Today I'm offering you a song that, the first time I heard it, I couldn't believe was by The Beatles. It broke all the parameters and standards of what they had been doing up to that point. It wasn't rock and roll, nor a ballad, nor country music, nor even pop. It was something experimental and unique that they created in the recording studio, of course with some previous influences. I'm referring to the magical and legendary "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite," a truly spectacular track that makes you feel like you're in a circus tent. At least, that's how I felt when I first heard it, quite a few years ago now.
This song is the seventh track on the extraordinary and revolutionary album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," released in May 1967. Along with a host of other magnificent songs, it boasted unparalleled vocal quality and a cover that, I believe, was the most extraordinary at the time, and has been since. Years later, The Rolling Stones released an album emulating it. That cover... well, it didn't even come close.
Lennon himself says he was inspired by a 19th-century circus poster he had bought some time before at an antique fair. In fact, part of the song's lyrics came from that old poster, with some modifications Lennon made before recording it, and then George Martin worked his magic. Martin himself also commented in an interview that he created the final part of the song "by cutting recorded tapes, throwing them in the air, and seeing how they fell to the floor in that order, he would then join them together to complete the effect." It was a time of peak creativity and musical productivity.
This song is particularly special to me because I believe it's the only one where they mention my name, "Henry" (although the poster shows the name "Zanthus", Lennon preferred Henry). In the line before the first musical break, the line says verbatim, "...And of course Henry, The Horse, dance The waltz." Lennon wanted the song to have a carnival-like, festive atmosphere, which he recreated with the circus melody. There's another anecdote that says Lennon wanted the air to smell of sawdust, to give it that street performance feel, like a circus tent.
This wonderful track features John on lead vocals, as well as playing organ and harmonica; Paul on bass, backing vocals, and reverse lead guitar; George on bass harmonica and shaker; and Ringo on drums and tambourine. George Martin also played piano and harmonium, and several musicians contributed tape loops (recordings created from random recordings) and some circus-like effects. The track was recorded at EMI Studios in London, under the Parlophone label, and is credited to Lennon McCartney, although the song is primarily Lennon's. It's classified as psychedelic rock (this subgenre in rock music began to be discussed with the release of Sgt. Pepper, as always, they were pioneers and masters in almost everything).
Well, my dear friends, this is the end of this review. I hope you enjoyed it. We'll see each other, read each other, and comment again soon... Happy weekend... Blessings...!!!
Original YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsDVUvS5d_I
Original story by @cayitus63
Screenshots from the The Beatles - "Being For Benefit Of Mr Kite"(2017 Mix) - 1967
Images from the era of singles, EPs and song promotions.
Separators created and edited by me in Canva: https://www.canva.com/
Translated with Google Translate: https://translate.google.com
Rating: 100/100
Originally posted through scrobble.life/music.
