60 YEARS AGO TODAY:
5/26/66 – The Beatles record “Yellow Submarine”
For years, the song "Yellow Submarine" was associated with Paul McCartney as the writer ... sort of a child-like sing-a-long that he felt was perfect for Ringo's lead vocal ... his first OFFICIAL Beatles A-Side. (In fact, I had heard years ago that Paul was playing around with the tune while The Beatles were in India and played a bit of it to Donovan, telling him he needed help with a rhyme, to which Donovan replied "Sky of blue, sea of green" ... "in a yellow submarine.") McCartney paid back the favor by doing the background yelps on Donovan's upcoming "Mellow Yellow" single. (Listen closely ... and you can tell it's him!)
However, when the "Revolver" box set was released, we learned that it was John Lennon who initially got the lyrics going (in a completely different vein ... and of a completely different mood!)
Together they were able to create another Beatles classic (albeit one that did NOT make it to #1 on the Billboard chart, despite topping both the Cash Box and Record World charts.)
With such a strong B-Side ("Eleanor Rigby"), it may have split airplay between the two sides ... but when the dust settled "Eleanor Rigby" only managed a #11 showing in Billboard (#12 in Cash Box and #16 in Record World.) Today, it is highly regarded as a Beatles orchestrated classic.
