I've been telling people for literally decades that there is a slide in this song. As these folks showed, it's especially easy to hear when slowed down. Thanks for the demonstration!
This is without a doubt the most well-produced episode you guys have put together, watching the channel get more and more organized has been absolutely awesome.
I worked for The Beatles in 1968-1970. I was at Nat Weiss’ apartment in November 1968 when George was there. We had a long conversation and he said he never played slide on any Beatles records.
Yeah, George (or in fact any of them) have fuzzy memories. I asked George something about "Got to Get You Into My Life" and he said "Was there brass in that one?" LOL
@@rmadler2007 There are interviews out there where George says something like "Paul and I played it, or maybe John and I"....he doesn't remember. Some of this is like asking them what color shirt they wore while they recorded "Ticket to Ride"...;) They just don't always know/recall.
Great episode as usual! I find it a great entry point for examining a bunch of songs that represent a fine interconnection between their early love songs, Lennon’s emotional lead vocals, and early insights on Lennon’s melancholy-driven songwriting. “I’ll Be Back” is defo one of those masterpieces that deserve a dedicated episode (it’s got some great blues harmony and that major-to-minor interlink that makes this song so special), also “No Reply”, maybe “Not a Second Time” and some others. That’s a very hidden-gem pool of Beatles’ repertoire.
II recall reading or hearing somewhere that what John (who, in my opinion, possessed one of the greatest voices in all of pop) wanted most was to sound like Smokey, was forever frustrated because he thought that he did not and that this is why he liked effects on his voice to mask what he thought was not a good sound. This is one more bit of evidence that Produces, or at least another good pair of ears are essential when making recordings as artists are often not the best judges of their art. As so many otherwise excellent singers have admired Smokey’s voice and wished in vain that they sounded like him, John was in good company. Ironically, so many singers have wished that they sounded like John, which I think that he would have found to be absurd. I love what you guys are doing. Thank you.
Great show guys. What a way to dissect a Beatles song. You guys were very thorough. I do think the rhythm guitar after the acoustic intro and the slide guitar (which I believe is one guitar) we're both done on the Gent. Awesome job guys. Thank you for your persistence and dedication. Love your show 🙂
Wow! I bow to a higher order of Beatles nerds! What an amazing video! Thanks for this. I know this has been done to death, but I would love your take on the opening chord of A Hard Day’s Night.
Maybe swinging London youth guitar genius for all occasions, JImmy Page, was hired to play what no one else could possibly play, since he played on 104% of all of England's pop and rock and roll recordings!
Stumbled on this video by accident after viewing some other Beatles/McCartney videos. I'm 64, and thought I was a 'Beatles Geek', but you guys take things further than I thought possible. I find it awesome how much The Beatles are still loved, and to such degree, especially by those who weren't around at the time. I was about 14 and got really into them after buying the red album on red vinyl 😊. Seen Paul in concert 9 times since 1979..... I thought I must be weird, but I feel much better knowing there are those even more into them than me !! Thanks guys !!❤
Wow...a massive increase in production values! With cut in videos and better graphics. Thanks guys. Ryan finally got off that dumb couch and now has a professional presentation. Keep up the good work. The "old" show was rather lackadaisical and unfocused. Can't wait for each new episode.
Years ago, someone who became a good friend told me that about aged 9 in '63 he was invited by a relative in the business to a TV recording by The Beatles. Warming up, he was drawn to George playing slide! Until your episode I had been somewhat sceptical that George was into slide this early!
I have to agree with Sam on this one I'm split between the 160 and the Gent for the solo section but definitely a slide nonetheless. The picture shown of George using a slide was a lighter from the looks of it. The material of the slide I've heard it personally CAN change the sound but that's the most unnecessary deeper dive possible
Jimmy Page also played rhythm guitar on "Ringo's Theme"! Quote: "One day in 1964 [Page] walked into EMI studios in Abbey Road and found he was making incidental music for the Beatles’ first film, A Hard Day’s Night. “I turned up and, lo and behold, there was George Martin,” he recalls now, “and I recognised the music and realised what it was.” He ended up contributing background guitar to ‘Ringo’s Theme’, the instrumental of the song ‘This Boy’ that accompanies a morose Ringo Starr as he wanders off by the River Thames. Page’s session experience wasn’t limited to playing guitar. “I loved the blues so much that I learned to play harmonica - pretty badly, but I did play on a few sessions; I did one for Cliff Richard and one for Billy Fury.”
Glad you mentioned “Anna” as one of those Lennon Vocal moments. I would put “Baby It’s You” there as well. In fact that’s one of many things that I love about the Please Please Me LP. Lennons ripping solo Vocals.
