The opening track on the White Album, ‘Back In The USSR’ was written by Paul McCartney and inspired by Chuck Berry’s ‘Back In The USA’ and the Beach Boys’ ‘California Girls’.
The song was intended by McCartney to be a parody of Chuck Berry’s 1959 hit.
It’s tongue in cheek. This is a travelling Russkie who has just flown in from Miami Beach; he’s come the other way. He can’t wait to get back to the Georgian mountains: ‘Georgia’s always on my mind’; there’s all sorts of little jokes in it… I remember trying to sing it in my Jerry Lee Lewis voice, to get my mind set on a particular feeling. We added Beach Boys style harmonies.
Many Years From Now, Barry Miles
‘Back In The USSR’ was written in Rishikesh, India, while The Beatles were meditating with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Another member of the party was the Beach Boys’ Mike Love.
I was sitting at the breakfast table and McCartney came down with his acoustic guitar and he was playing ‘Back In The USSR’, and I told him that what you ought to do is talk about the girls all around Russia, the Ukraine and Georgia. He was plenty creative not to need any lyrical help from me but I gave him the idea for that little section… I think it was light-hearted and humorous of them to do a take on the Beach Boys.
Many Years From Now, Barry Miles
Two other influences found their way into ‘Back In The USSR’: Hoagy Carmichael’s ‘Georgia On My Mind’, and the pro-industry ‘I’m Backing Britain’ campaign led by British prime minister Harold Wilson. According to Ian MacDonald, the song’s original title was ‘I’m Backing The UK’, then ‘I’m Backing The USSR’.
The song caused an anti-Beatles conservative backlash in America, led by the John Birch Society which charged the group with encouraging communism. ‘Back In The USSR’ did become a favourite song of The Beatles’ Russian fans, who heard it through tapes smuggled into the country.
In the studio
Unusually, the drums on ‘Back In The USSR’ were recorded mainly by Paul McCartney, with contributions from John Lennon and George Harrison, after Ringo Starr had temporarily walked out of the group.
According to Barry Miles, Starr left when McCartney criticised him for messing up a tom-tom fill. With the atmosphere in the studio already often tense, the altercation was enough for the normally amenable Starr to reach his limit. He left London and spent a fortnight on Peter Sellers’ yacht in the Mediterranean.
I left because I felt two things: I felt I wasn’t playing great, and I also felt that the other three were really happy and I was an outsider. I went to see John, who had been living in my apartment in Montagu Square with Yoko since he moved out of Kenwood. I said, ‘I’m, leaving the group because I’m not playing well and I feel unloved and out of it, and you three are really close.’ And John said, ‘I thought it was you three!’So then I went over to Paul’s and knocked on his door. I said the same thing: ‘I’m leaving the band. I feel you three guys are really close and I’m out of it.’ And Paul said, ‘I thought it was you three!’
I didn’t even bother going to George then. I said, ‘I’m going on holiday.’ I took the kids and we went to Sardinia.
Anthology
The recording of ‘Back In The USSR’ was completed in just two days. On the first takes, recorded on 22 August 1968, McCartney played guitar and Harrison was on snare drum. On later takes McCartney switched to piano, and Lennon strummed chords on a bass guitar. They taped five tracks, the last of which was the best.
Paul completely. I play the six-string bass on that. [Sings as he pretends to play bass guitar] ‘Da da da da da…’ Try writing that on your typewriter.
All We Are Saying, David Sheff
The next day they added two more drum, bass and lead guitar tracks, a piano part, lead vocals from Paul McCartney and backing vocals from Lennon and Harrison. All three Beatles contributed handclaps.
Back In The USSR was mixed in mono on the same day, during which they added the sound of a Viscount aeroplane taking off and landing. The stereo mix was made on 13 October 1968.
The effects had been recorded at London Airport, and came from the tape Volume 17: Jet and Piston Engine Aeroplane from Abbey Road’s collection.
For the mono mix everything came out OK, but the stereo mix took a long, long time and I was holding the pencil to keep the effects tape taut. I guess I must have been leaning back on it and started to stretch it, because the mono has this clear, clean lovely jet sound while the stereo is an abomination of a jet sound.
The Beatles, super deluxe edition
I have a great book on the Beatles– “Beatlemania Forever”— and I read that John was notified about the ultra-conservatives’ charges of the Beatles being pro-Bolshevik. He was told that some were saying Beatles music was un-American. John’s response? “That’s very observant of them.”
