Rain | The Beatles "Eleanor Rigby" / "Yellow Submarine" (1966) "Rain" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, credited to Lennon–McCartney and first released in June 1966 as the B-side of the "Paperback Writer" single. Both songs were recorded during the sessions for the album Revolver though neither appears on that album. Written by John Lennon, "Rain" has been called the Beatles' finest B-side, noted for its slowed-down rhythm track and backwards vocals, both of which were a hint of things to come on Revolver, released two months later. Three promotional films were made for the song "Rain". These videos, along with other Beatles videos at the time, sparked George Harrison to say during the Beatles Anthology, "So I suppose, in a way, we invented MTV." Please note the text from Wikipedia is imported without editing or authentication. * Rain | The Beatles Bible Released on the Paperback Writer single, Rain is considered by many Beatles fans to be their finest b-side. Can you hear me, that when it rains and shines It's just a state of mind? Can you hear me? Can you hear me?

Much like Revolver 's I'm Only Sleeping , Rain found The Beatles exploring LSD-influenced feelings of detachment from the real world, and the belief that heightened consciousness can be found within the self. The song is generally credited to John Lennon, although Paul McCartney claimed it was co-written. I don't think he brought the original idea, just when we sat down to write, he kicked it off. Songs have traditionally treated rain as a bad thing and what we got on to was that it's no bad thing. There's no greater feeling than the rain dripping down your back. The most interesting thing about it wasn't the writing, which was tilted 70-30 to John, but the recording of it. Paul McCartney Many Years From Now, Barry Miles The Beatles had discovered during the Tomorrow Never Knows sessions that slowing down the speed of their recordings revealed hidden depths. They recorded the rhythm track of Rain at a fast tempo, then slowed the tape down so the song was a tone lower. The Beatles played the rhythm track really fast so that when the tape was played back at normal speed everything would be so much slower, changing the texture.

If we'd recorded it at normal speed and then had to slow the tape down whenever we wanted to hear a playback it would have been much more work. Geoff Emerick The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, Mark Lewisohn Ringo Starr's drums, locked in to McCartney's high bass notes, were a key feature of the song. The drums became a giant drum kit... We got a big, ponderous, thunderous backing and then we worked on top of that as normal, so that it didn't sound like a slowed-down thing, it just had a big ominous noise to it. It was nice, I really enjoyed that one. Paul McCartney Many Years From Now, Barry Miles Ringo Starr later said Rain was among his favourite performances on a Beatles recording. "I feel as though that was someone else playing - I was possessed!" I think I just played amazing. I was into the snare and the hi-hat. I think it was the first time I used this trick of starting a break by hitting the hi-hat first instead of going directly to a drum off the hi-hat. Ringo Starr Many Years From Now, Barry Miles The other key feature of Rain was John Lennon's backwards vocals, heard during the coda at the song's end.

Lennon claimed that the discovery was the result of a stoned accident, when he threaded his rough mix tape of the song into his reel-to-reel player the wrong way round. I got home from the studio and I was stoned out of my mind on marijuana and, as I usually do, I listened to what I'd recorded that day. Somehow I got it on backwards and I sat there, transfixed, with the earphones on, with a big hash joint. I ran in the next day and said, 'I know what to do with it, I know... Listen to this!' So I made them all play it backwards. The fade is me actually singing backwards with the gutars going backwards. [Singing backwards] Sharethsmnowthsmeaness... [Laughter] That one was the gift of God, of Ja, actually, the god of marijuana, right? So Ja gave me that one. John Lennon All We Are Saying, David Sheff Lennon's version of events was backed up by George Harrison and Geoff Emerick. George Martin, meanwhile, recalled the discovery as being his. I was always playing around with tapes and I thought it might be fun to do something extra with John's voice.

So I lifted a bit of his main vocal off the four-track, put it onto another spool, turned it around and then slid it back and forth until it fitted. John was out at the time but when he came back he was amazed. Again, it was backwards forever after that. George Martin The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, Mark Lewisohn Listen to the released song's coda reversed, to hear the backwards vocals in their correct form: In the studio The Beatles recorded Rain over two sessions. On 14 April 1966, the same day Paul McCartney taped his bass part for Paperback Writer, the group taped five takes of Rain's rhythm track, performed quickly and later slowed down. They finished the song on 16 April, adding overdubs including tambourine, bass and extra vocals. It is likely that the backwards vocals were added on this day, when they also carried out the mono mixes that appeared on the Paperback Writer single. Rain by The Beatles Songfacts Rain by The Beatles Songfacts Songfacts John Lennon wrote most of "Rain." It was his first song to get really deep, exploring themes of reality and illusion - after all, rain or shine is just a state of mind.