Really happy I stumbled onto this site. Thanks guys. When I was 12, a friend in school asked me to his home after school to listen to an album his father brought home. It was a pre-release of "Meet The Bestles". His father was an Exec at Capitol Records, L.A. That album set my world on fire. After a few days went by, he and I made a deal and we traded. I gave him my new bicycle my father bought me for hitting a home run in Little League ‐ and I walked off with the album and had no way of playing it. Within a few days he and his father, along with me and my father, who was a L.A. Deputy Sheriff, found ourselves in a meeting with the Principal of Joshua Elementry School in Lancaster, Ca., to discuss the trade. We were both severely chastised and later whipped by our fathers. Yes, whipping was acceptable back then. I have been a Beatle lover since that day. Wish I had that album today for sure.
whoa, GTE’s gone hollywood, stepping up the production game! very nice. nice episode, all around. extraordinarily high nerd quotient on this one. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻 i was surprised you didn’t mention Blue Moon, from Elvis’s first album, as an influence.
I'm thinking George used a metal cigarette lighter, like a Zippo, rather than an actual slide. It looks like such a lighter in that photo you showed where he's playing the Gretsch.
Hi guys a fan of ur podcast. Meticulous and thorough. I appreciated ur show on the j-160e’s. Will you talk about the 70th anniversary issues that were made per yoko’s request? I have one with all provenance. I believe they were made in 2010 according to my papers. Three models were made, the sunburst, the psychodelic and peace versions. Hope u guys mention this and I’ll be watching and listening. Thank u and I love ur work. From another beatle fan in Puerto Rico, Rafael.
Enjoyed the episode, guys. Michael, you might remember my version, posted to RU-vid in 2011 (and the discussions on BeatGearCavern). If you watch my version (link below), please read the video description. You'll see that I addressed so many of the same points you talk about here. I definitely feel that a slide (or similar device) was used for the end overdub. When you don't use the slide, it's not so much "fret noise" that you get--it's that the pitch rises in discrete half-steps (caused by the frets). What we hear in the Beatles' recording is a glide between notes with a continuous change in pitch (a smooth rise), including everything in between the F# and the A. Here's the link to my video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-taUIlhH7S0o.htmlsi=_PbpBms9Y3X9r7GN
(This is Mike) I do remember your incredible video! You describe my thoughts much more eloquently than I did. Absolutely, it's not so much lack of fret noise as the pitch rises, which are otherwise impossible. Great to see you're a viewer! We'll need to have you on as a guest!
The Granada Program has a variety of still pictures on RU-vid uploaded by Elena. Performance is mimed/lip synced and the guitars are played but no cables. So on the recording played played are mimed, which upset the UK musicians union…but live performances broadcast in the UK were not at that time protected by copyright law. Same reason Ready Steady Go was recorded live before the show, the recording was played for the broadcast…Only time Shout was performed… Dave Clark owns the Programs the last time I checked. Smart businessman, rich, but as a human being didn’t share the wealth with his band mates.
Loved this. Watched you guys since Ep1. And you have improved so much. The little touches with the editing have improved the videos massively. How about a deep dive into the paperback writer and rain single?
The beauty of the Beatles is having two baritones, and a high tenor . I’m sure you I don’t have to tell you which one is which . Was that Sean Lennon singing the bridge on “ This Boy “ ? If so I had no idea he sang that well. Frudua is a master at all Beatles vocals, and instruments as well …
I don’t play many Beatles songs because of their complexity and I have no other voices with me when I perform. But I kept this one in my song list because I love it so much.👏👏👏
The tag octaves at end sounded very Gretchy to me 60+ years ago and today. If the amps were Vox, it mellows it out a tad. They bridged the gap of popular music from old to new. Radio played everything in the 50's.
Hey guys! Love your channel! This Boy is perhaps my favorite vocal performance by John, up there with Baby, It's You and Misery! But the topic I would absolutely LOVE to hear y'all tackle is Baby, You're a Rich Man. Nobody talks about George's amazing guitar work!
I don’t play many Beatles songs because of their complexity and I have no other voices with me when I perform. But I kept this one in my song list because I love it so much.👏👏👏. Also I looked at the picture of George playing the slide item. It looked like a zippo lighter to me 🤔🫡🤷♂️ This was so cool
Could the Beatles pressed against the spring arm of the tape reel as Lennon created before. George playing the C- octave position. Last returning to the D chord slightly put pressure against the spindle dropping the pitch then returning?
Great show. Have followed Michael from way back (I bought a DVD from him). Haven't listened to a podcast this long. Wonder what tribute bands make the cut for each of the hosts with the Lennon solo.
3:10 agree to disagree with the "possibly" comment. GH was watching himself & JL both playing a J160 when he said .."I GAVE THAT GUITAR AWAY" no Gent in the video. Very enjoyable thanks lads!
Great input guys ty. Regarding Paul's vocal on This Boy, did anyone ever notice out of the 3 verses and nine lines in those verses Paul sings a D in just spot and on one all the rest he sings the ma7 note. I always wondered if it was intentional or not but when he hits D 3rd line in first verse it just totally elevates the the song. I'm talking the recorded version not live. Love to hear your input on that.
