Written by: Harrison
Recorded: 27-29 January; 25 February; 16, 18 April 1969
Producers: George Martin, Chris Thomas
Engineer: Jeff Jarratt
Released: 30 May 1969 (UK), 4 June 1969 (US)
George Harrison: vocals, guitars, organ, bass
John Lennon: backing vocals
Paul McCartney: backing vocals, guitar, piano
Ringo Starr: drums
Available on:
Past Masters
Anthology 3
Written by George Harrison, Old Brown Shoe was originally released as the b-side of The Ballad Of John And Yoko. It remains a largely overlooked gem from The Beatles' back catalogue.
I started the chord sequences on the piano, which I don't really play, and then began writing ideas for the words from various opposites... Again, it's the duality of things - yes no, up down, left right, right wrong, etcetera.
I Me Mine, 1980
In the studio
The Beatles performed two versions Old Brown Shoe on 27 January 1969, during the Let It Be sessions at Apple Studios. The first was sung by Harrison with just a piano accompaniment, followed by an attempt by the whole group with Billy Preston.
The next day they returned to the song, playing through it eight times, and once more on 29 January. These versions have all been bootlegged from the hours of rehearsals and jams taped by The Beatles for the Let It Be album.
On 25 February, his 26th birthday, Harrison recorded two takes of a solo demo of Old Brown Shoe. He also recorded versions of All Things Must Pass and Something, possibly so the other Beatles could learn their parts. Why he needed to do this for Old Brown Shoe is unknown - possibly he was dissatisfied with the previous group attempts, and wanted them to reconsider the song.
Each of the demos can be heard on Anthology 3. Of the three, Old Brown Shoe was the most elaborate. Harrison began with vocals and piano, before adding a number of guitar overdubs.
The Beatles eventually began work on the song on 16 April 1969. In the morning Harrison recorded a second demo version, and that evening the group taped four takes.
Track one contained Ringo Starr's drums, while the second and third featured Harrison's guide vocals and lead guitar. Paul McCartney's piano was recorded onto track four, and John Lennon added rhythm guitar onto track eight.
Lennon and McCartney then overdubbed backing vocals onto track five. Electric guitar and bass parts were added by McCartney and Harrison on six, both instruments doubling up the same riffs. Harrison's lead vocals were the last to be added, onto track eight, for which he positioned himself in a corner of the studio to give an intimate sound.
Two days later Lennon's rhythm guitar was wiped in favour of a Hammond organ part. Another lead guitar track was also recorded, both of which were played by Harrison.
Related articles:
- Recording, mixing: Old Brown Shoe, Something
- Recording: Old Brown Shoe, All Things Must Pass, Something
- Recording, mixing: Old Brown Shoe, I Want You (She's So Heavy)
- Recording: If I Needed Someone, In My Life
- Recording, mixing: Run For Your Life, We Can Work It Out, The Word, I'm Looking Through You
George played bass, not Paul. http://www.creemmagazine.com/_site/BeatGoesOn/GeorgeHarrison/Interview001.html
This is one of the best bass line I've heard, I always tought it was Paul!
Paul did play the bass according to Ian Macdonald in Revolution in the head. George played a tracking line with his lead guitar to make the funky sound. Although I did read in an interview that George claimed to have played the bass on this. John Lennon played rhythm guitar on this track although we edited out and replaced by George's organ.
What kind of piano is that? It's just like the hammer does a roll on the piano strings or something like that
Sounds like the bass line on the demo by George where he played everything. Think it is George, sounds like a Bass VI
At the end of the song the words come out to me as " tu la tura tu. I don't know if I am hearing this correctly. It might be Indian.
To me, they seem like "Do-dah! Doo-dah-doo!"
Is it just me or does the song sound like it's getting louder around the end?
I agree - it seems to get louder as it ends -
Think George played a Fender Jazz. He had one at that time. Same bass part as on the demo. Seen a pic of George playin a Jazz.
It is clearly McCartney on the bass. I believe tha the Harrison quote is from a time when memories (and attitudes) tended to adversely impact memory. Something akin to lennon's response to the authorship of "Getting Better".
The quote is from 1987. George is on bass. George is actually competent on bass.
One of the greatest of all Beatles numbers. A glorious piece of work, ridiculously neglected by the generality and a tribute to George's equally ridiculously underrated luminous talent as writer/arranger.
Is there any interview with Paul McCartney where he speaks about this bass playing? There must be one.
Paul used to record all the bass parts last. It wouldn't surprise me if he re-recorded the bass track without telling George.
No, Paul wouldn´t dare do that with George´s song.
But sure he did re-record bass for Let It Be without telling John who would not mind anyway
Sure, George played drums too.
Come on ! We all Beatle fans must know that this particular bass can´t be George´s because he´s never been a fast time guitar (or bass) player. It might have been Paul or whoever else playing bass (Klaus Voorman, John Entwistle, or any other friend). The band was eventually broken so...it could have happened
If George did play bass, it's possible that he could have recorded it at half speed, which would enable him to play those fast bass riffs that sound great when played back at normal speed. The bass line does sound high, which could be the result of this, as recording at half speed results in the instrument being one octave higher when played back at normal speed. Does anyone think this could be the case?
The bassline in this sounds JUST like in the demo, and VERY similar in style to Taxman.
And we have a secondary source from one of the primary players confirming that it is George.
It's George on bass, guys.
Yeah, I don't know why there's a controversy about this. George clearly, emphatically says that he played bass himself. I know of no other example of George trying to claim credit for something somebody else played. He never denied that the "Taxman" solo was Paul's. And Paul would surely make an effort to correct the record if he thought George was wrongly taking credit.
I tend to believe that George played the bass part probably played on the Fender Jazz or Fender Bass VI.
@Carlos, George later played a 6 string bass on a song on Belinda Carlisle's album "Runaway Horses"
George said (in the interview) that he played the bass line. I believe him. But read this: "They then overdubbed lead guitar and bass onto take four (...)". It states that when they were doing overdubs the lead guitar and the bass were playing simultaneously (onto the same track). George must have been playing the guitar, so I presume that Paul played the bass, which leads us to the conclusion that the bass line on "Old Brown Shoe" is played both by George and Paul (who did the overdubs).
You're confusing takes with tracks. They recorded four takes, the last of which had various overdubs added to it. According to the session notes, the doubled-up guitar and bass riffs were played simultaneously onto track five - it's unclear exactly who did what, but possible that Harrison was on bass and McCartney on guitar. Then again, Harrison's memory may have been faulty at the time of the Creem interview.
Thank you for correcting my mistake, I've used the wrong quotation. Nevertheless, it is still true that - as you said - these riffs were played at the same time. But all in all, we still don't know who played which instrument and I believe that the "Paul on lead guitar" version seems as plausible as the "Paul on the bass". Which one is the right one? I don't know. It seems to be the matter of opinion.
I like how George near the end of this song, Paul in "Mother Nature's Son" and John in "Polythene Pam" each manage to reuse The Beatles most famous tagline, "yeah, yeah, yeah" within the context of the song which I imagine was a very conscious inclusion by them. There's probably at least one other occasion where the line's used within a post 1963 Beatles song but I can't think of it.
The most obvious one is probably All You Need Is Love, towards the end of the song.
I'd never really noticed George using the phrase on this song. I disagree, though, that this and Mother Nature's Son were very consciously included due to their similarity to She Loves You - both instances sound ad-libbed and have different melodies from SLY. However, I do think Lennon's use of the phrase on Polythene Pam was a deliberate reuse of the phrase.