Why Helter Skelter is Still The Most Controversial Beatles Song
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- čas přidán 27. 02. 2024
- Helter Skelter is one of the most controversial and polarizing Beatles songs. But whether you love it or hate it, you might not realize it contains a whole assortment of wild and unexpected anomalies.
In this episode, we'll breakdown the fascinating recording history of Paul McCartney's wildest contribution to 1968's White Album. We'll also explore a mystery that fans have debated for years: who is really playing bass, John Lennon or Paul McCartney?
As a fair warning: you can't unhear this.
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Questions / Comments / Ideas:
youcantunhearthis@ gmail.com
Sources:
- Dave Rybaczewski www.beatlesebooks.com
- The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions by Mark Lewisohn
- The Beatles Recording Reference Manual: Volume 4: The Beatles through Yellow Submarine (1968 - early 1969) by Jerry Hammack and Gillian G Gaar
- www.beatlesbible.com
- Recording the Beatles by Kevin Ryan & Brian Kehew
- Living The Beatles Legend by Kenneth Womack: amzn.to/3G0fnmx
"Whole Lotta Helter Skelter" - DJ Soundhog: / the_beatles_ft_led_zep...
Image Credits: Linda McCartney
Special thanks to @DLD2Music for providing isolated tracks, and to Ken Womack and Eli Rosen for historical insights.
Join my supporters on Patreon (patreon.com/youcantunhearthis):
Eli Rosen
Jeremy Ribakove
Kheng Lai Tan
Danny van Leeuwen
YouStainedMe
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#TheBeatles #YCUT #Music - Hudba
*New episode!* 🎧 It's the longest YCUT yet - there's just so much to discuss about Helter Skelter. What do you think about the bass debate? Let me know what you think in the comments! 🎸😎
Check out the entire 'Whole Lotta Helter Skelter' mashup: www.reddit.com/r/ledzeppelin/comments/vse1fu/the_beatles_ft_led_zeppelin_whole_lotta_helter/
I think you make very convincing points! Yes, Paul is more precise and clean with his bass playing, but if he wanted to go outside the box, and especially if it was his idea as it was on Helter Skelter, he's typically willing to jump into another style.
I think it's a bass guitar, not a bass gitorrrrrr.
So, had to go through all this at least once - and just as I thought:
There are no "wild mysteries", you just made that up to bait clicks.
There's only ONE "mystery" and that's not even a real one.
Because it is VERY obvious that John might have played some basic bass part, but Paul definitely plays the dominant final part.
At least THIS time you referred to the new liner notes - in contrast to "Revolver" where you put out your "mystery clip" two days before the book came out and solved your "mystery" about who was doing the count-in on "Taxman".
Wait I can't find the helter skelter x whole lotta love dj sound hog remix any idea where it is ?
@mike0o0animates11 Here's the link to 'Whole Lotta Helter Skelter': www.reddit.com/r/ledzeppelin/comments/vse1fu/the_beatles_ft_led_zeppelin_whole_lotta_helter/
I always found it chilling how they switched from the heavy Helter Skelter into the quiet Long Long Long on the album.
A bit like merging Revolution#9 into Goodnight at the end of side two.
@@mikesaunders4775 Not really, it just is the album wrap up like they always did only with two shitty songs.
I know. The whole White Album is one big roller coaster ride.
@@joepermenter7228 Shitty songs as fillers, or Beethoven passing gas in spite of time???
@@joepermenter7228 Rev 9 turned me into a B-Hole Surfers fan while Ringo's Goodnight put me to bed many nights in the 70s.
Every song on THE BEATLES album was perfectly placed and will never be a "throw away" song imfao.
One of the greatest albums ever (once again imfao).
5:25 those harmonies. OMG. Greatness.
Dave Seville would be proud.
Sounds like Paperback Writer.
Goosebumps, literally
Unbelievable! Majestic!
little richard on acid
No one:
John randomly: Baaaaaaaa
Yokos influence
okay
Sheep influence
It sounds like his Revolution 9 "aAaAaAaAaaallright" !!!
*FANNY CRADEOCK*
Favorite Beatles song; as a kid in the early 70s, my mother played the White Album frequently and "Helter Skelter" always got my little brother and I bouncing off the walls!!
Great female. Present girls not listen psychedelic rock .
I'm proud to sing the watered hidden lyrics "It's the Helter Skelter" right since I listened to it in the 2009 remastered versions.
Same
Before the age of 13, whenever I heard this song i was scared shitless. This song, as with Rev#9, gave me the willies as a kid.
