A combination of two unfinished Lennon-McCartney song fragments, ‘Baby You’re A Rich Man’ was recorded in a single day and issued as the b-side to ‘All You Need Is Love’.
The first song recorded specifically for The Beatles’ animated film Yellow Submarine, ‘Baby You’re A Rich Man’ segued together John Lennon’s falsetto verses and Paul McCartney’s bouncy, chanting chorus.
That’s a combination of two separate pieces, Paul’s and mine, put together and forced into one song. One half was all mine. [Sings] ‘How does it feel to be one of the beautiful people, now that you know who you are, da da da da.’ Then Paul comes in with [sings] ‘Baby, you’re a rich man,’ which was a lick he had around.
All We Are Saying, David Sheff
Lennon’s section was originally titled ‘One Of The Beautiful People’. It was possibly inspired by the 14-Hour Technicolour Dream, a ‘happening’ which took place on 29 April 1967, shortly before the song was recorded. John Lennon attended the event, which was headlined by Pink Floyd.
Paul McCartney’s chorus, meanwhile, mostly centres on a single note. Its lyrics, like Lennon’s verses, contain sufficient psychedelic nonsense to suit the times.
The lyrics are thought to relate, at least in part, to The Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein. Indeed, it has been claimed that Lennon sang “Baby you’re a rich fag Jew” in the studio.
Although originally intended for the Yellow Submarine soundtrack, ‘Baby You’re A Rich Man’ was included on the ‘All You Need Is Love’ single, which was rush-released following The Beatles’ appearance on the Our World satellite link-up.
On 7 August 1967, George Harrison visited San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district. Accompanied by his wife Pattie, Neil Aspinall and Derek Taylor, he strummed a few bars of the song on an acoustic guitar for the assembled beautiful people in Golden Gate Park.
In the studio
This curiously sparse recording was completed in a single session on 11 May 1967. It took place at Olympic Sound Studios, in Barnes, London, between 9pm and 3am the following morning.
‘Baby You’re A Rich Man’ was the first Beatles song recorded and mixed entirely away from Abbey Road. According to studio manager Keith Grant, who also engineered the session, The Beatles were unaccustomed to working to such a fast pace in 1967.
I do a lot of orchestral work and you naturally push people along. The Beatles said that this was the fastest record they’d ever made. They were used to a much more leisurely pace. We started the session at about 9pm and it was finished and mixed by 3am, vocals and everything. They kept on playing, version after version, then we spooled back to the one they liked and overdubbed the vocals.
The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, Mark Lewisohn
John Lennon played a clavioline, a three-octave monophonic keyboard which was sped up to give an oboe-like effect. He also played piano, and sang lead and backing vocals, along with McCartney and Harrison.
Paul McCartney also played bass guitar and piano, George Harrison contributed lead guitar, and Ringo Starr performed percussion. Eddie Kramer, an engineer on the session, reportedly also played a vibraphone.
Mick Jagger was present at the ‘Baby You’re A Rich Man’ session, and one of the tape boxes noted his name alongside The Beatles’, suggesting he also sang backing vocals during the later choruses.
how could it be released in july if it was recorded in september? unless the dates are switched.
That was my mistake – thanks for pointing it out. The article said put the recording date as “11 May September 1967”. This was a cut-and-paste error, and should have just been 11 May.
Baby you’re a rich man has one of THE coolest intros ever with the percussion, then piano, then bass and I guess that clavioline.
Yes i wish there was a whole song of the intro.
Maybe a DJ can do a mix with it..
I most certainly agree!
I agree with you 100 percent! This is one of my favorite Beatles songs.
Agreed. A real kick in the guts intro that sustains throughout.
Some sources say that John played the clavioline and rolled an orange around on the keys to produce those sounds, though it took some time to get the effect he wanted.
I have a Selmer Clavioline Concert Reverb similar to the one John used, and can get exactly the same sound by rolling a large orange around.
And my favorite aspect of the intro, is that the piano chords don’t naturally resolve. There’s a pretty obvious progression throughout, and then the last chord before John’s vocals sits unresolved. Of course, the progression is resolved with John’s first sung note. It’s one of those things that when I first noticed, I was really digging that piano part for both it’s cool rhythm going on & off the beat, then paying attention to the chord progression it tripped me out that it doesn’t resolve. Then I realized it resolve with the downbeat of the first words of the first verse.
Bravo, Beatles.
I thought this was one of the songs that Rolling Stone genius Brian Jones played on along with You know my name, (look up the number.)
