Fab Foundations # 12: “Love Packaging”

(Personal reflections inspired by Beatles songs)

Song: “Because”
Album: Abbey Road
Release Date: September 1969

I’ve been listening to Abbey Road all week. Definitely one of the best albums of all time. One of the reasons I like this Beatles album so much is that it was the last album they made together, and like most of us, I find story-endings rather intriguing. What’s really cool though is that the band kinda knew this too. In turn, each one of them put his heart and soul into Abbey Road.  Hey, if you gotta move on, you might as well do it right (or as Neil Young would say …. better to burn out than fade away), and the Beatles certainly proved they could end things on the highest of high notes with Abbey Road. Yes, indeed, as was the case with the Who on their final album with Keith Moon (Who Are You), the Beatles went out with a bang.

Anyhow, this Fab Foundations series is the first one where I’ve been playing in a band during the period that I write. Several years ago, I began putting a concerted effort into learning how to play music by signing up for bass guitar lessons (up to that point I had been undisciplined and inconsistent). Then, last spring, I was asked to join a church band. I was intimidated and a bit ambivalent at first (I’d always envisioned getting my break with an original rock band), but I was ultimately coerced and cajoled by the band leader to give it a go.  It ended up being the best thing that could have happened. The entire band - keyboardist, drummer, lead guitarist, rhythm guitarist, and four singers - were all professionals (or going to music school) and they were patient with me…. the only amateur in the bunch.  They’re dedication to their craft forced me to get yet more focused and ultimately this led to a significant improvement in my musical know-how. 

I’d always wanted to learn to play bass, going all the way back to my teenage years, but I had never gotten around to it for one reason or another. Perhaps all this blog writing about music finally got me rolling. I can’t say for certain. Whatever the case may be, playing in a band has given me much more insight into the importance of doing just that if you want to improve your musicianship (as opposed to just practicing). In a band, you are on the spot to get it right, primarily because you are performing in front of a crowd (or preparing to do so), but also because you don’t want to waste anyone’s time. You also find yourself leaning on your band-mates, especially on the fly, and slowly you gain an ear to play off them (in my case, this has been done most often by listening to the drummer, seeing as we - bassist and drummer – must work jointly as the rhythm section). There are all sorts of non-verbal communications happening. The more you play the more you pick up on these cues.

Through it all, I’ve learned to appreciate the world of the musician even more, which came into focus this week as I listened to Abbey Road. The musicianship of each member of the Beatles shines even brighter now as I listen to the album. For the rest of this entry I will highlight some of my favorite musical moments on the record, breaking my critique down by band member. I’ll also highlight some of what each Beatle brought to the table as a band-mate prior to and during the sessions.

Ringo Starr

Despite his lack of songwriting production, Ringo Starr was always made to feel an equal in the Beatles. He projected this too. At least that’s the impression I’ve always had, going all the way back to my earliest days of dissecting this band. One big thing Ringo had going for him was that the other 3 Beatles loved him. John, Paul, and George quarreled with each other, but Ringo forever seemed to be above the fray.

Abbey Road showcases Ringo’s finest drumming. There’s a higher degree of sophistication to it than anything else he ever did with the Beatles. Moments that stand out include the bridge to “Something” and “Here Comes the Sun” along with the entirety of “Come Together”.  This sophistication (along with Harrison stepping up his songwriting skills to top tier status) gives Abbey Road a true even-keel feel in terms of band-member contribution. Yes, here we hear a well-balanced, well-lubricated ensemble.

Of the 237 songs written by the Beatles, Ringo Starr is credited for writing just two. One of these, “Octopus’s Garden”, is on Abbey Road (the other is “Don’t Pass Me By” which is on the White Album). Despite the odds (2:237) I find “Octopus’s Garden” the most joyous of all Beatles songs (side note: the lyrics are very apropos for the times we are living in at the moment).  What makes these odds even more extreme is that the song came together on this swan-song album, at a time when the Beatles were on the verge of breakup. Due to this atmosphere, most of the album is serious in nature, but not “Octopus’s Garden”. Indeed, when Ringo sings….

“I’d ask my friends to come and see
An octopus’s garden with me”

and….

“We would sing and dance around
Because we know we can’t be found”

…. there is such childlike exuberance in his delivery, that you can’t help but get swept away by the tide of it. John, Paul and George all get swept away in it too. I love their backing vocals (“ahh, ahh, ahh” …), layered and bubbling behind Harrison’s upbeat lead-guitar bridge. It sounds like they are underwater, having the time of their lives in that cephalopod’s brilliant garden.

