TOP 100 SONGS OF THE BEATLES: 69

"Julia" (Lennon – November 25, 1968)

The Beatles (a.k.a., The White Album) – Side 2, Track 9 (2:54)
YouTube (First recorded version – Lennon)

From Wikipedia, Rolling Stone and About.com –

‎History –

The death of John Lennon's mother on July 15, 1958 was a shattering event in his young life; though John's Aunt Mimi had petitioned the government to take over his custody, both he and Mimi remained close to Julia Stanley Lennon, with John visiting her in the same neighborhood nearly every day. She was, after all, the one person who had encouraged his desire to be a musician. John was spared the sight of her being struck and killed by the car of an off-duty cop, but he was traumatized for most of his adult life by the event, and he searched for years to find a suitable female muse and source of comfort to take her place. By the time he returned from his spiritual retreat in Rishikesh, India in May 1968, he'd come to believe that female was performance artist Yoko Ono. By the time the band gathered to record the "White Album," she was a constant presence at his side, which inflamed tensions within the band.

While in Rishikesh, John noticed folk-rocker Donovan, also studying at the ashram, playing acoustic guitar with what he called a "claw-hammer" picking technique, and over the next few days, he diligently taught it to Lennon. Inspired by the style, John immediately wrote two songs: "Dear Prudence" and "Julia." He made a demo of the latter song at his "Kenwood" home in Weybridge upon his return to England, at which time he also made a demo of a similar finger-picking song he would later revisit during his solo career, "Look At Me." He made yet another demo of "Julia" at George's home, Kinfauns, in Esher.

Taking several phrases from Sand and Foam, Kahlil Gibran's recent book of philosophical musings, John crafted a dual ode to Julia and Yoko, melding the two together once and for all in his psyche: at one point he calls "Julia, ocean child," referring to the literal English translation of the name "Yoko." He recorded the song in three takes on October 13, 1968, double-tracking his guitar and vocal, with Paul McCartney offering support from the control room.

"Julia" was written by John Lennon (credited to Lennon/McCartney) and features Lennon on vocals and acoustic guitar. It was written during the Beatles' 1968 visit to Rishikesh in northern India, where they were studying under the MaharishiMahesh Yogi. It was here where Lennon learned the song's finger-picking guitar style (known as 'Travis-picking') from the Scottish musician Donovan. No other Beatle sings or plays on the song. While Paul McCartney made several "solo" recordings attributed to the group, dating back to his famous song "Yesterday", this is the only time that Lennon played and sang unaccompanied on a Beatles track.

"Julia" was written for John's mother, Julia Lennon (1914–1958), who was knocked down and killed by a car driven by a drunk off-duty police officer when John was 17 years old. It was also written for his future wife Yoko Ono, whose first name, which literally means "child of the sea" in Japanese, is echoed in lyrics such as "Oceanchild, calls me."

In an interview in 1971 John Lennon said, "I wrote "God Save Us" with Yoko, and "Do the Oz", and there's one track on the album that she wrote. She had written other things, even "Julia" back in the Beatles days.", indicating that she may have contributed some lines to it when John returned from India.

"Julia" was originally released as the final song on side two of The Beatles on 22 November 1968. Eight years later it was released as the B-side of the "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" single.

A portion of the song also appeared on the Love album mixed with "Eleanor Rigby".

Recording –

Takes: 3

Personnel

John Lennon – Lead vocals (double-tracked), acoustic guitars (1967 Martin D-28)

Trivia –

"Sand and Foam" was referenced by Lennon in at least two places: Gibran's phrase "Half of what I say is meaningless; but I say it so that the other half may reach you" became the opening lines of the song, "Half of what I say is meaningless, but I say it just to reach you, Julia." Likewise, the beginning of the last verse, "When I cannot speak my heart, I can only sing my mind," was a nearly direct lift from the text: "When life does not find a singer to sing her heart, she produces a philosopher to speak her mind." Donovan, perhaps not coincidentally, had a few years earlier written a song of his own called "Sand and Foam."

The mysterious character Julia, who has a romantic past with both the hero and villain of the anime series Cowboy Bebop, was named after this song.

The first 18 notes of "Julia" are exactly the same.

Capitol issued "Julia" as the b-side of their 1976 US single release of "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da." The two were also released as a special white-vinyl jukebox 45 in the mid-'90s.

This is the only Beatles song featuring John alone. He would go on to deal with the tragedy of his loss on the Plastic Ono Band track "Mother."

Today in Beatles History (From The Internet Beatles Album) January 31 –

1963 – "Please Please Me" number 17, 1st week in the ranking (UK New Musical Express chart).

1964 – US release of single "Please Please Me"/"Ask Me Why".

– Start of Cilla Black British tour.

1965 – "Beatles For Sale" number 1, 7th and last week (UK Record Retailer chart).

1967 – John, Paul and Brian attend a concert by the Who and Jimy Hendrix.

– Studio 3 (control room only). 7.00-8.30pm. Mono mixing: "A Day In The Life" (remix 1, from take 6). Producer: George Martin; Engineer: Geoff Emerick; 2nd Engineer: Richard Lush. – Remix of "A Day In The Life" only for demonstration.

– Night shootings for "Strawberry Fields Forever" clip, in Sevenoaks, Kent.
With Brian's permission, the Jimi Hendrix Experience return to the Saville Theater to shoot a promotional film for their new single.
– Production commences on "Work Is A Four-Letter Word", Cilla Black's 1st non-singing film role.

1968 – Abbey Road. George finishes the LP "Wonderwall".

1969 – Apple Studios (Roof). Time unknown. Recording: "Get Back" (2 versions); "Don't Let Me Down"; "I've Got A Feeling"; "The One After 909"; "Dig A Pony"; "God Save The Queen"; "I've Got A Feeling"; "Don't Let Me Down"; "Get Back". Producer: George Martin; Engineer: Glyn Johns; 2nd Engineer: Alan Parsons. 

– "I've Got A Feeling", "The One After 909", "Dig A Pony", John's and Paul's comments at the end of 3rd version of "Get Back": versions for Let It Be LP. Version of "The One After 909" for Get Back LP."