Aug 21, 2001, 03:31 PM
"It Don't Come Easy" has quite a long history, being recorded and then remade twice...
Recording of Ringo's new composition began on the evening of February 18 1970 at Abbey Road's Studio 2, during the 'Sentimental Journey' album sessions. Earlier in the day, Ringo had re-recorded his vocals for "Have I Told You Lately That I Love You" and "Let The Rest Of The World Go By", songs destined for 'Sentimental Journey'. At this stage, the song was known as "You Gotta Pay Your Dues".
On this first session, Geoge Martin was producing, with George Harrison playing acoustic guitar and directing the other musicians, which comprised of Ringo (drums), Klaus Voorman (bass) and Stephen Stills (piano). 20 basic track takes were made between 7.00 pm and 12.30 am, with Take 20 being labelled 'best'. Ringo then added a lead vocal and George added two electric guitar parts, finishing at 4.00am, with the song being mixed into stereo.
The following day, after overdubs onto "Love Is A Many Splendoured Thing", recording resumed on "You Gotta Pay Your Dues", with Ringo overdubbing another lead vocal onto Take 20 between 5.00 and 6.00 pm. Harrison was not involved in recording on this day, although Eric Clapton may have been involved (Neville Stannard, Working Class Heroes, p.154). After an hour's break, it was decided to re-make the song, with takes 21-30 being taped between 7.00 and 11.00pm. Take 30 was labelled 'best' and onto this take, two bass parts were added before the session ended at 1.30am.
This version however, was to remain unfinished, because on March 8, Ringo decided to again remake "It Don't Come Easy", as it was now known. Recording probably took place at Trident Studios (documentation is unavailable - all that is known is that it wasn't recorded at Abbey Road), with George Harrison producing, as well as playing guitar. Klaus Voorman (bass), Stephen Stills (piano), Mal Evans (tambourine) and Ron Cattermole (saxaphone, trumpet) were also involved.
Recording of overdubs continued the next morning, again with Harrison producing. The song was then left until October 1970, when further overdubs were made (details unknown).
When news of the sessions reached the press in March 1970, Apple told the music press there was "absolutely no plans for the record to be released as a single at the present time", and the song wasn't issued until April 9 1971 in the UK (and April 16 in the US). Ringo's first solo single (with "Early 1970" as a B-side featuring George Harrison on guitar and backing vocals) entered the NME charts on April 21 at No.12 and rose to No.5 for two weeks, staying on the chart for nine weeks.
Now, a facinating outtake from these sessions has appeared on a recent bootleg ('To Be Expected', Strawberry Sampler 001, tr.8). It features George Harrison on lead vocal (probably singing a guide vocal for Ringo to sing along to). While the instrumentation is almost identical to the released version (the horns have not been added yet), during the guitar break, the female backing vocalists add the line 'Hare Krishna' (this *can* be heard on the final Ringo release, it is just very buried in the mix, whereas in the George vocal version it is very up front). Following the guitar solo, rather than there being another verse, there is a repeat of the song's opening guitar phrase from George, again with the backing vocalists singing 'it don't come, oh no, you know it don't come easy' twice, with George adding a few shouted lines behind them before returning to the verse. Subsequently, there are some additional backing vocal lines.
Ringo also performed this song at the 'Concert For Bangla Desh' of course... but I wondered if any of you (FPSHOT and George fans in particular) have heard the alternate version with George on lead vocals?
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[This Message Has Been Edited By Nowhere Man On September 08, 2001 05:03 PM]
Recording of Ringo's new composition began on the evening of February 18 1970 at Abbey Road's Studio 2, during the 'Sentimental Journey' album sessions. Earlier in the day, Ringo had re-recorded his vocals for "Have I Told You Lately That I Love You" and "Let The Rest Of The World Go By", songs destined for 'Sentimental Journey'. At this stage, the song was known as "You Gotta Pay Your Dues".
On this first session, Geoge Martin was producing, with George Harrison playing acoustic guitar and directing the other musicians, which comprised of Ringo (drums), Klaus Voorman (bass) and Stephen Stills (piano). 20 basic track takes were made between 7.00 pm and 12.30 am, with Take 20 being labelled 'best'. Ringo then added a lead vocal and George added two electric guitar parts, finishing at 4.00am, with the song being mixed into stereo.
The following day, after overdubs onto "Love Is A Many Splendoured Thing", recording resumed on "You Gotta Pay Your Dues", with Ringo overdubbing another lead vocal onto Take 20 between 5.00 and 6.00 pm. Harrison was not involved in recording on this day, although Eric Clapton may have been involved (Neville Stannard, Working Class Heroes, p.154). After an hour's break, it was decided to re-make the song, with takes 21-30 being taped between 7.00 and 11.00pm. Take 30 was labelled 'best' and onto this take, two bass parts were added before the session ended at 1.30am.
This version however, was to remain unfinished, because on March 8, Ringo decided to again remake "It Don't Come Easy", as it was now known. Recording probably took place at Trident Studios (documentation is unavailable - all that is known is that it wasn't recorded at Abbey Road), with George Harrison producing, as well as playing guitar. Klaus Voorman (bass), Stephen Stills (piano), Mal Evans (tambourine) and Ron Cattermole (saxaphone, trumpet) were also involved.
Recording of overdubs continued the next morning, again with Harrison producing. The song was then left until October 1970, when further overdubs were made (details unknown).
When news of the sessions reached the press in March 1970, Apple told the music press there was "absolutely no plans for the record to be released as a single at the present time", and the song wasn't issued until April 9 1971 in the UK (and April 16 in the US). Ringo's first solo single (with "Early 1970" as a B-side featuring George Harrison on guitar and backing vocals) entered the NME charts on April 21 at No.12 and rose to No.5 for two weeks, staying on the chart for nine weeks.
Now, a facinating outtake from these sessions has appeared on a recent bootleg ('To Be Expected', Strawberry Sampler 001, tr.8). It features George Harrison on lead vocal (probably singing a guide vocal for Ringo to sing along to). While the instrumentation is almost identical to the released version (the horns have not been added yet), during the guitar break, the female backing vocalists add the line 'Hare Krishna' (this *can* be heard on the final Ringo release, it is just very buried in the mix, whereas in the George vocal version it is very up front). Following the guitar solo, rather than there being another verse, there is a repeat of the song's opening guitar phrase from George, again with the backing vocalists singing 'it don't come, oh no, you know it don't come easy' twice, with George adding a few shouted lines behind them before returning to the verse. Subsequently, there are some additional backing vocal lines.
Ringo also performed this song at the 'Concert For Bangla Desh' of course... but I wondered if any of you (FPSHOT and George fans in particular) have heard the alternate version with George on lead vocals?
------------------
http://www.beatlelinks.net/ubb/smilies/king2.gif
[This Message Has Been Edited By Nowhere Man On September 08, 2001 05:03 PM]