With touring no longer a consideration or care, the Beatles dive head first into the recording studio. From 1967 until 1969, they created some of the most interesting pop music art pieces of their generation (and of all time). While at their creative peak as a group and creative collective, the fracturing from a unit into four distinct individuals is poured directly into the music.
1967 was the beginning of the end. While many have speculated where the start of the break-up begins, I think it's most important to understand the radical change that took place from 1966 to 1967. Rejecting the public "A Hard Day's Night" image, the group swaps it for Carnaby Street and Swinging London. With psychedelic music on the rise in both the US and the UK, and Revolver skewing the Beatles' sound towards rock and baroque pop, the concept of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band gestated in Paul's mind as the next Beatles project.
Going back to the later half of 1966, the four Beatles were already splintering in different directions after the August release of Revolver. They were free to enjoy life outside of the Beatles, and take a well deserved break. In September of 1966, John flies to Hanover, Germany, dons a World War II haircut, and begins filming How I Won the War with director Richard Lester. George and Patti fly to India, and later are interviewed by the BBC on the trip and his new Indian faith. Ringo remains home for a while, but visits John in Spain on location and Paul flies to France. On the return flight to London from Nairobi, on November 19th with roadie Mal Evens, a miscommunication of "pass the salt-n-pepper" became Sgt. Pepper. His group, the Lonely Hearts Club Band, was a pastiche of San Fransisco Freak-Out bands like the Mothers of Invention, Country Joe and the Fish, and Big Brother and the Holding Company.
With Beatle John in Spain, Paul assumes the role as the Beatles leader unofficially. “We heard that Elvis Presley had sent his gold-plated Cadillac out on tour. He didn’t go with it – he just sent it out. And people would flock to see Elvis’ Cadillac, and then it would go to the next town and those people would flock." said McCartney, in 2020. The new record would 'tour the world' as did Elvis's caddy did. With these concepts floating around in McCartney's head, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band would be the band's next album and do the same.
On November 24th, 1966, the band reconvened at EMI Studios to record John's 'Strawberry Fields Forever', commencing the start of the psychedelic Beatles and the Sgt. Pepper sessions. December, Paul brings 'When I'm Sixty-Four', a song that pre-dates the Beatles and Lennon-McCartney, and a recent composition' 'Penny Lane' as a response to John's 'Strawberry Fields.' Originally intended to be the B-Side of Lennon's most recent track, 'When I'm Sixty-Four' was a Cavern Club ditty resurrected in honor of the new album, and Jim McCartney's 64th birthday. 'Penny Lane' replaced '64' from Brian Epstein and George Martin insistence that thematically the two songs worked better. '64' had a place on the new record, and was better for it.
Both 'Penny Lane' and 'When I’m 64' are stellar McCartney and Beatle tracks. '64' follows in 'For No One' being keyboard-driven. Styled in the vocal pop of the previous generation, John Lennon unfairly called these Paul songs "granny music". Sprinkled throughout his discography, 'granny music' can describe Beatle songs like 'Fixing a Hole', Your Mother Should Know', 'Honey Pie', 'Maxwell's Silver Hammer', 'Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da', and 'All Together Now'. Perfected on the White Album's 'Martha My Dear', Paul is guaranteed for one of these songs on almost every album after Sgt. Pepper. In Wings, Paul's reworked 'Mary Had a Little Lamb', 'Single Pigeon', 'One More Kiss', 'You Gave Me the Answer', 'After the Ball/Million Miles', 'Baby's Request', 'Ballroom Dancing', and 'I'll Give You a Ring' could be regarded as 'granny music'. Solo 'granny tunes' includes 'English Tea' from Chaos and Creation in the Backyard. 'Penny Lane' has granny music elements, as well as its 21st century re-write 'New', but it doesn't fall into that category. Where Paul domineers the production and musical flow on the granny music songs, 'Penny Lane' is the McCartney counterpart of 'Strawberry Fields' in tone, musicality and lyrical content. John's latest song is introspective, and contemplative, the lyrical content personal and psychedelic, while Paul's is fantastical, classical British whimsy.
The band unit of two guitars, bass and drums is no longer a constraint to the Beatles, used best by George and Paul. Unlocking his creative side, Paul can play any instrument, pursue any endeavor, and explore any musical idea, manifesting on record. Paul was the most culturally conscious with the group, hanging out with socialites, other musicians, and seeing the band's place among the cultural landscape.
Following 'Penny Lane', the unreleased 'Carnival of Light' is written for a Happening commissioned by David Vaughan. Although possibly not considered a candidate for Sgt. Pepper, the track is an experimental recording similar to the musique-concrete track 'Revolution 9'. Paul, being a regular in the Swinging London scene, was hip to Karlheinz Stockhausen, William S. Burrough, and Edgard Varese's "organized sound." In 2024, 'Carnival of Light' still remains unreleased with every new generation of Beatles fan speculating on the recording.