Yupp, Billy Shears really opened up and shown his colours as _'Faul'_ since it was never the kind of music that Paul McCartney would have done!
Me also!
it almost as if life itself is musical in nature...
The interlinking Train at the end of I am a Walrus on the Blue Album is more terrifying.
My thoughts exactly.@@Johnny_Guitar
Couldn't someone just ask Paul McCartney himself whether he or John was the one playing bass on the final Helter Skelter track?
I thought it was confirmed to be Lennon on a bass 6
I think it may have been confirmed that at least some of John's original playing remained on the cut and Paul overdubbed an extra part on the JB and so we're hearing bits of both. Perhaps I have the wrong track, but I'm sure I remember reading about this in the liner notes to the 50th anniversary CD of TWA.
Paul had to sign off on the Giles Martin 2018 remixes, he would have spoken up if he saw in the liner notes that the bass was erroneously credited to John.
Paul playing the bass deliberately sloppily?
It sounds a far-fetched theory. Paul was the Polished Perfectionist.
I'd give John his due, he might well have continued on the bass he d begun in July.
@@aisle_of_view Hard to disagree with your logic there.
This is one of my favorite songs ever not to mention one of my favorite Beatles songs ever. I was so amazed when I found out some of those weird noises were actually from a saxophone mouthpiece. I hope they release the 27 minute first take some day!
Let alone Beatles song? What does that mean?
@@Humblemumble7it’s one of my favorite songs, let alone one of my favorite Beatles songs lol probably should’ve clarified that
@@C.I... fair enough, “not to mention” should suffice then lol
i got it right away, @@ChainReactionsProductions
@@Humblemumble7yeah it should be flipped, “one of my favorite beatles songs, let alone favorite songs”
I'm 70 and it's such a buzz to hear the music that got me through my teens is still being played. I love the Beatles and will continue to do so until they nail the lid onto my coffin. Even nowadays in 2024 they are still revered and respected.
Yeah nail my coffin I d be hunting to hear this white album
I'm 68 I was a 12 years old I crayon a birthday card for paul in response he and John put together the song bungalow bill and I'd sear at the end of the bungalow bill as it turns into george harrison guitar gently weeps he says hey hilt which is my name as a small gift from paul
I’m 35, and the Beatles got me through my teens as well. True genius is timeless!
Just outstanding, diamonds just won't melt away
@@HiltonDriver-rf8zd Say Whaaat?!
This is the most intriguing comment I've seen! I hope you see this and fill in your story a bit more for us. In 1969 my friend and I sent the Beatles a telegram from Lubbock, Texas USA. I think we invited them to come visit and do something like save the world. I would ask my friend if he remembers more detail, but he's been dead for a while.
I'll be 76 next week and I've hardly spent any time out of Texas, USA. The Beatles organization/_____ guided my little life for so long. Still does, along with a few others. AND I TRULY HOPE YOU SEE THIS AND FILL US IN MORE ABOUT THE CRAYON BIRTHDAY CARD. Do you suppose it still exists somewhere? Perhaps you should do a re-make of it.
“Fanny Cradock”. Was a very popular TV chef on British TV in the ‘60’s. Teamed with her husband Johnny, they were the ones who pioneered cooking as entertainment. Fanny was very dramatic and let Johnny just recommend the wine to go with the dish of the day. They suddenly disappeared from TV after a fire on their yacht left Johnny badly burned.
I remember her well! I'd read that she disappeared from TV in the 70s after her bullying mauling of an amateur chef on a show in which the aim was to create a menu for Edward Heath?
I thought the most controversial song was "It's Okay To Leave a Dog In A Hot Car"
Have you ever heard of the band, Dogs Die In Hot Cars? Check 'em out.
Oh, I thought it was a baby, not a dog.
Nothing bad could possibly happen.
That's ok as long as you also leave a baby to take care of the dog 😌
I love the beatmywifles 🤷
The Fender Bass VI has three pickups with a switch for each one this gives huge tonal palette, to say it's not a VI just because the tone is different from one song to the next doesn't really convince me. Play with just neck up (honey pie) vs. play with just the bridge pickup (Helter Skelter)....that's what I'm hearing
Thanks - I completely agree with you about the wide range of the tonal palette, and I definitely wouldn't rely on the tone comparison as the sole piece of evidence. In this case, it's just one corroborating piece of the argument. To me, the sound on Glass Onion - recorded the next day - is uncannily close, and whatever was being used on Helter Skelter is almost certainly the same setup (and I'd argue, player).
