After listening to this song for over 50 years it is still as fresh as the first time I heard it. This song was just over three years after "She Loves You". At this point they were absolutely free to do what they wanted in the studio, no questions asked. And they kept setting the bar for everyone else. What did we do to deserve The Beatles?
This was start when they start producing new music that could not be played live! They were restricted to four tracks. I can only imagine what they could if they had today number of tracks.
I'm 71 and British, so I witnessed first hand the entirety of The Beatles arc, from their early catchy pop songs right through to their later more sophisticated work. They were true innovators throughout, using the latest recording technology of the time and together with George Martin, weaving their music into something approaching magic. I was always confident that their music would last as long as my generation did, but it's becoming clear as I watch young people discovering and raving about them, they might just be timeless.
The Beatles were the most influential band in modern music history! Listen to any bands top hits of the 1960s through 1963, the listen to what the music scene was AFTER the Beatles hit the airwaves! The differences are stunning!
John as a kid always wonder why people walked by the orphanage, strawberry fields, without a care of kids who didn’t have a home and him not having actual parents knew he was lucky cause he had his aunt. The thought of those kids without anyone stuck with him.
Every Beatles album was an event. From 1963 to 1970 a massive flood of creativity all while in their twenties. The voice at the end said "cranberry sauce" but was mistakenly heard to be "I bury Paul" fueling the story that Paul was dead.
Yes! We also looked this up too. www.beatlesagain.com/bmyths.html#:~:text=Beatles%20Myths%20%2D%20Internet%20Beatles%20Album&text=A%20common%20belief%20is%20that,%2C%20not%20once%2C%20but%20twice.
@labajadaman Oh yes and Paul's moustache was not because of the accident it was because it was a different person. Some believe that is the "big secret" Heather Mills has...
I doubt you can truly appreciate the huge impact their music had on America at the time. JFK had just died when The Beatles came to America and reinvigorated its youth. They gave us hope that JFK's trust in us would be fulfilled. Too bad our generation let them all down so badly.
Lucy's comments struck a chord. I first listened to the Sgt Pepper album just after its release, at around 3am after a party, slightly stoned. It was like bathing in a mixture of weirdness and sheer brilliance. Once on the turntable (those were the days) it stayed there, playing on repeat
But, there was a whole "Paul is Dead" conspiracy at that time which stated that that same "cranberry sauce" was actually Lennon stating "I buried Paul". They also referenced the pictures of the band in the Magical Mystery Tour album which had each Beatle with a red rose, but Paul is wearing a black rose.....the clues go on and on. i remember being a 7 year old listening to this song and being creeped out by it. Love the Beatles....so creative.
Yes, thanks for debunking the silly "I buried Paul" rumour. It's quite clear on takes 24 and 25 that Lennon is just riffing on the title - it's just that, once the tape was slowed down in the splicing process, it sounds a bit doomy! 😦
Before the Beatles, rock bands and groups usually didnt write their own lyrics. After the Beatles, the number of rock band exploded, and bands/groups writing their own lyrics was in demand.
Yes. After the success of the Beatles, record companies became, for several years, more than willing to indulge and encourage their artistes to experiment...
I believe it was the most important single to ever be released. One side is a joyful look at the way life had been. The other side is an exploration of the uncertain times to come. So it has one foot in idyllic suburbia, one foot in the unknown, ominous future.
Yes. Both songs are nostalgic, and this has something to do with LSD. I also remember when Yellow Submarine came out. In those days it sounded subversive and trippy. Not just a song for children or jolly campfire singalongs.
GOAT’s for a reason.I lived that era,being 9 when The Beatles exploded into first the British consciousness then the rest of the world,especially the USA. Wasn’t just a musical influence either,they directly influenced culture and fashion too. As the hippies used to say back then,before the Beatles the world was black and white,then they came and everything was vivid colour from then on. Can’t describe the vibe,you had to be there I guess.
Strawberry Fields Forever -- and, astoundingly, the whole mind-blowing Sgt. Pepper album -- was made using only 4-track recorders. Their debut album, which went to #1 almost instantly, was recorded on a 2-track machine, most of it done live in a single day. It wasn't until their final album recording sessions, for Abbey Road, that they had full access to an 8-track system. But with the talent the Beatles had as musicians and composers, and with the skill of producer George Martin and his team, they were doing things no one thought possible, or had even conceived of, with 4-track recording.
Firstly, by their own admission they could not read nor write music, hence they were not composers, nor musicians. A musician can be handed music written by a composer and play it. The beatles with the exception of George and Ringo could read music.
Strawberry Field Forever/ Penny Lane was released in February, 1967 as a double A-side single and is still regarded as the greatest single in history. This song is still as fresh and weird and wonderful now as it was in 1967. A true masterpiece of music and genius on every level. These two songs were the first two recorded for the "Sgt Peppers" project before it was "Peppers" all they knew was that they were the first two songs recorded for their next album. Damn shame that due to corporate greed that these two never made it onto "Pepper". They hadn't released a single in a whole seven months (could you imagine that?) The big wigs at EMI began to pressure their manager Brian Epstein who in turn began to pressure their producer, George Martin for a single, Martin resisted but eventually relented and put them out as a single. He stated years later that the only regret he ever had recording The Beatles was caving to the pressure and releasing that single. There's always this big debate about which is the greatest Lp ever, "Sgt Peppers or their 1966 Lp "Revolver", pretty nice position for a band to be in, wouldn't you agree? If these two are on Pepper then easily Pepper but without them I lean towards "Revolver", it's just so damn quirky, it's all over the map and reeks of pot and LSD. Phenomenal record. Peace ❤❤❤❤
Their music transcends time. They were able to make music of all different sounds and lyrics and they brought in a whole Lotta people that love their difference all these years later the greatest band ever.
