Trivia #43

Answer: C. I Am the Walrus

The lyric ‘Yellow matter custard, Dripping from a dead dog’s eye’ in “I am the Walrus,” is based on John Lennon hearing that a Liverpudlian school teacher was teaching a course about the meaning of Beatle songs. The lyric is a Liverpudlian school boy taunt. Lennon thought the kids would get a kick out of it, so he put it into the song.

Answer: D. I Want You (She's So Heavy) – 7:47

Hey Jude – 7:08
It's All Too Much – 6:25
A Day in the Life – 5:39
Helter Skelter – 4:29

"I Want You (She's So Heavy)" is a song written by John Lennon (credited to Lennon–McCartney). The song closes side one on their 1969 album Abbey Road. The song is an unusual Beatles composition for a variety of reasons, namely its length (nearly eight minutes), minimal lyrics, a three-minute descent through repeated guitar chords over a rising background of synthesized white noise, and an abrupt ending. It was the first song recorded for the Abbey Road album but one of the last songs to be finished, on  August 20, 1969, the last time all four Beatles were together in the studio.

Answer: C. Rory Storm and the Hurricanes

Ringo Starr was regarded as the best drummer in Liverpool when he left Rory Storm and the Hurricanes to officially join the join the Beatles in 1962, replacing Pete Best. After their first gig at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, Best's fans were so angry about the switch that a minor riot broke out. The group's followers eventually came around, and he became the most popular member upon their arrival in the US. Though many have tried to emulate his style, drummers had difficulties due to his being left-handed, with his drum kit set for a right hander. Some people erroneously considered his style to be simple, but he diligently followed Lennon’s instructions never to ‘get in the way of the song.'

Rory Storm and the Hurricanes’ popularity rivaled the Beatles popularity, but were never able to transition to US audiences, unlike the Dave Clark Five, Freddie and the Dreamers, The Searchers, Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders, and Gerry and the Pacemakers. Though electric on stage – some consider Rod Stewart’s stage persona borrowed by him – he suffered from a pronounced stutter while not performing.

Answer: C. Bus driver

George Harrison was born in a modest ‘two-up and two-down’ home on a small cul-de-sac. The most low key of the lads (his moniker was ‘the quiet Beatle’) his father, Harry, continued his career as a public bus driver even after the mop tops hit fame, often driving a bus load of fans trying to find where George lived. Harry never said a word.

Answer: D. Please Please Me

On 26 November,. "Please Please Me" and "Ask My Why" were mono mixed at an unknown time on 30 November, in Studio 2. An edit and stereo mix of "Please Please Me" and a new mono and a stereo mix of "Ask Me Why" were made on 25 February 1963, in Studio 1, for inclusion on the mono and stereo Please Please Me albums.

"Please Please Me" was the second single released by the Beatles in the UK, and their first number one hit. It was also the title track of their first LP. Lennon initially conceived "Please Please Me" as a bluesy, slow tempo song. "I remember the day I wrote it, I heard Roy Orbison doing 'Only the Lonely', or something. And I was also always intrigued by the words to a Bing Crosby song that went, 'Please lend a little ear to my pleas'. The double use of the word 'please'. So it was a combination of Roy Orbison and Bing Crosby."

Over a month after the release of the first single, "Love Me Do," the Beatles returned to Studio 2 to record their second. They also performed an original composition, "Tip of My Tongue," but producer George Martin was unhappy with the arrangement. They never recorded it again and, instead, gave it to Tommy Quickly, another artist managed by their own manager, Brian Epstein.