Fun fact apparently there is a theory that Glass Onion might have a Fender VI playing with the jazz bass
@@ilovemusic7748 The classic "tic-tac" bass technique. A lot of songs in the '60s used this type of bass tracking, contrasting a lower, thicker bass part (often a Fender Precision bass) against a thinner part (often an Electric VI), often with the two parts dancing around each other, sometimes playing the same thing, sometimes playing harmony or counterpoint.
@@keithklassen5320 On Patsy Cline's later material, there was often an upright bass doubled by a tick-tacky sounding electric bass, either a Precision or a Bass VI model (they were first sold in 1961).
@@ilovemusic7748 That may have come from Ken Scott, and I think from memory he said the two basses were always recorded together. The problem with that is that now we have access to outtakes and isolated tracks and it's clear that the bass was recorded along with John's acoustic, George's electric and Ringo's drums. Glass onion has only the one bass track and it's Paul on his Jazz bass.
I can remember listening to this song on a tape recorder in my room back when I was in High School and my mother freaking out when she walked into my room and heard the song.
Yes it was guaranteed to raise the hackles of the older folks you mean that noise is the moptops what happened to them
21:22 Bass VI, with its three pickups, is capable of both those tones and more
As a VI player, I can attest that it is a VERY versatile instrument, based on which pickup you are using, and what rig you are running into.... So the tone alone isnt enough to make me think that its the Jazz.... BUTTTTT
The fact that paul is guiding the band with the bass lines before the take.... that is VERY compelling.
@@MilesTippettit is! my only point is to make clear on the VI's capabilities for anyone considering getting one, for instance
Thanks for pointing it out! I didn't expect that argument from YCUT, I'm sure he knows it has knobs and such hehe
I'm down with the conclusion but that was a weird observation.
Was about to say this myself. Very silly observation.
To my less studio-trained ear it's less about the pure sound from the pickups ad more about all that dirty slap from the frets that is affecting the overall sound of the bass. You don't get that on other Beatles' tunes whether it's a Hofner or the RIC.
Paul played the bass, it sounds like him. Glad you talked mostly about the song itself and not that crazy Manson murder stuff. The people into that kind of thing are a drag. Anyway, rock on!
The biggest mystery about this song for me is how anyone has ever misinterpreted Ringo as saying "I got blisters on ME fingers" when it's so clearly "my" or even "MAH"
Edit: idgaf who y'all think it is, it's Ringo. Second, idgaf about your slang, "me" has a long eeeeeeee Sound in it that isn't there. Period. He does not say me.
It sounds more like John. Was Ringo mocking John? Yes!
@@thedude4594 No man, that's definitely Ringo. No mystery there.
Strangely, on the 2018 remix, they made that scream less audible. I guess they had enough fun at Ringo's expense after 50 years.
It's probaby because stewie said that in Family Guy
exactly man! I knew it was Ringo first time I heard it, and then later read online people saying it was John, and I'm like... NO
Congratulations on getting this cranked out! It was a pleasure assisting in this process of researching for this video! Like many of these Beatles mysteries, it's uncertain that we may ever solve this one definitively. But the one positive I do take away from Helter Skelter is that it's the one track off the White Album where it's evident they put their differences aside, and let themselves have fun together as a group again.
Oh HELL YEAH I was waiting for you to make a video on my favourite Beatles song. This is the band at their most experimental and they want you to know it. The song is Paul challenging himself to craft a new take on rock music by harnessing the bands iconic bedlam, and he succeeded. A helter skelter is a fairground ride, and this is the Beatles showing you the playground.
Actually, Revolution #9, Tomorrow Never Knows, I Am the Walrus, and Strawberry Fields Forever would be tied for most experimental. The three latter tracks had George Martin's involvement, and he was heavily involved in tape manipulation, something that Helter Skelter did not. And Revolution #9, even without Martin's presence, is almost entirely tape manipulation.
Please please please do an episode on either Tomorrow Never Knows or Revolution 9. Your in depth video essay style would be fascinating about those tracks
Thanks for the suggestions! One of those might be in the works already, so who Knows what Tomorrow might bring… 😉
@@YouCantUnhearThisAs Traffic said.
Yes please revolution 9
Another youtuber did a pretty good video about Revolution 9
@@RayleneSteves Could you link it please?
great forensic work... as a lifelong professional bassist and beatles nut (who is old enough to have bought all the albums when they were first released), i concur with your assessment... thanks for this! really impressive!
This guy would have a field day with "You know my name".
I always heard the story that John played the bass on the six string, but I’ve always thought the sound on the track sounded like Paul. Had no idea about this theory
Honey wake up, You Can't Unhear This just uploaded
IM UP 👁️👁️
I’m up 😎
Everybody is off to the races to repeat that same, tired line….for what….”Likes”….
