The next song on the Parlophone UK LP "Revolver" set is an original Lennon/McCartney composition mainly written by John entitled "And Your Bird Can Sing". This great Lennon tune features very obscure lyrics with a catchy guitar riff added.
"And Your Bird Can Sing" was started on Wednesday April 20 1966 at EMI studio two. There were two takes of the basic track which consisted of guitars and drums. Once this was completed, the bass by Paul , a tambourine and a lead vocal by John were added to the basic track. Once this was completed, another vocal by John and backing vocals from Paul and George were added to the song. More overdubbing followed with two guitars (played by Paul and George) for the intro to the song and the end of the tune. Finally, another John and Paul vocal was attempted but both singers were laughing and giggling making it difficult to complete some of the vocal sentences. Five mono mixes were conducted for the song but none were ever released in this form. The recording at this point was never released until 1996 with a version of the song - mixed in stereo - on the Apple/EMI 3-LP/2-CD "Anthology 2". Some people would simply "OOPS" the song (out of phase) in order to eliminate the "giggling" vocals and you would be able to hear the recording as it probably would have sounded if this version had been released. Some bootlegs have this version available.
"And Your Bird Can Sing" was re-made six days later on Tuesday April 26 1966 at EMI studio two. This time the song was a little faster, heavier and cleaner. It was also recorded in a different key - the first attempt six days earlier was recorded in the key of D and the recording on this day was stepped up to the key of E. The rhythm track was recorded first and consisted of guitar, bass and drums. This was completed in 10 takes (takes 3 to 13). Of the 10 takes, the actual "take 10" was deemed the best and vocals were added to this basic track. Tambourine, handclaps as well as the guitar intro and ending played on two guitars by Paul and George completed the recording of the song.
The very first mono mix of the above commercial release was conducted the next day on Wednesday April 27 1966 from the control room of EMI studio three. This particular mix was called mix 6 and was taken from take 10 of the previous day's recording. This mix was never released.
The next series of mono mixes took place on Tuesday May 12 1966 again from the control room of EMI studio three. Two more mono mixes (7 and 8) were completed on this day and these mixes were taken not just from take 10, but edited so that most of the song is take 10 but the ending is take 06 (which included the repeating bass notes which The Beatles liked). The mono mix made on this day was sent to Capitol records in the United states who used the mix for the LP "Yesterday...And Today" on which "And Your Bird Can Sing" was featured. Next, a stereo mix was created for the song a few days later on May 30 1966 from the control room of EMI studio one. This stereo mix appeared on the UK release of "Revolver" as well as the North American release of "Yesterday...And Today". Finally, the song was once again mixed for mono on Monday June 06 1966 from the control room of EMI studio three. These mono mixes were number 9 and 10 and once again used the same edited takes of 10 and 6. This mono version ended up being released on the Parlophone UK LP "Revolver". For all of the different mixes, there is really no distinctive differences on the commercial releases. It should be noted, though, that initial stereo pressings of the US/Canada Capitol LP "Yesterday...And Today" (ST 2553) contain fake stereo mixes of "And Your Bird Can Sing" with the EQ containing the highs on one speaker and the lows on the other speaker. It would not be until the Capitol record club releases (1969) that "And Your Bird Can Sing" started to appear on this LP in true stereo.
"And Your Bird Can Sing" appears on the Parlophone UK LP/CD "Revolver" as well as the North American Capitol LP "Yesterday...And Today".
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