Hold Me Tight

This is easily one of my least favorite tracks by the Beatles, and I am not alone in that assessment.  The song has rarely fared well with critics, either, though Dave Rybaczewski makes a strong case for it in his in-depth look at the composition, claiming it as a great step forward for McCartney as a songwriter.  The members of the band seem to have had mixed feelings about it, since they were keen to record it on two different occasions, yet it never figured prominently in their repertoire, though they did reportedly play it live for a few years. 

The group first attempted to record Hold Me Tight during the marathon session of February 11th, 1963, which yielded most of the tracks for the first album Please Please Me.  After thirteen takes, a decision was made to splice parts of takes nine and thirteen together for the master.  Ultimately, this track was considered unnecessary and left off of the album.

Later in the year, on September 12th, the boys revived the song in the studio while working on their second album.  They began with take twenty on this occasion and, including overdubs of backing vocals and handclaps, had a new master by take twenty-nine.  This version was released on With the Beatles in the UK and on the first Capitol album Meet the Beatles! in the US.

For me, the simple, repetitive guitar phrase quickly wears out its welcome, not unlike the one on the unreleased song If You've Got Trouble.  And, while this composition may pre-date Lennon's It Won't Be Long, which opens the album With the Beatles, I find Lennon's use of call-and-response much fresher and more exciting than that employed by McCartney in this number.  Finally, the choice to have the song grind to a halt merely serves to emphasize the amount of effort it took to churn out such a lackluster piece.

In an interview which appears at the beginning of Mark Lewisohn's book The Beatles: Recording Sessions, Lewisohn asks Paul about a number of songs.  When he mentions this one, Paul has little memory of it (and the interview was published in 1988), calling it a "work song."  He does say that it is "a bit Shirelles," which I find intriguing.  A girl group singing the same tune with a more interesting arrangement than a chugging guitar riff might be enjoyable.

After its release, the song has not surfaced again.  Not only did the group never choose to record it for any of their numerous BBC sessions, it has also never made the cut for any official post-career compilation.

Hey Jude

Paul McCartney had been dominating the A-sides of most Beatles singles since 1966, but John Lennon had high hopes when the group recorded the fast version of his song Revolution in the summer of 1968.  He figured there was simply no way that the others could deny his screaming rocker as the logical choice for the next A-side...until Paul played him his latest composition.  Not only did the usually-combative Lennon yield the prime position to his partner's song, in interviews he always spoke of Hey Jude with nothing but the highest regard as being one of McCartney's greatest achievements.

Paul famously got the idea for the song while driving over to visit Cynthia Lennon, as encouragement to young Julian whose parents were going through a bitter divorce.  The genius of the lyric is that it is universal in its appeal, so much so that John thought the words were addressed to him, urging him to go out and get Yoko.  Once Paul changed Jules to Jude, because he thought it sounded better, the original inspiration for the song was effectively masked.

The Beatles spent two full sessions merely rehearsing the song with the tape rolling on June 29th and 30th at Abbey Road Studios.  Actual recording did not begin until June 31st at a new studio in London called Trident, which the group was eager to work at because it had eight-track capabilities.  With Paul on piano, George on electric guitar, John on acoustic guitar and Ringo on his drum kit, they only recorded four takes after so much rehearsal the previous two days.  As it turned out, take one was the best.

On August 1st, still at Trident, Paul overdubbed his bass part and added his superb lead vocal, with an absolutely inspired performance during the coda.  John provided a skillful harmony vocal in places, and he and George sang backing vocals.  Even Ringo joined in for the "Na na na" chorus.  A thirty-six member orchestra then reported to the studio and played one of producer George Martin's simplest arrangements.  They, too, were then recorded joining in vocally for the extended chorus.

The Trident tape proved problematic when mixing began back at Abbey Road, but with the assistance of Geoff Emerick, who had recently quit working with the group due to increasing tensions, engineer Ken Scott salvaged the two days of work.  Still, there is no denying that this record sounds quite unlike any other in the band's catalog, especially in the early part of the song.