Yes …. every story I have ever heard about this song mentions that Brian Jones plays on this track.
Brian Jones has for years been erroneously credited as playing on this.
He does not. Mick Jagger attended the session at Olympic and his name The Beatles + Mick Jagger is written on the tape box. It is possible that he may be singing at the end.
Brian was in court on 11 May 1967 during the day. This was recorded in the evening between 9pm and 3am and I doubt he was in any condition to contribute if he were there.
Btw, his sax playing on ‘You Know My Name’ is ragged but is exactly what the song required.
Wow, I’m flabbergasted for 50 years I’ve been reading that Brian Jones played saxophone on Baby you’re a Rich Man, and I was so impressed with the strange sound he got out of it. Now I’m reading that it was John on a clavoline ?
And wth is a clavaline ?
And how did something so wrong become so legendary?
Brian Jones a genius ? You’ve got to be kidding. First off “ You know my name etc. “ was the worst piece of crap the Beatles ever put to tape. The horn played by Jones is a joke musically. You’re confusing someone that knew a few chords on the guitar, to a Beatle ! I’m sure Brian was a nice man and all, but a musician of any caliber ,he was not. When people call Brian a multi instrumentalist ,it’s a joke. Rather like saying I picked up and instrument and was fooling around with,now I’m a multitask musician. It’s absurd …
I don’t think he was even a nice man!
I think the saxaphone Brian Jones played was pretty damn good. He was also an accomplished guitar, sitar, recorder and keyboard player. Don’t you ever listen to the Stones dude?? You know my name was delightful witty and awesome song the Beatles recorded.
I agree. You Know My Name is a cool song. It’s my wife’s favorite Beatles song.
When Brian Jones and Mick Jagger helping out a studio band…
Only Mick Jagger. Brian is not on the recording.
Well, it was a joke record. That’s what it was supposed to be, that’s glaringly obvious. Paul McCartney himself in the Anthology book said they wanted a ‘shaky ropey sax’ for ‘You Know My Name’ and Brian did the job they asked him to do. And both McCartney and George Harrison rated Jones as a musician.
As for Jones being a crap musician? Nobody mastered the mellotron like Jones did at the time (We Love You, 2000 Light Years). He was also adept on guitar (The Last Time, No Expectations, Get Off Of My Cloud), and Jones also changed songs into some of the most memorable records of the sixties with his instrumental prowess (Under My Thumb, Paint it Black, Lady Jane, Street Fighting Man). To say Brian Jones at his best merely knew a few chords and was fooling around is what’s absurd. And he wasn’t just some nobody who knew a few chords on guitar. He was a Rolling Stone and their founder at that. The Beatles were magnificent, but the Stones were just as important in their own way. Both changed music and shaped a decade.
This quote is from Stones drummer, Charlie Watts: ‘Brian played bloody good bottleneck guitar. He played ‘I Wanna Be Your Man’ like Elmore James instead of like the Beatles’.
Only knew a few chords? Now that’s absurd…
Jones was a far better musician than anyone in the Beatles, to suggest otherwise shows both musical and cultural ignorance.
Not better than McCartney, no way.
BYARM,…Originally on Side B’ of the “All You Need Is Love 45. When this song came out I was so amazed by the sound being produced, it was beautiful,… and yes they all deserved all that was given them monitarily! The best group in the world should not have to think about money!
Do you have any type of source that indicates John seriously does say “Baby, you’re a rich fag Jew”?
I’ve listened to this song many times, and every time I’ve heard that line, I’ve never thought he says that. John definitely and positively says simply “Baby you’re a rich man, too”.
I feel this is a case where people are looking way too much into a lyric.
You can hear it just as the song is fading… John’s voice rises up and says “Baby you’re a rich Fag Jew” as the other vocals (Paul etc) sing the proper chorus. A little hard to distinguish because it’s somewhat muffled but I hear it for sure…
Yeah but remember they were saying Paul was dead , I buried Paul and all that rubbish ! People will make up things or hear things phonetically but are wrong doesn’t make it so, even though there’s still morons that believe Paul died in 66. So go figure .
Yeah, I have heard this story before but never came across any compelling source suggesting this is true. I don’t hear it myself–every “too” is clearly “too” with that t sound at the start.
