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11.52am
31 March 2008
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Ach. Good point – I have all the RB stems at home. I should have listened to those instead. Will try to find them at the weekend.
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2.33pm
10 August 2011
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Meanmistermustard, would this be similar to the re-mastered Yellow Submarine CD?
(I tried to Google variations on “the isolated 5.1 tracks from the Yellow Submarine DVD”)
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9.55pm
Reviewers
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1 May 2011
Offline I must admit ITSWD that i quite dont understand you're question. Would what be similiar to the remastered yellow submarine cd?
If you are looking for the 5.1 YS surround sound mixes then try the bizarre google search 'Hey Bulldog track 44', that may lead you somewhere. If not then ignore that last sentence.
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10.03pm
18 November 2011
Offline If you listen to the “Rock Band” tracks, you’ll notice that instead or merely fading out during the second Harmonium break, “The Word ” has a complete ending with a cool, proto-psychedelic guitar riff and organ drone. Anyone know why they opted for the fade-out?
11.06pm
Reviewers
Moderators
1 May 2011
Offline Can only imagine they prefered to end it that way. On the unique original US stereo mix (RS1 (Remix Stereo One)) you can hear the song coming to an end, tho not as long as on Rock Band. It also wasnt the only song this happens to, another is Doctor Robert . On the US Yesterday and Today album you can hear RS1 come to an end and John say something, generally thought to be ‘ok herb’.
"I told you everything I could about me, Told you everything I could" ('Before Believing' - Emmylou Harris)
4.44am
1 November 2012
Offline I just listened to the song carefully for the first time (though I’ve heard it a few times before in my life in distracting circumstances, involving a bong and a pouf…) and it sounds like The Doors, the Mamas and the Papas, and The Byrds all rolled into one — and George Martin on the “harmonium” doesn’t hurt!
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5.37pm
18 November 2011
Offline 
I always thought of it as a proto-funk song, with the (implied) D7#9 chord, George’s little bit during the bridge and Paul’s bass line.
Though if you listen to the full ending on the “RockBand” version, it does sound very “psychedelic” with the droning harmonium and the little guitar flourish.
It is an interesting song, I’d love to have heard it coming together in the studio.
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Von Bontee11.20pm
14 December 2009
Offline Agreed with the funkiness – that one rhythm guitar chord is practically James Brownian.
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2.00pm
18 April 2013
Offline Who is the person with the extremely high voice singing alone in the left channel? It sounds really funny to me and I had never noticed it before. I’m listening to the “US Albums,” not sure if it’s a different mix.
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6.05pm
15 May 2015
Offline Can’t find it on YouTube — typed into the search box
beatles us albums “the word”
and came up with several instances of the Beatles doing “The Word ” but none that I could be sure are from the US albums.
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6.37pm
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1 May 2011
Offline The US stereo mix is unique as it has a double-tracked John vocal, maybe thats what you’re listening to.
Notes from Helter Skelter on the recording of the track from his ‘Rubber Soul ‘ Rock Band analysis (i’ve omitted the breakdown of the mogg file as it’s not relevent here)
“Scrambled eggs, oh my baby how I love you legs…” that is what is going through my head as I piece back together the mess that is The Word – and my word, what a mess it is…
But first things first, lets talk about the recording of this vocal masterpiece.
The Word was recorded on the 10th November 1965, in just 5 hours the complete track was committed to tape, starting with a period of rehearsals, the boys nailed the rhythm section in three takes, Take 3 being the best and therefore master. The rhythm take consisted of Ringo on drums, Mr. McCartney on piano, John on rhythm guitar and George on lead guitar. This is a rare track being that it required no lead guitar overdubs, all of the guitar parts were recorded during the rhythm take – giving us TK1 of the 4-Track tape. Now the overdubs began, starting with the vocals. Much has been written about the vocal overdubs, with conflicting reports about just how many voices were overdubbed onto Take 3.The confusion is fuelled by the US Stereo mix of Rubber Soul (shipped after the first stereo mixing session) which includes what appears to be a
double-tracked lead vocal from John. Switch back to the 1965 UK mix (remixed by George Martin just before LP release), and there is only a single-tracked vocal (for the record, the mogg only has a single-tracked lead vocal.)