After Christmas, the Beatles returned to EMI to work on John's 'A Day in the Life'. Returning to themes of childhood, 'A Day in the Life' includes Paul's 'Woke up/ fell out of bed...' middle eight, describing his morning school day routine. It's peppy tone brightens the track, highlighting the demeanor of both writers, John is pensive, gloomy, lethargic, and Paul is energetic, and on to the next thing. 'Sgt. Pepper''s theme and reprisal are variations of the rocker song, infusing Jimi Hendrix-like guitar and brass elements. If 'I Want to Hold Your Hand' was the theme song of the Mop Tops, 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' is the theme song of the studio-only Beatles. 'With a Little Help from My Friends' is quite possibly the greatest collaboration of Lennon-McCartney. The album's song for Ringo, 'Friends' is a power pop gem, unlike anything in their catalog. Heavily relying on John's lyrical strength and Paul's whimsical musicality, it's the Beatles firing on all-cylinders, even down to Ringo's trademark tom-tom fills that show up again and again (George's Living in the Material World', 'When We Was Fab', Paul's 'Beautiful Night'). The track is perfectly produced, gliding from section to section. The record continues with 'Lucy in the Skies with Diamonds', a psychedelic vehicle for John. Paul's boundless creativity in song craft and production are explored on 'Getting Better', followed by 'Fixing a Hole', two psychedelic pop symphonies. 'Better' contains the bounce of his granny music, but is darkened with some of Lennon's lyrical contributions. 'Getting Better''s DNA comes from post-1966 Beach Boys work, as does much of the Pepper album. 'Fixing a Hole' is McCartney's more artistic/abstract side, taking mundane modern inconveniences and flipping them upside-down into a piece of Swinging London psychedelia.
'She's Leaving Home' is two of McCartney's story songs on the album. Recounting the story of 17-year old runaway Melanie Cole, McCartney refashions the newspaper article into a Beach Boys-esque baroque pop song, harp included. Ornate not unlike the tracks on Sgt. Pepper, 'She's Leaving Home' is one of the few non-George Martin arranged Beatle songs. It suffers for want of Martin's orchestral arrangement. How much of Mike Leander's arrangement is from Leander. Minor lyrical contributions from John, and with Martin absent, 'She's Leaving Home' sounds very similar to work that shows up Give My Regards to Broad Street, Pipes of Peace and Tug of War, all of which Martin is present as producer. GM is there as a paternal musical collabortar rather than capitol "P" producer in all settings, letting Paul to do what he wants for better or worse.
'Lovely Rita' is another story-song burgeoning on the fantastical. A sole Paul composition with lyrical contributions from John, and an amazing bar room piano solo by George Martin, this gem of a power pop tune explodes with joy. The background vocals hint to the Beach Boys/Carpenters-esque that decorate Wings tracks. Sessions were devoted to the vocals, although their lack of polish denotes an urge to finish and move on. The track is bouncy, reminiscent of early Beatle compositions with bar-by-bar chord changes. It seems and feels written to order for Sgt. Pepper and boasts an excellent bass track and compressed drum performance by Ringo.
With Sgt. Pepper finally completed and no tour to support it, the band continued to record at their will. Where the three other Beatles were looking to expand beyond the music, Paul dives headfirst into recording singles and another big project.
Collaborating a la 'A Day in the Life' with John, he adds the infectious shout-along chorus for 'Baby, You're a Rich Man', and creates the ultimate bubblegum pop song with 'Hello, Goodbye'. Both these songs have the 'shout chorus', a melodically controlled outburst that would become a useful songwriting technique in Wings' arena era ('Rock Show', 'Jet'). 'Baby, You're a Rich Man' modulates from his Little Richard voice.
As a film, Magical Mystery Tour survives the 60's because of the Beatles. On artistic value as a 60's oddity, it falls short as a classic of hippie cinema. The Monkees' Head, while similar in the fantastic, is a much better film, but relies on the darker side of the 60's and more narrative driven. Paul shares co-director credit with the other Beatles, but this project has his fingerprints all over it. Half the songs on the UK EP belong to Paul, with John contributing the supreme 'I Am the Walrus', and George's dark psychedelic epic 'Blue Jay Way'.
Opening with the title track, 'Magical Mystery Tour' follows a formula similar to Sgt. Pepper's title track, setting tone and timbre for the rest to follow. Written to order, it features stellar background vocals and drum sounds. Granny music rears it's head in it's most repetitive state on 'Your Mother Should Know' and 'The Fool on the Hill' re-introduces piano-based songs relying heavily on the 1 to 5 bass note pump. Magical Mystery Tour and Sgt. Pepper may be a part of the psychedelic Beatle era, but techniques, both recording and musical are re-used again and again in Wings and solo Paul.
Comments
Post a Comment