Would Hey Jude have been even better if it were recorded at EMI instead of Trident Studios?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by 2141, Aug 21, 2017.

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  1. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    Please remember, this is just my opinion. You're allowed to have a different one! :^)
     
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  2. andrewskyDE

    andrewskyDE Island Owner

    Location:
    Europe
    I wonder how 'Hey Jude' would've sounded being recorded at Capitol Studios instead.^^
     
  3. George Blair

    George Blair Senior Member

    Location:
    Portland, OR
    I always wondered what was up with that wonky acoustic rhythm guitar. Could be part of the reason I've never really warmed to it... Overall, I never understood why this was their biggest hit single.
     
  4. Price.pittsburgh

    Price.pittsburgh Forum Resident

    Location:
    Florida
    I think the novelty of the na na nas played a role but it has a very genuine and sweet supportive demeanor to it that you rarely find.
     
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  5. MisterBritt

    MisterBritt Senior Member

    Location:
    Santa Fe, NM, USA
    1) Didn't read somewhere that The Beatles' monitors during this era at Abbey Road were Altec 604s and lacked top end? Or am I imagining all this?

    2) I just read "The Cake and the Rain/A Memoir" by Jimmy Webb. On page 250 he writes:

    "MacArthur Park" had been an extraordinary record. Every time it was played on the radio I was paid for three performances. Never before and not since would a "song" change the face of commercial radio in such a dramatic way. We had given The Beatles a sudden jolt. They rushed into the studio with George Martin and lengthened the fade on "Hey Jude" in order to make it over seven minutes (7:11). It was not a coincidence, George Martin told me. He said the group members stood by the control desk at Abbey Road watching the VU meter and carefully dialed down the repetitious fade in "Hey Jude" in order to close the margin on the 7:21 of "Mac Park." The fade in "Hey Jude" had been lengthened by creating a tape loop."

    I have puzzled over this ever since. Are we to infer that The Beatles lengthened "Hey Jude" in order to by paid for "three performances" when it aired on the radio? Is that what Jimmy Webb is suggesting?
     
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  6. 2141

    2141 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Hey Steve, I'm very curious, what's your take on the White Album, sonically? Better than Hey Jude I would imagine. :agree: Even though White was recorded at EMI, it does seem different than other Beatle albums somehow. Would you agree?
     
  7. Mylene

    Mylene Senior Member

    What about Olympic Studios? It would have sounded like The Stones.
     
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  8. Mr_Vinyl

    Mr_Vinyl Forum Resident

    I've always thought that as well. On a purely sonic level, I think that it would have sounded much better at Abbey Road. But it is what it is!
     
  9. TLMusic

    TLMusic Musician & record collector

    The melody is freakin' brilliant.
     
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  10. wildstar

    wildstar Senior Member

    Location:
    ontario, canada
    I'd imagine (ironically as it turned out) that the idea was they'd get better sound quality by not having to do any four track to four track reduction mixes/bounces. I'm sure they had no trouble filling all 8 tracks, Maybe something like:

    1 - Paul - lead vocal
    2 - Paul - Piano
    3 - Paul - Bass
    4 - John - acoustic guitar (did George play as well?)
    5 - Ringo - Drums
    6 - Orchestra members & whoever else was around - gang backing vocal/handclaps
    7 - Orchestra - Orchestra
    8 - doubling the orchestra - or recording the orchestra in stereo on two tracks - or doubling the gang/vocal handclaps, or Paul double tracking his lead vocal - or...gee how could I forget about Lennon's harmony vocal?

    Gee maybe 8 tracks wasn't enough either and they still had to do 8 track to 8 track reduction/bouncing after all?
     
    Last edited: Aug 22, 2017
  11. andrewskyDE

    andrewskyDE Island Owner

    Location:
    Europe
    'Hey Jude' was one of the last singles being released in mono. So yeah.^^

    Well, yeah. Another good idea. But it's kinda sad the Fabs didn't record any albums/singles outside England while they existed. That's why I went more international here.
     
