The Ahhs in A Day in the Life-Poll*

Nice one.

 

Richard, Apologies for the cold call, I'm know you're a busy man - I wondered if you could settle a Beatle-related debate - who sung the ahhhs in A Day in the Life? Thanks for your time

Matt, thanks for reaching out! I’d love to hear more about this. PAUL DID

So that's a direct quote. He could be wrong I guess, but I doubt it. I asked him because I thought it was John for 37 years. Turns out it isn't. Got to follow the evidence! Cheers

 

Was he improvising there, going off script? Or jut singing a descending line in the style of Smokey Robinson or Arthur Alexander? I'm asking did he ever improvise freeform vocals in an Indian style on another Beatles record. Paul certainly did, numerous times, both before and after Pepper.

 

By TELEPHONE?

 

Ha, no, just a catch-all phrase meaning 'you weren't expecting to hear from me'. This was done via LinkedIn.

 

Thanks for explaining.

And thanks for contacting Richard Lush (historical actor #2).

 

Right then well thats that - case closed

 

I grew up listening to the Beatles and to Sgt Pepper's in particular. I always thought that it was Lennon doing the "aah" section, probably because he is the main singer and because the vocal in that section is similar in style to the one in the main body of the song.

I never even considered it could be Paul (or George for that matter) doing it until I read this thread and connected the dots to the opening wordless vocal in "Lovely Rita".

I don't have a strong opinion on the matter and I'm not really sure now, but I definitely support your view on how difficult is to change ideas on these things.

Actually, that bit in "A Day in the Life" is part of the original information I collected to build my mental idea of what Lennon's singing voice sounded like.

 

I always assumed it was a blend of John and Paul, but listening to the isolated vocal it sure sounds like Paul to me, especially during the second half, as others have mentioned.

 

Nice job! Since he said he'd love to hear more, could you follow up with a link to this discussion? I'm sure he'd be interested in it, especially the points about the punch-in and punch-out, and if he'd like to join in the conversation, I know we'd all be very interested in hearing more of his specific memories.

Of course, a video of him reminiscing would be really terrific!

 

Well, there's one more "historical actor" that could weigh in and break the 1-1 tie.

And if He said it was John, this thread would collapse under it's own weight.

 

It may be worth posting the passage from Emerick's book again:

"Although the overdubs to the middle section were being done separately from the main body of the song, it had already been edited into the four-track master, which made Richard’s job of dropping in and out a bit tricky. Paul’s vocal, for example, was being dropped into the same track that contained John’s lead vocal, and there was a very tight drop-out point between the two – between Paul’s singing “… and I went into a dream” and John’s “ahhh” that starts the next section. Richard was quite paranoid about it --- with good reason – and I remember him asking me to get on the talkback mic to explain the situation to Paul and ask him not to deviate from the phrasing that he had used on the guide vocal. I was really impressed when Richard did that – I thought it showed great maturity to be proactive that way. John’s vocal, after all, had such great emotion, and it also had tape echo on it. The thought of having to do it again and re-create the atmosphere was daunting…not to mention what John’s reaction would have been! Someone’s head would have been bitten off, and it most likely would have been mine. But Paul, ever professional, did heed the warning, and he made certain to drop out before John’s vocal came back in. Listening carefully, you can actually hear Paul slightly rush the vocal; he even add a little “ah” to the end of the word “dream,” giving it a very clipped ending."

That premise (that Emerick was thinking of the punch-out after the "ahhs") seems likely, but I'm struck by how many odd things there are in this account:

1) The claim that "it had already been edited into the four-track master". The four-track wasn't edited.

2) The idea that the "ahhs" (sung by John) were already present when Paul was recording his vocal. They aren't on the 30 January mono mix that has Paul's "oh sh1t" vocal, so they would have had to have been recorded at the same session as Paul's vocal. Yet Emerick claims that "[t]he thought of having to do it again and re-create the atmosphere was daunting". Re-creating the atmosphere of something you *just* recorded? There's also the question of if you knew you were recording two parts at the same session that come in immediate succession, why would you record them out of order, especially considering the technical difficulties of doing so? It seems clear Emerick was talking about something that had been recorded much earlier, which rules out the "ahhs" (and points to John's vocal for the final verse).

One wonders how much of the account is from Emerick's memory and how much was created by Howard Massey. Regarding the latter, The Great British Recording Studios also has some glaring issues (just in the introduction, it claims Studer machines arrived at Abbey Road in 1959, and suggests that the stereo release of Rubber Soul was a "gaffe" caused by Capitol).

 

Yes but He doesnt have a linkedin account we can use to contact him (well not under his real name anyway)

Im happy with the answer - 'Emericks' (Massseys) account is clearly wrong, the stems clearly show its a complete take, and Richard Lush as the last but one (or two if we count Richie but he prob wasnt there) link to the session and if he says Paul then well then that's conclusive.

 

Yes. Your #2 point is pretty much what I was saying earlier. The 'aahs' (whoever did them) had to have been recorded at the same Feb 3 session as Paul's main part. So if Emerick's account is to be believed, John recorded the 'aahs' and then the tape was rewound and Paul did the part that came before that. In other words, it was unnecessarily recorded out of order (which then required a 'tight' punch-out. Why not just record both parts continuously instead?)

It's also odd that they told Paul to match the phrasing of his earlier version precisely. What's that - the 'oh s**t' version? Even without the mistake, the phrasing is off there.

As for John's part (even without the 'aahs') being 'already edited into the 4-track master' - I suppose it was in the sense that John's part was 'created' during a reduction mix. If any part had been wiped, it would have meant doing another reduction and then re-doing the overdubs onto that (though it could probably be fixed more easily if needed).

 

It's not even clear to me what "it" refers to. The overdubs to the middle section? Or the main body of the song? Not that either makes sense regardless.

 

I can't believe I am saying this, but I now think it's Paul. I think what was throwing me off (even in the isolation), is that the heavy reverb at the start of the ah makes it sound JUST LIKE JOHN. Then from that point on, and having that mental set in place makes one continue to think it is John. But the second part (.08-.12 on the posted clip), definitely sounds just like Paul (and it repeats again).

 

What a weird experience, right?! Welcome to the club!

 

My interest is now turning to the background vocals. And I think they are causing some of the confusion.

Question: Who is singing the oohs? Who is singing the ghostly moans?

And most importantly, it sounds to me like a second "ah" fills a gap in the main "ah". I am listening to the clip LaserVampire posted that is .31 seconds long. At .16 seconds, it sounds like Paul runs out of breathe on the main "ah", but just as loud as it, is one that sounds just like John to me. As in loud enough to be part of what we do hear on the final mix, but just in that section.

Please some of you check out this section of the clip for me.

 

Just to go on record to say that since 2009, I have changed my opinion. I think it's Paul.

 

Wasn't the echo effect created by running the vocal mic through another tape machine? How would this have been engaged, and was Richard Lush responsible? Didn't this need to occur immediately after "dream" but before the "ahhs"?

 

"At the time pop records came out in mono and only classical records came out in stereo. With Sgt Pepper, however, someone decided three quarters of the way through the project that there should be a stereo mix as well as mono." - Richard Lush

 

Yes.

It is likely the tape machine was already engaged and being fed the vocal via an echo send on the desk, and its output was simply faded up on the desk via an echo return at the appropriate point.

 

I think John is singing the oohs. You can hear him clearly at one point too just like you can hear Paul clearly singing the ahhs after the first few seconds.

Glad you have finally heard it. It's such a revelation when it dawns upon you that it's been Paul this whole time!

 

Everyone's happy!