“Strawberry Fields Forever" (Lennon – February 13, 1967)
Single (“Penny Lane”)
YouTube (Restored HD video of promotional film)
From Wikipedia, Rolling Stone, About.com, and Google –
YouTube (Restored HD video of promotional film)
From Wikipedia, Rolling Stone, About.com, and Google –
"Strawberry Fields Forever" was intended for the album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967), as it was the first song recorded for it, but was instead released in February 1967 as a double A-side single with Paul McCartney's "Penny Lane". "Strawberry Fields Forever" reached number eight in the United States, with numerous critics describing it as one of the group's best recordings. It is one of the defining works of the psychedelic rock genre and has been covered by many artists. The song was later included on the US Magical Mystery Tour LP (though not on the British double EP package of the same name). The Strawberry Fields memorial in New York City's Central Park is named after the song.
History –
This odd epic was a very personal song for John, written by him in Almeria, Spain, in the fall of 1966 while doing location filming for Richard Lester's anti-war comedy How I Won The War, in which he had his first non-Beatle role. At this time, the song began life as a gentle folkish number which John envisioned being delivered in conversational, almost "talking blues" style.
Even at this early stage, the lyrics dealt with Lennon's isolation from the world, his certainty that his mind existed on a different plane than most others. This is evident in the original lines "No one is on my wavelength, I mean, it's either too high or too low / That is, you can't, you know, tune in -- but it's all right. / I mean it's not too bad." Obscured slightly for humility's sake and made more poetic, these lines would eventually, just before recording, become the second verse: "No one, I think, is in my tree / I mean, it must be high or low / That is, you can't, you know, tune in -- but it's all right. / That is, I think it's not too bad."
Even at this early stage, the lyrics dealt with Lennon's isolation from the world, his certainty that his mind existed on a different plane than most others. This is evident in the original lines "No one is on my wavelength, I mean, it's either too high or too low / That is, you can't, you know, tune in -- but it's all right. / I mean it's not too bad." Obscured slightly for humility's sake and made more poetic, these lines would eventually, just before recording, become the second verse: "No one, I think, is in my tree / I mean, it must be high or low / That is, you can't, you know, tune in -- but it's all right. / That is, I think it's not too bad."
The main image of the song came from Strawberry Field, a Salvation Army orphanage located on Beaconsfield Road in Woolton, Liverpool, England. John often played in the woods near there, and the highlight of his social calendar as a child was the annual "fete" or fair held on the grounds, which Lennon would attend with his Aunt Mimi. Given the untimely death of his mother, Julia, the site must have served as a metaphorical retreat from the horrors of the world. The use of the image also fits in with the early theme of theSgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album, which dealt with a return to childhood. (This is borne out by the original 45 sleeve of the single, which featured childhood photos of the group.)
The song was begun in an apartment in El Zapillo, the beach section of Almeria, then, when wife Cynthia moved the couple to a nearby house called Santa Isabel, the first home demos were recorded. In early November 1966, John returned to his "Kenwood" home in London, where he further work-shopped the song on tape.
Recording for "Strawberry Fields Forever" began on November 24, 1966, envisioned as a gentle ballad. However, John was unsatisfied with this arrangement, and sometime between November 29 and December 6, he asked George Martin to come up with a new arrangement featuring brass and strings, to which heavy percussion was later added. Pronouncing himself dissatisfied with both versions, John asked Martin to edit the beginning of one song (Take 7) with the end of another (Take 26). The producer thought this impossible, but after experimenting with a variable-speed tape machine, he found a way to slow down take 26 (in the key of A major) enough to bring it into the correct tempo and pitch with take 7 (in C major... this was also sped up to match it, but only very slightly).
The result is actually two edits -- one at 55 seconds into the song, where the chorus is brought in where the original third verse would have gone, and one at 59 seconds, where John's vocal can clearly be heard morphing into the new arrangement. Despite Martin's efforts, the second part of SFF is actually a semitone lower than the original piece.
The flute-sounding instrument at the beginning of the song is called a mellotron, a primitive sampler of sorts in which actual tapes of orchestral sounds (in this case, flutes) are manipulated by a keyboard. This represents the first use of the instrument by a rock band. Paul McCartney performed the mellotron intro, which Lennon wrote separately on harmonium sometime in 1964. The instrument is also used to provide "strings" in the early part of the song, and can be heard on the last fade-out, in flute setting, played backwards.
