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Helter Skelter (song)

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"Helter Skelter"
Song

"Helter Skelter" is a song written by Paul McCartney,[4][5] credited to Lennon/McCartney, and recorded by The Beatles on their eponymous LP The Beatles, better known as The White Album. A product of McCartney's deliberate effort to create a sound as loud and dirty as possible, the clangorous piece has been noted for both its "proto-metal roar" and "unique textures."[6][7] The song was ranked #52 on the Rolling Stone magazine's "The Beatles 100 Greatest songs" list.[8]

Writing and inspiration

McCartney was inspired to write the song after reading a 1967 Guitar Player magazine interview with The Who's Pete Townshend where he described their latest single, "I Can See for Miles", as the loudest, rawest, dirtiest song the Who had ever recorded. McCartney then "wrote 'Helter Skelter' to be the most raucous vocal, the loudest drums, et cetera" and said he was "using the symbol of a helter skelter as a ride from the top to the bottom—the rise and fall of the Roman Empire—and this was the fall, the demise."[4] In British English, the term helter-skelter not only has its meaning of "in disorderly haste or confusion" but is the name of a spiralling amusement park slide.[9] McCartney has used this song as a response to critics who accused him of only writing ballads.[10]

On 20 November 1968, two days before the release of The Beatles, McCartney gave Radio Luxembourg an exclusive interview, in which he commented on several of the album’s songs. Speaking of "Helter Skelter", he said: "Umm, that came about just 'cause I'd read a review of a record which said, 'and this group really got us wild, there's echo on everything, they're screaming their heads off.' And I just remember thinking, 'Oh, it'd be great to do one. Pity they've done it. Must be great — really screaming record.' And then I heard their record and it was quite straight, and it was very sort of sophisticated. It wasn't rough and screaming and tape echo at all. So I thought, 'Oh well, we'll do one like that, then.' And I had this song called "Helter Skelter," which is just a ridiculous song. So we did it like that, 'cuz I like noise."[11]

Recording

The Beatles recorded the song many times during sessions for The White Album. During the 18 July 1968 sessions, a version of the song lasting 27 minutes and 11 seconds was recorded, although this version is rather slow and hypnotic, differing greatly from the volume and rawness of the album version.[12] Another recording from the same day, originally 12 minutes long, was edited down to 4:37 for Anthology 3. On 9 September, 18 takes of approximately five minutes each were recorded, and the last one is featured on the original LP.[13] After the 18th take, Ringo Starr flung his drum sticks across the studio[14] and screamed, "I got blisters on my fingers!"[4][13] The Beatles included Starr's shout on the stereo mix of the song (available on CD); the song completely fades out around 3:40, then gradually fades back in, fades back out partially, and quickly fades back in with three cymbal crashes and Ringo's scream (some sources erroneously credit the "blisters" line to Lennon; in fact, Lennon can be heard asking "How's that?" before the outburst).[15] The mono version (originally on LP only) ends on the first fadeout without Ringo's outburst. The mono version was not initially available in the US as mono albums had already been phased out there. The mono version was later released in the American version of the Rarities album. In 2009, it was made available on the CD mono re-issue of the White Album as part of the Beatles in Mono CD box set.

According to Chris Thomas, who was present,[13] the 18 July session was especially spirited. "While Paul was doing his vocal, George Harrison had set fire to an ashtray and was running around the studio with it above his head, doing an Arthur Brown."[13] Starr's recollection is less detailed, but agrees in spirit: "'Helter Skelter' was a track we did in total madness and hysterics in the studio. Sometimes you just had to shake out the jams."[10]

Critical reaction

The song has been covered by a number of bands (see below) and praised by critics, including Richie Unterberger of Allmusic. Unterberger called it "one of [the] fiercest and most brutal rockers done by anyone" and "extraordinary."[7] Ian MacDonald was critical, calling it "ridiculous, McCartney shrieking weedily against a massively tape-echoed backdrop of out-of-tune thrashing."[16] Alan W. Pollack said the song will "scare and unsettle" listeners, citing "Helter Skelter"'s "obsessive nature" and "undercurrent of violence", and noted "Paul's savage vocal delivery" as reinforcing this theme.[17] Billy Joel used the phrase "I've Got Blisters On My Fingers" at the end of the extended 12 inch version of "Sometimes A Fantasy".

In a 1980 interview, Lennon said, "That's Paul completely ... It has nothing to do with anything, and least of all to do with me."[5]

In March 2005, Q magazine ranked "Helter Skelter" number 5 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks.

Charles Manson

Main article: Helter Skelter (Manson scenario)

Charles Manson told his followers that White Album songs including "Helter Skelter" were a part of the Beatles' coded prophecy of an apocalyptic war in which racist and non-racist whites would be manoeuvered into virtually exterminating each other over the treatment of blacks.[18][19][20] Upon the war's conclusion, after black militants would kill off the few whites they would know to have survived, Manson and his companions would emerge from an underground city in which they would have escaped the conflict. As the only remaining whites, they would rule blacks, who, as the vision went, would be incapable of running America. Manson employed Helter Skelter as the term for this epic sequence of events.