This was the first song to use a tape played backwards, which created the strange audio effect. John Lennon discovered the technique when he put the tape for " Tomorrow Never Knows " on the wrong way. He was stoned at the time, and producer George Martin had to convince him that using a backward recording for the entire song was a bad idea. >> Suggestion credit: Bertrand - Paris, France Ringo Starr has said this is his best drumming on a Beatles song. The backwards vocal at the end fade out is actually the songs first line: "When the rain comes they run and hide their heads". >> Suggestion credit: Chet - Saratoga Springs, NY This was one of the first Beatles records to feature loud, booming bass. McCartney's bassline is extremely recognizable, in contrast to The Beatles' older records. >> Suggestion credit: Chris LaBenne - Niles, OH This was released as the B-side of " Paperback Writer ." It was recorded during the Revolver sessions. As part of the studio manipulation that gave this song such an unusual sound, the rhythm track was played fast and then slowed down on tape.

The Beatles shot a video for this song with director Michael Lindsay-Hogg, who was tapped because he worked on the UK music show Ready, Steady,Go!. The videos for "Rain" and "Paperback Writer" were shot at the same time, with some footage recorded at Abbey Road studios, but most of it outdoors at the Chiswick House gardens in London. These videos were done so The Beatles could promote the single without actually performing on the various TV shows that drew huge audiences and drove sales. In doing so, they set a standard for music videos, as other bands followed suit. The "Rain" video uses many elements that would become commonplace, including candid shots from between takes. Rain: A Closer Look At The Beatles Most Important B-Side - 4 Comments Most people will tell you Revolver was the turning point for The Beatles. I’ve written an entire article about it’s conception on this very site (you can read that article here ) but if you really want to break it down, that turning point came much sooner than that particular album. The Beatles themselves will argue that Rubber Soul was their first big departure.

While you can’t argue with the people who created these beloved albums, to me Rubber Soul is more about maturing than departing from the proven formula. I feel that turning point was during the single Paperback Writer and even more so with it’s B-side Rain. In early 1966, The Beatles were pretty much over touring and were far more interested in experimentation within their music. While Rubber Soul featured plenty of low-key elements of behind the scenes ambition, like the lack of bass EQ in “You Won’t See Me” and their humble attempt at world music by the addition of sitar in “Norwegian Wood”, nothing really stood out and made the world take notice. When it came to record a pre-Revolver single, The Beatles took the opportunity to push the envelope on two seemingly simple tracks. “Paperback Writer” was almost like the band proving they could do what the ‘mod’ movement was doing: a simple pop song with inane lyrics, elevated by a gnarly distorted guitar riff and front-and-center bass playing. A fantastic song that announced The Beatles were up to something bigger and far more ambitious than what came before.

The B-side, “Rain” is a simple, mid-tempo pop song based around the I-IV-V chord progression but taking a closer listen, it’s far more elaborate than most give it credit for. I remember being a kid and driving myself nuts trying to mimic the guitar tone of the rhythm track. Of course I didn’t have the fine instruments found in the arsenal of the EMI studios, but thought for sure, my assortment of modern effects pedals could somehow get me close, but it was impossible. The reason being, the entire rhythm track had been recorded slightly faster then slowed down, giving it this distinctive, slurring sound that can’t be emulated in real time. Much like “Paperback Writer”, the bass guitar is front and center, showcasing some of the best bass playing in Paul’s entire career. Both John and Paul were obsessed with the sounds coming from Motown, and were becoming fed up with how melodic bass guitar had been in rock n roll, and most notably in their own recordings. To kick it up a notch, Paul worked out the bass lines after the the rest of the track was finished and ready for mastering.

Not only was it closer in the mix than ever before, but in many way became the lead instrument of the song. Something that was unheard of up until that point. As for percussion, most Beatles enthusiasts will tell you this song stands as Ringo’s finest moment as a drummer. Next up, John’s vocals were recorded with the tape machine slowed down, which changed the pitch when played back at normal speed. Altering pitch and speed are standard practice these days by the way of digital post production but for early 1966, this was a revolution in terms of recording technology! Speaking of advancements in technology, this was the first time reversed tracks were full utilized in a recording. Right after the last verse and a fade-out fade-in coda, guitar, bass, and vocals return in complete reverse, playing into the already dream-like quality of the song. On the promotional side, being too busy with recording and their tour, The Beatles PR decided to make short promotional films tv shows could air in place of live performances. While they weren’t the first artists to make promo films, director Michael Lindsay-Hogg is arguably the first to utilize visuals to make for a more ambitious viewing experience than standard live performance.

It’s been said that in that way, The Beatles helped create what would later become MTV. Coming right out Rubber Soul, before Revolver and around the time they controversially ceased to tour, Paperback Writer/Rain often gets over-looked within the grand scheme of Beatles lore. In recent years “Rain” has become one of The Beatles’ most acclaimed songs but during it’s release, I think most listeners underestimated it’s importance in the band’s growth. It’s not only one of the most important tracks in the band’s catalog but it just might be the greatest B-side of all time! Beatles - Rain Lyrics | MetroLyrics Rain Lyrics New! Highlight lyrics to add Meanings, Special Memories, and Misheard Lyrics... Submit Corrections Cancel They run and hide their heads They might as well be dead If the rain comes They slip into the shade And sip their lemonade byAmandaH , Editor "Rain" is the B-side to 1966's single "Paperback Writer," and is considered the Beatles' strongest B-side recording. THE BEATLES - RAIN - YouTube THE BEATLES - RAIN Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video?