On September 4th, the group reported to Twickenham Film Studios to make promotional clips for Hey Jude and Revolution.  This happened to be Ringo's first day back at work, as he, too, had quit the band in the interim.  Two very similar variations for Hey Jude featured David Frost introducing the group before they mime to the record, though Paul sings a new live vocal, in front of an orchestra and surrounded by a huge gathering of fans, who join in the chorus.  Both versions of this film, directed by Michael Lindsey-Hogg, can be viewed on 1+.

Aside from being one of the group's most successful singles (and that is saying quite a lot), Hey Jude also served as the title track of a 1970 American compilation album.  It naturally was included on the 1973 Blue Album.  While it is featured on both the 1982 UK and US albums 20 Greatest Hits, the US version is notorious for being clipped short at around the five-minute mark to help preserve the fidelity of the vinyl record.  Anthology 3 gives us the opportunity to hear one of the early rehearsals from June 29th, 1968.  Other appearances of the song include Past Masters Volume Two in 1988 and the worldwide smash album 1 in 2000.

Hey Bulldog

Following the wishes of the Beatles, manager Brian Epstein had made sure in early 1967 that their participation in the animated film Yellow Submarine would be minimal.  All that was required of the group was to give the producers four new songs to debut with the feature.  By the start of 1968, the film was nearing completion, yet only three original songs had been delivered for inclusion in the story.  Meanwhile, the Beatles were so happy with what they had seen of the film that they agreed to shoot a live action sequence for the end of the movie in January, even miming to McCartney's number All Together Now.

On February 11th, 1968, an opportunity presented itself to add a fourth song into the mix, late though it was.  The Beatles happened to be in the studio to shoot a promotional clip for their latest single Lady Madonna.  Rather than pretend to be playing that song, they chose to actually make a recording while being filmed.  And, for the occasion, Lennon had this fun little piano-based rocker which would end up serving both purposes.

It took ten takes to get the best backing track, with John on piano, George on guitar, Ringo on drums and Paul shaking two tambourines.  Moving on to overdubs, Paul played a bass line, George added a stinging electric guitar solo and Ringo played an additional drum part.  The highlight for the film crew featured John and Paul standing at a single microphone to record their vocals, which turned into a free for all during the extended fade out.  It was Paul's barking at this point that lead to the song's title becoming Hey Bulldog.  One final overdub saw John double-tracking his lead vocal in a few places.

Once this film was edited, it looked for all the world as if the group was actually recording Lady Madonna, even though John was seen playing piano instead of Paul.  It easily fooled everyone at the time.  Years later, in 1999, the footage was re-edited and matched back alongside Hey Bulldog to promote the re-release of Yellow Submarine on VHS and DVD.  Both of these promotional clips can be viewed in the collection 1+.

A sequence utilizing the song was added to the film Yellow Submarine, but British fans thought the movie was overlong, prompting the producers to cut the sequence before the film made its American premiere.  It has since been restored in subsequent re-releases of the feature.

As for the song itself, it was a highlight of the 1969 soundtrack album Yellow Submarine.  It was one of the few late-career songs featured on the 1976 compilation Rock and Roll Music.  And, naturally, it is on the 1999 Yellow Submarine Songtrack.  A rare treat is the mono version of the song, available only on The Beatles in Mono box set.

Her Majesty

Ever since I first read of this song's placement at the end of the album Abbey Road in Mark Lewisohn's book The Beatles: Recording Sessions, it has become one of my favorite stories of the group's career.  For such a brief song snippet, the tale surrounding it is rather long and complex.

On July 2nd, 1969, Paul McCartney arrived at the studio first, as was his custom.  He had this little ditty running around in his head and took the opportunity to get it down on tape.  Playing an acoustic guitar, it only required three takes before he was satisfied.  He thought that the song might fit nicely in the long medley that he and producer George Martin were planning, so it was set aside for just that purpose.

By July 30th, every song earmarked for the medley was in some state of production and a rough mix of the proposed running order was assembled for a listening session.  Remarkably, the songs were already laid out in the exact order that we would come to hear them - with one exception.  Her Majesty was placed between two John Lennon compositions, Mean Mr. Mustard and Polythene Pam.  Upon hearing it in that position, Paul felt that his quick acoustic number killed the flow, so he told second engineer John Kurlander to cut it out of the tape and throw it away.

