Recording
The Beatles' recording of this song features lead vocals from Harrison, and backing vocals from John Lennon and Paul McCartney. The unusual bass sound was achieved by tracking the bass with the lead guitar. There is some controversy over whether Harrison played bass. Everett states that it was McCartney's Jazz Bass doubled in the bridge with Harrison's Telecaster playing chromatically moving arpeggiations in a similar manner to the bridge guitars in And Your Bird Can Sing. In a two part CREEM interview (published December 1987 and January 1988), however, George Harrison appears to confirm he played bass for the piece. Extract from the interview:
- Creem: You also told me you played bass on "Old Brown Shoe."
- George: It’s like a lunatic playing.
- Creem: It sounds like McCartney was going nuts again.
- George: That was me going nuts. I’m doing exactly what I do on the guitar.
Everett states that Harrison's "stinging highly Claptonesque solo" was played on a Telecaster coloured through a Leslie speaker given Automatic double tracking (ADT) treatment and "sent wild to both channels." Although Lennon did play guitar on the track, his instrumentation was removed and replaced by the organ sound. It has been said that Ringo Starr sang backing vocals on the line "Wearing rings on every finger", however, this is an unreferenced claim.
The song was recorded during the sessions for the Abbey Road album. The group had previously performed the song a number of times over three days during the Let It Be sessions at Apple Studios in January 1969, which have been widely bootlegged. Harrison made a solo demo (featuring only piano and electric guitar) at EMI Studios on 25 February 1969 (along with "Something" and "All Things Must Pass"), which was released on Anthology 3 in 1996.
In 1980 John Lennon claimed that he was responsible for the inclusion of "Old Brown Shoe" as the B-side of "The Ballad of John and Yoko" single.
Read more about this topic: Old Brown Shoe
Famous quotes containing the word recording:
“I didn’t have to think up so much as a comma or a semicolon; it was all given, straight from the celestial recording room. Weary, I would beg for a break, an intermission, time enough, let’s say, to go to the toilet or take a breath of fresh air on the balcony. Nothing doing!”
—Henry Miller (1891–1980)
“Too many photographers try too hard. They try to lift photography into the realm of Art, because they have an inferiority complex about their Craft. You and I would see more interesting photography if they would stop worrying, and instead, apply horse-sense to the problem of recording the look and feel of their own era.”
—Jessie Tarbox Beals (1870–1942)
“Self-expression is not enough; experiment is not enough; the recording of special moments or cases is not enough. All of the arts have broken faith or lost connection with their origin and function. They have ceased to be concerned with the legitimate and permanent material of art.”
—Jane Heap (c. 1880–1964)