm guitar and Ringo on drums. They recorded eight takes on August 22nd before hitting upon the best.
They returned to Chappell Studios on the following evening to add overdubs - specifically, the vocals. Paul sang and double-tracked his lead vocal part, then he joined John and George to sing the backing vocals. This date of August 23rd has always been notable as it was the last time any of the Beatles saw manager Brian Epstein, who showed up at the session. A few days later, Epstein was dead, and the group's fortunes changed forever. At a meeting following the funeral, they decided to immediately carry on with the Magical Mystery Tour project, hoping no doubt that immersing themselves in work would be the best thing to do in the moment. Lacking Epstein's oversight and organizational skills, however, the production would quickly descend into chaos.
The basic tracks of the remaining soundtrack songs were duly recorded, then a hastily assembled cast set off to commence filming. On September 16th, the Beatles returned to Abbey Road Studios to put down eleven takes of a remake of Your Mother Should Know. This version featured Paul on harmonium, John on piano, Ringo playing a march like drum pattern, and George occasionally banging away on bongos. The best of these takes (take twenty-seven!) appears on Anthology 2.
On September 24th, on a huge staircase set constructed inside a hanger, the sequence which would close out the film was shot, showing the boys in white tuxedos miming to the song as dancers swirl around them. By this time, Paul must have decided that the first version of the song was better, because George can be seen mouthing the backing vocal part from the original - they were no doubt hearing it on playback. John, typically, only remembers to join in every once in a while. Unlike many of today's pop stars who perform energetic, complex dance routines, the Beatles barely manage to pull off the simplest choreography while being purposefully self-conscious - especially John with his demonic smile. The result is somehow utterly charming.
Now that the first version of the song had been deemed official, some overdubs were added to the track back in the studio on September 29th, including John on organ, Ringo on tambourine and Paul finally playing a bass part. At the tail end of the song, a droning tamboura can briefly be heard, representing George's contribution on this date.
Your Mother Should Know immediately follows the title tune on the Magical Mystery Tour double EP released in the UK. The American album places the song near the end of side one just before I Am the Walrus. Apart from the September 16th alternate version from Anthology 2 mentioned above, it has not appeared on any other post-career collections.
Magical Mystery Tour was broadcast on BBC TV on Boxing Day, December 26th, 1967. Reaction from critics and the general public was so bad that ABC-TV, which had the American broadcast rights, declined to air the program. The film is probably only a treat for diehard fans of the Beatles such as me. The DVD I have, by the way, has a second helping of Your Mother Should Know in the extras, showing the boys rehearsing the number with even more goofing around from John.
No comments:
Post a Comment