In the studio
The Beatles’ first attempt to record ‘Helter Skelter’ took place on 18 July 1968. They recorded three takes, lasting 10’40”, 12’35” and 27’11” respectively; the last was the longest recording in the group’s career.
An edit of take two, lasting 4’38”, was included on Anthology 3 in 1996. The full version was released in 2018 on the super deluxe 50th anniversary reissue of the White Album.
More slow jam than serious recording, the early takes were blues-based and lacked the volume and power of the final version. They also featured Paul McCartney occasionally singing ‘Hell for leather’ instead of the title.
They recorded the long versions of ‘Helter Skelter’ with live tape echo. Echo would normally be added at remix stage otherwise it can’t be altered, but this time they wanted it live. One of the versions developed into a jam which went into and then back out of a somewhat bizarre version of ‘Blue Moon’. The problem was, although we were recording them at 15 ips [inches per second] – which meant that we’d get roughly half an hour of time on the tape – the machine we were running for the tape echo was going at 30 ips, in other words 15 minutes… The Beatles were jamming away, completely oblivious to the world and we didn’t know what to do because they all had foldback in their headphones so that they could hear the echo. We knew that if we stopped it they would notice.In the end we decided that the best thing to do was stop the tape echo machine and rewind it. So at one point the echo suddenly stopped and you could hear ‘bllllrrrrippppp’ as it was spooled back. This prompted Paul to put in some kind of clever vocal improvisation based around the chattering sound!
The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, Mark Lewisohn
A remake of ‘Helter Skelter’ was begun on 9 September, and completed with some additional overdubs on the following day. The Beatles taped 18 takes, all considerably shorter than the 18 July versions.
The version on the album was out of control. They were completely out of their heads that night. But, as usual, a blind eye was turned to what The Beatles did in the studio. Everyone knew what substances they were taking but they were really a law unto themselves in the studio. As long as they didn’t do anything too outrageous things were tolerated.
The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, Mark Lewisohn
At the beginning of the session The Beatles warmed up with a version of Leiber and Stoller’s ‘(You’re So Square) Baby I Don’t Care’. The song had been made famous by Elvis Presley in the 1957 film Jailhouse Rock, and was also recorded the following year by Buddy Holly. The 1968 recording was released in November 2018 on the 50th anniversary box set of the White Album.
Lyrics for Helter Skelter, transcribed by Mal Evans
The 9 September session fulfilled McCartney’s desire to create a rock ‘n’ roll maelstrom. Producer Chris Thomas later recalled George Harrison setting fire to an ashtray and running around the studio with it above his head, in an impression of singer Arthur Brown, while McCartney was recording his vocals.
We got the engineers and George Martin to hike up the drum sound and really get it as loud and horrible as it could and we played it and said, ‘No, still sounds too safe, it’s got to get louder and dirtier.’ We tried everything we could to dirty it up and in the end you can hear Ringo say, ‘I’ve got blisters on my fingers!’ That wasn’t a joke put-on: his hands were actually bleeding at the end of the take, he’d been drumming so ferociously. We did work very hard on that track.
Many Years From Now, Barry Miles
The best attempt was the final one, take 21. It featured John Lennon on bass guitar and saxophone, The Beatles’ assistant Mal Evans on trumpet, two lead guitars, drums, piano, more bass guitar, backing vocals and McCartney’s suitably raucous lead vocals.
‘Helter Skelter’ was a track we did in total madness and hysterics in the studio. Sometimes you just had to shake out the jams, and with that song – Paul’s bass line and my drums – Paul started screaming and shouting and made it up on the spot.
Anthology
The mono and stereo mixes made in 1968 differed significantly. The mono mix, done on 17 September, lasted 3’36”; the stereo, which was made on 12 October, features a full fade out, then the song returns and lasts until 4’29”. Only the stereo version contains Starr’s shout at the end.
Does anyone know what guitars/amps/fx pedals were used to get the guitar sound in Helter Skelter?
Frankly living through ‘The Beatles’ era, no other group I know of changed their ‘Sound’ as much as they did. I personally thought ‘Happiness is a warm gun’ or ‘Yer blues’ had a more dangerous edge, than did ‘Helter Skelter’; who’s meaning only Manson tried to invent. Yes, the guitars are gritty + yet I feel the fast version of ‘Revolution’s grittier! To be a menacing song, alot has to be implied, our imagination stirred like Director Alfred Hitchcock, was so good at! (rc.)
Helter Skelter is a better rocker than all of the songs you just mentioned. Paul actually does have many songs that are better than John’s.
He’s clearly giving his opinion. You’re stating your opinions as if they’re facts. People are allowed to like John better than Paul and vise versa.
Really? Paul was the third best songwriter in the band but thanks for playing
The third? George? Wasn’t even a good songwriter. His solo career shows how he couldn’t even try to be in Paul’s level. Even John is highly overrated since he died.
But keep learning and keep trying.
IMHO, John and Paul fed off each other. Both of their solo stuff is pretty lame, for the most part. I think Beatle Paul wrote lyrics knowing if he presented something silly, John would rip him a new one. And Beatle John wrote his songs so he could stay on his high horse. Solo J & P just wrote whatever they wanted without fear of being taken to the woodshed.
