In this thread I rank my favorite Beatles songs: 204-1. (4 Viewers)

[Binky The Doormat]

sweet title change.

 

[Tom Hagen]

Yes, Officer.  That's the man right here.

No need to take take something pure and make it dirty Chris Hansen.

 

[wikkidpissah]

I have been listening to the Beatles channel pretty much nonstop for the last month and a half anytime I'm driving.  While this is purely unscientific, it sure seems to me that they play "Rocky Raccoon" with more frequency than any other song.  

This does not make me particularly happy.  Regardless of whether it's McGill, Lil or Nancy.  

Now, somewhere in the opinionsphere there lived a young boy named Shaft41, ummmm..............................

*lalala*

Shaft41

Just in it for fun

Would shoot off his mouth in the forum

He said "Call me Shaft"

But everyone laughed

And for it a new one they tore him

But Shafty was hot

An insult he shot

Got "like" emojis from a quorum

oh, yeah, yeah

*lalala*

 

[krista4]

45.  Tomorrow Never Knows (Revolver, 1966)

Beatles version:  Spotify  YouTube

There's so much to say about this song, about its production, the various innovations, that I'm sure I'll leave a lot of important stuff out.  I love this song.  It’s could be such a ####### mess, but it's not.  I love the drums, and the wah-wah-wah-wah bird-type sounds (more on that below). The spooky vocals, the tambour, tambourines, the dissonance.  The fact that it's all (almost) entirely one damn chord.  It's aural collage unlike anything produced before it.

John's lyrics were inspired by Timothy Leary's The Psychedelic Experience, his interpretation of the philosophy of the Tibetan Book of the Dead.  While he initially wanted to call the song "The Void," he was afraid that would not be understood by the fans at this time, so he adopted a Ringoism for the title instead.  To be honest, I don't pay attention to these lyrics, but maybe others connect with them on a much deeper level than I'm capable of.  

For me, this is all about the music, including how Ringo and Paul keep it all together with the chaos that's going on about them.   There are so many innovations in this song that I won't discuss in detail, such as the backward reverb guitar parts, but I'll mention a few.  John instructed that he wanted his voice to sound "like the Dalai chanting from a mountaintop," which led to Geoff Emerick's idea to channel John's vocal through a Leslie speaker after the first verse.  The effect was that haunting, distant sound that matches perfectly with the lyrics.  

The drum sounds were also new to recording based on a couple of ideas.  Blatantly contravening EMI rules to keep microphones at least two feet from the drums, the microphones were put only a few inches away.  In addition, to dampen the ringing from the bass drum, a large sweater was stuffed in against the rear beater skin.  The results were these full, energetic drums heard on the record.  

As for the tape loops, these were originally from Paul, who was experimenting more with avant garde music at the time than the others, and who'd removed the erase-head from his home tape recorder, allowing additional sounds to be recorded each time the tape spooled through.  All the band members were given an assignment to make some tape loops and bring them back the studio, after which the group listened to the loops backward, forward, slowed down, sped up, any which way, until five were chosen, including the one that sounds like seagulls but is actually Paul laughing.  Then the loops were added to the track:  "Every tape machine in every studio was commandeered and every available EMI employee was given the task of holding a pencil or drinking glass to give the loops the proper tensioning.  In many instances, this meant they had to be standing out in the hallway, looking quite sheepish."  At the same time, in the control room Emerick and Martin "huddled over the console, raising and lowering faders to shouted instructions from John, Paul, George and Ringo.  (‘Let’s have that seagull sound now!’...)  With each fader carrying a different loop, the mixing desk acted like a synthesizer, and we played it like a musical instrument, too, carefully overdubbing textures to the prerecorded backing track."  As a result, the recorded version of this song could not possibly be re-produced.       

Mr. krista:  "The vocal thing that happens there is Lennon singing through a Leslie speaker, usually used with a Hammond organ, but Lennon sang vocals through it instead.  This happens all the time now.  But maybe never before this.  But still sounds so modern.  Sounds like it could have happened any time.  In terms of sound capture, this is an incredible record, and this is particularly an incredible track.  I doubt anyone had used multi-track recording quite like this.  There’s 24 tracks of wildly different sonic information with nothing to do with each other, but then assembled into a song that fits on the record…and it’s one chord!  There’s so much weirdness going on on that.  It’s so psychedelic."

