|
Lady
Madonna
(John Lennon/Paul McCartney)
Paul McCartney:
Vocals, piano, bass, handclaps,
John Lennon: Lead guitar, handclaps, vocals
George Harrison: Lead guitar, handclaps, vocals
Ringo Starr: Drums, handclaps
Ronnie Scott: Tenor sax
Bill Povey: Tenor sax
Harry Klein: Bariton sax
Bill Jackman: Bariton sax
Recorded
February 3, 6 1968.
Available on:
The Beatles 1967-1970(The Blue Album)
Anthology 2
The Beatles 1
Past Masters Volume Two
Hey Jude
Paul's
boogie-woogie-like Lady Madonna was a much needed break
from all the psychedelic experimentation on the Sgt.
Pepper and Magical
Mystery Tour records.
The song's
riff was perhaps inspired by the song Bad Penny Blues, a
minor hit for the Humphrey Lyttleton Band in 1956, which
George Martin had produced.
Paul's
piano was recorded through a cheaper type of microphone
to capture the sound of the 1950s. Ringo decided to use
brushes instead of sticks, since this had been done on the
original Bad Penny Blues recording. George and John played
the fuzz guitars through the same amplifier.
The song
features a charming middle eight vocalised brass imitation
by Paul, John and George, which was achieved by cupping
their hands around their mouths. However, Paul decided he
wanted a proper brass section too, so he brought in four
saxophone players. One of them was the legendary Ronnie
Scott. The sax players improvised the brass sections until
Paul was satisfied, then they spent the rest of the evening
recording it.
Lady Madonna
is seemigly about tireless working class mothers, but McCartney
has allegedly said that it was initially inspired by a magazine
picture of an African woman suckling her baby over the caption
'Mountain Woman.' He has also related it to Virgin Mary.
Lady Madonna
was released as as single in the US on March 18 1968, where
it reached number 4 on the charts. It stayed at number one
for two weeks in the UK, where it was released on March
15 1968.
Lady Madonna
(John Lennon/Paul McCartney)
Lady Madonna, children at your feet
Wonder how you manage to make ends meet
Who find the money when you pay the rent
Did you think that money was heaven sent
Friday
night arrives without a suitcase
Sunday morning creeping like a nun
Monday's child has learned to tie his bootlegs
See how they run
Lady Madonna,
baby at your breast
Wonders how you manage to feed the rest
Pa pa pa pa...
See how they run
Lady Madonna
lying on the bed
Listen to the music playing in your head
Tuesday
afternoon is never ending
Wednesday morning papers didn't come
Thursday night you stocking needed mending
See how they run
Lady Madonna,
children at your feet
Wonder how you manage to make ends meet
|
