Fact #156659
When:
Short story:
The Beatles' single Lady Ma donna is recorded at Abbey Road Studios, London, England, UK, Europe, although Paul McCartney is the only one of the Fab Four actually to play on the track.
Full article:
George Martin (producer) : Paul's song, featuring his piano. I'd made a record (Bad Penny Blues) with Humphrey Littleton in 1966. I don't know if Paul had heard it, but it sounded awfully alike to me.
Tony Davis (The Spinners] : Lady Madonna is based very strongly on Humphrey Lyttelton's Bad Penny Blues. The Beatles acknowledged that their inspiration came from hearing Johnny Parker play the piano on Bad Penny Blues.
Humphrey Lyttelton (jazz musician) : A number of idiots came up to me and said, 'They've borrowed the introduction to Bad Penny Blues. What are you going to do?' They wanted me to sue them but I told them not to be so stupid. You can't copyright a rhythm and the rhythm was all they'd used. Anyway, we'd borrowed it from Dan Burley. It was absolutely stupid and I have never had any sympathy with the notion of, here are some guys, they're worth a fortune, let's try and get some of it by suing them. In fact, I was very complimented. Although none of The Beatles cared for traditional jazz, they all knew and liked Bad Penny Blues because it was a bluesy, skiffley thing rather than a trad exercise.
Paul McCartney : It reminded me of Fats Domino for some reason, so I started singing a Fats Domino impression.
(Source : not known)
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Tony Davis (The Spinners] : Lady Madonna is based very strongly on Humphrey Lyttelton's Bad Penny Blues. The Beatles acknowledged that their inspiration came from hearing Johnny Parker play the piano on Bad Penny Blues.
Humphrey Lyttelton (jazz musician) : A number of idiots came up to me and said, 'They've borrowed the introduction to Bad Penny Blues. What are you going to do?' They wanted me to sue them but I told them not to be so stupid. You can't copyright a rhythm and the rhythm was all they'd used. Anyway, we'd borrowed it from Dan Burley. It was absolutely stupid and I have never had any sympathy with the notion of, here are some guys, they're worth a fortune, let's try and get some of it by suing them. In fact, I was very complimented. Although none of The Beatles cared for traditional jazz, they all knew and liked Bad Penny Blues because it was a bluesy, skiffley thing rather than a trad exercise.
Paul McCartney : It reminded me of Fats Domino for some reason, so I started singing a Fats Domino impression.
(Source : not known)