Paperback Writer
| "Paperback Writer" | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 US picture sleeve | ||||||||||
| Single by The Beatles | ||||||||||
| B-side | "Rain" | |||||||||
| Released |
30 May 1966 (US) 10 June 1966 (UK) | |||||||||
| Format | 7-inch single | |||||||||
| Recorded |
13–14 April 1966 EMI Studios, London | |||||||||
| Genre | ||||||||||
| Length |
2:18 (stereo version) 2:26 (mono single version) | |||||||||
| Label |
Parlophone R5452 (UK) Capitol 5651 (US) | |||||||||
| Writer(s) | Lennon–McCartney | |||||||||
| Producer(s) | George Martin | |||||||||
| The Beatles UK singles chronology | ||||||||||
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"Paperback Writer" is a 1966 song recorded and released by the Beatles. Written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon[5] (credited to Lennon–McCartney), the song was released as the A-side of their eleventh single. The single went to the number one spot in the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, West Germany, Australia, New Zealand and Norway. On the US Billboard Hot 100, the song was at number one for two non-consecutive weeks, being interrupted by Frank Sinatra's "Strangers in the Night".
"Paperback Writer" was the last new song by the Beatles to be featured on their final tour in 1966.
Recording
The track was recorded between 13 and 14 April 1966.
"Paperback Writer" is marked by the boosted bass guitar sound throughout, partly in response to John Lennon demanding to know why the bass on a certain Wilson Pickett record far exceeded the bass on any Beatles records.[6] This changed with the "Paperback Writer" single.
"'Paperback Writer' was the first time the bass sound had been heard in all its excitement," said Beatles' engineer Geoff Emerick in Mark Lewisohn's book The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions. "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 electric current."[6]Further, McCartney's playing was more melodic and busy than on previous tracks.[7]
According to McCartney, the harmony vocals on the track were arranged during the recording session.[8] George Martin, the Beatles' producer, later commented: "The way the song itself is shaped and the slow, contrapuntal statements from the backing voices – no one had really done that before."[9] In their backing vocals over the third verse, Lennon and George Harrison sing the title of the French nursery rhyme "Frère Jacques".[10]
Emerick stated that the "Paperback Writer" / "Rain" single was cut louder than any other Beatles record up to that time, due to a new piece of equipment used in the mastering process, referred to as "Automatic Transient Overload Control", which was devised by the EMI maintenance department.[11]
Song lyrics
According to disc jockey Jimmy Savile, McCartney wrote the song in response to a request from an aunt who asked if he could "write a single that wasn't about love."[12][13] Savile said, "With that thought obviously still in his mind, he walked around the room and noticed that Ringo was reading a book. He took one look and announced that he would write a song about a book."[12] In a 2007 interview, McCartney recalled that he started writing the song after reading in the Daily Mail about an aspiring author, possibly Martin Amis.[14] The Daily Mail was Lennon's regular newspaper and copies were in Lennon's Weybridge home when Lennon and McCartney were writing songs.[12]
The song's lyrics are in the form of a letter from an aspiring author addressed to a publisher. The author badly needs a job and has written a paperback book based on a book by a "man named Lear".
Aside from deviating from the subject of love, McCartney had it in mind to write a song with a melody backed by a single, static chord. "John and I would like to do songs with just one note like 'Long Tall Sally.' We got near it in 'The Word.'"[15] McCartney claimed to have barely failed to achieve this goal with "Paperback Writer," as the verse remains on G until the end, at which point it pauses on C.[16]
Lennon told Hit Parader in 1972 that "Paperback Writer" was primarily written by McCartney: "I think I might have helped with some of the lyrics. Yes, I did. But it was mainly Paul's tune." Lennon also told Playboy in 1980: "Paperback Writer is son of Day Tripper, but it is Paul's song."
Promotion
In Britain, the single was promoted with a photograph depicting the Beatles draped with joints of raw meat and decapitated baby dolls. This same photograph was later used, albeit briefly, as the Yesterday and Today album cover in the USA, and in that capacity it became known as the "butcher cover".[17]
For the American release of the single, the cover depicted the Beatles playing live, but with Lennon and Harrison's images reflected so that it appeared they were playing left-handedly. (See the image at the top of the page).
