Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey | Page 2 | Fab Forum | The Beatles Bible

I’ve noticed an evolutionary thread in guitar riffs where the riffs are very cool and precise and the tone of the sound seems carefully calibrated — Drive My Car , Day Tripper , Sergeant Pepper, Fixing A Hole , Birthday , Come Together , as well as Everybody’s Got Something to Hide (I may be leaving out some songs).  I still suspect Paul is the ultimate creator of those riffs and probably spent hours and hours refining them and perhaps annoying his fellow Beatles to get it just right.

forn said

Sea Belt said

I’ve noticed an evolutionary thread in guitar riffs where the riffs are very cool and precise and the tone of the sound seems carefully calibrated — Drive My Car , Day Tripper , Sergeant Pepper, Fixing A Hole , Birthday , Come Together , as well as Everybody’s Got Something to Hide (I may be leaving out some songs).  I still suspect Paul is the ultimate creator of those riffs and probably spent hours and hours refining them and perhaps annoying his fellow Beatles to get it just right.

  

I actually think the riffs in Everybody’s Got Something to Hide sound loose and improvised.  I mean I’m sure George (or whoever) had the basic form but there are variations throughout and I doubt those were planned out to a tee.  

Paul was the best musician in the Beatles (although I suppose there is an argument for George), and I tend to think of him as the musical director of the Beatles.  And I say that with John as my favorite Beatle.

  

I just re-listened closely with my heavy duty headphones and I’d have to say I disagree.  Yes, there are many variations as the guitar is riffing, but all the variations sounds calculated in a precise scripted way. It seems more slapdash & improvised because it’s so fast and the variants are so quick.  That doesn’t mean George didn’t come up with it, but I tend to associate that kind of riff with Paul.  If George is playing and Paul scripted it, it likely entailed hours of annoying coaching from Paul (a la the Let It Be sessions) to get every jot and tittle just right.

forn said

Sea Belt said

I just re-listened closely with my heavy duty headphones and I’d have to say I disagree.  Yes, there are many variations as the guitar is riffing, but all the variations sounds calculated in a precise scripted way. It seems more slapdash & improvised because it’s so fast and the variants are so quick.  That doesn’t mean George didn’t come up with it, but I tend to associate that kind of riff with Paul.  If George is playing and Paul scripted it, it likely entailed hours of annoying coaching from Paul (a la the Let It Be sessions) to get every jot and tittle just right.

  I welcome your opinion, of course.  Not sure if there is any reliable source for what really happened, I’d be really curious to read it.  I’m not sure Paul would have scripted George’s lines to such a nitpicking extent on one of John’s songs though.  Seems like he saved that level of detail for his own songs, or a more collaborative composition with John.

By the way, I did do a quick Google search just in case.  And there was a note saying that Paul played the handbell (which was being discussed earlier) on the track.  I found several passages praising George’s lead guitar on the song, but I didn’t see any suggestion that Paul wrote the part.  Of course, I also found a source saying that John played lead and George played rhythm lol.  Which I don’t know is true or not, but I tend to doubt it.  By the way, I always thought the bass was killer on this also.

  

It is an interesting question. While I have great respect for George’s guitar work already, if he came up with that mostly himself, my estimation would rise even higher.  I’ll have another listen to focus on the bass — I hadn’t thought to notice it, I was so intent on fixing on the guitar.