Suggested cover:  Nah, that doesn't seem right for this one.  The genius is in the innovation and the one-time nature of the sound.

 

[krista4]

It will be interesting to see how/if Krista's Top 25 affects the composite.

It will.

Regardless of whether it's McGill, Lil or Nancy.  

 

 

[Spock]

45.  Tomorrow Never Knows (Revolver, 1966)

Beatles version:  Spotify  YouTube

There's so much to say about this song, about its production, the various innovations, that I'm sure I'll leave a lot of important stuff out.  I love this song.  It’s could be such a ####### mess, but it's not.  I love the drums, and the wah-wah-wah-wah bird-type sounds (more on that below). The spooky vocals, the tambour, tambourines, the dissonance.  The fact that it's all (almost) entirely one damn chord.  It's aural collage unlike anything produced before it.

John's lyrics were inspired by Timothy Leary's The Psychedelic Experience, his interpretation of the philosophy of the Tibetan Book of the Dead.  While he initially wanted to call the song "The Void," he was afraid that would not be understood by the fans at this time, so he adopted a Ringoism for the title instead.  To be honest, I don't pay attention to these lyrics, but maybe others connect with them on a much deeper level than I'm capable of.  

For me, this is all about the music, including how Ringo and Paul keep it all together with the chaos that's going on about them.   There are so many innovations in this song that I won't discuss in detail, such as the backward reverb guitar parts, but I'll mention a few.  John instructed that he wanted his voice to sound "like the Dalai chanting from a mountaintop," which led to Geoff Emerick's idea to channel John's vocal through a Leslie speaker after the first verse.  The effect was that haunting, distant sound that matches perfectly with the lyrics.  

The drum sounds were also new to recording based on a couple of ideas.  Blatantly contravening EMI rules to keep microphones at least two feet from the drums, the microphones were put only a few inches away.  In addition, to dampen the ringing from the bass drum, a large sweater was stuffed in against the rear beater skin.  The results were these full, energetic drums heard on the record.  

As for the tape loops, these were originally from Paul, who was experimenting more with avant garde music at the time than the others, and who'd removed the erase-head from his home tape recorder, allowing additional sounds to be recorded each time the tape spooled through.  All the band members were given an assignment to make some tape loops and bring them back the studio, after which the group listened to the loops backward, forward, slowed down, sped up, any which way, until five were chosen, including the one that sounds like seagulls but is actually Paul laughing.  Then the loops were added to the track:  "Every tape machine in every studio was commandeered and every available EMI employee was given the task of holding a pencil or drinking glass to give the loops the proper tensioning.  In many instances, this meant they had to be standing out in the hallway, looking quite sheepish."  At the same time, in the control room Emerick and Martin "huddled over the console, raising and lowering faders to shouted instructions from John, Paul, George and Ringo.  (‘Let’s have that seagull sound now!’...)  With each fader carrying a different loop, the mixing desk acted like a synthesizer, and we played it like a musical instrument, too, carefully overdubbing textures to the prerecorded backing track."  As a result, the recorded version of this song could not possibly be re-produced.       

Mr. krista:  "The vocal thing that happens there is Lennon singing through a Leslie speaker, usually used with a Hammond organ, but Lennon sang vocals through it instead.  This happens all the time now.  But maybe never before this.  But still sounds so modern.  Sounds like it could have happened any time.  In terms of sound capture, this is an incredible record, and this is particularly an incredible track.  I doubt anyone had used multi-track recording quite like this.  There’s 24 tracks of wildly different sonic information with nothing to do with each other, but then assembled into a song that fits on the record…and it’s one chord!  There’s so much weirdness going on on that.  It’s so psychedelic."

Suggested cover:  Nah, that doesn't seem right for this one.  The genius is in the innovation and the one-time nature of the sound.

