Paperback Writer

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Paperback Writer is a 1966 song by The Beatles, released as a single backed by Rain. It was written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon/McCartney.

Contents

[edit] Writing

Paperback Writer was written specifically by Paul McCartney to be a single. John Lennon told Playboy in 1980, "It's sort of Paul's version of Day Tripper, meaning a rock 'n' roll song with a guitar lick on a fuzzy, loud guitar - but it is Paul's song." Originally, at the beginning of their career, The Beatles had been encouraged by Brian Epstein and George Martin to put out two albums and four singles a year to help sustain the band's popularity. This single broke that pattern, coming out twenty-seven weeks after the previous single, Day Tripper/We Can Work It Out. Like many of the songs composed around that time, Paperback Writer utilizes only one chord, a notion most likely influenced by Indian music and also used in The Word, If I Needed Someone, and Tomorrow Never Knows. Paul McCartney once said, "John and I would like to do songs with just one note like Long Tall Sally. We got near it in The Word." Paul had the idea for the song reading about an aspiring author reported about in the Daily Mail and he wrote it on the way to John Lennon's home in Weybridge. McCartney recalled in his authorized biography, Many Years From Now, "You knew, the minute you got there, cup of tea and you'd sit and write, so it was always good if you had a theme. I'd had a thought for a song and somehow it was to do with the Daily Mail so there might have been an article in the Mail that morning about people writing paperbacks. Penguin paperbacks was what I really thought of, the archetypal paperback. I arrived at Weybridge and told John I had this idea of trying to write off to a publishers to become a paperback writer, and I said, 'I think it should be written like a letter.' I took a bit of paper out and I said it should be something like 'Dear Sir or Madam, as the case may be...' and I proceeded to write it just like a letter in front of him, occasionally rhyming it. And John, as I recall, just sat there and said, 'Oh, that's it,' 'Uhuh,' 'Yeah.' I remember him, his amused smile, saying, 'Yes, that's it, that'll do.' Quite a nice moment: 'Hmm, I've done right! I've done well!' And then we went upstairs and put the melody to it. John and I sat down and finished it all up, but it was tilted towards me, the original idea was mine. I had no music, but it's just a little bluesy song, not a lot of melody. Then I had the idea to do the harmonies and we arranged that in the studio."

[edit] Recording

A feature Paperback Writer is notable for is it's loud bass lines. Played by Paul McCartney on a Rickenbacker instead of his usual Hofner, the bass techniques were quite unusual for the time. A speaker was used as a microphone, which was positioned in front of the bass amp for a louder sound. It was mastered using another Abbey Road invention - Automated Transient Overload Control, or ATOC, which allowed the bass to be played back without risking the stylus jumping during playback. Engineer Geoff Emerick recalled, "Paperback Writer was the first time the bass sound had been heard in all its excitement. For a start, Paul played a different bass, a Rickenbacker. Then we boosted it further by using a loudspeaker as a microphone. We positioned it directly in front of the bass speaker and the moving diaphragm of the second speaker made the electrical current." The Beatles began recording Paperback Writer on April 13, 1966, the day that the George Harrison composition Love You To was completed. They recorded the basic track in two takes, followed by a series of overdubs. The next day, bass and vocals were overdubbed. George Martin recalled, "Paperback Writer had a heavier sound than some earlier work - and very good vocal work, too. I think that was just the way it worked out, that the rhythm was the most important part of their make-up by this time." George Harrison played a Gibson SG Standard guitar for this recording, and John Lennon used a hollow-bodied Gretsch Nashville. These instruments were also used for Rain and much of Revolver.