George Harrison can be credited with the introduction of the surmandel (swordmandela), an Indian version of the zither; Ringo's hi-hat is also recorded backwards for extra psychedelic effect (this is heard best in the last verse). The famous fade-in after the song "ends" appears to have been George Martin's creation; it is the first "double fade" in pop, and very possibly recording, history. The clanging sound heard during the final fade-in is produced by two trumpets and John's guitar, playing in unison.
Background and writing –
Strawberry Field was the name of a Salvation Army Children's Home just around the corner from Lennon's childhood home in Woolton, a suburb of Liverpool. Lennon and his childhood friends Pete Shotton, Nigel Walley, and Ivan Vaughan used to play in the wooded garden behind the home. One of Lennon's childhood treats was the garden party held each summer in Calderstones Park near the Salvation Army Home every year, where a Salvation Army band played. Lennon's aunt Mimi Smith recalled: "As soon as we could hear the Salvation Army band starting, John would jump up and down shouting, 'Mimi, come on. We're going to be late.'"
Lennon's "Strawberry Fields Forever" and McCartney's "Penny Lane" shared the theme of nostalgia for their early years in Liverpool. Although both referred to actual locations, the two songs also had strong surrealistic and psychedelic overtones. Producer George Martin said that when he first heard "Strawberry Fields Forever", he thought it conjured up a "hazy, impressionistic dream world".
The period of the song's writing was one of change and dislocation for Lennon. The Beatles had just retired from touring after one of the most difficult periods of their career, including the "more popular than Jesus" controversy and the band's unintentional snubbing of Philippines First Lady Imelda Marcos. Lennon's marriage with Cynthia Powell was failing, and he was using increasing quantities of drugs, especially the powerful psychedelic LSD, as well as cannabis, which he had smoked during his time in Spain. Lennon talked about the song in 1980: "I was different all my life. The second verse goes, 'No one I think is in my tree.' Well, I was too shy and self-doubting. Nobody seems to be as hip as me is what I was saying. Therefore, I must be crazy or a genius—'I mean it must be high or low' ", and explaining that the song was "psycho-analysis set to music".
Lennon began writing the song in Almería, Spain, during the filming of Richard Lester's How I Won the War in September–October 1966. The earliest demo of the song, recorded in Almería, had no refrain and only one verse: "There's no one on my wavelength / I mean, it's either too high or too low / That is you can't you know tune in but it's all right / I mean it's not too bad". He revised the words to this verse to make them more obscure, then wrote the melody and part of the lyrics to the refrain (which then functioned as a bridge and did not yet include a reference to Strawberry Fields). He then added another verse and the mention of Strawberry Fields. The first verse on the released version was the last to be written, close to the time of the song's recording. For the refrain, Lennon was again inspired by his childhood memories: the words "nothing to get hung about" were inspired by Aunt Mimi's strict order not to play in the grounds of Strawberry Field, to which Lennon replied, "They can't hang you for it." The first verse Lennon wrote became the second in the released version, and the second verse Lennon wrote became the last in the release.
Lennon's "Strawberry Fields Forever" and McCartney's "Penny Lane" shared the theme of nostalgia for their early years in Liverpool. Although both referred to actual locations, the two songs also had strong surrealistic and psychedelic overtones. Producer George Martin said that when he first heard "Strawberry Fields Forever", he thought it conjured up a "hazy, impressionistic dream world".
The period of the song's writing was one of change and dislocation for Lennon. The Beatles had just retired from touring after one of the most difficult periods of their career, including the "more popular than Jesus" controversy and the band's unintentional snubbing of Philippines First Lady Imelda Marcos. Lennon's marriage with Cynthia Powell was failing, and he was using increasing quantities of drugs, especially the powerful psychedelic LSD, as well as cannabis, which he had smoked during his time in Spain. Lennon talked about the song in 1980: "I was different all my life. The second verse goes, 'No one I think is in my tree.' Well, I was too shy and self-doubting. Nobody seems to be as hip as me is what I was saying. Therefore, I must be crazy or a genius—'I mean it must be high or low' ", and explaining that the song was "psycho-analysis set to music".