Ringo the peacemaker, wins again!

Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney comes across as the most sober and solemn of the Beatles on Abbey Road.  I think there are two reasons for this. One is that John Lennon had finally gotten in his head. The other is that he was clearly hurting the most out of everyone from the notion of a Beatles breakup.  The wonderful consequence about all this is…. well, my goodness, does he ever deliver.

The most underrated aspect of the Beatles musicianship has always been McCartney’s bass playing, which shines oh so brightly on Abbey Road. Not long ago I read a John Lennon quote that he too thought that Paul’s bass playing was exquisite and that, somewhat against his band-mate's nature, McCartney was always a bit coy about this. McCartney sprinkles fantastic bits of melodic bass touches all over this album. For example, the quick patter at the end of “You Never Give Me Your Money”, which happens after each “1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, all good children go to heaven” line.  Or just before John Lennon lets out his wail on “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)”. Side note: I’d mention the entirety of bass notes in “Oh! Darling” here too, but to my surprise this is not Paul, and so you will have to go down to the George Harrison section to get my take on that effort.

Personally, I never put much thought into the notion of a Beatles rhythm section, because McCartney has forever come across as being above such labeling. But that rhythm section of Ringo and Paul is so strong and vibrant on Abbey Road, that I can’t help but tune into it, particularly now that I’m in a band myself. I hear it everywhere, especially on “Here Comes the Sun” and “Polythene Pam”. Bass and drums are locked in.

And then there is Paul McCartney’s singing which is deeply heartfelt. Almost on his own, McCartney gives this album that band-ending feel in his vocals and lyrics. The first time it hits me is on “Oh! Darling”, which as I’ve mentioned before in these pages, comes across as an appeal to John Lennon:

“When you told me, you didn’t need me anymore
Well you know, I nearly broke down and cried
When you told me, you didn’t need me anymore
Oh well you know I nearly broke down and died”

The other elements of Paul’s pangs are all heard on the side 2 medley, which he conceived and pulled together (along with George Martin).  When he sings “Boy, you’re gonna carry that weight for a long time” there’s a strong sense of dread and regret about the pending breakup. Was he referring to Lennon, himself, or the entire band?  Then there’s “You Never Give Me Your Money”, where he refers to all the contractual battles the Beatles were going through with management and each other. And of course, there’s those sublime closing lyrics of “The End”: “And in the end, the love you take, is equal to the love, you make”. There could be no better way to cap off a decade of Beatles music than with those lyrical lines.  Who knew Paul McCartney had it in em! (actually, it was already telling with “Hey Jude” … see Fab Foundations # 6).

Still, Paul McCartney could not help but adding some to one of his more traditional roles in the Beatles; that of lightheartedness (Ringo also played this role, to a lesser degree). His lightheartedness is expressed here with “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” (which is a big part of what drew me into the album as a kid), and the closing number “Her Majesty”. I believe that deep inside, Paul did this sort of thing to lessen the burden on the band and strip some of the seriousness off their shoulders.

Ultimately, however, McCartney’s legacy in relation to Abbey Road will be in his deeper evocations. What is it about side two of Abbey Road that brilliantly says “goodbye”?  Paul McCartney, that’s what.

Oh, and he was right about Allen Klein too.

George Harrison

On Abbey Road, George Harrison proved himself as a bonafide top notch songwriter. John Lennon once stated that the best song on the album is Harrison’s “Something”. It is something for sure. Frank Sinatra went as far as calling it the best love song of all time. With lyrics like…

“Somewhere in her smile she knows,
that I don’t need no other lover,
something in her style that shows me”

…who could argue? Harrison’s lead vocals are some of his best here, and I include his solo career in that declaration. So too his lead guitar, not only on “Something”, but the entire album.  Later in his career, George would get more of a signature sound on his guitar. But I like this catchall sound more. He’s experimenting with new ideas. One great example is the subtle loveliness you hear in the intro to “Sun King”. I also love how George’s guitar notes lead John’s closing vocals on “Come Together” (prior to each time Lennon sings “come together…. yeah”); the ebbs and flows of the notes in perfect synch with Lennon’s play-off vocals.

George’s other big musical-instrument contribution to the Abbey Road sessions was the Moog Synthesizer.  It’s used beautifully during the bridge in “Because”. It’s also used on “Here Comes the Sun” (particularly distinct in the bridge), “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer”, and by John Lennon - as intense white-noise buildup during the long closing jam to “I Want You (She’s So Heavy”)…..more on that below.