We can always seem to count on Lennon for the perfect defense.
This sounds like a corrupted version of an interview the band did during a US tour when the American interviewer made some kind of comment about them not being very American or something like that to which Lennon replied that’s cause we are not and that’s very observant of you.
Lol, if true, that is classic John Lennon, his acerbic wit was just so spot-on most of the time, tho I don’t think for one minute he meant that, in fact, he & the rest of them knew America was the “make it or break it” locale for being successful, he did however, vehemently disagree with American foreign policy, viz., Viet Nam & hegemony.
Maybe because I’m from the east, I don’t resent the lyrics at all. And this is a great song due to the tune and chords and all the stuff which makes it rhythmic
Who plays the solo? Do you think it is george? It sounds like paul?
It’s Paul.
Both? I doubt that. George probably did the first, paul did the second.
You’re as always free to express your doubts and believe in what you think is “probably” right.
That doesn’t make it true, of course.
The solo has excactly the “show off” feeling Macca usually has in his solos. Also the way he plays, it sounds not as clear and precise as George, but more “spectacular”.
Anyway, I don’t know where this “second” solo is supposed to be. It’s Paul’s song, he plays drums and guitar and piano – and most of the bass is John and George (I thought all of it).
I hate to reference the rock band video reconstruction but I guess that might be an accurate depiction of who plays what guitar (with George doing the first and Paul playing and singing over his solo on the last verse. If you notice Paul makes sure that anytime there is a solo that he played he makes sure that the rock band studio scenes show him playing them (even if he is playing another instrument for the rest of this song).
You’re using “Rock Band” as a source of factual information? Ooooookaaayyy…………
Have you heard Paul’s Spanish style lead on Dress Me Up Like a Robber?
Again, I said “probably”. Not for sure, unlike Mr. Iknoweverythingthatpaulmccartneyhaseverdone here I don’t know. And what I’m talking about is the fast alternate picking.
Well, I’m convinced it’s George – it’s almost an update of his solo on You’re Gonna Lose That Girl – and I see he’s credited for it in several [good] Beatles books. The “second” solo is Paul, doing the super-fast picking over the final verse. (And yes, the attitude of that “Mr. Iknoweverythingthatpaulmccartneyhaseverdone” person does grate …)
The solo is really McCartney’s style, very “go-for-it”.
The high-note on the last verse could be any of the three – it’s actually easy to do and shows no particular style.
Almost positive it’s Paul. That’s why I came to this site.
Simply one of the best pop songs ever made. McCartney at the top of his craft!
Great intro to a great LP!
Yep, for sure, my favorite performance of this is when Paul played Red Square with Wings in the 90’s I guess, one from which the big documentary was made. In it Paul meets Gorbachev, goes to a “disadvantaged” youth concert & bikes around Moscow, oh yes, & Putin attends his Red Sq concert.
After having spent two years in the hazy dreamscapes of Pepperland, the Beatles were serving notice they were back on the ground, rock & roll-wise.
No drowsy Mellotrons, no trippy backwards tapes, no eerie distorted vocals, this time they were leading off with screeching (airplane) tires, pounding piano, thudding drums, screaming guitars and Paul McCartney doing his best Elvis-meets-the Beach Boys impersonation.
Dude, don’t diss Pepperland like that.
I don’t think he was trying to diss anything. Just that The Beatles went from a 50s Rock and Roll/R&B influenced sound, to doing a lot of experimental stuff, and then “BACK” to the Rock and Roll sound with “Back in the U.S.S.R.”
Jerry Lee Lewis, actually. Not Elvis.
The harmony vocals clearly resemble the Beach Boys, but were new to Paul’s work. He use’s a similar background vocal for “Jet”, my guess is he realized they work well in the upbeat songs that play off their own intensity.
One of my favorite Beatles tunes. Knowing they were condemned by the Birchers makes it even better.
It was an honour to be condemned by the John Birch Society.
Great song; one of my favorites.
That being said, the USSR was an oppressive regime that killed and enslaved its people and deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Nazi Germany and The Killing Fields. We should never forget that.
Great song; one of my favourites.
Quite a lot of killing and enslaving in the USA and Western Europe over the years. Ee should never forget that
That’s what makes it so brilliant. McCartney wrote the ultimate put-down of the USSR while making it a fun parody. Genius.
they were using elvis and the beach boys (americas greatest at the time) as a politial parody (a la marx bros) (communism vs capitalism) and they conquer!!! pure pop for the then people!
helter scelter and manson put this song under the radar, yeah yeah yeah!
