Back in the USSR (song)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Back in the USSR
The Beatles
publication November 22, 1968
length 2 min 34 s
Genre (s) Rock and roll
Author (s) Lennon / McCartney
album The Beatles

Back in the USSR (also: Back in the USSR ; English Back in the USSR ) is a song by the British band The Beatles from 1968. It opens the double album The Beatles (also known as the White Album ). Paul McCartney wrote the lyrics and music , but as usual with the Beatles, the song was published with the author's name Lennon / McCartney .

background

Back in the USSR was written by Paul McCartney during the Beatles' visit to India in Rishikesh in early 1968. The song was based on Back in the USA by Chuck Berry and California Girls by the Beach Boys . Mike Love of the Beach Boys, who accompanied the Beatles in Rishikesh, had given McCartney tips for the lyrics to Back in the USSR .

At the time of publication, the band was criticized for the song by conservative circles in the United States . The right-wing extremist John Birch Society assumed the band to propagate communism . In contrast, the song was well received by listeners in what was then the Soviet Union , who heard it on smuggled tapes.

admission

During the rehearsals of Back in the USSR on August 22, 1968, the Beatles' drummer Ringo Starr got into a heated argument with the rest of the band, as he did not see his musical contributions valued and only felt like "the fifth wheel on the car". He ended up leaving the band during rehearsal and only returning a few days later at the request of the others. For this reason Paul McCartney took over the drums in Back in the USSR .

With McCartney on drums, John Lennon on six-string bass and George Harrison on solo guitar , the base track for Back in the USSR was recorded in five takes . The recordings took place on August 22, 1968 at Abbey Road Studios in London . The producer was George Martin , assisted by Ken Scott .

On August 23, 1968, the Beatles recorded overdubs for Back in the USSR : drums, bass, solo guitar, piano and McCartney's vocals. Lennon, McCartney and Harrison also contributed background vocals in the style of the Beach Boys. The same day the song was mixed in mono , with the sound of a Vickers Viscount airliner taking off and landing . The noises were taken from the archive of Abbey Road Studios, they were created at London Heathrow Airport .

publication

Back in the USSR appeared on the White Album on November 22, 1968 . As a single , it was initially not released. It was not released until 1976 in the UK as a separate single and reached number 19 on the UK Singles Chart.

Cover versions

As the Beatles were since the publication in 1968 resistant from most songs cover versions published, including by Ramsey Lewis (1968), the Dead Kennedys (1979), Billy Joel (1987), the Leningrad Cowboys (1993) and Lemmy (2006). A version of Chubby Checker was placed on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1969 .

Paul McCartney first included the piece in his concert program in 1989. Live versions appeared on the albums Tripping the Live Fantastic (1990), Back in the US (2002) and Good Evening New York City (2009). Another version of a 2007 concert in Los Angeles is on the Paul McCartney Live in Los Angeles CD , which was published exclusively in Great Britain and Ireland on January 17, 2010 as a supplement to The Mail on Sunday and Irish Daily Mail , respectively .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ beatlesbible.com: Back In The USSR
  2. ↑ beatlesbible.com: Ringo Starr quits The Beatles
  3. ^ Lewisohn, Mark (1988). The Beatles Recording Sessions. New York: Harmony Books. ISBN 0-517-57066-1 .