A highlight on this album is the 3-way guitar exchange between Paul, George and John on “The End”. They each take lead in a triple cycle (nine leads in all), in the order Paul first, George second and John third. It’s a Beatles fan dream come true, and it never gets old listening to it. To understand they did it in one take just adds to the allure. All three of them sound great, but George is best.

My one big surprise in the bit of research I did this week for this entry was discovering that George Harrison plays bass on “Oh! Darling”! It’s virtuoso. These past few years I’ve tried off-and-on learning the song on bass and while doing so, I had always imagined Paul performing the original while I did this. The bass notes are all over the fret board, which now makes sense seeing as George is a masterful lead guitarist. Anyhow, who knew that one of my favorite Beatles songs on bass is actually George Harrison? I still can’t picture it, but I guess I’ll have to if I ever hope to get it down myself.

John Lennon

John Lennon still very much appreciated what the Beatles had during the Abbey Road sessions. From the moment Paul and George joined his band in the late 50s (Ringo came later), he knew what he was getting. His proudest effort on Abbey Road was “Come Together”, and he could not have pulled it off without their talents.  George Martin was concerned going into the Abbey Road sessions that the band would not get buy-in from John to make it a true collaborative effort.  Those fears must have been dashed pretty quickly as the album began to take form in early 1969, seeing as Lennon clearly appears to have considered himself part of an ensemble for this album (although his uncompromising nature did kick in at least once with his refusal to play on “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer”, which he considered a “Granny song”.  I’ll say this though in his defense: such Lennon stances made the Beatles better).

John Lennon’s vocals are the most diverse by far on Abbey Road. From “Mean Mr. Mustard” to “Polythene Pam”, to “Come Together” to “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” to all his backing vocals, he sounds different each time. This week I picked up on the fact that Lennon’s “Sun King” repeats the identical line as the title to Harrison’s song “Here Comes the Sun” (the only difference is that Lennon tags “King” to the end).  The reason I likely never picked up on this before is that the two songs sound completely different, which is part of the magic and majesty of the entirety of Abbey Road; every single song sounds unique. Much of this is a testament to the variety in Lennon’s vocal delivery. Side note: I love how “Sun King” starts with chirping crickets, which is conveying a fade out of night and a dawning of day.

John’s “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” has really grown on me this year, to the point where it may now be my favorite song on Abbey Road. Lennon plays a rare lead guitar here, which sounds great. But what I like the most about “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” is the long jam that closes it.  The only other time I can remember the Beatles getting into a jam is on Paul McCartney’s “Helter Skelter”. Both jams are intense and eerie. When my daughter, Charlotte listened to it a few weeks back she thought it sounded very reflective of the times when the song was written… the late 60s and Vietnam. Charlotte may be on to something, even if the song is widely recognized as being about Yoko Ono.  Lennon is trying to reflect Yoko’s heavy (read: substantial) effect on him. The times were very heavy as well.  Lennon appears to capture it all here.

Although the side-2 medley has always been recognized by most critics as starting with “You Never Give Me Your Money”, I’ve always considered it to begin with “Because, which is the song before it. “Because” is brilliantly harmonized throughout by John, Paul and George ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hL0tnrl2L_U ). This John Lennon tune was the last one the Beatles recorded together.  What’s really cool however, is when you think of “Because” as a bookend to “The End”. In this way, the medley fits together rather magnificently. To drive home my point, the most exquisite line in “Because” goes:

“Love is old, Love is new
Love is all, love is you”

And so, these lines, mirror wonderfully those prior-mentioned classic closing lyrical lines in McCartney’s “The End” (which also includes all 4 Beatles repeatedly harmonizing “Love You”, leading up to that prior-mentioned flawless 3-way lead guitar bridge).  Put it all together and all the myriad of medley concepts, characters and strife ends up corralled inside bookends of love. I think of it as a love package (the medley, with John beginning and Paul ending) inside a love package (Abbey Road, which includes George’s top-notch love song, “Something”) inside yet another love package (the decade of the Beatles coming to an end).

The more I listen to Abbey Road, the more my longtime natural inclination about it is confirmed, that being that this last of all Beatles albums makes a very strong and convincing closing statement: Love conquers all.

- Pete

p.s. This entry is a shout out to all those who inspired me to play music, including cousins Peter and Eric Mello; Tom, Steve and Tim Gilligan; Jim, Vernon, and Spencer Smith, and my close friend’s Pete Faenza and Phil Johnson.