Written by: Lennon-McCartney
Recorded: 7, 8, 11 April; 18 May; 17 June 1966
Producer: George Martin
Engineer: Geoff Emerick
Released: 5 August 1966 (UK), 8 August 1966 (US)
Paul McCartney: vocals, bass
John Lennon: rhythm guitar
George Harrison: lead guitar
Ringo Starr: drums, tambourine
George Martin: organ
Eddie Thornton, Ian Hamer, Les Condon: trumpet
Alan Branscombe, Peter Coe: tenor saxophone
Available on:
Revolver
Anthology 2
The second song, after Tomorrow Never Knows, to be recorded for Revolver, Got To Get You Into My Life was a Motown-influenced pop number written by Paul McCartney.
John Lennon particularly admired the lyrics of Got To Get You Into My Life, interpreting them as being about LSD.
I think that was one of his best songs, too, because the lyrics are good - and I didn't write them. When I say that he could write lyrics if he took the effort, here's an example. It actually describes his experience taking acid. I think that's what he's talking about. I couldn't swear to it, but I think it was a result of that.
In fact, the song was about marijuana, as McCartney later explained.
Got To Get You Into My Life was one I wrote when I had first been introduced to pot. I'd been a rather straight working-class lad but when we started to get into pot it seemed to me to be quite uplifting... I didn't have a hard time with it and to me it was mind-expanding, literally mind-expanding.
So Got To Get You Into My Life is really a song about that, it's not to a person, it's actually about pot. It's saying, I'm going to do this. This is not a bad idea. So it's actually an ode to pot, like someone else might write an ode to chocolate or a good claret.
Many Years From Now, Barry Miles
In the studio
The song took some time to get right in the studio - the Anthology 2 album has a version from the first day's recording, 7 April, played on a harmonium and sounding quite different to the final arrangement heard on Revolver.
The next day The Beatles tried a different arrangement, ending up with the rhythm track they settled on. On 11 April they overdubbed a guitar part, but the song remained untouched again until 18 May.
On that day they added Got To Get You Into My Life's distinctive brass and woodwind parts, plus lead and backing vocals and a guitar part. A final guitar overdub was recorded on 17 June.
The Beatles hired two members of Georgie Fame's group The Blue Flames, who Lennon and McCartney knew from the London club scene. Eddie Thornton and Peter Coe performed along with other freelance jazz musicians.
The Beatles wanted a definite jazz feel. Paul and George Martin were in charge. There was nothing written down but Paul sat at the piano and showed us what he wanted and we played with the rhythm track in our headphones.
I remember that we tried it a few times to get the feel right and then John Lennon, who was in the control room, suddenly rushed out, stuck his thumb aloft and shouted 'Got it!' George Harrison got a little bit involved too but Ringo sat playing draughts in the corner.
The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, Mark Lewisohn
Related articles:
- Recording: Got To Get You Into My Life
- Recording, mixing: Got To Get You Into My Life, Love You To
- Recording: Tomorrow Never Knows, Got To Get You Into My Life
- And Your Bird Can Sing
- UK LP: Revolver
My favorite Revolver song, sounds so big!
I think the guitars were part of the rhythm track, listen to the left channel, you can hear guitar bleed.
Excellent track but not my favourite recording - I'm always wishing the guitars were a little louder throughout, and not so much buried by the horns
Everett’s take:
Track one features Paul’s bass, Ringo’s heavily limited drums and a rhythm guitar (John?) which is heard to be often edited out. Track two has a tambourine and organ.
Track three contained three trumpets, two tenor saxes with mikes right in the bells and the signal heavily limited. The trumpets doubled their parts in an additional take for the ending in a tape reduction that also allows Paul to add a lead vocal, superimposed on the organ / tambourine track.
The fourth track features Paul’s double-tracked vocal, a quiet fuzz guitar that is most edited out and – necessitating a further reduction – George’s loudly ringing Leslie-treated guitar solo.
Why are the drum fills so down in the mix? Old "golden ears" must of been day dreaming about how he wanted to marry Paul again.
Supposedly there is a better mix of this song with louder drums on the 70's era U.S. Apple pressings of this album. The guys who wrote "Fab 4 FAQ" state this in their book. Matrix should read ST 1-2576, ST 2-2576 (No "X" in matrix numbers)