Nooooooooooo!!!!! Please go drop a couple hits of acid, listen, and re-rank it. 

 

[krista4]

Nooooooooooo!!!!! Please go drop a couple hits of acid, listen, and re-rank it. 

I should note, by the way, that from this exercise I've learned that I've been misspelling "psychedelic" my whole life.

I expect this song is more popular with me than with most regular people, but more popular with the crowd here even than with me.  That's a compliment to you guys, as I think it's a hard listen for the man on the street.  Obviously I love it, too, but I've not dropped enough acid (or...any).

 

[krista4]

Need to leave it there for a while.  I'm gonna go see me a motion picture.  A talkie, even.  No time to do another write-up before; they take an embarrassingly long time.

 

[Leroy Hoard]

45.  Tomorrow Never Knows (Revolver, 1966)

Beatles version:  Spotify  YouTube

There's so much to say about this song, about its production, the various innovations, that I'm sure I'll leave a lot of important stuff out.  I love this song.  It’s could be such a ####### mess, but it's not.  I love the drums, and the wah-wah-wah-wah bird-type sounds (more on that below). The spooky vocals, the tambour, tambourines, the dissonance.  The fact that it's all (almost) entirely one damn chord.  It's aural collage unlike anything produced before it.

John's lyrics were inspired by Timothy Leary's The Psychedelic Experience, his interpretation of the philosophy of the Tibetan Book of the Dead.  While he initially wanted to call the song "The Void," he was afraid that would not be understood by the fans at this time, so he adopted a Ringoism for the title instead.  To be honest, I don't pay attention to these lyrics, but maybe others connect with them on a much deeper level than I'm capable of.  

For me, this is all about the music, including how Ringo and Paul keep it all together with the chaos that's going on about them.   There are so many innovations in this song that I won't discuss in detail, such as the backward reverb guitar parts, but I'll mention a few.  John instructed that he wanted his voice to sound "like the Dalai chanting from a mountaintop," which led to Geoff Emerick's idea to channel John's vocal through a Leslie speaker after the first verse.  The effect was that haunting, distant sound that matches perfectly with the lyrics.  

The drum sounds were also new to recording based on a couple of ideas.  Blatantly contravening EMI rules to keep microphones at least two feet from the drums, the microphones were put only a few inches away.  In addition, to dampen the ringing from the bass drum, a large sweater was stuffed in against the rear beater skin.  The results were these full, energetic drums heard on the record.  

As for the tape loops, these were originally from Paul, who was experimenting more with avant garde music at the time than the others, and who'd removed the erase-head from his home tape recorder, allowing additional sounds to be recorded each time the tape spooled through.  All the band members were given an assignment to make some tape loops and bring them back the studio, after which the group listened to the loops backward, forward, slowed down, sped up, any which way, until five were chosen, including the one that sounds like seagulls but is actually Paul laughing.  Then the loops were added to the track:  "Every tape machine in every studio was commandeered and every available EMI employee was given the task of holding a pencil or drinking glass to give the loops the proper tensioning.  In many instances, this meant they had to be standing out in the hallway, looking quite sheepish."  At the same time, in the control room Emerick and Martin "huddled over the console, raising and lowering faders to shouted instructions from John, Paul, George and Ringo.  (‘Let’s have that seagull sound now!’...)  With each fader carrying a different loop, the mixing desk acted like a synthesizer, and we played it like a musical instrument, too, carefully overdubbing textures to the prerecorded backing track."  As a result, the recorded version of this song could not possibly be re-produced.       

Mr. krista:  "The vocal thing that happens there is Lennon singing through a Leslie speaker, usually used with a Hammond organ, but Lennon sang vocals through it instead.  This happens all the time now.  But maybe never before this.  But still sounds so modern.  Sounds like it could have happened any time.  In terms of sound capture, this is an incredible record, and this is particularly an incredible track.  I doubt anyone had used multi-track recording quite like this.  There’s 24 tracks of wildly different sonic information with nothing to do with each other, but then assembled into a song that fits on the record…and it’s one chord!  There’s so much weirdness going on on that.  It’s so psychedelic."