Enjoy your kiddie games
@@cbennett196631indeed, they are just embarassing
@cbennett196631 @@mariuspoppFM You're speaking absolute truth, props for staying sane
When we saw Paul McCartney at Dodger Stadium in 2919 Ringo came on and played 'Helter Skelter' with the band.
Time traveler!
hologramz
McCartney's Helter skelter is a great song that gets the blood flowing. I love listening to this song while driving. Paul's genius at work again. The Beatles songs by far were the most innovative and different from one another throughout the band's life. Remember these songs were taped without digital and software tricks over 50 years ago and still sound better than the best new rock/pop of today.
Ned from Spain here. Helter Skelter is such a monster, it blew me away when my folks bought it for me about 50 odd years ago. The White Album totally changed my perception of them and how hard, raw and wild they could play. I wish you could have talked about the trash guitar noise ( John I assume ) and high twiddling ( George ) that fade in and out at 3:00 and 3:06 respectively. John's guitar is so nasty and white noise it sounds like an amplified toilet flushing. Properly tuned though...Great work and thanks for the video.
I don't think that "Helter Skelter" is even the hardest rock on the album, though it is close. That distinction would go to "Yer Blues." As for raw energy and sheer joy, that would go to "Me and my Monkey." Don't think ANY of the Beatles songs would EVER have been that raw without the influence of John. ALWAYS the straw that stirred the drink. Still, from some of the early Beatles covers, it is clear that McCartney could be a surprisingly hard rocker... when under the influence of JOHN.
I totally agree. The whole album has a dark disturbing quality to it. A lot of the songs sound warped and raw. Like they were trying to exorcise the old lovable mop top-ness from their souls. John was Dr Piss n Vinegar but McCartney could rage when called upon to do so.@@Kermit_T_Frog
@@Kermit_T_Frog Me and My Monkey is nuts too. Isn't that another one of their songs that they changed the speed on ? They slowed " Rain" down but Monkey was sped up or am I wrong ?
@@carrerlluna66 Not sure. I'm sure that most all of them were toyed with, many times over, before they arrived at a final version. The story probably differs depending on who is telling it. And there probably is a bit of truth in all of them.
@@Kermit_T_FrogYeah, I know what you mean. There is the original take of Rain that is faster on the insanely complete Revolver box. It makes the final cut that much more interesting. The art of production from the pre digi age fascinates me. Take care.
Yes! Finally! I've been saying this since 2018. Paul is on bass. No doubt about it. Thanks for the historical and sonical accuracy and reconstruction. This is undisputable, really. Yay!
They just created heavy metal
Actually, he was trying to copy The Who. So, no, they didn’t.
Black Sabbath did, actually.
@@farenvyldOzzy loves helter skelter
@@sinapetito I didn't deny its a great song and yes Ozzy loves the beatles. Calling it heavy metal is not true however.
I’d say it contributed to metal, and the OP may not have been being so literal. No one band invented metal. I agree that Sabbath pushed it over the top though.
I really don't think that's Ringo's voice complaining about blisters, it's John's. Having grown up with The Beatles and being a guitarist for over 60 years I know it's the guitars who get blisters, not drummers, especially not on your "fingers". John was my model & I know his voice. Everyone I knew thought it was John. But, het, I could be wrong.
Drummers I know get friction blisters on their fingers and palms.
let's put this to rest. Ringo in his own words czcams.com/video/E0x978oZa3Y/video.html
@@DavidEzzell-zz8rwguitar players do too
Incredible research.....Incredible video editing......Incredible analogy....Your time into this piece is so well appreciated. I'm the guy who helped you research your "The Drum Mystery in The Beatles' Most Beautiful Song"......BP....from the large book "Recording The Beatles" from Curvebender publishing. The authors of this book note that John played bass....at least on the earlier take of the song.
I am 64 years old. One of my two older brothers has passed away but I grew up listening to my brothers Beatles albums. Was 4 years old when we watched the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show. I have never heard anything about this. Very interesting. Love learning about things I didn't know about the Beatles. Thank you!!! Enjoyed this video!!!!!!
I have a similar experience. I'm 60 this year, and my much older brother was right into the Beatles so my musical tastes were locked into the 60's at a very early age. I'm so glad I have those memories.
yooooo when you're sixty-four..
Great idea for a channel.At 12.40 etc discussing the bass sound ,the controls on the bass and amps used on the sessions could easily make you think you are hearing a different instrument.
