Written by: Lennon-McCartney
Recorded: 11 November 1965
Producer: George Martin
Engineer: Norman Smith
Released: 3 December 1965 (UK), 6 December 1965 (US)
Paul McCartney: vocals, bass, piano
John Lennon: backing vocals
George Harrison: backing vocals, rhythm guitar, tambourine
Ringo Starr: drums
Mal Evans: Hammond organ
Available on:
Rubber Soul
Written by Paul McCartney about his then-faltering relationship with Jane Asher, You Won't See Me was recorded during The Beatles' last session for the Rubber Soul album.
It was written at her parents' house in London's Wimpole Street, while Asher had temporarily moved away from McCartney to perform in an adaptation of Great Expectations at the Old Vic theatre in Bristol. The song recounts McCartney's frustration and vulnerability at being unable to contact her.
At 3'23", You Won't See Me was The Beatles' longest recording to date. The song was written by McCartney alone, and was inspired by the Tamla Motown sound.
This was written around two little notes, a very slim phrase, a two-note progression that I had very high on the first two strings of the guitar: the E and the B strings. I had it high up on the high E position, and I just let the note on the B string descend a semitone at a time, and kept the top note the same, and against that I was playing a descending chromatic scale. Then I wrote the tune for You Won't See Me against it...To me it was very Motown-flavoured. It's got a James Jamerson feel. He was the Motown bass player, he was fabulous, the guy who did all those great melodic bass lines. It was him, me and Brian Wilson who were doing melodic bass lines at that time, all from completely different angles, LA, Detroit and London, all picking up on what each other did.
Many Years From Now, Barry Miles
In the studio
The Beatles took part in a 13-hour session to finish Rubber Soul, beginning at 6pm on 11 November 1965 and ending at 7am the following morning.
The group recorded two takes of the rhythm track and a number of overdubs. These included a Hammond organ part played by The Beatles' assistant Mal Evans, whose contribution was limited to a single note held throughout the final verse.
The Beatles also recorded Girl during the same session, and completed the songs Wait and I'm Looking Through You by adding additional overdubs to existing rhythm tracks.
There is no lead guitar. John played the rhythm guitar during the backing recording, while George played tambourine. Ringo played drums on the backing track and overdubbed the hi-hat part.
I always thought it was John who played the rhythm guitar part. This is the first confirming comment I've come across.
How do you know John played the guitar part instead of George? Not that it really is that important in the scheme of things as, really, the three singers on this all contributed to the overall sound of the song and also it is impressive that they reportedly did this in only a couple of takes as they were under a deadline to finish the album.
Sometime, Bob Marley said that this song was a strong influence in his reggae music.
Who played the guitar on the track? There is a guitar on the recording, you know
Underrated. The bass rolls along so well. Piano is great but my fave part is the backing vocals.
Paul played this live recently. The Rock Band game dreamscape is very cool too. Very cool for a lot of songs actually.
Dig those extra-hoarse "la la la" backing vocals! No doubt they would have redone those if they weren't so desperate for time. Me, I think they're just fine the way they are.
One of my favourite Beatles songs. While going through my synthesizer phase in 1983 I released a cover version of this in Holland. Check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeMpom3T574
This is one of those Beatles gems that were not often heard on the radio. This song also didn't make it to the Red Album that educated so many of us who grew up in the 70's as to what we had missed.
I first heard it in a college rathskeller when I was 16 and it basically blew me away with its harmonies. The true measure of a great band is often how good are the songs that they never play on the radio or put on compilation albums. Like Sway by the Stones, this is a great, great tune that many people don't know, in spite of being on Rubber Soul and Sway's being on Sticky Fingers.
I went right out to buy Rubber Soul, after hearing this cut, but then I couldn't decide which version to buy, the American version, or the British version, but that is a whole different story.
Just wanted tosay that I think Ringo's drumming on the track is excellent
I love this song. My favorite part is the harmony!!! This is a really fun song to play for beginner guitarist too
ok folks just casually listening to this track from different sources and I have a question for all of you. At the 2:32 in the song there is something in the background most likely John saying something - talking. Anyone know about this? I heard this for the very 1st time today through headphones. I love the track but was taken back by this odd little something. Anyone else?
Anyone have any thoughts about why the song changes tempo throughout? It's always been evident to me. It almost sounds deliberate...almost.