Amazing track! I Want to Hold Your Hand was released in November of 1963 and they started laying the tracks for Strawberry Fields Forever starting in November 1966. That’s how advanced they were, in the short time they were together. If you really want to hear the Beatles at their loudest, play Helter Skelter. Thanks for posting this. J
I was born in 74 and at 5 years old heard my dads Beatles collection and became instantly fascinated by them. No band has ever had such an enormous and influential impact on music and popular culture as what the Beatles had, and probably never will.
You should note that this and Penny Lane videos were the first ever made for TV consumption that lead to MTV & the whole music video phenomenon. They simply didn't feel like traveling to make tv appearances to plug songs so they sent out these short films as avatars, lol.
Strawberry Fields was the name of the garden park right next door to John Lennon's aunt Mimi's house. A part of Central Park in NY was christened the same in tribute. The quarrymen, Johnny Silver and the moon dogs, The Silver Beetles, The Silver Beatles, and then just Beatles (Stu Sutcliff, original bassist, named the group) in 1961.
Yeah...What some may not be aware of is this..... Strawberry Fields was recorded twice.... both at different speeds and music styles. Through the recording genius of their recording engineer George Martan, using completely analog recording tricks that he pioneered he created this recording masterpiece... combining both styles and tracks...... that was inspired largely by what the Beatles envision for it It you listen really close you can actually tell how both (music) tracks and styles were combined. It is said that the track on one tape player that had one version was electronically slowed down to match the speed of the other track on the other tape machine....to be combined in a third tape machine All this is what gives this recording its unique, almost surreal sound .
If you listen to Supremes Reflections and Traffic . Hole In My Shoe you can see the influence . It was Motown's 1st stab at Sychodelic soul with Reflections .
As I understand it, which could be very wrong - John said that, this version, in a certain key, just needed to be slowed down and the result would match another version in a lower key - what you need to understand is, there was nothing, other than 1/4 tape, with 4 channels, back then - but, what john said turned out to be right, pretty much, and the 'hands on skill' of the engineers, made it work.
Strawberry Fields forever is a sonic masterpiece, and absolute treat for our ears , for me the greatest song of all time. The Beatles could do anything. The last words you heard was " cranberry sauce" the conspiracy theorist thought it was "I buried Paul"
They started recording the amazing song on November 24th, 1966 and ended on December 22nd, 1966 before and during the Sgt. Pepper's sessions. The song is based on Take 7. New sub guys and greetings from Puerto Rico!
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11:00 In 1965 The Beatles closed _Rubber Soul_ with a song called "Run For Your Life", a mean spirited tune that probably wouldn't be released today whose lyrics I can't bring myself to quote. In the same album, in a pretty ballad called "Girl", Lennon sings _"...Was she told when she was young that pain would lead to pleasure? Did she understand it when they said that a man must break his back to earn his day of leisure? Will she still believe it when he's dead?..."_ Two years later, in a McCartney song called "It's Getting Better", Lennon again sings _"...I used to be cruel to my woman, I beat her and kept her apart from the things that she loved. Man, I was mean but I'm changing my scene and I'm doing the best that I can..."_ And this guy thinks that all Beatle music was happy and shallow and reminiscent of Tele Tubbies?
The English Sheepdog you see at the end of the video? That is Paul’s dog, Martha… namesake of the song, “Martha My Dear” Paul wrote for the White Album. Nifty tidbit :)
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Strawberry Fields was a delapidated park where John Lennon used to play as a child. It belonged on Sgt Peppers album but the record company demanded a single.
Childhood was a very troubled and confusing time for John Lennon. Psychedelia was about regressing into childhood. The tonal moods and textures capture that ambiguity so well in this unique and remarkable song.
You should begin with their first LP. They were ahead of the pack from the outset: their first LP was #1 for 30 weeks, then was replaced at #1 by their second LP, released on November 22, 1963 (the day JFK was assassinated), which was still #1 in January 1964 with their first LP still at #2. "The Beatles" were LARGE , which is 'way bigger than HUGE.
@@galaxyjams I first heard them on Chicago radio in October, 1963, and on another all-night radio program in November-December, 1963 began hearing "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and in response to increasing listener requestions, "I Saw Her Standing There". I was 15 when they hit the US.
Also, for further proof that the Beatles recorded and released anything they wanted, check out the B-side to their No. 1 hit "Let It Be" -- which was "You Know My Name, Look Up the Number." That's a crazy track!
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Hey Bulldog is one of my fave Fabs songs,but was never an album track,”just” a b-side!! My god,bands today would make a deal with the devil to record Beatles throwaways.
That was a comedy track according to McCartney. They had it as an incomplete song from many years before. It missed being thrown to another artists which often happened. Most struggle for songs while the Beatles had them falling out of their pockets.
In the last few decades, my appreciation for the MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR album has grown and grown. BABY YOU'RE A RICH MAN has now been a long-time favorite but it has been for these last few decades. Then to have the talking beard trip into the fade-out... du-uh...
At this point Lennon and Harrison had started taking LSD. Paul was reluctant to try it so his "Sgt. Pepper's" songs aren't very psychedelic. 'Strawberry Fields Forever' and 'Penny Lane' were meant to be on that album but the record company wanted another single out. The British psychedelic sound was more about childhood memories, the literature they were exposed to growing up, nostalgia. Listen to songs from that era by Donovan, Traffic and Pink Floyd's 1st album which they recorded down the hall from the Beatles. In the U.S. psychedelic music was more long jams and meandering instrumental solos.