Let me offer my opinion as an “earwitness”: I bought the original mono single on the day it was released in 1967. I definitely heard “rich fag Jew” in the fadeout. It sounded like John speak-singing it. It was clear and audible. I heard it the first time I played it. There were no rumors flying around about the new Beatles single containing something controversial.Having said that, I will also say that the line was muddled on subsequent vinyl releases (MMT, YS). The consonants didn’t pop out of my speakers like they did on the single. On the 2009 CD remaster, its virtually non-existent. My theory: First, I believe the song was a tribute to Brian Epstein, for reasons I’ll post at another time. Given John’s other jibes at Brian for his sexual orientation and Jewish heritage, the tag at the end was John’s way of saying: “Brian, in case you haven’t figured it out, this song is for you.” The song was released in July, 1967. Brian died 6 weeks later. What was a private, inside joke in July might be considered in bad taste in August. Perhaps John or Sir George chose to “hide” it on subsequent remixes. NOTE: The first stereo mix clocks in 9 seconds shorter than the original mono.
I’ve never heard the words rich fag jew on the song. That doesn’t mean they were not there, but I think that if they were audiable on the single or any other media released on by the Beatles at the time the song woiuld have been banned by the BBC. Beatles songs were banned for language that was far less offensive and given the level of scruitiny attenstion and analysis Beatle lyrics were getting at the time, it is unlikely to have gone un-noticed. As far as I know the song was never banned so I don’t think those particular words were in it.
According to Beatles insiders like Pete Brown, John’s part is about the Maharishi and not Brian Epstein.
Ithink you’re misunderstanding; he said it in the studio..doesn’t mean it was recorded for the song.
Totally agree. It’s people making up wordplay. Fact is when Brian died ,Lennon felt it more deeply than Paul . One must remember the Beatles were not stupid. They were all well aware they would not have happened if not for Brian . Brian was the first part of the equation,George Martin the other. Everything that happened shouldn’t have happened. The odds were overwhelmingly against this band . I just saw an interview with Mark Lewison addressing this idea. It’s beyond profound . A zillion to one that this little band would ever make it were the odds . Thank God for something otherworldly happening . The Beatles history is something you couldn’t make up.
It is not possibly to know about feelings inside a person. So, nobody can say which Beatles felt most when Brian passed. It is okay to affirm John felt more than Paul because nobody can measure feelings.
I appreciate that comment, Virginia. The idea that someone would say “person X felt the death of person Y more deeply than person Z” – when the person stating the “fact” didn’t even know ANY of the people being spoken of – is patently absurd and, really, outright delusional.
assuming all the beatles versions are identical it is at the 2:47 mark – lennon speaks it rather than sings it – which makes it stand out a bit.
First, read Ian McDonald’s “Revolution in the Head,” p.258. I think it’s an excellent source.
Personally, I’m old enough to say I first heard (and heard of) the Beatles in 1963. To call me a fanatic might be an understatement. I would agree with you that you cannot hear “rich fag Jew,” that is, unless you have the first pressed single of “All You Need Is Love/Baby, You’re A Rich Man.” I purchased it in NYC on the day it was released. I can tell you, having played the B-side many times, there is no doubt in my mind that I heard John “speak/sing” those words. But I do not hear it in any version thereafter. You need to have the original single to hear it. My theory: BYARM was written for/about Brian Epstein. John, who often made reference to Brian’s homosexuality and Jewish heritage, added that phrase to the end of the song as a way of letting Brian know that the song was for him. Why did it not show up on subsequent versions? I can only guess that since Brian died not too long after the single was released, someone decided that it needed to be scrubbed for future releases. I wonder if George Martin was in on the joke or if he simply didn’t listen to the fade out. After all, Paul claims that he convinced Martin that they were singing “dit dit dit” in the middle eight of “Girl,” even though Martin could swear he heard “tit tit tit.”
I’ve just listened to that over and over again on my studio headphones, and it’s clear that John is speaking “man, too” not the other thing.
It’s amazing how people love to trash the man so many years after his death. If he did say it, it was an inside joke in the studio. It’s 100% NOT on the official recording. It’s so perfectly clear with today’s technology to hear he is saying “man” in a somewhat speaking voice in that part.
The following is from “John Lennon: The Life” by Philip Norman:
…The B-side to “All You Need Is Love” was a hippie-debunking Lennon song called “Baby You’re a Rich man,” ostensibly mocking the Beautiful People but providing a coded double dig at Brian. In practice sessions (some say on the finished track also), John sang its chorus of “Baby, you’re a rich man, too,” as “you’re a rich fag Jew.” (page 503)
Philip Norman should provide proper documentation or quit indulging in heresay (“some say on the finished track also”).
