Guest Musicians Revealed
While most of the Beatles’ songs were recorded with only John, Paul, George, and Ringo, occasionally guest musicians joined them in the recording studio. When that happened, with few exceptions, these musicians were uncredited. Because the Beatles themselves could not play some of the wide range of instruments they wanted to include in some of their songs, guest musicians were invited to Abbey Road Studios. George Martin had access to the best musicians in London, and he hired them to play on several Beatles recordings.
The first “guest” musician was their record producer, George Martin, who played keyboards on numerous Beatles songs. Paul, John, or George could have played the piano, organ, or electric keyboards that George Martin played, but he was already in the studio and, being a classically trained musician, he was certainly technically proficient enough to play those instruments. On their early recordings, it saved time to have Martin play instead of having one of the Beatles take the time to do a keyboard overdub. In his capacity as a keyboard player and integral creative producer, George Martin can be called the fifth Beatle.
Drummer Andy White was hired by George Martin to play with the Beatles when they recorded “Love Me Do,” and “P.S. I Love You” on September 11, 1962. As covered in chapter 4, “Playing America’s Heart Strings: Love Songs,” Ringo had recently joined the Beatles, but George Martin was not impressed with Ringo’s drumming. Thus, Martin brought in studio drummer Andy White. Earlier in his career, Andy had formed a jazz band and toured northeast America, backing up Chuck Berry, the Platters, and Bill Haley and His Comets. Andy’s rock-and-roll experiences sidelined Ringo at the recording session. Ringo certainly felt uncomfortable and awkward, but Andy’s position with the Beatles was temporary. As history has shown, Ringo played the drums on the Beatles’ recordings except for the songs on which Paul, and to a lesser extent John and George, played the drums. Given the formative working relationship with George Martin, John, Paul, and George Harrison didn’t object to Andy recording with them. But without a doubt, John, Paul, and George wanted Ringo as their drummer.
In 1965, three years after the Andy White recording session, the Beatles recorded “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away,” and it was time for another guest musician to record with the band. John wanted a flute solo in the song, and because none of the Beatles could play the flute, George Martin arranged to have John Scott, a London classical composer, jazz musician, and conductor, come to the recording session. As a conductor, Scott worked with the London Symphony Orchestra and the Munich Symphony Orchestra, and as a soloist he recorded with Henry Mancini and film composer John Barry. Rather than having a solo in the middle of the song, which would have been the typical placement, the flute solo occurs at the end of the song. Scott recorded a tenor flute part over the chords played in the verse. Then he overdubbed an alto flute, playing the same notes an octave higher. John Scott was not credited for his performance, so listeners didn’t know who played the flute solo. If they had seen the movie Help!, they would have been led to believe that the indoor gardener in the “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away” scene played the flute.
In 1966, the Beatles took a radical departure from their rock and pop songs and recorded George’s Indian-instrument-dominant “Love You To.” For the first time on a Beatles recording, a guest musician was credited for his contribution. Tabla player Anil Bhagwat’s name was printed on the back cover of the Revolver album, next to the song title. Bhagwat and the other guest musicians on Beatles recordings were hired with the understanding that they would not be credited (with the exception of Billy Preston). However, George made an exception and gave him credit. More detailed information on “Love You To” can be found in chapter 8, “Broader Horizons: World Music Songs.”
Paul’s “For No One” on Revolver is a sophisticated song, especially with the addition of the French horn. Paul was fond of the instrument and asked George Martin to bring in a French horn player. Martin hired Alan Civil, a classical musician who played the French horn with the prestigious Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the BBC Symphony Orchestra, to play the horn solo in “For No One.” George Martin explained the instrument’s range to Paul, stating that E is the highest note. Paul wanted an F, and Alan was reluctant to play that note because it was too high for the French horn. Upon Paul’s insistence, Alan played one of the highest notes in the extreme upper register of the horn’s range. In his book, Here, There and Everywhere, Geoff Emerick wrote about Alan being under a lot of pressure because it was hard to hit the high note. Geoff said, “We felt that Alan, being the best horn player in London, could actually hit it, even though most horn players couldn’t. He was breaking out into a sweat, telling everyone it shouldn’t be done. But eventually he gave it a go, and pulled it off.” In addition to the full solo, Alan also played a condensed version of his solo as a countermelody to Paul’s lead vocals during the song’s last verse.
