The Beatles Universe, Features Page writes: INSIDE THE SONGS ~ HEY BULLDOG. Today, our TBU Creator and Managing Editor - Mike Montana - and the author of the what is currently the best selling Beatles book on Amazon [The Beatles And Their Revolutionary Bass Player] - Dennis Alstrand - take a look into what made [initially] a throw away song like HEY BULLDOG [meant for the B side of LADY MADONNA] into such a great song and one of their craziest sessions. Mike: Hi Dennis. Today, lets dig deep into this beautiful Beatles gem. For years this has been what I could say is our most appreciated lesser known Beatles song in The Beatles Universe [our sister page]. Dennis: TBU has taste. Its a killer record. Mike: Since it was recorded to be a B side the guys seemed incredibly loose and the track just boils over with fun and crazy ass energy. Dennis: In early 1968, the Beatles had three songs they wanted to record before they took off for India: Across the Universe, The Inner Light and Lady Madonna. They were productive boys during the time and apparently having great fun recording their new songs. They ended up knocking those three great songs out very quickly. So quickly that they booked the studio at Abbey Road for Sunday, Feb. 11 to record a video of Lady Madonna for promotional purposes. Once in the studio they decided instead to record a song they hadnt worked on yet, Hey Bulldog (which is why there is a video of them recording the song). Hey Bulldog was started, finished and mixed within 10 hours. Right from the opening, the recording has a feel of Hey! You out there! listen to this!, dont you think? Mike: I do ... lets start with the opening piano notes. Dennis: The piano at the start is recorded very loudly ... Mike: ... thats one hard and very funky intro ... talk about the way Georges guitar gets in their and then the whole thing just cranks into overdrive ... Dennis: ... You sure thats George on the solo? I dont know, it just sounds like John to me, but I defer to you cause its just a guess. Mike: I dont know for sure, but on the film, it sure looks like George playing. However, with our membership, SOMEONE will know for sure and let us know via comments ... Dennis: ,,, cool, back the guitar, I LOVE that solo too, tt moves the song as John and Paul yell in the background. This was the Beatles working together so well as John and Paul yell in the background. This was the Beatles working together so confidently. Mike: Now my favorite part of doing INSIDE THE SONGS with you Dennis, please give your breakdown on this song starting with groove established right off the bat, a groove that seems to stay with long after the song has finished ... Dennis: ... probably, like, forever. Its special to me in a way because that line is the first Beatle bass line I ever learned. One of the cool aspects about it, is that Ringo has some deliberately off beat drums....and it works! The bass part moves the song like a runaway train. Staring off with the doubling of the piano line, but played with more flair than the piano ... then during the verses ... Paul did what he did best on John and Georges songs... he plays solid, grooving, rocking bass guitar. Nice little jams up the neck during the You can talk to me. Mike: It always gets up my nose when people say The Beatles were just a pop band because when they wanted to rock they were a four man wrecking crew ... Dennis ... four man wrecking crew...I love that. I Want You (Shes So Heavy) Helter Skelter ... and Hey Bulldog is right there too. Mike: Paul and John were in the vocal booth together just having a blast and when Paul howls like a [bull]dog ... John goes crazy encouraging Paul to do more. It hits a primal nerve ... something that rock and roll does better than anything else. Dennis: They frequently had great fun singing together. It was something they never lost. Shoot, You Know My Name, The Ballad of John and Yoko ... Mike: Final thoughts on HEY BULLDOG? Dennis: February 11th, 1968 was a big day in the history of the Beatles. It was a fun day (they recorded Hey Bulldog) but there was a dark ending to it. John and Paul - as is extremely obvious - had great fun creating the vocal parts and the Paul/dog - John/master bit at the end. It was pretty common for John and Paul to ad lib and mess around when they thought a song would be faded out...this time the fun part was left in the mix for the record. Awesome. It was the first time Yoko had gone into the Beatles studio. For that we have an interesting side story. Both John and Yoko have talked about this day and told the same story. When they left the studio, John was hoping Yoko would be impressed that the band had put together such a good song so quickly and had such fun doing it. Yokos response was that it was childish and not up to the standards she thought John Lennon should have for a recording. No knock on Yoko, but I think if you listened closely enough you would have heard a bell tolling off in the distance in London at that moment. Mike: WOW! The sound of giant GONG indicating a whole change in The Beatles future. Excellent, Dennis. I would like to note that Dennis & I will do INSIDE THE SONGS three times a week here on TBU Features Page. Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Dont forget you can order his new book THE BEATLES AND THEIR REVOLUTIONARY BASS PLAYER by going to his site: dennisalstrand and he will autograph a copy just for you. See you all again on Wednesday when INSIDE THE SONGS returns.
Posted on: Mon, 28 Jul 2014 01:26:48 +0000
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