Suggested cover:  Nah, that doesn't seem right for this one.  The genius is in the innovation and the one-time nature of the sound.

I found a cover that might work.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UkGXUn0Kuuw

 

[krista4]

I found a cover that might work.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UkGXUn0Kuuw

That was the first one I listened to; had it in my notes.  Just seemed wrong in this instance because of the nature of the song, but I agree this is a good one.

 

[The Tahitian Facemask]

Talent + genius + experience + willingness to experiment + ambition + drugs = Tomorrow Never Knows. Don’t let my kids read this.

 

[krista4]

Talent + genius + experience + willingness to experiment + ambition + drugs = Tomorrow Never Knows. Don’t let my kids read this.

 They can read my write-up; I omitted the drugs part.  

 

[timschochet]

Tomorrow Never Knows is great. 

I Feel Fine is beyond great. It’s heaven on Earth for music. 

 

[Dr. Octopus]

I should note, by the way, that from this exercise I've learned that I've been misspelling "psychedelic" my whole life.

I expect this song is more popular with me than with most regular people, but more popular with the crowd here even than with me.  That's a compliment to you guys, as I think it's a hard listen for the man on the street.  Obviously I love it, too, but I've not dropped enough acid (or...any).

I have seen the Grateful Dead play it. 

 

[DaVinci]

45.  Tomorrow Never Knows (Revolver, 1966)

Beatles version:  Spotify  YouTube

This is my #1.

Covers: Junior Parker with a beautiful stripped down version and Japanese guitar legend Char with a hard rock version.

 

[wikkidpissah]

45.  Tomorrow Never Knows (Revolver, 1966)

Beatles version:  Spotify  YouTube

There's so much to say about this song, about its production, the various innovations, that I'm sure I'll leave a lot of important stuff out.  I love this song.  It’s could be such a ####### mess, but it's not.  I love the drums, and the wah-wah-wah-wah bird-type sounds (more on that below). The spooky vocals, the tambour, tambourines, the dissonance.  The fact that it's all (almost) entirely one damn chord.  It's aural collage unlike anything produced before it.

John's lyrics were inspired by Timothy Leary's The Psychedelic Experience, his interpretation of the philosophy of the Tibetan Book of the Dead.  While he initially wanted to call the song "The Void," he was afraid that would not be understood by the fans at this time, so he adopted a Ringoism for the title instead.  To be honest, I don't pay attention to these lyrics, but maybe others connect with them on a much deeper level than I'm capable of.  

For me, this is all about the music, including how Ringo and Paul keep it all together with the chaos that's going on about them.   There are so many innovations in this song that I won't discuss in detail, such as the backward reverb guitar parts, but I'll mention a few.  John instructed that he wanted his voice to sound "like the Dalai chanting from a mountaintop," which led to Geoff Emerick's idea to channel John's vocal through a Leslie speaker after the first verse.  The effect was that haunting, distant sound that matches perfectly with the lyrics.  

The drum sounds were also new to recording based on a couple of ideas.  Blatantly contravening EMI rules to keep microphones at least two feet from the drums, the microphones were put only a few inches away.  In addition, to dampen the ringing from the bass drum, a large sweater was stuffed in against the rear beater skin.  The results were these full, energetic drums heard on the record.  

As for the tape loops, these were originally from Paul, who was experimenting more with avant garde music at the time than the others, and who'd removed the erase-head from his home tape recorder, allowing additional sounds to be recorded each time the tape spooled through.  All the band members were given an assignment to make some tape loops and bring them back the studio, after which the group listened to the loops backward, forward, slowed down, sped up, any which way, until five were chosen, including the one that sounds like seagulls but is actually Paul laughing.  Then the loops were added to the track:  "Every tape machine in every studio was commandeered and every available EMI employee was given the task of holding a pencil or drinking glass to give the loops the proper tensioning.  In many instances, this meant they had to be standing out in the hallway, looking quite sheepish."  At the same time, in the control room Emerick and Martin "huddled over the console, raising and lowering faders to shouted instructions from John, Paul, George and Ringo.  (‘Let’s have that seagull sound now!’...)  With each fader carrying a different loop, the mixing desk acted like a synthesizer, and we played it like a musical instrument, too, carefully overdubbing textures to the prerecorded backing track."  As a result, the recorded version of this song could not possibly be re-produced.       