Sign in to report inappropriate content. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Published on May 23, 2012 "Rain" is a song by the English rock band The Beatles, credited to Lennon--McCartney. It was first released in June 1966 as the B-side of the "Paperback Writer" single. Both songs were recorded during the sessions for Revolver but neither appears on that album. Written by John Lennon, "Rain" has been called The Beatles' finest B-side, especially notable for its heavy sonic presence and backwards vocals, both of which were a hint of things to come on Revolver, released two months later. Three promotional films were made for the song "Rain".[4] These videos, along with other Beatles videos at the time, sparked George Harrison to say during the Beatles Anthology, "So I suppose, in a way, we invented MTV.".. The inspiration for "Rain" is agreed on by Neil Aspinall, The Beatles' roadie, and John Lennon. They both described the band's arrival in Melbourne, Australia, marked by rain and poor weather.

Lennon said, "I've never seen rain as hard as that, except in Tahiti", and later explained that "Rain" was "about people moaning about the weather all the time". Recording began on 14 April 1966, in the same session as "Paperback Writer", and concluded on 16 April, with a series of overdubs before mixing on the same day. At that time, The Beatles were enthused about experimenting in the studio to achieve new sounds and effects.These experiments were showcased in their influential seventh album, Revolver. Geoff Emerick, who was the engineer for both sessions, described one technique he used to alter the sonic texture of the track by recording the backing track "faster than normal." After playing the tape normally, "the music had a radically different tonal quality. A similar technique was used to alter the tone of Lennon's lead vocal. It was recorded with the tape machine being slowed down, so making Lennon's voice sound higher when played back at normal speed.The last verse of "Rain" includes backwards vocals, which was one of the first uses of this technique on a record.

The backwards vocals are Lennon singing the lyrics of the song: "When the sun shines," "Rain," and "If the rain comes, they run and hide their heads." Both Lennon and producer George Martin have claimed credit for the idea; Lennon said: " After we'd done the session on that particular song—it ended at about four or five in the morning—I went home with a tape to see what else you could do with it. And I was sort of very tired, you know, not knowing what I was doing, and I just happened to put it on my own tape recorder and it came out backwards. And I liked it better. So that's how it happened. " Emerick confirms Lennon's creative accident, but Martin remembers it differently: " I was always playing around with tapes and I thought it might be fun to do something extra with John's voice. So I lifted a bit of his main vocal off the four-track, put it on another spool, turned it around and then slid it back and forth until it fitted.

John was out at the time but when he came back he was amazed.[2][10] " The "Paperback Writer"/"Rain" single was the first release to use a new device invented by the maintenance department at Abbey Road called "ATOC" for "Automatic Transient Overload Control". The new device allowed the record to be cut at a louder volume, louder than any other single up to that time.On the final mix of the single, Lennon played a 1965 Gretsch Nashville, Paul McCartney a 1964 Rickenbacker 4001S bass, Harrison a 1964 Gibson SG, and Ringo Starr used Ludwig drums. Both McCartney and Starr have been praised for their performances on their instruments in this song. Featuring The Vocals and Visual Talents of STEVIE RIKS. "Rain" by The Beatles. The in-depth story behind the songs of the Beatles. Recording History. Songwriting History. Song Structure and Style. “RAIN” (John Lennon – Paul McCartney) “It was the first time that we had used a backward voice on a track…The first backwards tape on any record anywhere.

Before Hendrix, before The Who, before any f*cker. Maybe there was that record about ‘They’re Coming To Take Me Away, Ha Haaa!’; maybe that came out before ‘Rain,’ but it’s not the same thing.” This quote from John Lennon in reference to The Beatles’ song “Rain” is typical to his persona in many ways. He was usually quite proud at being the “first” at something and understandably so, The Beatles being the first at many things in popular music. Also, his keen observation of what was going on in the music business at the time (that is, the competition) surfaces in his above statement. Interestingly, the 1966 novelty hit “They’re Coming To Take Me Away, Ha Haaa!” by Napoleon XIV (aka Jerry Samuels) did in fact have as its’ b-side “aaaH-aH ,yawA eM ekaT oT gnimoC er'yehT,” which was a literal backwards version of the a-side.

