Most now come from submissions — things I hadn’t noticed or considered to be that odd until highlighted. But for those that I spotted — just listening to the stereo vinyl/CDs in detail. In recent years, the availability of Dolby 5.1 Surround remixes for some tracks has opened up the ability for people to really hear stuff in detail that I was listing years before. (Todd Van Luling - Huffington Post - Mike Brown)
George Harrison and Paul McCartney harmonizing “tit tit tit tit” in the background of “Girl” was a dirty joke.
You’d think it’d be obvious that a “tit tit tit tit” harmonizing on a song called “Girl” was a dirty joke, but this usually goes unnoticed. The Beatles Bible points out that Paul McCartney is quoted in the book, Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now, talking about the origin of the joke:
It was always amusing to see if we could get a naughty word on the record: ‘fish and finger pie’, ‘prick teaser’, ‘tit tit tit tit.’ The Beach Boys had a song out where they’d done ‘la la la la’ and we loved the innocence of that and wanted to copy it, but not use the same phrase. So we were looking around for another phrase, so it was ‘dit dit dit dit,’ which we decided to change in our waggishness to ‘tit tit tit tit,’ which is virtually indistinguishable from ‘dit dit dit dit.’ And it gave us a laugh.
It was to get some light relief in the middle of this real big career that we were forging. If we could put in something that was a little bit subversive then we would. George Martin might say, ‘Was that “dit dit” or “tit tit” you were singing?’ ‘Oh, “dit dit,” George, but it does sound a bit like that, doesn’t it?’ Then we’d get in the car and break down laughing. (Paul McCartney)
The Beatles recorded German versions of both “She Loves You” and “I Want To Hold Your Hand” in 1964. For “Sie Liebt Dich” the band completely mispronounced “dich” as “dick,” a mistake that seems suspicious since The Beatles spent years in Hamburg.
When Paul McCartney sings about laughing over dinner in “Lovely Rita,” a subtle pop is made to signify a corck
“In addition to these straight vocals, some comical devices were added ... There is imitation of a champagne cork popping (on the phrase ‘over dinner’ at 1’27”) using cheek finger popping.”
“For You Blue” begins with John Lennon very softly saying, “Queen says ‘No’ to pot smoking FBI members.”
I think that was just Phil Spector adding character to things. I don’t know why that line is of such significance. ‘Let It Be’ was supposed to be a “live” back-to-basics album. It ended up more heavily “produced” than the original concept, so adding bits of banter like that may have been part of de-studioing it. (Mike Brown)
correctly!”
Near the end of “I’m Only Sleeping,” someone almost inaudibly commands “Yawn, Paul.” Then McCartney yawns.
“Paul’s ‘yawn’ was added just before the last bridge, preceded by John’s instruction ‘yawn, Paul’ which can quietly be heard in the finished recording.”
