"Paperback writer" was also a big hit, reaching No.1 in the USA in 1966, in the UK and in other countries, as someone already mentioned There are a number of rock songs by the Beatles, including a proto-metal track with legendary status, "Helter skelter" (1968), a wild hard rock('n roller) "I'm down" (1965), or Lennon's martial fuzz guitar classic "Revolution" (1968), to name just a few particularly outstanding ones. "Paperback writer" was also part of the Beatles' live program on the Fab Four's last, chaotic, tours in 1966.
Now imagine hearing this on the radio in the summer of '66, with the weird studio effect of the "revolving" vocals, the loudest bass we'd heard yet on a Beatles record, and the great buzzing guitars. Flip the record over and listen to "Rain," and you'll hear Ringo really have fun.
I think you'll find that "killer guitar riff" is actually McCartney, who played lead on Epiphone Casino. John played rhythm. George played place-holder bass which was later overdubbed by Paul, and he may have added some guitar fills as overdubs but the main riff was Paul.
NOT a killer anything. The "riff" could not have been any more simple. Who told you that nonsense about "play-holder bass"? Cite where you found this "fact" if you can.
@@nonrepublicrat That was the reactor's reaction. Was he "wrong"? I agree it's a powerful phrase, simple though it may be. The finale melody of Beethoven's 9th is simple, anyone could play it with one finger on the piano. T S Elliot opined that the most powerful poetry in Shakespeare's King Lear is the line "Never, never, never, never, never!" Whether a musical idea is effective or not has nothing to do with how difficult it is to play.
@@nonrepublicrat It was the guy reacting that called it a 'killer Guitar Riff'..... yeah wikipedia mentions "Robert Rodriguez and Walter Everett each credit McCartney as the player of the song's main guitar riff, and state that Harrison added lead guitar "fills" over his initial rhythm part", check Wiki for the references
FWIW, Paul wrote and plays the guitar riff on the recording. Paperback Writer is a changing of the guard song for the Beatles. Up till then John had sung the bulk of the bands A sides of the Beatles singles from 1963 through 1965. (The bands previous single had Johns Day Tripper listed as the A side. Turned out Paul's B side We Can Work It Out garnered more radio play. Same thing happened to their next single. John's Strawberry Fields Forever was listed as the A side only to have Paul's B side Penny Lane got the most radio play. John would only have 2 A sides after 1966 through 1970. 1967's All You Need Is Love and 1969's The Ballad of John and Yoko. Paul's A sides included 1967 's Hello Goodbye, 1968's Lady Madonna and Hey Jude, 1969's Get Back and 1970's Let It Be and (in America only) The Long and Winding Road. Paperback Writer was indeed a changing of the guard in the Beatles hierarchy. Great reaction lads, You Gents may want to check out Oh! Darling from the Beatles final album Abbey Road. Paul's last masterpiece written as a Beatle. RNB
The B side Rain is even better with an amazing bass line by McCartney. Rain was written by Lennon and Paul's best bass lines are often on songs the others wrote. Beatles B sides are the second greatest band ever after the Beatles A sides.
You said you know the big Beatles hits, but not this one. This was a massive worldwide hit. Paul McCartney on lead guitar as well as bass. Ringo's 'just sitting there' because the Promo film is deliberately meant to be stylised, and not just a routine band set-up.
@@rjaraneta913 You're absolutely right, and thanks for the correction! That was a brain fart on my side. I was thinking of "Penny Lane" another McCartney effort of their middle years.
Great reaction guys to the legends singing what for me was one of their best singles. Coming back up to date there are two amazing singers you should definitely react to. The first is from Kazakhstan 30 year old Dimash Qudibergin, singer, composer and multi instrumentalist. The other is from the UK 20 year old Lucy Thomas, she's released 5 studio albums and has 70 + videos on utube. Her latest is a cover of the classic song "Unchained Melody" I guarantee you'll be amazed by these two incredible artists.
I believe the inspiration for this song was from Paul's auntie. She complained to him that all of his songs were about girls and/or love. She challenged him and suggested that he write about something ordinary. Apparently, John was inspired by the task himself, being that the flip side of this single was Rain.
@Uetti Nowhere Man was written/recorded six months later, in Oct '66. Paperback Writer and Rain were recorded in Apr '66. If anything, Help (recorded Apr '65) might be considered a non-love song, although it could easily be presumed the 'you' in the song is referring to his girl. Nonetheless, the story regarding the inspiration for Paperback Writer remains as told.