Mr. krista:  "The vocal thing that happens there is Lennon singing through a Leslie speaker, usually used with a Hammond organ, but Lennon sang vocals through it instead.  This happens all the time now.  But maybe never before this.  But still sounds so modern.  Sounds like it could have happened any time.  In terms of sound capture, this is an incredible record, and this is particularly an incredible track.  I doubt anyone had used multi-track recording quite like this.  There’s 24 tracks of wildly different sonic information with nothing to do with each other, but then assembled into a song that fits on the record…and it’s one chord!  There’s so much weirdness going on on that.  It’s so psychedelic."

Suggested cover:  Nah, that doesn't seem right for this one.  The genius is in the innovation and the one-time nature of the sound.

not best.........Krista's favorites.........not best.........Krista's favorites........not best.........Krista's favorites.........not best.........Krista's favorites........not best.........Krista's favorites...not best.........Krista's favorites.........not best.........Krista's favorites........not best.........Krista's favorites.........not best.........Krista's favorites........not best.........Krista's favorites........not best.........Krista's favorites.........not best.........Krista's favorites........not best.........Krista's favorites.........not best.........Krista's favorites........not best.........Krista's favorites........not best.........Krista's favorites.........not best.........Krista's favorites........not best.........Krista's favorites.........not best.........Krista's favorites........not best.........Krista's favorites...not best.........Krista's favorites.........not best.........Krista's favorites........not best.........Krista's favorites.........not 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[simey]

I should note, by the way, that from this exercise I've learned that I've been misspelling "psychedelic" my whole life.

I expect this song is more popular with me than with most regular people, but more popular with the crowd here even than with me.  That's a compliment to you guys, as I think it's a hard listen for the man on the street.  Obviously I love it, too, but I've not dropped enough acid (or...any).

I have seen the Grateful Dead play it. 

The last time I ever did acid was at a Grateful Dead show in July of 1990 at Carter-Finley Stadium. Near the end of the show I had to get out of there, cause there was just too much commotion going on around me. I was standing outside the stadium and listening to the encore song which was Brokedown Palace. I was looking up at some trees near me, and a bunch of people had climbed way up them to see the show inside the stadium. It looked like a bunch of monkeys in the trees. A police officer came up to me, and he was riding a horse. He asked me if I was ok, and I told him yes, and I told him his horse might not be, and I asked the horse, "Why the long face?"  The cop grinned, and went about his way.  That whole night was a series of adventures. Anyway, I've never really liked acid. I liked shrooms much better as far as hallucinogenics go.  I used to have a 1972 VW van in college, and it had a sticker on it when I bought it that had a picture of a mushroom, and it said Fungus is Among Us.  I was home one weekend, and my mom saw it and she said, "That sticker is coming off."  She came outside with a bottle of goo gone and took it right off.  My bus looked like this.  It had maroon curtains, a wooden back bumper, and a dent in the side with the word Ouch painted on the dent. It was a party house on wheels. My favorite vehicle I've ever owned.

 

[Binky The Doormat]

The last time I ever did acid was at a Grateful Dead show in July of 1990 at Carter-Finley Stadium. Near the end of the show I had to get out of there, cause there was just too much commotion going on around me. I was standing outside the stadium and listening to the encore song which was Brokedown Palace. I was looking up at some trees near me, and a bunch of people had climbed way up them to see the show inside the stadium. It looked like a bunch of monkeys in the trees. A police officer came up to me, and he was riding a horse. He asked me if I was ok, and I told him yes, and I told him his horse might not be, and I asked the horse, "Why the long face?"  The cop grinned, and went about his way.  That whole night was a series of adventures. Anyway, I've never really liked acid. I liked shrooms much better as far as hallucinogenics go.  I used to have a 1972 VW van in college, and it had a sticker on it when I bought it that had a picture of a mushroom, and it said Fungus is Among Us.  I was home one weekend, and my mom saw it and she said, "That sticker is coming off."  She came outside with a bottle of goo gone and took it right off.  My bus looked like this.  It had maroon curtains, a wooden back bumper, and a dent in the side with the word Ouch painted on the dent. It was a party house on wheels. My favorite vehicle I've ever owned.

awesome simey.  