My theory on this is pretty simple, the vocal was double-tracked, one lead vocal on TK2 with the backing vocals, and another on TK3 with the falsetto backing vocals,
but during the final UK mix George Martin mixed out the vocal on TK2 (or possibly TK3 depending on which was deemed best) leaving only a single-tracked lead vocal
with minor traces of the second lead vocal – this was also mirrored for the mogg mixing.
So here is how the vocals were overdubbed:Vocal Overdubs
TK2: John Lead Vocal 1, Backing Vocals
TK3: John Lead Vocal 2, Falsetto Backing Vocals 1
TK4: Falsetto Backing Vocals 2 (+ additional instrument overdubs)There are claims that the additional falsetto vocal harmonies were performed by Paul, but you can hear these in isolation on the mogg, and they sound more like
George’s handy-work. I could be wrong.
The final overdubs (along with George’s falsetto vocals) consisted of Paul’s funky bass line, Ringo’s percussion and George Martin on harmonium – this giving us TK4
of the 4-Track tape.
There are also claims of two sets of percussion overdubs onto Take 3, but I can’t find any evidence of this – and the mogg supports the theory that the percussion was overdubbed with the harmonium and bass onto TK4. The US mix simply pans TK4 between left and right throughout moving the percussion. It also looks likely that George double-tracked the ‘bass’ lead guitar riff onto TK4, as this is on the right leg of the stereo mix.So here is the complete 4-Track layout:
Take 3
TK1: Drums, Rhythm Guitar, Lead Guitar 1, Piano
SI onto Take 3
TK2: John Lead Vocal 1, Backing Vocals (Lead vocal mixed out for the UK stereo mix)
TK3: John Lead Vocal 2, Falsetto Backing Vocals 1
TK4: Bass, Harmonium, Percussion, Falsetto Backing Vocals 2, Lead Guitar 2
"I told you everything I could about me, Told you everything I could" ('Before Believing' - Emmylou Harris)
6.52pm
18 April 2013
Offline Yes I was listening to a US stereo version. I don’t know if it would count as a lead vocal because it is falsetto. Probably the highest falsetto on any Beatles song. According to that blurb both John and someone else (George?) sang falsetto. The voice I’m taking about is very prominent in the mix, in the left ear. There is also another falsetto backing voice harmonizing/blending with the other voices.
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7.43pm
17 October 2013
Offline I think I read…but may be wrong, Paul or John suggest that ‘The Word ‘ was their one note samba song.
OK it’s not a samba or one note but you can see how they might have started the song in that direction.
Anyway I like it.
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Zig12.27pm
9 March 2017
Offline I’m listening to the song right now and am wondering, if there’s 2 guitars in the song does that mean that John and George are playing the same thing.
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4.33pm
Moderators
27 November 2016
Offline I can only hear one guitar part.
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11.31pm
11 November 2010
Offline Dark Overlord said
I’m listening to the song right now and am wondering, if there’s 2 guitars in the song does that mean that John and George are playing the same thing.
I think so. To me, the guitar sounds like it’s played by two guitars playing the same thing. There are a couple moments when the two guitars are not quite in synch, which leads me to believe that it’s not some artificial effect.
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12.03am
9 March 2017
Offline Usually i’d claim that this is double tracking but in this case, i believe that John and George are playing the same exact thing in unison because most sources say that both play guitar on The Word . Now that i think about it, this reminds me a lot of Nowhere Man because in both songs John and George use their Fender guitars to play something in unison but unlike that song where only the solo is played like that, this song is played entirely like that. The question now is, are they playing rhythm guitar or lead guitar because they play rhythm during the verse but they play a lead during the bridges.
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5.43pm
4 September 2017
Offline Does anyone know what kind of bass Paul is playing?
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QuarryMan7.48pm
9 March 2017
Offline It’s either the Hofner or his Rickenbacker, I can’t say for sure which one but it’s one of those 2.
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2.54pm
Reviewers
14 April 2010
Offline BummerDrummer said
Does anyone know what kind of bass Paul is playing?
From Andy Babiuk’s Beatles Gear (Ultimate Edition), page 321.
McCartney used his new left-handed Rickenbacker 4001S bass almost exclusively on the Rubber Soul sessions.
That would be a safe bet.
On the next page, he adds…
More surprising is a photograph showing McCartney during these sessions using a capo on his new Rickenbacker bass.
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