More like Chuck Berry and the Beach Boys.Paul’s song reads like Chuck’s Back In The USA.
Listening to the isolated drums on Back in the U.S.S.R. tells me Paul had no right to tell Ringo he messed up anywhere.The drums sound like your Uncle had a try at your drumkit and someone accidentally recorded it. And then people insist paul did the drums on Dear Prudence’s finale??? All of a sudden he’s doing a fairly decent Ringo impersonation on drums when he can barely come out of a drumfill or do rolls and stay in beat with the song?? Right. I’m pretty convinced now that Ringo does the finale of Dear Prudence, he just never got credited for it.
Paul wasn’t the only drummer on Back In The USSR – it was a composite featuring him, John and George.
Yes, it was a composite. Apparently, they needed to reassign instruments during the recording to get it properly recorded. Thus, you frequently will notice that the drums are following the song rather than driving it.
Good point, Tweeze. I always thought the drum sound to be a bit muddy on this.
nonesense, Paul might not be as good as Ringo as a drummer, but he was the creative musician who suggested many drum patterns to Ringo.
if you want to hear Paul drumming listen to albums like “McCartney” 1970 or “Band On The Run” 1974
Yes, Paul played drums on the solo records you mentioned, and the drumming on those records sounds, to little surprise, thoroughly uninspired. Paul loved to play the drums and the guitar, but he almost consistently performed worse then George and Ringo did in the same enviroment. Not strange, really, and the fact that Paul thought he could compete with the big boys – George, a guy who had been a guitar obsessive since his early teens, doodling guitars in his school notebooks and having perfect imitations of many of his guitar heroes, a genre chameleon, able to adapt to whatever Lennon/McCartney threw at him in the way of new song material, and Ringo, a guy who way literally known as “the best drummer in Liverpool”, being a seasoned veteran and a professionally musician long before Paul himself – it really speak more about Macca’s ego than anything else.
Nothing wrong with Paul’s guitar playing esp given he didn’t only play it on his own songs. For example, he played lead guitar on John’s song Ticket to Ride, he played the solo in Taxman which was George’s own song. If they didn’t think he was more than up to snuff with it, they wouldn’t have had him playing them on their songs
There are also plenty of fine drumming performances by Paul. He even played drums on Steve Miller’s My Dark Hour(as well as bass, backing vocals and one of the guitars–he’s credited as Paul Ramon). He was more than capable of playing the drums on Dear Prudence based on that performance given we have no doubt that was in fact Paul playing them on My Dark Hour.
Besides George and Ringo would have been out of jobs if Paul was as “into” those instruments as they were, that really isn’t the point. The point is he was capable of playing to a high standard when he wanted to and so he did. No one would seriously say he was a better drummer than Ringo, Ringo’s amazing and unique, but that doesn’t mean Paul couldn’t play the drums very well or that he didn’t know how to write a drum part, even if he couldn’t play it exactly that way himself. That’s what part of being a songwriter is.
I think what happened was, sometimes Paul would come up with an idea for guitar or drums that the others thought was great. The drum pattern on Ticket to Ride was Paul’s idea, although Ringo played it. But sometimes it was just simpler for Paul to play his idea himself than for George, say, to learn it. So Paul did play some lead guitar parts here and there. For George it may have been less aggravating than having Paul tell him what to play, which became a major irritant for him by the “Get Back” sessions. Don’t forget, Paul played guitar before he played bass. He ended up playing bass because no one else would.
Yet the best guitar solos on Beatles tracks are played by McCartney. Taxman for example.
The best solos? Nonsense. What about Something or The End. These are among the best guitar solos ever. Seriously, Paul’s fans have no shame. He is a GREAT bass player, singer and song writer, isn’t that enough for you?
“The End” is Paul, George, and John (in that order) taking turns of 2 bars each, rotating 3 times.
There is a lack of precision in the drumming. A studio drummer would destroy their pedestrian efforts. Say what you will about Ringo but the guy was an ‘old pro’ and steady. Maybe not the most creative drummer but solid and steady for sure.
is there any confirmation that John and George played drums with Paul on this? For some reason, I thought Paul was the only skilled drummer (besides Ringo) to take drumming responsibilities when Ringo temporarily left
d’nicholson – I wouldn’t exactly use the word `skilled’ to describe Paul’s drumming! I’ve always thought the drumming on this track was the weakest element. Aside from that this a great recording, excellent way to open the album.