About the man in the leather jacket - for a person who doesn't have any background on the greatest most influential ACT ever - your comments were some of the, if not the, best articulation I have heard on the group and this song EVER!
John was a lover of wordplay. Any phrase that attracted him, was put into these word jumbles of John. So daring for the 60’s. Still misunderstood today! 😂 peace! ✌🏼
People like to say that the Beatles played teen dance music. Yet if you actually listen to the songs, they are generally not dance music. In fact, even the very early songs were not all that danceable. I recall seeing an episode of American Bandstand (q.v.) which had a segment called 'Rate-A-Record'. Teens in attendance at the show would be pulled from the audience and asked for their evaluations of new songs of the day. On one show they reviewed 'Please Please Me', the Beatles first big hit in the UK but as yet unknown in the US at the time. The girl reviewing it said she liked it well enough, but it wasn't very good to dance to, so she gave it a middling rating (The show was really more about dancing, rather than music.) Beatles music was always written in a way that was more for listening than dancing, at least to my ear.
They did also spell it beetles and beatals when they first progressed from the Quarrymen to the beatles.. The name was chosen to sort of copy buddy Holly hollys band the crickets.. and early in John's lennons career he had johnny and the rainbows and johnny and the moondogs
Some people interpreted the words at the end as "I buried Paul' along with the whole "Paul is Dead" conspiracy theory, though some people think "I'm very bored" and sometimes "Cranberry Sauce".
As tedious as I sometimes find the online Beatles fanatics, ( I mean, how many times do I wanna watch someone rank their 12 LPs?), I do enjoy hearing people not immersed In the 60s mythology give a fresh listen to things that are Now part of my life at a fundamental level. It makes me hear it in a totally new way and appreciate it. That’s really cool…
I've been listening to this song (repeatedly) since the late 80s and it never gets boring. I think it was the author of Revolution in the Head that talked about the difference between British and US songwriters; the former having a greater inclination, and licence, for less literal more surreal lyrics. I'm not sure Lennon really knew exactly what the song was about.
Lennon said at the end “I buried Paul” which inspired speculation about whether Paul had really died. On the cover of Abbey Road, the license plate says “32 If.” Lennon sang about what it meant to be human, but his songs were also inspired by random things-a poster, Julian’s artwork, etc. The great thing about the Beatles, too, is they grew musically with each album. They pushed themselves.
Yes, Ween, what a cool unique band like the Beatles in that way. White Pepper has some strong Beatle vibes to my ear, and probably their most serious and cohesive album.
After wondering if this was going to be another depressingly ignorant Beatles diss session, I enjoyed your review of this classic piece of pioneering psychedelia. Yes, definitely more sonic scientists than tele-tubbies...! 😀 That chirpy 'boy band' label some have tried to attach to them, and then denigrate them with, is so far from the truth of that creative powerhouse that was the collective talents and imagination of the Beatles, it's crazy. Sure they had management in their early recording career that scrubbed them up and made them superficialy respectable enough to infiltrate the mainstream, and sure, they started off working within the idiom of 50s and early 60s popular music; but even back then, the musical, social and cultural impact of their energy, originality, diversity and evolving musicality when their first little pop/beat ditties hit the UK charts, followed (in order) by Europe, the US, and the rest of the world, simply can't be overstated. If you'd like to be further initiated into the mysterious Beatles cult (hilarious comment!) and finally dispel the happy, bouncy little 'tele-tubbies' myth I'd warmly recommend - if you haven't already - you give a listen to: Tomorrow Never Knows A Day in the Life Helter Skelter I Want You (She's So Heavy) Oh Darling - and, just for fun - 1 after 909 - an early teenage composition showing their simpler rock'n'roll roots, imitating their own heroes of that genre. Those last two I'd recommend you watch live from their famous final Rooftop Concert. Listen carefully to A Day in the Life perhaps before watching the video, which can be a bit distracting, since there's so much going on in it that's quite interesting (lots of famous faces and psychedelic weirdness) but doesn't have all that much to do with the song. Saccharine myths dispelled, their sweeter, gentler/ more sensitive songs are also well worth a listen.. for example: And I Love Her Blackbird In My Life Because Here Comes the Sun And, sometime, lie back and listen to the whole of Abbey Road, or at least the medley from Side Two (make sure it's the original album version). It was their final collective recorded offering to the world, and - in my humble opinion, at least - it's their masterwork.
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These guys have so many musical firsts. Backwards, doubling, on and on. They have many different plateaus during their short time frame. How influential? how about four consecutive months at no. 1, with four different songs. and they had multiple no. 1s every year they existed.
On the later topic, that the Beatles just did "what they wanted" - sorry, that is so wide of the mark - the Abbey Road Studio had the facillity to allow the Beatles to expand the envelope into new areas because the people there, on the desks and inoverall control (Georege Martin), had the skills, freedon, time and desire, to solidify, what the guys expressed, into something close enough to make it into reality...
Lucy is very smart it's left open to interpretation what it meant for John to write it don't mean the same for somebody to hear it I Am The Walrus is the epitome of John Lennon saying stop looking for Clues or hidden meanings and interpret it for yourself. I Am the Walrus... highly recommended
John's aunt asked that he stay out of the garden next door, and he replied something along the lines of Nobody's going to be hung for doing it, so I the last verse his opinion was to disagree with her assertion to stay out.
