Studio Two, EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Producer: Chris Thomas
Engineer: Ken Scott
The Beatles had recorded three lengthy rehearsal takes of ‘Helter Skelter’ on 18 July 1968. During this 7pm-2.30am session, however, the song was transformed from a slow blues jam into the frantic cacophony heard on the White Album.
This was also the first session in which George Martin’s assistant Chris Thomas had a formal production role, although he had been present at a number of earlier Beatles recordings.
At the beginning of the session The Beatles warmed up with a version of Leiber and Stoller’s ‘(You’re So Square) Baby I Don’t Care’. The song had been made famous by Elvis Presley in the 1957 film Jailhouse Rock, and was also recorded the following year by Buddy Holly. The 1968 recording was released in November 2018 on the 50th anniversary box set of the White Album.
The Beatles recorded 18 takes of ‘Helter Skelter’, numbered 4-21, on this night. The last of these provided the basis of the album version. Paul McCartney played the opening guitar riff and further rhythm guitar, while John Lennon was on bass guitar and Ringo Starr played a blistering drum part.
The version on the album was out of control. They were completely out of their heads that night. But, as usual, a blind eye was turned to what the Beatles did in the studio. Everyone knew what substances they were taking but they were really a law unto themselves in the studio. As long as they didn’t do anything too outrageous things were tolerated.
The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, Mark Lewisohn
‘Helter Skelter’ was given further overdubs on the following evening. These included lead and backing vocals, lead guitar, piano, more drums, trumpet and saxophone.
Also on this day...
- 2018: Ringo Starr live: Century Center, South Bend, Indiana
- 2016: Album release: Live At The Hollywood Bowl
- 2014: The Art Of Paul McCartney tribute album announced
- 2014: The Beatles’ remastered mono vinyl collection gets worldwide release
- 2009: The Beatles’ mono and stereo remasters are released
- 1971: US album release: Imagine by John Lennon
- 1969: John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison meet to discuss their future
- 1962: Live: Cavern Club, Liverpool (evening)
- 1961: Live: Aintree Institute, Liverpool
- 1960: Live: Indra Club, Hamburg
Want more? Visit the Beatles history section.
It’s widely stated that Lennon played bass and McCartney played guitar on the basic track of Helter Skelter, but listening to “Second Version – take 17” (on last year’s reissue) it seems clear that Macca is playing bass. First – at 0:11 — he’s using the bass to make an instruction before they start playing. Also, at 1:57, his vocal ad-libs exactly mirror the bass part, which to me strongly suggests that he’s playing bass. Thoughts anyone…?
https://open.spotify.com/track/6jUgJWnRUHWC0HqCTR4YAf
I agree with you. It’s well-documented that John absolutely disliked playing the bass guitar, but he loved playing keyboards as well as guitar, even to the point of having two pianos (one in the sunroom and the other in the attic studio), a mellotron and an organ at Kenwood in addition to his guitars and tape machines, but no bass guitars in sight.
When listening to the song, I myself have questioned the accuracy of Ian MacDonald’s dubious line-up, especially hearing the hybrid clicky/bassy Fender Jazz Bass that Paul apparently used on much of the White Album – previously, I thought that he used his Rickenbacker bass, but he evidently used the Jazz Bass on more WA songs than I thought he did.
Yes I think it’s very likely that Paul is on bass and George and John are on the guitars while Ringo is on drums.
What if it is John here, AND it’s also John playing on While My Guitar Gently Weeps and Glass Onion?
Hear me out:
All three songs were recorded consecutively during a week at EMI, all three sound suspiciously similar (very plucky Fender VI-esque) and all three are very unlike Paul’s style on any other Beatles song. It’s as if John used this week to get all of his bass desires out of his system, and in each of the cases above it makes some sense – Paul was on piano duty on WMGGW, lead guitar duty on HS, and Glass Onion was John’s track through and through.
I’ve gone back and forth on this many times, but I find it harder and harder to accept that this is Paul playing on any of these. The records in Beatle literature are so absurdly inconsistent on all three of these tracks, so I think this is still up for debate.
