NEMS II---Frequently Asked Questions for Graduates! Last Update: 1 July 1993 ---- This is a modest compendium of "advanced" questions that have appeared in rec.music.beatles; some occur and are debated regularly. More will be added in future editions, as the need warrants. This is not a substitute for honest, thorough scholarship on your part! Don't expect to become a Beatles Wizard right off the bat! :-) Corrections and emendations are, of course, welcome. ------ 1) What Beatles songs have drug references? While it is undeniable that the Beatles took varieties of drugs during their career, starting with "prellys" (uppers) in Hamburg, marijuana during "Help", LSD and other hallucinogenics after 1965, there is not a shred of evidence that any of their songs *promote* drug-taking or drug use. Nevertheless, many first-generation Beatles fans recall being inspired by what they found in the music and lifestyle of the Fabs to try drugs themselves, almost as if the Beatles were giving them permission to do so. The question is whether actual advocacy was an element of the Beatles' musical message. As with most of their creative expression, the Boys' use of drugs seems to have become an undeniable thread in the fabric of their songs. In print and interviews, the Beatles were always careful to say that drug usage was their personal decision, and that they weren't suggesting the public at large imitate them (see Paul's LSD confession of 1967.) As a result, many songs were inspired by drug experiences, but few have actual specific references. "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" was a reference to a drawing by John's young son; the initials are an unfortunate coincidence (though arguably the images in the lyrics were probably based on drug-induced visions). Paul has said he meant the words "Found my way upstairs and had a smoke/And somebody spoke and I went into a dream" from "A Day in the Life" as a reference to nicotine. The "I'd love to turn you on" was a multidimensional meaning---turn on to the potentials of life rather than merely a drug user's wish to share the wealth. John said he wrote "She Said, She Said" about an LSD experience he had with Peter Fonda at a party in 1966. "Dr. Robert" is a "tribute" to a NY physician who handed out pills and the like to important people and rock stars (see question 2 below.) "With A Little Help Etc." has a reference to getting high, of course. 2) Who was Dr. Robert? A New York physician, Charles Roberts, during the middle-to-late 1960's, from whom it was easy (for celebrities, at least) to acquire various prescription medications. Most of the drugs were, needless to say, of a rather illegal variety. "If you're down he'll pick you up, Dr. Robert..." 3) What films should I see related to the Beatles? Their primary output was "A Hard Day's Night" (1964), superb, funny, B&W film that evokes the best of the early hysteria; "Help" (1965), a strange, ironic take-off on the James-Bond school of filmmaking; "Magical Mystery Tour" (1967), properly a video, very much an in-joke but quite charming; "Yellow Submarine" (1968), a happy accident of witty writing, animation, and great music; "Let It Be" (1970), a mournful, sometimes painful examination of the breakup of a super- group. For easy history (you can skip all that reading!) rent or buy "The Compleat Beatles" (1981), which has basically excellent research and great clips of the Fabs' development. Everyone who reads r.m.b. regularly would do well to see this. Also ask for Edward Chen's guide to Beatles video/film appearances. 4) What's the story behind the "butcher cover"? In the UK the Beatles' release sequence included Rubber Soul (1965) and Revolver (1966). In the US, Capitol decided to make extra money by releasing an interim album called "Yesterday and Today", with some songs from the "Help", "Rubber Soul" and "Revolver" albums. The Beatles were asked to provide a cover photo. The "story" goes that they felt their work was being butchered, so they posed themselves in white lab coats with meat cleavers, hunks of raw steak, and cut-up dolls. This photo actually made it onto "Yesterday and Today" and was shipped to some stores in 1966...until someone at Capitol decided it was in rather poor taste. They recalled the album. Some were "fixed" by pasting over a hastily-photographed picture of the Beatles around a steamer trunk. These album covers provided many hours of amusement for people who wanted to peel off the new cover--- a delicate process, but a successful job would reveal the "butcher cover" underneath. Needless to say, only the first printing of this album had the pasted cover photo; "Yesterday