There is a sadness to it, as well . ( the voice at the end was believed to be saying "I buried Paul" .. there was a whole big thing about that at the time )
In regard to their experimental/innovative side... when they started out, they were given ONE DAY to record the 10 songs they needed for their first album (they already had 4 tracks from their two single releases) and it topped the UK charts for 30 weeks. The next album they might have had around 3 or 4 hours per session to record a new song - and that LP topped the charts for another 20 weeks. By 1964 they had become global stars with every release selling millions of copies and topping charts around the world. They got a bit more time in the studio, maybe taking a whole day to record a song. By the time 1966 came around, they had made so much money for EMI that they could take WAY more time to experiment with all sorts of new ideas, new sounds, new instruments, new recording techniques, etc. And the "Revolver" album was the result. At this point... they could have any time they wanted in the studio - to do pretty much anything they wanted to try. And the "Penny Lane"/"Strawberry Fields" single - and then the "Sgt. Pepper" album was the result. From 1966 on... they basically became free to be as adventurous as they wanted to be - and go after anything they wanted to try. What they came up with was always fresh, new, surprising, wonderful and amazing. The Beatles made it possible for all bands that came after them... to have a much more open mind about what was possible to achieve in a recording studio.
First you think Rubber Soul was the best,then Revolver hits you then Sgt Peppers comes along,you get fanatics for the white Album and Abbey Road.Well Night Before came on the radio while i was driving and since then,i cant get it outta my head and that was from Help.Hard Days Night is a superb musical journey.What is it about those four lads that produced this musical magic.My grandson was in the car with me when i played Hendrix,Bowie,Zeppelin he was nodding his head to some of the tracks but as soon as the Beatles came on,he lifted his head and asked me who that group was.This is a boy of 11.For the next 40 minutes of our drive,he kept asking me questions about them.He said they sound brilliant,now this is a kid that has never heard their music.That is the only way i can explain the magic of the Beatles.The boy never heard them before yet that was the group that made an enormous impression on him.Since then i have found out he loves Ringo and Hard Days Night,the film and i got him some drums for juniors.My afternoon naps have gone and a bit of my peace.Its all worth it though because i see in my grandson how i fell in love with the Beatles.The best band in the world and i have proof now.
The fact that this was recorded less than 4 years after "I wanna hold your hand" is truly mesmerising.
Their progression was truly outstanding.
They heard the Indian musical instruments first in Help.
Lennon’s father abandoned the family…
Cranberry Sauce was said by John Lennon
Anyone who thinks there's a particular type/style of Beatles song doesn't know the Beatles. They always did something different.
Definitely and that's why they were so influential and we are still talking about them today and will forever in the future.
They always did something different but you always knew that it was them. True talent.
Agree there, stimopoet! No other group hit as many genres as the Fab Four. Folk, rock, classical, psychedelic, ballad, blues, reggae, pop.
That’s because most fans only have one way of playing and their songs basically sound similar.
But not the Beatles.
@@jamesdrynan Country, World Music, etc.
After listening to this song for over 50 years it is still as fresh as the first time I heard it. This song was just over three years after "She Loves You". At this point they were absolutely free to do what they wanted in the studio, no questions asked. And they kept setting the bar for everyone else. What did we do to deserve The Beatles?
Their musical growth was amazing and yes, how fortunate we have their catalog. Always fresh, still relevant. Amazing.
This was start when they start producing new music that could not be played live! They were restricted to four tracks. I can only imagine what they could if they had today number of tracks.
The drumming on this track is surreal.
Indeed!
Outstanding!
The timpani or whatever it is that’s thundering in the chorus sounds incredible, especially in headphones.
Strawberry fields was an orphanage he grew up next to!! Remember a place you have a memory as a kid?
"Remember a place (...) as a kid?"
Yes, several.
I'm 71 and British, so I witnessed first hand the entirety of The Beatles arc, from their early catchy pop songs right through to their later more sophisticated work. They were true innovators throughout, using the latest recording technology of the time and together with George Martin, weaving their music into something approaching magic. I was always confident that their music would last as long as my generation did, but it's becoming clear as I watch young people discovering and raving about them, they might just be timeless.
I:m 70 and Chilean. I grew up listening to these guys
The Beatles were amazing. Every song is different.❤
Hey Sally welcome to the channel thanks so much for your comment :)
More Beatles please!!
Most Definitely more is coming! Please subscribe if you haven't! Become a member of the Galaxy Jams Fam!
@@galaxyjams yes sir!! just subbed!
As a 14 yr old when they appeared, you can't imagine the effect they had. Just look at the charts before they arrived.
Absolutely must have been stunning.
The Beatles were the most influential band in modern music history! Listen to any bands top hits of the 1960s through 1963, the listen to what the music scene was AFTER the Beatles hit the airwaves! The differences are stunning!
I listened to the Beatles for years. I never tire of them. They have so much depth.
John as a kid always wonder why people walked by the orphanage, strawberry fields, without a care of kids who didn’t have a home and him not having actual parents knew he was lucky cause he had his aunt. The thought of those kids without anyone stuck with him.
"who are the beatles?" 😀 I grew up with them, witnessed beatlemania in 1964. So I'm officially old. They were the sound of my childhood.
Every Beatles album was an event. From 1963 to 1970 a massive flood of creativity all while in their twenties. The voice at the end said "cranberry sauce" but was mistakenly heard to be "I bury Paul" fueling the story that Paul was dead.
Thank you for your input!
“Cranberry sauce” at the very end was misinterpreted by fans as “I buried Paul”, one of the many “clues” about Paul’s supposed death.
