Happy New Year and welcome, once again, to the Beatles Rarity Of The Week! One of the songs The Beatles worked on during the first week of February 1968 was John Lennon’s “Across The Universe.” It would be nearly two years before the song would see a release, and then it would only be on a charity LP called No One’s Gonna Change Our World, compiled in 1969 to benefit the World Wildlife Fund. John originally wanted the song to be a single, but when “Lady Madonna” was chosen instead, John agreed to contribute it to the charity LP. Later in the year, bird sound effects were mixed into take eight in order to make it fit in thematically with the album.

During the sessions, The Beatles experimented heavily with the recording by adding in overdubs of guitar, harp, bass and drums, all played backwards. Paul McCartney recruited two teenage female fans (Lizzie Bravo and Gayleen Pease), who were standing outside the studio, to come in to the session and sing backing vocals on the song’s “nothing’s gonna change my world” phrases. Four tracks of humming were also piled onto the already complicated mix before take eight was considered complete.

The particular account of the song I’ve featured here comes from a rough take-home mix given to John of take seven. It doesn’t include the backwards bass or drums but does incorporate the backwards guitar and harp as well as humming during the “om” chants and near the ending. This mix of the song has been bootlegged and is known among collector’s circles as the “Hums Wild” version.

The Beatles, circa February 1968

Extra info: On April 1st 1970, producer Phil Spector modified take eight of the song for inclusion on the Let It Be album. He removed the bird sound effects and backing vocals (from both The Beatles and two female fans). He also added the overdubbed cellos, violas, violins, harp, trumpets, trombone, choir and additional drums by Ringo Starr. This final mix was slowed down from the key of D to C-sharp.

Here are some Amazon links to read more on, or purchase, some music related to this post:

1) Let It Be (Remastered) – 2009 remastered CD of original 1970 Beatles album featuring “Across The Universe”.

2) 1967-1970 (Blue) Remastered – 2010 remastered 2-CD set containing original 1973 hits compilation of Beatles tracks from 1967-1970 and featuring Let It Be album version of “Across The Universe”.

3) Let It Be… Naked – 2003 CD featuring a stripped down version of Let It Be album containing a ‘naked’ version of “Across The Universe” without the overdubs added later by producer Phil Spector.

4) The Beatles, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.

20 people think this is FAB!

Click here if you change your mind.

No related posts.