Acording to The Beatles Recording Reference Manual, Vol 1, by Jerry Hammack, the guitars used in that songs were John's J160 and George's 1962 Country Gentleman (with Bigsby B6 vibrato). The 1962 Rick 425 was an option in that session, too.
Unfortunately I don't think Jerry analyses the songs to the degree that we do. In my (Ryan) personal interaction with Jerry a few years ago, he claimed that Gibson J-160e was always plugged in on every song it's used on (including all of those acoustic rhythm parts on A Hard Day's Night and Beatles for Sale), so I wouldn't take his claims in the Recording Reference Manuals terribly seriously outside of maybe what tracks the parts of the song are on.
On Let it Be, the Movie. Lennon use a lighter. Maybe only that last part was played by John and the first part played by Harrison or maybe Macca played it. Add;; -Now, we see it’s a metal lighter George got in the picture
Great video. Sounds like a slide. But in all the books & interviews I've read , I've never heard anyone say anything about using a slide , although there's talk about the vocals. I enjoy your videos. I like how you separate the tracks. I would've liked to hear the three vocals separated .
ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Ybk-_g9M5Oc.htmlsi=a9ZvdVmonXMgGTjr This guy separated the 3 part harmony in stereo, might be what you’re looking for
About harmonies; it’s my impression that Martin spent a great deal of time helping them work out their parts. And that their earlier harmonies were rudimentary in comparison.
I wish you guys would’ve explored the possibility that the overdub was the gent a little more. That thickness of sound that’s driving Paul nuts might possibly have been achieved with the gent. The lead track with the J, the overdub with the gent. Idk though
Absolutely, you don't need a slide to do slide, in my opinion. I've seen footage of Robby Krieger from the Doors using a lighter for Moonlight Drive in a concert. I think that's what George is doing in that photo
A+ I keep thinking that the topic of The Beatles is exhausted, and I keep realizing that I am wrong. The stripped down vocals are great, and the whole deep dive was fascinating. I also like the clip you shared of George Harrison in the 70s, watching his old band and laughing at the outfits, but adding, "good song, though." I think he meant it, but he also feared the wrath of John Lennon. The slide edit at the end: I think George played it on the record, but it could have been Paul or even John.The J160, flat wound strings, cigarette lighter slide, back pickup, treble turned way down. I don't hear double-tracking, and I can't believe it's two guitars played in unison. Bass amp? Different mic, or mic placement? The records that John and Paul "borrowed" from add to the huge playlist of songs that they knew. They must have spend thousands of hours playing 45s (and not buying them) and listening to the radio. It also cracks me up that there are so many similarities between this song and "Woman" (1980) a song that starts with Paul's (unreleased) "Thinking of Linking." I have no doubt that John KNEW Paul would recognize it. Could you do a dive into all of the ways that The Beatles used each others' songs in their solo careers? And did anyone ever find John's D-28 that was stolen after he gave it to Ronnie Hawkins?
I do not think its a slide…I think its just octaves then slide with fingers. They probably did not even have one yet! You demonstrated it perfectly Sam.
I strummed a '63 J-160 at the Irvine Guitar show couple years ago.. If you play THAT guitar it is obvious what songs it was used on; I first strummed This Boy obviously since it's THE acoustic song on their Beat The Meetles LP and BAM that was THE sound. The lead at end is NOT slide. You can't do octaves perfectly like that w/slide and certainly George wouldn't be able to back then - it's OBVIOUSLY nice low action Gretsch with 1st and 3rd finger octave slide. Go back and do your Wes Montgomery studies and see - no slides but lots of glissandos and same clean tone. 🎸
The guitars in the video shown aren’t plugged in…mimed (UK), Lip Sync’d (USA). Paul uses a Chuck Berry bass line in Long Tall Sally so not the first time Paul produced a Quodlibet in a Beatles song.
I'm not going to let AI remove vocals for me - I heard a slide just a second ago on your video but you can hear if it's a J160e if you listen to the track: this should be clear - It sounds different than my J-160e because the strings might be different.
For vocal tour de force There's A pkace ranks pretty close to This boy especially when John sings " and its my mind, and there,s no time , when im alone .. " and the brief climax like i love only you were he sustains while hitting several notes. Not as sophisticated as This Boy because it was their first album with a time constraints
yeah those harmonies are very difficult to sing especially considering that they sing a maj7 in the tonic, something that Lennon repeated in the chorus of Woman
When doing the slide on the acoustic, playing both parts at the same time, have you retuned one of the strings? Because you have the slide on the same fret on both but the lower string should be two frets higher in normal tuning perhaps proof of two guitar overdubs, one for each octave?
I wrote too early, you explained you retuned the E string. But I think it was still two overdubs as I don’t imagine the Beatles tuning one string at this stage Edit: although moving it to your lap makes a very compelling case for one overdub
