LOVE's music choices from Giles and george Martin
terra
made. Turns out that almost all of the odd and semi-questionable decisions
were the direct result of the fact this was to be a soundtrack for a
specific show (Cirque) and so they were directed to do some specific things.
Here is why and what they did from the horseses mouths (G & G Martin):
November 21, 2006
BECAUSE
George
"An inspired offering from John when we recorded it for the Abbey Road
album. He had heard the opening of Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" and then
evolved a pattern of arpeggios on his guitar that laid the foundation for
this song. Listening anew to this track, with the harmonies that only John,
Paul and George could provide, one realises what great vocalists they were."
Giles
"Dominic Champagne, the LOVE show director, had been listening to the
Anthology albums and loved the a cappella version of "Because" and asked
whether it could be in the show. The vocals are recorded three times with
John, Paul and George singing their respective parts at the same time. The
sound of their voices around one microphone is magical."
GET BACK
George
"This track kicks off with a driving rock sound. Great drums, great
guitars,?. a great band!"
Giles
"I can't listen to "Get Back" without mentally picturing the band performing
the song on the roof of the Apple offices in London's Saville Row. It made
sense to open the show with this song and the drum solo from "The End" works
really well as an intro."
GLASS ONION
George
"One of John's off-the-wall efforts, he even recorded a mixture of sounds
like a window being smashed, a telephone bell and a BBC broadcast effect,
all of which were left unused (at the time). Instead I wrote a string
arrangement to give the song more colour. A song not often heard, but one of
my favourite strange tracks."
Giles
"Glass Onion has such a great groove. In the show we needed something to get
across the chaos of wartime Liverpool so the idea was to combine snippets of
instruments from other songs flying through the mix. On the left hand side
listen out for the " Things We Said Today" guitar that sounds like it's
always been part of the song!"
ELEANOR RIGBY JULIA TRANSITION
George
"By the time we started to record this track, Paul had realised the
potential for using orchestral sounds and for the first time he wrote a song
that demanded nothing but strings. I booked a double string quartet - four
violins, two violas and two cellos, a sparse combination which when recorded
with close microphones gave us the stringent sound we needed. The similarity
to Bernard Hermann's score for "Psycho" is apparent and quite intentional."
Giles
"Allan Rouse, who's looked after the Beatles archive for years, had
developed a technique in which we could combine the first recording of each
four track with the 'bounce-down'. This means that we could have more than
the original tracks to mix from. This version of "Eleanor Rigby" has the
strings in stereo for the first time."
I AM THE WALRUS
George
"When John played "I Am The Walrus" to me for the first time I thought it
sounded weird, but we laid down a track with the band the way he wanted it,
then he told me he wanted me to do a score for him without being too
specific. I thought long and hard about this and took a leap of faith by
booking an orchestra and sixteen voices to make swooping sounds, chants and
noises of laughter. When John heard what this choir were doing he fell about
laughing, it was so unexpected. It really is a quirky track, but absolutely
brilliant."
Giles
"The guitar from Julia in the transition into "I am the Walrus" is so
beautiful and peaceful it seemed to act as a good counterpoint to the
madness within the main track. The song is timeless, and it still sounds
like nothing else out there today. There was certainly nothing we could add
to make it any more psychedelic so we decided to bring the band out a bit
more."
I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND
George
"At the turn of 1963/4 I was in Paris with the Beatles when Brian Epstein
rang me in my hotel at one in the morning, bursting with pride and
jubilation as he told me that at last we had our first No. 1 single in the
USA after "I Want To Hold Your Hand" had quickly reached the top of the
charts. It was a wonderful and significant moment. The Beatles had arrived!"
Giles
"We were always under pressure to present the songs in a different way and
with the early material this was always more difficult as there's no
separation between tracks. My dad came with an idea of using the three track
tapes from "Live at the Hollywood Bowl" and combining the performances with
the original masters. Surprisingly, both versions were perfectly in tune
with each other, so what you're listening to here is both the live and
studio versions of the song edited together."
