222. Not Guilty

 

 

"Not Guilty" is a song written by George Harrison. It is featured on his 1979 album entitled George Harrison and on the The Beatles' Anthology 3 album. While Harrison's solo version is mellower and features acoustic guitar and electric piano, The Beatles' original version is harsher, driven by distorted electric guitar and harpsichord.

 

Although worked on by The Beatles for at least three days in 1968 during the White Album sessions, "Not Guilty" was not officially released by The Beatles until "take 102" from their recording sessions was remixed for the aborted Sessions album in the early 1980s by Geoff Emerick and this remix was finally released in 1996 on Anthology 3

 

Harrison commented about this song: "I wrote that in 1968. It was after we got back from Rishikesh in the Himalayas on the Maharishi trip, and it was for the White Album. ... 'Not guilty for getting in your way/While you're trying to steal the day' — which was me trying to get a space. 'Not guilty/For looking like a freak/Making friends with every Sikh/For leading you astray/On the road to Mandalay' — which is the Maharishi and going to the Himalayas and all that was said about that. I like the tune a lot; it would make a great tune for Peggy Lee or someone."

223. What's The New Mary Jane

 

 

"What's The New Mary Jane" is a song written by John Lennon and performed by The Beatles. It was recorded in 1968 for the album The Beatles (aka "The White Album"), but never used. "What's The New Mary Jane" is similar to "Revolution 9" in many ways.

 

‘Mary Jane’ was recorded on August 14, 1968 during the recording sessions for the Beatles tenth album The Beatles (aka "The White Album"), with Lennon and George Harrison being the only band members playing on the track. Four takes were recorded with the final being marked as the best. It was later mixed in mono on 26 September with Glass Onion, Happiness Is a Warm Gun and I Will and on the 10 October before being added to the short list for the new album. However during the albums final mixing stage it was dropped due to time constraints, bringing the album to around 30 songs.

 

After the release of The Beatles Lennon was still adamant to see the song released. So on November 26, 1969, he and wife Yoko Ono recorded further overdubs with plans for it to be issued as a single by The Plastic Ono Band alongside another unreleased song at the time "You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)" (which was issued as the B-side of The Beatles' "Let It Be" single in 1970). But when the other Beatles heard of John’s plans to release a Beatle track under his own band's name the single was pulled. After that, the song had finally been planned to be issued on the album Sessions in 1985, but the album was killed due to objections by the Beatles. The song was held off another 10 years, during which time it gained a certain aura of mystery. During this time, it could only be heard via bootlegs like Esher Demos, From Kinfauns to Chaos, Ultra Rare Trax Vol.5, and What A Shame, Mary Jane Had A Pain At The Party, which is an album that is solely dedicated to this song. A newly mixed version of the recording was finally officially released on the 1996 compilation Anthology 3.

 

Later, Lennon commented on "What's The New Mary Jane", saying, "That was me, Yoko, and George sitting on the floor at EMI fooling around. Pretty good, huh?"

 

 

Song Structure

It has two verses and a chorus (which is repeated about 9 or 10 times throughout the song) and then about 4 or 5 minutes of avant garde sound effects. The track ends with a comment from Lennon: "Let's hear it, before we get taken awa[y]" before the tape ends abruptly.

 

The only chords used in the song are: D, G, Gm, and A.

 

 

Other Information

Another belief is that the song was influenced by Syd Barrett, the early leader of Pink Floyd, who were recording at Abbey Road Studios at the same time as The Beatles in 1967. A long-standing legend states that Barrett actually appeared on and co-wrote the track, leading to the song's tenuous inclusion on many Pink Floyd bootlegs. However, nobody who was actually present at the recording has ever corroborated this.

 

Also the phrase Mary Jane is generally considered to be slang for marijuana. Bob Dylan introduced The Beatles to marijuana (1964) in a New York hotel room when he offered the Fab Four pot as a consequence of his misconception that the lyrics in their hit song "I Want to Hold Your Hand" (from Meet the Beatles!) were "I get high" instead of "I can't hide".

224. Come And Get It

 

 

"Come And Get It" was the name of a song composed by Paul McCartney for the film The Magic Christian, and made popular by the group Badfinger.

 

 

McCartney version

McCartney recorded a demo of the song on 24 July 1969 when he arrived early for an Abbey Road session. McCartney sang the double-tracked lead vocal and played all the instruments: he sang and played piano on the first take, sang again and played maracas on the first overdub, drums came third and bass guitar was added last. This took less than an hour to complete.

 

He presented the demo to Badfinger (then called The Iveys) telling them, "OK, it's got to be exactly like this demo." They followed his instructions, and the single was a hit in 1970.

 

Although the original demo has appeared through the decades on bootlegs, it wasn't until 1996 that it officially appeared on The Beatles Anthology 3 CD. It is credited as a Beatles song since this was issued under The Beatles' name.

 

 

Badfinger version

On 2 August 1969, McCartney produced Badfinger's version. It was released on Apple Records on 5 December 1969. "Come And Get It" was a Top 5 single for the band, and the main theme for the film The Magic Christian, starring Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr. The most striking differences between the two versions is a slower tempo on McCartney's original, and Badfinger's version featuring the use of three-part harmonies.

225. Ain't She Sweet

 

 

Ain't She Sweet was an American album featuring four tracks recorded in Hamburg in 1961 by The Beatles featuring Tony Sheridan (except for the title song with vocal by John Lennon) and cover versions of Beatles and British Invasion songs recorded by The Swallows. As Atlantic Records only had rights to four Sheridan/Beatle recordings recorded by Polydor Records, they filled the rest of the album with Beatle and British invasion cover songs. For this release, a second drum track was overdubbed on "Ain't She Sweet" as apparently, Atlantic officials were not impressed by the drumming of Pete Best. They also edited out Sheridan's profanity on "Take Out Some Insurance On Me, Baby".