Lennon began writing the song in Almería, Spain, during the filming of Richard Lester's How I Won the War in September–October 1966. The earliest demo of the song, recorded in Almería, had no refrain and only one verse: "There's no one on my wavelength / I mean, it's either too high or too low / That is you can't you know tune in but it's all right / I mean it's not too bad". He revised the words to this verse to make them more obscure, then wrote the melody and part of the lyrics to the refrain (which then functioned as a bridge and did not yet include a reference to Strawberry Fields). He then added another verse and the mention of Strawberry Fields. The first verse on the released version was the last to be written, close to the time of the song's recording. For the refrain, Lennon was again inspired by his childhood memories: the words "nothing to get hung about" were inspired by Aunt Mimi's strict order not to play in the grounds of Strawberry Field, to which Lennon replied, "They can't hang you for it." The first verse Lennon wrote became the second in the released version, and the second verse Lennon wrote became the last in the release.
Musical structure –
The song was originally written on acoustic guitar in the key of C major. The recorded version is approximately in B-flat major; owing to manipulation of the recording speed, the finished version is not in standard pitch (some, for instance consider that the tonic is A).[24] The introduction was played by McCartney on a Mellotron, and involves a I- ii- I- ♭VII- IV progression The vocals enter with the refrain instead of a verse. In fact we are not "taken down" to the tonic key, but to "non-diatonic chords and secondary dominants" combining with "chromatic melodic tension intensified through outrageous harmonization and root movement". The phrase "to Strawberry" for example begins with a highly dissonant G melody note against a prevailing F minor key, then uses extremely dissonant B♭ and B notes (against the Fm chord) until the consonant F note is reached on "Fields". The same series of mostly dissonant melody notes cover the phrase "nothing is real" against the prevailing F#7 chord (in A key). A half-measure complicates the meter of the verses, as well as the fact that the vocals begin in the middle of the first measure. The first verse comes after the refrain, and is eight measures long. The verse (for example "Always, no sometimes...") starts with an F major chord in key of B♭ (or E chord in key of A) (V), which progresses to G minor, the submediant, a deceptive cadence. According to Alan Pollack, the "approach-avoidance tactic" (i.e., the deceptive cadence) is encountered in the verse, as the leading-tone, A, appearing on the words "Always know", "I know when" "I think a No" and "I think I disagree", never resolves into a I chord (A in A key)) directly as expected. Instead, at the end of the verse, the leading note, harmonized as part of the dominant chord, resolves to the prevailing tonic (B♭) at the end of the verse, after tonicizing the subdominant (IV) E♭ chord, on "disagree". In the middle of the second chorus, the "funereal brass" is introduced, stressing the ominous lyrics. After three verses and four choruses, the line "Strawberry Fields Forever" is repeated three times, and the song fades out with guitar, cello, and swarmandal instrumentation. The song fades back in after a few seconds in to the "nightmarish" ending, with the Mellotron playing in a haunting tone — one achieved by recording the Mellotron "Swinging Flutes" setting in reverse — scattered drumming, and Lennon murmuring, after which the song completes.'
Recording –
The working title was "It's Not Too Bad", and Geoff Emerick, the sound engineer, remembered it being "just a great, great song, that was apparent from the first time John sang it for all of us, playing an acoustic guitar." Recording began on 24 November 1966, in Abbey Road's Studio Two on a 4-track machine. It took 45 hours to record, spread over five weeks. The song was meant to be on the band's 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, but was released as a single instead.
The band recorded three distinct versions of the song. After Lennon played the song for the other Beatles on his acoustic guitar, the band recorded the first take. Lennon played an Epiphone Casino; McCartney played a Mellotron, a new home instrument purchased by Lennon on August 12, 1965, (with another model hired in after encouragement from Mike Pinder of The Moody Blues); Starr played drums, and Harrison played electric guitar. The first recorded take began with the verse, "Living is easy...", instead of the chorus, "Let me take you down", which starts the released version. The first verse also led directly to the second, with no chorus between. Lennon's vocals were automatically double-tracked from the words "Strawberry Fields Forever" through the end of the last verse. The last verse, "Always, no sometimes...", has three-part harmonies, with McCartney and Harrison singing "dreamy background vocals". This version was soon abandoned and went unreleased until the The Beatles Anthology series in 1996.
