Huh? That’s not an instrumental bit; that’s John chanting “shoot me” over a bass riff with percussion and handclaps.
Just to pick one off the top o’ me head: (I Feel Fine) “I’m so glad, that she’s my little girl” is a snippet that always strikes me as quintessential Beatles.
It’s George. He shines throughout Abbey Road.
It’s not a little off; Paul’s voice cracks big time.
“…if our new love was in vai - …” Edited out of the mono version, left as is in the stereo mix.
That little fill George plays in “She Loves You”. Right after, “She loves you yeah yeah yeah yeah!” George plays “twang twang twang twang twang twang.” All double stops-Chuck Berryish lick.
That was the definition of Rock for me when I was a kid.
I thought it was Paul, then John, which seems to be the conclusion here. I don’t see anything on Pollack’s notes about it.
During the intro to “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)” as Ringo does his drum licks, when John (I assume) says “hi!” or “high”!
Right…that’s the analysis I was remembering, and you recalled the facts correctly (unlike me).
Cool! That’s Zen to pick a (near) silence as the memorable “sound.” From the same era, also just before and after the word “there” in “There’s A Place.”
Wow, great catch! I just didn’t hear it till I listened to the stereo version. Almost like he had to cough (that note is well within his range).
I always thought it was George, saying “Bye.” But I ain’t too proud to be corrected after 47 years.
Hey, don’t get me started on the flam paradiddle.
Definitely John, saying “Bye-ee!” I recently read somewhere that this was some mid-century British comedian’s catch-phrase, but a quick Google only came up withthis popular World War I song.
That really is one of my favorite Ringo drum parts for all those little subtleties. Also, note how the verses on the first minute or so of the song have the syncopated snare flam-tom flam-kick pattern, but after 1:30, the verses go into pretty much a straight eighth-note rhythm on that. I love that rhythmic variation.
10-Q veddy much.
My favorite exercise in Ringo-appreciation is listening to the stereo mix of “Please Please Me”, stereo hard-panned to the side that has instruments only (no vocals), volume cranked up a little louder than normal, and focusing my ears on the drums. I never get tired of hearing the changes he goes through. Intelligent, tasteful drumming.
The parts in “I’m Only Sleeping” where the bass line peeks through (da da dum DUM) are awesome, as is the opening piano chords on “Let It Be.” I’ve always like the bridge/middle eight on “I Am the Walrus” - Sitting in an English garden, waiting for the sun/If the sun don’t come we’ll get a tan from standing in the evening shade . . .
The first notes on “Glass Onion” are just so energizing - so is the opening chord on “Hard Days Night.” I’ve always loved the place where the minor chords in “I’ve Just Seen a Face” change into the lyrics. The intro to the acoustic version of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” is just . . . magical. It’s beautiful and sad and bittersweet and magical. I much prefer it to the White Album one - seriously, if you’ve never heard, please, please listen.
Not to digress, since this isn’t a Beatles song, but one of my favorite things in any song, ever, is the place in “Band on the Run” where the ‘if we ever get out of here’ part transitions to the ‘band on the run’ part with some acoustic chords. It’s around 2:13.
Nitpick: It’s “English rain,” not “evening shade.”
The bass part in Lady Madonna, then the part that goes “Ba-pa-pa-paaaaa.” (not that I don’t love the entire song)
Oh, man, that’s another good one. But I’m gonna highlight the clanky honky-tonk-sounding piano intro to that. It’s such a simple progression, but it’s just exactly right.
My favourite has got to be in “A Day in the Life”: right after Paul sings, “Somebody spoke and I went into a dream”, John sings, “Aaaaaaaah, ah ah ah” and the orchestral accompaniment begins to swell. I loved this part so much that whenever I recorded mix tapes from my CD, I’d turn the recording level up just for this part for maximum loudness. Years later when Love was released I was so pleased to discover that the mixers had done exactly the same thing to this section.
You must love “Hush,” the song by Joe South made famous as the first hit by Deep Purple. Its riff (“nah nah nah nah…”) is the same chord/melody sequence as that “ahh” part of “A Day in the Life.”
Neither copied the other; they were written and recorded simultaneously. It was just something in the air in early 1967.