 

[Alex P Keaton]

I had this one written up already; I'm not this fast with the write-ups!

54.  If I Fell (A Hard Day's Night, 1964)

Beatles version:  Spotify  YouTube

Never let it be said that John couldn't or wouldn't write a helluva ballad.  This really isn't my kind of song; it's not just that overall I prefer rockers to ballads, but this one sounds so old-fashioned.  Despite the old-timey sound, though, the lyrics are a bit precarious for the time, as they seem to suggest that the author is planning to leave his wife for another woman.  Not that John would ever do that, of course.

The sublime harmonies and unison singing sound to me as full and lush as on any Beatles song, despite being only two-part harmonies (in some cases double-tracked).  Some of this sound might have come from the fact that John and Paul insisted on singing close in on the same microphone during the recording.  The Beatles frequently performed this one in concert, which is a marvel to me given the fact they could barely hear themselves over the screams.  One of the intriguing parts of this song is that it's difficult or impossible to identify what is the melody v. the harmony.  While Paul stays on the higher "harmony," and John does begin the song on melody, the two voices rise and fall, winding over and crossing each other repeatedly, sometimes stopping to sing in unison, weaving in and out of upper and lower harmonies.  When I try to sing along, I realize that I've jumped from the John part to the Paul part and vice versa, and I'm not sure if I'm ever actually following the melody or the harmony.

Another of the most fascinating aspects of this song that elevates it to such a high level for me is the structure.  The song starts with a preamble that's not repeated again, in a minor key that then goes through a few key changes before getting to the song's primary key.  The first verse then proceeds normally, but the second verse is suddenly truncated in the middle of a line to lead into a bridge.  Within that bridge, the key again slips into a minor key on the words "and I."  That pattern is then repeated for a truncated third verse/bridge, but then the fourth verse is a repeat of the third verse, but extended instead of truncated, leading to a conclusion with a new guitar fill.  Notice one thing that's missing?  No chorus!

One more little tidbit to notice is the lyric, “And I found that love was more than just holding hands."  Is that John indicating he's grown from (or making fun of) their prior effort, "I Want To Hold Your Hand"?

This song shows up in a scene that might be my favorite in the whole movie, when the guys are setting up their equipment and John starts singing the song to Ringo.  So cute!  That probably elevates it another several spots for me.

Mr. krista:  "It’s really interesting.  I have nothing to say you haven’t.  You schooled me pretty good on that song there.  It’s dreamlike in that it doesn’t go anywhere but you feel like you’ve traveled somewhere, but it never repeats, and the beat stays the same."

Suggested cover:  Sananda Maitreya (fka Terence Trent D'Arby)  DAY-UM.

No idea how I missed this song.   Just was doing the nightly review of this thread with Mrs APK, and we played this song for the kids.   My son said "I really love the harmony in this song, even though it's about love so the song sucks."

It's one of the first Beatles songs I remember hearing in my parents' basement on vinyl, and my mom and I used to try to each sing one part and really stick just to that part.  We still sing this song sometimes when I'm visiting, and we STILL struggle not to change parts -- which weirdly enough, we switch at the same time almost always.

Anyway, Mrs APK and love singing Beatles songs together, and this is one we both deeply enjoy.

 

[Zegras11]

It will probably take me a little longer as I have some busier days upcoming.  I think on one of my snowed-in days I posted nine.  Maybe eight.

Nothing personal, but I hope you get hit with a blizzard soon.

 

[Ilov80s]

Well @krista4 you really stepped in it this time 

 

[BobbyLayne]

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#8 for me

 

[Nipsey]

Mean Mr. Mustard

https://clyp.it/3vc1huom

 

[BobbyLayne]

It will probably take me a little longer as I have some busier days upcoming.  I think on one of my snowed-in days I posted nine.  Maybe eight.