DRIVE MY CAR/THE WORD/WHAT YOU'RE DOING
George
""Drive My Car" was the opening track of a great album - Rubber Soul - and
was recorded remarkably quickly - between 7 pm and midnight on an evening in
October 1965. Great rhythm that was just right for a dance sequence in the
show. "The Word", recorded a couple of weeks later, had an almost identical
beat and was also completed in a few hours. "What You're Doing" was recorded
a year earlier, with a similar driving rhythm. They certainly worked hard
and did not waste any time in those halcyon days."
Giles
"The Beatles came up with some of pop music's most iconic riffs, none more
so than "'Drive My Car". This era of Beatles music symbolises London at the
peak of the swinging sixties. "The Word" and "Taxman" have such great
grooves, we tried to blend as much of the band at their vibrant best in
this, the only medley on the album."
GNIK NUS
George
"In the show we needed a sound to set the scene, a prelude to establish a
mood, and a never-heard-before chorale by the Beatles does just that. It is
pretty obvious where "Gnik Nus" came from, but I make no apologies, because
for me it is absolutely lovely and it works well in the performance."
Giles
"I had turned the cymbal backwards on "Sun King" for an effect for "Within
You Without You/Tomorrow Never Knows" and I realised I'd turned the vocals
around as well. My dad heard what I'd done and loved it and said that it's
exactly the sort of thing that John would have gone for."
SOMETHING
BLUE JAY WAY (TRANSITION)
George
"A most beautiful song by George which made everyone realise that he could
write just as great a song as John or Paul, and it gave him enormous
confidence. The master track was completed in May with a keyboard line from
Billy Preston, and finally I added a string orchestra in mid August. I was
so pleased with the final result."
Giles
""Something" is such a sensitive song that works really well as it is. We
moved the strings around for effect, leaving George's great vocal
performance more upfront. "
BEING FOR THE BENEFIT OF MR. KITE!/I WANT YOU (SHE'S SO HEAVY)/HELTER
SKELTER
George
"This has to be one of John's most pictorial songs and we all had fun making
our recording sound like a real circus in the studio. My problem was playing
the ancient harmonium while John and Paul acted as producers. They delighted
in seeing me pedal away at that damned instrument for what seemed like
hours. The show demanded something a little different, with a much darker
mood. So although all the original sounds are still there, it does become
rather menacing towards the end."
Giles
"The LOVE show director, had visions of a macabre Victorian circus for the
show. This made us approach "Kite" in a completely different way. "Blue Jay
Way" set the scene really well, and the sound effects from "Good Morning"
add to the general circus vibe. To create the sound of a circus going wrong
we edited in "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" at the end flying in the mad
organs and Paul's vocal on "Helter Skelter" over the top."
HELP!
George
""Help!" was originally written for the second Beatles film, and many
armchair psychiatrists have read into it a cry from John to get him out of
his prison of fame and success. It was to me a straightforward and good
composition, one that came together in the studio without too much fuss, and
it became the successful title song of their film."
Giles
"This was recorded really quickly onto a four track, with the band playing
live onto one track. This recording has such a great natural Beatles sound
that it's wonderful to just hear the power of their playing."
BLACKBIRD/YESTERDAY
George
"We agonised over the inclusion of "Yesterday" in the show. It is such a
famous song, the icon of an era, had it been heard too much? The story of
the addition of the original string quartet is well known, however few
people know how limited the recording was technically, and so the case for
not including it was strong, but how could anyone ignore such a marvellous
work? We introduce it with some of Paul's guitar work from "Blackbird" and
hearing it now, I know that it was right to include it. Its simplicity is so
direct; it tugs at the heartstrings."
Giles
"I wasn't sure how the more sensitive songs would sound in the theatre, I
was scared that some intimacy would be lost. While I was in Montreal, Cirque
let me go with sound designer Jonathan Deans to a new show they were about
to tour so I could play around with their PA. As soon as I played
"Yesterday" through the system all the workmen stopped and just listened to
the song. I guessed then that we would probably be OK!"
STRAWBERRY FIELDS FOREVER
George
"I will never forget the first time I heard "Strawberry Fields Forever".
