2009-01-06
Take a sad song and make it better
Listening to Hey Jude while writing my Jude story (which has yet to be properly titled and which I have a feeling will probably continue to be known only as The Jude Story) led me to discover three extremely funny things about the Beatles' recording on Wiki:
1. While adding backing vocals, The Beatles asked the orchestra members if they would clap their hands and sing along to the refrain in the song's coda. Most complied (for a double fee), but one declined, saying "I'm not going to clap my hands and sing Paul McCartney's bloody song!"
2. Ringo Starr almost missed his drum cue. He left for a toilet break - unnoticed by the other Beatles - and the Beatles started recording. In 1994, McCartney said, "Ringo walked out to go to the toilet and I hadn't noticed. The toilet was only a few yards from his drum booth, but he'd gone past my back and I still thought he was in his drum booth. I started what was the actual take, and 'Hey Jude' goes on for hours before the drums come in and while I was doing it I suddenly felt Ringo tiptoeing past my back rather quickly, trying to get to his drums. And just as he got to his drums, boom boom boom, his timing was absolutely impeccable."
3. During the recording of the master take, Lennon shouted "Oh!" followed by "Fucking hell!" at 2:56 and 2:58, respectively, into the song. This occurs after he sings "let her into your skin" under McCartney's "let her under your skin." Sound engineer Ken Scott later told Mojo's Chris Hunt, "I was told about it at the time but could never hear it. But once I had it pointed out I can't miss it now. I have a sneaking suspicion they knew all along, as it was a track that should have been pulled out in the mix. I would imagine it was one of those things that happened - it was a mistake, they listened to it and thought, 'doesn't matter, it's fine'."
HAHAHA I LOVE NUMBER THREE AND YES HE REALLY DOES SHOUT IT IN THE BACKGROUND, I CHECKED XD
I think Paul McCartney is awesome for writing Hey Jude for Julian Lennon.
feimao at 12:45 p.m.