Into That Guild Night: Sir George Martin Quiz

Answer: Please Please Me

And with the success of "Please Please Me", George and the boys cut their first album in a marathon session that took less than a day. The album, also called "Please Please Me", contains a combination of Lennon and McCartney originals and covers of such songs as "Chains" and "Twist And Shout". The latter was the final song to be recorded and if you ever wonder why Lennon's vocal sounds sublimely shattered, it's because it was. By the end of this marathon session, his voice had practically packed it in. And yet it's a magnificent rendition.

There have always been doubts about the authenticity of the Top 40 charts of this era and the "Please Please Me" single either fulfilled George Martin's prophecy and hit number one or according to other sources stalled at number two. Whatever the case, America and the world was waiting in the wings.

Question and info brought to you by Sectant whose love of this song is unquestioned but whose favourite Beatles song is "A Day In The Life." And every other Beatles song!

Answer: Get Back

The song "Get Back" was written by Paul McCartney, while its producer was George Martin, and was released under the Beatles label as a single on 11th April 1969. Its subject matter is a guy named Jojo who's a loner from Arizona who moves to California in search of better fortunes. Throughout the song it's implored that Jojo shouldn't forget his roots i.e where he originally comes from, and to eventually come back to his roots.
This song became part of the "Let it Be" album which was the final Beatles album before the four of them eventually went their separate ways. "Let it Be" was also the title of a 1970 documentary film about the Beatles' origins and their rise to fame.
"Get Back" was number one on the Billboard Hot 100 songs in the US for five weeks in the first half of 1969.

"Return to Sender" was a famous hit single by Elvis Presley while the other two songs mentioned were recorded by the Beatles as well. "Here, There and Everywhere" was written by Paul McCartney while "Across the Universe" was written by John Lennon and was also included in the "Let it Be" album.

Answer: Getting Better

Appearing as track number four on side one of this amazing and historic album, the song 'Getting Better' was written, by and large, by Paul McCartney with its lyrical content being contributed to by John Lennon; Lennon himself had admitted that the song lyrics were written as an apology to those people in his past that he had mistreated or been violent towards, particularly, and even more surprisingly, women.

The track, which runs for a mere two minutes and forty eight seconds, has also been covered by British psychedelic rock guitarist Steve Hillage on his 1979 album 'Open' and by American rock band Cheap Trick on 'Sgt Pepper Live' their 2009 tribute to the recording of the album. Prior to his tenure with The Beatles, George Martin had worked with a wide range of artists including a certain Shane Fenton who went on to become the early 70s teen heartthrob Alvin Stardust.

Answer: Thomas Edison

Yes, step forward "Maxwell Edison, majoring in medicine...." the anything-but-hero of "Maxwell's Silver Hammer."

So even though the Beatles wrote a song that most certainly IS about a serial killer, it ended up being "Helter Skelter," - and a few other songs which definitely aren't - that Charles Manson (in)famously decided WERE about death and a forthcoming apocalypse. The Beatles often commented wryly that people seemed to be "better" at interpreting their songs than they were. Yes, we're looking at you, Lucy.

It took the Beatles ages to perfect the sound smorgasbord that makes up this song and by all accounts they all ended up thoroughly hating the track by the end of it all, but the result sounds amazing. It's a "secret pleasure" - one of those songs that you know you shouldn't really like because of its content, but it is so infectiously hummable....

Question contributed by solan_goose who, yes, did once have a great time playing serial killer florist Seymour Krelbourn in an amateur production of "The Little Shop Of Horrors" and, OK, has "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" as his favourite Beatles song but isn't like that in real life at all, oh dearie me no.... [innocent look]

Answer: I Feel Fine

"I Feel Fine" was released in Canada and the US by Capital on the album "Beatles '65", in late 1964.

The song is notable for the famous feedback in the opening note, probably the first deliberate use of feedback in a pop record. Then comes the great double-tracked riff, George and John playing together. The drum style was influenced by Ray Charles' "What'd I Say". Altogether a nifty little pop record, coming in at a brisk two minutes and 25 seconds. It was the final hit of the six-song streak the Beatles had that year at number one on the Billboard Hot 100.

And more than fifty years later, googling up the album cover, and listening to the song on youtube, agony still feels like that seven year old, dancing around the living room, singing into her hairbrush.

Answer: A Day in the Life

The atonal orchestral crescendo was originally conceived to link Lennon's and McCartney's sections of the song, and was repeated at the end. According to George Martin, he told every musician to begin with his instrument's lowest note and finish on or near its highest, and provided a "rough score" indicating approximately which note should have been reached on each instrument at the end of each of the 24 bars. "Of course", he said, "they all looked at me like I was mad."