@@tdgallagher218 Sorry, are you a Beatles fan? Doesn't seem so, because everybody knows that Nowhere Man was recorded for the Rubber Soul album, which came out in December 1965. For the record, The Beatles never had a single recording session in October 1966. I don't know where on Earth you got such a wacky information
@@Uetti A thousand pardons for my gross ineptitude. Other than old age and failing eyesight, I have no excuses. I am clearly a lowly outcast and don't deserve to share the same air you breathe. Evidently, I wasn't thinking straight this morning while I was serving you my reply. EVERYBODY knows that in Oct '66, the Beatles were beginning to grow chin whiskers as they were moving into the planning stages of Sgt Pepper. Even preschoolers know that. And for the record: my initial comment was solely about the source that inspired Paul to write the song. At no point did I declare this as being the *first* Beatle song to be a non-love composition.
@@tdgallagher218 You didn't say that straight, but you wrote that John was inspired by Paul's task to write a non-love/girls related song and so he wrote Rain. I just pointed out that John was already writing non-love/girls related songs way before Paul came up with Paperback Writer, so I highly doubt he was inspired to write Rain by it. That's all. Also, The Beatles weren't planning Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in October of 1966, that concept came way after they reconvened at Abbey Road in late November of that year. They weren't planning anything in October, all of them pursuing personal projects (How I Won The War for John, The Family Way for Paul, sitar lessons in India for George and the Bricky Builders construction company for Ringo) and writing individually with very little interaction between the four, following the end of their last, exhausting, tour
At that time John Lennon did have a paperback novel out 'In His Own Write'/'Spaniard In the Works' which was influenced by Edward Lear. Worthy nonsense which informs one of his 'I Am there Walrus' lyric approach.
Flip it over and listen to the "B" side 😉. They put "poppy" songs on the "A" side and edgier, more experimental stuff on the "B" side-"Rain" in this case (Ringo's best recorded work).
They made these videos for the Ed Sullivan Show as playing their songs live was imposable with all the double tracked vocals and punch in dubs. They did play this song live In Japan and it was a big reason they stopped touring. They were a great live band but as their songs got more complex in the studio there just was no way to do them live at that time. Today they could just play along to a basic track or use punch in digital effects. They also got sick of flying halfway around the world when every new single came out.
As it so often is! It's a common assumption that a stereo mix is somehow automatically better. Much of the music at this time was recorded to sound great in mono on a record player or transistor and, as with this track, a stereo mix only came later. Even now, in the opinion of many, including me, on a modern system the mono still sounds best.
"Top hits" are not their best songs. Well, that's an exaggeration, because obviously some of the big hits were among their best songs, but there's so much to discover beyond those.
If you look closely you’ll see that Paul is missing one of his upper front teeth. I don’t know why they didn’t postpone the shoot until after he’d seen the dentist but there you go.
The Beatles are in a category by themselves
"Paperback writer" was also a big hit, reaching No.1 in the USA in 1966, in the UK and in other countries, as someone already mentioned
There are a number of rock songs by the Beatles, including a proto-metal track with legendary status, "Helter skelter" (1968), a wild hard rock('n roller) "I'm down" (1965), or Lennon's martial fuzz guitar classic "Revolution" (1968), to name just a few particularly outstanding ones. "Paperback writer" was also part of the Beatles' live program on the Fab Four's last, chaotic, tours in 1966.
this is my fav beatles tune, criminally underrated . loads of bands took this sound as influence
Now imagine hearing this on the radio in the summer of '66, with the weird studio effect of the "revolving" vocals, the loudest bass we'd heard yet on a Beatles record, and the great buzzing guitars. Flip the record over and listen to "Rain," and you'll hear Ringo really have fun.
WOW ! .........my thoughts exactly ..at the same time :) Thank you !
I think you'll find that "killer guitar riff" is actually McCartney, who played lead on Epiphone Casino. John played rhythm. George played place-holder bass which was later overdubbed by Paul, and he may have added some guitar fills as overdubs but the main riff was Paul.
NOT a killer anything. The "riff" could not have been any more simple. Who told you that nonsense about "play-holder bass"? Cite where you found this "fact" if you can.
@@nonrepublicrat That was the reactor's reaction. Was he "wrong"? I agree it's a powerful phrase, simple though it may be. The finale melody of Beethoven's 9th is simple, anyone could play it with one finger on the piano. T S Elliot opined that the most powerful poetry in Shakespeare's King Lear is the line "Never, never, never, never, never!" Whether a musical idea is effective or not has nothing to do with how difficult it is to play.
@@nonrepublicrat It was the guy reacting that called it a 'killer Guitar Riff'..... yeah wikipedia mentions "Robert Rodriguez and Walter Everett each credit McCartney as the player of the song's main guitar riff, and state that Harrison added lead guitar "fills" over his initial rhythm part", check Wiki for the references
It’s not hard to Google and it’s Paul playing the riff and his bass is killer too. Great song.
It sounds as fresh today as it did 50+ years ago.
Hold on to you're hat kid the Beatles are the best. Great rabbit hole to explore. Enjoy the ride.
