Why didn't Paul play the piano solo on In My Life?
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Paul wrote the melody/music to the song and he was certainly a better piano player than George Martin. That solo had Macca written all over it. Paul probably regrets it now.
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I believe George Martin composed that solo so obviously would have wanted to perform it. It certainly hadn't been written when the main body of the song had been recorded four days earlier As it was, they had problems with it. Initially it was to have been a Hammond organ overdub but that didn't sound right. They then opted for the piano but couldn't get the tempo right. So in the end, George played (and recorded) the piece slowly and then,to achieve that baroque sound, got the engineer to play back the tape at double-speed.
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Well, for my taste, I think what George Martin brought did good for the song, like most things he did with The Beatles, can't say I miss a different solo. Possibilities for other arrangements, different instruments... is well endless. They had good instincts, I think, for dressing up a song.
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Paul has jury duty that day
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wingsdgm:
Paul has jury duty that day
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Kestrel:
I believe George Martin composed that solo so obviously would have wanted to perform it. It certainly hadn't been written when the main body of the song had been recorded four days earlier As it was, they had problems with it. Initially it was to have been a Hammond organ overdub but that didn't sound right. They then opted for the piano but couldn't get the tempo right. So in the end, George played (and recorded) the piece slowly and then,to achieve that baroque sound, got the engineer to play back the tape at double-speed.
I think it was all a bit more intentional than ".....couldn't get the tempo right........to achieve that baroque sound, got the engineer to play back the tape at double speed." I believe George Martin knew what he was doing all along....and knew just exactly how to achieve the sound he wanted....and what the Beatles wanted. They usually told him what they wanted to achieve...the sound they wanted....and he made it happen. I believe this is a perfect example of that creative process.
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The Beatles were an experimental band (including George Martin, the 5th Beatle). In almost all the songs they do something unusual, thinking outside the box, just as artistic genius as it is catchy. And the high standard of songwriting... People who are not fascinated by them, fascinates me.
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George Martin was already accomplished when he started producing the Beatles. He put that middle part in on his own, slowing the tape speed, playing the part slowly, then speeding the tape back up, hence the harpsichord like sound. It is an integral part of the song, if he had been more ambitious, he could have taken a songwriting credit. Actually, on a good number of Beatles songs he could have. But didn't.
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JoeySmith:
Paul wrote the melody/music to the song and he was certainly a better piano player than George Martin. That solo had Macca written all over it. Paul probably regrets it now.
\ There was disagreement about who wrote the music. I think John said it was mostly him and maybe Paul contributed to or wrote the middle eight. Paul I think claims the music and John did the words. To my ear it has a sort of classical feel to it so this points more to Paul who was getting into classical music and quite a few of his songs at this time showed this influence eg; For No One, Eleanor Rigby, Here There and Everywhere, She's Leaving Home etc.
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I'll always be one to defend their artistic license and musical abilities... But frankly, I don't think Paul could play it. George Martin didn't even play it at the speed we hear today!
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WixRocks!:
I'll always be one to defend their artistic license and musical abilities... But frankly, I don't think Paul could play it. George Martin didn't even play it at the speed we hear today!
I agree.
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We may never know the whole story. To my ears, this is a John Lennon song, words and melody. Paul contributed the ascending harmony to the main melody John sings (There are PLACES I REMEMBER...). Paul's melodies tend to have wider intervals, and be more complex (read: not BETTER, just more COMPLEX). Take away Paul's soaring harmony (which is crucial to the song, IMO) and you have a typical Lennon melody that has about seven notes that are relatively close to one another. Of course there are exceptions. Lennon's I Should Have Known Better has much wider intervals and higher notes. Paul's You Won't See Me is not easy to sing in full voice. Just my thoughts.
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JoeySmith:
Paul wrote the melody/music to the song and he was certainly a better piano player than George Martin. That solo had Macca written all over it. Paul probably regrets it now.
You are joking?!! Martin studied piano at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. McCartney could barely play bar-room boogie woogie in 1965. And even now, he can only play the rudiments. There is no way Paul could have come up with anything better than George's solo.
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graystoke:
JoeySmith:
Paul wrote the melody/music to the song and he was certainly a better piano player than George Martin. That solo had Macca written all over it. Paul probably regrets it now.
You are joking?!! Martin studied piano at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. McCartney could barely play bar-room boogie woogie in 1965. And even now, he can only play the rudiments. There is no way Paul could have come up with anything better than George's solo.
I think it is rubbish saying Paul can "even now only play the rudiments" but sure back in the mid sixties he was probably still developing on the piano but by 68 & 69 he had become the dominant pianist in the group. And his piano based songs Lady Madonna, Hey Jude, Let It Be & The Long And Winding Road were some of the best music of it's era.
