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Author Topic: I Say Hello/National Music Council UK  (Read 1817 times)

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eveningsungodown

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I Say Hello/National Music Council UK
« on: April 16, 2012, 08:40:11 AM »

Hi everyone! I'd like to introduce myself to the forum...longtime reader, first time poster. I hope I can contribute to the great, Beatle-loving community here. My username references a 1914 W.C. Handy song called the St. Louis Blues. The St. Louis hockey team (the Blues) and the Beatles are probably the two things I love most, so this clip:

The Beatles, 30 July 1968, EMI Studio 2

at the :45 mark, where the boys do an impromptu version of the St. Louis Blues, combines my two passions. "I hate to see the evening sun go down" is the first line of the song and hence, the username. Favourite songs, just to name a few: You Never Give Me Your Money, Dear Prudence, I've Just Seen a Face, Norwegian Wood, I'll Follow the Sun. Favourite album: Abbey Road (at the moment).

I wanted to ask a very remote question, since I don't really know where else I'd go for something like this. The clip I posted above is from the Hey Jude sessions in '68 when cameramen for the UK National Music Council were allowed to film inside Studio Two. They filmed for about 3 hours and then aired the 6 minutes from the clip on a show later that year called "Music!" Does anybody have any further information on that? Do you think it would be possible to track down the unused footage? I'd love to see it (especially to see if they did a full version of the St. Louis Blues.) Anything anyone could offer would be greatly appreciated!
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Bobber

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Re: I Say Hello/National Music Council UK
« Reply #1 on: April 16, 2012, 01:58:41 PM »

Welcome aboard.
I'll have to do some research to give you an answer.
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Bobber

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Re: I Say Hello/National Music Council UK
« Reply #2 on: April 19, 2012, 07:15:50 AM »

This is from Richie Unterberger's The Unreleased Beatles:

'As part of this documentary (which covered all types of British music), the Beatles were showing working on "Hey Jude" in the studio. Refreshingly, it wasn't just silent footage shown to a mimed finished record or some such thing. These were actual scenes, with actual sound, of them polishing a classic-in-progress, with actual unreleased music (though only heard in fits and starts) on the soundtrack. Paul's characteristic ebullience here is to be expected, but it's also interesting to note John's all-out enthusiasm; he might have been critical, sometimes nastily so, of some of Paul's songs after the Beatles broke up, but he always had high praise for "Hey Jude". The vocals are obviously a little too self-consciously, humorously exaggerated in this footage for a finished take, and it would actually take a couple more days of recording before the group had the finished track. "I keep getting me trousers caught on the pedal," complains Ringo mildly at the end of one version. "Take 'em off!" quips John.
There's an indication all might not have been happy behind the scenes, however, as George Harrison is not participating in the recordings at this stage, instead sitting in the control room with George Martin and engineer Ken Scott. Paul, as is now famous among Beatle scholars, had rejected George's idea for using responsive guitar phrases in the song, and at least at this stage his role in the recordings looks nearly nonexistent. There must be more footage that wasn't used, incidentally, as a few out-takes showed up (though without sound) in Anthology.

And:

[...] Take 2 of "Hey Jude" on July 29 had an unrelated music-hallish intro and, for whatever reason, McCartney takes the same path here, vamping on a 15 second nightclubish impro that bootleggers usually titled "Las Vegas Tune" after the most prominent phrase in the lyrics. Following that is nearly a minute of noodling around on a recognizable standard, "St Louis Blues". "Hey Jude" isn't  a song that comes to mind as an all-around-entertainer vehicle, but it seemed to spark, perhaps subconsciously, some of Paul's leanings in that direction, if only as a way to keep the atmosphere light between takes.

[...]

As if this wasn't enough, the Beatles were also filmed on this day for the documentary movie Music!, performing parts of some of the "Hey Jude" takes described above. This clip includes brief sections of other takes that seem unfinished enough to suggest they were done earlier in the session. There aren't any relevations to be heard, though Paul throws in a reference to Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti" at one point, and John a more off-the-wall enunciation of the "Beep beep yeah!" exclamation from "Drive My Car". And there's yet another tossed-off "St. Louis Blues", this one lasting just 15 seconds. That clip also shows how poor George Harrison didn't play at all on these sessions, instead sitting in the control room.


So, I guess they did two version of St Louis Blues, one being on film and a slightly longer version on Hey Jude outtakes. I couldn't find further information on more footage.
« Last Edit: April 19, 2012, 07:26:35 AM by Bobber »
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eveningsungodown

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Re: I Say Hello/National Music Council UK
« Reply #3 on: April 20, 2012, 07:28:51 AM »

Wow, thanks Bobber!! Some great information there...very interesting. I did learn that the Ultra Rare Trax Vol. 3 album has a song called "I Hate to See," which is about a minute of St. Louis Blues. And for now, that'll probably have to suffice. I'll send some emails and see if I can find more footage, but it's SUCH a remote thing, I doubt it. Thanks though! Much appreciated.
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Bobber

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Re: I Say Hello/National Music Council UK
« Reply #4 on: April 20, 2012, 08:36:52 AM »

It's on Ultra Rare Trax vol. 6 actually. This is it:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/22264981/07-I%20Hate%20To%20See.mp3
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