London Town (album)

***London Town*** is the twenty-third studio album by British-American rock band The Beatles. It was released on 16 June 1980, recording sessions were held intermittently over a period of a year, at Abbey Road Studios in London.

*London Town* charted in the top five positions in the UK and the US. It repeated the commercial success of The Beatles' previous albums and received mostly favourable reviews from music critics

## Songs

### Side one

#### London Town

Paul McCartney began writing "London Town" in Perth, Australia, in late 1975 during The Beatles Over The World Tour, but they completed it later in Scotland. The recording features a lead vocal by Paul McCartney. It was one of the first songs recorded for the *London Town* album.

The lyrics of "London Town" describe "ordinary people" and everyday life in London. According to Beatles biographer John Blaney, it "presents a romanticized view of London; part reportage and part fantasy." Blaney elaborates that it combines "idealisation with acute observations of everyday street life." Music professor Vincent Benitez compares the effect of "quixotic" presentation of the people of London with that of the McCartney penned song "Penny Lane." Benitez notes a theme of loneliness throughout the lyrics, as the singer feels alienated from the Londoners he describes.

"London Town" is a soft rock song in the key of E major. The introduction to the song obscures the tonic by beginning phrases in different keys, but the key of E major is established at the end of the introduction and is then used to begin the first verse. The fourth and final verse is also based on the key of E major but the middle two verses begin and end on the key of A major, which is the subdominant of E major. Benitez notes that besides using the same key, verses 1 and 4 are also linked in that they describe the singer meeting colorful Londoners and they end with the phrase "Silver rain was falling down/Upon the dirty ground of London Town." Besides sharing a key, verses 2 and 3 share a more pessimistic viewpoint—the singer's frustration at his inability meet ordinary people and the emptiness felt by an unemployed actor. These two middle verses also end with the phrase "Well, I don't know."

The two bridges and the outro are also in A major. Benitez interprets the tension between the keys of E major and A major throughout the song as representing the "uncertainty felt by the protagonist, who is unsure about where to go in London."

#### Someplace Else

Harrison drew inspiration from his personal experiences and spiritual beliefs when writing “Someplace Else.” He sought to express his longing for a peaceful escape from the chaos of life and his desire to find a place where he could connect with his inner self.

#### Days Like These

The lyrics reference the yellow idol in J. Milton Hayes' poem *The Green Eye of the Yellow God*. The first stanza of the poem runs: "There's a one-eyed yellow idol to the north of Kathmandu." Another line in the song is "There's UFOs over New York and I ain't too surprised". Referencing the time John had a U.F.O. encounter in New York City. May Pang, John's lover at the time, claimed that Lennon said "come back - take me!" upon seeing the unidentified flying object.

The lines "Nobody told me there'd be days like these / Strange days indeed / Most peculiar, mama" are in contrast to the old adage "My mother told me there'd be days like this."

Yoko Ono called the track "kind of a fun song." She told Uncut in 1998: "I think that especially around that time he felt that again, the world had lost its course, its direction. I really think that it's to do with, not confusion but starting to learn that life is always gonna be a mystery."

#### Take It Away

*Billboard* called Take It Away "a superior single that fuses a driving rhythm with a sleek, polished production" and said it was McCartney's "most assured, seamless, irresistible" song since the mid-1970s. *Cash Box* said that it's a "dense, multi-layered pop confection" that "keeps the listener on his/her toes throughout the song, going from a lazy tropical-type rhythm to a galloping brass section." *Ultimate Classic Rock* critic Nick DeRiso rated it as the best song on *London Town*, stating that it starts "with an off-kilter rhythm courtesy of Ringo Starr and all of the tasteful hallmarks of a George Martin production" and becomes "one of McCartney's patented pop confections, featuring a feverish horn counterpoint, deceptively intricate bass, and an utterly indecipherable narrative."

#### The Average Person

> *“Average Person” is another of your story songs, like “Eleanor Rigby” and “Penny Lane”. What prompted you to start writing that kind of song in the first place?*
> *I think a lot of them, besides “Eleanor Rigby”, tend to be comedy. It’s me doing the tongue-in-cheek thing, whereas “Eleanor Rigby” was more serious. I think that’s why it was more successful. I’ve still got a few that I haven’t released because I don’t think they are that good. It’s quite a fun thing to do, to just dream up a name of a character and just try and write the story of that character and then make it fit with another character. “Eleanor Rigby”, I did it with Father McKenzie and Eleanor. With some of these, I try and make too many fit. They’re not always the most successful.* - Paul McCartney 2015
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### Side two

#### Clean-Up Time

The during the Beatles Over The World Tour, the band finished their rapturous live rendition of “*Nobody Loves You (When Your Down and Out)*.” As the audience of Wembley Arena began chanting the opening verse to “It’s All Too Much” in anticipation. But the band played something different that night. It came to be known as the “Magma Jam”: a one-time prog odyssey that some have called “the greatest encore of the Beatles’ careers.” It would later be fleshed out into the track “Clean-Up Time,” but the 20 minute psych-prog jam that was recorded that night wouldn’t see an official release until 2030 for the 50th Anniversary edition release of *London Town*.

Like some other late Lennon songs, one of the themes of "Clean-Up Time" is rebirth, and another theme, Lennon wrote the song in Bermuda in June 1980. It was inspired by a phone discussion Lennon had with George Martin, while Lennon was staying in Bermuda. The two discussed the 1970s and how people were cleaning up their alcohol and drug habits, and the conversation ended with Martin stating that "Well, it's cleanup time, right" and Lennon responding "It sure is." Lennon was then inspired to start playing a boogie on the piano, and wrote "Clean-Up Time" in the process. Lennon has described the song as "a piano lick, with the words added." After developing the piano lick and having the title, Lennon wrote the words around a conception of the Lennon's home, The Dakota, being metaphorically their Palace of Versailles.