  12. soundQman

    soundQman Senior Member

    Location:
    Arlington, VA, USA
    By the time Elton John recorded his second (self-titled) album there (January 1970), it was certainly yielding good sounding results.
     
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  13. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
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    I believe John played bass.
     
  14. andrewskyDE

    andrewskyDE Island Owner

    Location:
    Europe
    There's footage of the band recording 'Hey Jude'. If I'm not wrong John played guitar there, so maybe the bass was overdubbed later.
     
  15. wildstar

    wildstar Senior Member

    Location:
    ontario, canada
    Are you sure about that - he was terrible (judging by his playing on some of the LIB tracks as seen in the movie. I know he played bass on a few basic tracks occasionally (supposedly Helter Skelter being one while Paul played guitar, but I find it impossible to believe that Paul didn't go back and replace John's bass on Helter Skelter. There's NO WAY Lennon is that good on bass when on the (filmed) evidence where we know for sure he's playing bass while Paul plays piano (LIB, TL&WR) - he's terrible - nowhere near professional level. Heck not really even competent amateur level.

    In fact according to the 'Recording Sessions' book:

    July 31 basic track recording of Hey Jude:
    Piano - Paul
    Drums - Ringo
    Acoustic Guitar - John
    Electric Guitar - George

    I don't think I hear an electric guitar in the final mix, but perhaps this was the infamous "answering phrase" guitar playing that Paul veto'd on the finished record?

    Aug 1 - overdubbing for Hey Jude
    Bass - Paul
    Lead Vocal - Paul
    Backing vocals - "the other Beatles"

    Then later the orchestra arrived and recorded their parts including the gang vocals & handclaps (for which they earned a double fee)

    Then it goes on to say Paul's overdubbed bass part was wiped to allow the strings a separate track, so did Paul overdub his bass again after that? It doesn't say.

    But what it does say is John did NOT play bass at all - not even a crappy bass part that Paul later replaced.
     
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  16. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    There is NO mono mix of Hey Jude. There is a fold from stereo mix, that is all.
     
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  17. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    Definitely unsure about that as I always found John's bass playing to be atrocious but I've seen some people debate this here. Just looked at Wikipedia and they state Paul played bass. But, what do I know? ;)
     
  18. DTK

    DTK Forum Resident

    Location:
    Europe
    To achieve technical perfection they should have replaced all the band members too. I mean, even Paul's voice cracks. He was no Caruso. Maybe they can autotune it for an upcoming release.
     
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  19. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    I always have to laugh when some who can't express themselves without resorting to sarcasm completely miss the mark by exaggerating to a ridiculous degree to make a badly designed point.
     
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  20. Gems-A-Bems

    Gems-A-Bems Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Duke City
    Also, it's not folded from the available stereo mix. It's a folddown of an unreleased stereo mix.
     
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  21. O Don Piano

    O Don Piano Senior Member

    Who is John Anthony?
     
  22. Drifter

    Drifter AAD survivor

    Location:
    Vancouver, BC, CA
    Because it had balls? :nyah:
     
  23. Mylene

    Mylene Senior Member

    Worked at Trident. Produced Nursery Crime, Queen, Pawn Hearts and side two of For Your Pleasure.
     
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  24. O Don Piano

    O Don Piano Senior Member

    Thanks!! I have those albums! I should know that!!!
     
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  25. Vincentrifugal

    Vincentrifugal Forum Resident

    Give John a break: The bass on HJ ain't difficult or even very creative or "melodic" and I always questioned if it was Paul, so yeah John or George easily could handle it. Also, that unearthed bass part you see Paul, George and Ringo hearing in Anthology seems to have caught Paul by surprise, and none of them shed any light on the player. And it's also a simple bass part that again I think Any one of them (sans Ringo) could play. Regardless , Ringo and Paul shine on this track IMO.
     
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