While this clever trick enthused many record buyers, not to mention annoying customers in an establishment with a jukebox, it was hardly the innovation that The Beatles concocted for their b-side to their 1966 smash hit “ Paperback Writer .” As John said, it was “not the same thing.” And, to settle the issue, the Napoleon XIV single was released in July of 1966, while the “Rain” single came out in the US in May of that year. So, once again, The Beatles were indeed first! Songwriting History “This is a song I wrote about people who are always moaning about the weather all the time,” Lennon stated, “you know, whatever it is, it’s OK, it’s meant to be.” McCartney concurs: “Songs have traditionally treated rain as a bad thing and what we got on to was that it’s no bad thing.

There’s no greater feeling than the rain dripping down your back.” Paul reprised this positive opinion in his Wings song “Mamunia,” which contains the lyric “you never felt the rain, my friend, till you felt it running down your back.” While John’s above quote credits himself entirely for its composition, as he also did in his 1972 “Hit Parader” interview, Paul insists that he definitely played a part in writing “Rain.” The book “Many Years From Now” quotes Paul as saying: “’Rain’ was a co-effort with the leaning slightly towards John. I don’t think he brought the original idea, just when we sat down to write, he kicked it off…tilted 70-30 to John.” Also, in the book “Anthology,” Paul states in regard to writing as well as recording the song: “I don’t think ‘Rain was just John’s. We sat down and wrote it together. It was John’s vocal and John’s feel on the song, but what gave it its character was collaboration. I think it’s all too easily said: ‘It’s a John song. It’s a Paul song’…That’s a fallacy.

There were certain songs that were very much mine and others that were definite collaborations with John, where we’d actually sit down and spend three hours. Then there were ones that were very much John’s. I think it roughly splits somewhere down the middle…I suppose the way things did go was that each of us would say, ‘Mine’s “ Strawberry Fields ,” yours is “ Penny Lane ”.’ That did start to happen, but before then, on things like ‘Rain,’ it was that we all wanted to do it. It wasn’t only John who wanted to make that kind or record. It was probably just that we’d all get an excuse to do it on his track.” At any rate, it appears that the song was another product of a songwriting session between John and Paul at Lennon’s Kenwood home sometime around March of 1966, regardless of how much Paul was involved in the songwriting process. As to the lyrical inspiration, much has been written, and understandably so, about their indoctrination into both the drug culture and Eastern philosophies of the time.

For instance, Ian MacDonald’s book “Revolution In The Head” states: “The song’s ‘rain’ and ‘sun’ are physical phenomena experienced in a condition of heightened consciousness, the record portraying a state of mind in which one is peacefully at home in an integrated universe.” This is quite a departure from the escape into the “mind” that was depicted in their 1963 composition “ There’s A Place .” John and Paul in EMI Studio Three, circa 1966 Recording History On April 14th, 1966, which was the sixth day of recording sessions for what became their “ Revolver ” album, The Beatles entered EMI Studio Three to work on two songs that would not be on that album but released as their next single. The first session of the day, running from 2:30 to 7:30 pm, was spent completing the a-side of the single, namely “ Paperback Writer ,” and then, after an hour break, they returned to begin work on “Rain,” which would be the b-side. Before work on the rhythm track began, an important recording technique was implemented.

“One of the things we discovered when playing around with loops on ‘ Tomorrow Never Knows ’ was that the texture and depth of certain instruments sounded really good when slowed down,” remembers engineer Geoff Emerick. “With ‘Rain,’ The Beatles played the rhythm track really fast so that when the tape was played back at normal speed everything would be so much slower, changing the texture. If we’d recorded it at normal speed and then had to slow the tape down whenever we wanted to hear a playback it would have been much more work…It all seems very simple now – and, of course, tricks like this are easily accomplished in today’s computers – but in 1966 it was a pretty revolutionary technique, one that we would repeatedly use to great effect on Beatles recordings.” “The drums became a giant drum kit,” Paul explains. “If you slow down a footstep it becomes a giant’s footstep, it adds a few tons to the weight of the person. So we got a big, ponderous, thunderous backing and then we worked on top of that as normal, so that it didn’t sound like a slowed-down thing, it just had a big ominous noise to it.

It was nice, I really enjoyed that one.” Someone else who proudly enjoyed the recording was Ringo: “My favorite piece of me is what I did on ‘Rain.’ I think I just played amazing! I was into the snare and hi-hat. I think it was the first time I used this trick of starting a break by hitting the hi-hat first instead of going directly to a drum off the hi-hat. I think it’s the best out of all the records I’ve ever made. ‘Rain’ blows me away…I feel as though that was someone else playing – I was possessed!” Five takes of the rhythm track were recorded during this five hour evening session (from 8:30 pm to 1:30 am the next morning) which featured John and George on electric guitars, Paul on bass and a “possessed” Ringo on drums. After the fifth take was deemed the best, it was decided to overdub John’s lead vocals. A decision was made to alter the speed of his lead vocals as well, but in the opposite direction. John recorded his vocal track with the tape slowed down to 42 cycles per second instead of the normal 50 cycles per second.