Of course, Abbey Road Studios engineers were instructed to never throw anything away.  Kurlander thus stuck about 20 seconds of leader tape onto the front of the song and attached it to the end of the medley so it would not get lost.  The next time Paul heard the medley, he was surprised to hear his song suddenly play after a long silence.  What made it sound even more surprising was the fact that Kurlander's rough edit began with the final crashing chord of Mean Mr. Mustard.  And it cut off before the final chord of Her Majesty, which makes it seem as if it had been done by design, since the other side of the album ends with a hard edit of I Want You (She's So Heavy).

The Beatles were always fond of embracing happy accidents, and this was no exception.  Early pressings of the album did not even list the song on the back cover, making it a surprise for fans, as well.  This unexpected little delight even serves to undercut the grandiose finale, much like George Harrison's decision to put some laughter after his serious number Within You Without You on Sgt. Pepper.

Bootlegs have given fans the chance to hear the song as originally recorded, including the simple final chord, which is buried under the opening of Polythene Pam on the album, and minus the crashing chord left over from Mean Mr. Mustard.

Here, There and Everywhere

This exquisitely beautiful ballad by McCartney was one of the last songs to be recorded for the album Revolver.  Paul wrote it out by the pool at John's house only days earlier, and had it almost finished by the time he played it for John. 

The first session for the recording of the song was on June 14th, 1966.  Paul chose to play rhythm guitar himself, alongside George on lead guitar and Ringo on drums.  Four takes were attempted, but only the final one was complete.  With producer George Martin coaching them, John, Paul and George then gathered around a microphone and sang the gorgeous block harmonies.  This version was slightly faster than the finished product as we know it.

On June 16th, they began anew on the slower version, using the same instrumentation for the basic track.  Paul sang a guide vocal on this day as he, George and Ringo recorded takes five through thirteen.  With the final take as the best, John, Paul and George recorded a new set of block harmonies, overdubbing them a second time for a fuller effect.  George also decided to double-track his lead guitar passage and Paul added his bass line.  Finally, Paul sang his delicate lead vocal, which was subjected to vari-speed to make it sound a bit higher on the record.  Paul chose to double-track his vocal on June 17th, featuring some very subtle variations in the third verse.

The song has long been one of Paul's personal favorites.  Many fans and critics consider it to be his finest composition, and even the highly-critical John Lennon had nothing but admiration for the piece.

It was a natural for inclusion on the 1977 compilation Love Songs.  And it was among the handful of Beatles songs that Paul chose to re-record for the soundtrack of his 1984 film Give My Regards to Broad Street.  Though the Beatles never played it live, Paul has added it to the set list a few times over the years on various tours.

The Real Love EP from 1996, which was a tie-in to Anthology 2, presents take seven of the basic track.  Since the instrumental performance is almost identical to that on the master, Paul's guide vocal stands out as the most interesting feature of this selection.  To augment this spare production, the backing block harmonies are brought in for the final verse.

Here Comes the Sun

Tired of the tension-filled meetings that were becoming the norm in the business of running Apple, George Harrison took a break from the Beatles one sunny spring day in 1969 and visited the home of his good friend Eric Clapton.  Sitting in the garden, guitar in hand, inspiration struck and one of his finest compositions was born.

It is no small irony that Harrison was reaching his peak as a songwriter during the waning days of the group's career.  At the same time, he was finally developing his signature sound as a guitarist, settling on a simple, fluid style that became instantly identifiable for the rest of his life.

Sadly, John Lennon once again played no part in the recording of a Harrison composition.  Initially, he had good reason, as he was recuperating from an automobile accident, yet even when he was available for later sessions of work on the song, he did not participate.  Only George, Paul and Ringo gathered at Abbey Road Studios on July 7th, 1969 to record the basic track.  With Paul on bass and Ringo on drums, George played an acoustic guitar and sang a guide vocal until he was happy with take thirteen.  He then re-recorded his acoustic guitar part before calling it a day.