Kurt, John and Paul were equals, with George writing a good one now and then.
But thanks for playing….
Yes MikeP. I am sick unto death of this ridiculous John vs Paul tripe. They were both genius. Can’t we leave it at that? Brilliant vocals by Paul here though.
Helter Skelter is one of least interesting Beatle tunes. For a song that Paul wanted to be as loud and edgy as possible the drums sound oddly thin and subdued
Manson didn’t invent helter skelter…that was the DAs trip, not his
Late period Beatles heavy guitar sound is usually an Epiphone Casino (w/ Gibson P90 pickups), Vox AC-30 amp with the drive cranked up, plus a bit of compression.
This setup can pretty much nail everything Lennon did from Revolver on. Think Dr. Robert, Rain, Paperback Writer, Revolution, Hey Bulldog, I want You (She’s So Heavy). Right on up thru Let it Be, and you can watch him playing his (by then stripped and refinished natural) Casino in the Rooftop Concert (Get Back, Dig a Pony, I’ve Got a Feeling).
Paul acquired a Casino same time as Lennon, calling it his favorite guitar, and still plays one today (when he is not playing his bass). He used it for his lead work on Taxman, Helter Skelter, and others.
By this time George was using Fender guitars (Strat and Tele), often with Leslie (rotating speaker) effects.
They stopped using vox’s at this time they started using fender amps from revolver and up
Wrong. the white album was the start of the Fender amps… Everything before that was still Vox… Pepper is all Vox amps.
He is right. The Beatles only started using Fender deluxe reverb amps after Brian died, which ended their gentleman’s agreement to only use Vox amps. When the 1st began, they needed equipment and Brian convinced Vox to let the Beatles use amps for free, great promotion.
Paul got his Casino (and his Texan) in late 1964. John and George got their Casinos in early 1966.
You seem to know a lot, so please nail this – is it Paul playing the guitar riff on Helter Skelter?
Paul plays lead guitar, no doubt.
Its kinda weird how I got into the Beatles, I read the book Helter Skelter.My sister had the White Album. I checked it out out of curiosity…I was hooked. The Beatles have so many different sounds..just an amazing amount of talent in one band
The guitars in Revolution, however, were not amped and then mic’ed; they were fed directly into the mixing desk.
John plays bass on this song. From listening to the stereo remaster, John’s bass really stands out, giving the impression that he is actually enjoying himself playing it! Listen for yourself, you will be impressed!
Since everyone else has said something dark about this song, here’s an alternative on the ‘meaning’ behind ‘Helter Skelter’. Its real meaning, in my view, is an altogether kinder, healthier one than the one insane people made it into decades ago. How about this version? A famous pop star is talking about rising to the top and going up and down famewise, but every time he comes down or has a problem, he always sees the same fan coming round, over and over again, and wonders what that fan wants of him. He notices the fan might be able to love him (‘you may be a lover’) but can’t ‘dance’ in life like he can – at one point even warning the fan that his fame, or his fall from the pedestal which that fan has put him on, might ‘break’ (or harm) the fan. Could that be the song’s true meaning?
I’m pretty certain it’s simply about a fairground ride and chasing after girls. I wouldn’t read too much into it, as I don’t think McCartney has ever suggested there might be a hidden meaning.
That is almost exactly how I have always heard this song! Like he is singing about somebody who is tedious, annoying like a tick he can’t get rid of….and it’s making go in circles. And worse, they don’t see themselves that way and this is a huge burden. On this note, I often wondered if Figure Of Eight was a revisit to Helter Skelter but in a much more pop styled, loving delevery of the same ‘buyer beware’ message!
I always took it to be about sex, straight up. And down. And up…
Yup. McCartney loved the naughty entendres, and this song, even when I was much younger, was about straightforward sexual intercourse.
I love your thoughts on the song! I’ve been around for 62 and 3/4 years, I’ve listened to the Beatles, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Start. I liked them. I didn’t even mind Yoko Ono’s squeaky little voice singing background. John loved her. That was good enough for me. I loved his last album(forgive me, I had a stroke, & can’t think of it’s name), especially the song ‘Starting Over’. I didn’t dislike any of the Beatles music, but only owned, Magical Mystery Tour’, and Sgt Pepper’s’. My brother had the White Album, and I had already formed my opinion about it, before Manson. I didn’t listen to it after Manson. Except, the Birthday Song. So refreshing after the old one. I had several of Paul’s albums. I had several of John’s albums. I wore out 4 cassette tapes of John’s last one. I didn’t buy George’s albums. Krishna sort of went against my Christianity. I did buy The Traveling Willburys. I loved everyone who sang on those songs. And, everyone except Jeff Lynne is gone. So sad. Anyway, I guess I’ve bored you all to pieces! So thank you for letting me have my opinion and Goodbye…
Dylan is still with us, at least at this point, two years after your comment. But his talent is certainly gone.
I’m surprised that actually the one who shouted “I’ve got blisters on my fingers” was was Ringo. I always thought it was John.
I always thought it was George! Now that I hear it was Ringo, though, it makes perfect sense; it was definitely a lower-pitched voice.
John says “How was that?” faintly, right before Ringo flings his sticks and shouts.