Yes! We also looked this up too. www.beatlesagain.com/bmyths.html#:~:text=Beatles%20Myths%20%2D%20Internet%20Beatles%20Album&text=A%20common%20belief%20is%20that,%2C%20not%20once%2C%20but%20twice.
Yeah, those cranberries died for our sauce, and people want to make it all about Paul. The nerve!
I hadn't read that when I first heard this record and was convinced that the voice was saying "I'm very bored!"
@labajadaman Oh yes and Paul's moustache was not because of the accident it was because it was a different person. Some believe that is the "big secret" Heather Mills has...
@@isabelsilva62023Oh for god's sake...really 🙄🧐
I doubt you can truly appreciate the huge impact their music had on America at the time. JFK had just died when The Beatles came to America and reinvigorated its youth. They gave us hope that JFK's trust in us would be fulfilled. Too bad our generation let them all down so badly.
One of the greatest songs ever written and recorded...
Lucy's comments struck a chord. I first listened to the Sgt Pepper album just after its release, at around 3am after a party, slightly stoned. It was like bathing in a mixture of weirdness and sheer brilliance. Once on the turntable (those were the days) it stayed there, playing on repeat
Your comment made Lucy so happy :)
A Genuine Masterpiece.
At the end of the song John says "cranberry sauce." The tracks were recorded November 1966--around Thanksgiving Day in the US.
Hmmmm! Interesting!
But, there was a whole "Paul is Dead" conspiracy at that time which stated that that same "cranberry sauce" was actually Lennon stating "I buried Paul". They also referenced the pictures of the band in the Magical Mystery Tour album which had each Beatle with a red rose, but Paul is wearing a black rose.....the clues go on and on. i remember being a 7 year old listening to this song and being creeped out by it. Love the Beatles....so creative.
Yes, thanks for debunking the silly "I buried Paul" rumour. It's quite clear on takes 24 and 25 that Lennon is just riffing on the title - it's just that, once the tape was slowed down in the splicing process, it sounds a bit doomy! 😦
Before the Beatles, rock bands and groups usually didnt write their own lyrics. After the Beatles, the number of rock band exploded, and bands/groups writing their own lyrics was in demand.
Yes. After the success of the Beatles, record companies became, for several years, more than willing to indulge and encourage their artistes to experiment...
I believe it was the most important single to ever be released. One side is a joyful look at the way life had been. The other side is an exploration of the uncertain times to come. So it has one foot in idyllic suburbia, one foot in the unknown, ominous future.
William, great way to look at the song. We agree. Thank you.
Yes. Both songs are nostalgic, and this has something to do with LSD. I also remember when Yellow Submarine came out. In those days it sounded subversive and trippy. Not just a song for children or jolly campfire singalongs.
GOAT’s for a reason.I lived that era,being 9 when The Beatles exploded into first the British consciousness then the rest of the world,especially the USA.
Wasn’t just a musical influence either,they directly influenced culture and fashion too.
As the hippies used to say back then,before the Beatles the world was black and white,then they came and everything was vivid colour from then on.
Can’t describe the vibe,you had to be there I guess.
We can only imagine.
Me too 9 in 53. They hit me like a ton of bricks! I still play part time as a sub in a Beatles tribute band!
So true!
Strawberry Fields Forever -- and, astoundingly, the whole mind-blowing Sgt. Pepper album -- was made using only 4-track recorders. Their debut album, which went to #1 almost instantly, was recorded on a 2-track machine, most of it done live in a single day. It wasn't until their final album recording sessions, for Abbey Road, that they had full access to an 8-track system. But with the talent the Beatles had as musicians and composers, and with the skill of producer George Martin and his team, they were doing things no one thought possible, or had even conceived of, with 4-track recording.
Indeed Michael T! Thank you for letting us know that. Very cool. Amazing.
Firstly, by their own admission they could not read nor write music, hence they were not composers, nor musicians. A musician can be handed music written by a composer and play it. The beatles with the exception of George and Ringo could read music.
Strawberry Field Forever/ Penny Lane was released in February, 1967 as a double A-side single and is still regarded as the greatest single in history.
This song is still as fresh and weird and wonderful now as it was in 1967.
A true masterpiece of music and genius on every level. These two songs were the first two recorded for the "Sgt Peppers" project before it was "Peppers" all they knew was that they were the first two songs recorded for their next album. Damn shame that due to corporate greed that these two never made it onto "Pepper". They hadn't released a single in a whole seven months
(could you imagine that?)
The big wigs at EMI began to pressure their manager Brian Epstein who in turn began to pressure their producer, George Martin for a single, Martin resisted but eventually relented and put them out as a single. He stated years later that the only regret he ever had recording The Beatles was caving to the pressure and releasing that single. There's always this big debate about which is the greatest Lp ever, "Sgt Peppers or their 1966 Lp
"Revolver", pretty nice position for a band to be in, wouldn't you agree? If these two are on Pepper then easily Pepper but without them I lean towards "Revolver", it's just so damn quirky, it's all over the map and reeks of pot and LSD. Phenomenal record. Peace ❤❤❤❤
Thank you Doug. Great info.
Their music transcends time. They were able to make music of all different sounds and lyrics and they brought in a whole Lotta people that love their difference all these years later the greatest band ever.
Amazing track! I Want to Hold Your Hand was released in November of 1963 and they started laying the tracks for Strawberry Fields Forever starting in November 1966. That’s how advanced they were, in the short time they were together. If you really want to hear the Beatles at their loudest, play Helter Skelter. Thanks for posting this. J
I was born in 74 and at 5 years old heard my dads Beatles collection and became instantly fascinated by them. No band has ever had such an enormous and influential impact on music and popular culture as what the Beatles had, and probably never will.
