The event featured previously unreleased versions of songs performed by Giles, son of George Martin, the Beatles' producer.
Wikimetal was invited to the BBC studios in London. The reason:
50th anniversary of the Beatles' 'White Album'.
Last Sunday, September 23rd, I was at home having a beer with a friend while we listened to and discussed rock 'n' roll when I received a WhatsApp message from Nando Machado of Wikimetal, asking if I would like to cover an event the following day.
"Just so you know, it's a listening session of the 50th anniversary edition of the Beatles' White Album , presented by Giles Martin , son of the legendary Beatles producer George Martin , among other things... are you in?"
I kept reading and rereading it dozens of times to make sure I wasn't hallucinating, since I'm a huge fan of the Beatles and John Lennon .
Of course I agreed immediately. Below I recount this wonderful experience. I was one of the first in the world to experience this listening session. I share firsthand details of this session and some revelations that Giles Martin made about the recordings of this classic album, which is one of my favorite Beatles albums.
So here we go:
The event took place at the BBC studios in Maida Vale, London, and began at 2:30 pm.
The location is just a few blocks from the legendary Abbey Road studio where the album was recorded.
Upon entering, I immediately realized it was an event for very few people, which made me even more flattered to be there.
I was in a BBC studio that had been out of use for recordings since the 1970s. There was even a gold plaque above the sound engineer's booth that read: "Bing Crosby made his last recording in this studio on 11/10/1977". Crosby passed away just three days later. And throughout the enormous room, as well as on the ceiling, there were high-quality stereo sound speakers.
That's when it "clicked" for me. I realized I was about to experience one of the most incredible sonic experiences of my life at the BBC studios in London, guided by Giles Martin, for a listening session of unreleased demos from the White Album as well as recording sessions never before presented to the public.
There was also a bar with staff serving drinks and appetizers. I went there and grabbed a glass of champagne to celebrate the moment.
At 2:40 pm sharp, some tracks from the Beatles' 9th studio album, officially titled The Beatles , began to play while guests were still arriving, taking photos of the venue and randomly sitting in rows of armchairs in front of a small illuminated stage.
The first song was “Back in the USSR”. The track that opens the album was followed by “Helter Skelter”, “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”, “Blackbird”, “Julia” and “Birthday”.
Some versions, such as "Blackbird," were sung by a female singer I couldn't identify.
Others were live and studio versions with the Beatles. This introduction was more to entertain us since the listening session hadn't officially started yet.
Then a voice comes up telling everyone to sit down to begin the event.
Then Giles Martin appears, accompanied by an interviewer. The two sit in the center of the small stage.
He begins the event by saying how difficult the task is of remixing and remastering the Beatles' catalogs:
"In a classic work like the White Album , any minimal and subtle alteration sounds very loud to the ears of those who know and appreciate this work."
Martin had already done the same with Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band . And he even joked, saying that "Paul (McCartney) calls every day wanting to give his opinion on what he should do with the mixes."
Next, Martin talks a little about his father, George Martin, saying that back then it was always like this: John and Paul were always calling or going to his house to tinker with this, change that, and that he's already used to dealing with Paul.
Everyone obviously laughed, and I was there listening to these stories and traveling back in time.
Giles continues the interview by explaining that the Beatles were going through a period of great change during the recording of the White Album and sharing many interesting facts:
Regarding the album being very long because George Harrison and Ringo Starr didn't want to give up their compositions. About the band seeking inspiration in India. And a bit about John Lennon and Paul McCartney bringing their respective wives to the recording sessions. And how this sometimes greatly interfered with the atmosphere of the recordings and the creative process, especially for Lennon.
Eric Clapton 's participation in "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," where he recounts that Harrison one day showed up at the studio with Clapton and said, "Eric came to record my song. He's my friend and the greatest guitarist in the world, so he's going to do the solo."
And nobody said anything, it just happened, and Clapton in rehearsals always played incredible solos, different with each take.
Regarding "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," Giles revealed that John Lennon played the bass on the album version because Paul wasn't there that day.
He then made another revelation, saying that on "Dear Prudence," Paul recorded the drums because Ringo had "left the band" after an argument but returned four days later.
Paul left the drum kit set up in the studio like a gift-wrapped package with a note saying, “You’re the best drummer in the world, I love you.”
But the version that ended up on the album was the one with Paul on drums.
