The Unsolved Mysteries of The Beatles' Wildest Song

it's all too much is one of the most magical  creative and sadly underappreciated songs that   the beatles ever released it also contains some  of the most hotly debated unsolved mysteries in   their entire catalogue in this episode i'm going  to share those mysteries and attempt to solve them   and as a fair warning once i point  them out you can't unhear this   the song kicks off with perhaps the  most well known of these mysteries this opening sequence bizarre even by mid-period  beetle standards has been the subject of endless   debate the voice sounds like john lennon so  that's not the mystery it's what he's saying   according to one commonly cited theory he's  saying to Jorma a dedication to guitarist   Jorma Kaukonen of jefferson airplane i have  to point it out since it is a popular theory   but i think it's wrong for a few reasons firstly  while paul had spent some time with Jorma in san   francisco earlier that year there's no evidence  that john or george had actually met him until   months after the song was recorded so it  seems like it would have been an oddly random   dedication for john to have made in the moment  but secondly it just doesn't sound like Jorma   when listening carefully to the isolated  vocal track you can distinctly hear an   f sound at the tail end sort of like muff   let's listen to that isolated vocal  track and see if your perception changes i think the isolated audio confirms that the  Jorma theory is well a bit too much another   common belief is that he's saying to your mother  you know like where to your mother i think that to   your mother explanation is much more convincing as  it's the type of random quip that john would make   unfortunately short of discovering  some lost lennon interview   i don't think we'll ever really know for sure and  as for what follows in the isolated vocal track it sounds like total gibberish to me anyway what  do you think john is saying let me know in the   comments there's a bunch of other interesting  anomalies in the vocals and it's all too much   like borrowed lyrics about   lifted directly from a  contemporary hit song called sorrow and there's the awesome break when paul  jumps into a trippy indecipherable melody and last but not least there's a funny  moment toward the chaotic refrain at the end   when someone lets out a bunch  of woes and an extra too much like with a lot of beetle songs these  little organic studio anomalies are   simply part of the magic that makes their  music so endearing and so timeless but the   most perplexing mystery of it's all too much isn't  about the vocals it's about that wild guitar track   and specifically who is playing i want to first  point out an important detail the instrumental   track that is the drums bass guitar and organ was  recorded live with the band altogether during a   session on may 25th 1967. why is that important  well it means that each member of the band must   have been playing one and only one of those four  instruments there were additional parts added to   the track later on including the vocals and the  clapping and the trumpets but on that instrumental   track there's only one guitar being played and  therefore only one beetle playing it so who was it   i think we can safely rule out ringo sorry ringo   that leaves us with george paul or john you might  assume as some fans do that george harrison who   wrote the song and plays guitar on countless  other beatles songs also played the guitar here   but george according to his own testimony in a  later interview is actually playing the organ   which makes sense since the song is composed  fundamentally around that main organ riff so that leaves two beetles left john or paul this  might seem like a simple answer i mean ever since   the early days paul was the group's bassist and  john was the rhythm guitarist so paul on bass   john and guitar pretty simple right well not  quite in 1999 george harrison was interviewed   around the time of the re-release of the yellow  submarine film and the remixed song track which   included it's all too much in a fabulous fresh  new mix when asked about the song george recalled   the guitar feedback on the intro to it's all too  much was done in may of 1967 so it was pre-hendrix   before he started to go wild with that stuff  since his ru experienced album hadn't come out yet   but now i don't think i was playing the guitar  feedback as i say i was playing the organ so i   think that was probably paul that did that george  isn't the only one who thinks paul played the   guitar here countless posts on beatles websites  and music forums and youtube comment threads   reveal that many fans believe paul is playing  the guitar part and therefore john must be   playing the bass and there's a fairly strong  case to be made for one the guitar part on   it's all too much doesn't sound anything like  john's other guitar work while in the beatles   but it does sound suspiciously similar  to the handful of instances when paul   mccartney played league guitar especially  around this middle period from 1965-1968   here's a few examples let's compare this  mini guitar solo from it's all too much with paul's guitar solo from taxman  another george harrison song in fact   that was recorded roughly a year earlier here's another example of paul's solo  style from good morning good morning   from sgt peppers which was recorded only  a few months prior to it's all too much these parts all exhibit paul's distinctly  fiery style often played on the upper   frets of the guitar's neck with a progression  reminiscent of an indian instrument like a sitar   and that wild feedback in the  intro is very reminiscent of   early jimi hendrix whom paul had met  in january 1967 and deeply admired although paul's lead guitar contributions to  the beatles catalog are far and few between   his handiwork is distinctive but as much as  i want to believe that this is paul playing   guitar and it's all too much i'm not convinced  it's him remember how i said earlier that the   