You should note that this and Penny Lane videos were the first ever made for TV consumption that lead to MTV & the whole music video phenomenon. They simply didn't feel like traveling to make tv appearances to plug songs so they sent out these short films as avatars, lol.
Strawberry Fields was the name of the garden park right next door to John Lennon's aunt Mimi's house. A part of Central Park in NY was christened the same in tribute. The quarrymen, Johnny Silver and the moon dogs, The Silver Beetles, The Silver Beatles, and then just Beatles (Stu Sutcliff, original bassist, named the group) in 1961.
Info is always a great thing. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Yeah...What some may not be aware of is this.....
Strawberry Fields was recorded twice.... both at different speeds and music styles.
Through the recording genius of their recording engineer George Martan, using completely analog recording tricks that he pioneered he created this recording masterpiece... combining both styles and tracks...... that was inspired largely by what the Beatles envision for it
It you listen really close you can actually tell how both (music) tracks and styles were combined.
It is said that the track on one tape player that had one version was electronically slowed down to match the speed of the other track on the other tape machine....to be combined in a third tape machine
All this is what gives this recording its unique, almost surreal sound .
The greatest musical act in history.
A truly wonderful song
It's dreamy half memories of pleasant times in his childhood. Pieces of phrases that hint but don't clearly state.
If you listen to Supremes Reflections and Traffic . Hole In My Shoe you can see the influence . It was Motown's 1st stab at Sychodelic soul with Reflections .
We will have to check that out, thanks for the tip!
13:07
the name of that dog is Martha,...and MCcartney wrote a song for her in the white album...
As I understand it, which could be very wrong - John said that, this version, in a certain key, just needed to be slowed down and the result would match another version in a lower key - what you need to understand is, there was nothing, other than 1/4 tape, with 4 channels, back then - but, what john said turned out to be right, pretty much, and the 'hands on skill' of the engineers, made it work.
Strawberry Fields forever is a sonic masterpiece, and absolute treat for our ears , for me the greatest song of all time. The Beatles could do anything. The last words you heard was " cranberry sauce" the conspiracy theorist thought it was "I buried Paul"
They started recording the amazing song on November 24th, 1966 and ended on December 22nd, 1966 before and during the Sgt. Pepper's sessions. The song is based on Take 7. New sub guys and greetings from Puerto Rico!
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@@galaxyjams subbed to your channel guys. Please do more The Beatles reactions. I grew with them back in 1977 lol
11:00 In 1965 The Beatles closed _Rubber Soul_ with a song called "Run For Your Life", a mean spirited tune that probably wouldn't be released today whose lyrics I can't bring myself to quote. In the same album, in a pretty ballad called "Girl", Lennon sings _"...Was she told when she was young that pain would lead to pleasure? Did she understand it when they said that a man must break his back to earn his day of leisure? Will she still believe it when he's dead?..."_ Two years later, in a McCartney song called "It's Getting Better", Lennon again sings _"...I used to be cruel to my woman, I beat her and kept her apart from the things that she loved. Man, I was mean but I'm changing my scene and I'm doing the best that I can..."_ And this guy thinks that all Beatle music was happy and shallow and reminiscent of Tele Tubbies?
Classic, the fade out near the end
A little part at the end sounds like Pink Floyd's See Emily play. x
my fave Beatles song! ♥
One of ours now as well.
Hard to recognize but this was before music videos. The beatles were precursors in this area too.
In pretty much every area definitely.
The English Sheepdog you see at the end of the video? That is Paul’s dog, Martha… namesake of the song, “Martha My Dear” Paul wrote for the White Album. Nifty tidbit :)
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Love that song!
#Fact: At the end of the song you guys can hear barely the Cranberry Sauce twice by John Lennon and Paul Is Dead in the left channel.
so cool!
@@galaxyjams thanks! If you want more info about Beatles songs, let me know
"Strawberry Fields" was the name of a boys orphanage near Johns home in Liverpool.
Strawberry Field was an orphan home that John would enter the grounds to explore and sometimes play with some of the children…
"frankensteining the song together" love that!!
More Beatles please great réaction
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Very abstract. That was the magic.
"The Beatles" were over all about SOUND, including lyrically.
Strawberry Fields was a delapidated park where John Lennon used to play as a child.
It belonged on Sgt Peppers album but the record company demanded a single.
"The Beatles" kicked the door down and made all that followed possible.
He says cranberry Sauce at the end. Also this was recorded on 4 track.
Childhood was a very troubled and confusing time for John Lennon. Psychedelia was about regressing into childhood. The tonal moods and textures capture that ambiguity so well in this unique and remarkable song.
You should begin with their first LP. They were ahead of the pack from the outset: their first LP was #1 for 30 weeks, then was replaced at #1 by their second LP, released on November 22, 1963 (the day JFK was assassinated), which was still #1 in January 1964 with their first LP still at #2.
"The Beatles" were LARGE , which is 'way bigger than HUGE.
EJ has been listening to them since the early 70s. The rest of the crew it's all new. So more reactions to come.
@@galaxyjams I first heard them on Chicago radio in October, 1963, and on another all-night radio program in November-December, 1963 began hearing "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and in response to increasing listener requestions, "I Saw Her Standing There".
I was 15 when they hit the US.
Also, for further proof that the Beatles recorded and released anything they wanted, check out the B-side to their No. 1 hit "Let It Be" -- which was "You Know My Name, Look Up the Number." That's a crazy track!
