The only other John song (not on the Esher tapes) to appear on the White Album was "Good Night", which of course he gave to Ringo. When did John write this? In India? And did John always intend to have Ringo sing it?
You hear that everybody, *If*. *If* there is a WA Super Deluxe. He was so sure it definitely wasn't happening, what happened??
Now, Paul only did 7 songs at the Esher taping (6 appeared on the White Album + "Junk"). What about his other contributions to the White Album?: Birthday---Not from India. Written during the White Album sessions when "The Girl Can't Help It" film was being shown on UK TV. I Will---Sounds like it could have been written in India. Helter Skelter---Paul always tells the story that he wrote it in response to reading about a raucous rocker by The Who. I doubt he was reading about The Who in India, so probably not written in India. Martha My Dear---Probably not written in India as it is such a piano-based tune. Wild Honey Pie---An ad-lib, so probably not written in India. Why Don't We Do It In The Road---Another ad-lib (?), so probably not written in India. + Hey Jude---Not written in India. Too piano-based and Paul wrote it for Julian after John and Cynthia split up---which occurred AFTER India.
Here is quite a bit of info about the song "Good Night" song by The Beatles. The in-depth story behind the songs of The Beatles. Recording History. Songwriting History. Song Structure and Style. A couple of quotes that I'm sure you are aware of; -- In John's 1980 Playboy magazine interview, he stated the following: "'Good Night' was written for Julian, the way 'Beautiful Boy' was written for Sean. I gave it to Ringo." --In his book “Many Years From Now" Paul expounds on this. I believe John wrote this as a lullaby for Julian, and it was a very beautiful song that Ringo ended up singing I think John felt it might not be good for his image for him to sing it but it was fabulous to hear him do it, he sang it great. We heard him sing it in order to teach it to Ringo and he sang it very tenderly.” --Geoff Emerick was the engineer at this session and he relates his remembrances of this day ......There was another surprise: John had decided to have Ringo sing the lead vocal. We were all totally caught off guard by that because we'd already recorded what we presumed was going to be the sole Ringo song on the album (“Don't Pass Me By”). It's hard to imagine that John actually thought Ringo could do a better job on it than he could – he knew as well as anyone that Ringo was no singer. Perhaps it was that he was embarrassed at singing such a gentle lullaby – maybe it wasn't macho enough for him – or perhaps he made the decision just to keep Ringo happy because he sensed some disquiet in the usually placid drummer.” --Emerick then explains what became the first task of the day. “John had made a demo for Ringo to take home and practice to, and it was played back a couple of times that night...It's a shame that this particular tape has been lost to the world, and that nobody will ever hear the gorgeous way John sang his tender little song.”
When they recorded the "Revolution" single version did they include the "Don't you know it's gonna be" and "Ah.. Shoo-be-doo-wah" exclamations by Paul and George? Some people claim that they can hear those exclamations way down in the single mix. If they were indeed recorded and mixed out later, perhaps a "Hey Jude" deluxe EP with both versions of "Revolution" would be nice. One with the exclamations, one the released version....
"Why Don't We Do It in the Road" was definitely inspired by India (a monkey story), if not actually written there. It's possible he knew he wanted to keep it a simple song and didn't need to demo it.
That's right. So it may indeed have been written in India. Do you think "I Will" also emanates from India?
I think so, but I think he struggled with the lyrics and it probably wasn't ready to demo yet at Kinfauns.
I love this album. Love it. LOVE it. Why, I don't know. There's an atmosphere about the Beatles' White Album unlike any other album ever. The balls on those guys to follow Pepper with something so bloated, sparse and barely a chorus in sight. It works though, four men recording, for all intents and purposes, four solo albums that together create a masterpiece. There's not a track I'd touch either. I can't say that about any other Beatles album. There's always one track that should have been replaced I feel, or a better track waiting in the wings. Not on the White Album. Revolution 9? Goodnight? Long Long Long? You just try and take them away! (I can understand R9 and Goodnight dislike, but LLL?!? Seriously?) Someone upthread mentioned the juxtaposition of Revolution 9 flowing into Goodnight. For me it's possibly the Beatles' best transition in their career. From the nightmare to the dream. Side four might even be my favourite of the entire album. What do I want from the upcoming box set? Everything. All the demos, the tracks that didn't make the cut, the various takes that shaped the songs that did... Revolution 1, is it take 11(?) that goes off for 20 mins? I want that in pristine quality. I knew when I bought the Pepper set that it's playability was limited with me. I'm not massively fond of the album. It hasn't aged well and I tend to never reach for it. But the White Album, that's a different story. Even in my most non-Beatles moods that album still gets a spin. It just feels like the fade of summer into autumn for me, that time of new beginnings, reassessing your life and where you want to go. The White Album is as important to me as family. It helped make me who I am. It's going to be a long six months. But where best to wait it out than with you guys, here.
It definitely fits the acoustic approach that he favored at the time. I think it is fairly likely that the idea may have started in India and was finished later, otherwise he probably would have recorded it in Esher. But just because it's not on Esher doesn't mean it wasn't finished before then - it may be among recorded demo songs that we have not heard yet.
Somewhere on this forum I read a summary of things John and Paul say on the Get Back tapes, and apparently they talk about writing I Will together in India. So, yes to India and possibly it’s also more of a collaboration that it would seem.
Going by memory here - I thought he said it was a melody that he had for some time (one that came to him complete, which he thought was quite good) but with no words. Someone, maybe Donovan, helped him with the words in Risikesh. Again, going by memory, could be wrong.
I agree with your entire post but wanted to expand on this comment. Cry Baby Cry, Revolution 9 and Good Night - all written by Lennon - take us on a journey far more emotional and compelling (and scary) than any 3 songs in a row that I can think of.
A lot of Paul's middle eights sound like John was involved, (And I Love Her, I'll Follow the Sun, Things We Said Today, Michelle, Here There and Everywhere, We Can work It Out) and I Will is no exception.
For the last 50 years I've always fantasized about being in the room when the Not Guilty vs. Revolution 9 debate was had at Abbey Road. Not sure what kept George from spontaneously human combusting.
You mean Octopuses Garden. Change the words to Maxwell to something with deep meaning and it's a good tune, good bass line, nice guitar inflections. Ringo singing about sea creatures. For the second time in two years. The drugs don't work.
You're right. I forgot the first piece of that puzzle. Lennon in 68 is where the art took over from the music, but the results it yielded are stunning.