Anyone know how the word bitch wound up on the end of the recording & who said it?
This song was recently used on David Fincher’s The Social Network.
Superb movie that fits perfectly with this underrated masterpiece.
[quote]…he [Harrison] performed the song on an acoustic guitar for the assembled beautiful people in a local park.[/quote]
That would be Golden Gate Park. It’s a bit more than a local park. Larger than New York’s Central Park.
Fair point – I’ve never been there! I’ve amended the article.
I believe it was actually Buena Vista Park, a smaller park uphill and south of Haight St.
all comments have been about john’s part, which is almost the whole song, except for the single line, “baby you’re a rich man.” paul seems to be addressing a female (“baby”), i’m guessing a beautiful one. a rich man is a powerful man. my feeling is, as it was back then, that paul’s remarking on the power of beautiful women. like when morrison says “sidewalk crouches at her feet.”
Man, you dumb asses read so much crap and pontification into what this lyric means or what that means. In the 50’s-60’s and even now, hipsters commonly addressed both men or women as “baby”. Not every Beatle song is a serious masterpiece composition. This one is a lark about the joys of being young, wealthy, popular, famous, and part of the elite psychedelic in-crowd, a club you can’t join because you’re not one of the ‘beautiful people”. Most of you probably weren’t even alive then. Songwriters never cease to be amazed at the meaning-of-life interpretations fans and critics read into simple pop songs. Given John’s caustic sense of humor if he did sing the “rich fag jew’ line during the development of the song they all knew it was a throw away line that would be discarded. The EMI censors would never let that slide. Remember the following year Paul was immediately forced to wipe the words “Hey Jude” of their Apple store front window because the London public thought it was a Nazi-esque anti-Semitic slur not knowing it was just a song title.
Thank you. You can only read so much into a song. People seem bothered by just having to listen to the finished product. Gotta dig and be busy….
All well and good, I agree wholeheartedly BUT…’rich fag jew’ is there plain as day for all to hear on Yellow Submarine Songtrack. The throwaway line that found its way back!
And for non-Catholics, St. Jude is the patron saint of lost causes. In some ways, the theme of Hey Jude might be said to be about a “lost cause.” Don’t be sad, don’t be afraid, things will get better, all is not lost…
methinks you read too much into it. Fun though.
Baby can be used for boys, too. No proof it is about a beautiful woman. In fact it was about a beautiful man? Brian Epstein.
>>> all comments have been about john’s part, which is almost the whole song, except for the single line, “baby you’re a rich man.” >>>
Every account credits the chorus to Paul. The chorus is more than just the title line. Where are you getting the idea that the sole contribution by Paul is the title line?
Beautiful verses by John!!! The chorus by Paul is perfectly catchy, especially the part where they say “nothing to do”. I just love that part!!!
“Nothing to do”? I think you mean, “What a thing to do.”
Recently I’ve been struck by the piano chords in the intro and verses, especially the way they are played in varying rhythms. Does anyone know who played that part, John or Paul?
Lennon in later years regretted his early years of hitting women. The same violent streak played out in his barbed sense of humor. Wonder if he ever regretted the “rich fag Jew” joke?
its a rumor that john might of had sex with brian. also being gay was super tabboo and john did it in jest. like how at his concerts he used to mock the mentally handicap. it was the times. i think had he been alive today he might think differently.
Never admitted, but I think they all regretted this particular “black humor” especially, and the way they treated Brian in the last year.
Brian was very vulnerable and confused – the end of touring left a deep hole in his life, and he felt isolated from the boyes, who he loved so much.
Drugs, alcohol, and unhappy gay relationships, didn’t help.
The whole song Baby you are rich man makes cruel mockery of this sensitive man: e. g. a fact was, that “he kep all the (gig) money in the big brown bag” was a fact in touring.
Of course John/Beatles didn’t wan to be evil, and this kind of joking was typical for them (and in Liverpool, generally) , but I think they should have taken Brian more in to account. I don’t mean only this song.
But you can imagine, how Brian felt, when this song was published.
The boys must have felt rotten, when they got the death message only two months after the song release.
I guess they never admitted it, but uncinsciously they new, that they weren’t treated Brian in the way, which he had earned.
Total shift of theme here…just want to clear the air …
Bloomingdales’ imprint on their paper shopping bags says “Big Brown Bag”…and has, for years. Every time I see someone carrying a BBB, I smile…ohh how the Beatles have re-engineered our cultural genetic fabric!
