"She wakes up, she makes up, she takes her time, she doesn't feel she has to hurry, she no longer needs you." That's the whole picture painted with devastating economy.
I met Alan Civil back in the 70s and he told me about the recording. He was at home one evening when he got a call from his agent. "THEY want you," he said. Soon a limo drew up and took him to Abbey Road studios where he met Paul, who said, "It needs something classical sounding". So Alan Civil went into a sound booth, listened to the track and improvised something baroquish for about half an hour, and then Paul said, "That's great" and Alan went home. Soon afterwards he got "A very fat cheque", he said, although since the harpist on She's Leaving Home was paid only 9 pounds I find this hard to believe. But then Alan Civil was the leading horn player in Britain at the time, so could probably name his price.
There’s such resignation in his voice on the verses, a perfect match for the lyric delivered in a lower register, as if he's talking to a friend about the breakup.
Always preferred For No One to its ‘sister’ track, Here, There and Everywhere - in the same way I prefer Mother Nature’s Son to Blackbird. Your Beatles reactions are one of the highlights of my week. Simply brilliant.
Loved this one. You had such great observations throughout. I'm glad you have started to notice Paul more, along with the fingerprints found in his compositions. I hadn't consciously noticed these characteristics until you started pointing them out in his songs, particularly his short followed by long phrasing, and now I'm starting to notice them. He has had several really great and iconic songs on the last couple of albums, with more to come. Loved your commentary on the lyrics and the thematic ideas expressing this relationship scenario. Great reaction!
This spare, bleakly brilliant piece is Paul McCartney's best composition, and Elvis Costello backs me up in this. It's a very effective lyric as well - note that it's not the singer's head that aches; it's his *mind* that aches. Such a clever touch.
Here's a bit for you ...."Alan Civil, the British horn player who played on the Beatles' song "For No One", was paid a session fee of 50 guineas (£52.50) for his work on the song. He was also credited on the sleeve of Revolver, which led to more work and recognition for his playing. Civil was the principal horn player in the Philharmonia Orchestra. During the session, Paul McCartney pushed Civil to play a note that was beyond the instrument's usual range
The McCartney compositional technique you mentioned in the middle of the video could also apply to "Yesterday", with the pause in between "Yesterday" and "all my troubles..." Clever to leave the harmony unresolved at the end, with the cadence cut short like the relationship.
26:02 "He manged to write it in a way that hits us in our core, without being too tragic about it. It's very matter of fact." Yes, the Beatles don't "milk" their notes, which is one aspect of them that makes them so relatable. Never a false sentiment. You've come a long way since listening to She's Leaving Home, Amy. You didn't seem to be able to feel the emotional impact then. I think you've learned to hear more in Paul McCartney's voice by now.
She Said, She Said is a beautiful song of Revolver, also Rain and Paperback Writer, a double sided single recorded early during the Revolver sessions. Paul continues to pursue his music as a personal solo work. Thank you Amy. P.S. Paul did write in 1967 a soundtrack for a film titled The Family Way.
Totally agree. And i think Dr Robert is a good song by John. They favored Good Day Sushine, the worst song on the LP imo, and almost out of place on a psychedelic album, being still a good song. I'm dissapointed. I love She Said..., Dr Robert, Rain, Paperback Writer... Remember they reviewed songs like Tell Me what You See.
It's my favorite tune of Paul's of all time, a bit of a deep cut so I'm glad I found your channel just before you got to it :) can't wait to hear your reaction
There is a lovely UA-cam video of Paul picking up a guitar and singing this to Sir George Martin for the first time, complete with mouth simulated french horn. The quantity of his top rate songs in such a short time period still baffles me.
@@Uetti We must be thinking of different clips. The one I saw was shot with an in-studio camera (Super-8?). Paul had just written For No One, and played it for George Martin.
Imo Paul's most underrated song. It has a similar chord progression to "Air on a G String", although the line finishes differently. Love the French horn addition, and the layering in the last verse. The only complaint I have is one I have with a lot of Beatle songs, is that I wish they were longer! Gorgeous lyrics by Paul. Just his songs by themselves on Revolver would work great for a musical. So, I was thinking about it at work today, extending this song, that it would be cool after the initial French horn solo, to introduce either a trumpet or a second French horn playing a countermelody for an additional length of time that kind of harmonizes the first melody in spots and diverges in other spots. I think this would be fun for a horn ensemble to take this song and go a bunch of places with it. Edit: A few minutes after writing this, I thought of a song by Foreigner, "You're All I Am", that has a lovely guitar solo that would work nicely as a second melody to try and overlay with the French horn.
20:36 Civil was complete reluctant to play so high, he said many times it was impossible. The insisted, and insisted. He played it. He nailed it. He smiled. Everybody was happy.
This song has always struck me as a devastatingly emotional experiences not only the author but for myself just listening to it. A study of beauty under the unfortunate crucible of heartbreak.
French Horn: I too always thought it must be a trumpet but a horn is more melancholic and I must rely on Ian Macdonald, who wrote: "The classicism of For No One suggested a French Horn to George Martin, who hired...Alan Civil. The track having been varispeeded for McCartney's vocal, Civil was disconcerted to find it presented to him in the quarter-tone gap between B and B flat. Once the capstan speed had been lowered, probably by several keys, he recorded his self-composed solo, took the standard session fee, and left. NOTE: McCartney recalls that the arrangement involved a high D normally considered above the range of Civil's instrument, but which he nevertheless managed (Miles, op cit., p. 289). However, since the track was varispeeded, it may be that the solos was recorded in a lower key at a slower speed."
Still following the album track listing although She Said, She Said was skipped. I don't know if that's Amy's decision or Vlad's but I sincerely hope they don't overlook Tomorrow Never Knows (one of John's best and one of the most adventurous and significant songs ever written).