It was mind-blowing hearing that snippet of McCartney doing "HS" on acoustic guitar! What a strange direction that might have been. I've always thought the lyrics were inspired in part by Lewis Carroll: " 'What matters it how far we go?' his scaly friend replied./'There is another shore, you know, upon the other side./The further off from England, the nearer is to France --/Then turn not pale, beloved snail, but come and join the dance./Will you, won't you, will you, won't you, will you join the dance?/Will you, won't you, will you, won't you, won't you join the dance?' " Lennon was a massive Lewis Carroll fan, and I wonder if he contributed the lyric, or if Paul was familiar with the "The Lobster Quadrille" (Chap. 10) from "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" (1866).
I love this!
Indeed! Paul actually mentions the Lewis Carroll inspiration in his Lyrics book. Which is a great read, by the way.
Have you never heard Anthology 3?
@@thefonzkissThere's so much Beatles-related merch out there, one gets selective. Now I know I need Anthology 3.
Having experimented at the time, I was always under the influence that it was an acid freakout.
Differences in bass tone can also be attributed to amp/mic setup (in addition to playing style and mix).
Considering Paul usually plays with his thumb, if he was playing the bass on the track he was probably playing very close to the bridge which can definitely create a very harsh trebly sound like that.
@@iamdamosuzuki_Paul usually plays with a pick, not his thumb
That's what I thought, also
The tone is a lot in the hands
I think it's playing style that is perhaps the most significant here. Paul was after something very specific and non-conventional. My guess is he's doing whatever he felt helped to play the living shit out of that bass part - and you hear him taking the same approach to his vocals during that long jam. He was often to be found improvising and stretching out his voice in between takes and this whole track was meant to just push the boat out big time.
I doubt history records Paul's reaction upon reading that misguided critic attributing Helter Skelter it to Lennon - but I reckon we can all guess!
And can't says as I'd blame him really. Having some of your most courageous and non-typical works attributed to another artist, even if they are your best friend, would frankly grate on anyone who cared about their work.
Listen to Lemmy play bass in Motorhead and it's very similar as a rumbling bass style. It sounds like a rythym guitar as a bass. It's so great to listen to.
Fuck. Now I wanna hear a Motorhead version of this iconic rock song.
@@Saint_nobody I don't think they did it.
@@tdtm82i bet there’s an AI version
Mm... now there's an idea....@@mrbaker7443
The first five words in your original comment make up great advice.
Something I had not thought about for years. I first heard the White Album while lounging about at FM station WABX in Detroit. Someone came into the studio with The White Album. This was as fresh as can be, never having been heard yet on the Motor City airwaves. I listened as the DJ's rummaged through the cuts and then there was Helter Skelter. KaPow WTF! High over Detroit in the David Stott building in the studios of WABX I thought that it were magical moments.
Abx I remember !
I lived in Detroit then. I remember.
Probably one the most played albums in my dad's collection. When I eventually picked up guitar, I found it to be a great song to break strings to.
I always thought this track was something of a throwaway.
I recently attempted to teach the guitar part to a student- for grade exam purposes. It was then, that I found out how brilliantly constructed it was, and how hard to play!
I have had a change of heart.
"Fanny Craddock"! "Fanny Craddock"! I'm still wiping the tears from my eyes, LMAO!
20:08 The Helter Skelter photo is from Clacton on Sea pier.
It's amazing how the discussions about who did what are only based on asumption of what people thought was the personality of the interchanging Beatle we are talking about.
It's because 99% of the people arguing this stuff aren't musicians, and even if they are, they don't have experience with the same kind of vintage instruments that were played on the White Album - for example, modern Fender and Squier reissues of the Jazz Bass and the Bass VI do not come with foam mutes, which were utilized on both basses on the White Album. Anyone who has played a Jazz Bass with foam mutes and treble cranked all the way up knows that's how you get the Helter Skelter/Glass Onion/While My Guitar Gently Weeps bass sound. You can even replicate an almost identical sound with a Rickenbacker 4001 - which came with foam mutes and was also owned by Paul.
Right!
@@jpollackauthor I doubt Al Hirt or Doc Severeson would know the difference
@@jpollackauthor Top post. It goes without saying that Paul would have experimented with those mutes. Apart from which George Martin's broader studio experience would have had him learning about their applications. Although he may have had little use for them on most of his rock'n'roll tracks the oom-pah music hall stuff may have cried out for the short, punchy root fifth approach, giving a sound more like a string bass. The hollow-bodied Hofner may have emphasised that effect still more. Since the heady days of 1968 Linda has bought old Bill Black's original upright bass so no doubt he's experimented on a real one now. I have a photo of him posing with one in my sheet music book for Back to the Egg but I'm not sure of he ever played an upright during either the Beatles or Wings era. I could be wrong though ;-)
The comeback we’ve all been waiting for!