and Today" has been deleted from the Capitol album lineup. You can tell, usually, if the album you have has a butcher cover underneath (though most of these are long since peeled) by looking at the right-hand side of the "steamer trunk" photo, in the white area. If you can see a dark inverted triangle, that *may* be Ringo's turtleneck sweater in the photo underneath. Recent investigation suggests that the "urban-legend" version of the butcher cover story might be impossible to confirm. The photo session in question was actually completed months before, for the "Paperback Writer/ Rain" single, the concept being developed by John and photographer Robert Whitaker; at the time they may have been completely unaware that Capitol was planning to release "Yesterday and Today." In any case, there is no evidence, either from the Beatles own words or any other traceable source, that the Butcher Cover was photographed as a protest against Capitol's marketing practices. However, the legend that it was engineered for just this reason seems particularly tenacious. (Thanks to snopes [David P. Mikkelson] for the above information.) 5) What's backwards masking? The Beatles began to enjoy experimenting with bits of backwards tape, as can be heard as early as their single "Rain". What "backwards masking" refers to, however, is the alleged recording *forwards* of a reverse message, comprehensible only by playing the song *backwards* --- although this is not the audiophilic definition of the term (which is a phenomenon perceived when a soft passage is followed by a loud passage of music, talk, whatever...the loud noise having a tendency to "mask" the last few seconds of what preceded it.) Some of the "Paul is Dead" clues focus on this phenomenon (in the White Album track "Revolution No. 9", for instance). The Beatles denied placing secret messages in their backwards recordings, and said that these were only coincidences. (Although the "end bit" from the Sgt. Pepper CD, played in reverse, sounds too deliberate to be a coincindence). 6) Who was Stuart Sutcliffe? John's best friend in Liverpool Art College, Stuart was a gifted abstract painter. He played bass for the Silver Beatles only during 1959-1961, when (because of admitted lack of musical talent) he chose to remain in Hamburg with his girlfriend Astrid Kirscherr, herself an artist and first professional photographer for the Beatles. Stuart died in 1962 of a brain hemorrhage. 7) Did John and Paul write their songs together or separately? The composition process was most often separate in the physical sense, especially in the early stages of a song. But almost each song underwent a metamorphosis in the recording studio, when John and Paul would give each other "helpful" suggestions on completing a tune. Sometimes one or the other was stuck for an eight-bar middle, or a guitar riff, and the other would fill in. It is undeniable that friendly competition between the two was operant almost from the beginning of their songwriting career (1957) and influenced their songwriting talents. From an early stage, John and Paul had an agreement about acknowleging joint songwriting credit, even if this wasn't strictly fact. Until August 1963, these songs were known as "McCartney-Lennon" tunes; after this point (as Paul remarks in the introduction to "The Beatles Recording History") John "got his way" and the credit became officially "Lennon & McCartney". A few songs were, in fact, written jointly; "Flying", from Magical Mystery Tour, is credited to all four Beatles. 8) Who was first to quit the Beatles? Trick question. It was unofficial and well-concealed, but Ringo walked out of the White Album sessions on August 22, 1968, in the middle of recording the album, and proclaimed to the others he had definitely quit. The three remaining Beatles covered for Ringo and apparently (from what can be gleaned from the recording info available) substituted for him on drums on various famous tracks, probably "Back in the USSR" among them. Ringo returned at the end of a week, finding a welcome-back greeting of masses of flowers over his drumkit. 