I never understood who this song was for. It seems highly personal on a certain level – aimed at someone they new very well. Otherwise, taken at face value, it doesn’t make much sense. “Paul is Dead” types see this as reference to the “new Paul” as being welcomed into the world of fame and fortune. Anyway, the song is heavily controlled by Lennon with the backwards sounding intro and dominating questioniing lyrics. Interesting… but not one of my favorites.
Maybe Brian J was just there, I also heard he played on it but that was because everyone thought the the clavioline was an oboe. He may have added percussion cause he was great with percussion. Also they might have gotten Mick mixed up with Brian
Great song. I was 14. I remember this kid telling us about it. He said, ‘it’s about queers.’ He said, ‘A Baby is a queer.’ Oh how we sN—-red. How times have changed too. Thank Gawd!
I just LOVE the simplicity of this song. Just the intro and sparse instruments and multi-rhythms are very unique in Beatle World. Stop thinking. Listen to those beautiful voices. Kick back and enjoy!
As for the rich fag jew part, really? You must not know John Lennon at all.
Forgive me if I am wrong but I believe that when Brian Epstein wrote his “Cellar Full of Noise” he solicited his Beatles for suggestions for a title. And John is alleged to have offered “A Cellar Full of Boys” and (incredibly) “Queer Jew.” both of which hurt Brian greatly.
oh john was relentless. and your right about both accounts
I think you are confusing Celler Full of Boys with the Monty Python satire The Rutles, produced by George Harrison.
The book title in All You Need Is Cash was A Cellarful of Goys, a reference to Judaism not homosexuality.
For some real fun, read or listen to John’s interview in Playboy Magazine, circa late 1980s. I was lucky enough to hear the entire, very long version on tape because Davud Shef asked a friend of mine to edit it (in Northern California). Lennon was quite a cut up, slinging jokes and barbs at Yoko, himself, and others throughout. In retrospect I wouldn’t put anything past him. He was very bright, and he could be cruel. But what an entertainer.
Here’s a technical thing to try and figure out…. There is this really weird moaning noise throughout this song that sounds maybe like George’s lead guitar part? Can anyone verify what it might be? It starts in unison with the recall in the 2nd verse “often enough to know” at exactly 1:00. Again at 1:10 with “Nothing that doesn’t show.” Also its really prominent during that Chorus right after there (where it sounds like its moaning). It almost sounds like someone is moaning but is probably really a guitar. I’m skeptical that its Georges lead guitar part, because you can definitely hear (George Gtr.) in the chorus doing its G power chord shuffle and accented stabs. Does anyone have any information on this? I would be super grateful !
It sounds like a guitar overdub to me…
Finally! Someone mentioning the guitar work! I’ve often thought the main/”rhythm” guitar was amazing, nice and choppy and different from anything before or after, except maaayyybeee Old Brown Shoe.
Get out your speakers and a stereo version, turn the channel with piano and drums completely off, then using the equalizer, crank up the midrange and completely drop the bass and treble ends, and listen to George at his best! Just fiddling around, not going over it incessantly like “I’m Only Sleeping”.
I always thought the part you’re referring to was an overdubbed slide, but it has been often reported that George didn’t consider playing slide until Delaney Bramlett asked him to try it out.
Definitely George on slide guitar from 1:00 on. He doesn’t do a lot—mainly hanging on one note during the chorus. I doubt that the others were willing to give him enough time to craft a memorable part.
ok so i haven’t the time to read all the comments and i’m sure some one gave mention of it already but, the line he keeps all his money in a big brown bag is a nod to the touring years, when brian was give off the books money in a brown paper bag.
I forgot about the brown bag money. You are correct. “Baby, you’re a rich man, too.” Who else are rich men? Yup, deservedly so.
Lazy lyric in the chorus. They should have spent a bit more time on this one.
At the time that this song was written and recorded, there was a huge hit musical in London’s West End: “Fiddler on the Roof.” The star of that show, Chaim Topol, had a top-20 hit that spring with his song from the show “If I Were a Rich Man.”
Could the Beatles song be an answer to “If I Were A Rich Man”?
