Friday, August 22, 2014

"Yes It Is" Outtakes

On the evening of February 16 1965, The Beatles were working on the soundtrack to their next movie which would eventually be entitled "Help!" (although at the time of the sessions, the name for the movie was not official). "Ticket To Ride", "I Need You" and "Another Girl" were already recorded and completed the previous afternoon/evening and the afternoon of the 16th as well (how's THAT for productive?).
The new song was entitled "Yes It Is" - an original Lennon/McCartney composition written mainly by John - this was originally meant for the film but was not used and instead released as the B-side of the next single.
Some of the takes recorded this evening do exist - note that all takes were recorded at EMI Studios in number 2.  The first take is more of a "run through" but it is complete and you can hear the members of the group trying to figure out the arrangement and what will be played. Take 2 features an attempt at a backing track but John breaks a string on his acoustic during the middle of the song so the band stops playing. Take 3 starts and stops, while take 4 also ends at the first verse when there is a discussion about the arrangement of the song once again. Take 5 has a wrong chord being played and is discarded. Takes 6, 7 and 8 are loose and there are mistakes during the attempt at the backing track. Take 9 is good due to the fact that the entire song is played through and is an acceptable backing (although this is eventually improved on).
Both takes 10 and 11 finish abruptly at the beginning of the song, by take 14 The Beatles complete the backing track with no mistakes and this is the take used for the commercial version of the song. The three part harmony vocals and percussion are overdubbed.
The song was mixed for mono two days later on February 18, with a lot of reverb added to the backing and the vocals. Oddly enough, whenever this song was released, it remained in mono or fake stereo for the longest time and it wasn't until 1988 and the release of the commercial Apple/EMI 2-LP/CD "Past Masters Volume One" did we get to hear the track in true stereo when it was originally mixed on February 23 1965. Takes 1, 2 and 14 appeared on the bootleg vinyl LP "Ultra Rare Trax, Volume 3 and 4" as well as having all of the outtakes on the bootleg CD "The Ultimate Collection, Volume Three Studio Sessions, 1965/66".
Take 14 mixed in with the commercial version appears on the Apple 3-LP/2-CD "Anthology 2" from the stereo mix. The Youtube mix below states take 13 but it is actually takes 1 to 8. (For your
pleasure, dear reader).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJ5nhyYShtM

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