9) Who owns the right to the Beatles' songs? During the great Apple debacle the Beatles experienced in the late '60's, the lads found themselves losing tremendous amounts of money and needed a lot of cash fast. This and other contributing factors (like Dick James selling his stake in Northern Songs) led to the Beatles selling the publishing rights to their songs (except for some of the early ones like "Love Me Do" which were published by various companies and are now owned by MPL -- Macca's company). The song rights were for sale again a few years back, and Paul mounted a joint effort with Yoko to buy them back -- but (as Paul tells it) Michael Jackson outrageously outbid everyone, offering a really unheard of and unanticipated price. He walked away with the whole kit and kaboodle. Consider the following scenario, if you will. If "Please Please Me" was in a film and not sung by the Beatles, then Mr. Jackson did license it. He owns the song, like a book copyright, while EMI owns rights to the Beatles recordings. Presumably EMI never licenses a Beatles recording for use in such a case unless the Beatles think it's okay (this may be an unofficial arrangement, probably because the Beatles are suing Capitol-EMI for rights of the recordings in the US), which was what caused the uproar over the Nike commercial (apparently Yoko okayed it, but no one asked the others, and, hey, Yoko wasn't a Beatle anyway. :-) ). (Thanks to Jay C. Smith for the answer to No. 9.) 10) What ever happened to Raymond Jones, the young man whom Brian Epstein reported was his first link to the Beatles? He was the lad who, we are led to believe, was the individual who asked Brian Epstein for a copy of "My Bonnie", which in turn led to Mr Epstein visiting The Cavern and discovering The Fabs. ("My Bonnie" was from the session the Beatles did with Tony Sheridan in 1961, as a backup band. It was released to European markets on the Polydor label; when the Beatles hit the States, "My Bonnie" was rereleased here, but the original Polydor version acquired something of a "cult" status for collectors in 1964, who believed they were on to the first inkling anybody had---as Brian told it in his biography---of the Beatles' music.) The evidence currently available---most convincingly from the pen of Bill Harry, who published a Liverpool fanzine called "Mersey Beat", and was a sharp observer of the Mersey music scene---suggests that this story is a fabrication. It is almost inconceivable that Brian did not know about The Beatles before that date. Brian was running a very successful record store (Nems), very close to The Cavern (maybe 100 metres), and it is hard to believe could not have heard about the events there. As Bill Harry remembers, the Boys were also regular customers in the store, and if their record appetite was as wide-ranging as they have indicated (the full spectrum of American pop, rhythm and blues, and rock/rockabilly), Brian would surely have been busy ordering special titles for them. More objectively convincing is the fact that Brian wrote in, and was a major distributor for, Mersey Beat - a newspaper that was at times nothing more than a Beatles fanzine (and Bill Harry was their personal friend, as well). Finally - how come this guy has never been traced? It seems likely that Raymond Jones was an attempt on Brian's part (through his ghostwriter for "A Cellar Full of Noise", Derek Taylor) to mythologize the Beatles' appearance on the musical horizon. As if they needed mythology! (Thanks to Stephen Carter for contributing to No. 10.) 11) Who plays the guitar solos at the end of the second side of "Abbey Road," and in what order? First off, you need to count the rhythm in 4/4 time: 1-2-3-4 1-2-3-4 1-2-3-4....etc. (with each quadruplet being one measure or "bar" of 4 beats) - So, begin counting where they go into the sequence immediately following the drum solo, with the guitars crunching out the chords in unison, and the voices singing, "Love you. Love you...." (Then the 1st guitar comes in.) di-di-da-da-DAH.... (that "DAH" is count #1 of the first measure) 1-2-3-4 1-2-3-4 1-2-3-4 1-2-3-4 (4 bars, with some high notes by the 3rd bar - some folks hear just one guitar here....if so, it's all George; I think maybe there are two guitars that sound pretty similar.... the first 2 bars are Paul, but the 3rd & 4th [the high notes] are definitely George; logic would suggest the latter possibility [2 bars each]) 1-2-3-4 1-2-3-4 (2 bars of dirty, crunchy, nasty fast chordal chomping - definitely John) 1-2-3-4 1-2-3-4 (2 bars, steady 8th-note, whiny-tone, high notes in the 2nd - definitely Paul) 1-2-3-4 1-2-3-4 (2 bars, low, growling notes, whipping up to mid-range notes - George) 1-2-3-4 1-2-3-4 (2 bars, a few very, low, sustained notes - John) 1-2-3-4 1-2-3-4 (2 bars, more staccato bursts of shrill, trebly single notes - Paul) 1-2-3-4 1-2-3-4 (2 bars, quick looping run up to very high notes - George) 1-2-3-4 1-2-3-4 (2 final bars of slashing ugly chords - who else but John) ....crashing directly into Paul's little piano notes. John is clearly identifiable in this sequence. He frequently used that dirty, overmodulated tone, and his tendency was to play chordal, rhythm- style