Michael Lindsay-Hogg directed four promotional films for the song shot on 19 and 20 May 1966. On the first day they recorded a colour performance at Abbey Road Studios, for The Ed Sullivan Show, which was shown on 5 June, and two black and white performance clips for British television. The latter were shown on Ready Steady Go! and Thank Your Lucky Stars on 3 and 25 June, respectively.
On 20 May, another colour film was made at Chiswick House in west London.[18] The Beatles mimed to the song, and they were shown in and around the conservatory in the grounds of the house. The clip was first broadcast in black and white on BBC-TV's Top of the Pops on 2 June.[19] The 20 May promo film was included in the Beatles' 2015 video compilation 1, and both the 19 May colour film and the 20 May film were included in the three-disc versions of the compilation, titled 1+.[20]
The Beatles made their only live appearance on Top of the Pops to mime to "Paperback Writer" and "Rain". They were introduced by DJ Pete Murray. This session is famous for being wiped by the BBC when they were cleaning tapes for re-use. The session showed how difficult it was for the Beatles to even mime to their later material – they had difficulty in taking their performance seriously.
Personnel
There is some dispute over who played what on "Paperback Writer". In the July 1990 and the November 2005 issues of Guitar Player magazine, McCartney stated that he played the song's opening riff on his Epiphone Casino guitar,[21] and photos from the recording session seem to be consistent with this.[22] In the 2005 edition of his book Revolution in the Head, Ian MacDonald gives Harrison as the sole lead guitarist,[23] and Kenneth Womack similarly lists McCartney only on bass and lead vocal.[24] Robert Rodriguez and Walter Everett each credit McCartney as the player of the song's main guitar riff, and state that Harrison added lead guitar "fills" over his initial rhythm part.[25][26]
The following line-up is per Rodriguez:[25]
- Paul McCartney – lead vocal, lead guitar (riff), bass
- John Lennon – backing vocal, tambourine
- George Harrison – backing vocal, rhythm guitar, lead guitar (fills)
- Ringo Starr – drums
Release
| Country | Title[27] |
|---|---|
| US | "Paperback Writer" b/w "Rain"
|
| UK | "Paperback Writer" b/w "Rain"
|
| UK | A Collection of Beatles Oldies ... but Goldies
|
| US | Hey Jude
|
"Paperback Writer" appears on subsequent re-releases including 1962–1966 (1973), a re-released single (1976), Past Masters, Volume Two (1988), and 1 (2000). The single was later released part of a Record Store Day reissue in 2010.[28]
Charts and certifications
Charts
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Certifications
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Cover versions
- Kris Kristofferson recorded a version of the song for the 1995 Beatles tribute album Come Together: America Salutes The Beatles.
- The Bee Gees recorded the song in 1966 in Australia. It was first released on the album Inception/Nostalgia in 1970.
- Floyd Cramer covered the song for his 1966 album Class of '66.[41]
- Tempest covered the song on their 1974 album Living in Fear.
Notes
- ↑ Scott Miller, Music: What Happened?, (125 Records, 2010), ISBN 0-615-38196-0, P.39.
- ↑ John M. Borack, Shake some action: the ultimate power pop guide, (Shake Some Action – PowerPop, 2007), ISBN 0-9797714-0-4, P.175.
- ↑ DeRogatis, Jim. Turn on Your Mind: Four Decades of Great Psychedelic Rock. p. 48.
- ↑ Icons of Rock. ABC-CLIO. pp. 170–. ISBN 978-0-313-33845-8.
- ↑ Sheff 2000, p. 179.
- 1 2 Lewisohn 1988, p. 74.
- ↑ Hertsgaard, Mark (1995). A Day In The Life. New York: Delacorte Press. p. 180. ISBN 0-385-31377-2.
- ↑ Miles, Barry (October 1997). Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now. Henry Holt & Co. ISBN 0-8050-5248-8.
- ↑ "100 Greatest Beatles Songs: 35. 'Paperback Writer'". rollingstone.com. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
- ↑ MacDonald 2005, p. 196.
- ↑ Emerick 2006, p. 117.
- 1 2 3 Turner 2005, p. 101.
- ↑ Fontenot 2008.
- ↑ Colapinto 2007.
- ↑ Aldridge 1990, p. 24.
- ↑ Pollack 1993.
