Fact #63004
When:
Short story:
During sessions for the album Rubber Soul, The Beatles continue work on Nowhere Man at EMI Studio 2, Abbey Road, London, England, UK, Europe. On the same day, record producer George Martin adds his keyboard solo to In My Life.
Full article:
George Harrison (guitarist, The Beatles] : I decided I'd get a Strat (Fender Stratocaster), and John decided he'd get one too. So we sent out our roadie, Mal Evans, said, 'Go get us two Strats.' And he came back with two of them – pale blue ones. Straight away we used them on the album we were making at the time, which was Rubber Soul. I played it a lot on that album – the solo on Nowhere Man, which John and I both played in unison.
George Martin : I played the 'harpsichord' solo. There was a gap in the song. I said, 'We need a solo here.' They went away and had their tea … so while they were out, I wrote something, like a Bach invention, and played it, then recorded it. I played it back to them when they returned, and they said, 'That's great.' So we left it like that.
I did it with what I call a 'wound-up' piano, which was at double speed – partly because you get a harpsichord sound by shortening the attack of everything but also because I couldn't play it at real speed anyway. So I played it on piano at exactloy half normal speed and down an octave. Of course, when you bring the tape back to normal speed again, it sounds pretty brilliant. It's a means of tricking everybody into thinking you can do something really well.
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George Martin : I played the 'harpsichord' solo. There was a gap in the song. I said, 'We need a solo here.' They went away and had their tea … so while they were out, I wrote something, like a Bach invention, and played it, then recorded it. I played it back to them when they returned, and they said, 'That's great.' So we left it like that.
I did it with what I call a 'wound-up' piano, which was at double speed – partly because you get a harpsichord sound by shortening the attack of everything but also because I couldn't play it at real speed anyway. So I played it on piano at exactloy half normal speed and down an octave. Of course, when you bring the tape back to normal speed again, it sounds pretty brilliant. It's a means of tricking everybody into thinking you can do something really well.