guitar, rather than a lot of clear, high single notes. When he did play single-note runs, he usually bent a few low notes into slightly out-of-tune or dissonant groans, like in "Happiness is a Warm Gun". Paul's style is also obvious where he uses that shrill, whiny, piercing thin tone that he seems to like. You can hear it in a number of his other recorded guitar solos, like on "Back in the USSR", and much of the stuff on his 1st solo lp and "Ram". George didn't have the most obvious guitar style back then, with his fingerstyle (he's absolutely unmistakable with his later slide style of playing). But you can tell it's him in this sequence by listening to some of his other solos from various 1968-69 recordings ("Savoy Truffle", "Let it Be", others). (Thanks to Stuart Troutman for his contribution to No. 11.) 12) Isn't it true that there's a hidden sequence of morse code after the lines "Let me take you down..." in "Strawberry Fields Forever"? And doesn't this hidden code spell out John Lennon's initials (J. L.)? Bob Clements, our resident amateur radio expert, answers: The "code" is pretty clearly there if you listen for it. It appears from 0:16 to 0:20 on the official release (Magical Mystery Tour CD) on the left channel. It does sound a lot like intentional hand-sent Morse. As I read it, it says: -.- .- -.- - - . .- where the last dash is considerably extended and there is too long a space between the first dash and the first dot. This translates as "KAKTTEA" if you believe it's Morse. But it isn't. It gets interesting if you listen to the various outtakes. We know from Lewisohn and other evidence that the released SFF is spliced together from a "slow" version (mixed from take 7) and a "fast" version (mixed from take 25). If you listen to take 7, you find that the "code" appears after the same vocal phrase three times, only the first of which appears in the official release. And the second and third occurrences sound much less like Morse code. They are certainly not the same patterns (or "letters"). They also have a little dynamics, fading at the end of some dashes rather than the on/off keying that makes it seem like Morse. The "code" as we hear it on the released version first appears at take 6, which is where that vocal track first appears. (Take 5 was a false start.) What is really fascinating, though, is take 4. On that take, a different vocal track appears AND a different "code" sound appears. It is shorter, less Morse-like, and less of a pure tone. It sounds like some kind of intermodulation distortion, but I can't pick out what the source is. My GUESS is that it's coming from the Mellotron (also on the left channel) or something sitting on/near the Mellotron, vibrating in response to that particular sustained minor chord. I think that chord is repeated every time the "take you down 'cause I'm going to" line occurs, and it doesn't appear elsewhere. That's the end of my speculation. Sources: The outtakes on URT1, the Condor "Srawberry Fields" CD, and the vinyl URT6 which has takes 1 through 7. And THE BOOK (i.e., Lewisohn's "...A Recording History"). --Bob Clements, K1BC, clements@bbn.com 13) I heard that "meeting a man from the motor trade" in "She's Leaving Home" really refers to an abortionist in Britain. According to our linguistics expert, Harold Somers, there is no basis for this assertion. An abortionist is not "a man from the motor trade." The man in question is Terry Doran, a friend and later associate of the Beatles who used to be a car salesman before he worked for Epstein and later for Apple Corps. The reference to Doran was just a personal tribute by Paul. Most theories indicate that the girl leaving home is, in fact, running away with a car salesman because, presumably, he can make her happy. 14) What is the first chord of "A Hard Day's Night"? Harold Somers says: I'd call it D7sus4/G. Even if you had a 12-string, it would not sound perfect unless you were lucky enough (rich enough) to have a *Rickenbacker* 12-string, which is strung differently (the octave strings are above rather than below the normal strings - that's why the Ricky sounds distinctive). ---- Paul Schwotzer, pws@hp-lsd.COS.HP.COM, says: This is one that was sent to me, it sounds pretty good: +---|---|-O-|---|---|--- N+---|---|-O-|---|---|--- E+---|---|-O-|---|-O-|--- C+---|---|-O-|---|---|--- K+---|---|-O-|---|-O-|--- +---|---|-O-|---|---|--- ---- Joe "Top Gear" Gogan, v086kzmq@ubvmsd.cc.buffalo.edu, says: I posted this along time ago, that the chord is very possibly TWO guitars. The chord definitely has 'G7,9sus4etc...' characteristics to it, but when my band played this live, we added a D ? on the other guitar