June 8th saw George record his lead vocal, then double-track backing vocals with Paul's assistance.  A week later, on July 16th, a session was devoted to adding a series of handclaps at various points in the song.  By this time, John Lennon was back but, as stated above, he did not join in.  George also reportedly overdubbed a harmonium part.  On August 4th, a stereo mix of the song was prepared so George could decide what else could be added to the recording.

The next new overdub was an additional guitar part recorded on August 6th.  This included the forgotten lead guitar solo discovered by Dhani Harrison and the Martins - George and Giles - in 2012.  It's well worth the time searching for the video of this remarkable discovery on YouTube.  Yet another guitar line was added on the 11th.

The two Georges - Harrison and Martin - collaborated on the orchestral overdub added on August 15th.  It was the last of five songs to receive a George Martin arrangement on this long day, but the assembled musicians saw it through to their mutual satisfaction.  Finally, on August 19th, George played his Moog synthesizer to put some finishing touches on the recording.

The result was a pastoral delight which instantly became one of Harrison's most popular compositions.  It was chosen to open side two of the album Abbey Road, a very prominent position.  George played it at the Concert of Bangladesh in 1971, alongside Pete Ham of the group Badfinger.  And, in 1976, he appeared on Saturday Night Live and played the song with host Paul Simon.

Though the song made the cut for the Blue Album in 1973, it has hardly surfaced on any other compilations. 

Helter Skelter

Paul McCartney has always stated that he wanted to one-up The Who after reading Pete Townsend describe his band's latest offering as the dirtiest and most raucous song ever recorded.  Yet the three takes of Helter Skelter first recorded by the Beatles on July 18th, 1968 do not back up that claim.  Anthology 3 presents the first four and a half minutes of take two (take one was 10'40", take two was 12'45" and take three ran 27'11" - the longest take ever by the group) and reveals it to be swampy, slow and deliberate, despite some passionate singing from Paul.  Even if one of these takes had been subjected to overdubs, it is hard to imagine it even approaching the version we have all come to know.

On September 9th, the boys returned to the number and began that version.  This just happened to be the first day of producer George Martin's holiday from the protracted sessions for the double album.  That left 21-year-old Chris Thomas in the producer's chair and gave the lunatics the opportunity to take charge of the asylum.  And, by all accounts, the Beatles were clearly under the influence of various substances that evening.  The proof is in the pudding.

Takes four through twenty-one featured Paul on rhythm guitar, George on a distorted lead guitar, John on piano and Ringo pounding away on his drum kit.  Paul persuaded the engineers to push the sound equipment past its normal limits and then some, capturing as much noise as possible.  The final take proved to be the best.  Good thing, too, because Ringo's hands were actually bleeding after that take, prompting his famous cry of, "I've got blisters on my fingers!"  Paul then recorded his screaming lead vocal, as George reportedly ran around the studio with a flaming ashtray on his head.

Overdubs were all added on the following night of September 10th.  These included an occasional, more prominent lead guitar part played by Paul, a thumping bass from John, backing vocals by John, George and Paul, and squealing saxophone from John and an equally amateurish trumpet attempted by assistant Mal Evans.  The resulting cacophony was everything Paul had been hoping for.

The mono mix of the song was made on September 17th while Chris Thomas was still nominally producer, though McCartney was probably present.  It ended at the 3'36" mark - long before the band came crashing to a halt.  It was not until work on the album was nearing completion on October 12th that the stereo mix was prepared.  By this time, George Martin was back at the helm and an old trick that the group had used on Strawberry Fields Forever was revived.  The song faded out completely, slowly came back to full volume, started to fade again then quickly came back up for the chaotic conclusion, including Ringo's scream.  This brought the total time of the track to 4'29".

The "White Album" was released in late November of 1968 in both mono and stereo in the UK, but it was only available in stereo in the US.  Helter Skelter did not appear again until 1976 on the Rock and Roll Music compilation.  In the US, it was also the B-side of a single released a week ahead of that album.  American fans finally got to hear the truncated mono mix of the song on the US version of Rarities in 1980.  And the slow rendition I refer to at the beginning of this entry surfaced on Anthology 3 in 1996.