After being turned on to the idea when smoking spliffs with a dj friend at a club in Paris back in the mid-80s, I would often dj a mashup of Whole Lotta Love and Van Halen's Eruption. I never even thought of mashing up Whole Lotta Love with Helter-Skelter.
Great video on your part You Can't Unhear This.
I greatly enjoyed this video about Helter Skelter. Thank you for creating it.
I've subscribed to your channel after watching and listening to this.
Nice forensics...🙂 I 'v been listening to this song for decades(stereo version only) and it's amazing to learn so much new stuff about it after all these years - thank you!
Thank you so much for this fun and informative video!! Helter Skelter has been a huge favorite song since hearing it on the original album our dad got for my elder sister.
Just to remind you folks, that the sound of the Fender-6 (or any bass or guitar) can vary widely by adjustments on the pickups and amplifier settings. There´s no reason that the bass used by George in Honey Pie couldn't be the same bass used in Helter Skelter. I´ll add, that they could very well had just decided to overdub different instruments on different parts of the song. Maybe Paul was satisfied with the bass on certain parts and fixed other parts.
Awesome episode! Not only did you convince me that it's Paul playing bass, but the isolated parts showed me that what I heard for decades as John singing "...is my baby sleeping" is actually Paul singing "Oh the Helter Skelter!" Mind blown.
You’ve done it again! Our Beatles channel aspires to this level of excellence. Thank you.
EXTREMELY well done! Absolutely top notch. You covered this superbly creative and innovative Beatles song thoroughly and accurately. Beautiful achievement.
Glad you’re back, another brilliant video as always.
Great video, great research. Im convinced by the evidence that Paul did it, in the recording studio, with the Jazz Bass
The only time I ever saw Paul was back in '90. My best friend and I were obsessed with this song and called out for it constantly (not that Paul heard us form the upper deck of Giants Stadium), but the idea of him playing it back then was just impossible. We would've lost our minds.
I bided my time and saw him play in Melbourne recently. HS was on the list!
It's one of those songs I'm obsessed with.
Always a pleasure to watch these videos. They must take a lot of time to prep and make. Great job!
Great episode! Really appreciate the deep dive into this song.
Great investigative work and thank you for the highly engaging & entertaining analysis while also being highly detailed & informative! Subbed!!
I think the versatility and diversity of the Beatles catalog are on the list of ingredients that makes the Beatles such a damn legendary band of brothers.
Edit: To all the people liking this post ..
"You know it !!"
Gives me a new appreciation for a song that has baffled me for so many years. I love this analysis. Whether I agree or not, I always come away pleased to hear things I never beard or knew.
Absolutely love your channel, the amount of work that goes into these must be exhausting. Thank you!
Thanks for your dissection of this unforgettable song! While not my favorite song of the Beatles, it is certainly an integral part of the White Album.
“The Inveterate Creative Sponges” may replace “The Mop Tops” and “The Fab Four” as the most popular nickname for the lads
The bass sound was from the amp they used. You can get a lot of different bass guitars to sound similar if you run them through the same amp and change the settings around
In the late 1970s/early 1980s, I was working as a guitar et al. technician, under Geoff Johnson's guidance. (Calder Music, Midcalder, Scotland, when Geoff came out of retirement.)
Geoff worked in RADAR during WW2, amongst other clandestine life-savers. He later went on to design the VOC AC 100, as well as many other amplifier attributes. My dearly-missed mentor taught me so much.
If you have the inclination, please search for Geoff Johnson. Vox and Triumph Electronics. Thank you.
*Rest In Peace, Geoff.* And also to his Dear Wife, Freda Olive Johnson (whom Geoff called *Flying Officer Johnson*).
Thank you for reading this, my remembrances of one of Nature's True Perfect Gentlemen (and Ladies!).
Stay free. Rab 🔊🕊🔊
PS. One entry in Geoff's autograph book read/reads:
*Thanks for everything, Geoff. Stay cool. Jimi.*
Or the compressors, Fairchild, altec
Amp settings, pickup choices, tone knob settings, etc. I'm pretty sure we're hearing an Electric VI here.
@@keithklassen5320when i used a VI, with all pickups on and tone rolled half down i really couldn't tell the difference much between a jazz bass and that VI. It also depends how you play it, since VI forces a certain picking and it sounds like that type of picking, although that picking is of course possible on a jazz bass, you can do a wider range of 'bass' techniques on a 4 string long scale bass.
