Twist and Shout

The manager of the Beatles, Brian Epstein, stood nervously in the wings at the Royal Command Performance on November 4th, 1963.  Things were going very well so far.  Paul McCartney had just gotten a nice laugh with his Sophie Tucker joke before singing the crowd-pleaser Till There Was You.  Only one more number remained, but John Lennon would be handling the introduction, and he had threatened to drop an F-bomb when addressing the royal box.  All of Epstein's carefully planned work on behalf of the group's unprecedented success could be undone in one fell swoop.

The moment came.  "For our last number, I'd like to ask your help," John began.  "Would the people in the cheap seats clap your hands?"  A nice laugh from the audience.  "And the rest of you, if you'd just rattle your jewelry?"  A big laugh, applause, and the Beatles launched into the rousing Twist and Shout.  Backstage, Epstein heaved a sigh of relief.

There is no question that Twist and Shout looms large in the career of the Beatles.  The song had been a hit record for the Isley Brothers in the USA in 1962.  It did not do well in England, however, but the Beatles soon discovered it and added it to their stage act, where it quickly became popular with their fans in both Liverpool and Hamburg.  The Star Club tapes from December of 1962 contain a high energy performance of the song played before a raucous crowd. 

The group's official recording of Twist and Shout from February 11th, 1963 is legendary in its own right.  They had spent the entire day recording the bulk of their first album Please Please Me, but one more number was necessary to complete the task.  John had started off the day with a sore throat, and he had little left at 10 pm, but he gargled with milk (!), stripped to the waist and prepared to give it a go.  What you hear on the record is that one brilliant take.  They did attempt a second take, but producer George Martin reports that John's voice was gone by that point.

Martin placed the song at the end of the LP, realizing that it could not be topped.  When American label Vee Jay Records obtained the rights to the material, it wisely kept the same running order for the album Introducing...the Beatles.  Once Beatlemania took hold in the US, Vee Jay flooded the market with numerous releases, a few of them on the subsidiary label Tollie Records.  Among these was Twist and Shout, issued on March 2nd, 1964, with There's a Place as the B-side.  Amazingly, this single shot all the way up to number two on the Billboard chart.

In the UK, Parlophone had also issued Twist and Shout as the title track of the group's first EP in July of '63.  This release not only topped the EP chart, but it went all the way to number two on the singles chart, as well, and it remains the biggest selling EP in British history.  

One additional US release occurred in March of 1965 when Capitol re-issued most of the songs previously available only on the Vee Jay and Tollie labels on an album called The Early Beatles.  Twist and Shout curiously sits in the second slot right after Love Me Do, not exactly the most effective use of sequencing.

But the Beatles themselves knew how to use the song effectively in concert.  For the most part, it either opened or closed their performances.  For example, it opened their third weekly appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show.  When they returned to the States in the summer of '64, the song most notably opened the Hollywood Bowl concert recorded by Capitol Records as a potential live album.  That idea was scrapped, but Capitol used a brief excerpt of Twist and Shout from the top of that show on the money-grabbing two-record documentary album The Beatles' Story, released in November of 1964.

By 1965, the song was still opening their stage act, though in a truncated one-verse version.  This can be heard on bootlegs of their Paris concert in June of that year, as well as on The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl, with the 1977 album utilizing the opening of their 1965 return appearance at that storied venue.  By the end of '65, the song was finally retired from the set list.

The boys played the song many times on British TV, as well as on BBC Radio.  The collection On Air - Live at the BBC Volume 2 contains one of those radio performances from their program Pop Go the Beatles in the summer of 1963.  And the video collection 1+ features a black and white clip from the Granada television program Scene at 6:30 showing the group in black turtleneck sweaters miming to the original recording.

Other post career releases of Twist and Shout include its distinction as being the first track on the 1976 compilation Rock and Roll Music.  And the entire Royal Command Performance incident described at the top of this blog entry can be heard on Anthology 1, including the corny house orchestra's playing of Twist and Shout after the Beatles have finished. 

