“I’ve Got Blisters on My Fingers!”
07 Friday Dec 2018
Written by Bungalow Bill in For Your Listening Pleasure
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Revolution 5: This is the version made for the promo film, which has different vocals from the one that appeared on the B-side of “Hey Jude.” They are not especially well-recorded, but have a certain something. Hint: The louder you play this, the better it sounds.
Helter Skelter: In the wee hours of October 17, as John and Paul labored away assembling Number Nine, suddenly there was a crisis: The stereo mix of “Helter Skelter” made back on October 12 had accidentally been erased. After momentarily panicking, they dipped into John’s Magical Pill Pouch and had engineer Ken Scott cue up the individual tracks. Mixing live, with all six hands moving over the faders, they created — in one take — the “Helter Skelter” we know today. They also added backwards vocals, which John had wanted to add to pretty much every song since “Rain.” “In this case.” commented Scott, “it happened to make sense.” Many people point to “Helter Skelter,” with its loud/quiet/loud dynamics, distorted harmonics, and brain-melting climax, as a key influence on “alternative” bands like the Pixies, Sonic Youth, and My Bloody Valentine. And again — the louder the better.
Yer Blues: Hate to sound like the proverbial broken record, but, yeah — turn that shit up.
Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey: The Monkey was Yoko. The Walrus was Paul. Who would win a cage match between a monkey and a walrus?
Why Don’t We Do It in the Road?: No one’s ever definitively answered this question. I guess it’s rhetorical anyway.
I’m So Tired: Well, that’s one answer.
Silent Piggies: George was not happy when he returned from the U.S. to find that John and Paul had erased his vocals from this song, but there seems to be no truth to the rumor that he asked the Hells Angels to come to England to beat the crap out of them.
Honey (Wild) Pie: At one point fairly late in the epic mixing session that produced Number Nine, Paul stepped out for an extended smoke break, leaving John to finish Side 3. John opted to cut together what had previously been two separate Paul songs — “Honey Pie” (which he considered too sweet) and “Wild Honey Pie” (too sour) — to try to get something in between. Did he succeed? You be the judge.
What’s the New Mary Jane: After a lengthy and somewhat contentious conversation, John and Paul had decided to omit this from the album. The minute Paul was gone John put it back in, and by the time Paul found out, it was too late to do anything about it.
Revolution 6: Some of these snippets sound like excerpts from a cocktail party in hell. Maybe this should be called “Revolution 666,” hmm?
the instrumental backing drops out when Paul sings on helter skeltor
That’s a remix of Helter Skelter I made a few years ago. If you listen, it’s actually quite different.
great mix, btw
I’ll take the walrus in the cage match. A walrus can take a punch or two. Although it may need a nap in the middle of the match.
but I would take Yoko over Paul. Paul always seemed to soft to me and Yoko probably has ninja skills.
Not to mention black magic.
I feel like the monkey’s much greater agility would be a decisive factor. It could just jump on the walrus’s back and start biting. Eventually it would hit an artery or something.