Four days later the band reassembled to try a different arrangement. The second version of the song featured McCartney's Mellotron introduction followed by the refrain. They recorded five takes of the basic tracks for this arrangement (two of which were false starts) with the last being chosen as best and subjected to further overdubs. Lennon's final vocal was recorded with the tape running fast so that when played back at normal speed the tonality would be altered, giving his voice a slurred sound. This version was used for the first minute of the released recording.
After recording the second version of the song, Lennon wanted to do something different with it, as Martin remembered: "He'd wanted it as a gentle dreaming song, but he said it had come out too raucous. He asked me if I could write him a new line-up with the strings. So I wrote a new score (with four trumpets and three cellos) and we recorded that, but he didn't like it." Meanwhile, on 8 and 9 December, another basic track was recorded, using a Mellotron, electric guitar, piano, backwards-recorded cymbals, and the swarmandel (or swordmandel), an Indian version of the zither. After reviewing the tapes of Martin's version and the original, Lennon told Martin that he liked both versions, although Martin had to tell Lennon that the orchestral score was at a faster tempo and in a higher key (B major) than the first version (A major). Lennon said, "You can fix it, George", giving Martin and Emerick the difficult task of joining the two takes together. With only a pair of editing scissors, two tape machines, and a vari-speed control, Emerick compensated for the differences in key and speed by increasing the speed of the first version and decreasing the speed of the second. He then spliced the versions together, starting the orchestral score in the middle of the second chorus. (Since the first version did not include a chorus after the first verse, he also spliced in the first seven words of the chorus from elsewhere in the first version.) The pitch-shifting in joining the versions gave Lennon's lead vocal a slightly other-worldly "swimming" quality.
Some vocalising by Lennon is faintly audible at the end of the song, picked up as leakage onto one of the drum microphones (close listening shows Lennon making other comments to Ringo). In the "Paul is Dead" hoax these were taken to be Lennon saying "I buried Paul." In 1974, McCartney said, "That wasn't 'I buried Paul' at all—that was John saying 'cranberry sauce'. It was the end of Strawberry Fields. That's John's humor. John would say something totally out of sync, like cranberry sauce. If you don't realize that John's apt to say cranberry sauce when he feels like it, then you start to hear a funny little word there, and you think, 'Aha!'".
Shortly before his death in 1980, Lennon expressed dissatisfaction with the final version of the song, saying it was "badly recorded" and going so far as to accuse McCartney of subconsciously sabotaging the recording.
The band recorded three distinct versions of the song. After Lennon played the song for the other Beatles on his acoustic guitar, the band recorded the first take. Lennon played an Epiphone Casino; McCartney played a Mellotron, a new home instrument purchased by Lennon on August 12, 1965, (with another model hired in after encouragement from Mike Pinder of The Moody Blues); Starr played drums, and Harrison played electric guitar. The first recorded take began with the verse, "Living is easy...", instead of the chorus, "Let me take you down", which starts the released version. The first verse also led directly to the second, with no chorus between. Lennon's vocals were automatically double-tracked from the words "Strawberry Fields Forever" through the end of the last verse. The last verse, "Always, no sometimes...", has three-part harmonies, with McCartney and Harrison singing "dreamy background vocals". This version was soon abandoned and went unreleased until the The Beatles Anthology series in 1996.
Four days later the band reassembled to try a different arrangement. The second version of the song featured McCartney's Mellotron introduction followed by the refrain. They recorded five takes of the basic tracks for this arrangement (two of which were false starts) with the last being chosen as best and subjected to further overdubs. Lennon's final vocal was recorded with the tape running fast so that when played back at normal speed the tonality would be altered, giving his voice a slurred sound. This version was used for the first minute of the released recording.