Re the French horn, Alan Civil did say that he "made something up" himself because there was no score provided and neither Paul nor George martin knew what they wanted. But this conflicts with other accounts, and it also has to be said that this doesn't ring true. It would be out of character for Paul to have had nothing in mind for this solo, which he had planned and specified the instrument for. And it would be very out of character for GM to do nothing about preparing a score for a musician being hired in by the hour. In fact, according to Paul McCartney, and George Martin, and engineer Geoff Emerick, there *was* a score. Walter Everett's thorough "The Beatles As Musicians" quotes Civil as claiming to have "busked" it completely on his own, but Everett notes that according to George Martin "the composer [McCartney] suggested the melody." This fits George Martin's own account that Paul hummed him the tune he wanted Civil to play, and that he wrote it down. In fact GM remembers that he was still actually in the process of writing it down when Civil came in [JR: Did Paul play a tune that he wanted? GM: Paul didn’t play it on an instrument. He hummed it, and I think I was still writing it when Alan was coming in - interview with GM by Jasper Rees 2006] Paul's account is consistent with this: "George asked me, ‘Now, what do you want him to play?’ I said, ‘Something like this,’ and sang the solo to him, and he wrote it down. Towards the end of the session, when we were getting the piece down for Alan to play, George explained to me the range of the instrument: ‘Well, it goes from here to this top E,’ and I said, ‘What if we ask him to play an F?’" That detail is also remembered by engineer Geoff Emerick: "“Alan was under a lot of pressure doing that overdub, because it was so hard to hit the high note in the solo. In fact, most people would have never written that part for a French horn player because it was too high to play, but that was the note Paul wanted to hear, and so that was the note he was going to get." This all indicates it was made up on the hoof, at the session, following Paul's 'something like this' suggestion but probably with some tidying done by he and George in the process of notating it. This scenario would fit Alan Civil's recollection that it was a difficult session because "they were not sure what they wanted." So the scenario we get is that Civil came in to find Paul humming a tune, GM still with pencil in hand, picking it out on the piano. This could fit AC's impression that "they were not sure what they wanted" because Paul was no doubt evolving it as he went along, and likely changing his mind when hearing it played. Note also that Civil would first have heard the sketch being notated by GM on a properly-tuned piano, but the master tape he then had to play with was recorded "between the cracks" of B and Bb, which Civil admitted made for "a certain difficulty tuning my instrument" and this could have added to the sense of confusion.
While I agree it seems uncharacteristic of Martin not to have a score prepared and to expect a guest musician to just wing it - especially given how unaccustomed most orchestral musicians are to improvisation - one thing that, for me, gives weight to Civil’s version of events is how improvised the horn line SOUNDS. I always thought it a little aimless, as if somebody who doesn’t know the underlying chord sequence terribly well is making it up as he goes along. There are just a few too many non-chord tones in it, and a generally meandering quality. Frankly, it’s not up to the exacting compositional standards I expect of either McCartney or Martin. Of course, this could also be explained by them throwing it together at the last minute as Civil was walking through the door. I suspect the truth is that the three of them muddled though it together, McCartney learning what was and wasn’t possible on the instrument as they went, and each throwing in suggestions.
@@fromchomleystreet If it sounds improvised that's perhaps because according to Martin and McCartney it *was* improvised - by Paul. Personally I don't find it substandard. I seems inventive and perfectly apt to me. But anyway, it's hard to get past the fact that, according to Martin himself, he was "still writing it down" when Civil arrived.
Totally agree that Paul rarely didn’t know what he wanted something to sound like And here I strongly believe he knew what he wanted. In contrast, apparently, he drove the musicians in a day in the life crazy when he was helping to create the orchestral swell at the end of that song .
❤🎼🎵🎶🎵 One of my 3 favourite pieces from Revolver 👌😃 Wonderful reaction 👌😊 BTW, I also loved the sound of a French horn since I was a kid 😂 ... and when this song came out in 1966 I was enthralled to hear this sound 👍😍 I love how you explained the role of the flat 7 instead of the 5. A suitable thing like that helps a lot together with the sparse intrumentation for expressing these emotions. And I love the comparison with Schubert 👌😃
In Iain McDonald’s book Revolution in the Head he describes Lennon’s musical style as being sideways, and McCartney’s as up and down. The book has an in-depth breakdown of every Beatles song, with details of the instrumentation, recording techniques, technical information and background to the songs.
There's some confusion over how improvised the horn solo was, in that there's an account where George Martin knowingly gave Alan Civil music containing a note beyond the official range of the French horn, but he did hit it. That suggests it either wasn't improvised or that there was at least some direction given. Regardless, it does indicate that he was playing at the top end of the instrument's range. Some people have said it was recorded at half-speed, but for what it's worth, the instrument sounds absolutely natural to me playing the lower notes. I'm sure it was composed on the piano, so Paul probably never played it on the guitar. This track has Paul playing piano, clavichord, and bass, Ringo playing drums and other percussion, and a guest session musician. So it's clearly the sister song of Don't Pass Me By.
I think I read or heard George saying Paul sang the solo to him and George wrote it down with Alan later pointing out the out-of-range note and George encouraging Alan to try.
There are two stories here that get cross contaminated. The story about the high note comes from when they were recording the piccolo horn solo for Penny Lane.
@@loosilu If it helps, quoting from the book that accompanies the deluxe edition of "Revolver", Paul remembered "George asked me 'Now, what do you want him to play?' I said 'Something like this,' and sang the solo to him, and he wrote it down." George was aware that the obligato included a note that was officially a tone and a half outside the range of the french horn but decided to keep it in anyway. But memories are often fallible.