Cover versions

Live cover performances

  • In 1986, Hüsker Dü covered "Helter Skelter" live and issued it on their "Don't Want To Know If You Are Lonely" EP.
  • In 1987, U2 recorded the song in concert for their Rattle and Hum movie and album which was released the following year. Bono's introduction to the song was, "This is a song Charles Manson stole from The Beatles. We're stealing it back." Also noteworthy of this cover is that Bono reworked McCartney's original line "You may be a lover but you ain't no dancer" and sung it as (in a kind of double-negative) "you ain't no lover but you ain't no dancer".
  • In 1993, White Zombie played the song live while on tour. This version thus far has only been issued as a bootleg called Resurrection Day.
  • On 31 October 1994, Phish covered the song as part of their "Musical Costume" performance of (almost) the entire White Album. This version contained heavy discords; it concluded with the line "I've got Blisters on my Fingers" sung in four-part harmony. This concert was released as Live Phish Volume 13.
  • On 7 September 1995, Bon Jovi performed the first and second verse of this song live on the streets of Times Square for the 1995 MTV Video Music Awards before going into their own "Something for the Pain".
  • On 20 November 1996, Urban Dance Squad finished their show in Belgrade with a crossover version of the song, which subsequently appeared on their live album Beograd live.
  • Soundgarden played the song frequently during their West Coast 1996 tour. A live version, played and recorded on 30 November 1996 at Del Mar Fairgrounds in Del Mar, California, released on their forth first live album Live on I-5, released 22 March 2011.
  • In 1996, Pat Benatar released a live version on her Pat Benatar: Heartbreaker: Sixteen Classic Performances album.
  • In 1999, Bon Jovi released a live version on their Rare Tracks album.
  • Australian band Tumbleweed performed their version of "Helter Skelter" live to air on Australian 'youth network' radio station, Triple J in the mid 1990s.
  • In 2000, Oasis covered "Helter Skelter" live, this performance is included on their live album Familiar to Millions. A studio version was also recorded for the B-side to the single "Who Feels Love?" and was recorded during the sessions for Be Here Now.
  • In 2005, Zoot Woman performed the song at the Benicassim Festival, Barcelona.
  • The Killers and Louis XIV performed "Helter Skelter" at a concert in Australia in 2007, as part of the "Sam's Town Tour".
  • In 2008, Anneke Van Giersbergen performed the song at a Jampod session concert in 's-Hertogenbosch, Nederlands on 2 February.
  • In 2008, Portugal the Man incorporated lyrics from "Helter Skelter" into an extended version of their song "Tommy".

Paul McCartney live performances

Since 2004 Paul has been continuously performing the song with his band on every tour, starting on 24 May 2004, while on the '04 Summer Tour, through The 'US' Tour (2005), the Summer Live '09 (2009), the Good Evening Europe Tour (2009), the Up and Coming Tour (2010/2011) and, more recently, on the On the Run Tour, which started on 25 July 2011. In the last tours, the song has been generally inserted on the third encore, which is the last time the band enters the stage. It is usually the last but one song, performed after "Yesterday" and before the final medley including "The End".

Paul McCartney performed the song live at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards on 8 February 2006 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. In 2009, McCartney performed the song live on top of the Ed Sullivan Theater during his appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman.

The version of the song from McCartney's live album Good Evening New York City, recorded during the Summer Live '09 tour, was nominated at the 53rd Grammy Awards in the category of Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance.[22] It won, becoming McCartney's first solo Grammy win since he won for arranging Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey in 1972.[23]

Personnel

Personnel per Mark Lewisohn[13] and Alan W. Pollack[17]

Notes

  1. ^ Devin McKinney, Magic circles: the Beatles in dream and history, (Harvard University Press, 2003), ISBN 067401202X, p.231.
  2. ^ John C. Winn, That Magic Feeling: The Beatles' Recorded Legacy, Volume Two, 1966-1970, (Three Rivers Press, 2009), ISBN 0307452395, p.210.
  3. ^ Thomas, Stephen. "The Beatles [White Album] - The Beatles". AllMusic. Retrieved 20 August 2011.
  4. ^ a b c Miles 1997, pp. 487–488.
  5. ^ a b Sheff 2000, p. 200.
  6. ^ Erlewine 2007.
  7. ^ a b Allmusic 2007.
  8. ^ "Beatles' Greatest Songs: Did Rolling Stone Get It Right? - Stop The Presses!". New.music.yahoo.com. 27 August 2010. Retrieved 20 August 2011.
  9. ^ AskOxford 2008.
  10. ^ a b The Beatles 2000, p. 311.
  11. ^ Beatles Interview Database 1968.
  12. ^ Marck 2008.
  13. ^ a b c d e Lewisohn 1988, p. 154.
  14. ^ Spitz 2005, p. 794.
  15. ^ Brown 2007.
  16. ^ MacDonald 2005, p. 298.
  17. ^ a b Pollack 1998.
  18. ^ Bugliosi 1997, pp. 240–247.
  19. ^ Linder 2007a.
  20. ^ Linder 2007b.
  21. ^ Discogs 2009.
  22. ^ Final Nominations List, 53rd Grammy Awards, National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Retrieved on 10 February 2011.
  23. ^ [1] Yahoo! Entertainement Story - Reuters. Retrieved on 13 February 2011.

References

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