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Apollo C. Vermouth:
graystoke:
JoeySmith:
Paul wrote the melody/music to the song and he was certainly a better piano player than George Martin. That solo had Macca written all over it. Paul probably regrets it now.
You are joking?!! Martin studied piano at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. McCartney could barely play bar-room boogie woogie in 1965. And even now, he can only play the rudiments. There is no way Paul could have come up with anything better than George's solo.
I think it is rubbish saying Paul can "even now only play the rudiments" but sure back in the mid sixties he was probably still developing on the piano but by 68 & 69 he had become the dominant pianist in the group. And his piano based songs Lady Madonna, Hey Jude, Let It Be & The Long And Winding Road were some of the best music of it's era.
"Lady Madonna" is really the only challenging piece Paul composed AND performed for the piano with The Beatles...and there are few exceptions afterwards...
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WixRocks!:
"Lady Madonna" is really the only challenging piece Paul composed AND performed for the piano with The Beatles...and there are few exceptions afterwards...
Martha My Dear?
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Sgt._Pepper:
WixRocks!:
"Lady Madonna" is really the only challenging piece Paul composed AND performed for the piano with The Beatles...and there are few exceptions afterwards...
Martha My Dear?
It crossed my mind, but I wouldn't really call it challenging. Of course this all varies from player to player, "Martha My Dear" never gave me a hard time...but to this day, I'm never 100% happy with my playing on "Lady Madonna".
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WixRocks!:
Apollo C. Vermouth:
graystoke:
JoeySmith:
Paul wrote the melody/music to the song and he was certainly a better piano player than George Martin. That solo had Macca written all over it. Paul probably regrets it now.
You are joking?!! Martin studied piano at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. McCartney could barely play bar-room boogie woogie in 1965. And even now, he can only play the rudiments. There is no way Paul could have come up with anything better than George's solo.
I think it is rubbish saying Paul can "even now only play the rudiments" but sure back in the mid sixties he was probably still developing on the piano but by 68 & 69 he had become the dominant pianist in the group. And his piano based songs Lady Madonna, Hey Jude, Let It Be & The Long And Winding Road were some of the best music of it's era.
"Lady Madonna" is really the only challenging piece Paul composed AND performed for the piano with The Beatles...and there are few exceptions afterwards...
The point I am making is that his piano playing by the late sixties was far from being rudimentary even in earlier years I think he was quite competent on piano & keyboards and played alot on Beatles recordings. OK he isn't a great classical concert pianists like Daniel Barenboim but for pop & rock I think he's just fine.
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Apollo C. Vermouth:
WixRocks!:
Apollo C. Vermouth:
graystoke:
JoeySmith:
Paul wrote the melody/music to the song and he was certainly a better piano player than George Martin. That solo had Macca written all over it. Paul probably regrets it now.
You are joking?!! Martin studied piano at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. McCartney could barely play bar-room boogie woogie in 1965. And even now, he can only play the rudiments. There is no way Paul could have come up with anything better than George's solo.
I think it is rubbish saying Paul can "even now only play the rudiments" but sure back in the mid sixties he was probably still developing on the piano but by 68 & 69 he had become the dominant pianist in the group. And his piano based songs Lady Madonna, Hey Jude, Let It Be & The Long And Winding Road were some of the best music of it's era.
"Lady Madonna" is really the only challenging piece Paul composed AND performed for the piano with The Beatles...and there are few exceptions afterwards...
The point I am making is that his piano playing by the late sixties was far from being rudimentary even in earlier years I think he was quite competent on piano & keyboards and played alot on Beatles recordings. OK he isn't a great classical concert pianists like Daniel Barenboim but for pop & rock I think he's just fine.
Fair enough. But George Martin did not need to call Paul in do play a piano part on a Beatle song. He could do it fairly well.
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WixRocks!:
Sgt._Pepper:
WixRocks!:
"Lady Madonna" is really the only challenging piece Paul composed AND performed for the piano with The Beatles...and there are few exceptions afterwards...
Martha My Dear?
It crossed my mind, but I wouldn't really call it challenging. Of course this all varies from player to player, "Martha My Dear" never gave me a hard time...but to this day, I'm never 100% happy with my playing on "Lady Madonna".
Paul has been quoted to say that Martha My Dear was above his level of piano playing and it was a complicated piece. When I taught myself piano I liked to see how far I could go, and this started life almost as a piece you'd learn as a piano lesson. It's quite hard for me to play, it's a two-handed thing, like a little set piece. In fact I remember one or two people being surprised that I'd played it because it's slightly above my level or competence really, but I wrote it as that, something a bit more complex for me to play. Then while I was blocking out words - you just mouth out sounds and some things come - I found the words 'Martha my dear'. Paul McCartney Many Years From Now, Barry Miles In My Life would have been beyond his reach when it was recorded.
