Written by: Lennon-McCartney
Recorded: 11 August 1964
Producer: George Martin
Engineer: Norman Smith
Released: 4 December 1964 (UK), 15 December 1964 (US)
John Lennon: vocals, acoustic rhythm guitar
Paul McCartney: vocals, bass
George Harrison: lead guitar
Ringo Starr: drums
Available on:
Beatles For Sale
An even collaboration between Lennon and McCartney, Baby's In Black was written in a hotel room while The Beatles were on tour in the summer of 1964.
It has been speculated that the song is about Astrid Kirchherr, the German photographer and artist whom The Beatles befriended in Hamburg. She was engaged to the group's first bass player, Stuart Sutcliffe, who died of a brain haemorrhage in April 1962.
Baby's In Black we did because we like waltz time - we used to do If You Gotta Make A Fool Of Somebody, a cool 3/4 blues thing. And other bands would notice that and say, 'Shit man, you're doing something in 3/4.' So we'd got known for that. And I think also John and I wanted to do something bluesy, a bit darker, more grown-up, rather than just straight pop. It was more 'baby's in black' as in mourning. Our favourite colour was black, as well
Anthology
By 1964 Lennon and McCartney had began to write alone, although they continued to help each other complete songs when the need arose. Baby's In Black, however, was a joint effort.
It was very much co-written and we both sang it. Sometimes the harmony that I was writing in sympathy to John's melody would take over and become a stronger melody. Suddenly a piebald rabbit came out of the hat! When people wrote out the music score they would ask, 'Which one is the melody?' because it was so co-written that you could actually take either. We rather liked this one. It was not so much a work job, there was a bit more cred about this one. It's got a good middle.
Many Years From Now, Barry Miles
The song became a key part of The Beatles' live shows, right up until their final concert on 29 August 1966, at San Francisco's Candlestick Park. They also performed it at Shea Stadium and at the Hollywood Bowl. A version from one of their Hollywood Bowl shows was included on the Real Love single in 1996, and is unavailable elsewhere.
Baby's In Black was typically the third song in the group's set, often following Rock And Roll Music and Long Tall Sally. "We used to put that in there, and think, 'Well, they won't know quite what to make of this but it's cool'," McCartney later recalled.
In the studio
The first song to be recorded for Beatles For Sale, Baby's In Black was completed in a single session on 11 August 1964.
It took 14 takes to perfect, although only five of those were complete. Lennon and McCartney sang their parts simultaneously into the same microphone, to give a feeling of closeness.
The opening guitar note caused particular problems during the session. After the track was completed, George Harrison taped a number of edit pieces consisting of variations of the note, although none were used.
Related articles:
- Recording: Baby's In Black
- Recording, mixing: I'm A Loser, Mr Moonlight, Baby's In Black, Leave My Kitten Alone
- Live: Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles
- Recording, mixing: I Don't Want To Spoil The Party, Rock And Roll Music, Words Of Love, Baby's In Black, I'm A Loser, Kansas City/Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey!, Honey Don't, What You're Doing, Another Beatles Christmas Record
- Mixing: I'll Follow The Sun, Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby, Rock And Roll Music, Words Of Love, Mr Moonlight, I Don't Want To Spoil The Party, I'm A Loser, Baby's In Black, No Reply, I Feel Fine
The Hollywood Bowl live version is positively surreal. They're playing one of the most "grown up" sounding songs they had written to date and the music is being completely ignored for all the screaming. They could have been playing "Chopsticks" up there and it wouldn't have mattered.
They actually sounded quite good considering they couldn't hear themselves very well.