For the final piano chord, played fortissimo on three pianos, the recording levels were gradually increased as the reverberations died away, enabling it to be heard for a good 40 seconds.

The whole thing might have been composed deliberately to frighten cats, but TabbyTom finds it strangely attractive.

Answer: John Lennon

Like most Beatles songs, "Hey Jude" is officially credited to Lennon and McCartney, but was written solely by McCartney. 'Macca' wrote a song called "Hey Jules" for Julian Lennon when his parents, John and Cynthia, were going through a divorce. Released in 1968, at seven minutes long it was at that time the longest song ever to top the UK pop charts.

"Hey Jude" is the Beatles song that darksplash sings most often - usually in the company of 16,000 other Heart of Midlothian football supporters, except we have adapted that very difficult final verse:
"Na, na, na,
nanna na, na
nanna na, na -
Jam Tarts"
(Jam Tarts being one of the nicknames of Hearts fans).

Answer: Across the Universe

"Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup
They slither wildly as they slip away across the universe
Pools of sorrow, waves of joy are drifting through my opened mind
Possessing and caressing me
Jai Guru Deva OM"

"Across the Universe" was originally recorded in 1968 and produced by George Martin. It was released in 1969 on the album "No One's Gonna Change Our World". It was remixed (several times) and released on the album "Let It Be".

"Across the Universe" has been covered by such notable artists as David Bowie (1975), Roger Waters (1985), Rufus Wainwright (2002), Seether (2008) the Scorpions (2011), and many others.

In 2007, a film by the same name was released, starring Jim Sturgess, Evan Rachel Wood, Joe Anderson, and T. V. Carpio, with cameos by Bono, Eddie Izzard, Joe Cocker, and others. The characters are all named after people in different Beatles songs (Prudence, Jude, Lucy, Mr. Kite, etc), and incorporates 34 songs written by members of The Beatles.

While SilverMoonsong has spent many a sleepless night being creative, she has yet to pen a song as glorious as this. Alas.

Answer: Magical Mystery Tour

'Magical Mystery Tour' was the title of four projects by The Beatles. The song was recorded and produced by The Beatles and Sir George Martin between April and May 1967. Originally released as part of a six track double EP in the UK, in the United States the recording was joined by five additional songs and released on the 27th of November 1967 as an LP.

This album had to wait until the 19th of November 1976 before it was released to the UK market. Uniquely the song, as a stand-alone, was never released as a single unlike many others recorded by The Beatles for their film projects.

The short made-for-television film that the song was to give its title to was unscripted and was mostly improvised by the cast which included the band, Victor Spinetti, Ivor Cutler and musician poet Viv Stanshall of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band amongst others. First aired on Boxing Day 1967 on BBC1, the film was poorly received and generally slated by critics and audiences alike... Maybe John, Paul, George and Ringo were losing the plot by this stage; I still think 'Magical Mystery Tour' is a great song!

Answer: Blackbird

"Blackbird" is from the 1968 "White Album."

1969's "Abbey Road", The Beatles' 11th studio album, was shadowed by their eventual breakup as a band (in 1970): the last recording sessions in which John, Paul, George and Ringo all took part were for "Abbey Road." Unsurprisingly, the band had to work through numerous creative differences on their way to what is now widely regarded as their best album, and George Martin was there to help shepherd them through. Paul had the idea for a medley; John wrote a few of the songs, but was skeptical of the idea. Martin pushed hard to make it happen; "I wanted to get John and Paul to think more seriously about their music," he explained, as quoted later in "Rolling Stone."

The result is phenomenal. Leading off with "You Never Give Me Your Money," an upbeat song that appears to be about the rather downbeat topic of financial troubles at Apple Records, the medley suddenly shifts into the slow, rich harmonies of "The Sun King" (whose lyrics echo "Here Comes the Sun" earlier in the album). "Mean Mr. Mustard" and "Polythene Pam" are quick, acerbic character studies with sneering vocals from John, while "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window" paints a wry portrait of a fan whose enthusiasm crosses the line to criminal behavior. "Golden Slumbers" begins as a quiet lullaby and builds to a soaring chorus, which then transitions seamlessly into the anthem "Carry That Weight." Chords from "You Never Give Me Your Money" reappear, tying the medley together, before the quiet epilogue of "The End," a deceptively simple aphorism given weight and magnificence by the sixteen minutes of music leading up to it.

CellarDoor contributed this question just so she could quote the line and thank Martin for his role in making it happen:

"And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make."