#47 We're Late For Class Presents: The Act You've Known For All These Years Get it while you can. Destined to be our first deleted release. This is a psychedelic mash-up using only tracks from The Beatles' experimental solo releases. Every sound you'll hear is The Beatles (and whoever played with them on those albums). As a future press release should wildly claim, "The Beatles - As You've Never Heard Them Before!" If only they'd all just gotten along. That's the premise, anyway. We originally made this for our amusement, then figured, hey... why not share it? Mashed-Up January, 2010. Please post this anywhere, so it can't be easily eradicated. The 70 minute player embeds with ease. Link back to us and we'll whisper your name in bonged reverence & dedicate a bowl to your existence.
Tracks: Space Fantasy Peace (Intro) (1:18) Real Made Up (7:06) Ski-ing/Au (3:15) Mersey Silence Movement 1 (Overture) (5:10) Greasy Leaf Changes (9:52) You Can't Fight Virgins In A Dream (7:00) It's So Hard To Hope For Peace In A Spiral (Requiem) (13:34) Goodnight Sad Ramsterdam (3:44) John, Yoko Is My Madness (Hidden Track) (19:02)
"Drive My Car" is a song written by Paul McCartney, with lyrical contributions by John Lennon and first released by The Beatles on the UK version of the 1965 album Rubber Soul; it also appeared in the US on the Yesterday and Today collection. The upbeat, lighthearted "Drive My Car" was used as the opening track for both albums.
Lyrics
The song's male narrator is told by a woman that she's going to be a famous movie star, and she offers him the opportunity to be her chauffeur, adding "and maybe I'll love you." When he objects that his "prospects are good", she retorts that "working for peanuts is all very fine/but I can show you a better time." When he agrees to her proposal, she admits that she doesn't have a car, "but [she's] found a driver and that's a start."
According to McCartney, "'Drive my car' was an old blues euphemism for sex." McCartney also described the song (along with "Norwegian Wood", also from Rubber Soul) as a "comedy number" in Melody Maker two days after the song's recording.
Composition
When McCartney arrived at Lennon's Weybridge home for a writing session, he had the tune in his head, but "The lyrics were disastrous, and I knew it." The chorus began, "You can buy me diamond rings", a hackneyed phrase with diamond rings having already been referenced twice before in "Can't Buy Me Love" and "I Feel Fine." Lennon dismissed the lyrics as "crap" and "too soft." They decided to rewrite the lyrics and after some difficulty—McCartney said it was "one of the stickiest" writing sessions—they settled on the "drive my car" theme (which Bob Spitz credits to Lennon) and the rest of the lyrics flowed easily from that.
Recording
"Drive My Car" was recorded at Abbey Road Studios on 13 October 1965 in the Beatles' first recording session to extend past midnight. McCartney, working closely with George Harrison, laid down the basic rhythm track, doubling similar riffing lines on bass and low guitar, as per Harrison's suggestion. Harrison had been listening to Otis Redding's "Respect" at the time and, as a result of its influence, "Drive My Car" has more bottom than any previous Beatles recording, mimicking the bass-heavy sound generated in Redding's Memphis studio.
McCartney played the lead guitar solo, although Harrison composed the guitar riff which underpins the verses. McCartney doubled this figure an octave lower on the bass.
Credits
* Paul McCartney: lead vocals, piano, lead guitar and bass * John Lennon: lead vocal and cowbell * George Harrison: rhythm guitar and background vocals * Ringo Starr: drums and tambourine
Other appearances
This song was one of four that McCartney performed live on the Super Bowl XXXIX half-time show, and one of the five performed at the Live 8 Concert in London, with George Michael adding backing vocals.
Samples from this song feature heavily in the track "Drive My Car/The Word/What You're Doing" track on the Love soundtrack album released in November 2006.
The song was covered by the band Breakfast Club and featured in the movie License to Drive.
The song was covered by Bobby McFerrin in the album Simple Pleasures.
The Punkles did a punk cover of this song on their second album, "Punk!".
The song was covered by the belgian rocker Arno in 2008. It appeared ont the album "Cover Cocktail"
The piano riff after the lyric "baby, you can drive my car" was implemented in Atom and His Package's cover of The Dead Milkmen song, "Nutrition."