played at the same time. It achieved astounding results. The D ? that was played was the one found on the fifth fret: 8 7 6 5 4 3 | | | | x | | | | | | x | | | | x | | x | | | | | | x | | | x | | | x | | | | | | x | | Why not play the D? in first position, with the G bass on 6th string, on my Ricky 360/12v64 no-less. This one, if not two guitars is the closest I've heard, but you be the judge. It looks like this: 3 2 1 nut | 3 | | || | | | || | | | || | | 2 | || | | | 1 || | 4 | | || ---- Dan Kozak, dbk@mimsy.umd.edu, responds to Joe Gogan: > I posted this along time ago, that the chord is very possibly TWO guitars. Nope, tho' 12 strings _do_ sound that way sometimes (I should know, I've got enough of them). > The chord definitely has 'G7,9sus4etc...' characteristics to it, but when my > band played this live, we added a D ? on the other guitar played at the same > time. It achieved astounding results. The D ? that was played was the one > found on the fifth fret: Almost right chord, wrong position . . . I don't know about anybody else, but I find the difference between a bar chord and an open chord (i.e. with open strings) to be like that between night and day. The HDN chord is an open chord, which I would describe as D7sus4/A. > Why not play the D? in first position, with the G bass on 6th string, > on my Ricky 360/12v64 no-less. This one, if not two guitars is the closest > I've heard, but you be the judge. It looks like this: This is very close to what I posted when this started recently except that I indicated that all three low strings (E, A, D) were open, but now I'd like to revise that to say that if you hit the low E at all, it should be very slightly, i.e. accidently. There is no G in the bass in this chord, the low note is the open A string. > Please, someone who has tried these two please tell me what you think, but > not before you try them. I have . . . on a '67 366-12 through a pre-62 Vox AC-30, no less. :-) And I played it with the record. You might also note that the ending (overdubbed) guitar pattern is based on this same form -- pick the top 3 strings and go between the D7sus4 and a Dm7 (i.e. G to F on the high E). 15) What are the foreign lyrics in "Sun King"? Note that the Beatles freely mixed dialects and languages here, and when this is combined with less than perfect enunciation and accent, many uncertainties arise, leading to many possible interpretations. The lyrics are usually published as: Quando paramucho mi amore de felice corazon Mundo paparazzi mi amore chica ferdy parasol Cuesto obrigado tanta mucho que can eat it carousel But that is NOT correct. I believe the lyrics could be: Quando para mucho, mi amore de felice corazon Mundo paparazzi, mi amore, chicka/chica ferdy/verde para sole Cuesto a brigata, tanta mucho, que/cake and eat it, care of sun NOTE CHANGES: "chicka ferdy" is a Liverpool expresssion of indeterminate meaning, but could also be a combination Spanish/Liverpudlian pun "chica verde" [green girl] "parasol" could be "para sole" [for the sun], or perhaps "pa re sole" [for sun king], "que can eat it" should be "que/cake and eat it", (see John's comments below on this pun), "carousel" could be "care of sun". "obrigado" could be "apre gabbo" [open deception] or perhaps "obligado" [obgligation] or "a brigata" [a party]. or "obbligado" [musical term - what is it?] or "Abrigado" [raincoat]. So a rough literal translation would be: Quando para mucho mi amore de felice corazon IF/WHEN FOR MUCH, MY LOVE OF HAPPY HEART Mundo paparazzi mi amore chicka/chica ferdy/verde pa re sole WORLD PAPARAZZI, MY LOVE, CHICKA/GIRL FERDY/GREEN FOR KING SUN [then choose one of these three] Cuesto a brigata, tanta mucho, que/cake and eat it, care of sun THIS PARTY , VERY MUCH, CAKE AND EAT IT, CARE OF SUN Cuesto apre gabbo, tanta mucho, que/cake and eat it, care of sun THIS OPEN DECEPTION , VERY MUCH, CAKE AND EAT IT, CARE OF SUN Cuesto obligado, tanta mucho, que/cake and eat it, care of sun THIS OBLIGATION, VERY MUCH, CAKE AND EAT IT, CARE OF SUN (Thanks to Mario Giannella for the above.) 16) Did Pink Floyd and the Beatles ever record a song together? Pink Floyd, when Syd Barrett was still a member, was involved in recording at EMI Studios, Abbey Road (later Abbey Road Studios) at the same time The Beatles were busy recording "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", but the two groups did not record together, and may have met only briefly in their comings and goings at the studio in March 1967. ---- More updates will be added as the need warrants. If you have questions, suggestions, or complaints on any of the above, please send to saki (dmac@math.ucla.edu).