I love all the Beatles (always have to say that..) but this song reminds me why bob Dylan said Paul McCartney is the only songwriter who he was ever in awe of. Elvis Costello’’s favoritte song ( a great songwriter from a later time - try beyond belief from him some time).
To my ears as a “fan” who literally grew up listening to Beatles music more than anything else, I related to this song at 8 years old just as you said…the lingering sadness, lack of lustre of life following a time of happiness when the fact that you’re all alone again hits you and you realize that it was dumb to break up. Musically, your review hits exactly at my interest in the song. As a kid learning piano then, not yet playing guitar, I always wondered whether Paul wrote the Bass Line first, or the melody first…Then without Lennon’s contribution, did the melody of his singing come 2nd or did the fill chords? It was so so much fun listening to you puzzling this same stuff from your expertise and experience! BTW in my head, I heard the story about the French Horn guy coming in and playing around awhile and then just taking off. That was of course years later, and gave me more to puzzle thru, and so I thought it was a story more about how George Martin was the “real” 5th Beatle, thinking that he “must have” come up with the finished bit to add to what I still consider a masterpiece of pop…and another BTW, those labels like “Baroque Pop” are still categories of music I never knew existed at the time, and never learned….it fits perfectly, tho! Thanks for the joy this morning on the West Coast of the USA!! ❤
The horn player made up his part on the spot. "George Martin rang me up and said ‘We want a French horn on a Beatles song, can you do it?’ I knew George from his very early days at EMI because I’d been doing a lot of freelance work then. So I turned up at Abbey Road and all the bobbysoxers were hanging around outside and trying to look through the windows. I thought the song was called ‘For Number One’ because I saw ‘For No One’ written down somewhere. Anyway, they played the existing tape to me, which was complete, and I thought it had been recorded in rather bad musical style, in that it was ‘in the cracks’, neither B-flat nor B-major. This posed a certain difficulty in tuning my instrument. Paul said, ‘We want something there. Can you play something that fits in?’ It was rather difficult to actually understand exactly what they wanted so I made something up which was middle register, a baroque style solo. I played it several times, each take wiping out the previous attempt." Alan Civil
When the French horn returns as counterpoint over the last verse, is actually the same track as the solo, they edited it in. There was no way that they were going to ask Mr Civil to attempt that gymnastic feat a second time!
Yes, very clearly both Paul and John are distinctive in their styles. This is why it is possible to have a clear preference. Mine is John as an adult, but Paul was more accessible when much younger, before adolescence.
The tension is now insufferable: Will Vlad ignore Lennons best song on Revolver, Doctor Robert, as he did with Lennons second best song on Revolver, She said she said?
In the later years the John and Paul styles diverged even more strongly. Paul took over as the musical director, but my preferred songs were still written by John, with a few exceptions.
From this point onward the Beatles experimented more and more with instruments, incorporating them in innovative (and sometimes unorthodox) ways, which explains the high register of the French horn. Just six months after Revolver the Beatles released a single in which McCartney would include a piccolo trumpet in a very similar way...
This is the most lyrically devastating, beautiful song ever written. I discovered it from Paul's later solo "Give My Regards to Broad Street" album - segued with "Here, There and Everywhere" - and I much prefer that version (it's on UA-cam so look it up) after the breakup of a very deep relationship. To be honest it nearly pushed me right over the edge, so can't always handle listening to it still.
Its funny how this song is interpreted as a lost love song, and it is. I always thought as a 13 year old boy listening to this in 1979 that this was a sad song about lost love from the perspective of an old couple who's love love from one partner died. The reason for this was the line, "She says that long ago she knew someone, but now he's gone, she doesn't need him" and nothing can be done anymore. Eventhough they are still together after all these years, its to late to save the love that has faded away in her eyes. The instruments as well made me think, what would a guy be listening to but maybe this baroque classical type tune in his head, possibly becuase he was an older person recanting the love that was lost forever.
i agree with @strathman7501. Paul would typically work with George Martin on solo's by humming with George Martin transcribing to manuscript paper. I've read the various versions of Paul's humming, the instrument range reference and Alan Civil making something up on the spot. Classical players though, usually like things written down.
Although I don't know for sure, with The Beatles that's a logical guess that the French Horn was recorded an octave lower and sped up in the mixing. They were beginning to do a lot of different things in the studio since they had stopped touring.
I saw an interview with George Martin once, he said that he wrote the solo out of the typical range of a french horn but he knew that Alan Civil could play it. There are few who could.
I heard the horn player did a couple of takes and Paul wanted more takes. Then George Martin had to restrain Paul and let him know the horn part was out of this world.
I've read the same story by George Martin. In the documentary McCartney 3, 2, 1, I think Paul mixed up his recollections and tells the same story regarding the trumpet in "Penny Lane", but I'm almost sure the awkward situation was with "For No One".
@@julessabio yes, I remember the story related to Penny Lane... Paul wanted another take but George M. knew Mr. Civil couldn't play better than what he had just played so Paul reluctantly gave up...
Great use of lyrics to capture a moment we all understand - 'Eventually' realising you are no longer on the radar of your previous love and that 'the arse' has subsequently dropped out of your romantic world! Ps: Nice introduction to Fred (the fruit fly?)
One of the Paul signatures is not doing a verse and chorus structure. He did a lot of 32 bar form songs (like a lot of old show tunes) although this one doesn't quite fit into that form.
Whole the horn in this piece is playing in the upper register, it should be kept in mind that the timbre of the instrument is different depending on the country. Historically, English players play with a lighter timbre (Dennis Brain for example) German horns are deeper, Americans are generally in between these two.
