Jump to content

Cry Baby Cry: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
Is this what you meant?
Line 46: Line 46:
==Cover versions==
==Cover versions==
*[[Ramsey Lewis]] recorded an instrumental version of this song on his 1968 album ''[[Mother Nature's Son (album)|Mother Nature's Son]]''.
*[[Ramsey Lewis]] recorded an instrumental version of this song on his 1968 album ''[[Mother Nature's Son (album)|Mother Nature's Son]]''.
*[[Fools Garden]] covered this song on their first album ''[[Once in a Blue Moon (album)|Once in a Blue Moon]]'' in 1993.
*[[Samiam]] covered this song on their 1997 album, ''[[You Are Freaking Me Out]]''.
*[[Tom Freund]] recorded a version on his 1998 album ''North American Long Weekend''.
*Live covers by [[Phish]] are available on the ''[[Hampton Comes Alive]]'' box set and ''[[Live Phish Volume 13]]''.
*[[Richard Barone]] has a live version of this song on his album ''Cool Blue Halo''.
*[[Bardo Pond]] covered this song on their album ''[[Ticket Crystals]]''.
*[[Throwing Muses]] include a version of this song on the ''Not Too Soon'' EP, having already recorded their own song, with the same title, on the ''Chains Changed'' EP.
*[[Katie Melua]] included a version of this song on her single "[[Spider's Web (song)|Spider's Web]]".
*[[Michael Stanley]] recorded a version of this song on his 2006 release ''The Farrago Sessions''.


==Notes==
==Notes==

Revision as of 18:21, 12 January 2010

This article is about The Beatles song. For the Santana song, see Cry Baby Cry (Santana song).
"Cry Baby Cry"
Song

"Cry Baby Cry" is a song by The Beatles from their 1968 album The Beatles, also known as The White Album. "Cry Baby Cry" is the final song on the album featuring the group's instrumental presence. It is about an old nursery rhyme that John Lennon remembered from his youth.[citation needed]

The song is followed by a brief segment, written by Paul McCartney often referred to as "Can You Take Me Back".

History

When asked about "Cry Baby Cry" in 1980, Lennon replied, "Not me. A piece of rubbish."[1] The "Not me" part is either a mistake in Lennon's memory, an error in the transcription of the interviewer's audio tape of the interview, or Lennon sarcastically disowning the song. Paul McCartney said, "Cry Baby Cry was another of John's songs from India,"[2] although demos of the song indicate it was written in late 1967, before the Beatles went to India.[citation needed]

The original lyrics were "Cry baby cry, make your mother buy." Lennon describes to biographer Hunter Davies how he got the words from an advertisement.[3] The "Duchess of Kirkcaldy" mentioned in the song was a creation of Lennon's, possibly inspired by the Beatles' gig in the town of the same name in 1963.[citation needed]

George Martin plays harmonium on this track (introduced after the first statement of "make your mother sigh"). This was the same harmonium Lennon used on "We Can Work It Out" and that Martin had previously used on "The Word".

This was the song the Beatles were working on when engineer Geoff Emerick quit, though his departure was precipitated by Lennon and McCartney's obsessions over the recordings of "Revolution" and "Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da", respectively, and the overall tensions of the White Album sessions.

Can You Take Me Back

"Cry Baby Cry" is followed by a very short unrelated song performed by McCartney, whose most prominent line is "Can you take me back?" appearing directly before "Revolution 9". This separate song does not appear in the sleeve track listing, on the label, or in the lyrics sheet included with the album. For many years, the origins of the fragment were unknown, but Beatles' historian Mark Lewisohn revealed that "Can You Take Me Back" is actually part of "take 19" of Paul's song, "I Will," recorded on 16 September 1968.[4] According to Lewisohn, the full take lasted 2:21, and just a fragment was included on the LP.[5] Immediately following this track, a short and barely audible conversation takes place between producer George Martin and Alistair Taylor, Brian Epstein’s personal assistant. Taylor is apologising to Martin, apparently for neglecting to bring a bottle of wine for him to the session. While this was included as part of the track for "Cry Baby Cry" on some CD releases, the conversational part is the beginning of "Revolution 9."[6] Also, at the end of "Come Together" on the Love soundtrack, the song segues into "Can You Take Me Back", backed by the Eleanor Rigby strings.

The entire version of the song is featured on several bootlegs.

Personnel

Personnel per Ian MacDonald[7]
"Can You Take Me Back"

Cover versions

Notes

  1. ^ Sheff 2000, p. 200.
  2. ^ Miles 1997, p. 487.
  3. ^ Davies 1968.
  4. ^ Lewisohn 1988, p. 155.
  5. ^ Lewisohn 1988, p. 15.
  6. ^ stevesbeatles.com 2007.
  7. ^ MacDonald 2005, p. 296.

References

  • "The Beatles Bible: Cry Baby Cry". The Beatles Bible. 2009. Retrieved 13 April 2009.
  • Davies, Hunter (1968). The Beatles. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Miles, Barry (1997). Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now. New York: Henry Holt & Company. ISBN 0-8050-5249-6. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Sheff, David (2000). All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-25464-4. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • "A Lady Godiva for Scotland?". 2007. Retrieved 10 September 2007.
  • "Steve's Beatle Page - Songs - Revolution 9". 2007. Retrieved 10 September 2007.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cry_Baby_Cry&oldid=337428199"