Tomorrow Never Knows

After an unusually long three-month holiday, the Beatles reconvened at Abbey Road Studios on April 6th, 1966, to begin work on their seventh album, Revolver.  The song they recorded on this day would ultimately close out that remarkable album in jaw-dropping fashion, presenting listeners with a sonic experience far removed from the well-crafted pop sound of the Fab Four as the world first knew and loved them.  The question was: would those same listeners continue to follow them as the band moved on to newer, more challenging material?

A key part of the sound achieved on this day is due to the promotion of Geoff Emerick as first engineer for the Beatles, replacing Norman Smith, who had chosen to move on to other duties.  Emerick would now be producer George Martin's right-hand man, and he would be put to the test immediately.  John Lennon had written a song, known on this date as Mark I, with lyrics based on Timothy Leary's version of The Tibetan Book of the Dead, and he wanted his voice to sound "like the Dalai Lama chanting from a mountaintop."  After giving it some thought, Emerick put John's vocal through a rotating Leslie speaker, astonishing everyone in the studio the first time they heard it.  

This vocal, along with Ringo's drums, was recorded over a tape loop made earlier in the session of John playing a guitar phrase, slowed down to create a thunderous sound.  This take, take one, can be heard on Anthology 2, including George Martin's voice on the intercom stating, "Stand by, here it comes," as the tape loop starts playing back in the studio.  As excited as everyone was by this incredible take, they instantly envisioned a different approach and began discussing many additional sounds.

As these discussions were taking place, Emerick moved microphones closer to Ringo's drums than had ever been attempted before, then stuffed a woolen sweater inside the bass drum to achieve an even bigger sound.  Take two consisted of the newly mic'd drums, George on guitar, Paul on bass, and a new lead vocal from John.  Even this vocal track was different, with the first three verses being subjected to a process called Artificial Double Tracking, or ADT, for the first time ever, and the final four verses after the instrumental break using the Leslie speaker.  Take two broke down quickly but take three became the keeper.

Before calling it a night, it was decided that the Beatles would go home and record some sounds on their personal tape recorders that could be used as tape loops at the next day's session.  They duly reported in on April 7th and listened to what each of them had come up with in multiple ways - at regular speed, sped up, and slowed down.  Paul had the most tape loops, and his were favored overall.  It is perhaps surprising to learn that only five were actually chosen to be used in the finished product.

A few additional EMI employees were rounded up to stand by various tape machines throughout Abbey Road Studios and maintain tension on the tape loops as they ran continuously.  George Martin and Geoff Emerick then sat at the console in Studio Two and brought the faders up and down, overdubbing the tape loop sounds onto take three until all were satisfied with the results.  (Lennon would pretty much use this same technique a few years later to create his soundscape Revolution 9.)  

Although John's vocal in the early verses had been treated with ADT in order to avoid double-tracking, he now decided to double-track it, as well.  The irony of this is that ADT had been invented by engineer Ken Townsend precisely because John had always complained about the tediousness of having to double-track his vocals.  Nonetheless, both techniques were used on this track.  The final overdubs recorded on this day were a tambourine played by Ringo and an intermittent organ part played by John.

They did not return to the track until April 22nd, at which time a few important finishing touches were added.  After originally hearing take one on April 6th, George Harrison had mentioned to John that an Indian instrument called a tamboura would fit in perfectly with the feel of the song.  He now brought one into the studio, and it was recorded to establish the one-chord drone effect throughout.  Next, an addition was made to the second half of the instrumental break.  Paul had played a brilliant guitar solo the previous day for Harrison's song Taxman.  That solo was now cut up into sections and those sections were randomly inserted into this song, slowed down a bit and played backwards.

John then felt the need to re-record his vocal with the Leslie effect for the second half of the song.  A final, somewhat incongruous addition was Paul playing a bit of tack piano, which only appears as the song is fading out.  The end result is a piece of work unlike anything the Beatles had ever done or would ever do again.  And it was certainly their most complex recording to date, setting the bar for the Sgt. Pepper sessions of the following year. 