I just found out today reading this blog that it was Ringo and not Lennon….especially after the song continues another minute or two..it just sounds like something John would scream out in pain!
Marcelo – That is what said in “Helter Skelter” Wiki. That was John who had blisters on his fingers. Wrong!
It was Ringo!
Like most of the White Album, this was parody, from an era when smashing guitars during a concert, or lighting them on fire (like Hendrix) was standard fare.
As with much of the Beatles’ subtler commentary, it’s meaning has been lost on subsequent generations of listeners. Today “Helter Skelter” just seems like a great “hard rock” tune and precursor to “heavy metal,” especially watered down, as it has been, by minimalist bands like Motley Crue or U2. Gone are the devilish squeals seeming to emanate straight out of hell, and the awful taint of the Tate-LaBianca murders.
Modern audiences probably don’t realize that Roman Polanski, much in the news of late, was Sharon Tate’s husband, and escaped being butchered himself by his absence, although he presumably lost an unborn child in the attack.
The ghost hunters of “TAPS” recently paid a visit to the site of the murders, and filmed evidence of supposed contact with the spirits of one or more murdered victims.
I’ll stop there — I admit that’s already more than weird enough, and apologize if anyone finds it upsetting.
Frankly, I wish people would quit linking this to Manson. Manson was an ex-convict, druggie, and wanna-be songwriter who for a time hung out with and mooched off Dennis Wilson (Beach Boys), trying to get them to take him seriously as a songwriter. He was, in fact, awful and on the extreme fringe. Like most nut cases with fragile egos and delusional tendencies, Manson took things to extreme and threatened Wilson when the Beach Boys didn’t give Manson what he wanted. He later adopted the Beatles as part of his twisted psychosis, which had nothing to do with their songs but with his apocalyptic delusions and misinterpretations. There was/is simply no connection between the Beatles and Manson.
“This is a song Charles Manson stole from the Beatles…we’re stealin’ it back.”
And so Bono of U2 introduces “Helter Skelter” on my copies (CD and DVD) of “Rattle and Hum.”
I can understand your angst, and your wish that the song and the Manson murders not be inextricably linked in people’s minds. History has not been your ally, however, in this regard, and prospects for the future appear equally dim.
Actually thomas, The Beach Boys did record one of Manson’s songs, and Dennis leads it on the vocals
Manson could in fact play a guitar and make music with some kind of authority but his twisted warped and screwy feelings towards humanity finally surpassed his musical tendencies and put him in his place.
Lennon’s bass playing on this track is suprising considering how badly he supposedly played on The Long and Winding Road…but I suppose this is a much more exciting track…
Ringo: drums
George: lead guitar and backing vocals
Paul: lead vocals, lead and bass guitars, piano
John: backing vocals, rhythm and bass guitars, saxophone
Mal: trumpet
They atacked with three guitars and then Paul and John contribution on bass.
Gustavo, John is the sole bass player, on every version of Helter Skelter that was ever recorded, n he played no rhythm guitar at all, he also played tha funky saxophone at the end of the song
For his first time playing saxophone, John wasn’t so bad. Did he ever play sax out of The Beatles?
You can hear John’s guitar at 2’18-2’31 minutes for example. His rhythm is basically creating the electric static noise you hear throughout. Frantic. And he even gets his five seconds of fame at 3’01 to 3’08!
McCartney’s bass is much quieter, but it’s in there. His bass is clean, probably the Hofner.
You can really hear it clearly in the middle-right channel at 1:35-1:43 (listen to the bass drum).
Sounds like Paul playing the opening lead guitar and lead guitar riffs and George playing rythym and slide guitar. Lennon played a 6 string bass and a sax mouthpiece. Ringo’s skin’s are powerful.
When I hear Helter Skelter I hear Paul creating heavy metal, as we know it. Helter Skelter was the prototype for heavy metal throughout the 70s and 80s. As was Revolution which was recorded a week earlier. The guitar became the lead instrument rather than vocal harmonies. Paul taught heavy metal bands for years to come how to sing the heavy metal style of vocals. The Manson thing is somewhat interesting as a side note but the song is better and more important to the evolution of Rock and Roll rather than to give that punk Manson any Beatle press. (Although it made the song somewhat notorious) Also interesting was what John and Paul had to say about what happened in LA in Aug of ’69 (again as a side note) but I question the wisdom of quoting a murderer on such a fine website. It becomes something else when we talk about “the family”.
Agree. Way too much is made of that psycho Manson on this article.
I would pay a whole lot of money that Paul certainly doesn’t need to hear the 27 minute version of this song. I heard he considered it for Anthology but decided against it because it took up too much space.
How about a 2-song EP, featuring Carnival of Light and Helter Skelter?
Interesting concept. I’d buy it.
Heavy metal? Not so much. Most likely one of Jimi Hendrix’s songs. When The White Album came out Hendrix had already released all three of his (new material) albums. Given that, I would have to give the nod to Jimi as the true Pioneer/Godfather of Heavy Metal.
Have never considered Hendrix as sounding like heavy metal. Do you have any particular songs in mind?.