This made his voice sound somewhat faster when played back at the regular speed. Geoff Emerick, from the book “The Beatles Recording Sessions,” explains: “An offshoot of ADT (Artificial Double Tracking) was that we had a big audio oscillator to alter the frequency of the tape machines. We would drive it through a power amp and the power amp would drive the capstan wheel and enable you to speed up or slow down the machine at will. John – or George if it was his song – used to sit in the control room on mixes and actually play the oscillator.” The desired result was a quickly recorded rhythm track played against a slowly recorded vocal track – another Beatles first! This completed the work for the day and the group was out the door at 1:30 am. First, though, John wanted something to take home. “Because (John) and the other three Beatles owned Brenell recorders,” Emerick recalls, “they were able to take open-reel tapes home with them whenever they wanted to listen to works in progress.

(When) we recorded the backing track and vocal to ‘Rain,’ John asked for a rough mix and Phil dutifully ran a copy off for him.” “Usually if we were working on a song we’d take a little rough mix of it home,” George Harrison recalls. “It was always on a reel-to-reel…We were halfway through ‘Rain’ when we left the studio at night, so John said, ‘Can I have a rough mix of that?’ In those days they made a three- or four-inch spool, the copy tape. That means they would play the rough mix onto a little spool, and when they finished they would cut the tape off and hand it to you in a box so the tail was sticking out – it’s called ‘tails out.’ John didn’t know that at the time (I don’t think I knew it, either), so when he got home he threaded it on his machine as if it were ‘heads out,’ and played it. He heard the song backwards, and heard enough to think, ‘Wow, amazing!’ It obviously gave him a buzz because he came in raving about it the next morning, and so we experimented” In 1969, Lennon himself explained the event.

“I took the tracks home to see what gimmicks I could add, because the song wasn’t quite right…I got home from the studio stoned out of my mind on marijuana and, as I usually do, I listened to what I’d recorded that day. Somehow I got it on backwards and I sat there, transfixed, with the earphones on, with a big hash joint. I ran in the next day and said, ‘I know what to do with it, I know…Listen to this!’ So I made them all play it backwards.” The next day in question was actually two days later, April 16th, 1966, this time in EMI Studio Two, an eleven-hour session utilized to complete the song. With all the experimenting and overdubbing to be done, these were eleven hours well spent. Geoff Emerick details the events that begin the day. “John marched into the control room, tape in hand, and demanded that we all listen to his ‘incredible’ discovery. George Martin tried to explain what had happened, but the ever-impatient Lennon didn’t care.

All he knew was that this was the sound he wanted for the song’s fadeout and he was off to have a cuppa: getting it accomplished was our job. So George had me copy the track of John’s singing the last verse onto our two-track machine. I then instructed Phil (McDonald) to turn the copy over so it would play backwards, and we flew it into the multitrack at the proper spot. Lennon was thrilled with the result. From that point on, The Beatles got backwards fever: almost every overdub we did on ‘ Revolver ’ had to be tried backwards as well as forwards.” John apparently wanted more than what he ended up getting. “The next day, I went in and I said…’Why don’t we have the whole of the song again, you know, backwards?’ We didn’t do that, but we just laid my voice track and guitar track over the last half-minute backwards. You can hear it at the end. It sounds as if I’m singing Indian.” John may not have gotten the whole song backwards, but he did get backwards guitars thrown in per his suggestion. George Harrison explains: “We turned the tape over and put it on backwards, and then played some guitar notes to it.

I think he and I both plugged in guitars, just playing little bits, guessing, hoping it fitted in. George Martin turned the master upside down and played it back. We were excited to hear what it sounded like, and it was magic – the backwards guitarist! The way the note sounded, because of the attack and the decay, was brilliant. We got very excited and started doing that on overdub. And then there was a bit of backwards singing as well, which came out sounding like Indian singing.” Despite the multiple accounts of how the backwards effects were brought into play, George Martin insists otherwise. “I was always playing around with tapes,” Martin explains, “and I thought it might be fun to do something extra with John’s voice. So I lifted a bit of his main vocal off the four-track, put it onto another spool, turned it around and then slid it back and forth until it fitted. John was out at the time but when he came back he was amazed…They all thought it was marvelous.” Nonetheless, various other overdubs were performed on this session, including Ringo’s tambourine, John, Paul and George’s harmony vocals during the verses and conclusion, and John’s harmony in the choruses.

The original bass guitar recorded during the rhythm track was scrapped and replaced with a new bass overdub from Paul using the same recording technique they had just performed for “ Paperback Writer ” two days previously. This technique involved “using a loudspeaker as a microphone,” explains Geoff Emerick. “We positioned it directly in front of the bass speaker and the moving diaphragm of the second speaker made the electric current.” At some point during the day, a tape-to-tape reduction mix was made in order to free up more tracks for the above mentioned overdubs, which made “take 5” become “take 6,” the unidentified overdubs then given additional designations of “take 7” and “take 8.” This marked the end of the recording process by the band, concentration then being paid to creating a suitable mono mix on that day, no doubt because they were quite pleased with the progress made and were excited to hear the finished product. The mono mixes were made using “take 7,” which means that whatever they attempted as an overdub for “take 8” was deemed unworthy for the finished product.

