Detailed in an excerpt from producer George Martin’s new book
An excerpt from a new book about Beatles producer George Martin has revealed the recording process of ‘Hey Jude’.
The second volume ‘Sound Pictures: The Life of Beatles Producer George Martin — The Later Years, 1966 – 2016’ is released on September 4 and is written by author Kenneth Womack.
In a new excerpt from the book, Womack details Martin coming in on the second day of the ‘Hey Jude’ recording at Abbey Road.
“‘Hey Jude’ was quickly taking shape as a Beatles song of inordinate length,” it reads. “In the case of ‘Hey Jude,’” George later recalled, “when we were recording the track, I thought that we had made it too long. It was very much a Paul song, and I couldn’t understand what he was on about by just going round and round the same thing. And of course, it does become hypnotic.”
It’s later revealed that Paul McCartney snubbed George Harrison’s suggestion that the lead guitar echo McCartney’s lyrics in a call-and-response style.
“Personally, I’d found that for the last couple of albums,” Harrison later observed, “the freedom to be able to play as a musician was being curtailed, mainly by Paul.” In situations such as the “Hey Jude” session, said Harrison, “Paul had fixed an idea in his brain as to how to record one of his songs. He wasn’t open to anybody else’s suggestions,” the book reads. You can read the full excerpt here.
Earlier this week, Pattie Boyd was interviewed by Taylor Swift about being married to George Harrison during the height of Beatlemania.
“I got to see the Beatles play at a theater in London, and George told me that I should leave with my friends before the last number,” she told Swift in the Harper’s Bazarre feature. “So before the last song, we got up from our seats and walked toward the nearest exit door, and there were these girls behind me. They followed us out, and they were kicking me and pulling my hair and pushing us all the way down this long passageway.”
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