Go to Youtube — type `John Lennon playing bass’ and you’ll hear Lennon’s bass isolated. It’s marvelously raw and, imo, gives the track its weight.
I wish I could see George doing an Arthur Brown impression. That would’ve been hilarious!
I’ve always hated this song, and being from the US, I think that the connotations with Manson have a lot to do with that. I was around when that happened, and it was very big and shocking news indeed. But the Manson thing aside, the song just sounds like it has a serious sinister undertone to it that I’ve always found disturbing. That’s probably why it appealed to Manson in the first place. Anyone else notice that?
Unfortunately, Charles Manson the nutjob has tainted this harmless song forever by including it as part of his warped philosophy and rationale for an unspeakable crime. I hear no serious sinister undertone(s) when I listen to this song.
How in the hell do you “hate” a Beatles song?
You can hate the ones that sucked, or is there some unwritten rule that all they did was gold? Great band, but they did have bad songs, like every band this world has and will evr know.
Heard ‘Wild Honey Pie’ lately? Or ‘Piggies’?
Those songs are horrible.
I’d rather not decide which songs are horrible and which are not. Piggies are like one of my favourites from this album.
yeah i love Piggies and i dont mind wild honey pie but i agree Heltar skeltar is down at the bottom of my list below these songs if i were to rate my favorite Beatles song in order by popularity in my mind.
The only track on the white album I dont especially like is “Bungalow Bill” – it’s too juvenile for my tastes. (Altho I will admit that I liked it when I first heard it, at an impressionable young age.)
“Wild Honey Pie” sounds like a Pixies song.
Pixies recorded it in 1988.
Not my favorite White Album track, but it has a lot going for it. I especially like the descending guitar riff that starts the song and the descending scales in the choruses–good hooks. And good vocals from Paul.
And I loved the guitar sounds all over the White Album. After MMT, which had almost no lead guitar, it was nice to hear some again. This was the first album where I thought that George’s leads really soared–the second lead in Yer Blues, the chorus lead in Me and My Monkey, the solo in Savoy Truffle… Early George leads sometimes sounded clunky to me, but these are all sinuous and cool. Always thought they sound like a Tele or Strat with a lot of compression. You can sort of hear how he might end up being the slide master he became.
I’ve always thought of this song as a spoof of I Can See For Miles. First, there’s the interview in which Townshend indicated he thought the Beatles are like Herman’s Hermits, and can’t rock. So I imagine a Beatle saying “Let’s out-noise them”. Then there’s the over-powered recurring twangy bass note as an answer to Townshend’s whining high note. “I see you again” vs “I can see for miles”. Townshend has commented many times about his windmill guitar strokes tearing up his fingertips…thus “I got blisters on my fingers!”.
@Ron Wilder, the “I got blisters on my fingers!” scream by Ringo had absolutely nothing to do with Pete Townshend. It had everything to do with the fact he actually had blisters from a very long, raucous jam session.
Video of Ringo addressing it here:
Listening to the original, the driving beat reminds me of the doors “Five to One” which had just been released.
The song is extremely evocative, just like Cobain ´s tunes. One doesn t sometimes fully comprehend, what he wrote and recorded. Not to take away the guilt factor of the Tate la Bianca slayings. On the other hand – Charles Manson certainly was a talented musician and composer.
One thing I would like to know: by which authority is determined which Beatle played what on whichever? Emerick? Lewisohn? John probably played some bass noise on this track like he played noise sax, but the main bassline has to have been Paul’s. I forget where I read it, but John’s skill on bass was horrible and there was a tune he tried to play and it got erased and dubbed over. Yes, I know George played bass on She Said, She Said and Old Brown Shoe, but I need documentation before I’ll believe John played bass on this tune.
All important sources claim Lennon plays bass. I´m not a bass player, but I think the part for HS It´s not a difficult one, but Lennon played it with feeling and emotions. Lennon play awful in TLAWR and LIT because he was bored and didn´t care at all.
Having just watched the Get Back documentary, my take is that the 6-string bass is a bit out of tune (just the E string). And John suspects he’s out of tune (he says so) but the probably does not hear himself well enough to really tell or try to tune it himself on the spot.
I read somewhere that John purposely messed up the bass lines for LaWR because he didn’t like the song.
I was wondering if anyone here has any idea what is being said during the interlude part where no vocals are. I can’t figure it out and to be honest, it’s driving me crazy. I’m not sure who it is but it sounds like Paul’s voice.
Interlude:
Hey come here son…
I saw you do that you little booger.
Pop your bloody hands on here – come on.
PUT your bloody hands on here – come on.
Heavy English accent.
Youtube has the isolated Macca vocal track, its at the very end.
It took, literally, a few decades, for me to be able to not think of Manson, when listening, or even thinking about this song.
I was only 9 years old, and lived several miles away, from the Manson terror, that night. Most schoolchildren, were terrified, that perhaps, somehow, he, or his so-called family, would cause harm to us.
We are still paying for him, by our taxes.
Perhaps, because of the sheer popularity of the Beatles, it was bound to attract some psychopaths, but it is lamentable, just the same.
Is it definitely John on bass? If so, why does Ringo speak of “Paul’s bass line and my drums “.
Genuine question too as I was surprised to see Johnny getting the credit. It doesn’t sound like John to me.
