portrait of this blog's author - by Stephen Blackman 2008

Monday, February 05, 2018

continuing theme of sounds bought when they came out this track has special place in my heart as I was on school trip around the Med when a guy on board ship began playing this on the piano note perfect! I was spotted jealous and the song stuck in my head until we got back and could check it out properly. Up til this point we had been dancing to the Archies ' Sugar' and Tommy James and The Shondells' 'Mony Mony'"Judy in Disguise (With Glasses)" John Fred & His Playboy Band, Gary Pucket was trying to find his will power, Yummy Yummy Yummy was in our tummy! Something was happening  people . . . . . Cream were in the charts and Arthur Brown set light to his head 

Awesome riff from Paul on the piano and we dig this like crazy man!

On this day in music history: February 3, 1968 - The Beatles begin recording “Lady Madonna” at Abbey Road Studios in London in Studio Three. Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, it is the sixteenth UK and twenty ninth US single release for “The Fab Four”. McCartney takes inspiration from rhythm and blues legend Fats Domino when writing the song, and the piano riff from Humphrey Lyttelton’s instrumental hit “Bad Penny Blues”, which coincidentally was also produced by George Martin. The title “Lady Madonna” comes to Paul after seeing a photo of a woman in a National Geographic Magazine breastfeeding her child, with the caption “Mountain Madonna” underneath it. John Lennon helps complete the lyrics once much of the song is written by Paul. The band record the song prior to taking a hiatus to visit a spiritual retreat in India to study Transcendental Meditation with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The basic track is recorded in three takes with final overdubs and mixing completed on February 6, 1968. Jazz musician Ronnie Scott is also enlisted to play saxophone on the record, though much of his contribution is buried in the mix on the finished record. “Lady Madonna” is released on March 15, 1968 (in the UK, US release date is on March 18, 1968), hitting #1 on the UK singles chart, peaking at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 on April 20, 1968. Film footage shot during the recording sessions for the “Yellow Submarine” soundtrack song “Hey Bulldog” on February 11, 1968, is used to create a promotional film clip for “Lady Madonna”. The single is backed with the George Harrison penned “The Inner Light”. Harrison records the basic track for “Light” at EMI’s Bombay, India recording studio on January 12, 1968 (while recording part of the score for the film “Wonderwall”) with Indian musicians providing the instrumental backing. Overdubs including vocals are recorded on February 6 and 8, 1968 at Abbey Road. “The Inner Light” peaks at #96 on the Hot 100 on March 30, 1968. “Madonna” is covered by numerous artists including Fats Domino, Richie Havens, Paul Mauriat, Buck Owens, Cal Tjader, and Gary Puckett & The Union Gap to name a few. “Lady Madonna” is certified Gold in the US by the RIAA.

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