If you mess with the balance on your stereo, you can hear one drum track on one side (Paul) and an entirely different drum track (John and George)on the other. The drums are pretty terrible, although the rest of the recording is so good, you don’t really notice or care
Nice info.
I thought the plane sound was Paul’s distorted whistle, as I heard on a Bootleg.
It’s The Beatles restless sense of ironic humor: in the middle of the Cold War they were singing about the east girls better than western ones!! Though not intentional, undoubtedly a low blow to any John Birch Society’s like minded person!!
What I can’t understand is how a great song can have terrible drumming!!! Obviously it sounds different to Ringo’s innovative drumming, which doesn’t mean it sounds bad… the all four were skill musicians with music playing in their heads constantly!!!
I have no idea who played drums on this song, BUT I think I just noticed something:
Stereo: Plane sounds at the start, wind blowing at the end;
Mono: Plane sounds at the start and at the end.
Am I insane?
I think this story is described in the book that came with the Mono Box Set on vinyl, probably elsewhere. Apparently, the tape loop that they were using got a little worn out by the time they mixed the stereo master. At the end of that version, it was the poor loop’s last gasp! Another example of how the stereo versions got short shrift. Even the the jet engine sound at the beginning of the stereo version is lower in pitch tan the mono.
It is not “wind blowing” at the end, it is the sound a jet aeroplane vanishing into the distance because it is taking off, whereas, at the beginning, it is the sound of an aeroplane approaching as it is coming in to land.
On the stereo, it’s very “wobbly” due to the tape damage described in the article.
If you include the intro and ending, the high-pitched whine of a jet engine can be heard at least eleven times during the song.
Interesting… I always thought that Paul was the only drummer on this song.
I always liked “Back In The USSR,” and I never really noticed the less-than-stellar drumming. But I do now, and it would be exciting to hear the song propelled along by a great rock and roll drumbeat. I think it would be fun if the track were made available on the internet stripped of its weak backbeat, for different rock drummers to add their percussion styles to. Nothing too fancy, but something along the lines of Dave Grohl’s driving beats. I know this is kind of sacrilegious, but Paul’s drumming could stand to be improved on this track. Why, it would be like taking a sad song and making it better. (Not that BITUSSR is a “sad” song… maybe I’d better not quote that lyric.) 😉
‘Take the bad part and make it better’
Curiosity… You have George contributing a six-string bass part and I wonder what the source is? From my reading of Lewisohn’s Recording Sessions, I thought the first bass track was laid down by John, with Paul adding, among other things, two additional bass tracks the following day.
A better source is John Winn’s That Magic Feeling, which updates and corrects a lot of the earlier work that Lewisohn did in the 1980s. Sessions is a fantastic book but not all the information in it is correct.
A fairly detailed explanation of what happened is in the session articles for 22 and 23 August 1968.
Lennon’s bass part was erased though, so I’ll take that out of the listing.
Certainly John´s bass is there yet, otherwise he wouldn´t have mentioned in an interview. It´s just that his 6-string bass guitar part was played like a rhythm guitar, with chords and fast strumming. It´s still there loud and clear.
The other bass line is played along, but it´s clear that there are (at least) two bass parts, one playing the role of a rhythm guitar, and that´s John´s 6-string.
Lewisohn says that George also played bass.
Incredible , while in the USSR the Beatles were forbidden and the beatlemaniacs investigated by the communist authorities, The Beatles were composing a song “friendly” with the USSR.
Only a country who suffered a real comunism in the flesh could understand the evil behind this political system. My country, Chile, was nearly to suffer that, but was saved in the last minute by the Army.
So Lennon says this:
“Paul completely. I play the six-string bass on that. [Sings as he pretends to play bass guitar] ‘Da da da da da…’ Try writing that on your typewriter.”
But at the top it said Harrison (electric 6-string) and McCartney (electric) played bass. Does anyone know why this is?
I explained this in an earlier comment. Lennon’s bass part was wiped. See the recording session pages (linked to at the top of the article) for more information.
Leave it to the Beatles to do a lighthearted send-up of the Beach Boys which excels almost anything the latter had recorded, IMHO. The ringing guitar over the last verse is freakin’ sublime!
As far as the somewhat spotty instrumentation — who cares?? That’s like criticizing e.e.cummings for poor penmanship. >> It works because it works.
There are probably 40 Beach Boys/Brian Wilson songs better than Back in the USSR, and that’s not an insult to “USSR”. It’s a compliment to the brilliance of Brian Wilson (and incredibly underrated Carl Wilson, too).
