Written by: Lennon-McCartney
Recorded: 13, 14, 20 August 1968
Producer: George Martin
Engineer: Ken Scott
Released: 22 November 1968 (UK), 25 November 1968 (US)
John Lennon: vocals, backing vocals, lead guitar
Paul McCartney: bass
George Harrison: lead guitar
Ringo Starr: drums
Available on:
The Beatles (White Album)
John Lennon's most emotionally-revealing moment on the White Album, Yer Blues was written in Rishikesh, India. Balanced deftly between parody and earnestness, the song anticipated the raw, revelatory and confessional spirit of Lennon's solo work - most notable in Cold Turkey and the John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band album.
The funny thing about the [Maharishi's] camp was that although it was very beautiful and I was meditating about eight hours a day, I was writing the most miserable songs on earth. In Yer Blues, when I wrote, 'I'm so lonely I want to die,' I'm not kidding. That's how I felt.
Anthology
A cause of his anguish may have been Yoko Ono. Although their relationship had yet to begin, Ono wrote regularly to Lennon from England, and it is likely that she is the 'girl' the song is addressed to.
The Beatles recorded an acoustic demo of Yer Blues in May 1968, at George Harrison's house in Esher, Surrey. While lacking the raw power of the studio version, lyrically it was largely identical.
In the studio
The Beatles recorded Yer Blues in a small annexe room next to Abbey Road's studio two. The Beatles got the idea from a sarcastic comment made by engineer Ken Scott during the recording of George Harrison's Not Guilty.
George had this idea that he wanted to do it in the control room with the speakers blasting, so that he got more of an on-stage feel... I remember that John Lennon came in at one point and I turned to him and said, 'Bloody hell, the way you lot are carrying on you'll be wanting to record everything in the room next door!' The room next door was tiny, where the four-track tape machines were once kept, and it had no proper studio walls or acoustic set-up of any kind.Lennon replied, 'That's a great idea, let's try it on the next number!' The next number was Yer Blues and we literally had to set it all up - them and the instruments - in this minute room. That's how they recorded Yer Blues, and it worked out great!
The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, Mark Lewisohn
The Beatles began recording the song on 13 August 1968, with 14 takes of the rhythm track - drums, bass, rhythm and lead guitars, along with Lennon's lead vocals.
They then made a number of reduction mixes, to free up more space on the four-track tapes. Takes 15 and 16 were reductions of take six, and take 17 was a reduction of part of take 14.
For the first time in a Beatles session, the actual four-track tape was then edited. Normally a mix or a copy would be edited, to safeguard the original master tape from erroneous cuts.
The beginning of take 17 was then spliced onto the end of take 16. This brutal cut can clearly be heard at the 3'16" mark on the released version, with Lennon's guide vocals captured despite being sung off-mic.
Because of the lack of sound proofing and isolation in the annexe, a number of sounds from instruments and vocals spilled over into other tracks. These included guide vocals, and a discarded guitar solo that can be heard during the instrumental break.
On 14 August Lennon recorded a second lead vocal part. The 'Two, three' count-in, meanwhile, was recorded on 20 August, with Ringo Starr doing the honours.
Yer Blues, on the White Album, you can't top it. It was the four of us. That is what I'm saying: it was really because the four of us were in a box, a room about eight by eight, with no separation. It was this group that was together; it was like grunge rock of the sixties, really - grunge blues.
Anthology
Related articles:
- Recording, mixing: Yer Blues, What's The New Mary Jane
- Recording, editing: Sexy Sadie, Yer Blues
- Tape copying: Yer Blues, Don't Pass Me By
- Recording, mixing, editing: Yer Blues, Mother Nature's Son, Etcetera, Wild Honey Pie
- Recording: Revolution
What exactly does the word 'Yer' mean in the title 'Yer Blues'?
It means "Your" - it's a colloquialism.
it's an approximation of a workingclass north english accent(as blues is the music of the working man). yer instead of the more rounded your i would assume like d'yer m'ker or for an americal equivalent voodoo chile instead of voodoo child
How did Paul get his bass sound on "Yer Blues"? Do you know what bass and amp combo he used?