instrumental backing track was recorded altogether  by process of elimination that means that whoever   wasn't playing guitar either john or paul  had to be playing bass and while most of   the bass track is simple enough to have been  played by either john or paul there are a few   sophisticated sequences that seem very similar to  paul's typical style in this period for example while john did play bass on a couple of  songs on the white album and let it be   there's no evidence of him having played  bass on any other songs before mid-1968   john was not going to play face so it seems pretty  unlikely that this random moment a year earlier   would have been john's debut on what  was usually mccartney's responsibility   and again there's no evidence of overdubs to  the base or guitar tracks so paul couldn't have   played both as for the style unlike paul's other  solos which often span a wider range of notes and   often very meticulous the isolated guitar  track of it's all too much reveals how much   of the guitar work is loose and even off  beat which again seems uncharacteristic for paul last but not least i think the john  theory also fits with the song's opening   with john leading himself  in to the burst of feedback which is in itself reminiscent of the opening  feedback from john's guitar on i feel fine   way back in 1964. the whole moment may be sort of  an inside joke even john's censoring himself for   what could follow after mother if you know what i  mean so if it's indeed john that means the george   when we're calling the moment 30 years after the  fact was mistaken or maybe the opening feedback   was indeed paul's idea but john ended up playing  on the recorded version anyway what do you think   let me know in the comments like a lot of the  most interesting beatles mysteries and debates   the answer isn't even all that important what i  find to be more fascinating is that there can even   be such an ongoing debate at all and just like  the vocals during the bridge on a day in the life   it's a testament to their complementary  talents as musicians and their ability   to blend into such a cohesive unit that it's  often hard to discern the individual parts   curiously the anomalies of it's all  too much extend beyond the song itself   written and recorded across a few dates in may  1967 too much as it was initially called was an   lsd-inspired george harrison tribute to his then  wife patty it's one of those rare songs that was   recorded outside of their usual home at emi abbey  road studios instead the band absconded to delane   leia studios where the rolling stones and jimi  hendrix and plenty of other contemporaries had   recorded the band also produced most of the  track themselves without the help of their   longtime producer collaborator george martin  another rare deviation from their usual formula   the song arrived too late to make it onto  the sgt pepper's album which hit shelves a   few days later on june 1st to widespread  critical acclaim unfortunately although   the song was basically finished within a  few days it wasn't released in 1967 at all   the band instead decided to save it for the  finale of the yellow submarine animated film   whose soundtrack wasn't released until early 1969  which is why the song is often overlooked even by   fans if you've watched the yellow submarine film  recently you might have noticed that the version   used in the film is different it's cut down  from six to three minutes and it features an   entirely different verse that isn't  in the album version on the soundtrack to this day the full eight minute version with all  of the original verses has never been officially   released all these mysteries aside i absolutely  adore this song and i know it's a favorite of   many fans out there too i consider it to be one of  the finest ensemble efforts of their middle period   ringo's drum work is extraordinary the guitar  track whoever is playing it is mesmerizing the   harmonies are sublime and the core message about  the overwhelming experience of feeling genuine   love is delivered in a manner that's both profound  and a bit cheeky all the world is birthday cake   so take a piece but not too much like so much of  what the beatles created it was both of its time   and ahead of its time exploring sonic territory  that would re-emerge in the effervescent acid   rock of the 1990s from bands like the flaming lips  who by the way played an amazing cover of the song what i find most satisfying about it's all too  much though is the sheer cathartic joy both what   i feel when listening to it but also what the  beatles themselves project in their performance   here in this moment just days before releasing  what would become one of the most important   albums in pop music history this in essence was  a celebration and as i've said in other episodes   i think this moment in mid-1967 was  the pinnacle of their career as a band   from here on out they would continue to produce  outstanding new material for almost three more   years but their creative cohesion would never  quite match what they had reached in 1966 and 1967   and like many great things in the  end it was all too much to take   and couldn't go on forever but thanks to what  they preserved and tracks like it's all too much   this spirit of what they achieved will live  on forever in their words and their music thanks for watching and i hope you enjoyed this  episode which i'm releasing just as my channel has   hit an incredible milestone of 100 000 subscribers  if you're one of those 100 000 i want to thank you   personally for being part of this adventure  through the many quirks and anomalies of one   of my favorite bands and if you aren't i hope  you'll join us as there's so much more to come you

Channel: You Can't Unhear This

Views: 536,399

Rating: 4.9267192 out of 5

Keywords: The Beatles, It's All too Much, Yellow Submarine, 1969, Sgt. Pepper's, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr

Id: rhS_G1K3cv8

Length: 14min 4sec (844 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 13 2020