[edit] Recording Sessions

The wiki has no info about this for now

[edit] Personnel

[edit] The Beatles

[edit] Production

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[edit] Promotional Films

The Beatles made four promotional films for Paperback Writer, two in black-and-white and two in color, all of which were shot on May 19 and May 20, 1966. They were all directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg (who would later direct the final Beatles film, Let It Be) at Abbey Road and in Chiswick in London. One of the films was first broadcast on the BBC TV show Top Of The Pops on June 9, 1966, and another was first broadcast on The Ed Sullivan Show in America. On May 19, The Beatles were filmed at Abbey Road Studios "performing" this song for a promo video. This was broadcast on the CBS TV show The Ed Sullivan Show on June 5, 1966. They also recorded a short greeting to the viewers, where they explained that they couldn't actually be on the show. In this sequence, they held up transparencies from the famous "butcher cover" photo shoot in front of their faces. George Harrison recalled, "The idea was that we'd use them in America as well as the UK, because we thought, 'We can't go everywhere. We're stopping touring and we'll send these films out to promote the record.' It was too much trouble to go and fight our way through all the screaming hordes of people to mime the latest single on Ready, Steady, Go!. Also, in America, they never saw the footage anyway. Once we actually went on an Ed Sullivan show with just a clip. I think Ed Sullivan came on and said, 'The Beatles were here, as you know, and they were wonderful boys, but they can't be here now so they've sent us this clip.' It was great, because really we conned the Sullivan show into promoting our new single by sending in the film clip. These days obviously everybody does that - it's part of the promotion for a single - so I suppose in a way we invented MTV." They also filmed two black-and-white promotional films of Paperback Writer on May 19, as well as one of Rain. These were first broadcast on Goodbye Lucky Stars (The final edition of Thank Your Lucky Stars), and Ready, Steady, Go!. On May 20, The Beatles were filmed at Chiswick House in west London by Michael Lindsay-Hogg. They were filmed in a statue garden, on a bench next to a conservatory. This clip was first shown on June 2 on BBC TV's Top Of The Pops.

[edit] Live Performances

Paperback Writer was played during what turned out to be the last Beatles tour ever in 1966. It was played at their final concert at Candlestick Park on August 29, 1966. George Harrison recalled, "We were just a little dance-hall band and we never really thought of augmenting ourselves. We thought, 'Well, we can't. We'll do it to the best of our ability until the point where we can't really do it, and then we'll miss it out.' So around this time we were starting to miss out a lot of record tracks on live shows. Paperback Writer, for instance, was all double-tracked, and it sounded pretty crummy on stage. So what we did with it, in the American tour at least, was get to the point where it was particularly bad, and then we'd do our 'Elvis legs' and wave to the crowds, and they'd all scream and it would cover that. As Paul has said, the screaming did cover a lot of worrying moments."

[edit] Trivia

  • During the song, The Beatles' backing vocal parts sing the words "Frere Jacques."
  • Paperback Writer was the final new song added to The Beatles' live setlist.
  • Paperback Writer/Rain was the first Beatles single where neither the A- or B-Side dealt with a boy/girl relationship.

[edit] Available Versions

[edit] The Beatles

  • Take 1, April 13, 1966, (Bootlegs)
  • Take 2, April 13, 1966, (Bootlegs)
  • Take 2 plus overdubs, April 13/April 14, 1966, (Released as a single)
  • Take 2 RM2, April 14, 1966, (Bootlegs)
  • Live at Grugahalle, Essen, Germany, afternoon show, June 25, 1966, (Bootlegs)
  • Live at Grugahalle, Essen, Germany, evening show, June 25, 1966, (Bootlegs)
  • Live at Ernst-Merck-Halle, Hamburg, Germany, afternoon show June 26, 1966, (Bootlegs)
  • Live at Ernst-Merck-Halle, Hamburg, Germany, evening show show June 26, 1966, (Bootlegs)
  • Live at Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan, afternoon show, June 30, 1966, (Bootlegs)
  • Live at Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan, evening show, June 30, 1966, (Bootlegs)
  • Live at Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan, July 1, 1966, (Bootlegs)
  • Live at Olympia Stadium, Detroit, United States, August 13, 1966, (Bootlegs)
  • Live at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, August 17, 1966, (Bootlegs)
  • Live at Mid-South Coliseum, 996 Early Maxwell Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee, afternoon show, August 19, 1966, (Bootlegs)
  • Live at Mid-South Coliseum, 996 Early Maxwell Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee, evening show, August 19, 1966, (Bootlegs)
  • Live at Shea Stadium, New York City, New York, August 23, 1966, (Bootlegs)
  • Live at Candlestick Park, San Francisco, California, USA, August 29, 1966, (Bootlegs)