If it aint baroque, don't fix it... Joke from the time that may not have passed the test of time! But, I am pretty sure Mr Martin was, almost entirely, responsible for the musical arrangement of this. Sure; Paul chipped in with some top level requests, but George Martin was the man with the classical background and the stature, to score, assemble and record a piece such as this, at this time, in the Beatles' progression...
Please keep playing your harp and I'm in heaven. I've seen Hendrix, Frank Zappa and I think you need to listen to Chick Corea and Return to Forever. You are so beautiful. Please put out an album if you haven't already. Maybe I don't know? ❤
Interestingly I just listened to the backing track included on the super deluxe version of revolver - presented in its original key of C. Slowed down for the vocal and bass, maybe even more so for the French horn and then sped up again?
Some context for the horn solo - "During the session, McCartney pushed Civil to play a note that was beyond the usual range of the instrument. According to Emerick, the result was the "performance of his life". Civil said that the song was "recorded in rather bad musical style, in that it was 'in the cracks' [not in concert pitch], neither B-flat nor B-major. This posed a certain difficulty in tuning my instrument."
This one is a natural for you, Amy. Not my fave off the album (IMO Paul is getting a bit pretentious, but that was the spirit of the entire album), but it has its charms. That flat 7th twist is a classic Beatles-style hook. When people call a piece of music "Beatles-y", that's what they're talking about. Re: the French Horn solo, it's very similar to what Paul got on "Penny Lane", which WAS Bach-style piccolo trumpet.
I feel like a lot of "Baroque" pop has more characteristics of the early-mid Classical period, but saying "Classical Pop" is a rather ambiguous term, at least "Baroque" points use to a ballpark of century.
The English pronunciation of Baroque is closer to the original French, the American version is weird! Bah-Rock vs Bu-Roke. Broke Pop is what I hear. I would be very interested to hear your reaction to albums as a whole piece sometime. But I suppose your review process would make for a very long video. "For No One" is the track after "And Your Bird Can Sing" in my memory, and was the only way we would listen to it on vinyl, until the CD version came along 21 years later, and the tracks could be shuffled. The explosion of creativity in terms of their songwriting and recording ambitions in 1966, can only be fully appreciated if listened to as a whole. Anyway these deep dives and first reactions are always fascinating, thank you.
Is it a French horn? The LP credit reads ‘Horn - Alan Civil’. It might’ve been a cornet or, indeed, a trumpet! Compare the tone of the French horns used on the title track on Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band..
@@MyNameIsNeutronHello 👋😊 It's not my favourite song on Revolver, but I think if one or two songs from this phenomenal album are left out, there are other candidates (e g. Dr Robert). It's of course a matter of taste but I'm one of those persons who like this song without being able to say why.
Hello. Would be great you react tô Elis Regina singing "Como Nossos Pais". She was a great brazilian singer who died in 1982. This song is about resist to militar ditactorship that there was in Brazil (1964-1985) and to the reactionism the society that gave support to that bloody oppression.
One of Paul's best lyrics, to me, is "And in her eyes you see nothing, no sign of love behind the tears cried for no one."
no sign of love behind the tears great phrase
"She wakes up, she makes up, she takes her time, she doesn't feel she has to hurry, she no longer needs you." That's the whole picture painted with devastating economy.
If you've ever lived it you know just how heartbreaking this is!
And the response
“You want her, you need her, and yet you don’t believe her, when she says her love is dead, you think she needs you”
@@audiotomb mMan have I lived through that!
Impactful, devastatingly descriptive line, it says it all.
The fact these guys were soooo young when they wrote these songs is crazy.
A masterpiece in two minutes! I sure remember having those feelings of utter loss and emotional agony more than once or twice when I was younger.
I met Alan Civil back in the 70s and he told me about the recording. He was at home one evening when he got a call from his agent. "THEY want you," he said. Soon a limo drew up and took him to Abbey Road studios where he met Paul, who said, "It needs something classical sounding". So Alan Civil went into a sound booth, listened to the track and improvised something baroquish for about half an hour, and then Paul said, "That's great" and Alan went home. Soon afterwards he got "A very fat cheque", he said, although since the harpist on She's Leaving Home was paid only 9 pounds I find this hard to believe. But then Alan Civil was the leading horn player in Britain at the time, so could probably name his price.
Great bit! Your comment adds something of value to the Beatles’ legacy. Thanks for adding to the background of this great “little” song!! 😉
Sir George Martin's list of friends was long and spectacular; he knew exactly who to reach out to.
For No One is McCartney at his absolute peak. Incredible to think it only lasts 2 minutes. It crams so much in, in a completely understated way.
Pretty sure I agree. McCartney at his peak. So good.
There’s such resignation in his voice on the verses, a perfect match for the lyric delivered in a lower register, as if he's talking to a friend about the breakup.
He actually played a note above the range. He is playing it straight, no tricks.
The most devastating, tear-jerking line sung with deadpan distance and resignation:
"A love that should have lasted years"
this song is so powerful and emotional.... the voice of Sir Paul just perfect and at the top of expressiveness
Always preferred For No One to its ‘sister’ track, Here, There and Everywhere - in the same way I prefer Mother Nature’s Son to Blackbird.
Your Beatles reactions are one of the highlights of my week. Simply brilliant.
@albert Me too.
You two are weird. Sadly I agree, specially with this one.
Make that three -
Same!
Loved this one. You had such great observations throughout. I'm glad you have started to notice Paul more, along with the fingerprints found in his compositions. I hadn't consciously noticed these characteristics until you started pointing them out in his songs, particularly his short followed by long phrasing, and now I'm starting to notice them. He has had several really great and iconic songs on the last couple of albums, with more to come. Loved your commentary on the lyrics and the thematic ideas expressing this relationship scenario. Great reaction!