Album: Rubber Soul Released: 1965-12-03 (UK), 1966-06-14 (U.S.) Recorded: Abbey Road, 1965-10-13 Genre: Rock Length: 2:25 Label: Parlophone, EMI (UK), Capitol Records (U.S.) Writer: Lennon/McCartney Producer: George Martin
"Don't Let Me Down" is a song by The Beatles (credited to The Beatles with Billy Preston on the single), recorded in 1969 during the Get Back (Let It Be) sessions. Richie Unterberger of Allmusic called it "one of the Beatles' most powerful love songs," and Roy Carr and Tony Tyler called it "a superb sobber from misery-expert J. W. O. Lennon, MBE. And still one of the most highly underrated Beatle underbellies."
Composition
An anguished love song Lennon wrote to Yoko Ono, Paul McCartney interpreted it as a "genuine plea," with Lennon saying to Ono, "I'm really stepping out of line on this one. I'm really just letting my vulnerability be seen, so you must not let me down." Lennon's vocals work their way into screams, presaging the primal scream stylings of the following year's John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band album.
The song is in the key of E and is in 4/4 time during the verse, chorus and bridge, but changes to 5/4 in the pickup to the verse.
Recording and release
Multiple versions of "Don't Let Me Down" were recorded during the tumultuous Get Back (Let It Be) recording sessions. The version recorded on 28 January 1969 was released as a b-side to the single "Get Back", recorded the same day. The Beatles performed "Don't Let Me Down" twice during their rooftop concert of 30 January 1969, one of which was included in the Let It Be film. When the "Get Back" project was revisited, Phil Spector dropped "Don't Let Me Down" from the Let It Be album.
The b-side version of the song was included on the The Beatles' compilations Hey Jude, 1967-1970 and Past Masters Volume 2. The same version was also used on the soundtrack to the 1988 documentary, Imagine: John Lennon.
In November 2003, an edit of the two rooftop versions was included on Let It Be... Naked.
Credits
* John Lennon – lead vocals and rhythm guitar * Paul McCartney – bass guitar and backing vocals * George Harrison – lead guitar and backing vocals * Ringo Starr – drums * Billy Preston – organ and electric piano
Cover versions
* In 1969, Dillard & Clark covered the song on their album Through the Morning Through the Night. * In 1969, Marcia Griffiths did a reggae version. * On her 1977 album It Looks Like Snow, Phoebe Snow covered this song. Her version was described as an "exquisite interpretation" by Allmusic. * On the European leg of their 1987 "Get Close" tour, The Pretenders included a cover of the song in their live set. * Annie Lennox had a live version on Coldest in 1992. * Taylor Hicks covered it during the American Idols LIVE! Tour 2006. * Zwan covered the song many times in 2001 and 2003. * Stereophonics covered this song on the 2001 soundtrack to I Am Sam. * Paul Weller covered the song on his album Fly On The Wall - B Sides And Rarities. * Garbage performed the song at the opening of the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, Scotland as a message to the newly-elected MSPs. * Maroon 5 played the song at a benefit concert for Hurricane Katrina and on The Howard Stern Show, June 11, 2007. * The Aggrolites performed it at many live shows. * Matchbox Twenty turned the song into a duet, with lead singer Rob Thomas on piano and vocals and with guitarist Kyle Cook also singing. * Dana Fuchs and Martin Luther McCoy performed the song in the 2007 film Across the Universe. * A sample of this song can be found in original song of the same name by Technicali rapper "Ariano" on his solo release "Music2BreakUp2" * Greg Brown covered the song on his album "In The Hills of California" * The Japanese duo Hirakawachi Icchome covered the song on their "Eien no yakusoku" (promise of eternity) single. * Phil Lesh and Friends routinely cover the song at their live performances.
A-side: "Get Back" Released: 11 April 1969 Format: 7" Recorded: 30 January 1969 Genre: Rock and roll Length: 3:25 Label: Apple Records Writer(s): Lennon/McCartney Producer: No Official Credit (single version), George Martin; Produced for disc by Phil Spector (album version); The Beatles & George Martin, Produced for disc by Paul Hicks, Guy Massey & Allan Rouse (Naked version)
"When we were recording this track I came into the studios early every day for a week to sing it by myself because at first my voice was too clear. I wanted it to sound as though I'd been performing it on stage all week."
"This is another of my favourites. It was intended as a campaign song at first, but it never turned out that way. People often ask how I write: I do it in all kinds of ways -- with piano, guitar, any combination you can think of, in fact. It isn't easy."
A very interesting dissection of the multi-track master for "Come Together":
Posts
