John's White album photo shoot

 

October 30, 1968 -

I think the best photo from this shot was chosen.   The one without his glasses looks so strange to me since I am so used to him wearing glasses during this timeframe. 

White Album Q&A with Mal Evans

 

The Beatles Book Monthly is a gift that just keeps on giving.   After sharing what Mal had to say about the Get Back Sessions, I wondered what else, he, had to say about other sessions.   I found this Q&A with Mal from the February 1969 issue where he answers fans' questions about the newest Beatles album at that time, The Beatles.  

Your Album Queries

Answered by Mal Evans

Last month I told you I'd been ploughing through a huge mountain of mail from Beatles Monthly readers on the subject of the recent two-record album set.  Of course, many of you asked the same questions so I've been able to choose just 40 favourite queries from your letters for the WHO-WHAT-HOW piece which follows.

1.  Where was the photograph taken which shows Ringo (bearded) dancing with Elizabeth Taylor?

Answer:  During a party at London's Dorchester Hotel

2. Which Beatle put his lip prints on the album picture poster?

Answer:  The lip prints don't belong to any Beatle (Beatles just don't wear lipstick you know!!)

3.  Is the cat behind a cushion in one of the colour photographs Paul's Thisby?

Answer:  In a word -- No!

4.  On the poster with the album there's a big picture of someone lying back in a bath.  Is it John or Paul?

Answer:  Fellow with soap suds all around his head is Paul.

5.  There's one very old snapshot showing two boys in black leather gear  It looks as though it might be a picture of two Beatles taken in Hamburg days but the heads are cut off. 

Answer:  It is indeed an early Beatle pic but not taken in Hamburg.  That's Paul with John in Paris. 

6.  Who does the high "Beach Boys" voices behind Paul on Back in the U.S.S.R.?

Answer:  John and George together.

7.  Who plays the main guitar accompaniment behind John's voice on "Dear Prudence" and what sort of guitar was used?  

Answer:  John played his own backing here and used his Epiphone guitar.

8.  How was the violin-like effect achieved at the end of "Glass Onion?" 

Answer:  Would you believe -- with violins!

9.  Who played piano on "Ob-la-di Ob-la-da?"

Answer:  Pianist is Paul.

10.  Who says "Thank you" at the end of "Ob la di, Ob la da?"

Answer:  Thankful Beatle concerned is John.

11.  Who sings the line "Not when he looked so fierce" in a sort of childlike voice on "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill?"

Answer:  Wasn't one of the fellows at all, it was Yoko.

12.  Who plays guitar (the introduction and accompaniment) behind George's singing on "While my Guitar Gently Weeps?" 

Answer: Eddie Clayton -- but not the Liverpool Eddie Clayton (remember Ringo was once with the Eddie Clayton Skiffle Group on Merseyside around the first half of 1960 before he began drumming for Rory Storm's Hurricanes).

13. Does Paul play his own piano accompaniment for "Martha my Dear?"

Answer:  Yes he does.

14.  Which album track has Mal Evans playing a bit of trumpet?

Answer:  That's "Helter Skelter" which also has John playing saxophone!

15.  Who plays acoustic guitar behind Paul on "Blackbird?"

Answer:  Paul himself.  He recorded the accompaniment first and then did the vocal.

16.  How does George get that funny nasal effect on his voice midway through "Piggies"

Answer:  I don't want to get too technical about this so let me just say that his voice had to be filtered through special studio equipment to create that effect.

17.  How plays guitar accompaniment behind Paul on "Rocky Raccoon?"

Answer:  Again it's Paul himself and again the singing and playing were recorded at separate times.

18.  Who plays harmonica on "Rocky Racoon?"

Answer:  John

19.  Who plays that honky-tonk piano bit at the end of "Rocky Raccoon?"

Answer:  Our record producer George Martin

20.  Who plays Hammond organ on "Don't Pass me By?"

Answer:  Nobody plays an organ but the sound you mean comes from a specially prepared piano played by Ringo.

21.  What instruments are behind Paul on "I Will?"

Answer:  Normal Beatles line-up here with John on skulls!

22.  Who does the "2-3" count-in at the start of "Yer Blues"

Answer:  Ringo

23.  Did Paul write "Mother Nature's Son" while he was on his farm up in Scotland?  It sounds as though he was inspired by his surroundings.

Answer:  I know what you mean about the atmosphere of the words but John and Paul wrote this while they were in India about this time last year. 

24.  Details please of the backing on John's rocker "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey."

Answer:  No additional musicians here, just the usual Beatles line-up

25.  Whose idea was the extra ending for "Helter Skelter" and who sounds at the very end of it "I've got blisters on my fingers."

Answer:  THe extra ending was a joint idea really and none of the fellows can remember who suggested it.  The blistery voice belongs to Ringo.

26.  Is Ringo's drumming speeded up in some technical way at the end of "Long Long Long" or did he play as fast as that?

Answer:  He really played as fast as that!

27.  Does George Martin play piano on "Revolution 1"

Answer:  No.  It's Paul at the piano again.

28.  How did Paul make his voice sound like an old gramophone record for the words "Now she's hit the big time" in "Honey Pie?"

Answer:  Technical trick.  Highly secret!

29.  What brass instruments are there on "Savoy Truffle?"

Answer:  Two baritones and four tenors

30.  Whose voice says "Number Nine" at the opening of "Revolution No. 9?"  It sounds like John or Mal.  Is it the same voice later on?

Answer:  Yes, the same voice all through but it doesn't belong to me or John.  It was taken from an educational record from library stock.

31.  Before "Revolution No. 9" you hear a bit of conversation with someone saying to George, "I'd have brought some claret for you, George, but I forgot.  I'm sorry.  Will you forgive me?"  The voice didn't sound like Neil's or Mal's.