After recording the second version of the song, Lennon wanted to do something different with it, as Martin remembered: "He'd wanted it as a gentle dreaming song, but he said it had come out too raucous. He asked me if I could write him a new line-up with the strings. So I wrote a new score (with four trumpets and three cellos) and we recorded that, but he didn't like it." Meanwhile, on 8 and 9 December, another basic track was recorded, using a Mellotron, electric guitar, piano, backwards-recorded cymbals, and the swarmandel (or swordmandel), an Indian version of the zither. After reviewing the tapes of Martin's version and the original, Lennon told Martin that he liked both versions, although Martin had to tell Lennon that the orchestral score was at a faster tempo and in a higher key (B major) than the first version (A major). Lennon said, "You can fix it, George", giving Martin and Emerick the difficult task of joining the two takes together. With only a pair of editing scissors, two tape machines, and a vari-speed control, Emerick compensated for the differences in key and speed by increasing the speed of the first version and decreasing the speed of the second. He then spliced the versions together, starting the orchestral score in the middle of the second chorus. (Since the first version did not include a chorus after the first verse, he also spliced in the first seven words of the chorus from elsewhere in the first version.) The pitch-shifting in joining the versions gave Lennon's lead vocal a slightly other-worldly "swimming" quality.
Some vocalising by Lennon is faintly audible at the end of the song, picked up as leakage onto one of the drum microphones (close listening shows Lennon making other comments to Ringo). In the "Paul is Dead" hoax these were taken to be Lennon saying "I buried Paul." In 1974, McCartney said, "That wasn't 'I buried Paul' at all—that was John saying 'cranberry sauce'. It was the end of Strawberry Fields. That's John's humor. John would say something totally out of sync, like cranberry sauce. If you don't realize that John's apt to say cranberry sauce when he feels like it, then you start to hear a funny little word there, and you think, 'Aha!'".
Shortly before his death in 1980, Lennon expressed dissatisfaction with the final version of the song, saying it was "badly recorded" and going so far as to accuse McCartney of subconsciously sabotaging the recording.
Takes: 26
Personnel
John Lennon – Lead vocals (double-tracked), rhythm guitar (1964 Gibson J160E), mellotron (1964 Mark II), piano, bongos
Paul McCartney – Bass guitar (1964 Rickenbacker 4001S), mellotron (1964 Mark II), timpani
George Harrison – Lead guitar (1961 Sonic Blue Fender Stratocaster), surmandal (swordmandela), maracas
Ringo Starr – Drums (Ludwig), timpani, percussionGeorge Martin – Producer, cello and trumpet arrangement
This is the first UK Beatles 45 to feature a unique Beatles sleeve, one of only two to appear in that country. (The other is for "Let It Be".)
Paul McCartney – Bass guitar (1964 Rickenbacker 4001S), mellotron (1964 Mark II), timpani
George Harrison – Lead guitar (1961 Sonic Blue Fender Stratocaster), surmandal (swordmandela), maracas
Ringo Starr – Drums (Ludwig), timpani, percussionGeorge Martin – Producer, cello and trumpet arrangement
Geoff Emerick – Engineer
Mal Evans – Tambourine
Neil Aspinall – Guiro
Terry Doran – Maracas
Tony Fisher, Greg Bowen, Derek Watkins, Stanley Roderick – Trumpet
John Hall, Derek Simpson, Norman Jones – Cello
Release –
When manager Brian Epstein pressed Martin for a new Beatles' single, Martin told Epstein that the group had recorded "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Penny Lane", which in Martin's opinion were their two finest songs to date. Epstein said they would issue the songs as a double A-side single, as they had done with their previous single, "Yellow Submarine"/"Eleanor Rigby". The single was released in the US on 13 February 1967, and in the United Kingdom on 17 February 1967. Following the Beatles' philosophy that songs released on a single should not appear on new albums, both songs were ultimately left off Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, but Martin later admitted that this was a "dreadful mistake".
For the first time since "Love Me Do" in 1962, a single by the Beatles failed to reach number one in the UK charts. It was held at number two by Engelbert Humperdinck's "Release Me", because the BBC counted the two songs as two individual singles; discounting the fact that the Beatles’ single outsold Humperdinck's by almost two to one. In a radio interview at the time, McCartney said he was not upset because Humperdinck's song was a "completely different type of thing". Starr said later that it was "a relief" because "it took the pressure off". "Penny Lane" reached number one in the US, while "Strawberry Fields Forever" peaked at number eight. In the US, both songs were included on the Magical Mystery Tour LP, which was released as a six-track double-EP in the UK.
