Written by: Johnny Mercer
Recorded: 14 November 1969; 10 February 1970
Producer: George Martin
Engineers: Phil McDonald, Geoff Emerick
Released: 27 March 1970 (UK), 24 April 1970 (US)
Available on:
Sentimental Journey
Personnel
Ringo Starr: vocals
The George Martin Orchestra: instrumentation
‘Dream’ is the ninth song on Sentimental Journey, Ringo Starr’s debut solo album.
It was written by Johnny Mercer in 1944 as the theme tune for his NBC radio show, Johnny Mercer’s Music Shop.
‘Dream’ was recorded in 1945 by The Pied Pipers, and became a hit single. That same year it was also a best-seller for Frank Sinatra. It became a jazz and pop standard, with other versions by artists including Andy Williams, Betty Johnson, Roy Orbison, Nelson Riddle, Etta James, Michael Bublé, and Diana Krall.
In the studio
The backing track for ‘Dream’ was recorded on 14 November 1969 at London’s Trident Studios.
Each of the Sentimental Journey had a different arranger, and ‘Dream’ was arranged by the album’s producer, George Martin. It featured strings, horns, piano, chimes, acoustic guitar, bass guitar and drums.
‘Dream’ was mixed by Geoff Emerick at EMI Studios four days later on 18 November 1969, for reference and playback purposes only. The mixing session lasted just half an hour.
For all of the time and effort that went into Sentimental Journey, there was a certain lack of attention to detail that bewildered me. One night Ringo came in to overdub his vocal onto the backing track we’d recorded for the song ‘Dream’. Within minutes we realized that it wasn’t anywhere close to being in a key he could sing in; incredibly, nobody had bothered to check beforehand. George Martin was in a panic. In the end, we had to speed the track up a great deal so that Ringo could sing it, which made the instruments sound very odd. We were all worried about the audio quality, but Ringo said, ‘It’s fine. They’ll never know.’ He was right, too: to the best of my knowledge, no reviewer ever picked up on how strange the track actually sounds.
Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of the Beatles
The song was completed on 10 February 1970. George Martin conducted a new arrangement for a 15-piece orchestra, which included trumpet, trombone, French horn and vibraphone. Starr’s final lead vocals were also added during the session.
The recording session lasted from 7-9.20pm. From 9.20-10.30pm, the finished recording was mixed in stereo.
Lyrics
Dream when you’re feeling blue
Dream, that’s the thing to do
Just watch the smoke rings rise in the air
You’ll find your share of memories there
So dream when the day is through
Dream, and they might come true
Things never are as bad as they seem
So dream, dream, dream
Dream when you’re feeling blue
Dream, that’s the thing to do
Just watch the smoke rings rise in the air
You’ll find your share of memories there
So dream when the day is through
Dream, and they might come true
Things never are as bad as they seem
So dream, dream, dream