Although Lennon claimed that the lyrics apply to people in general, and not specifically to the Lennons, the song does reflect the reality of the Lennons cleaning up their diets and their finances, as well as their drug habits, and reports on what the previous five years away from recording meant to the Lennons. The song, like Lennon's 1968 song "Cry Baby Cry," incorporates elements of the nursery rhyme "Sing a Song of Sixpence." In the case of "Clean-Up Time," the references to the king being in the kitchen and the queen counting the money may be autobiographical references. Lennon had become a househusband while Ono was taking care of the couple's finances. The song explicitly references that the king is baking bread, and Lennon was particularly proud of baking bread himself. The lyrics also reflect Lennon's happiness being at home and being free of many obligations, such as recording contracts.

#### Mighty River Suite

‘Mighty River Suite’ was written by McCartney’s father Jim.

> *My father did write a song – only the one, to my knowledge – and many years later I said, ‘Dad, you know that song you wrote: ‘Mighty River Suite’?’ He said, ‘I didn’t write it – I just made it up.’ Anyway, I told him that I’d recorded it with some friends of mine in Nashville. One of the friends was Chet Atkins, and he’d brought along Floyd Cramer. We got together and made a little recording of the song specially to play to my dad. - Paul McCartney, Anthology*
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Paul McCartney recorded a basic version of ‘Mighty River Suite’ on acoustic guitar during the ‘Country Dreamer’ session at Abbey Road on 26 September 1972. Years later, at Abbey Road studio in November 1979, McCartney returned to the recording. With the band later adding instruments to the song. ‘Mighty River Suite’ was completed on 1 February 1980 in Nashville with saxophone, trumpet, and trombone overdubs. The brass section was scored by McCartney and Tony Dorsey.

#### Daytime Nighttime Suffering

According to author Garry McGee, the writing of the song was as follows:

*"When The Beatles were recording London Town, Paul had announced to the other band members that they needed an extra song for the album, since side two was running short, since each member were having writer's block or too busy. Each member-including Linda-spent the weekend trying to compose the song, but when Monday morning rolled around, Paul announced that he had written 'the one.'*

The song was recorded January and February 1980. In contrast to the quick composition of the song, the mixing required 49 attempts. The McCartneys' son James, who was a baby at the time, can be heard crying about two minutes into the song.

McCartney cited the song as *"one of my current favourites*" in a 1984 interview with Oprah Winfrey, and he has mentioned it as a favourite in subsequent interviews as well. Linda McCartney mentioned it as a favourite as well.

#### Tears of The World

Harrison recorded "Tears of the World" at FPSHOT, with Lennon and ELO front man Jeff Lynne. In his lyrics, Harrison bemoans the actions of politicians, military leaders and business concerns, who conspire to pollute the environment and maintain an ever-present threat of nuclear disaster. Late in the song, he asks "*Where's your love been sleeping?*", so recalling a line from "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", another song in which Harrison expresses his sadness at the world's apparent failure to consider the consequences of its actions.

#### No More Lonely Nights

“*No More Lonely Nights*”

> I had been messing around in the studio with a bass thing. And it was just jamming, one day, when I had nothing to do, coming here, just having some fun on some of the equipment. And this was a bass I had, with an echo device on it. And I’d been playing, those notes (humming the melody line). And the echo was taking care of the rest of it. So it was going… (humming again) …and it made this tune. It was a riff and it went on and on and on for hours. But I asked them to tape it, just in case, because I thought it was just a good idea for something. (…) We ended up using that little peace of echoed bass at the very beginning of the picture, when the titles came on. So I took those notes, and wrote the tune called No More Lonely Nights
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## Track listing

**Side One**

1. "London Town" (P. McCartney-L. McCartney) - 5:01
2. "Someplace Else" (Harrison) - 3:48
3. "Days Like These" (Lennon) - 3:35
4. "Take It Away/The Average Person" (McCartney) - 6:43

**Side Two**

1. "Clean-Up Time" (Lennon-Harrison) - 5:01
2. "Mighty River Suite" (Lennon-P. McCartney-Harrison-Starkey-L. McCartney) - 3:11
3. "Daytime Nighttime Suffering" (McCartney) - 3:21
4. "Tears Of The World" (Harrison) - 4:05
5. "No More Lonely Nights" (McCartney) - 4:38
6. "Stardust" (Carmichael-Parish)
7. Take It Away (Reprise) (McCartney) - 0:42

## Personnel

**The Beatles**

* **John Lennon** - lead, harmony and background vocals, rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar, piano, keyboards, synthesiser
* **Paul McCartney** - lead, harmony and backing vocals, synthesizers, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass guitar, drums, acoustic piano
* **George Harrison** - lead, harmony and backing vocals, electric, slide and acoustic guitars, keyboards
* **Ringo Starr** - lead, harmony and backing vocals, drums, percussion
* **Linda McCartney** - lead, harmony and backing vocals, keyboards, percussion, guitars, synthesisers

**Additional personnel**

* **George Martin** – arrangements, Fender Rhodes
* **Eric Stewart** – electric guitar, backing vocals
* **Jeff Lynne** - guitars (8)
* **Earl Slick** – guitar

**Technical**

* **George Martin** – producer
* **Alan Parsons** – engineer
* **Jon Jacobs** – assistant engineer
* **Mike Stavrou** – assistant engineer
* **Alex Wharton** – mastering
* **Peter Mitchell** – photography