[edit] Paul McCartney

  • Live at Forum Di Assagio, Milan, Italy, February 18, 1993, (Bootlegs)
  • Live at Forum Di Assagio, Milan, Italy, February 19, 1993, (Bootlegs)
  • Live at Festhalle, Frankfurt, Germany, February 22, 1993, (Bootlegs)
  • Live at Festhalle, Frankfurt, Germany, February 23, 1993, (Bootlegs)
  • Live in Perth, Australia, March 5, 1993, (Bootlegs)
  • Live in Melbourne, Australia, March 9, 1993, (Bootlegs)
  • Live in Adelaide, Australia, March 13, 1993, (Bootlegs)
  • Live at Western Springs Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand, March 27, 1993, (Bootlegs)
  • Live in Las Vegas, Nevada, April 4, 1993, (Bootlegs)
  • Live at Sam Boyd Silver Dome, Las Vegas, Nevada, April 14, 1993, (Bootlegs)
  • Live in Anaheim, North Carolina, April 17, 1993, (Bootlegs)
  • Live at Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Georgia, May 1, 1993, (Bootlegs)
  • Live in Cincinnati, Ohio, May 5, 1993, (Bootlegs)
  • Live in Minneapolis, Minnesota, May 23, 1993, (Bootlegs)
  • Live in Boulder, Colorado, May 26, 1993, (Bootlegs)
  • Live in San Antonio, Texas, May 29, 1993, (Bootlegs)
  • Live in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, June 2, 1993, (Bootlegs)
  • Live in Toronto, Ontario, Candad, June 6, 1993, (Bootlegs)
  • Live at New Jersey Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA, June 11, 1993, (Bootlegs)
  • Live at Blockbuster Pavilion, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA, July 15, 1993, (Paul Is Live, Bootlegs)
  • Live in Vienna, Austria, September 5, 1993, (Bootlegs)
  • Live in Vienna, Austria, September 6, 1993, (Bootlegs)
  • Live at Olympiahalle, Munich, Germany, September 9, 1993, (Bootlegs)
  • Live at Earl's Court, London, England, September 15, 1993, (Bootlegs)
  • Live in Oslo, Norway, September 27, 1993, (Bootlegs)
  • Live in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, October 9, 1993, (Bootlegs)
  • Live in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, October 10, 1993, (Bootlegs)
  • Live in Paris, France, October 13, 1993, (Bootlegs)
  • Live at Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan, November 14, 1993, (Bootlegs)
  • Soundcheck at Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan, November 15, 1993, (Bootlegs)
  • Live at Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan, November 15, 1993, (Bootlegs)
  • Live at Pacaembu Stadium, Sao Paulo, Brazil, December 3, 1993, (Bootlegs)
  • Live at River Plate Stadium, Buenos Aires, Argentina, December 10, 1993, (Bootlegs)
  • Live at River Plate Stadium, Buenos Aires, Argentina, December 11, 1993, (Bootlegs)
  • Live at River Plate Stadium, Buenos Aires, Argentina, December 12, 1993, (Bootlegs)
  • Live in Indio, California, April 17, 2009, (Bootlegs)
  • Live in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, July 11, 2009, (Bootlegs)
  • Live at Citi Field, Flushing, New York, July 17, 2009, (Bootlegs)
  • Live at Citi Field, Flushing, New York, July 18, 2009, (Bootlegs)
  • Live at Citi Field, Flushing, New York, July 21, 2009, (Bootlegs)
  • Live at FedEx Field, Landover, Maryland, August 1, 2009, (Bootlegs)
  • Live at Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts, August 6, 2009, (Bootlegs)

[edit] Available On

[edit] Cover Versions

[edit] Source

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