It can be speculated that, since the above mentioned backward guitar overdubs cannot be deciphered on the released recording, they may have been isolated on “take 8” and then not used. Four mono mixes were attempted at this late hour by George Martin, Geoff Emerick and Phil McDonald, all four with varying degrees of ADT added in experimentation. The third mono mix ended up being picked as the worldwide mono release of the song. Since it ended up not being included on the “Revolver” album, it did not initially receive a stereo mix as all singles were in mono at that point in history. Therefore, at 1:30 am the following morning, the session was complete as well as their next soon-to-be-released single. A stereo mix wasn’t made until December 2nd, 1969, this occurring in the control room of EMI Studio Two and created by the same EMI staff of Martin, Emerick and McDonald as well as Richard Lush as 2nd engineer. The reason for the stereo mix at this point in time was the imminent US release of the Apple album “Hey Jude” that was the first result of the deal made between The Beatles’ new manager Allen Klein and Capitol Records.

The album was only to be released in stereo and was to include “Rain,” hence the re-assembly of the original EMI team to create the stereo mix. “I was glad that the record company was giving us the opportunity to run off new mixes from the original multitrack tapes,” Emerick explains, “instead of subjecting them to the pseudo-stereo processing that marred so many early Capitol releases." Only one stereo mix was attempted which centered the rhythm track and placed the overdubbed bass track slightly to the right. John’s lead vocals (including the backwards final moments) are placed entirely in the left channel while the tambourine and background vocals are entirely in the right channel. The song also fades a little sooner and ends a couple seconds before the mono mix does. Beatles fans were enthused to hear the song in stereo, but Geoff Emerick has gone on record as saying he was unimpressed by the results, saying the song was “recorded with the intention of being released on vinyl, and as far as I am concerned, that is the way (it) should be heard." The situation was remedied somewhat in 2015.

Giles Martin (son of George Martin) and Sam Okell revisited the master tapes in Abbey Road Studios to create a new stereo mix of "Rain" to be used on the DVD/Blu-ray set of Beatles videos contained in the box set "Beatles 1+." The elements of the recording are placed in the mix with less drastic seperation and, with newer technological procedures, the sound is immaculate. Unfortunately, this mix can only be heard while viewing the "Rain" videos contained in the DVD or Blu-ray set. Song Structure and Style Although both sides of this mid-1966 single are heard in the same key, the relaxed feel of “Rain” is a nice welcome in comparison to the tightly-wound quick-paced structure of “ Paperback Writer .” Despite all of the experimental procedures utilized in the recording process as detailed above, the framework of “Rain” is actually very rudimentary in comparison to the structurally complex formats the group had been using of late. The results are remarkably satisfying, suggesting that sometimes ‘less is more.’ The structure ends up as ‘verse/ verse/ refrain/ verse/ refrain/ verse/ outro’ (or aababac) with a subtle introduction thrown in.

Having reached the three-minute mark without an instrumental break, and probably not wanting to breach the unwritten AM airplay rule, a solo was left off. With five stagnated snare beats from Ringo, and a discernable voice that may be the “four” in the countdown of the rhythm track, a four-measure introduction vamps along nicely in the home key of G to set the stage. All of the instrumentation comes in abruptly on the one-beat, including the fragrant guitar leads from George, the equally fragrant overdubbed bass lines from Paul, and the four-in-the-bar tambourine hits from Ringo. The fourth measure, however, brings a halt to the groove temporarily while Ringo performs a transitional snare drum roll to usher in the first verse. The first nine-measure verse features the same instrumental vibe as heard in the intro except for Ringo playing only on the two- and four-beats with his tambourine. Ringo appears to already be having a field day on the drum kit, executing four drum breaks in just the first verse.

His second drum break, which appears in the fourth measure, has him showing off his “starting a break by hitting the hi-hat first” trick, something he actually debuted the year before in the song “ Wait .” John sings solo on this first verse, single-tracked but with obvious ADT applied. Verse two is identical in most ways, the main difference being the appearance of John, Paul and George’s background harmony vocals “when the sun shines down.” This line is sung twice in the gaps Lennon leaves in the lead vocal, but then harmonized with the lead vocals on the final line of the verse “sun shines.” Ringo experiments away with three drum breaks this time around, the third of which inadvertently extends the ninth measure to 6/4 instead of 4/4 but is kept in the final product to give a somewhat disorienting feel. The rest of the group work around this flub in an apparent show of solidarity. Ringo, after all, was enjoying a ‘shining moment’ in this song as I’m sure they were all very much aware. The first twelve-measure refrain then appears which changes the flow of the song dramatically.