Nothing personal, but I hope you get hit with a blizzard soon.

related

 

[OrtonToOlsen]

45.  Tomorrow Never Knows (Revolver, 1966)

Beatles version:  Spotify  YouTube

There's so much to say about this song, about its production, the various innovations, that I'm sure I'll leave a lot of important stuff out.  I love this song.  It’s could be such a ####### mess, but it's not.  I love the drums, and the wah-wah-wah-wah bird-type sounds (more on that below). The spooky vocals, the tambour, tambourines, the dissonance.  The fact that it's all (almost) entirely one damn chord.  It's aural collage unlike anything produced before it.

John's lyrics were inspired by Timothy Leary's The Psychedelic Experience, his interpretation of the philosophy of the Tibetan Book of the Dead.  While he initially wanted to call the song "The Void," he was afraid that would not be understood by the fans at this time, so he adopted a Ringoism for the title instead.  To be honest, I don't pay attention to these lyrics, but maybe others connect with them on a much deeper level than I'm capable of.  

For me, this is all about the music, including how Ringo and Paul keep it all together with the chaos that's going on about them.   There are so many innovations in this song that I won't discuss in detail, such as the backward reverb guitar parts, but I'll mention a few.  John instructed that he wanted his voice to sound "like the Dalai chanting from a mountaintop," which led to Geoff Emerick's idea to channel John's vocal through a Leslie speaker after the first verse.  The effect was that haunting, distant sound that matches perfectly with the lyrics.  

The drum sounds were also new to recording based on a couple of ideas.  Blatantly contravening EMI rules to keep microphones at least two feet from the drums, the microphones were put only a few inches away.  In addition, to dampen the ringing from the bass drum, a large sweater was stuffed in against the rear beater skin.  The results were these full, energetic drums heard on the record.  

As for the tape loops, these were originally from Paul, who was experimenting more with avant garde music at the time than the others, and who'd removed the erase-head from his home tape recorder, allowing additional sounds to be recorded each time the tape spooled through.  All the band members were given an assignment to make some tape loops and bring them back the studio, after which the group listened to the loops backward, forward, slowed down, sped up, any which way, until five were chosen, including the one that sounds like seagulls but is actually Paul laughing.  Then the loops were added to the track:  "Every tape machine in every studio was commandeered and every available EMI employee was given the task of holding a pencil or drinking glass to give the loops the proper tensioning.  In many instances, this meant they had to be standing out in the hallway, looking quite sheepish."  At the same time, in the control room Emerick and Martin "huddled over the console, raising and lowering faders to shouted instructions from John, Paul, George and Ringo.  (‘Let’s have that seagull sound now!’...)  With each fader carrying a different loop, the mixing desk acted like a synthesizer, and we played it like a musical instrument, too, carefully overdubbing textures to the prerecorded backing track."  As a result, the recorded version of this song could not possibly be re-produced.       

Mr. krista:  "The vocal thing that happens there is Lennon singing through a Leslie speaker, usually used with a Hammond organ, but Lennon sang vocals through it instead.  This happens all the time now.  But maybe never before this.  But still sounds so modern.  Sounds like it could have happened any time.  In terms of sound capture, this is an incredible record, and this is particularly an incredible track.  I doubt anyone had used multi-track recording quite like this.  There’s 24 tracks of wildly different sonic information with nothing to do with each other, but then assembled into a song that fits on the record…and it’s one chord!  There’s so much weirdness going on on that.  It’s so psychedelic."

Suggested cover:  Nah, that doesn't seem right for this one.  The genius is in the innovation and the one-time nature of the sound.

Matt Weiner paid $250K for the rights to use this song on Mad Men.  

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rLLL9DKpUa4

 

[Zegras11]

I quit.TM

we should have listened to her.

 

[shuke]

everybody else is wrong.

Whoa this is trippy.

 

[shuke]

I have seen the Grateful Dead play it. 

Me too  .   Suck it, Tanner.

