Blue Jay Way

AUTHORSHIP Harrison (1.00)
Harrison wrote the song August 1, 1967.

George and Patti attended Ravi Shankar's concert at the Hollywood Bowl on August 4, 1967, and the day before George gave a press conference with Ravi to help promote the event. It was during this trip that George wrote "Blue Jay Way", another song in which he used the sitar to particularly good effect. The sound of the instrument was becoming a profound element in the Beatles' work. Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now

He was visiting Los Angeles and had just arrived at the Hollywood Hills house on Blue Jay Way he and Patti had rented. He was waiting for his friend Derek Taylor to come and see them. The Beatles: Illustrated and Updated Edition

HARRISON: "Derek got held up. He rang to say he'd be late. I told him on the phone that the house was on Blue Jay Way. He said he could find it okay, he could always ask a cop. I waited and waited. I felt really nackered with the flight, but I didn't want to go to sleep till he came. There was a fog and it got later and later. To keep myself awake, just as a joke to fill in time, I wrote a song about waiting for him in Blue Jay Way. There was a little Hammond orgran in the corner of this rented house, which I hadn't noticed. I messed around on this and the song came."
The lyrics were written on stationery of Robert Fitzpatrick Associates, a Los Angeles firm. Harrison later got the original back from Beatles biographer Hunter Davies. The Beatles: Illustrated and Updated Edition

RECORDED
September 6, 1967, at Abbey Road, with overdubbing September 7 and October 6

INSTRUMENTATION
McCARTNEY: bass, backing vocal
LENNON: tambourine
HARRISON: Hammond organ, lead (double-tracked) and backing vocal
STARR: drums
SESSION MUSICIANS: cello

The vocal, organ, and drums were all "phased." The original sounds were recorded on two tape machines and played back slightly out of synchronization to create a swirling effect. Electronic sounds and other studio effects were also used. The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions: The Official Story of the Abbey Road Years 1962-1970

MISCELLANEOUS
Performed in the film Magical Mystery Tour.

In the film George sits cross-legged on the floor, his expensive cars behind him, playing a keyboard chalked on the concrete floor like a pavement artist or an Indian beggar, while the camera does various clever tricks using prisms, still used today in rock videos. Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now
The phrase "Don't be long" is sung twenty-nine times. Beatles Forever