Does anybody know how that “ringing guitar” note was done? I’ never say such a thing was posible in 1968!
That’s simply someone (according to posts here it seems to be Paul) strumming one note really fast with a pick. It may sound like one continuous note, but if you listen closely you can hear the furious strumming. I’ve always thought it to be a great, creative detail – and very modern-sounding, as well.
What nation did the Beatles make the most money off of?
You know what I gather from all the comments on the drumming here? Ringo was/is an essential/equal part of the Beatles. Period.
If John played 6-string bass, shouldn’t that be in the credits?
It’s not included as the part was wiped the day after the recording. I don’t include everything they tried out during recording sessions; otherwise it would end up being very confusing, with instruments and performances listed that very few people have heard. A good example is McCartney doing lead vocals on one take of I Want You (She’s So Heavy) – if I included that it would just look bizarre, as he doesn’t sing on the version that everyone knows.
First loved this song, from time I first heard it on the radio in mid-70’s. They had a Beatles request show on the radio when I was about 11 and I rang up and requested this. Great Paul McCartney song in which he is also the drummer on. I eventually got this on vinyl when I received the White Album for Christmas 1980. I love Georges lead guitar on this.
Paul sings mostly like Elvis Presley in Back In The USSR. The harmonies, thanks to Mike Love were a take on the Beach Boys and the song was designed to be the opposite of “Back In The USA” from Chuck Berry. -Now that’s ironic? Elvis singing with Beach Boy type backing harmonies about girls in the USSR and the homeland in the East. It must have rocked folks out of their chairs when they first heard it.
And I think it was during that Sardinian holiday that Ringo learned about the octopus and how it keeps glimmering things outside its cave, eventually leading to a certain song.
Had no idea this was inspired by Chuck Berry’s Back In The USA. Only heard the Beach Boys story. I learn something new every day on this site. Txs.
Great parody of The Beach Boys. It was great that Mike Love was on hand in India when McCartney wrote this. Of course it was inspired by the above mentioned Chuck Berry song. The Beach Boys were another great band and Brian Wilson a genius like Lennon and McCartney.
Come on people; a great song is the sum of its parts. If these three guys thought the drums were weak, don’t you think they would have punched them up. I think they knew more about producing a great tune than any of us ever will. Maybe the song sounds so great because they decided not to let the drums overpower the rest of the music. The whole of the song is punchy as hell; leave it alone and just enjoy.
No man, they were just worse drummers than Ringo. Nothing magical to it.
Can anyone explain why there are different airplane sounds on the mono vs stereo mix? I’ve never heard the original 1968 mono mix only the remastered mono. Was the different plane sound on the original mono or just the remaster?
From what I know, the airplane sound whines at the end of the song in stereo because the tape was getting old, which doesn’t occur in the new mono mix. Was this the case in the original mono?
If it was the same sound I would assume they did the mono mix first and by the time they mixed it for stereo the tape got old. But that theory doesn’t work since its a different plane sound entirely. However, if it was the same plane in the original mono mix, that would make sense. In that case I’d guess they used a new plane sound in the remastered mono mix since the old one wasn’t functioning anymore.
I believe they added the sound effects during the mixing process (i.e. when the mono and stereo mixes were made).
As we know from previous Beatles albums not every song recorded needed to include all four Beatles to sound like a Beatles song. As long as a song was on a Beatles Album the fans accepted the song regardless of who played what instruments, or didn’t play at all. Had George Martin got his way session musicians may have sat in Ringo’s seat for every song on every album. Thank God the Beatles weren’t like the Beach Boys, or the Monkees, for they created their own sounds, with the barest assistance of outside help. I think Ringo knew that ultimately his was better off in the Beatles, and the Beatles were better musically with him in the drummer’s seat. The only reason Ringo knew Peter Sellers, and was able to borrow his yacht for a holiday was because he was a Beatle. Where was Pete Best holidaying in 1968, and how many movie star friends did he have, and the same goes for Jimmie Nicol, a fill in for Ringo during 1964.
The Beatles chose Ringo for a reason. He was the best drummer in Liverpool and it only took one album to prove that he was the best drummer for the Beatles. Back in the USSR is a great rock and roll song. The improvisation used by Paul, John and George to create a song with a sound which when played on the equipment of the day sounded like a perfect Beatles’ song. Only now with the aid of modern equipment can we listen to each element of the song and attribute a person to every sound created. I enjoy this song because it is as good as any Beatles song regardless of the missing Ringo. The public loved it. The radio stations loved it. It once again showed the recording world that the Beatles had once again created another fantastic opening track for another fantastic Beatles Album. Mick and the boys in the Stones and the Beach Boys were once again scratching their heads and thinking, “we have to lift our game, again!”