Instrumentally, the guitars simply strum the appropriate guitar chords on the half beats while the bass throbs a G note high up on the neck on the quarter beats for the first four measures. The highlight, though, is John harmonizing with himself the stretched out lyric “Raaaaaaaaaaain…I don’t mind.” As he’s finishing this line in the fourth measure, Ringo gradually comes in with a snare roll to usher back in the relaxed groove of the song, the usual pattern of guitar vamping and bass work rounding out the fifth and sixth measure. The whole process is then repeated again against the lyric “Shiiiiiiiiiiine…the weather’s fine.” All the while, the tambourine keeps plodding away on the two- and four-beats. After a simple drum break, the third verse begins which is nearly identical musically except for the tambourine shifting to a shaking eighth-beat rhythm throughout. The harmony answering lines this time around are “when the rain comes down” while the background vocalists chime in with the lead vocals on “show you.” Ringo tones down his drum break experiments for this verse, only two being delivered.

The repeat of the refrain is next, the only differences from the first being the high triplet work of Paul’s overdubbed bass and Ringo’s snare drum fills veering to the toms toward the end during measures one through four and seven through ten. With the eighth-beat shaking of the tambourine still being heard, the final verse begins, Ringo putting in two drum breaks this time as well. The background harmonies chime in with “when it rains and shines” in the gaps and then “can you hear me” with John as the verse ends. Then in what appears as possibly an afterthought, the song abruptly stops as if we’re done. But if you keep time with the beat, you’ll see that the meanderings of the drum beats and overdubbed bass notes are perfectly in time and are the first three measures of what becomes a sixteen-measure conclusion to the song.

George alters his guitar vamping way down on the bass notes of his guitar as the sixth measure ushers in the reversed Lennon vocal “when the rain comes they run and hide their heads.” Just as this is ending, John, Paul and George display falsetto harmonies on the word “rain.” The lead vocal then appears with a backward playing of the word “rain” from one of the refrains while the falsetto harmonies crash in again as a backdrop. As the song fades away, one final reversed lead vocal, reportedly “when the sun shines,” is heard. All the while, Ringo flails away with a drum break at the end of every other measure. John comes across as the main player on “Rain,” his electric rhythm guitar working nicely in the relaxed mix of the song. Also, his lead and harmony vocals use a slow melodic slide undoubtedly influenced by the group’s recent infatuation with Eastern music. Coupling this with his backwards vocals in the closing moments of the song, it’s no wonder that he himself exclaimed, “It sounds as if I’m singing Indian.” Paul asserts that he, as well as the others, played an important role in making the song what it became, and this is definitely not contested.

His bass work is stellar and ‘in your face,’ possibly considered by some to be the actual lead instrument of the piece. His harmony vocals, along with George, pitted perfectly alongside John’s lead, as did George’s meandering guitar passages. And, as stated earlier, Ringo shines like never before. For someone who’s gone on record as saying he despises drum solos, he definitely made an exception while recording this track. On the surface, the song contains simple statements about how people react to the weather; they “run and hide their heads” when it rains and “they slip into the shade and sip their lemonade” when it’s sunny. But the evidence of an altered perception of reality creeps in with the intention of John being the educator. “I can show you,” he insists, that when it rains “everything’s the same.” He then senses that his ‘square’ listeners aren’t getting it, as he asks impatiently, “can you hear me?” His overall message is that “it’s just a state of mind” anyway. If you think being rained on is unpleasant, then it’s unpleasant. If you view it like Gene Kelly, then that will be your experience. It’s all in the mind!

Pretty deep stuff. He even gets a little morbid in his depiction of this unenlightened society, saying that since they run inside when it’s raining “they might as well be dead.” Instead, they should all be like him: “Rain?…I don’t mind – Shine?...the weather’s fine.” US single picture sleeve American Releases May 30th, 1966, was the early US release date (June 10th in the UK) of “Rain” as the b-side of the hit single “ Paperback Writer .” This is not to say that nobody noticed this innovative flip side. Enough disc jockeys turned the record over to give “Rain” airplay for the song to score a #23 position on the Billboard singles chart. The first album to contain the song, and therefore the first stereo release, was “Hey Jude” (originally titled “The Beatles Again”). This was released on February 26th, 1970 and was the fourth American Beatles album on Apple Records. A #2 placing on the Billboard album charts for a compilation release was not too shabby.

This album received a compact disc release on January 21st, 2014. The compact disc era included “Rain” on a compilation entitled “Past Masters, Volume Two.” The original release of this CD was on March 7th, 1988, while the re-mastered re-release of this two volume series, now simply called “Past Masters,” was released on September 9th, 2009. The vinyl single may have been available throughout the years, but a special release came out on the Capitol Cema Series “For Jukeboxes Only” on January 24th, 1996. This red vinyl single is quite the find today. An interesting note is that a quick snippet of the final backward vocal passage “Rain” is heard in the final moments of the song “ Within You Without You / Tomorrow Never Knows ” on the November 20th, 2006 released album “Love,” which is the soundtrack to the Cirque du Soleil show of the same name.