Now listen to the flipside of this single, "Rain."
Oh yes ...Rain is killer !
FINALLY!!! Somebody acknowledges "Rain"! One of favorite Fab 4 tunes......
*The BEATLES were Amazingly Musical for the time.*
I like oh we covered their big hits this is one of their lesser known
Men it was another #1
One of my favorite Beatles songs. Even though it was one of their MANY #1 songs, it isn't one of the songs you hear a lot about. Underrated IMO.
Your dad dosent know this song ? What Planet have you been living on ! The Fab Four The Beatles Man !
Ringo's so awesome, he doesn't even have to play the drums.
FWIW, Paul wrote and plays the guitar riff on the recording. Paperback Writer is a changing of the guard song for the Beatles. Up till then John had sung the bulk of the bands A sides of the Beatles singles from 1963 through 1965. (The bands previous single had Johns Day Tripper listed as the A side. Turned out Paul's B side We Can Work It Out garnered more radio play. Same thing happened to their next single. John's Strawberry Fields Forever was listed as the A side only to have Paul's B side Penny Lane got the most radio play. John would only have 2 A sides after 1966 through 1970. 1967's All You Need Is Love and 1969's The Ballad of John and Yoko. Paul's A sides included 1967 's Hello Goodbye, 1968's Lady Madonna and Hey Jude, 1969's Get Back and 1970's Let It Be and (in America only) The Long and Winding Road. Paperback Writer was indeed a changing of the guard in the Beatles hierarchy. Great reaction lads, You Gents may want to check out Oh! Darling from the Beatles final album Abbey Road. Paul's last masterpiece written as a Beatle. RNB
The B side Rain is even better with an amazing bass line by McCartney. Rain was written by Lennon and Paul's best bass lines are often on songs the others wrote. Beatles B sides are the second greatest band ever after the Beatles A sides.
You said you know the big Beatles hits, but not this one. This was a massive worldwide hit. Paul McCartney on lead guitar as well as bass. Ringo's 'just sitting there' because the Promo film is deliberately meant to be stylised, and not just a routine band set-up.
It must be amazing to discover The Beatles songs for the first time. Jealous!
This song was a direct influence on The Monkees first hit, "Last Train to Clarksville."
That Neil Diamond wrote for them (The Monkees).😊 5:06
@@mariannemaloneywitherspoon6335Boyce and Hart wrote "Last Train To Clarksville"
@@scottandrewbrass1931 Yep. Neil Diamond wrote "I'm A Believer", "Little Bit Me…" and half a dozen others.
this is some of Ringo's best drumming and even better is the flip side "Rain"
One of my favorite Beatles songs - especially since my last name is Lear.
Paul palys the lead guitar on this studio version. George played the lead in their concert appearances.
"This is a great song, man!" -- perfect summary
Probably their first hit with distorted guitar.
One word: "Rain".......you haven't heard it because they have so many hits......it is mind boggling to think of how many hits they had.
Mom, the Beatles are in the backyard again
This was a top hit. It reached #1 on the singles charts in the US, UK and several other countries.
#2 in the UK. Kept away from #1 by Engelbert Humperdinck, if I remember correctly!
@@PFNel That was "Strawbery Fields Forever"/"Penny Lane" double A Side single that was kept from #1 by Englebert, not "Paperback Writer".
@@rjaraneta913 You're absolutely right, and thanks for the correction! That was a brain fart on my side. I was thinking of "Penny Lane" another McCartney effort of their middle years.
Great reaction guys to the legends singing what for me was one of their best singles. Coming back up to date there are two amazing singers you should definitely react to. The first is from Kazakhstan 30 year old Dimash Qudibergin, singer, composer and multi instrumentalist. The other is from the UK 20 year old Lucy Thomas, she's released 5 studio albums and has 70 + videos on utube. Her latest is a cover of the classic song "Unchained Melody" I guarantee you'll be amazed by these two incredible artists.
And the side B not bad at all 🔥
I believe the inspiration for this song was from Paul's auntie. She complained to him that all of his songs were about girls and/or love. She challenged him and suggested that he write about something ordinary. Apparently, John was inspired by the task himself, being that the flip side of this single was Rain.
John had already written non-love related songs before, Nowhere Man being the most obvious example
@Uetti Nowhere Man was written/recorded six months later, in Oct '66. Paperback Writer and Rain were recorded in Apr '66. If anything, Help (recorded Apr '65) might be considered a non-love song, although it could easily be presumed the 'you' in the song is referring to his girl. Nonetheless, the story regarding the inspiration for Paperback Writer remains as told.
@@tdgallagher218 Sorry, are you a Beatles fan? Doesn't seem so, because everybody knows that Nowhere Man was recorded for the Rubber Soul album, which came out in December 1965.
For the record, The Beatles never had a single recording session in October 1966.