I’m afraid that is highly unlikely, because for one thing, John did not play bass on either of those songs and I very much doubt that he would’ve played bass on “Glass Onion”, since it was his song and he really did not like playing bass, but it’s okay to disagree and you have to remember that not all of the line-ups in the SDE edition of the White Album are 100% infallible or correct.
According to a Reddit thread (I didn’t create this page – I just pasted it as a link), the bass in question was likely Paul’s Fender Jazz Bass with flatwound strings and a heavy pick, since it resembled the tone employed by John Paul Jones on Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love” and it also resembles the hybrid/clicky tone used on “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”, “Glass Onion” and “Yer Blues”.
It’s true that I am fairly knowledgeable about The Beatles, but I don’t call myself an authorized historian or biographer on them.
You are correct that Paul played piano on WMGGW, but he did also overdub two bass parts.
What’s the need for speculation. Just ask the players that were there (well at least two of them)?
Any good bassist that has been listening to The Beatles for a long time knows McCartney’s bass playing, his style etc. and KNOWS that the bass on Helter Skelter is Paul McCartney. He used a Fender Jazz bass with flatwound strings and a pick and the style on Helter skelter is exactly the same as any other McCartney bass line. Just one listen to the bass on that tune and you know that only a long time bassist could have played it, Lennon wouldn’t have had the physical strength to play a long scale Fender bass consistently all throughout the tune like Paul. That line has Paul McCartney written all over it.
Bob, you are so right, and I agree with you. It’s obvious that John would’ve played the frantic rhythm guitar, given that he, by his own admission, could make a guitar scream.
Hi David, John was playing the Bartell Fretless on the 6th June 1968 while being interviewed by Kenny Everett at Abbey Road.
It is that ‘mad’ Fretless guitar screaming that you can hear John playing.
Thank you, Paul.
I guess that Mal Evans mistook the fretless guitar for a bass guitar when reporting in ‘Beatles Monthly’ that Paul played guitar and John played bass on ‘Helter Skelter’ – a very unconvincing scenario.
The ‘secret’, ‘mad’, Bartell Fretless was probably used on the longest recording the Beatles ever made!
It’s sounds exactly like it on the 12 minute version of Helter Skelter, was it on the 27 minute session?!!! It’s either George or John, although it intrigued John more and suited his style of play.
Listen to this early recording of Helter Skelter (First Version / Take 2)
The very distinctive tones of the Bartell fretless stand out all over this track, especially from minute 9 onwards.
The 27 minute version, recorded the same day, the longest recording the band ever made, is the Bartell on this? The recording has never been released!
https://www.findingfretless.com/thebeatles
John played the Fender Bass VI, not a ‘real bass’. Its an extended scale guitar, with each string tuned an octave below the normal EADGBE string frequencies. So you can reach the low frequency bass parts, but not need the muscle memory of being a bass player. This would account for the ‘clicking’ percussive sounds, since the guitar still puts out a decent amount of treble frequencies. This also accounts for the fluidity of the bass runs John is playing, since to him, he’s physically playing a guitar rather than a long scale thick gauge bass.
He and George apparently felt more fluent playing this bass instrument than a Jazz bass, especially on Paul Piano songs. Listen to Maxwell (GH), Old Brown Shoe (GH), Hey Jude alt versions (GH), Long and winding Road (JL ) among others.
I don’t agree the bass playing ‘sounds’ like Paul. He would have added a whole of extra skips, stutters, swoops, (I’m running out of words) to emphasize the emotion of the music.
The bass and guitar overdubs for “Old Brown Shoe” were recorded together on the same track, according to session data, so logically, Paul would’ve been on bass and George would’ve been on guitar.
If you listen to the studio chatter on Take 17 of the final version (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhiFJ6L3sS0), Paul is singing a melody line while demonstrating it on his bass, so this is ample proof that it was in fact him playing bass on the final version.
Is it possible John played bass on the original track and Paul went back later and re-recorded the bass track? This would be very in character.
No, the basic track to the final version, as witnessed on Take 17 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhiFJ6L3sS0), reveals that Paul was on bass (during the studio chatter, he sings a vocal melody while he is playing bass, thus it’s a very good clue), so logically, John would’ve been on rhythm guitar and Ringo on drums obviously. I’m not sure if George played on the basic track or if he overdubbed his lead guitar parts later.