What Goes On (The Beatles song)
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| “What Goes On” | |||||
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| Single by The Beatles from the album Rubber Soul (UK) Yesterday ... and Today (US) |
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| A-side | "Nowhere Man" | ||||
| Released | 15 February 1966 (US) | ||||
| Format | 7" | ||||
| Recorded | Abbey Road Studios 21 October 1965 |
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| Genre | Country Rock | ||||
| Length | 2:50 | ||||
| Label | Parlophone (UK) Capitol (US) 5587 |
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| Writer(s) | John Lennon / Paul McCartney / Richard Starkey | ||||
| Producer | George Martin | ||||
| The Beatles singles chronology | |||||
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| Rubber Soul track listing | |||||
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"What Goes On" is a song by The Beatles, featured as the eighth track on their sixth UK album Rubber Soul. The song was later released as the tenth track on the American-only album Yesterday and Today. The song-writing credit is Lennon-McCartney-Starkey. The original version of the song was written by John Lennon in the Quarrymen days[1]and considered as a follow-up to "Please Please Me" in early 1963,[2] The song was not used until 1965 as Ringo Starr's vocal piece for Rubber Soul. According to Lennon, "it was resurrected with a middle eight thrown in, probably with Paul's help" for Rubber Soul.[1] Barry Miles also claimed that McCartney and Starr combined for the middle eight.[3] There is no formal middle eight in the song, though one chorus and one verse are extended; Ian MacDonald believes those longer sections were written by McCartney.[4] Starr contributed to the lyrics, his first-ever composing credit on a Beatles song. However, when asked what his contribution was to the song, Starr said, "About five words."[3] To his chagrin, the first pressing of the single accidentally omitted "Starkey" in the song-writing credit.
Richie Unterberger, in the All Music Guide, says the song is an enjoyable, but lightweight, country & western-flavored entry in the Beatles catalog. Unterberger praises George Harrison's guitar work, which "again marks him as the finest disciple of Carl Perkins,"[5] and the guitar work is indeed similar to "Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby", a Perkins cover version the Beatles released on Beatles for Sale.
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[edit] Recording
As mentioned above, an early version was considered as a follow-up to "Please Please Me", and the Beatles hoped to record it on 5 March 1963, but there was only time for the other songs recorded that night: "From Me to You", "Thank You Girl", and an early version of "One After 909".[2]
The Rubber Soul version was recorded in one take, with overdubs, on 4 November 1965. During this session the Beatles recorded a long (6:36) instrumental tune called "12-Bar Original" for lack of a better name.[6] "12-Bar Original" was not included on Rubber Soul, and was not commercially available until 1996 when an edited version of take 2 of this song was included on the Anthology 2 album.
[edit] Cover versions
- In 2005, Sufjan Stevens covered the song on the compilation This Bird Has Flown - A 40th Anniversary Tribute to the Beatles' Rubber Soul. Sufjan's version only keeps the lyrics of the original, as he takes his own interpretation on the melody and arrangement [7]
- In 2006, Ringo Starr performed "What Goes On" live as part of that year's All Starr Tour.
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b David Sheff (2000). All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono. New York: St. Martin's Press, 178. ISBN 0-312-25464-4.
- ^ a b Mark Lewisohn (1988). The Beatles Recording Sessions. New York: Harmony Books, 28. ISBN 0-517-57066-1.
- ^ a b Barry Miles (1997). Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now. New York: Henry Holt & Company, 275. ISBN 0-8050-5249-6.
- ^ Ian MacDonald (1994). Revolution in the Head: the Beatles' Records and the Sixties. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 142. ISBN 0-8050-2780-7.
- ^ All Music Guide Review of What Goes On. Retrieved on 2007-02-26.
- ^ Mark Lewisohn (1988). The Beatles Recording Sessions, 67.
- ^ Various Artists: This Bird Has Flown: A Tribute to the Beatles' Rubber Soul: Pitchfork Record Review
[edit] References
- Turner, Steve. A Hard Day's Write: The Stories Behind Every Beatles' Song, Harper, New York: 1994, ISBN 0-06-095065-X
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