John began by giving me my usual private performance, standing in front of
me, strumming his acoustic guitar and singing those incredible opening
lines. I was absolutely captivated, such different material, almost too
tender to be recorded. The song went through a few changes, and we recorded
it more than once, eventually combining two completely different versions,
in different keys and different tempos. I love the song to this day, but
John told me many years later that he was never really satisfied with it and
I felt that in its recording I had let him down. I hope he has forgiven me."
Giles
"The LOVE show director, had wanted us to demonstrate the Beatles
experimentation and creativity in the studio. Yoko had brought in some early
demos of John singing "Strawberry Fields Forever" so in the spirit of the
original we decided to combine the very early takes with the final version.
I went on holiday and my poor father spent hours with a vari-speed tape
machine putting all the takes in the key of B. I came back and spent about
six weeks combing the various tracks to make one long new version of the
song. And at the end, with those fantastic drums, we just decided to have a
bit of fun?"
WITHIN YOU WITHOUT YOU/TOMORROW NEVER KNOWS
George
"Paul was always on the lookout for new sounds and experimenting at home
with a Brenell recorder, he discovered that he could record on a constant
loop of tape until it was literally saturated with sound. I selected a
number of these tapes and used them, sometimes at a different speed and
pitch, in a new song John had written. We started with a terrific rhythm
track recorded in only three takes, with a constant tamboura drone and that
marvellous and hypnotic drum beat from Ringo, "Tomorrow Never Knows", was
born.
Later, while Sgt. Pepper was under way, George came up with an interesting
and distinctive song, "Within You Without You", heavily influenced by his
love of all things Indian. Working with George on this recording was
fascinating. His sense of complicated rhythms and tonalities earned my
respect, and the song was issued as the first track on the second side of
Sgt. Pepper. Giles suggested that we combine these two tracks together in
such a brilliant way."
Giles
"This was one of the first things I tried when we were making the initial
demos for the show. I was really quite scared about offending all who were
involved and at one stage we weren't even going to play it anyone. The fact
that it was accepted showed how open-minded everyone was in the approach to
the music we were creating."
LUCY IN THE SKY WITH DIAMONDS
George
"This song has the most extraordinary lyrics, with John doing his utmost to
build a psychedelic vision rivalling creations by Lewis Carroll and Salvador
Dali. It all began with his son Julian coming home from school with a
picture of his classmate, Lucy. She was kind of floating in mid-air with
little stars that he had drawn around her. Such innocence! The song came
together quickly, and the opening bars are simple, but magic."
Giles
"As soon as the LOVE show director, showed me his ideas on creating a starry
sky by using LED effects I set out on trying to introduce the song by having
shimmering stars appear individually with sound. By slicing the original
keyboard and using vari-speed we managed to get the effect I was looking
for."
OCTOPUS'S GARDEN
George
"I am glad we were able to use Ringo's "Octopus's Garden" in the show. In
many ways it's timeless, a children's song, easy on the ear and perfect for
the LOVE show director's imaginative undersea scene, with an unexpected
beginning."
Giles
"I thought it would be great to start the song with Ringo on his own. I
first tried to combine his vocal with the end strings from "Glass Onion" and
it sounded creepy. Then I tried the strings from "Goodnight" - they had
always interested me because they're in stereo. My dad came in and pointed
out if I had doubled up the strings and played the verse twice the vocal
would work better, and as usual he was right, and Ringo sounds great."
LADY MADONNA
George
"Considering that Paul only played guitar when I first knew him, his piano
work with that rolling boogie piano driving this along like a powerhouse had
become startlingly good. In the backing we tried using Kazoos, but the old
comb and paper did just as good a job."
Giles
"I wanted to get the riff from "Hey Bulldog" in the show somewhere and it
works great as a middle section to "Lady Madonna". It took a while to get
the track to sit right, Billy Preston's organ solo from "I Want You(She's So
Heavy)" provides the glue between the two and Eric Clapton's guitar solo
from "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" replaces the sax solo."