I contend the original lyric was “keep all your money in a big brown bag, inside the Louvre, what a thing to do”, (referring to Musee du Louvre, famous art museum in Paris)
My belief in the Louvre as the original lyric is based on recalling my sophomore year 1971 high school (suburban Chicago) French teacher, Mademoiselle Garde’s, enthusiastic telling the story of the original lyric as the Louvre and why it was changed due to a request from the Louvre management and Epstein wishing to avoid any legal hassle with using the name in the song. She absolutely convinced the class that Louvre, not zoo was the original lyric. She took a whole week out of her lesson plan to discuss the Beatles, England and France including the Louvre and how at the time, beautiful, hip, famous, fashionable, jet setting people from all over the world started hanging out there, smoking pot, dropping acid and having sex right in the Louvre. She had been in France studying in the ‘60’s and had visited the Louvre many times.
In the late 50’s and 60’s, the Louvre was the “thing to do” in the artist, musician and beatnik culture (The band name Beatles is linked to beatnik or variations).
The Louvre has many famous paintings as everyone knows but it was also exhibiting many modern art paintings, photography and sculptures that challenged preconceived ideas about what constituted art. More and more artists and hipsters of the day began hanging out there and initially Louvre management, wishing to provide a creativity positive atmosphere, condoned the new type of art appreciation with Laissez Faire chill.
The traditional “average” tourists with families however became outraged and complained about the open depravity they witnessed in the Louvre. The sexual revolution, freedom from the staid norms of the ‘50’s and the generation gap were on full display. The Anti-Vietnam War sentiment had been a hot topic in France due to Vietnam having been a French colony and a general atmosphere of tension was evident among French public. Because of the complaints and fearing the loss of tourism revenue the adverse publicity was threatening, security was beefed up and closed circuit cameras were installed. The Louvre which had been open and inviting, became a much more tightly controlled, less tolerant, security minded space. The security changes to the Louvre were publicized by the management and it was promoted as a very safe, secure place.
So what does the money in a big brown bag have to do with the Louvre? Ringo had an idiosyncratic preference for being paid in cash in a undistinguished brown bag. But his friends wondered where he would keep it safe. The Louvre was better than a British bank. Ringo was paranoid about British banks and where to put his cash and avoid taxes. The Paris based Louvre was that place to keep it hidden from the highly taxing British government. So Louvre, the hang out for beautiful people also became the place to keep Ringo’s bag of cash. The song is primarily a message to Epstein, a nerd as a youngster, who loved hanging with this crowd of beautiful people.
Why would Ringo put his bag of money in the zoo? It doesn’t make sense unless you understand that the Louvre management objected to the lyric and Epstein wishing to avoid legal hassle asked the Beatles to change it. The Louvre was happy to avoid publicity and association with the negative public image of the beatniks. Ringo volunteered the word Zoo, it substituted well in the lyric, was used and assumed to be the original verse ever since.
My belief is that you were brainwashed by your French teacher all those years ago.
Good grief. Someone has WAY too much time on their hands.
The word is clearly “zoo”. It’s a gag line – jokey. SMH….
Ya. I clearly said the word was changed. Duh. smh
The lyric is “You keep all your money in a big brown bag inside a loo” with “loo” being slang for a bathroom.
It’s clear as a bell on the record.
Catman, I also hear “loo”.
Can anybody fill me in on specifically when the vibraphone plays and what the vibraphone plays? Everything I’ve read suggests it’s there but I can’t find it
I’ve always enjoyed “Baby, You’re a Rich Man”, even if some music commentators dismiss it as a throwaway Beatles tune.. I think it’s the vibe of the whole thing. That intro sounds like a gypsy-hippie caravan churning about with beautiful people riding it like an Indian elephant… Think ‘The Fool’ and the like. It may be simplistic in the chorus, but the song hooked me the instant I heard it. It definitely was of the times. And it made you feel like you were invited to a special Beatles party where all the groovy and hip people were in attendance. If this was recorded by any other group, people would be calling it a psychedelic masterpiece, but since it is in the Beatles canon, it’s overshadowed by all their other stellar work.
Hear hear Ron! Agree completely. It is all vibe all the time ?
To Paul D —
I too strive to hear a vibraphone clearly in the song, It’s sure not in your face, but it may be there in a few places — I think it’s usually the damped, unsustained setting so it’s like a marimba in places because I hear that type of dry percussive sound with actual tones/ pitches here and there. Otherwise in the sustained setting, I think it maybe simply doubling the piano on some of the triads and probably is playing with the piano the 5-3-1 of the tonic triad right before every chorus.
