Doctor Robert

From BeatlesWiki

Doctor Robert is a song off The Beatles' 1966 album Revolver. It was written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon/McCartney.

[edit] Writing

Doctor Robert, although unnoticed at the time, contained the first obvious references to drugs in the lyrics of a Beatles song. John said of the song, "Doctor Robert was another of mine. Mainly about drugs and pills. It was about myself: I was the one that carried all the pills on tour and always have done. Well, in the early days. Later on the roadies did it, and we just kept them in our pockets loose, in case of trouble." Though some around London thought it referred to Robert Fraser, an art dealer, it really referred to Doctor Robert Freyman, who ran a small clinic on 78TH Street in the Manhattan side of New York City. Dr. Robert, also referred to as the Great White Father, became notorious around the area for giving Vitamin B12 shots laced with amphetamines. In his authorized biography, Many Years From Now, Paul McCartney said of the song, "John and I thought it was a funny idea: the fantasy doctor who would fix you up by giving you drugs, [the song] was a parody on that idea. It's just a piss-take. As far as I know, neither of us ever went to a doctor for those kinds of things. But there was a fashion for it and there still is. Change your blood and have a vitamin shot and you'll feel better."

[edit] Recording

Work on Doctor Robert began on April 17, 1966, when seven takes of the basic track were recorded. This basic track included lead and rhythm guitars, bass and drums. Onto this, maracas, harmonium, and piano were overdubbed. The vocals were overdubbed two days later. According to the books, the 43 seconds which is 2:56 were removed and replaced by a fade-out. However, in one version found on the Yesterday and Today USA mono LP, the song is a few seconds longer during the fade-out because after the song ends completely, it has John speaks something either "OK Herb" or "Hey there". The American people thought the length on the US mono LP is 2:56 but apparently it's 2:16.