markus heuger's
beabliography

Beabliography

Abstract 0386

Berger, Rolf (2001), "John Lennon's and Paul McCartney's different ways of recording a song in the studio (exemplified by 'Strawberry Fields Forever' and 'Penny Lane'." In: Yrjö Heinonen, Markus Heuger, Sheila Whitely, Terhi Nurmesjärvi and Jouni Koskimäki (eds.), Beatlestudies 3. Proceedings of the Beatles 2000 conference. Jyväskylä: University of Jyväskylä (Department of Music, Research Reports 23), 2001, 293-298.

These results are part of a thesis on John Lennon's and Paul McCartney's individual style. The music, as we can hear it in the recorded songs, Berger argues, is not only determined by the composition (e.g. chord changes and melody), but also by the way of recording in the studio — organisation, collaboration with other musicians and their producer George Martin, recording techniques. Here Berger wants to show John Lennon's and Paul McCartney's different ways of working in the studio. To this end the recordings of "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Penny Lane" are described and compared. For "Strawberry Fields Forever" (John Lennon) the author takes his analysis from the demo-version through the several studio versions to the "edit of the century". For "Penny Lane" (Paul McCartney), he makes a futile but not fruitless attempt to reconstruct the track list with Lewisohn's "Recording Sessions". Paul McCartney is well organized. He decides every detail personally and is precise in his collaboration with George Martin. John Lennon gives the musicians and the producer more room and his recordings are less organized. He works intuitively and lets things happen. Paul McCartney has the knowledge of the technical side of recording and uses the techniques to their utmost limit. John Lennon has a vision of the sound he wants to achieve, but he has much less technical knowledge. He asks the impossible and breaks the limits of recording technique. Their styles of working in the studio are related to their musical styles and personality. Paul McCartney knows music and uses material he finds. He quotes elements of other musical styles and combines them. John Lennon often finds his own, completely new solution which has no predecessor. McCartney is more realistic, while Lennon lives more in his visions and dreams.