This spare, bleakly brilliant piece is Paul McCartney's best composition, and Elvis Costello backs me up in this. It's a very effective lyric as well - note that it's not the singer's head that aches; it's his *mind* that aches. Such a clever touch.
Here's a bit for you ...."Alan Civil, the British horn player who played on the Beatles' song "For No One", was paid a session fee of 50 guineas (£52.50) for his work on the song. He was also credited on the sleeve of Revolver, which led to more work and recognition for his playing.
Civil was the principal horn player in the Philharmonia Orchestra. During the session, Paul McCartney pushed Civil to play a note that was beyond the instrument's usual range
The McCartney compositional technique you mentioned in the middle of the video could also apply to "Yesterday", with the pause in between "Yesterday" and "all my troubles..."
Clever to leave the harmony unresolved at the end, with the cadence cut short like the relationship.
26:02 "He manged to write it in a way that hits us in our core, without being too tragic about it. It's very matter of fact."
Yes, the Beatles don't "milk" their notes, which is one aspect of them that makes them so relatable. Never a false sentiment.
You've come a long way since listening to She's Leaving Home, Amy. You didn't seem to be able to feel the emotional impact then. I think you've learned to hear more in Paul McCartney's voice by now.
And this on an album considered "pop". This album changed all expectations of the breadth, depth and possibilities of popular music.
She Said, She Said is a beautiful song of Revolver, also Rain and Paperback Writer, a double sided single recorded early during the Revolver sessions. Paul continues to pursue his music as a personal solo work. Thank you Amy.
P.S. Paul did write in 1967 a soundtrack for a film titled The Family Way.
Yes that double sided single is a must
Totally agree. And i think Dr Robert is a good song by John. They favored Good Day Sushine, the worst song on the LP imo, and almost out of place on a psychedelic album, being still a good song. I'm dissapointed.
I love She Said..., Dr Robert, Rain, Paperback Writer... Remember they reviewed songs like Tell Me what You See.
@@lejoe48 I think Good day sunshine fits well and is a form of psychedelia, it’s a great song imho.
The Family Way soundtrack was written and recorded in 1966, though
@@Uetti You are probably very correct. The Beatles were on the road to India in 67.
Emmylou Harris does wonderful covers of For No One and Here, There, and Everywhere. Alison Krauss does a really fine cover of I Will.
Yes, the music composed for "The Family Way" is really lovely, and the movie is charming as well.
It's my favorite tune of Paul's of all time, a bit of a deep cut so I'm glad I found your channel just before you got to it :) can't wait to hear your reaction
There is a lovely UA-cam video of Paul picking up a guitar and singing this to Sir George Martin for the first time, complete with mouth simulated french horn. The quantity of his top rate songs in such a short time period still baffles me.
It wasn't for the first time, that video was made in the 80s
@@Uetti Yes, I suspect the video is from 1966, when Paul played it for George Martin for the first time.
@@danmayberry1185 Then again, you are wrong, it was made in the 80s. I don't remember the exact year, I think it was 1984
@@Uetti We must be thinking of different clips. The one I saw was shot with an in-studio camera (Super-8?). Paul had just written For No One, and played it for George Martin.
ua-cam.com/video/cbJrXqrLtMw/v-deo.html
Imo Paul's most underrated song. It has a similar chord progression to "Air on a G String", although the line finishes differently. Love the French horn addition, and the layering in the last verse. The only complaint I have is one I have with a lot of Beatle songs, is that I wish they were longer! Gorgeous lyrics by Paul. Just his songs by themselves on Revolver would work great for a musical.
So, I was thinking about it at work today, extending this song, that it would be cool after the initial French horn solo, to introduce either a trumpet or a second French horn playing a countermelody for an additional length of time that kind of harmonizes the first melody in spots and diverges in other spots. I think this would be fun for a horn ensemble to take this song and go a bunch of places with it.
Edit: A few minutes after writing this, I thought of a song by Foreigner, "You're All I Am", that has a lovely guitar solo that would work nicely as a second melody to try and overlay with the French horn.
20:36 Civil was complete reluctant to play so high, he said many times it was impossible. The insisted, and insisted. He played it. He nailed it. He smiled. Everybody was happy.
I think you are refering to the horn solo on Penny Lane.
"A lovely song", indeed. A steady companion through separation and pain.
This song seems so rife with melancholy...such mature guys
I've always thought of this song as the sequel to "She's Leaving Home" 10-20 years later.
This song has always struck me as a devastatingly emotional experiences not only the author but for myself just listening to it. A study of beauty under the unfortunate crucible of heartbreak.
French Horn: I too always thought it must be a trumpet but a horn is more melancholic and I must rely on Ian Macdonald, who wrote:
"The classicism of For No One suggested a French Horn to George Martin, who hired...Alan Civil. The track having been varispeeded for McCartney's vocal, Civil was disconcerted to find it presented to him in the quarter-tone gap between B and B flat. Once the capstan speed had been lowered, probably by several keys, he recorded his self-composed solo, took the standard session fee, and left. NOTE: McCartney recalls that the arrangement involved a high D normally considered above the range of Civil's instrument, but which he nevertheless managed (Miles, op cit., p. 289). However, since the track was varispeeded, it may be that the solos was recorded in a lower key at a slower speed."
Amy, if you want to hear a great example of "baroque pop", listen to "Walk Away Renee" by The Left Banke, also recorded in 1966.
Great song. Thanks for reminding me of it. Haven't listened to it in years.
Hi Amy!. Masterpiece by the Beatles with a classical taste: piano, harpsichord and French Horn!.
Regards from Argentina.
Still following the album track listing although She Said, She Said was skipped. I don't know if that's Amy's decision or Vlad's but I sincerely hope they don't overlook Tomorrow Never Knows (one of John's best and one of the most adventurous and significant songs ever written).
