Everyone, no matter how young or old, knows the Beatles. One of their most iconic albums is 46 years old this January. This album along with its title song came into fruition in January of 1969. The front side is described as pychedelic rock and only contains six songs. The back of the old vinyl album contained six orchestral tracks.
The album’s title song “Yellow Submarine” became the bestselling song on the track and is a different sound to say the least. Many people claim that the Beatles were under the influence of hard drugs such as LSD during the recording of the album. The claims seem accountable considering the reports of Paul’s past LSD use and just the sound of the music. “Yellow Submarine” had been issued in August 1966 as a single, topping the UK chart for four weeks and had also been released on the album Revolver. “All You Need Is Love” had been issued as a single in July 1967.
I asked three who all had different favorites on the album which one they liked and why.
Junior Matt Wellbrock stated his favorite is “Hey Bulldog” because of its “signature guitar riff”
Of the unreleased songs, the first to be recorded was George Harrison’s “Only a Northern Song” during the sessions for Sgt. Pepper. It was taped in February 1967 but subsequently shelved, along with some other unfinished Harrison compositions. It was originally titled “Not Known” and the lyrics were a cynical view of Harrison being merely a contracted songwriter to the Beatles’ publishing company, Northern Songs.
“All Together Now” was recorded in a single session on May 12th, 1967, specifically for the film project. The title came from a phrase Paul McCartney had heard as a child, to encourage everyone to sing music hall songs. He later described the song as “a throwaway”.
The band recorded Harrison’s “It’s All Too Much” in late May 1967. The Beatles had unlimited studio time to experiment and record whatever songs came to hand at Abbey Road, but this session took place at De Lane Lea Studios. The original take ran for over eight minutes, and Harrison briefly quoted a line from the Merseys’ 1966 song “Sorrow”.
John Lennon’s “Hey Bulldog” was recorded on February 11th, 1968 and evolved from an initial intent to shoot a promotional film for the single “Lady Madonna”. Like “All Together Now”, it was specifically recorded with the film soundtrack in mind. The track’s ending featured a jam session after the point where a fade-out was intended in the final mix, which was kept in the finished version.
Side two features a re-recording of the symphonic film score composed by George Martin, specifically for the album. The recording took place with a 41-piece orchestra over two three-hour sessions on October 22nd and 23rd, 1968 at Abbey Road, and edited down to the length on the LP on November 22nd. Martin’s arrangement quoted from his earlier work for the Beatles; for example, “Sea of Time” includes a brief extract of a melody from “Within You Without You” from Sgt Pepper.
As time goes on and music evolves, let’s not forget the band the revolutionized music forever.