“A landscape of the mind, not of the world” (David Laing), “one of pop music’s finest achievements…a magnum opus, perhaps the landmark Beatles record” (Chris Ingham), “technologically evolved folk music” (Ian MacDonald), “a record that never dates, because it lives outside time” (John Robertson).
“We were in Almeria,” John himself explained in 1980, “and it took me six weeks to write the song. I was writing it all the time I was making the film. "
Steve Turner’s book “A Hard Day’s Write” describes details about this location: “Strawberry Field was a large Victorian building with extensive wooded grounds in Beconsfield Road, a five-minute walk from John’s home in Menlove Avenue. Since 1936, it had been a children’s home with an annual fete, which Aunt Mimi regularly took him to. The Gothic grandeur of the building and the mystery of the woods fascinated John. He recognised it as a place where he could be alone and let his imagination fun free. He soon discovered that there was a more direct route from his garden into the grounds and it became one of his places of escape.”
I think nearly all self respecting Beatle nuts knows about the self psychoanalysis of the song and about how it was recorded so I wont bang on about how George Martin patched the 2 versions together.
I love this extract from his book “Here, There And Everywhere,” engineer Geoff Emerick “It had been five months since I'd last seen the group, but it might as well have been five years. For one thing, they all looked so different. Garbed in colorful clothes and sporing trendy mustaches – George Harrison even had a beard – they were utterly hip, the epitome of swinging London circa 1966...John was the one who had changed the most: having shed the excess weight he'd put on during the 'Revolver' sessions, he was trim, almost gaunt, and he was wearing granny glasses instead of the thick horn-rimmed National Health spectacles I was used to seeing. He also had very short, distinctly non-Beatlish hair.”
“It was our first night back in the studio, and we were huddled around the mixing console, discussing how we wanted to approach the new album...John Lennon was even more agitated than usual. 'Look,' he said to George Martin, 'it's really quite simple. We're fed up with making soft music for soft people, and we're fed up with playing for them, too. But it's given us a fresh start, don't you see?' From the expression on his face, it was clear that George Martin didn't see. 'We can't hear ourselves onstage anymore for all the screaming,' Paul interjected earnestly, 'so what's the point? We did try performing some songs off the last album, but there are so many complicated overdubs we can't do them justice. Now we can record anything we want, and it won't matter. And what we want is to raise the bar a notch, to make our best album ever.'...Lennon persisted, talking rapid-fire – a sure sign that he was starting to get annoyed. 'What we're saying is, if we don't have to tour, then we can record music that we won't ever have to play live, and that means we can create something that's never been heard before: a new kind of record with new kinds of sounds.'”
“Finally, George Martin called an end to the informal conference. 'Right, then, let's get to work. What have you got for me?' Paul started to say something, but before he could answer, John shouted out, 'I've got a good one, for a starter!' John could talk over most anyone if he wanted to, and he was never shy about jumping the queue; in fact, the first session for almost every Beatles album was devoted to recording one of his songs. A half smile played across Paul's face as he shrugged his shoulders, backing down gracefully.
“When he finished, there was a moment of stunned silence, broken by Paul, who in a quiet, respectful tone said simply, 'That is absolutely brilliant.' Most of the time when Lennon played one of his songs through for the first time on acoustic guitar, we'd all think, 'Wow, that's great,' but this song was clearly something special. 'I've brought a demo tape of the song with me, too,' John said, offering to play it, but everyone agreed there was no need – they wanted to get straight into recording. The energy in the room was staggering: it was almost as if the band's creative energies had been bottled up for too long.”
And so began the recording of one of Johns greatest songs, a monumental work that I reall wish was on the Pepper album, it wouldve fit so well and made the album even better !
John Lennon - Lead and Harmony Vocals, Rhythm Guitar (1965 Epiphone ES-230TD Casino), Mellotron? (Mark II)
Paul McCartney - Mellotron (Mark II), Lead Guitar (1964 Fender Esquire), Piano (Hamburg Steinway Baby Grand), Bass (1964 Rickenbacker 4001 S), timpani
George Harrison - Guitar (1961 Sonic Blue Fender Stratocaster), swaramandala, maracas, bongos
Ringo Starr - Drums (1964 Ludwig Super Classic Black Oyster Pearl)
George Martin - Mellotron? (Mark II)
Tony Fisher - Trumpet
Greg Bowen - Trumpet
Derek Watkins - Trumpet
Stanley Roderick - Trumpet
John Hall - Cello
Derek Simpson - Cello
Norman Jones - Cello
Mal Evans - Tambourine
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Topic: Song Of The Week - Strawberry Fields Forever (Read 4309 times)