I really like Paul’s bass playing on this. Cool rhythm and choice to stay on the G during the C chord in the verse. Also nice Bb-B-C riff on the big brown bag part. The whole album is great and I think it would be more highly regarded if it wasn’t so overshadowed by SGT Pepper.
I love Paul’s bass playing on “Baby You’re a Rich Man” as well and it’s another one of his highlights as a bass player. He clearly loved his Rickenbacker bass by now.
Ha, just noticed that riff yesterday! Really makes a difference!
Either George is playing through a Leslie cabinet, or they have one of the acoustic pianos going through one…does anyone hear this?
He’s using a CopyCat tape machine,
I found this comment by googling “Baby You’re A Rich Man leslie speaker” because I have just heard this sound for the first time in this song. I just bought a copy on cassette, and it appears to be a different mix than the one I’m used to hearing (the one on Apple Music, for example has no audible Leslie effected instruments). At first I thought something was happening to the tape, but then realized it sounds like a piano through a Leslie. Soooo cool!
That big brown bag inside the zoo referred to the several thousand tabs of Owsley acid, Blue Cheer and White Lightning, that John kept stashed in the bushes around Regent’s Park Zoo, near Paul’s house in St Johns Wood
But why would he do that?????
Nice song, I keep pondering if the line “baby you’re a rich fag jew” made it into the final piece
Another excelent and unique song by the Beatles in 1967 , with the lyrics satyrizing the swinging London scene and at the same time celebrating it. The arrangement is awesome, the rhythmic patters seems to foresee the funky beat in the seventies. And that clavioline is simply fantastic, as is George’s guitar, with a strange and unique effect . All of these elements are only on that single track. The Beatles didn’t use them twice !
John Lennon’s playing of the Clavioline is amazing. It almost sounds like random, unpredictable, and nonsensical notes….but yet every single note is actually musically valid and brilliant. Lennon’s use of the Clavioline, and the way in which he plays it — takes this song to a whole other level. It’s one of the most underrated instrumental performances in Rock history.
Seldom told story about the original lyric from Baby, Your’e a rich man. the lyric started out as “keep all your money in a big brown bag, inside the Louvre, what a thing to do”, (referring to Musee du Louvre, famous art museum in Paris)
The Louvre as the original lyric is based on recalling my sophomore year 1971 high school (suburban Chicago) French teacher, Mademoiselle Garde’s, enthusiastic telling the story of the original lyric as the Louvre and why it was changed due to a request from the Louvre management and Epstein wishing to avoid any legal hassle with using the name in the song. She absolutely convinced the class that Louvre, not zoo was the original lyric. She took a whole week out of her lesson plan to discuss the Beatles, England and France including the Louvre and how at the time, beautiful, hip, famous, fashionable, jet setting people from all over the world started hanging out there, smoking pot, dropping acid and having sex right in the Louvre. She had been in France studying in the ‘60’s and had visited the Louvre many times.
In the late 50’s and 60’s, the Louvre was the “thing to do” in the artist, musician and beat culture (The band name Beatles is linked).
The Louvre has many famous classic paintings as everyone knows but it was also exhibiting many modern art paintings, photography and sculptures that challenged preconceived ideas about what constituted art. More and more artists and hipsters of the day began hanging out there and initially Louvre management, wishing to provide creativity encouraging atmosphere, condoned the new type of art appreciation with a Laissez-Faire attitude.
Then, traditional “average” tourists with families became outraged and complained about the open depravity witnessed in the Louvre. The sexual revolution, freedom from the staid norms of the ‘50’s and the generation gap were on full display. The Anti-Vietnam War sentiment had been a hot topic in France due to Vietnam having been a French colony and a general atmosphere of tension was evident among French public. Because of the complaints and fearing the loss of tourism revenue the adverse publicity was threatening, security was beefed up and closed circuit cameras were installed. The Louvre which had been open and inviting became a much more tightly controlled, less tolerant, security-minded space. The security changes to the Louvre were publicized by the management and it was promoted as a very safe, secure place.
So what does the money in a big brown bag have to do with the Louvre? Ringo had an idiosyncratic preference for being paid in cash in an undistinguished brown bag. But his friends wondered where he would keep it safe. The Louvre was better than a British bank. Ringo was paranoid about British banks and where to put his cash so as to avoid taxes. The Paris based Louvre was that place to keep it hidden from the highly taxing British government. So Louvre, the hang out for beautiful people also became the place to keep Ringo’s bag of cash, in a locker. The song is primarily a message to Epstein, a nerd as a youngster, who loved hanging with this crowd of beautiful people. Why would Ringo put his bag of money in the zoo? It doesn’t make sense unless you understand that the Louvre management objected to the lyric and Epstein wishing to avoid legal hassle asked the Beatles to change the lyric. Ringo volunteered the word Zoo, it substituted well in the lyric, was used and assumed to be the original verse ever since.