Here’s the isolated bass track from the “Rock Band” mixes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PxVrOuMxy0
It sounds raw & dirty on purpose, In my opinion, if Paul was to play that, it would be too clean & precise for this song.
As for Ringo’s quote, he can’t remember everything about The Beatles history, same goes with Paul. They were far too involved with it to remember all of it.
Thanks for the link Julian.
However, you knew that was coming, I think it proves John wasn’t on bass. Why? Well, I don’t think John had the chops to do the, as we musicians say, dadedadedada riffs after Helter Skelter on the chorus.
Not only that, but the bass doesn’t sound like Fender 6 – more like a Jazz. Paul had a Jazz.
And as to being too clean and precise… here’s some Paul, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiYQtXazlUw.
Factor in some wine and some jazz woodbines, and Paul would easily be the sloppy bassist on Helter Skelter.
Well, him or George, ha ha.
I disagree. I own and play both a Bass VI and a Jazz and the isolated bass track from “Helter Skelter” sounds like a Bass VI.
Many points of documentation indicate it was JOHN. They played the song live, with minimal overdubs, and Paul was leading the effort on guitar. The isolated track shows an approach to bass that definitely is not Paul’s signature, also.
Listen to the timbre of the instrument as John plays the part- its on a baritone bass- the Fender VI. Not strictly a bass guitar, but a special 6 string guitar with heavier strings, tuned down an octave.
You get the same tones as a bass, but not so much the deep heavy bass subharmonics. But you do get extra percussive treble tones, which gave John’s performance a biting, driving almost-distorted attack. AND THIS WORKED PERFECTLY FOR THE SONG.
Not one of the best songs they ever wrote, but far and away the heaviest and loudest and most intense. Despite the bevy of covers over the decades by other harder bands (Motley Crue for and Aerosmith for instance) NO ONE has even come close to topping the original.
I always thought it was ironic since, despite having nothing to do with murdering anyone or ill-intent, Helter Skelter still sounds like the soundtrack to a murder spree at the end. Right at the part where it fades back in with the out of tune horns and droning guitar chords…it just sounds….eerie and evil. lol. That’s the only way I can put it.
Btw, there’s a recurring squeaking sound that sounds like someone squeezing a rubber ducky on the left channel behind Paul’s vocal. You can hear it right after he sings “Look out ’cause her she comes” before the short guitar solo.
Also, the stereo mix is far better than the mono cut. Paul’s got an echo effect on his voice that comes and goes and Helter Skelter just doesn’t sound complete without the fade out-in-out and Ringo yelling at the end. The mono cut is too dry sounding by comparison.
That squeaky sound, as I’ve figured out, is the sax & trumpet overdub by John & Mal Evans. 😉
Y’know, if he decided to take lessons, John coulda been a good sax player. There’s a picture of him playing an alto
It was John who said I got Blisters on my fingers not Ringo !!!!
it was definately Ringo who said the ‘BLISTERS” bit. Thats his voice. Not John’s
It was Ringo.
Why can’t you and everybody else (that thinks it is John) hear that it is Ringo’s voice saying “I’ve Got Blisters…?
It is very obvious!
” Helter Skelter” is a great Paul McCartney and Beatles song off the brilliant double White Album. I love the guitars, they just go off! . Just like John Lennon’s great rock/ blues song ” Yer Blues ” off the same album, they are examples of why you could talk about The White Album for ever. The latter is an example of Lennon’s vocals at his best, this was to come to full fruition on his first solo album two years later.
I actually think the bluesier jam version on “anthology” might have been a more interesting direction had it worked out. Unfortunately that version fades way too early on “3” (lennon recycled the idea for “wellwellwell”) but what we have in the released version is pretty good. It is a lot of chaotic,noisy fun.
SIde THREE of the White Album was maybe their best along with side two of Abbey Road. It has three very underrated songs one each by John, Paul and George….respectively Yer Blues, Helter Skelter and Long, long, long.
Paul McCartney’s brilliant response to Pete Townshend’s comment and The Who’s song “I Can See For Miles”. As someone else said that nutjob Charles Manson’s total misreading of this song is part of history. But that should never detract from this songs brilliance.
Hey – maybe it’s just me, but urban legend growing up said that it was Jimmy Page that played the guitar solo. Anyone got any info on that? Speaking as a guitarist and using Birthday, Yer Blues and The End as my yardsticks, Helter Skelter really doesn’t sound like anything Paul or George were doing.
The solo sounds like Paul to me. It sounds nothing at all like Jimmy Page.
Although a classic Beatles song, it could have been better if John had done the vocals
No it wouldn’t have. Paul’s vocals are perfect for it. He has a better scream. Sorry. He sounds a unhinged which is perfect for the song.
Does anyone know which Beatle plays the opening guitar part? I always assumed it was Paul but I’m not sure. And I assume George plays the leads during the chorus and the solo. If it is John on bass, then he did a fantastic job!! There has to be notes or outtakes somewhere to determine which Beatle played which instrument.
It’s Paul, and I assume he plays lead all over the song.