HERE COMES THE SUN
THE INNER LIGHT (TRANSITION)
George
"A brilliant composition with an unusual metre relying heavily on George's
great guitar work, very different to "The Inner Light", which was basically
recorded in Bombay during the time that George was recording music for his
"Wonderwall" film and album. George had used a host of Indian virtuoso
players with weird and wonderful instruments I did not even know existed.
Once back in England he added his voice and we overdubbed vocals with John
and Paul."
Giles
"It's strange that although George brought a huge Indian influence to the
sound of The Beatles, some of his most famous songs have no Indian
instruments on them. The tabla and delrouba from "Within You Without You"
made a perfect introduction to George's guitar and we used the chorus vocals
from the song to set the scene. "Here Comes the Sun" is a great song about
enlightenment; it made complete sense then to finish with "The Inner
Light"."
COME TOGETHER/DEAR PRUDENCE
CRY BABY CRY (TRANSITION)
George
""Come Together" is such a simple song but it stands out because of the
sheer brilliance of the performers. Paul's bass riff makes a fantastic
foundation for Ringo's imaginative drumming, and John's vocal with heavy
tape echo has a marvellous effect when he claps his hands and hisses into
the microphone. George's guitar is equally distinctive, and altogether I
believe this is one of the Beatles' greatest tracks. Combined with "Dear
Prudence" is Paul's vocal piece from the end of "Cry Baby Cry" that creates
a very reflective mood."
Giles
"This for me is the Beatles playing live at their economical and
inspirational best. There's nothing that can be added to the song as all the
parts are so well constructed and yet the song is so sparse. 'Dear Prudence'
was used to end the song without fading it and I loved the way the vocals
and Ringo's mad drumming add a climax to the end of "Come Together". Dominic
Champagne, the shows director, had wanted something disturbing to bring in
"Revolution" and I thought this ending sounded from another world. The
strings from "Eleanor Rigby" and the climax from "A Day In The Life"
provided an edge that isn't on the original."
REVOLUTION
George
"Hard rock recordings do not come much stronger than this one. The
distortion of the guitars led to many complaints from the more conservative
of listeners at the time and it did in fact give quite a few technical
problems when it came to cutting the masters for the vinyl album of that day
(it wasn't on an album at the time. I suggest we put replace the word album
with single). Like many of John's songs its message is very clear and, for
its time, pretty revolutionary! "
Giles
"The guitar sound on "Revolution" rips your head off, even today it defines
the word 'distortion', it's amazing to think that it was recorded nearly
forty years ago."
BACK IN THE U.S.S.R.
George
"Miraculously recorded and mixed in two days at a time of tension among the
Beatles when a frustrated Ringo had temporarily walked out. Paul, George and
John tried to work without him and started to record "Back In The U.S.S.R.",
with Paul playing drums. Ringo returned to find they had in fact managed a
track without him, but they were so delighted he was back that they showered
him with flowers. Nevertheless it is one of the very few tracks without
Ringo's terrific drumming."
Giles
"Like "Revolution" this bursts out from the multi-track tapes with such
energy that there's nothing much that we could do with it either."
WHILE MY GUITAR GENTLY WEEPS
George
"Most people remember the heavy version of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"
but an earlier version, almost a demo, was recorded at Abbey Road and
discarded until we issued the Anthology albums. I was asked to write a
string score to make that early take sound more like an issued master. I was
aware of such a responsibility, but thankfully Olivia and everyone approved
of the result. "Yesterday" was the first score I had written for a Beatle
song way back in 1965 and this score forty one years later is the last. It
wraps up an incredible period of my life with those four amazing men who
changed the world."
Giles
"The LOVE show director and Olivia had decided that take one, an acoustic
version, of 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps' should be used for the show and
asked what we could do with it. The vocal performance on the take is so
tender, so the only thing I could think of was for my dad to do a string
arrangement. I was surprised to find that he was apprehensive about doing
it, there's no one in the world better at this kind of thing, and even after
all this time he still arranges with the same vitality and empathy that has
made his work legendary."