I don't know where on Earth you got such a wacky information
@@Uetti A thousand pardons for my gross ineptitude. Other than old age and failing eyesight, I have no excuses. I am clearly a lowly outcast and don't deserve to share the same air you breathe. Evidently, I wasn't thinking straight this morning while I was serving you my reply. EVERYBODY knows that in Oct '66, the Beatles were beginning to grow chin whiskers as they were moving into the planning stages of Sgt Pepper. Even preschoolers know that.
And for the record: my initial comment was solely about the source that inspired Paul to write the song. At no point did I declare this as being the *first* Beatle song to be a non-love composition.
@@tdgallagher218 You didn't say that straight, but you wrote that John was inspired by Paul's task to write a non-love/girls related song and so he wrote Rain. I just pointed out that John was already writing non-love/girls related songs way before Paul came up with Paperback Writer, so I highly doubt he was inspired to write Rain by it.
That's all.
Also, The Beatles weren't planning Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in October of 1966, that concept came way after they reconvened at Abbey Road in late November of that year. They weren't planning anything in October, all of them pursuing personal projects (How I Won The War for John, The Family Way for Paul, sitar lessons in India for George and the Bricky Builders construction company for Ringo) and writing individually with very little interaction between the four, following the end of their last, exhausting, tour
At that time John Lennon did have a paperback novel out 'In His Own Write'/'Spaniard In the Works' which was influenced by Edward Lear. Worthy nonsense which informs one of his 'I Am there Walrus' lyric approach.
I read that the Beatles did this in response The Beach Boys vocal mastery.
That's one of their best! I love it!
This WAS a “big hit”, huge in fact 😊
Flip it over and listen to the "B" side 😉. They put "poppy" songs on the "A" side and edgier, more experimental stuff on the "B" side-"Rain" in this case (Ringo's best recorded work).
Yes, you need to check out their tracks that weren't issued as hit singles.
"Instant Amnesia" this 2005 Ringo hard rocker will really surprise you! Please take a listen. 😊
Try the flip side “Rain”.
They made these videos for the Ed Sullivan Show as playing their songs live was imposable with all the double tracked vocals and punch in dubs. They did play this song live In Japan and it was a big reason they stopped touring. They were a great live band but as their songs got more complex in the studio there just was no way to do them live at that time. Today they could just play along to a basic track or use punch in digital effects. They also got sick of flying halfway around the world when every new single came out.
McCartney played a lot of the Lead Guitar on this song
If you listen to the backing vocal they're singing "Fere Jacques" the famous French children's song.
Anyone notice Paul's chipped tooth? He fell off his moped just before this was shot.
The mono mix is more pumped up!!
As it so often is! It's a common assumption that a stereo mix is somehow automatically better. Much of the music at this time was recorded to sound great in mono on a record player or transistor and, as with this track, a stereo mix only came later. Even now, in the opinion of many, including me, on a modern system the mono still sounds best.
Pop Rock in perfection.
Last verse the harmony is singing French song Frere Jacque
If you liked this, you'll really dig "Tax Man"
Top selling musicians of all time.
Silly Love Songs.
An excellent Pop Rock song. :-)
George is not playing lead on this-Paul did. Martin did not like Georges' attempts so Paul tried to help and Martin told Paul to do it!
Filmed at Chiswick House in West London. I've stood in the conservatory on the very spot where it was filmed.
If you listen carefully at about 1:20 you can hear in the background someone singing frere jacques.
John and George, I believe.
Yes, it's NOT "someone in the background" it's John and George who are singing "Frere Jacques."
@@patticrichton1135 Ok, so it's two people in the background.
Listen to the B side of this single which was called Rain, just as good with some great drumming by Ringo.
How many thought the beginning lyrics were ,.Sir old man,as opposed to the real lyrics,Sir or mam,have you seen my book
ringo's just sitting there because it book based on a novel by Lear
I can't trust the opinion of anyone who never heard this song before.
You do realize this is a reaction channel right?
They couldn't fit Ringo's drum kit in the car.
Seriously.
They were a little glum because they disgreed with Capitol's insistence that they lip synch.
Next reaction: George Harrison: Let it Down ❤️🤘🇮🇹
"Top hits" are not their best songs. Well, that's an exaggeration, because obviously some of the big hits were among their best songs, but there's so much to discover beyond those.
This is a lesson in how to make 2 chords sound great…
Dad, you must have been born in a cave not to have heard this before.
Not much of a Beatles guy. They were broken up before I was born.
If you look closely you’ll see that Paul is missing one of his upper front teeth. I don’t know why they didn’t postpone the shoot until after he’d seen the dentist but there you go.
But it's "SUNG!"
Were you born in a cave? How do you not. Know this song?
Forget the lyrics. The song is more of trance inducing mantra/raga.