Ricky 4001S as usual. For most of the WA sessions Paul was playing through a Fender (silverface) Bassman; I expect he just used that in the closet, prob with the master volume knob rolled back to avoid killing people, but with max preamp distortion (gain).
i know that the original comment is 2 years old but acording to paul, he was playing a fender jazz bass on the white album sessions at that time and theres a big difference in sound between a fender jazz bass and a rick bass. thats not a rick bass on that song.
I'm particularly fond of the version John did for the Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus as part of a supergroup called the Dirty Mac. The band consisted of John, Eric Clapton, Mitch Mitchell, and Keith Richards. As great as the Beatles verion was, this was just a little tighter. I believe it was John's first public performance without the Beatles. It's on iTunes, if anyone wants to hear it.
The Rock and Roll Circus version is excellent, but nothing tops the White Album version.
Who is playing that second lead guitar? Is it Harrison? Lennon? Did Clapton get an uncredited solo here? The teasing of ths strings and overall sound of the guitar sounds VERY Clapton-like. And, it follows that Clapton was the one who did the second solo on both the Rock And Roll Circus version and the Live Peace In Toronto version.
So...who IS that playing that incredible sounding lead guitar?
John plays the first solo; George plays the second solo. It's put through an osciallator, which gives it that 'wobble effect'. Eric's guitar at the end of While My Guitar... was also oscillated.
Yeah that was a great performance until Yoko got her hands on a mic!
This is a wicked cool song. Ringo's right, it's like 60's grunge! The tone of the guitar solo is really nasty too and unlike any other one they ever did. Man, I wish they had shot a video of them recording "Yer Blues" in this tiny room.
"Paul was playing through a Fender (silverface) Bassman; I expect he just used that in the closet, prob with the master volume knob rolled back to avoid killing people, but with max preamp distortion (gain)."
You're making that up. The song was recorded in 1968 and master volume didn't appear on Fender Bassman amps until 1969.
always a favorite song of mine for its earnest rawness. Been listening to the remastered mono through quality earphones and you can actually "hear" the room they are in.
Anyone who has been in a band and has rehearsed in a tiny room will recognize the feel in that song.
My guess is that this was played loud as hell and everyone's ears were ringing by the end of it.
There's not much that is more fun than that.
Is the "Dylan's Mr. Jones" in the lyrics from Ballad of a Thin Man? Cause as far as I could tell, Mr. Jones wasn't suicidal in that...
Oh well, great song!
Mr. Jones is the subject of the massive put down that is Ballad Of A Thin Man and therefore should be feeling suicidal.
Presumably things had just gotten worse & worse for Mr. Jones in the 3 years since "Highway 61 Revisited".
I always hear the first solo as being played by John and the one that directly follows to be by George. Any thoughts?
The bit where two solos are simultaneously played in the left and right channel? Er... I dunno, they kinda sounded like John to me.
Mr Jones should have felt suicidal - Dylan was so withering in the lyrics!
I know this thread is old, but for the record, Paul played a Fender bass on this track, I watched them record this the night they did it...
i agree, i read that paul himself stated that he was using a fender jazz bass on the white album by that time and you can clearly hear that as fender jazz basses tend to be very deep and gurgly sounding unlike rickenbackers.
A very basic blues retread really. It's hard to listen to like 'Plastic Ono Band' is hard to listen to. It's not the happy upbeat Beatles we expect. As usual John's singing top notch and in its own class. Ringo's drumming is superb here. Paul is the most versatile bass player once again. But those guitars.... once again John's sense of tone rules and turns a simple lick into an awesome monster. I'm not certain right now of George's prominence here. There is this moaning guitar in the background in the later song that is a subtle but perfect feel.
OK, John's my favorite Beatles and I've known many musicians who have loved to jam on this song, but I hate it. Just hate it. It's so banal as a blues tune. I actually like the vocals--how could I ever hate John's vocals?--but as a blues tune it's sooooo *boring.* Blues may be simple, but it doesn't mean it has to be boring. There were a lot of British blues rock bands around this time doing this sort of stuff and nearly all of them very mediocre. This song just reminds me of those otherwise forgettable bands.