The song was the opening track of the compilation album 1967–1970, released in 1973, and also appears on the Imagine soundtrack issued in 1988. In 1996, three previously unreleased versions of the song were included on the Anthology 2 album: Lennon's original home demo, an altered version of the first studio take, and the complete take seven, of which only the first minute was heard in the master version. In 2006, a newly mixed version of the song was included on the album Love. This version builds from an acoustic demo (which was run at the actual recorded speed) and incorporates elements of "Hello, Goodbye", "Baby, You're a Rich Man", "In My Life", "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", "Penny Lane", and "Piggies".
For the first time since "Love Me Do" in 1962, a single by the Beatles failed to reach number one in the UK charts. It was held at number two by Engelbert Humperdinck's "Release Me", because the BBC counted the two songs as two individual singles; discounting the fact that the Beatles’ single outsold Humperdinck's by almost two to one. In a radio interview at the time, McCartney said he was not upset because Humperdinck's song was a "completely different type of thing". Starr said later that it was "a relief" because "it took the pressure off". "Penny Lane" reached number one in the US, while "Strawberry Fields Forever" peaked at number eight. In the US, both songs were included on the Magical Mystery Tour LP, which was released as a six-track double-EP in the UK.
The song was the opening track of the compilation album 1967–1970, released in 1973, and also appears on the Imagine soundtrack issued in 1988. In 1996, three previously unreleased versions of the song were included on the Anthology 2 album: Lennon's original home demo, an altered version of the first studio take, and the complete take seven, of which only the first minute was heard in the master version. In 2006, a newly mixed version of the song was included on the album Love. This version builds from an acoustic demo (which was run at the actual recorded speed) and incorporates elements of "Hello, Goodbye", "Baby, You're a Rich Man", "In My Life", "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", "Penny Lane", and "Piggies".
Promotional film –
The promotional film for "Strawberry Fields Forever" was an early example of what later became known as a music video. It was filmed on 30 and 31 January 1967, in Knole Park in Sevenoaks. It was directed by Swedish television director Peter Goldman. Goldman was a friend of Klaus Voormann, who had recommended Peter to the group. The film featured reverse film effects, stop motion animation, jump-cuts from daytime to night-time, and the Beatles playing and later pouring paint over an upright piano. During the same visit to Knole Park, Goldman produced the promotional film for "Penny Lane", the reverse side of the "Strawberry Fields Forever" single (during this same stay in Sevenoaks, John Lennon wandered into an antiques gallery and purchased the poster for Pablo Fanque's Circus Royal that would inspire the song "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!"). The promotional films for "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Penny Lane" were selected by New York'sMoMA as two of the most influential music videos of the late 1960s. Both were originally broadcast in the US on 25 February 1967, on the variety show The Hollywood Palace, with actor Van Johnson as host. A cartoon based on the song was the final episode produced for The Beatles animated television series.
Critical reception –
"Strawberry Fields Forever" was well received by critics, and is still considered a classic. Three weeks after its release, Time magazine hailed the song as "the latest sample of the Beatles' astonishing inventiveness". Richie Unterberger of Allmusichailed the song as "one of The Beatles' peak achievements and one of the finest Lennon-McCartney songs".[4] Ian MacDonald wrote in Revolution in the Head that it "shows expression of a high order... few if any [contemporary composers] are capable of displaying feeling and fantasy so direct, spontaneous, and original." In 2004, this song was ranked number 76 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". In 2010, Rolling Stone placed it at number three on the 100 Greatest Beatles Songs. The song was ranked as the second-best Beatles’ song by Mojo, after "A Day in the Life".
Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys said that "Strawberry Fields Forever" was partially responsible for the shelving of his group's legendary unfinished album, Smile. Wilson first heard the song on his car radio whilst driving, and was so affected that he had to stop and listen to it all the way through. He then remarked to his passenger that the Beatles had already reached the sound the Beach Boys had wanted to achieve. Paul Revere & the Raiders were among the most successful US groups during 1966 and 1967, having their own Dick Clark-produced television show, Where the Action Is. Mark Lindsay(singer/saxophonist) heard the song on the radio, bought it, and then listened to it at home with his producer at the time, Terry Melcher. When the song ended Lindsay said, "Now what the fuck are we gonna do?" later saying, "With that single, the Beatles raised the ante as to what a pop record should be".
Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys said that "Strawberry Fields Forever" was partially responsible for the shelving of his group's legendary unfinished album, Smile. Wilson first heard the song on his car radio whilst driving, and was so affected that he had to stop and listen to it all the way through. He then remarked to his passenger that the Beatles had already reached the sound the Beach Boys had wanted to achieve. Paul Revere & the Raiders were among the most successful US groups during 1966 and 1967, having their own Dick Clark-produced television show, Where the Action Is. Mark Lindsay(singer/saxophonist) heard the song on the radio, bought it, and then listened to it at home with his producer at the time, Terry Melcher. When the song ended Lindsay said, "Now what the fuck are we gonna do?" later saying, "With that single, the Beatles raised the ante as to what a pop record should be".
From Rolling Stone –
John Lennon wrote "Strawberry Fields Forever" in September 1966 in Spain, where he was making the film How I Won the War. Alone, with no Beatles business for the first time in years, he found himself free to reach deep for inspiration, going back to childhood memories. As Lennon told Rolling Stone in 1968, "We were trying to write about Liverpool, and I just listed all the nice-sounding names arbitrarily. But I have visions of Strawberry Fields. . . . Because Strawberry Fields is just anywhere you want to go." Strawberry Field (Lennon added the "s") was a Liverpool children's home near where Lennon grew up with his Aunt Mimi. When he was young, Lennon, who had been abandoned by both his parents, would climb over the wall of the orphanage and play in its wild gardens.
"I was hip in kindergarten," Lennon explained in 1980. "I was different all my life. The second verse goes, 'No one I think is in my tree.' Well, I was too shy and self-doubting. Nobody seems to be as hip as me is what I was saying. Therefore, I must be crazy or a genius — 'I mean it must be high or low,' the next line. There was something wrong with me, I thought, because I seemed to see things other people didn't see."
After finishing the song on a Spanish beach, Lennon returned to England and played it for the rest of the band. As engineer Geoff Emerick recalled, "There was a moment of stunned silence, broken by Paul, who in a quiet, respectful tone said simply, 'That is absolutely brilliant.'" At that point, it was an acoustic-guitar ballad, reminiscent of Bob Dylan's "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue." But in the studio, it became a whole new thing, as the Beatles experimented with it for days. Having retired from touring earlier that year, they were free to record at their leisure, cutting dozens of takes in the next two weeks. McCartney composed the intro on a Mellotron, a primitive synthesizer.
Lennon wanted to keep the first part from one take (Take 26) and the second part from another, recorded the previous week (Take 7) — despite the fact that they were in different keys and tempos. Producer George Martin accomplished this by slightly speeding up one take and slowing down the other. The manipulation of time and key only added to the brooding, ghostly feeling of Lennon's vocals, giving the entire song an aura of surreal timelessness. The finished take ends with a fragment of a long jam session, in which Lennon says "cranberry sauce": Paul Is Dead freaks believed he was saying, "I buried Paul."
"Strawberry Fields" was the first track cut during the Sgt. Pepper sessions. The innovative studio techniques the Beatles employed recording it and McCartney's "Penny Lane," another childhood memory of a Liverpool landmark, heralded the band's new direction — as did the acid-inspired reverie in the lyrics of both songs. The tracks were to be centerpieces of the Beatles' greatest album, but under pressure by EMI to produce a new single (it had been six months since their last 45), they released both songs in February 1967 as a double A side. Martin later regretted the decision to remove the tracks from Sgt. Pepper as "the biggest mistake of my career."
Growing up "was scary because there was nobody to relate to," Lennon once said. Strawberry Field the place (which closed in 2005) represented those haunting childhood visions. With "Strawberry Fields" the song, he conquered them forever.
"I was hip in kindergarten," Lennon explained in 1980. "I was different all my life. The second verse goes, 'No one I think is in my tree.' Well, I was too shy and self-doubting. Nobody seems to be as hip as me is what I was saying. Therefore, I must be crazy or a genius — 'I mean it must be high or low,' the next line. There was something wrong with me, I thought, because I seemed to see things other people didn't see."