I was already delirious listening to all of that. It felt more like a chat in a pub. Giles then announced that he had found dozens of reels of tape from the White Album , with demos unknown to the public and excerpts of recordings that even he hadn't heard. And that we were going to listen to 3 sessions, each with 5 of these recordings that he would comment on.
And so began the sessions for the “Unreleased Demos and Session Recordings From The White Album”.
The first session begins with "Back in the USSR," a completely acoustic version with Paul playing and singing certain parts and John others. However, the classic "uh uh uh uh" of the backing vocals is still absent. Midway through the song, the sound of a tambourine, a percussion instrument, enters.
The version was amazing!
Next came "Not Guilty," just voice and guitar, sung by George Harrison.
“Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” is also entirely acoustic, with Paul singing the first part. In the second part, John sings while Paul “vocalizes” what would become the guitar arrangements in the original version.
The last song of the first session is “Child of Nature” with just Lennon on vocals and guitar. This song would later become “Jealous Guy.” I almost cried at that moment.
At the end, people were holding back from applauding, and the silence during the pauses and between songs was incredible!
The next song was "Julia," also featuring Lennon on vocals and guitar. Almost halfway through the song, John stops and speaks to producer George Martin:
"It's difficult to play and sing. Either I play well and sing badly, or I sing well and play badly."
And you could hear Martin's voice in the background saying, "Do it again, your way." And John just starts strumming the guitar and sings and plays in a way that gave goosebumps to everyone present.
In front of me were high-ranking record label executives, and one of them even pulled out a handkerchief to wipe away tears. Seriously, that's exactly how it was.
After the first session ended, Giles jokingly said, to break the tension, that if there had been an "MTV Unplugged" back then, the Beatles would have done it that way.
The second session begins with "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," featuring a completely different band and guitar arrangements.
It went without saying that Eric Clapton was improvising arrangements and solos throughout the entire song. I thought this version was sensational, especially because of Clapton's arrangements.
Next up is "Mother's Nature's Son," featuring Paul on vocals and guitar, with some arrangements for another guitar accompanied by a bass line.
The next track, "Why Don't We Do It in the Road," is acoustic but features drums and bass, with Paul singing. It's a much more raw format that gives the song an even more bluesy feel, which surprised me!
In that same vein and format, we listened to "Yer Blues." Simply sensational!
And to finish off the second session: Ringo's "Don't Pass Me By." The version played features the drummer singing in a single take, which wasn't great to listen to. And the backing band did their best, including Lennon and McCartney's vocals to help Ringo's performance.
In fact, at the end of "Yer Blues," Giles returns to introduce the next session, and someone informs him that there's still one left. He then laughs and says:
“That’s right, we’re missing the last one, which is Ringo’s composition. I almost forgot, but we can’t forget Ringo’s song, can we?” That’s when “Don’t Pass Me By” began. Everyone laughed a lot.
Before starting the final session, Giles talks about how his father thought the guitar arrangements in the introduction to "Dear Prudence" were beautiful and announces that this will be the next song.
The acoustic version is breathtaking, mainly due to John's vocal performance.
The next track, “Long, Long, Long,” is a band version but with some different arrangements. John's vocal performance is much more intense. I loved this particular demo version.
Next up is “Cry Baby Cry,” which is also more raw, but with the piano and guitar very prominent.
The second-to-last song was "I Will," which was very close to the original version, but with fewer arrangements.
And before finishing, Giles announces that the last song would be "Birthday." One of the few songs recorded in a very happy and harmonious atmosphere among the band. The recording took place after a party they threw to reconnect, which greatly helped the performance. A really cool version as well.
Finally, Giles opened the floor for a few questions, one of which was about how many takes they usually took to record the final version, and he simply replied that John and Paul took "one and a half takes" and smiled.
Everyone then applauded loudly, because during the audition silence reigned in the room, only the music sounded loud, clear and perfect.
Giles thanked everyone for coming and stepped down from the stage. I took the opportunity to approach him. After introducing myself, I thanked him and his father for their contribution to the history of music and to my life.
He simply replied,
“Thank you, Matteus. Music is my life, and it always has been my father’s as well. Thank you for being here.”
I asked if I could take a selfie and he very kindly replied with a smile: "Of course you can."
I left there in a trance and amazed by what I had just experienced.
I would like to thank Wikimetal and Nando Machado for this unique opportunity. Now we await the official release of the 50th Anniversary Edition of the White Album , remixed by Giles Martin.
Text by Matteus Cavina. A São Paulo native residing in London. Musician, composer, producer of his own band CAVINA , and a Beatles aficionado.
