You Know My Name (Look up the Number)
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| "You Know My Name (Look up the Number)" | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Single by The Beatles | ||
| A-side(s) | "Let It Be" | |
| Released | 6 March 1970 (UK) | |
| