In the interim, McCartney took over on percussive duties, and, together with John and George, the band completed ‘Back In The USSR’ in just two days (August 22 and 23, 1968), adding sound effects of a Viscount airliner to what was a strikingly heavy wall of throbbing drums, shredded guitars, driving bass, pounding piano and a scorching rock’n’roll delivery. He was plenty creative not to need any lyrical help from me, but I gave him the idea for that little section… I think it was light-hearted and humorous of them to do a take on The Beach Boys.”
Love has recalled Paul McCartney strolling out from his hut at the ashram one morning: “I was sitting at the breakfast table and McCartney came down with his acoustic guitar and he was playing “Back In The USSR,” and I told him that what you ought to do is talk about the girls all around Russia, the Ukraine, and Georgia. ‘You ought to talk about the girls all around Russia’ Set against a backdrop where the mighty Ganges gives way to the verdant foothills of the Himalayas, this was an enclave of serenity, a place where artists such as The Beatles would be able to allow their work to simply flood out of them, free from the shackles of the modern world. Rishikesh was always likely to inspire creativity. Tapes exist of The Beatles in Rishikesh singing a song about spiritual regeneration in the style of The Beach Boys: a performance not a million miles away stylistically from the Esher demo version of “Back In The USSR.” The song morphs into a “Happy Birthday Mike Love” song, in honor of The Beach Boys’ vocalist, who was studying Transcendental Meditation with them at Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s Indian Ashram.
0 kommentar(er)