A DAY IN THE LIFE
George
"John as usual, took his inspiration from odd sources, in this case
newspaper cuttings, but he needed a middle section and asked Paul if he had
anything. Paul had something, but it wasn't a fit. Realising that such
different tempos and styles needed to be separated, Paul suggested a 24 bar
section between them which could be filled in later. I had no clue what it
would be filled with, until they told me they wanted a symphony orchestra.
I think Paul came up with the idea of a great ascending crescendo, but I
needed to do some orchestral organisation if it was to be effective. We all
know the result. It was terrific, awe-inspiring and mind boggling to all who
heard it for the first time, although some thought it to be subversive and
even the dear old BBC banned the track on the grounds that it promoted drug
use."
Giles
"Even before we approached this I knew there was nothing we could add to it.
It really is a masterpiece. Then Allan Rouse, our project co-ordinator at
Abbey Road Studios, brought the early orchestral takes up from the vault.
This meant that we could make the crescendo and the last piano chord at the
end even bigger."
HEY JUDE
George
"The Beatles in their time wrote and recorded quite a few anthems and "Hey
Jude" is a supreme example. I remember having a little rebellion in the
orchestra I had booked for the overdub. After the musicians had finished
playing their parts I asked them to sing along with the chant and to clap as
we did. Cheeky, I know, but not everyone was amused. One violinist
remonstrated quite forcibly, saying he was not employed as a session singer
and left. I asked if anyone else wanted to join him and bless them, they all
stayed and received overtime pay as a result."
Giles
"The biggest challenge we faced with "Hey Jude" was finding a way of ending
it. I'd found a great bass line that Paul played at the end of the song and
put it in the middle, but the ending is so well known that it took quite
some time to find the perfect match?."
SGT PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND (REPRISE)
George
""Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)" is a rousing and upbeat
shorter version of the original song specifically designed to wrap up the
imaginary performance of the Sgt. Pepper album. It is ideal for a link into
the final song. Our original recording was a quick affair, taped from seven
in the evening of April Fool's Day 1967 right through to six the following
morning."
Giles
"?..and it was sheer luck that Sgt. Pepper Reprise was in the right key so
we could link the two together."
ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE
George
"The Sgt. Pepper album was released in June 1967 to world acclaim, and in no
time we were all given an incredible task. The Beatles were selected to
represent Great Britain in a world wide television hook-up that was to be
broadcast live. It happened very quickly, and the week of the event was for
me one I will never forget. John's "All You Need Is Love" was an inspiration
and I had the normal job of arranging and producing it. One week before the
show my father was taken to hospital. I visited him every day, and he seemed
to be recovering well, so much so that I rang my sister who was in Italy and
told her not to break up her holiday. But early on Tuesday morning I walked
in to the hospital as usual with a bunch of flowers and I was stopped by the
Ward Sister who drew me aside and told me my father had died just before
dawn.
I was shattered, devastated. Perhaps the work on All You Need I Love was my
lifeline. I pitch forked myself into all the things I had to do, which was a
mercy for me. When it came to the actual television transmission we had TV
cameras focussing on us in the control room as well as the studio. With
seconds to go before being on air I had a panic call from the TV director in
his BBC van outside saying he had lost contact with his crew in the studio
and could I relay his instructions?
I laughed aloud at the real unimportance of it all. If you are going to fall
flat on your face you might as well do it in front of 200 million people! It
was the end of an era and it has now become the end of our show. We have
come full circle."
Giles
"I spent a long time looking for The Beatles signing off and saying goodbye
for the very end of the show. But it just so happened that at the end of
most of their gigs and radio shows they would either say a polite 'thanks'
or bow and go straight off. So what you hear over the final chords of
'Goodnight' is taken from a Christmas record recorded in 1965."
© 2006 Apple Corps Ltd
--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com
Lookingglass
"poisoned rose" <closeupthe...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:vH39h.483$wc5...@newssvr25.news.prodigy.net...
>
> It would be interesting to know more about mixing experiments which
> were ultimately rejected.
I agree...I would even purchase a CD of those rejects...as we fans don't
have the isolated tracks to work with to make our own 'sound collages'.
dancin' dave (...they tumble blindly...)
www.Shemakhan.com
DanKaye
<closeupthe...@aol.com> wrote:
>> "The Beatles came up with some of pop music's most iconic riffs, none more
>> so than "'Drive My Car".