- ↑ Ayoub 2008.
- ↑ "Shooting the "Paperback Writer" promotional video" at thebeatles.com
- ↑ The Beatles Bible 2008.
- ↑ Rowe, Matt (18 September 2015). "The Beatles 1 To Be Reissued With New Audio Remixes... And Videos". The Morton Report. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
- ↑ "McCartney And His Casino on Cover of Guitar Player". Epiphone.com. 25 October 2005. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
- ↑ Babiuk, Andy. Beatles Gear. pp. 179, 182, 183.
- ↑ MacDonald 2005, p. 195.
- ↑ Womack 2014, p. 710.
- 1 2 Rodriguez 2012, pp. 115–16.
- ↑ Everett 1999, pp. 42–43.
- ↑ Lewisohn 1988, pp. 200–201.
- ↑ Beatles, The – Paperback Writer / Rain (Vinyl) at Discogs
- ↑ Kent, David (2005). Australian Chart Book (1940–1969). Turramurra: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-44439-5.
- ↑ "Austriancharts.at – The Beatles – Paperback Writer" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
- ↑ "Ultratop.be – The Beatles – Paperback Writer" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
- ↑ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 5702." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
- ↑ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Paperback Writer". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
- ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – The Beatles – Paperback Writer" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
- ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – The Beatles – Paperback Writer". VG-lista. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
- ↑ "Archive Chart: 1966-06-29" UK Singles Chart. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
- ↑ "The Beatles – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for The Beatles. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
- ↑ Hoffmann, Frank (1983). The Cash Box Singles Charts, 1950-1981. Metuchen, NJ & London: The Scarecrow Press, Inc. pp. 32–34.
- ↑ "Offizielle Deutsche Charts" (Enter "Beatles" in the search box) (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
- ↑ "American single certifications – The Beatles – Paperback Writer". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 14 May 2016. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH
- ↑ http://cincinnatilibrary.freegalmusic.com/artists/view/32292788/c29ueQ==|accessdate=11272016
References
- Aldridge, Alan, ed. (1990). The Beatles Illustrated Lyrics. Boston: Houghton Mifflin / Seymour Lawrence. ISBN 0-395-59426-X.
- Ayoub, Chuck (2008). "Paperback Writer Lyrics". Retrieved 5 March 2008.
- Colapinto, John (4 June 2007). "When I'm Sixty-Four". The New Yorker. Retrieved 24 February 2012.(subscription required)
- Emerick, Geoff (2006). Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of The Beatles. New York: Gotham (Penguin). ISBN 978-1-59240-269-4.
- Everett, Walter (1999). The Beatles as Musicians: Revolver Through the Anthology. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-512941-5.
- Fontenot, Robert (2008). "Paperback Writer". About.com. Retrieved 8 March 2008.
- Lewisohn, Mark (1988). The Beatles Recording Sessions. New York: Harmony Books. ISBN 0-517-57066-1.
- MacDonald, Ian (2005). Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties (Second Revised ed.). London: Pimlico (Rand). ISBN 1-84413-828-3.
- Pollack, Alan (22 December 1993). "Notes on "Paperback Writer" and "Rain"". Notes On ... Series.
- Rodriguez, Robert (2012). Revolver: How the Beatles Reimagined Rock 'n' Roll. Milwaukee, WI: Backbeat Books. ISBN 978-1-61713-009-0.
- Sheff, David (2000). All We Are Saying. St Martin's Griffin. ISBN 0-312-25464-4.
- "Paperback Writer". The Beatles Bible. 2008. Retrieved 11 October 2008.
- Turner, Steve (2005). A Hard Day's Write: The Stories Behind Every Beatles Song (3rd ed.). New York: Harper Paperbacks. ISBN 0-06-084409-4.
- Womack, Kenneth (2014). The Beatles Encyclopedia: Everything Fab Four. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-0-313-39171-2.
| Preceded by "Strangers in the Night" by Frank Sinatra |
UK number-one single 23–30 June 1966 |
Succeeded by "Sunny Afternoon" by The Kinks |
| Preceded by "Paint It, Black" by The Rolling Stones |
Billboard Hot 100 number-one single 25 June 1966 9 July 1966 |
Succeeded by "Strangers in the Night" by Frank Sinatra |