John’s bass is awesome at 3:09
Well – all in all John on bass is not as tight as Paul – by far. But his irregularities make the song even wilder. Sometimes he´s behind the beat, sometimes in front of it. Paul – in comparison – would have played tight and steady bass lines, being perfectly in the groove with Ringo. That would have been a solid foundation, but not as wild as the actual recording.
“Associated Performer, Vocals, Electric Guitar, Piano: Paul McCartney
Associated Performer, Background Vocalist, Bass Guitar, Electric Guitar, Sound Effects: John Lennon
Associated Performer, Background Vocalist, Rhythm Guitar, Slide Guitar, Sound Effects: George Harrison
Associated Performer, Drums, Background Vocalist: Ringo Starr
Associated Performer, Trumpet: Mal Evans”
That is the official line-up released with this new edition of the White Album. These informations mostly confirms the information on beatles bible, but not always…
Love the sequencing to go from Helter Skelter into Long, Long, Long … brilliant.
Ditto. John would have blown it of the water. But that’s a quibble. The track is the nuts.
Helter Skelter? The Beginning of Heavy Metal! Paul McCartney was the first heavy metal rockstar!!!!! HE invented Heavy Metal!!!
Paul’s lead guitar opening is amazing. Sounds like his Fender Telecaster for sure. I love playing air guitar to it. John’s 6 string bass with a pick and George’s slide guitar contribution are utterly brilliant. The Beatles loudest song of there career and masterfully recorded. Ringo’s the man hitting those skins with blisters!!
Keep in mind that what I’m going to write here comes not only from purely an American perspective, but also from one who lived through those times.
1968 was a bad year. There were the twin assassinations of MLK/RFK & the riots that followed, the violence at the ’68 Democratic Convention, the shock of the Tet Offensive, the lies and deception surrounding Vietnam becoming painfully obvious, the atrocities at My Lai and other places becoming public, civil unrest, racial unrest, the generation gap, etc., etc…
Our country was very fractional, divided, fragile, schizophrenic and on the verge of a collective nervous breakdown. Towards the end of this very bad year comes along our favorite pop group with a new album & both they and the album seem to be in the same boat we are.
The White Album is all over the place, very disjointed, maybe even a little subversive to the politically-minded. The album starts off with an ode to our bitter rival, the USSR. Then there’s a song about a revolution, a sound collage about a revolution, a song about people needing a “damn good whacking”, a song about wanting to die, a song about a warm gun, & so forth. Whether intentional or not, some of the songs seem to have a sinister undercurrent to them. The backing track of “Helter Skelter” sounds like barely controlled chaos. Even though John wants to be counted “out” in the single version of “Revolution”, the music itself is very hard, tough-sounding & uncompromising. For the paranoid right-wingers back then, it wasn’t much of a stretch to connect the dots from “Revolution” to “Lennon” to “Lenin”. That might be a little hard for younger fans to believe, but it was a different world back then. This album is a very far cry from 1967 & could be considered the “anti-“Pepper”, & not just because of the cover art, either. I remember a reviewer at the time claiming that “Long, Long, Long” was about a mental institution (!). The Charles Manson connection adds another layer of creepiness to the whole thing.
Some songs sound great, some sound half-hearted, or even half-finished. When this album was first released, a lot of the group’s personal, professional & business differences weren’t yet public knowledge, but upon first hearing of this, I knew that something was “wrong”. I just couldn’t put my finger on exactly what it was. That’s probably why it’s my least favorite out all the group’s EMI-recorded albums. I know of a lot of people who went off the group when this came out, thinking they’d gone off the deep end, but I also know of people who didn’t jump on the Beatles bandwagon until this. Guess it depended on your mindset.
With 30 tracks (and 2 more not making the final cut), this is by far the group’s most self-indulgent album. They were allowed to indulge because, after all, they were The Beatles, far & away EMI’s highest income-producing artists. If one of the “second-stringers” of British groups had made this very same album at the time, I doubt that their record company would’ve allowed it to go out without some trimming.
Now, with 50 years of hindsight behind me, many of the negative feelings about this album have faded, although I will admit that this is the album of theirs that I am still the most picky about, when it comes to choosing songs to listen to. Some songs I like a lot, some I completely detest, so for me, it’s still a schizophrenic album. I still agree with George Martin’s assessment that it should’ve been whittled down to a very good single album.
I find it really weird and the same time fascinating that people would interpret The Beatles songs as something that has to do with religion, war, politics etc. Where as for them, it’s just a noise. Lol. But who knows right? Love The Beatles!
I don’t know why there is all this love for “Helter Skelter”. To me it is just noise. It sounds awful. One of the Beatles songs I skip every time. Come to think of it, there were a lot of bad songs on The White Album (“Yer blues”, “Wild Honey Pie”, “Why Don’t We Do It In The Road” and of course the abysmal “Revolution 9”.
To each his own… Macca’s incredible screams will always give me endless pleasure – same with WDWDIITR, btw! 😉
It’s honestly one of my favorite Beatles songs. Paul’s vocals are immaculate and the punk guitars are so monumentally awesome. Those dirty tones are so SO punk before punk was a thing.