Re the French horn, Alan Civil did say that he "made something up" himself because there was no score provided and neither Paul nor George martin knew what they wanted. But this conflicts with other accounts, and it also has to be said that this doesn't ring true. It would be out of character for Paul to have had nothing in mind for this solo, which he had planned and specified the instrument for. And it would be very out of character for GM to do nothing about preparing a score for a musician being hired in by the hour. In fact, according to Paul McCartney, and George Martin, and engineer Geoff Emerick, there *was* a score.
Walter Everett's thorough "The Beatles As Musicians" quotes Civil as claiming to have "busked" it completely on his own, but Everett notes that according to George Martin "the composer [McCartney] suggested the melody."
This fits George Martin's own account that Paul hummed him the tune he wanted Civil to play, and that he wrote it down. In fact GM remembers that he was still actually in the process of writing it down when Civil came in [JR: Did Paul play a tune that he wanted? GM: Paul didn’t play it on an instrument. He hummed it, and I think I was still writing it when Alan was coming in - interview with GM by Jasper Rees 2006]
Paul's account is consistent with this:
"George asked me, ‘Now, what do you want him to play?’ I said, ‘Something like this,’ and sang the solo to him, and he wrote it down. Towards the end of the session, when we were getting the piece down for Alan to play, George explained to me the range of the instrument: ‘Well, it goes from here to this top E,’ and I said, ‘What if we ask him to play an F?’"
That detail is also remembered by engineer Geoff Emerick:
"“Alan was under a lot of pressure doing that overdub, because it was so hard to hit the high note in the solo. In fact, most people would have never written that part for a French horn player because it was too high to play, but that was the note Paul wanted to hear, and so that was the note he was going to get."
This all indicates it was made up on the hoof, at the session, following Paul's 'something like this' suggestion but probably with some tidying done by he and George in the process of notating it. This scenario would fit Alan Civil's recollection that it was a difficult session because "they were not sure what they wanted."
So the scenario we get is that Civil came in to find Paul humming a tune, GM still with pencil in hand, picking it out on the piano. This could fit AC's impression that "they were not sure what they wanted" because Paul was no doubt evolving it as he went along, and likely changing his mind when hearing it played. Note also that Civil would first have heard the sketch being notated by GM on a properly-tuned piano, but the master tape he then had to play with was recorded "between the cracks" of B and Bb, which Civil admitted made for "a certain difficulty tuning my instrument" and this could have added to the sense of confusion.
Very rich and detailed comment 👌😊 Thank you very much 👍😃
While I agree it seems uncharacteristic of Martin not to have a score prepared and to expect a guest musician to just wing it - especially given how unaccustomed most orchestral musicians are to improvisation - one thing that, for me, gives weight to Civil’s version of events is how improvised the horn line SOUNDS. I always thought it a little aimless, as if somebody who doesn’t know the underlying chord sequence terribly well is making it up as he goes along. There are just a few too many non-chord tones in it, and a generally meandering quality. Frankly, it’s not up to the exacting compositional standards I expect of either McCartney or Martin. Of course, this could also be explained by them throwing it together at the last minute as Civil was walking through the door. I suspect the truth is that the three of them muddled though it together, McCartney learning what was and wasn’t possible on the instrument as they went, and each throwing in suggestions.
@@fromchomleystreet If it sounds improvised that's perhaps because according to Martin and McCartney it *was* improvised - by Paul. Personally I don't find it substandard. I seems inventive and perfectly apt to me. But anyway, it's hard to get past the fact that, according to Martin himself, he was "still writing it down" when Civil arrived.
Totally agree that Paul rarely didn’t know what he wanted something to sound like And here I strongly believe he knew what he wanted. In contrast, apparently, he drove the musicians in a day in the life crazy when he was helping to create the orchestral swell at the end of that song .
❤🎼🎵🎶🎵
One of my 3 favourite pieces from Revolver 👌😃
Wonderful reaction 👌😊 BTW, I also loved the sound of a French horn since I was a kid 😂 ... and when this song came out in 1966 I was enthralled to hear this sound 👍😍
I love how you explained the role of the flat 7 instead of the 5. A suitable thing like that helps a lot together with the sparse intrumentation for expressing these emotions. And I love the comparison with Schubert 👌😃
The New Zealand UA-camr Fathom made an excellent video on this song where she talked about the instruments, including the clavichord and French Horn.
Yes! She is fantastic, and her Revolver series is incredibly good.
A wonderful discussion about a beautiful song. Ready steady Go. Yes !
In Iain McDonald’s book Revolution in the Head he describes Lennon’s musical style as being sideways, and McCartney’s as up and down. The book has an in-depth breakdown of every Beatles song, with details of the instrumentation, recording techniques, technical information and background to the songs.
There's some confusion over how improvised the horn solo was, in that there's an account where George Martin knowingly gave Alan Civil music containing a note beyond the official range of the French horn, but he did hit it. That suggests it either wasn't improvised or that there was at least some direction given. Regardless, it does indicate that he was playing at the top end of the instrument's range. Some people have said it was recorded at half-speed, but for what it's worth, the instrument sounds absolutely natural to me playing the lower notes. I'm sure it was composed on the piano, so Paul probably never played it on the guitar.
This track has Paul playing piano, clavichord, and bass, Ringo playing drums and other percussion, and a guest session musician. So it's clearly the sister song of Don't Pass Me By.
I think I read or heard George saying Paul sang the solo to him and George wrote it down with Alan later pointing out the out-of-range note and George encouraging Alan to try.
There are two stories here that get cross contaminated. The story about the high note comes from when they were recording the piccolo horn solo for Penny Lane.