This was very well put together....alot went into this
Outstanding work. Thank you !!
The article about John Playing Bass on Helter Skelter are all talking about the Helter Skelter SLOW JAM version.
The isolated bass certainly sounds like a Fender Jazz Bass to me. I say that as someone who has owned and played many Jazz Basses over the years. They have a distinctive sound. It definitely doesn't sound like a Fender VI.
Agreed
Absolutely LOVE IT!!! Thank you. Great stuff, as always.
Paul's voice at 18.23. Wow!
One of my favorite Beatles tracks. Great examination of the song.
The best video on this song I’ve ever watched. Excellent work.
beautiful song, one of my Beatles fav... got the chance on my second Paul concert to hear it live... fantastic. good vid bud cheers
Love hearing all the cool bass runs, my favorite instrument. Can’t get into the song though, never cared for it before or after the Manson murders. The pics of the 4 members side by side, are the ones I had hanging in my college dorm room. Cool memory.
I don't bother trying to diagnose what or why an artist does what they do, I just enjoy, or not, the end results. The Beatles made some of the best music and influenced even more. May we continue to enjoy what they created and even more what the last two are still making.
You only need to listen to Paul's very distinct bass line on George's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and that solves the not so mysterious bass player on Helter.
Out of the box, I really didn't care for this song. But, in time, I grew to love it.
You don’t upload a lot, but I always look forward to it when you do! 🙂
You know it's a good day when YCUT posts a new video!
As a bass player who's studied this stuff, no way John played that part. Raw yes, but someone who IS a bass player - Paul!
Great video here, although the premise of a "mystery" concerning who played bass is a non-starter. I just listened to the 1981 mono reissue of the White Album, specifically "Helter Skelter"... and it's DEFINITELY Paul playing the bass which, in mono, is very clear, very beefy and VERY competent, and nothing like what Lennon could do on bass. There IS also that clacky sound your video identifies as a 6-string bass and it sounds like it could be either the 6-string bass or an electric guitar on top of what is most definitely Paul playing a solid, and very Paul-like, bass. Also, not only is the mono version shorter... it also doesn't include the "winding tape" sound or Ringo's "I got blisters on my fingas!"
I'll just add that fans of the White Album should definitely check out the 1981 UK reissue of the mono. It totally kicks butt.
Simply terrific music. A must for any rock band.
the only way to hear this song is to be 15 again, right before you fall asleep and in complete darkness
I must have missed the part I wasn't able to unhear.
Owing to the fact that I was six when the White Album came out, I heard *about* "Helter Skelter" well before I actually heard it. When I finally did, probably in early 1980, my first reaction was "What the hell was THAT???" Then, perhaps 10 minutes later, "Revolution 9" came up...talk about getting your mind blown😮
Fantastic video. So well researched. I’m convinced it’s Paul now. The bass also sounds identical to the bass sound on While My Guitar Gently Weeps.
It was probably John on bass on the first session but Paul on bass on the final recording.
100%
This video was fascinating. Great job.
great video! i don't need any of these mysteries to be solved. i like hearing things i've never heard.
I understand that when it was released on CD, Charles Manson said "Ok. I guess they weren't talking to me".
The only voices in Charles Manson's head were Charles Manson's! He was just doing what almost everybody does now... blame someone else for their warped, destructive and delusional ideas!
@Bushranger1865 the irony of your comment is stellar. Maybe, just maybe... "almost everybody" doesn't actually do that, you've just become grumpy and judgey?
@@ddrreeaamm_brother The real irony is in your response!
I'm not saying you're wrong: but Helter Skelter being more controversial than Revolution 9? Damn, even almost 60 years later that song is haunting and way ahead of what we, the fans, can comprehend in an artistic way - nevermind the average listener.
Revolution 9 is definitely a ground-breaking (and challenging) achievement. And a great candidate for a future episode someday. Thanks for the comment!
@@YouCantUnhearThis Totally agree! Thanks for the answer, looking forward for that episode when it goes out.
I think the controversy is all about Charles Manson. No one ever wrote Revolution 9 on a wall with a murdered person’s blood.
Both songs pushed the boundaries of music on a pop album. Halter Skelter was a little closer to the traditional pop formula with instrumentation, vocals and verse chorus structure. But Revolution 9 wasn’t completely unprecedented. Musique Concrete and Avant Garde musicians had been using similar techniques for decades.