As mentioned in the previous chapter, the piccolo trumpet is the featured instrument in “Penny Lane.” It was played by David Mason, who had studied at the Royal College of Music and became a member of the Royal Opera House Orchestra and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Paul wanted a piccolo trumpet on “Penny Lane,” and George Martin invited David to play the part. In his book All You Need Is Ears, Martin explained why the recording session was challenging. He said the piccolo trumpet is difficult to play in tune, and no music had been prepared. Martin had met professional musicians who said, “If the Beatles were real musicians, they’d know what they wanted us to play before we came into the studio.” Fortunately, David Mason wasn’t one of them, and George Martin thought David was intrigued to be playing on a Beatles record. George Martin went on to say, “Paul would think up the notes he wanted, and I would write them down for David. The result was unique, something that had never been done in rock music before.” Geoff wrote that David was a true professional and played the part perfectly the first time through, including the demanding solo. Geoff said, “It was, quite simply, the performance of his life. And everyone knew it, except obviously Paul.” Paul wanted David to play the part again, but George Martin intervened, saying, “Good God, you can’t possibly ask the man to do it again. It’s fantastic.” Paul was embarrassed and angered by George Martin’s remark, but he relented and the session ended.
Another example of George Martin hiring outside musicians to play on a Beatles recording is Paul’s song “She’s Leaving Home.” In addition to the string players, Martin hired Sheila Bromberg to play the harp, the featured instrument that starts the song and continues throughout. This recording session on March 17, 1967, marked the first time a female musician performed on a Beatles record. Sheila recalled in a 2011 BBC interview that Paul wasn’t pleased with the way the harp sounded, so several takes were recorded. Still, Paul was hearing something different in his head but was having difficulty expressing how he wanted the harp to sound. As it turned out a few days later during the mixing session, George Martin took what Sheila had played initially and processed her part with some delay effects. That was the harp sound Paul had in mind.
As I mentioned in the “Never Too Much: More Rock-and-Roll Originals” chapter, there are four saxophones on “Lady Madonna,” and the tenor saxophone solo was played by jazz musician Ronnie Scott. Ronnie was a musician who worked on the Cunard ship Queen Mary in the late 1940s and sailed to New York City, where he heard emerging jazz musicians. In London, in addition to being a studio player, he also owned the Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club. Tenor saxophonist Bill Povey and baritone sax players Bill Jackman and Harry Klein rounded out the saxophone quartet on “Lady Madonna.” Harry recalled the “Lady Madonna” recording session in Mark Lewisohn’s book The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions. Harry said that when they arrived at the studio, no music had been written, so they played a few riffs. Eventually, Paul heard something he liked, and the quartet went on to record the riff about one hundred times. When Ronnie heard the released recording, he was not pleased. His solo was mixed in the background, obscured by John, Paul, and George singing “bah, bah, bah, bah.” However, the ensemble of four saxophones with Ronnie leading the quartet is loud and clear in the musical passages at the end of the choruses.
In 1968, when John’s electric guitar was screaming with “Revolution” and Paul’s electric guitar was blistering with “Helter Skelter,” George’s guitar was weeping. George’s lyric commentary on the state of world affairs may not be uplifting, but the music is. The inspiration for “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” came from the Chinese I-Ching: The Book of Changes, which George arbitrarily opened and saw the words gently weeps. When the Beatles were recording George’s song, John and Paul showed little interest in it. George played a variety of lead guitar solos, which included a backward electric guitar part, but he was not satisfied. He thought of his friend Eric Clapton and asked him to come to Abbey Road and play the solo. Initially, Eric was reluctant to play on a Beatles record because at that time no other major recording artist had done so. But with George’s persuasion, Eric agreed. To mask Eric’s sound, the engineer Chris Thomas processed the solo to sound more like a Beatles lead guitar. In doing so, everyone outside of the Beatles’ innermost circle thought it was George who played the solo. In a 1977 Crawdaddy magazine interview, George said that Eric was nervous, but Eric’s presence at the recording session helped to negate John and Paul’s lack of interest in the song.