Who ever believes in that whole Manson- Helter Skelter theory is a straight up idiot. You’re telling me, McCartney wrote a song that made someone else think “let’s start a race war”? Bull s**t. It was that lying a*****e of a prosecutor, Vincent Bugliosi who made it all up because he knew that’s the only way to get Charlie behind bars. Charlie was not a bad guy. Don’t believe everything you read.
It’s my belief that some of mansons ideas and what he was saying was not un true. I don’t believe that Manson saw himself as Jesus Christ. I believe that he figured some stuff out and used drugs sex and music as mind control just as musicians have forever. I’m not arguing Manson being good bad or guilty. However I see where he was coming from in his ideas of Helter Skelter. Think about it famous people influence so much and music can truly touch your soul. Everything from fashion to speech to beliefs to what to buy etc can be influences through the media marketing music movies shows social media etc. Manson is a product of both nature and nurture or lack of. So the fact that he figured some stuff out and tried to use it to his own advantage was the twisted tale it became. Think about that time period and what was going on in the country. Ideological subversion has been going on for centuries and it’s why history continues to repeat itself. We have been at war for our souls for as long as the elite have been in control. People that try to make a change like jfk mlk get taken down before they can do what they set out to do. We have been in a race war for centuries and it’s the media and the government pitting is against eachother. Now you have hate groups of the all sorts and some supports by famous or influential people. The media reports what they want and invites unrest with how and what they report or lack to report. Look up ideological Subversion. It makes sense. Idk what it is about the song Helter Skelter but I do believe Manson in his twisted way seen what was being done in the country and selfishly tried to use it to his advantage. End of story. What’s different now is that they have a bigger platform and they are geared up with fear from this “virus”as well.
Manson used people’s idea of religion and god and turned himself into what he believed these kids needed. I think he was trying to create himself as a false god as rock legions have done time after time with mass followers. The difference is they were better at navigating their “cults”. Remove a lot of mansons antics and impulsive and look at the bigger picture.
Has anybody listened to the speech before Take 17?! It’s more than obvious it’s Paul on bass on the released version. He gives instructions how he wants the guitar intro to be played and he’s demonstrating it on BASS!!!
Not to mention (You’re So Square) Baby I Don’t Care from the same session. Obviously that’s Paul too on bass, no way it’s John. That’s an experienced bass player, the walking bass.
I agree with you that it’s more than likely to be Paul on bass for “Helter Skelter” – even a certain page on Reddit agrees with this assessment and it’s https://www.reddit.com/r/beatles/comments/83ghlg/what_bass_is_being_played_in_helter_skelter/.
For those who believe that John and Paul swapped guitar and bass roles for “Helter Skelter”, this error may have somehow snowballed after John Barrett, who never directly worked with the group, was cataloguing the various tapes at Abbey Road before he died of cancer in 1984 and he may have mistakenly assumed that John played bass on the final take, possibly originating from the fact that he played bass on the slower takes, but Paul switched to bass for the louder and more aggressive take, which may explain why Mark Lewisohn mistakenly repeated the apocryphal misinformation, but again, he did the best that he could.
Ian MacDonald gave a very unconvincing line-up in his dodgy book by incorrectly listing Paul and John on lead guitars and George on rhythm guitar, which does not sound convincing, and he also wrongly lists John as bassist when in reality, it was Paul.
Mal Evans erroneously stated in “Beatles Monthly” that John was on bass for “Helter Skelter” and Kevin Howlett unwisely quoted him as the source for the line-up for the final release, not Chris Thomas or George Martin, let alone studio paperwork or handwritten notes. You must remember that Mal was not a trained record producer or a recording engineer, but rather, he was there on errands for the group, and he wasn’t required to sit through hours of reels worth of tape. Mal may have misremembered and could have been referring to the earlier slow takes, but again, some of his memories for publication and post-1970 interviews were dodgy at best and not always correct.
I highly doubt that John would’ve happily consented to swapping guitar and bass roles with Paul, since he hated having to play bass, and even Ringo confirms this in an interview for the Eight Days a Week documentary, “No one else was gonna play bass, I mean John was not gonna play bass.”
My personal theory is that this is the most plausible line-up for the final take: lead vocals, bass and screaming (Paul), electric guitar, tenor saxophone, piano, backing vocals (John), electric guitar, electric slide guitar, ashtray, backing vocals (George), drums, cowbell and screaming (Ringo) and trumpet (Mal Evans).
I know that some sources incorrectly list Paul as lead guitarist, but judging from the string-bending techniques employed, it’s more than likely to be George, not Paul, playing lead while John was more than likely playing the frantic rhythm guitar, as that he liked that type of aggressive guitar playing, was prone to breaking guitar strings in early recording sessions (perhaps from playing too many Elvis records!!) and tended to turn up distortion levels to overdrive, as heard on “The End”, whereas George had his fuzzbox settings in a more controlled way.
The fact that John played bass on the slower and bluesy takes and not the final take that ended up on the White Album probably explains why his attempts at playing bass were more often that not overdubbed or replaced by Paul, much like he did on “Let it Be”.