My favourite mental image about the white album is the EMI executives hearing rev 9 for the first time and being told it takes up about a quarter of the album only the Beatles could have got away with that
I agree. Haunting is the perfect word for it. I have never understood the hatred people have for it. The inadvertent "almost melodies" are fascinating.
That was a very well done video- enjoyed that thanks!
i need more uploads man, please keep making more videos they are great!!
If there's anything that ever suggested to me that it might not be Paul, it's the sloppiness in the rhythm. But take a listen to the isolated bass part in other songs like I Want You (She's So Heavy) - it's a little wobbly in the rhythm (and the tuning!!) too. The mid-session Elvis cover is absolutely conclusive evidence to me.
It only sounds sloppy isolated - listen to the bass track blended with the drums and it's dead on. Anything recorded without a click track or metronome is going to sound sloppy in the rhythm if you play it isolated.
This is pure gold man - one of my favorite episodes yet. Fab!
So interesting! And I love that you mentioned Soundhog, that’s an amazing piece.
Take 2 was the first version I ever heard. I loved it. So you can imagine my surprise when I bought a copy of TWA. Loved that too.
@ 7:37
I vote Paul, on a Jazz Bass (in the studio;-)
I started out as bass player on a Jazz Bass copy in the early seventies
and now own a Fender Bass VI. Albeit a Pawn Shop model with a “P-90” at the bridge.
The moment you played the isolated track I thought “Jazz Bass with a pick”.
Due to the difference in scale and string gauge, the Jazz Bass have more bottom end than the Bass VI.
The Bass VI is, in my opinion, closer to a lowered tuning baritone guitar.
More prominent in the low mids. The tic-tac bass sound.
Thank you for an interesting and educational video. 𝄢
I agree with that assessment. I'm hoping to buy an old JB some time soon and will chase around YT to see if I can find someone showing the range of tunes it can produce and how to tweak them. Also listening to George play the bassline in Honey Pie it sounds like they may have played that old bassist's trick of muting to get the oom-pah notes to sound shorter and more staccato. I understand that not long after electric basses came out, the early Fenders used to come with a supplied mute and the early Rickenbackers did too. Rock players quickly eschewed them as they just wanted the most powerful noise possible though I think jazz and maybe country players may have found more of a use for them. As rock n op took off, the companies stopped shipping them as standard with a new instrument - a bit like those ashtray-like pickup covers on old 50s Teles.
Full marks for the muting thing.
According to legend Paul used a piece of foam under the strings right in front of the bridge.
As you said the Rickenbacker had it built in,
with a very fiddly thumb screw arrangement.
The two problems where that
1: The "rubber" disintegrated over time and
2: You're stuck with the muted sound.
I use a lot of palm and/or left hand muting (I'm right handed).
That gives me the possibility to choose when to mute and how much.
About the tones. My favourite "Jazz Bass" was a modified Precision Bass.
With a Jazz PU at the bridge.
A better deal for me since I prefer the wider neck of the P-bass.
It was a beautiful candy apple P Bass Special with matching headstock.
It had active EMG´s.
Sold it when I bought my first 5-string.
I really miss it😢
Hi again , UG, thx for your reply as I did of course mean to type tones not tunes.@@UrbanGarden-rf5opVery useful information . your 'My favourite "Jazz Bass" was a modified Precision Bass.' made me laugh out loud!
As you'll know and I know there are certain instruments, (perhaps like certain cars) that in hindsight we definitely shouldn't have sold. Let's hope someone out there is enjoying that bass as much as you obviously did!
My experience is that you should never sell anything
that you once enjoyed owning.
Life will circle back and make you need it, again.
You will need a couple of warehouses though.
The added benefit of a Precision Bass neck PU,
is that you can get that growl from it.
Combine it with the more "polite" sound of the Jazz Bass PU
and you can literally move mountains.
Given the proper amount of amplification, of course😉
But as always, it's about horses for courses.
"I'm ready to get up and do my thang"
As James Brown so eloquently put it. 𝄢
one of the amazing things about the beatles music is how its weathered time...oddly some of the songs i didnt care for years ago i love now...kinda like im growing with the music...Helter Skelter was never a favorite of mine but...give it time. love learning the history of their music
That's a very valid point. A good example is how Here Comes The Sun has risen to receive the recognition is deserves. George would have been proud of that.
I listened to Helter Skelter many times. Right away it was clear to me that it was a song about wild sex with girl on top. The repetitive rythmic bass, "she's coming down fast" and "when she gets to the bottom she goes back to the top of the *slide*". Did anybody else ever think that?
The sequencing of the songs on White Album is insane.