“While My Guitar Gently Weeps” is a dynamic song, with a slow build that peaks with Eric’s lead guitar solo. Even the ending fade-out is powerful, with Eric cranking out bending notes and George wailing, almost crying, “Yeah, yeah, yeah.” While yeahs were common lyrics in earlier Beatles songs, their use in this weeping song aren’t cheerful at all. The song begins with Paul playing the piano and thick, full bass notes, George strumming his acoustic guitar, and Ringo making a swishing sound when hitting his hi-hat between the second and third beats. Eric announces the first verse with his opening lead guitar riff. This arrangement is the musical background for George’s lead vocals in the first verse. A more stabbing lead guitar introduces the second verse, with Paul singing a harmony part above George’s vocals but not on the lyrics to the song’s title. Vocally, the bridge contains some of George’s highest singing with an arcing melody as he says he doesn’t know how someone controlled and bought and sold you. This may have been a covert comment from George about how the Beatles had been commercialized and turned into a sales product. George overdubbed an organ on the bridges where Paul’s bass line, tightly locked in with Ringo’s bass drum, dances around George’s vocals. In the third verse, George and Paul sing about the world turning, while George’s guitar gently weeps. Eric’s weeping guitar solo begins on the last chord of the verse. It bends, wails, and climbs to the highest note in the solo and lands on the beginning of the bridge. George brings the organ back in during the solo, playing long, sustained notes, and the organ continues on the bridge. Adding some variety to the bridge, Ringo overdubbed a tambourine part, hitting it on the fourth beats in the first section and then switching to hitting it on the second beats. On the last verse, George and Paul sing about love that is sleeping, all the while George’s guitar gently weeps. The organ returns again for the ending section. When George and Paul sing their highest note on “weeps,” Eric comes back in strong. He plays a variation of his guitar solo during the long fade-out. Eric also plays the same high note that he played at the end of his lead guitar solo. Mixed in with Eric’s guitar is George crying “oh, oh, oh.” John’s contribution to the song is minimal; he plays an electric guitar part that is barely audible. The sound of Paul’s bass guitar is different from most of his previous recordings. Instead of using his Hofner or Rickenbacker bass, Paul used a Fender Jazz Bass guitar. The way it was produced, the chunky bass sound is deep and has a cutting top end as well. And the leaping notes that Paul plays during the instrumental ending creates a low contrasting melody. Eric’s lead guitar part perfectly matches George’s voice and the weeping nature of the song.
On the same album as “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” the country-rock song “Don’t Pass Me By” is the first song in the Beatles’ catalog that is written entirely by Ringo. Putting aside his song to accommodate John’s and Paul’s songs, Ringo had “Don’t Pass Me By” in his head for about six years before the Beatles recorded it on the White Album. Ringo is very busy in this song, singing the sole vocal track and playing the drums, maracas, congas, sleigh bells, a cowbell, and a tack piano. Paul also plays piano, plus a grand piano and bass guitar, but George and John are not on the recording. The sound of the pianos is unusual. They were recorded while being played through a Leslie speaker cabinet, and as a result the pianos mixed together sound like a calliope organ. What gives “Don’t Pass Me By” a country sound is the violin, played by jazz and blues musician Jack Fallon. A popular London studio musician, Jack had worked with several jazz musicians, including Ronnie Scott. Once Ringo sings the first verse, Jack plays the violin, or I should probably say the fiddle, throughout the entire song. The song begins with Ringo playing a solo drum introduction. Ringo’s drums are fat and full and blend in nicely with the piano tracks. Jack accompanies Ringo’s vocals and plays riff passages between the verses and choruses. The addition of the fiddle puts the song in a country-rock category and distinguishes it from other songs in the Beatles’ catalog. While there are many Beatles songs with violins, no other song has a violin part played with such a country flair.
The guest musician who was the most visible and publicly known to record with the Beatles was Billy Preston. Billy played electric piano and organ on several Beatles recordings in 1969, performing on “Get Back,” “Don’t Let Me Down,” “Something,” “I Want You (She’s So Heavy),” “Dig a Pony,” “Dig It,” “Let It Be,” “I’ve Got a Feeling,” “One After 909,” and “The Long and Winding Road.” Not including George Martin, Billy was the only musician who worked and recorded with the Beatles on many recordings. He made such a big impression that John wanted him to join the band. Paul didn’t like the idea, but Billy continued to record with the Beatles as a guest artist. The relationship between the Beatles and Billy started in 1962 when the young fifteen-year-old was playing organ with Little Richard’s band. They met when the Beatles were the opening act for Little Richard at the Star Club in Hamburg, Germany. George, being the youngest Beatle, bonded with Billy. Seven years later when George walked out and temporarily quit the Beatles in January 1969, George saw Billy at a Ray Charles concert in London. That’s when George asked Billy to attend the “Get Back” sessions. While the Beatles did print Billy’s name on the “Get Back” and “Don’t Let Me Down” single, they chose not to include his name on the “Let It Be” and “The Long and Winding Road” singles or on the Abbey Road and Let It Be albums. George’s friendship with Billy continued beyond the Beatles, and the two musicians would perform together again. In August 1971, when George staged his Concert for Bangladesh at Madison Square Garden in New York City, Billy was part of George’s all-star band. George died on November 29, 2001, and a year later at a memorial concert titled A Concert for George, Billy was part of the superstar band that Eric Clapton directed. Billy sang a heartfelt rendition of George’s song “Isn’t It a Pity.”