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Hey Bulldog is one of my fave Fabs songs,but was never an album track,”just” a b-side!!
My god,bands today would make a deal with the devil to record Beatles throwaways.
That was a comedy track according to McCartney. They had it as an incomplete song from many years before. It missed being thrown to another artists which often happened. Most struggle for songs while the Beatles had them falling out of their pockets.
With The Who drummer Keith Moon playing sax on "You KNow My Name"! Crazy stuff. 😊
It’s on the yellow submarine soundtrack.
One of the two greatest recorings of all time. The other is the song "Please Please Me".
In the last few decades, my appreciation for the MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR album has grown and grown. BABY YOU'RE A RICH MAN has now been a long-time favorite but it has been for these last few decades. Then to have the talking beard trip into the fade-out... du-uh...
In the end John says 'I buried Paul'. Meaning his guitar was over Paul's. Became part of the Paul is dead narrative
At this point Lennon and Harrison had started taking LSD. Paul was reluctant to try it so his "Sgt. Pepper's" songs aren't very psychedelic. 'Strawberry Fields Forever' and 'Penny Lane' were meant to be on that album but the record company wanted another single out.
The British psychedelic sound was more about childhood memories, the literature they were exposed to growing up, nostalgia. Listen to songs from that era by Donovan, Traffic and Pink Floyd's 1st album which they recorded down the hall from the Beatles.
In the U.S. psychedelic music was more long jams and meandering instrumental solos.
Great info thanks!
The lyric is exciting, thrilling, wonderful.
strawberry fields was a playground John use to go to
About the man in the leather jacket - for a person who doesn't have any background on the greatest most influential ACT ever - your comments were some of the, if not the, best articulation I have heard on the group and this song EVER!
Very astute and sophisticated observations. Many facets of the band's recordings were unique, and wildly unconventional.
John was a lover of wordplay. Any phrase that attracted him, was put into these word jumbles of John. So daring for the 60’s. Still misunderstood today! 😂 peace! ✌🏼
that was fun, thanks! btw, Govan rhymes with “lovin’”.
Good to know!
Really thoughtful.
I’ll just echo what everyone else is saying and agree that Ringos drumming makes this song so special..❤❤
John had a fucked up childhood. But he was also wicked fucking hilarious.
Absolutely. He loved using humor. I love him in all their movies - EJ
People like to say that the Beatles played teen dance music. Yet if you actually listen to the songs, they are generally not dance music. In fact, even the very early songs were not all that danceable. I recall seeing an episode of American Bandstand (q.v.) which had a segment called 'Rate-A-Record'. Teens in attendance at the show would be pulled from the audience and asked for their evaluations of new songs of the day. On one show they reviewed 'Please Please Me', the Beatles first big hit in the UK but as yet unknown in the US at the time. The girl reviewing it said she liked it well enough, but it wasn't very good to dance to, so she gave it a middling rating (The show was really more about dancing, rather than music.) Beatles music was always written in a way that was more for listening than dancing, at least to my ear.
The Beatles and George martin were a bunch of genius level people ... especially lennon
They did also spell it beetles and beatals when they first progressed from the Quarrymen to the beatles.. The name was chosen to sort of copy buddy Holly hollys band the crickets.. and early in John's lennons career he had johnny and the rainbows and johnny and the moondogs
That voice at the end is John saying "cranberry sauce"!!
Lennnon clled this "psychological autobiography". It's how "idea" works. It was about his childhood.
Some people interpreted the words at the end as "I buried Paul' along with the whole "Paul is Dead" conspiracy theory, though some people think "I'm very bored" and sometimes "Cranberry Sauce".
As tedious as I sometimes find the online Beatles fanatics, ( I mean, how many times do I wanna watch someone rank their 12 LPs?), I do enjoy hearing people not immersed In the 60s mythology give a fresh listen to things that are Now part of my life at a fundamental level. It makes me hear it in a totally new way and appreciate it. That’s really cool…
I've been listening to this song (repeatedly) since the late 80s and it never gets boring. I think it was the author of Revolution in the Head that talked about the difference between British and US songwriters; the former having a greater inclination, and licence, for less literal more surreal lyrics. I'm not sure Lennon really knew exactly what the song was about.
Best song ever!
That voice at the end: this came out when the Paul is dead thing was hot. Most popular opinion was “I buried Paul.”
Lennon said at the end “I buried Paul” which inspired speculation about whether Paul had really died. On the cover of Abbey Road, the license plate says “32 If.” Lennon sang about what it meant to be human, but his songs were also inspired by random things-a poster, Julian’s artwork, etc. The great thing about the Beatles, too, is they grew musically with each album. They pushed themselves.
He said " cranberry sauce ".
@@Frank-sm9yl Nope
Yes, Ween, what a cool unique band like the Beatles in that way. White Pepper has some strong Beatle vibes to my ear, and probably their most serious and cohesive album.
After wondering if this was going to be another depressingly ignorant Beatles diss session, I enjoyed your review of this classic piece of pioneering psychedelia.
Yes, definitely more sonic scientists than tele-tubbies...! 😀
That chirpy 'boy band' label some have tried to attach to them, and then denigrate them with, is so far from the truth of that creative powerhouse that was the collective talents and imagination of the Beatles, it's crazy.
Sure they had management in their early recording career that scrubbed them up and made them superficialy respectable enough to infiltrate the mainstream, and sure, they started off working within the idiom of 50s and early 60s popular music; but even back then, the musical, social and cultural impact of their energy, originality, diversity and evolving musicality when their first little pop/beat ditties hit the UK charts, followed (in order) by Europe, the US, and the rest of the world, simply can't be overstated.