@@loosilu If it helps, quoting from the book that accompanies the deluxe edition of "Revolver", Paul remembered
"George asked me 'Now, what do you want him to play?' I said 'Something like this,' and sang the solo to him, and he wrote it down." George was aware that the obligato included a note that was officially a tone and a half outside the range of the french horn but decided to keep it in anyway.
But memories are often fallible.
I love all the Beatles (always have to say that..) but this song reminds me why bob Dylan said Paul McCartney is the only songwriter who he was ever in awe of. Elvis Costello’’s favoritte song ( a great songwriter from a later time - try beyond belief from him some time).
To my ears as a “fan” who literally grew up listening to Beatles music more than anything else, I related to this song at 8 years old just as you said…the lingering sadness, lack of lustre of life following a time of happiness when the fact that you’re all alone again hits you and you realize that it was dumb to break up. Musically, your review hits exactly at my interest in the song. As a kid learning piano then, not yet playing guitar, I always wondered whether Paul wrote the Bass Line first, or the melody first…Then without Lennon’s contribution, did the melody of his singing come 2nd or did the fill chords? It was so so much fun listening to you puzzling this same stuff from your expertise and experience! BTW in my head, I heard the story about the French Horn guy coming in and playing around awhile and then just taking off. That was of course years later, and gave me more to puzzle thru, and so I thought it was a story more about how George Martin was the “real” 5th Beatle, thinking that he “must have” come up with the finished bit to add to what I still consider a masterpiece of pop…and another BTW, those labels like “Baroque Pop” are still categories of music I never knew existed at the time, and never learned….it fits perfectly, tho! Thanks for the joy this morning on the West Coast of the USA!! ❤
The horn player made up his part on the spot. "George Martin rang me up and said ‘We want a French horn on a Beatles song, can you do it?’ I knew George from his very early days at EMI because I’d been doing a lot of freelance work then. So I turned up at Abbey Road and all the bobbysoxers were hanging around outside and trying to look through the windows.
I thought the song was called ‘For Number One’ because I saw ‘For No One’ written down somewhere. Anyway, they played the existing tape to me, which was complete, and I thought it had been recorded in rather bad musical style, in that it was ‘in the cracks’, neither B-flat nor B-major. This posed a certain difficulty in tuning my instrument. Paul said, ‘We want something there. Can you play something that fits in?’ It was rather difficult to actually understand exactly what they wanted so I made something up which was middle register, a baroque style solo. I played it several times, each take wiping out the previous attempt." Alan Civil
A lovely song. One of Paul's best.
First british recordings revealed an error in this song:
Horn was recorded in Bb and sped up in later versions of Revolver.
Alan Civil visited the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra 45 years ago and played two Mozart Horn Concerti. Great success!
This is my number one favourite!
When the French horn returns as counterpoint over the last verse, is actually the same track as the solo, they edited it in. There was no way that they were going to ask Mr Civil to attempt that gymnastic feat a second time!
Great review. Wish you had played it through once for anyone not familiar with it.
Easy to hear that Paul had Brian Wilson in mind when creating this one.
Lovely song from Paul revolver had some of his best songs
You're so cute and expressive and your husband is a lucky man!
Yes, very clearly both Paul and John are distinctive in their styles. This is why it is possible to have a clear preference. Mine is John as an adult, but Paul was more accessible when much younger, before adolescence.
The tension is now insufferable: Will Vlad ignore Lennons best song on Revolver, Doctor Robert, as he did with Lennons second best song on Revolver, She said she said?
In the later years the John and Paul styles diverged even more strongly. Paul took over as the musical director, but my preferred songs were still written by John, with a few exceptions.
Thanks for breaking down the notes - that flat 7 provides the meloncholy.
The Beatles were self trained musicians. Paul McCartney can not read music
My favorite Beatles song
Halleluyah !!
Oh please! Let it start... ;-)
I would love to hear what a classical musician thinks about "Cheval" by Igorrr.
From this point onward the Beatles experimented more and more with instruments, incorporating them in innovative (and sometimes unorthodox) ways, which explains the high register of the French horn. Just six months after Revolver the Beatles released a single in which McCartney would include a piccolo trumpet in a very similar way...
This is the most lyrically devastating, beautiful song ever written. I discovered it from Paul's later solo "Give My Regards to Broad Street" album - segued with "Here, There and Everywhere" - and I much prefer that version (it's on UA-cam so look it up) after the breakup of a very deep relationship. To be honest it nearly pushed me right over the edge, so can't always handle listening to it still.
My Favorite Group and My Favorite Channel! Peace
Where Have I Known You Before. By Return to Forever. It is Classic. So Beautiful. ❤
Its funny how this song is interpreted as a lost love song, and it is. I always thought as a 13 year old boy listening to this in 1979 that this was a sad song about lost love from the perspective of an old couple who's love love from one partner died. The reason for this was the line, "She says that long ago she knew someone, but now he's gone, she doesn't need him" and nothing can be done anymore. Eventhough they are still together after all these years, its to late to save the love that has faded away in her eyes. The instruments as well made me think, what would a guy be listening to but maybe this baroque classical type tune in his head, possibly becuase he was an older person recanting the love that was lost forever.
i agree with @strathman7501. Paul would typically work with George Martin on solo's by humming with George Martin transcribing to manuscript paper. I've read the various versions of Paul's humming, the instrument range reference and Alan Civil making something up on the spot. Classical players though, usually like things written down.
I haven't done a thorough search, but I believe all of the Beatles songs in baroque pop style are McCartney's. It's one of his signatures.
You need to review Pretty Ballerina by The Left Banke. That is Baroque rock
The "fingerprint technique" is going to throw you when you here "Helter Skelter."
Although I don't know for sure, with The Beatles that's a logical guess that the French Horn was recorded an octave lower and sped up in the mixing. They were beginning to do a lot of different things in the studio since they had stopped touring.