For those who agree with engineer Geoff Emerick that “Rain” should really only be heard in mono, the re-mastered box set “The Beatles In Mono” contains the slightly elongated single version on a CD entitled “Mono Masters.” This set was also released on September 9th, 2009. Paul and George singing "show you" from "Rain" on the "Ed Sullivan Show" promo clip Live Performances While The Beatles never actually performed “Rain” on a concert stage, they did create three promo films for the song and even lip-synced it live for British television. The first two promos were shot on May 19th, 1966 in EMI Studio One, these being done to forgo personal appearances on TV shows at home and abroad but still using this platform to promote their latest single.

Director Michael Lindsay-Hogg was brought in to oversee seven clips made on this day (four for “ Paperback Writer ” and three for “Rain”), this being the first of many occasions he was to work with the group, the most noteworthy being the 1970 released film “Let It Be.” After some rehearsals began at 10 am, the first clip of the day began at 10:40, this being a color “Rain” video destined specifically for the “Ed Sullivan Show.” With all guitarists standing on risers, it’s a pretty straightforward mimed performance, Paul faking the harmony vocals that John performs in the recording during the refrains. John even mouths the backward word “rain” in the final moments of the song. Both this and a color promo of “ Paperback Writer ” were broadcast on Ed’s show on June 5th of that year. The second video of “Rain” shot on this day was destined for the British TV show “Ready Steady Go” and was made in black-and-white since British television was yet to make the switch to color (which occurred 18 months later).

The promo was shot sometime between 3:30 and 6:10 pm on this day, this being another straightforward performance video. John, Paul and George are now off of the risers, but the comical element here is John’s loose attempt at miming the entire backwards vocal passage frontwards for the cameras. The clip was first shown on June 3rd, 1966. The third video filmed for “Rain” was done the next day, May 20th, 1966, in the luxurious surroundings of Chiswick House in London. This color video was also directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg but was first shown in black-in-white on the British program “Top Of The Pops” (on June 9th, 1966). They obviously felt that this vibrant colorful video would stand the test of time and be appreciated in years to come.

The format used here was much more of an MTV for-gleam, including shots of the group walking around the enclosed walled garden, sitting on park benches, and sitting on a branch of a cedar tree as well as mimed performances with their instruments (except for Ringo who tried to act inconspicuous despite their being no drums around). An interesting element here is a group of children who appear behind a locked gate at the beginning of the video and apparently find a way in later, they being spotted and focused on by cameramen later in the background of a group performance shot. Despite popular opinion, the video sequence of “Rain” as seen in the 1995 “Anthology” documentary is actually a directors’ cut with splices of unused footage and scenes from the EMI footage of the previous day; therefore, this is not the actual video as imaginatively put together in 1966 by Michael Lindsay-Hogg.

Even though The Beatles swore off actual TV performances, they made one exception (via a plea from producer Johnnie Stewart) and mimed both sides of their latest single live in the studio for the British show “Top Of The Pops.” They aired the Chiswick films the week before, but Stewart said the fans demanded more. The group arrived at Studio Two, Television Centre in London at 2:30 pm on June 16th for rehearsals and then, from 7:30 to 8:00 pm, the show aired live with the group closing the show. “Rain” was performed first, then “ Paperback Writer ,” then off to EMI Studios for more work on one of the final tracks for the “ Revolver ” album, this being “ Here, There And Everywhere .” As for the actual lip-synced performance, it is said to have been destroyed or recorded over and therefore cannot be seen today. One can only wonder how John did with miming his backwards vocals on live television!

John Lennon, circa 1980 Conclusion In reference to the song “Rain,” John Lennon stated in 1980: “That one was the gift of God – of Jah, actually, the god of marijuana. Jah gave me that one.” As to whether Jah is the “god of marijuana,” I can’t say. One thing I do know is that this song is definitely a gift to Beatles’ fans everywhere; on the definite list of highly respected tracks in the entire Beatles catalog. Its irresistible melody, it's before-its-time psychedelic feel, and it’s commanding but charming Lennon vocal put it in a league of its own. The numerous cover versions done throughout the years, most notably the 1976 Todd Rundgren version, pay delicious tribute to this one-of-a-kind piece of rock art.

Song Summary Written by: John Lennon / Paul McCartney Song Written: March, 1966 Song Recorded: April 14 and 16, 1966 First US Release Date: May 30, 1966 US Single Release: Capitol #5651 Highest Chart Position: #23 First US Album Release: Apple #SW-385 “Hey Jude” (aka “The Beatles Again”) British Album Release: Parlophone #PCM 1001“Rarities” Length: 2:59 (mono) 2:57 (stereo) Key: G major

Question: Rain was the B-side of which Beatles single?
Answer: Paperback Writer