The piano in this song is underrated. It really drives the song with the guitars.
I totally agree. Love the song and love the guitar leads, but the piano drives it! No complaints about the drums! Love it all. Genius musicians. Classic Beatles.
Even though we’re familiar with Back in the USSR at 142 beats per minute in the key of A, John, Paul and George actually recorded it 20 bpm slower in the key of G.
Since you weren’t there, cite your source. Personally , I’ve never heard that.
That’s clearly nonsense as the timbre of the instrumentation doesn’t suggest any varispeeding at all. Speeding it up a whole key would make it sound like a kids’ record! It was only ever done for effect (When I’m 64) or through necessity (Strawberry Fields).
You can now with the deluxe set released last week…
Update to my previous comment – yes, the original slower version (same multitrack) does exist (sans vocals, of course). Apparently, Dave has it correct. And listening to it, the timbre of the instruments are more accurate than in the released version. Kudos Dave!!
Awesome that you can head for Sardinia with the fam when you find yourself at odds with co-workers.
Great forum on this song!!
I’m convinced this song was sped up. Has anyone noticed the demo, at half speed? The performances are identical. Check out Take 5 on the 2018 release. Almost half the speed as the final mix, with the EXACT parts / performance.
Also, the piano part is completely underrated. as is Paul’s drumming. How about the hi-hat 1/8 notes pumping through “Back, in US…Back, in the US…” That’s is Paul’s creation. He’s driving this song on every level, guitar solo and all.
Great forum on this song!!
I’m convinced this song was sped up. Has anyone noticed the demo, at a much slower tempo? The performances are identical (check out Take 5 on the 2018 release). EXACT performance.
Also, the piano part is completely underrated, as is Paul’s drumming. How about the hi-hat 1/8 notes pumping through “Back, in US…Back, in the US…” He’s driving this song on every level, guitar solo and all.
I love the “one note solo” that starts at “show me around your…” so good..
Brilliant parody of the Beach Boys!
From a modern perspective, it seems bizarre that for this classic rock track when Ringo walked out, the other 3 did the drumming between them, rather than cancelling the session or parking this song and doing a gentle ballad instead
Or that Ringo didn’t then overdub his “proper” drumming over the top afterwards
John gets grief for his bass parts on the Get Back/Let It Be sessions, but I love his bass parts on the White Album: here, and on While My Guitar Gently Weeps, and on Rocky Raccoon, and on Helter Skelter. Both he and Paul do these trebly bass parts throughout the album–John on a Fender VI, Paul on a on a Fender Jazz Bass–and I think they are really gear.
My short take:
Yes Paul can play drums. He can keep time. He is even capable of creating a part unique to a particular song.
No, Paul does not have that magic ‘feel’ of a true drummer. There is some indescribable to Ringo’s playing that embodies what a drummer is supposed to add to a track. Paul does not have that ‘swing’. ( And this is especially evident in his fills.)
Let the flaming begin again. I just would rather hear the craftsman Ringo play his drums, than a wanna be Paul, just because he can.
ps For so many songs, I can play all the same notes Paul plays on bass. But I will NEVER reach his level of virtuosity on that instrument.
I should know this, but I don’t. On the intro of Back in the USSR we obviously got the plane landing, but just after that and before the vocal comes in there’s a mid range sound which only goes for about a second.
Anyone know what that is?
Cheers
I had the opportunity to share this one with a friend who only has a passing familiarity with the Beatles. They enjoyed the premise and the tune, but couldn’t get past the “screeching sound effects.”
I’ve heard this song all 30+ years of my life, and I would have sworn that the jet sound is just part of the intro to the song. Nope! Once it was pointed out, I couldn’t STOP hearing it. It just keeps looping back in over the vocals. I had my mother give it a spin with this in mind, since she’s had an additional 20 years of experience listening to the White Album. She was equally startled by the presence of the sound throughout the song, and confused as to why she never noticed it before.
The only version I can locate without the very pronounced jet effect dominating the mix is a totally remixes version from the Love album, which omits its entirely. Am I going crazy? Is it just less noticeable on the mono mix, perhaps? I’m genuinely interested in any input.