 

[shuke]

It had maroon curtains, a wooden back bumper, and a dent in the side with the word Ouch painted on the dent. 

Rules

 

[OrtonToOlsen]

Me too  .   Suck it, Tanner.

Oh yeah. Now I feel bad.

 

[ZenoRazon]

While The Beatles were big they were too mellow for me, I was more hard edged.blues based like The Rolling Stones.

I didn't really get into them until about 20 years ago now I own everything the band did (not the individuals) and I did make an attempt to come up with some rankings. nope, can't do it. Actually can't see how it can be done. So many great songs, too many great songs.

 

[krista4]

Huh?

You people are tripping.  And frankly, way past tiresome.

 

[Ilov80s]

Huh?

You people are tripping.  And frankly, way past tiresome.

I'm real damn high but not tripping. 

 

[shuke]

Huh?

You people are tripping.  And frankly, way past tiresome.

We're what now?

 

[krista4]

We're what now?

Which part wasn't clear?

 

[Man of Constant Sorrow]

Wait... Is this the tripping getting high thread too? 

I been gone too long. 

Pass it 80's!

Oh, Across the Universe is really quite near it seems. 

Nice thread and work Krista. 

 

[krista4]

Oh, Across the Universe is really quite near it seems. 

Hey friend, glad you're here.  What means this?

 

[shuke]

Which part wasn't clear?

The part where you said " Huh? You people are tripping.  And frankly, way past tiresome."

 

[shuke]

Hey friend, glad you're here.  What means this?

WHAT PART WASN'T ####ING CLEAR TO YOU!?!??!

 

[krista4]

Sorry you're having a bad night , GBshuke.

 

[Man of Constant Sorrow]

Hey friend, glad you're here.  What means this?

LOL. 

It means I'm really "spaced out"... so much soo... that... across the universe... 

... is slapping me in face, saying, "Glad you made it!" 

Or.. something like that I think... Perhaps. 

 

[shuke]

Sorry you're having a bad night , GBshuke.

 

[Ilov80s]

Sad administration 

 

[shuke]

You guys are drunk

 

[krista4]

You guys are drunk

Hardly.

 

[shuke]

Hardly.

Then post a song!

 

[shuke]

Obvious satire post since there's no write-up and Walrus will be in the top 10.

 

[krista4]

1. simey – Abbey Road medley
   
2. Mister CIA – She Said She Said
   
3. timschochet – Paperback Writer
   
4. pecorino – Hey Jude
   
5. Binky the Doormat – In My Life
   
6. wikkidpissah – Taxman
   
7. Dr. Octopus – Got To Get You Into My Life
   
8. Nigel Tufnel – You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away
   
9. Uruk-Hai – Ticket to Ride
   
10. Dinsy Ejotuz – Let It Be
    
11. Tom Hagen – Eleanor Rigby
    
12. Spock – Rain
    
13. Leroy Hoard – A Day in the Life
    
14. rockaction  - I Want to Hold Your Hand
    
15. Ted Lange as Your Bartender – In My Life
    
16. shuke – Abbey Road medley
    
17. Alex P Keaton – Something
    
18. Getzlaf15 – With A Little Help From My Friends
    
19. zamboni – While My Guitar Gently Weeps
    
20. neal cassady – While My Guitar Gently Weeps
    
21. Shaft41 – Hey Bulldog
    
22. Ilov80s – Norwegian Wood
    
23. Officer Pete Malloy – I Want to Hold Your Hand
    
24. Godsbrother – Dear Prudence
    
25. ManofSteelhead – Eleanor Rigby
    
26. mike9289 – I’m Looking Through You
    
27. heckmanm: Eleanor Rigby
    
28. Atomic Punk – A Day in the Life
    
29. [Mrs. Punk – In My Life]
    
30. bananafish – Abbey Road medley
    
31. bonzai – Abbey Road medley
    
32. fatguy – Here Comes the Sun
    
33. ScottNorwood- Yesterday
    
34. Sebowski – I’m So Tired
    

 

[Zegras11]

obliterated 

 

[shuke]

no write-ups from now on. 

Let's sleep on it and reconsider.