>
>Really, Giles? I think it's debatable that this guitar part is even
>vivid enough to qualify as a "riff." The Beatles did lots better in
>other tracks. Day Tripper, Birthday, Come Together, Hey Bulldog,
>Ticket to Ride, Taxman, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Yer Blues, I
>Want to Tell You, whatever.
>
Are you ever happy with ANYthing?
Lookingglass
>
> I finally heard Neko Case's "Fox Confessor Brings the Flood" the
> other day. I was pretty darn thrilled with that. Could end up being
> my album of the year.
I would like to hear her and a guitar...nothing more.
dancin' dave (...how to unfold your love...)
www.Shemakhan.com
DanKaye
<closeupthe...@aol.com> wrote:
>
>I'd say it's also dubious to accuse me of not being happy with
>anything, in response to a post where I'm listing good Beatles riffs?
Just do yourself a favor. Go back and look at your last 50 posts and
see how many of them had much positive to say vs. how many of them
were negative.
abe slaney
> DanKaye <dan...@nowhere.info> wrote:
>
>
>>>>"The Beatles came up with some of pop music's most iconic riffs, none more
>>>>so than "'Drive My Car".
>>>
>>>Really, Giles? I think it's debatable that this guitar part is even
>>>vivid enough to qualify as a "riff." The Beatles did lots better in
>>>other tracks. Day Tripper, Birthday, Come Together, Hey Bulldog,
>>>Ticket to Ride, Taxman, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Yer Blues, I
>>>Want to Tell You, whatever.
>>>
>>
>>Are you ever happy with ANYthing?
I'd agree that it's barely a guitar riff at all, never mind one of their
most iconic or memorable. Strange thing for Giles Martin to say. In
addition to the ones PR already listed, I'd add I Feel Fine, Twist and
Shout, Norwegian Wood, You Can't Do That, Eight Days A Week, If I Needed
Someone, She Said She Said, Dear Prudence, I Want You (SSH), I Dig A
Pony. Some more obviously riff-based than others, but almost all more so
than Drive My Car.
abe slaney
> <abesl...@itagain.com> wrote:
>
>
>>In
>>addition to the ones PR already listed, I'd add I Feel Fine, Twist and
>>Shout, Norwegian Wood, You Can't Do That, Eight Days A Week, If I Needed
>>Someone, She Said She Said, Dear Prudence, I Want You (SSH), I Dig A
>>Pony. Some more obviously riff-based than others, but almost all more so
>>than Drive My Car.
>
>
> didn't need to make the list any longer. A few of those others, I
> might debate as being "riffs." Where's the riff in "Eight Days a
> Week"? Are you just talking about the intro? "Norwegian Wood" has no
> riff, as far as I'm concerned...it's simply the song's melody. I
> don't see much of a riff in "She Said She Said" either. And if
> there's a riff in "You Can't Do That," my mental memory can't come
> up with it.
If you wanted to debate whether or not these are "riffs" I'd probably
wind up agreeing with you and disagreeing with me for the most part.
"Eight Days a Week" was really a stretch, and yes I was just thinking of
the intro, so I'll withdraw that one without a struggle. In "She Said
She Said" I was thinking of the melodic phrase that matches "I know what
it is to be sad" - it does start the song off and repeat here and there
echoing the vocals, but it is admittedly not the basis for the song.
"Norwegian Wood" is a little different. I have no basis for believing so
other than that it makes sense to me, but I think that song most likely
developed out of a guitar figure. It falls readily under the fingers and
lends itself to repetition. My guess is that what started as an
instrumental riff became the vocal melody.
In "You Can't Do That" I was thinking of the 12-string part wiggling
around the minor and major third that begins and ends the song.
But while we're at it - what guitar riff were you referring to in "While
My Guitar Gently Weeps"?
TAR
>
> When Chaos & Creation in the Backyard came out, I was actually one
> of its strongest supporters.
I thought it was boring.
:]