The bass tone employed by Paul on “Helter Skelter” implies that it was his Fender Jazz Bass, not his Rickenbacker, and my ears tell me that he evidently used the Jazz Bass on more tracks on the White Album than I thought he did, whereas previously, I thought he used his Rickenbacker bass on much of the album. The Jazz Bass tone can be heard on “Glass Onion”, “I’m So Tired”, “Piggies”, “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”, “Birthday”, “Yer Blues” and “Sexy Sadie”
So your contention is that John Barrett, Mark Lewisohn, Ian McDonald, Mal Evans, this page, and the official lineup on the anniversary release are all mistaken, and we need to go with your ears and one Redditor? I think I’ll go with the informed sources.
Also, I’m pretty sure Ringo’s quote in Eight Days A Week was about taking over bass when Stu left the band.
No I am not suggesting that. What I am saying is that biographers made mistakes in their books and even Mal Evans’s “Beatles Monthly” features did not always get facts right prior to publication; besides, there is no such thing as an error-free nonfiction book, even by experienced biographers, and Mark Lewisohn himself has acknowledged his errors.
I was actually replying to HarryShowman about the likelihood that it was Paul playing bass on the final performance of “Helter Skelter” plus Ringo wasn’t even in the band when Paul changed to bass – Pete Best was still the drummer when this happened.
I was also not the one who created that Reddit page, but I just copied and pasted it as a link.
FWIW, I agree with you. The studio chatter shows it’s Paul on bass and John playing the intro on guitar, sounding very similar to his distorted rhythm guitar bits on I’ve Got a Feeling. It’s possible George is playing a second rhythm guitar with constant string bends on the beat, which makes the guitars sound more expansive, but upon listening to the jam of You’re So Square, I am unsure George played on the rhythm track, with the main guitar part being distinctly Lennon; the first riff is identical to a part he plays on Crippled Inside and those walk-ups were characteristic of his songs in this period (e.g. the intros to I’m So Tired and Look At Me). But it may be two guitars, I’m not sure.
That said, I am fairly certain Paul played the lead sections over the chorus, as he plays an extremely similar part on the slower take 2 (with John actually on bass)— specifically, the ascending bit transitioning back to the verse. I highly doubt he would have taught George to play that very specific part for his own song; he wrote the part, so he played it, as with the bass. The other lead parts are more George-like.
As for the John on bass argument, all of John’s bass parts have a distinctly deep, booming, treble-less quality to them, and they are generally mixed low (TLAWR, It’s All Too Much— which is DEFINITELY John on bass, Paul on guitar) or partially mixed out with a McCartney overdub (Rocky Raccoon and Fixing a Hole). This part has none of those qualities, and all of McCartney’s temporary Jazz Bass infatuation. You can’t tell me the same man didn’t play the bass on Helter Skelter and Yer Blues.
Actually, Paul and John did not swap bass and guitar roles on “It’s All Too Much”, because I have listened to the bass part myself on that song and its tone definitely resembles Paul’s Rickenbacker bass, an instrument that John could not have easily played.
I listened to “You’re So Square” and there is evidently two guitars on that performance, so George clearly would have been playing on it, if not the “Helter Skelter” basic track for the final master.
Paul writing a song did not guarantee that he was going to routinely play the lead guitar – that was mostly George’s job – and besides, Paul was more than capable of knowing what he wanted George and John to play on their guitars.
Thank you for your reply and feedback.
I’m still convinced John played bass on It’s All Too Much; the tone is somewhat Rick-like (though fairly low in the mix), but 4-string basses are just the bottom four notes of a guitar, and the song is almost entirely one note and occasionally the higher octave. Plus, notice that most times the bass slides up, whoever is playing misses the first few notes back down in the next measure, and the beat that the bass is playing is a bit inconsistent throughout (though notably similar to John’s chord playing on BITUSSR), though it’s hard to notice since it’s almost all G. There’s an off-chance that it could have been Paul, I suppose, but that guitar is so Paul-like and the bass so un-Paul-like that I think the chances of John-guitar Paul-bass are virtually nil.
I still can’t hear two guitars on You’re So Square, but I think it is likely there were. Perhaps one (John?) is much louder than the other (George?)
Thanks for your reply once again and I’m sorry for my late reply. It’s okay to have different opinions from me and unless the session notes are disclosed to the public to conclusively reveal once and for all who played what, it’ll be endless guesswork.
It has been stated by George Martin in the “Anthology” documentary that John was into feedback and had mucked around with it, so this would support biographers’ assertions of John playing the guitar feedback on “It’s All Too Much” – he is the one whose voice who head on the intro before the guitar abruptly enters.
John’s Fender Stratocaster did have a tremolo arm, so it’s possible that he used it on “It’s All Too Much”, and I know this because I’ve seen a photograph of him at Abbey Road in a red shirt and playing it. He never owned a right-handed Rickenbacker bass AFAIK and given that he disliked playing bass, it’s highly unlikely he ever did, not to mention that he couldn’t have played Paul’s left-handed Rickenbacker bass.
Not sure about the album version, but I always thought it sounded like John and George on the guitars on Take 2. Especially now that the complete version has been released, it definitely sounds more like John’s style. Anyone else feel that way or is it just me?
No you’re right – it’s clearly John and George playing guitars on the final release of “Helter Skelter” with Paul on bass and Ringo on drums obviously. I’m not certain if Paul contributed his own guitar parts as well in addition to bass.