Answer:  That's because it wasn't Neil's or mine!  It was Alistair Taylor's voice.  Alistair is office manager of Apple.

32.  Did Geroge Martin do that beautifully warm orchestral arrangement for Ringo's "Goodnight?" 

Answer:  Yes he did.

33.  Did Paul make a mistake when he was recording the vocal of "Ob-la-di Ob-la-da?" towards the end Desmond stays home to do his pretty face instead of his wife, Molly, the band singer?

Answer:  No mistake.  Just a twist around of the verse which comes earlier on.

34.  Who plays an organ on "Cry Baby Cry?"

Answer:  Nobody.  It's a harmonium played by George Martin.

35.  Who plays the harpsichord (or is it a doctored piano) on "Piggies?"

Answer:  It is a harpsichord and the player is George Martin's assistant whose name is Chris Thomas.

36.  What are the extra instruments heard on "Dear Prudence?"

Answer:  Apart from the normal line-up of guitars and drums, you hear Paul on the piano and playing flugelhorn, John and I on tambourines, and a whole crowd of us including Jackie Lomax and Paul's cousin John lending pairs of hands for the clapping.

37.  Why did you release the album set in stereo first and not in mono until later?

Answer:  We didn't!  The fact is that for the first week or two at the end of November the factories just could not keep pace with the public's demand for copies of the album.  So in some places, you'd find a record shop had only stereo copies available because fewer people choose stereo and the really big demand is still for mono records. 

38.  Who plays what on "Long Long Long?"

Answer:  Other than the usual instrumentation we had George playing acoustic guitar and Paul on Hammond Organ.

39.  Is the chorus on "Goodnight" just the Beatles singing? It sounds like far more than four voices in the background.

Answer:  It is far more.  Eight in fact.  Four boys and four girls who were brought in to add the backing voices.

40.  Who was the first to make another recording of a song from "The Beatles" to put out as a single?

Answer:  We heard of several all at once.  Including the Marmalade doing "Ob la di, Ob la da", Cliff Bennett singing "Back in the U.S.S.R." and the Vic Lewis orchestra singings doing versions of "Goodnight" and "Julia."  

Ringo's White Album - A book review

Let me be honest.   I typically would not have been interested in reading Ringo's White Album by Alex Cain.  But you know how it is -- we are all stuck in the house and the Kindle edition was really cheap ($1.16).   So why not give this book a read?

There are some really interesting things in the book.    The author really knows his audience and doesn't bother us with the background of how Ringo joined the Beatles or any of the information we already know about the drummer.  He jumped right into the topic of the book, which is greatly appreciated.

This book is exactly what the title says:  Ringo's drumming and percussion on the White Album. Cain goes into how Ringo quit the Beatles and about Paul's drumming on Back in the USSR and Dear Prudence as well.     The most interesting part of the book (for me) was the section about the Hey Jude promo films.  There was some information about Busker Bill and the filming that was really interesting.   I also liked how the book went song by song and put who played what percussion instrument. 

The rest of the book was a little over my head.   I know very little about reading music and nothing about drumming.   Parts of this book were boring to me -- just going on and on about the drumming patterns and whatnot. 

That is not to say that this is a bad book.  It just didn't interest me too much.  Cain did a great job writing it.  It was obviously well-researched, and he knows a LOT about drumming and admires Ringo for being a great drummer.    I am sure that if you were a musician and especially a drummer, the information found in this book would interest you. 

The wonderful thing about living in the era of self-published Beatles books is that now anyone can write in his/her niche area of The Beatles.   I think that is great!    There is bound to be hundreds of other Beatle fans that are interested in the same area that the author is interested in. 

If you want to learn about Ringo's drumming on the White Album in great detail -- then this is the book for you!   Plus, it really wasn't a bad book to read while being quarantined.


The link below is the affiliate link to Amazon where you can purchase this book.   I get a small percentage of anything purchased through this link.  Money made from the Amazon Afflication is used to pay the annual fee to keep this site online.  Thank you for your support.  Sara

https://amzn.to/3IhcwqD

The sad bed in

These sad photographs of John and Yoko were taken at the hospital after the miscarriage of their first child. 

Interesting to me is that they decorated the room with all sorts of photos, including the individual shots of the Beatles from the White Album.   These photos were taken on November 4 and the White Album wasn't released until later in the month. 

Alternative White Album photos

Now it's time to say Goodnight....

Teenage life in 1970

A hip Beatles fan

My guess is this is a young fan in his bedn 1969.    There the four photos that came out of the White Album and a Yellow Submarine poster.    Plenty of peace signs and he is reading "Steal this book."   Gotta enjoy this one!

White Album session

White album snapshot

The Groovy White album posters

What a cute vintage photo of a groovy chic and her White Album posters. She must be a Paul fan.

Rocky Raccoon?

I located a "new" Paul McCartney fan photo online. The photo and the caption are from a Russian Beatles page. To my surprise, the person who posted it, posted this comment in English!

The fan photo was snapped on the 13th of August 1968 by a 18 year old Beatles fan Egil Gjerde, and speculation is that this might be the accordion from "Rocky Raccoon" on The Beatles (White Album). The song was recorded August 15th. The accordion player on Rocky Raccoon has never been documented, maybe this is the one!

It is a really neat photo because you don't always see Paul McCartney leaving Cavendish holding an accordion!

The White Album 1968

Here is my entire collection of the White Album recording era fan photos. Most of these photos were scanned from the Beatles on Apple book by Bruce Spizer (buy all of his books....they are amazing!). I would love to have more from this time period because John was looking soooooo HOT! But I will take what I can get.

Heading inside to record the White Album 1968