After finishing the song on a Spanish beach, Lennon returned to England and played it for the rest of the band. As engineer Geoff Emerick recalled, "There was a moment of stunned silence, broken by Paul, who in a quiet, respectful tone said simply, 'That is absolutely brilliant.'" At that point, it was an acoustic-guitar ballad, reminiscent of Bob Dylan's "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue." But in the studio, it became a whole new thing, as the Beatles experimented with it for days. Having retired from touring earlier that year, they were free to record at their leisure, cutting dozens of takes in the next two weeks. McCartney composed the intro on a Mellotron, a primitive synthesizer.
Lennon wanted to keep the first part from one take (Take 26) and the second part from another, recorded the previous week (Take 7) — despite the fact that they were in different keys and tempos. Producer George Martin accomplished this by slightly speeding up one take and slowing down the other. The manipulation of time and key only added to the brooding, ghostly feeling of Lennon's vocals, giving the entire song an aura of surreal timelessness. The finished take ends with a fragment of a long jam session, in which Lennon says "cranberry sauce": Paul Is Dead freaks believed he was saying, "I buried Paul."
"Strawberry Fields" was the first track cut during the Sgt. Pepper sessions. The innovative studio techniques the Beatles employed recording it and McCartney's "Penny Lane," another childhood memory of a Liverpool landmark, heralded the band's new direction — as did the acid-inspired reverie in the lyrics of both songs. The tracks were to be centerpieces of the Beatles' greatest album, but under pressure by EMI to produce a new single (it had been six months since their last 45), they released both songs in February 1967 as a double A side. Martin later regretted the decision to remove the tracks from Sgt. Pepper as "the biggest mistake of my career."
Growing up "was scary because there was nobody to relate to," Lennon once said. Strawberry Field the place (which closed in 2005) represented those haunting childhood visions. With "Strawberry Fields" the song, he conquered them forever.
Trivia –
This was the first song recorded for the historic Sgt. Pepper's sessions, but was, along with "Penny Lane," left off the final album. This was standard Beatles practice at the time, done in order to give fans more to buy, but producer George Martin has always counted leaving these two songs off as his greatest regret from the Beatles days.
It was rumored for many years by "Paul Is Dead" fanatics that John says "I buried Paul" at the very end of SFF, just before the last fade-out (at 3:57 and again at 4:03). Unearthed copies of take 26 prove, however, that he actually says "cranberry sauce," as he had always claimed, followed by a direction to his drummer, who was flailing away like mad: "All right, calm down, Ringo, calm down."
There's also an odd arrhythmic buzzing sound in the beginning of the song (at about fifteen seconds in, after the first "Let me take you down") that was rumoured to be morse code spelling out the initials "J.L." (for John Lennon). The sound is actually an anomaly produced by holding down the mellotron keys. (If it were morse code, as experts have pointed out, it would spell "KAKTTEA.")
This double a-side was the first Beatles single not to go to Number One in the UK, stalling out behind Englebert Humperdinck's "Release Me." (It did, however, top Melody Maker's chart.)
This is the first UK Beatles 45 to feature a unique Beatles sleeve, one of only two to appear in that country. (The other is for "Let It Be".)
On January 31, 1967, the Beatles shot a promotional video for "Strawberry Fields Forever" in Knole Park, located near Sevenoaks in Kent. Featuring several clever visual gimmicks to match the audio experimentation in the song, it is often regarded as the first "conceptual" video.
This song ended the friendly creative rivalry existing for years between the group and the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson. The Rubber Soul album inspired the Boys' Pet Sounds, which in turn inspired the Beatles' follow-up, Revolver, but after hearing this single, Wilson shelved plans for his masterpiece, Smile, figuring that the Beatles had already bested him.
Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails is rumored to have purchased the Mellotron used on this recording.
During his life and in his will, Lennon donated money to the real Strawberry Field (no s) orphanage, a tradition carried on by his widow, Yoko Ono, after his death. However, foster homes and other programs have rendered orphanages largely obsolete, and John's beloved childhood retreat was closed for good in 2005.
After his shocking and violent death, John Lennon's widow Yoko Ono created Strawberry Fields, a section of New York City's Central Park, as a place for fans to gather, mourn, and celebrate Lennon and his ideals. It is a major mecca for Lennon fans, and is the site of official mourning every December 8 (the day of his murder).
Today in Beatles History (From The Beatles Internet Album) April 7 –
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