The one musician that walked out of a Beatles recording session
There’s hardly any musician in the world who would want to pass up an opportunity of jamming with one of The Beatles. Even if they don’t possess any type of musical skill or ability whatsoever, there’s still a good chance most fans wouldn’t shake a stick at the idea of being in the room when the Fab Four laid down some of their greatest tracks. When it came time to record one of their classics, though, one musician was none too happy to have to answer to the Liverpool lads.
Before heading off on a meditation retreat with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, The Beatles began working on a song to give the public something to tide them over while they went on a break. While John Lennon already had a fiery song ready to go with the political ‘Revolution’, Paul McCartney’s ode to Julian Lennon, ‘Hey Jude’, would become one of the most celebrated songs in the group’s history.
As the band was gearing up to record the song, they realised they needed more than just a traditional rock band setup to get the results McCartney was hearing in his head. Bringing in an entire orchestra to play an arrangement by George Martin, the members overdubbed various lines along with McCartney’s bulletproof melody.
The idea for the song’s ending was for an extended fade-out, which would capture McCartney riffing on the main vocal line while the rest of the band sang backing vocals behind him. While the orchestra members were encouraged to sing along, Martin recalled one man being insulted at the idea of stooping that low.
When the initial session was over with time to spare, Martin explained how one of the musicians abruptly walked out of the session in a huff, telling Rolling Stone, “[He said] ‘I’m not going to clap my hands and sing along to Paul McCartney’s bloody song!’ He said his union card said he was a violinist, and he walked out of the studio. Much to everyone’s amazement.”
Then again, the violinist’s moody behaviour wasn’t the only case of bad blood during the sessions. When laying down the original track, Harrison became frustrated with McCartney having too much control during the session, not letting him play any of his lead guitar licks over the fade-out.
McCartney would remember it being fairly tense, explaining, “[George] wasn’t into what I was saying. It was bossy, but it was pretty ballsy of me because I could have bowed to the pressure.” Unfortunately, that subtle bossiness would become a sign of things to come, with their next record, The White Album, being marred by studio heckling from the rest of the band, as each member insisted that they knew how their songs were intended to be performed.
Regardless of the upset classical musician, ‘Hey Jude’ remains a shining example of The Beatles at their sunniest, making a song meant to bring hope and love into the world. The dark times lay ahead for The Fab Four, but as long as they were singing those ‘na na nas’, everything felt right with the world.
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