TOP 100 SONGS OF THE BEATLES: 86

"Lady Madonna" (McCartney – March 18, 1968)

Single

YouTube (Paul McCartney, Mexico)

From Wikipedia, Rolling Stone and About.com –

Background –

"Lady Madonna" is a song by the Beatles, primarily written by Paul McCartney (credited to Lennon–McCartney). In March 1968, it was released as a single, backed with "The Inner Light." The song was recorded on 3 and 6 February 1968 before the Beatles left for India. This single was the last release by the band on Parlophone in the United Kingdom, where it reached #1, and Capitol Records in the United States, where it reached #4. All subsequent releases, starting with "Hey Jude" in August 1968, were released on their own label Apple Records, under EMI distribution, until the late 1970s, when Capitol and Parlophone re-released old material.

Inspiration –

The piano playing on this song was inspired by 1950s rock/blues pianist, Fats Domino. McCartney recalled in 1994, "'Lady Madonna' was me sitting down at the piano trying to write a bluesy boogie-woogie thing ... It reminded me of Fats Domino for some reason, so I started singing a Fats Domino impression. It took my voice to a very odd place." Domino himself covered the song later in 196 and it became a US Hot 100 hit (peaking at exactly #100). The song, and in particular the introduction, are similar to Humphrey Lyttelton's "Bad Penny Blues" from 1956.

John Lennon helped write the lyrics, which give an account of an overworked, exhausted (possibly single) mother, facing a new problem each day of the week. McCartney explained the song by saying: "'Lady Madonna' started off as the Virgin Mary, then it was a working-class woman, of which obviously there's millions in Liverpool. There are a lot of Catholics in Liverpool because of the Irish connection." The lyrics miss Saturday and in a 1992 interview, McCartney, who only realized the omission many years later, half-jokingly suggested that, given the difficulties of the other six days, the woman in the song likely went out and had a good time that night.

Signaling the group's return to a straight rock and roll sound after the wild experimentation of their past few singles, the Beatles' first single of 1968 was inspired by various sources. The rhythm arrangement owes quite a bit to a boogie-woogie recording from 1958, "Bad Penny Blues" by Humphrey Lyttleton, a "trad-jazz" tune the group was quite familiar with (it was the first such song by a British group to break into the Top 20 in their native land). Contrary to legend, the melody of "Lady Madonna" was not taken from the song, merely the rhythm of the intro, which was itself based on a riff by Chicago skiffle musician Dan Burley. (Also contrary to popular belief, producer George Martin did not produce the original "Bad Penny Blues," although he was Parlophone's A&R head at the time; that job went to Joe Meek, who would later gain fame as the British counterpart to Phil Spector.)

The drum pattern of the intro, as played by Ringo, featured no sticks but only "brushes," to match the rhythmic style of Lyttleton's recording. Ringo added a second, more "rock" drum track on top, however, which comes in with Paul's vocal.

Said vocal was claimed by Paul to be a tribute to New Orleans-based rock legend Fats Domino, which would explain the unusually low register he sings in on this track. Ringo himself heard a bit of Elvis in the vocal. Both artists would later cover the song.

The lyrical content of the song deals with women and their unique burden of bearing and raising children. Paul McCartney has stated that his original inspiration was the Christian icon of the Virgin Mary, but folksinger Richie Havens has claimed he heard McCartney tell a fan in the late Sixties that the original inspiration was an African magazine (or an article about Africa in a magazine) showing a mother suckling her child, with the caption "Mountain Madonna."

The original band track was laid down on February 3rd, 1968; three days later, the group convened to lay down a vocal version of a brass solo (accomplished by cupping their mouths over their hands). When the results seemed somehow incomplete, Paul brought in four sax players -- an instrumentation typical to New Orleans rock and copied on the later "Savoy Truffle" -- to beef up the sound

Recording –

Takes: 5

Personnel

John Lennon – Harmony vocals, rhythm guitar (1965 Epiphone E230TD(V) Casino), handclaps

Paul McCartney – Lead vocals, bass guitar (1964 Rickenbacker 4001S), piano (Alfred E. Knight), handclaps

George Harrison – Harmony vocals, lead guitar (1961 Sonic Blue Fender Stratocaster), handclaps
Ringo Starr – Drums (Ludwig), handclaps
Ronnie Scott – Tenor sax
Bill Povey – Tenor sax
Harry Klein – Baritone sax
Bill Jackman – Baritone sax

Trivia –

It's unknown whether or not John contributed lyrics to "Lady Madonna" during its creation, but his input, if any, is thought to be minimal. The recurring hook "see how they run" is remarkably similar to John's phrase in the previous year's "I Am The Walrus," but it is unknown whether this is intentional, the phrase having been very prominent in the nursery rhyme "Three Blind Mice."

This was the last single recorded before the band left for their famous trip to India. It is also the last single to be released on the Capitol label, as all subsequent releases would be on their new imprint, Apple.

The sax solo played by Ronnie Scott has been pushed to the front of the mix in more recent releases of "Lady Madonna," supposedly due to complaints by Scott that it was barely audible.

The promo film for this song was actually shot during the February 11, 1968 session for "Hey Bulldog" (later released on the Yellow Submarine soundtrack). Note that at no time during the video does the band actually mouth the words.

Of all the days of the week mentioned in the song -- a direct reference to the nursery rhyme "Monday's Child" -- only Saturday is left out.

This is one of four Beatles songs directly referenced by John Lennon in the band's "Glass Onion" ("Lady Madonna trying to make ends meet, yeah").

Aretha Franklin's version of "Lady Madonna" served as the theme song for the ABC sitcom “Grace Under Fire” (1993-1998). It was also licensed for legal use in the 1984 arcade video game "Bomb Jack," and can be heard on a loop, complete with bridge, during the game's second level.

Today in Beatles History (From The Internet Beatles Album) January 14 –

1964 – John, Paul and George leave from the London Airport to France. Ringo is delayed by the fog at the Speke Airport, Liverpool. They arrive at the Orly Airport, Paris. Photographer present: Dezo Hoffmann.

1965 – "Another Beatles Christmas Show" at the Hammersmith Odeon, London (two performances).

1966 – BBC buys the British exhibition rights for "The Beatles At Shea Stadium".

1967 – "Sounds Incorporated" changes name to "Sounds Inc".

– ''Yesterday.. And Today", 30th week in the Top 200 (Billboard).