Stop it.
You can put what ever you like in a song, there is no law to stop that so the museum could not do a thing, you cannot slander someone of course, but in that song it is not slander, it’s just random. There covid be no legal threat of any kind made to Brian as nothing was against the law.
There is no copyright to pay, no legal request hands to be made to use a word in a songs. You cannot copy someone else’s song but that is it, other than that you can do what you like. I would think it was alway Zoo.
Big brown bags full of money has been said by the Beatles to be how they got paid for gigs sometime, well how their management team got paid. They often said all these bags of money came in and they never saw any of the proceeds. That’s the bags of money reference but the song is just random, it doesn’t mean much, it’s just song writing. It might not even be a reference to anything, it’s just a song.
Inside a loo. Clear as a bell on the recording.
Loo, British slang for the bathroom.
I grew up listening to the Beatles and was a fan like everyone else. As the Beatles progress musically, so did their lyrics. And those lyrics always were a tease to the fans. In this song, “Baby your a Rich Man”, it felt like the Beatles were saying, ” Come on, you’re rich too. You’re a beautiful person too.”
This is another of their songs where they are saying to the fans, ” Hey, we are all in this together. We’re good, don’t forget your good too.”
I always felt this song was a positive message that was inclusive.
In the UK the word “fag” means a cigarette, asking for a fag means “can I have a cigarette” in the uk, it is still used like that told. So it is unlikely that John Lennon would have used the term like that in a song as a joke. Mainly as it would have made no sense to anyone in the room as it was recorded in the UK. I know it has been reported he said it but not by anyone that was actually there. I know authors have got to sell books so it sounds like the sort of thing he might have said but being English he would not have said it. He might pick the term up later in life and use it when he was in America but I doubt would have used it in he UK at that time.
In the UK the word “fag” means “cigarette”, it still does “can I have a fag” means can I borrow a smoke. As John Lennon was English and the song was recorded in England I do not think he would have used the term “fag”, because in the UK it would make no sense whatsoever. It must have been a rumour started in America and they did not know that word has a totally different meaning here in England.
i heard about this slight in the mid 70s from a music teacher in grd 7 or 8 .. as it was said to me ..baby ur a rich fat jew… and i heard or read that the more indebted epstein got from his escapades with his partners and from gambling ..the more percentage he would demand from the profits the beatles made from sales.. it must of been ramping up as it was spinning out of control…i also heard the krays were gonna take the beatles away from epstein ‘coz they took over the debt epstein accrued…hmmm
I hear “fat” Jew, not “fag.” Lennon seemed to have found the word “Jew” funny; like “spastic,” it repeatedly turns up–sometimes nonsensically–in his books In His Own Write and A Spaniard in the Works. Some samples:
“I wandered happy as a jew/To meet good Doris King.” (“I Wandered”)
“We fight the baddy baddies/For colour, race and cree/For Negro, Jew and Bernie/Deaf Ted, Danoota, and me.” (“Deaf Ted, Danoota, [and Me]”)
“Well here’s a blessing in disguise;/ Not only money too;/ He’s left his pension book as well/The slimy little jew!” (“Our Dad”)
There’s also the 1964 book Love Me Do: The Beatles’ Progress by Michael Braun. Braun was present when Paul wrote “One and One is Two,” and Braun describes how George Harrison complained that the lyrics were too repetitious. John suggested replacing one of “One and One is Two” lines with “I’m a Lonely Jew”; Paul declined the suggestion.
I think this song has the heaviest bass of any Beatle song. I love the way it starts & then the bass comes in and just keeps thundering all the way through. It was recorded at Olympic which had better equipment which may account for it an also Paul was using a Rickenbacker 4001 S bass.
I had no idea Mick sang backup. Unfortunately I do not his voice anywhere.
All the published lyrics give ‘You keep all your money in a big brown bag inside a zoo’. For years (in fact since the song’s release as a b-side in ’67) I thought that was ‘inside the loo’.
driver
Catman
It’s “zoo,” not “loo.” Clear as a bell on the recording.
Don’t believe me? Look at the handwritten lyric sheet. It says “zoo,” plain as day.