Sometime before the release of the album Revolver, Lennon chose to use one of Ringo's odd offhand remarks as the title of the song.  It therefore became known as Tomorrow Never Knows.  A number of fans were no doubt put off by the new direction that the Beatles would chart from this time forward.  Yet, not only did most continue to follow the band, but many new listeners would gravitate to their more mature work, cementing their reputation as the most influential group in the world.

Till There Was You

Even in the highly competitive Liverpool beat group scene of the early 60's, there were few bands with such a broad-ranging knowledge of popular music as the Beatles.  Not only were John, Paul, George and Pete aware of more than most other rock and roll groups, they incorporated some of the tunes they knew from other genres in their live act, especially when they had to fill countless hours of stage time in Hamburg.  Paul McCartney was particularly keen on singing ballads such as The Honeymoon Song, September in the Rain, or Falling in Love Again, which suited both his voice and his personality.  This versatility proved crucial once Brian Epstein latched onto the band as manager, and often dictated the song choices for various venues.

For Epstein and the Beatles, January 1st, 1962, was the ultimate opportunity to display all that they were capable of as performers at their audition for Decca Records.  Epstein personally selected the fifteen songs they would record on that day, downplaying the rock and roll somewhat and favoring more numbers that he felt would appeal to all ages.  One of the foremost among these was a standard from the Broadway musical comedy The Music Man - Till There Was You.  Paul had been singing an arrangement based on Peggy Lee's version of the song for some time, so it was a natural choice for the all-important audition.

The powers that be at Decca passed on the Beatles, but Epstein now had a record of that audition which he could carry around to other labels in the hopes of getting a deal for his band.  A producer at EMI's Parlophone label named George Martin heard that record and decided to bring the Beatles in for a test.  The rest, of course, is history.  Still, when it came time to record their first album, Martin chose A Taste of Honey for Paul's spotlight ballad.  It was not until sessions began for their second album that they returned to the Broadway tune. 

The first session for that album took place on July 18th, 1963.  After recording several other numbers, the Beatles made three attempts at Till There Was You before calling it a night.  They returned to the song on July 30th with a fresh approach.  Though they were used to playing the number on their usual instruments, it was decided that George would switch to an acoustic rather than his electric guitar, and Ringo would forgo his drum kit and play bongos instead.  By take eight, the song was complete.

Till There Was You was released on the album With the Beatles, as well as on the American equivalent Meet the Beatles!  On each of these albums, it serves as a quiet oasis in contrast to the many rocking numbers surrounding it.  Paul's simple, clear vocal delivery is paired with an impressive performance on guitar by George, much stronger than most of the solos that he was playing at this point in his development as a lead guitarist.

Brian Epstein's most strategic use of the song in the band's setlist was for the Royal Command Performance on November 4th, 1963.  It was preceded by a seemingly off the cuff, yet well-planned introduction in which Paul stated that the song had also been recorded "by our favorite American group, Sophie Tucker."  This momentous performance, including Paul's introduction, can be heard on Anthology 1.  It is interesting to note that George remained on electric guitar and Ringo quietly played on his full drum kit whenever the group played the song live.

When the Beatles made their first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show on February 9th, 1964, Till There Was You was their second number, immediately following the rollicking All My Loving.  This was once again most likely due to Epstein's calculated strategy to display the band's versatility to a new audience.  Other notable performances of the song include at the Washington Coliseum, Carnegie Hall, and throughout the three-week run of The Beatles' Christmas Show of '63-'64.

They played Till There Was You several times for BBC Radio.  The collection Live at the BBC includes a version from early '64 for one of their special programs titled From Us to You.  And On Air - Live at the BBC Volume 2 presents a performance of the song for an episode of Pop Go the Beatles from July of 1963, a few weeks before they made the official recording for With the Beatles.

The song was retired from their stage act during the Australian leg of their 1964 world tour.