If you'd like to be further initiated into the mysterious Beatles cult (hilarious comment!) and finally dispel the happy, bouncy little 'tele-tubbies' myth I'd warmly recommend - if you haven't already - you give a listen to:
Tomorrow Never Knows
A Day in the Life
Helter Skelter
I Want You (She's So Heavy)
Oh Darling - and, just for fun -
1 after 909 - an early teenage composition showing their simpler rock'n'roll roots, imitating their own heroes of that genre.
Those last two I'd recommend you watch live from their famous final Rooftop Concert. Listen carefully to A Day in the Life perhaps before watching the video, which can be a bit distracting, since there's so much going on in it that's quite interesting (lots of famous faces and psychedelic weirdness) but doesn't have all that much to do with the song.
Saccharine myths dispelled, their sweeter, gentler/ more sensitive songs are also well worth a listen.. for example:
And I Love Her
Blackbird
In My Life
Because
Here Comes the Sun
And, sometime, lie back and listen to the whole of Abbey Road, or at least the medley from Side Two (make sure it's the original album version). It was their final collective recorded offering to the world, and - in my humble opinion, at least - it's their masterwork.
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Early on the were recording on two-track, with a second two-track for overdubs.
Origin of prog rock.
These guys have so many musical firsts. Backwards, doubling, on and on. They have many different plateaus during their short time frame. How influential? how about four consecutive months at no. 1, with four different songs. and they had multiple no. 1s every year they existed.
Yes, they were so influential, you can hear that in most music during and since their days together.
One of the greatest recordings in history. The other is their single "Please Please Me".
On the later topic, that the Beatles just did "what they wanted" - sorry, that is so wide of the mark - the Abbey Road Studio had the facillity to allow the Beatles to expand the envelope into new areas because the people there, on the desks and inoverall control (Georege Martin), had the skills, freedon, time and desire, to solidify, what the guys expressed, into something close enough to make it into reality...
The voice at the end is John saying, for no particular reason, "Cranberry sauce."
Lucy is very smart it's left open to interpretation what it meant for John to write it don't mean the same for somebody to hear it I Am The Walrus is the epitome of John Lennon saying stop looking for Clues or hidden meanings and interpret it for yourself. I Am the Walrus... highly recommended
John's aunt asked that he stay out of the garden next door, and he replied something along the lines of Nobody's going to be hung for doing it, so I the last verse his opinion was to disagree with her assertion to stay out.
There is a sadness to it, as well . ( the voice at the end was believed to be saying "I buried Paul" .. there was a whole big thing about that at the time )
I believe you are incorred, it is John saying "I am very bored"
@@alfredlandesman5165 No it WAS "Cranberry Sauce" slowed down
www.beatlesagain.com/bmyths.html#:~:text=Beatles%20Myths%20%2D%20Internet%20Beatles%20Album&text=A%20common%20belief%20is%20that,%2C%20not%20once%2C%20but%20twice.
When I was 14 I already wanted to play drums like Ringo but Strawberry Fields blew my little mind. My sister's weed was also helpful.
Believe Lennon lost his Mom when he was way younger, hence "Mom you had me, I never had you"`Lennon
In regard to their experimental/innovative side... when they started out, they were given ONE DAY to record the 10 songs they needed for their first album (they already had 4 tracks from their two single releases) and it topped the UK charts for 30 weeks. The next album they might have had around 3 or 4 hours per session to record a new song - and that LP topped the charts for another 20 weeks. By 1964 they had become global stars with every release selling millions of copies and topping charts around the world. They got a bit more time in the studio, maybe taking a whole day to record a song. By the time 1966 came around, they had made so much money for EMI that they could take WAY more time to experiment with all sorts of new ideas, new sounds, new instruments, new recording techniques, etc. And the "Revolver" album was the result. At this point... they could have any time they wanted in the studio - to do pretty much anything they wanted to try. And the "Penny Lane"/"Strawberry Fields" single - and then the "Sgt. Pepper" album was the result. From 1966 on... they basically became free to be as adventurous as they wanted to be - and go after anything they wanted to try. What they came up with was always fresh, new, surprising, wonderful and amazing. The Beatles made it possible for all bands that came after them... to have a much more open mind about what was possible to achieve in a recording studio.
First you think Rubber Soul was the best,then Revolver hits you then Sgt Peppers comes along,you get fanatics for the white Album and Abbey Road.Well Night Before came on the radio while i was driving and since then,i cant get it outta my head and that was from Help.Hard Days Night is a superb musical journey.What is it about those four lads that produced this musical magic.My grandson was in the car with me when i played Hendrix,Bowie,Zeppelin he was nodding his head to some of the tracks but as soon as the Beatles came on,he lifted his head and asked me who that group was.This is a boy of 11.For the next 40 minutes of our drive,he kept asking me questions about them.He said they sound brilliant,now this is a kid that has never heard their music.That is the only way i can explain the magic of the Beatles.The boy never heard them before yet that was the group that made an enormous impression on him.Since then i have found out he loves Ringo and Hard Days Night,the film and i got him some drums for juniors.My afternoon naps have gone and a bit of my peace.Its all worth it though because i see in my grandson how i fell in love with the Beatles.The best band in the world and i have proof now.
More beatles pls
Heads blew up when this was released.
And to think these guys were in their twenties when they broke up. I saw them at the Baltimore civic center , I was nine and knew they were special