Not including “What’s the New Mary Jane” (which wasn’t released until 1996 on Anthology 3, long after the Beatles broke up), “You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)” is the most satirical, zany song in the Beatles’ song catalog. The B-side of the 1970 “Let It Be” single, the Beatles recorded the song in May and June of 1967, and John and Paul finished it in April 1969. John came up with the title after seeing a logo with similar words on a telephone book, and the lyrics are minimal, including only a few more words than the title. John envisioned the song as a comedic parody of a lounge singer’s act, so it’s no surprise that the song is somewhat of a spoof. After John introduces Paul as Denis O’Dell (who was the associate producer of the film A Hard Day’s Night), Paul sings the lounge singer bit at a fictitious nightclub called Slaggers. Beginning with a rhythm section and handclaps, Paul plays piano and bass, John and George play guitars, and John and Paul belt out the lyrics. It segues into the lounge singer section, which has a Latin rhythm, with Ringo playing drums, timbales, and bongos, and John playing the maracas. The Beatles added clapping, sound effects, and chatter to the lounge bit to replicate a nightclub environment, while Paul sings tongue-in-cheek with lots of vibrato in his lower register. The next section has John singing/speaking in his upper vocal range with background sound effects. During the last section of the song, John mumbles a bunch of gibberish in a low voice. A tenor sax solo chimes in before the song ends with John and Paul singing, “That’s gonna be, that’s all.” Then someone burps and John mumbles more gibberish, possibly saying “America” at the very end. Despite the fact that John and Paul were not getting along in 1969 when they recorded their vocal tracks, they rose above their differences, exhibited a sense of humor, and had fun with the song. The guest musician playing the alto sax solo for this song is Brian Jones, multi-instrumentalist and founding member of the Rolling Stones. Brian was friends with the Beatles, especially with George. In The Beatles Anthology, George said Brian would visit him often and they would exchange musical ideas. “We share similar positions in the most prominent bands in the universe; me with John and Paul, and him with Mick and Keith,” said George. Brian recorded his sax solo on “You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)” during the 1967 recording session, at a time when the Rolling Stones and the Beatles were spending time with each other both socially and in the recording studio. Brian, Mick Jagger, and Keith Richards were at Abbey Road Studios when the Beatles performed the world broadcast of “All You Need Is Love.” Mick sang on “Baby You’re a Rich Man,” and John and Paul sang background vocals on the Rolling Stones song “We Love You.”
The guest musicians added their expertise to these songs and made them complete. Even though some of their names are not well known, their performances and solos are, making them indelibly cast forever in these Beatles songs.
Suggested Listening: “P.S. I Love You”; “She’s Leaving Home”; “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”; “Don’t Let Me Down”; “You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)”
The four Beatles ended their recording career with “The End” on Abbey Road, but it wasn’t the end. Today, there are dozens of radio shows worldwide that play Beatles songs every week. Hundreds of books have been written about the Beatles, and many colleges offer courses on the Beatles and their music. Even years after the Beatles disbanded, films about them have been produced. Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr continue to perform throughout the world and sing Beatles songs to thousands of die-hard fans.
The Beatles started their career playing cover songs by some of their favorite recording artists. While the Beatles were together and even after they went their separate ways, hundreds of recording artists have covered Beatles songs. “Yesterday” alone has been recorded by thousands of artists, as well as dozens of other songs, including “Michelle,” “Hey Jude,” and “Something,” which have been covered hundreds of times. This illustrates the everlasting influence the Beatles have had on singers and musical groups across the globe and how their music continues to live today and will continue tomorrow. Their music has no boundaries and connects with people of every demographic, race, color, and faith. It’s the quality of the Beatles’ songs that makes them timeless, and the songs will play on indefinitely.
I hope you enjoyed reading this book and that you learned many things about the Beatles, the time when they were together—in the recording studio, on their tours, making movies—and their eclectic collection of songs. There will be no final word on the Beatles, because the Beatles will never end.