I saw an interview with George Martin once, he said that he wrote the solo out of the typical range of a french horn but he knew that Alan Civil could play it. There are few who could.
Amazing song
I heard the horn player did a couple of takes and Paul wanted more takes. Then George Martin had to restrain Paul and let him know the horn part was out of this world.
I've read the same story by George Martin. In the documentary McCartney 3, 2, 1, I think Paul mixed up his recollections and tells the same story regarding the trumpet in "Penny Lane", but I'm almost sure the awkward situation was with "For No One".
@@julessabio yes, I remember the story related to Penny Lane... Paul wanted another take but George M. knew Mr. Civil couldn't play better than what he had just played so Paul reluctantly gave up...
Great use of lyrics to capture a moment we all understand - 'Eventually' realising you are no longer on the radar of your previous love and that 'the arse' has subsequently dropped out of your romantic world! Ps: Nice introduction to Fred (the fruit fly?)
Just started listening to this review. Glad it finally arrived.
Pls don't skip tomorrow never knows
This is my favourite underrated Beatles tune. Note that it also ends on an unresolved V
No wonders John liked this song: He implied the same bass pattern of the verses (Even on the same key) on his song Mind Games, seven years later
I think UA-cam will not allow her to play but just bits of the Beatles music..
funnily enough, this song was actually recorded in the key of C major and was slowed down to the key of B major.
One of the Paul signatures is not doing a verse and chorus structure. He did a lot of 32 bar form songs (like a lot of old show tunes) although this one doesn't quite fit into that form.
Whole the horn in this piece is playing in the upper register, it should be kept in mind that the timbre of the instrument is different depending on the country. Historically, English players play with a lighter timbre (Dennis Brain for example) German horns are deeper, Americans are generally in between these two.
This is unfortunate. I was hoping this one would be "She Said She Said".
If it aint baroque, don't fix it... Joke from the time that may not have passed the test of time! But, I am pretty sure Mr Martin was, almost entirely, responsible for the musical arrangement of this. Sure; Paul chipped in with some top level requests, but George Martin was the man with the classical background and the stature, to score, assemble and record a piece such as this, at this time, in the Beatles' progression...
The other Paul pattern of holding the same note while the chords change is here too.
Please keep playing your harp and I'm in heaven. I've seen Hendrix, Frank Zappa and I think you need to listen to Chick Corea and Return to Forever. You are so beautiful. Please put out an album if you haven't already. Maybe I don't know? ❤
Interestingly I just listened to the backing track included on the super deluxe version of revolver - presented in its original key of C. Slowed down for the vocal and bass, maybe even more so for the French horn and then sped up again?
Some context for the horn solo - "During the session, McCartney pushed Civil to play a note that was beyond the usual range of the instrument. According to Emerick, the result was the "performance of his life". Civil said that the song was "recorded in rather bad musical style, in that it was 'in the cracks' [not in concert pitch], neither B-flat nor B-major. This posed a certain difficulty in tuning my instrument."
Here is a clip of Paul demoing the song and mouthing the French horn part.
This one is a natural for you, Amy. Not my fave off the album (IMO Paul is getting a bit pretentious, but that was the spirit of the entire album), but it has its charms. That flat 7th twist is a classic Beatles-style hook. When people call a piece of music "Beatles-y", that's what they're talking about. Re: the French Horn solo, it's very similar to what Paul got on "Penny Lane", which WAS Bach-style piccolo trumpet.
I feel like a lot of "Baroque" pop has more characteristics of the early-mid Classical period, but saying "Classical Pop" is a rather ambiguous term, at least "Baroque" points use to a ballpark of century.
Seeing you to react to the band wardruna would be amazing. I recommend the songs lyfjaberg or helvegen
The English pronunciation of Baroque is closer to the original French, the American version is weird! Bah-Rock vs Bu-Roke. Broke Pop is what I hear. I would be very interested to hear your reaction to albums as a whole piece sometime. But I suppose your review process would make for a very long video. "For No One" is the track after "And Your Bird Can Sing" in my memory, and was the only way we would listen to it on vinyl, until the CD version came along 21 years later, and the tracks could be shuffled. The explosion of creativity in terms of their songwriting and recording ambitions in 1966, can only be fully appreciated if listened to as a whole. Anyway these deep dives and first reactions are always fascinating, thank you.
Is it a French horn? The LP credit reads ‘Horn - Alan Civil’. It might’ve been a cornet or, indeed, a trumpet! Compare the tone of the French horns used on the title track on Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band..
You should play the entire Beatles track - a hundred other youtubers are.
She Said, She Said please!!
My favorite song on the album
This
Yes!!
Why do people like that song, and why are all of them subscribed to this channel?
@@MyNameIsNeutronHello 👋😊 It's not my favourite song on Revolver, but I think if one or two songs from this phenomenal album are left out, there are other candidates (e g. Dr Robert). It's of course a matter of taste but I'm one of those persons who like this song without being able to say why.
For me the French Horn really adds to the pathos of the song, beautiful.
Your observation of her mourning...
I'd love to see a Sleep Token reaction
Tom waits.
Dead and lovely...
He's using the French Horn like he used the English Horn in Penny Lane
Piccolo Trumpet on Penny Lane
@@BigSky1 You're correct. My mistake. I thought the passages and the way they are used were similar in both songs.
ua-cam.com/video/cbJrXqrLtMw/v-deo.html His process was incredible for such a young man
Hello. Would be great you react tô Elis Regina singing "Como Nossos Pais". She was a great brazilian singer who died in 1982. This song is about resist to militar ditactorship that there was in Brazil (1964-1985) and to the reactionism the society that gave support to that bloody oppression.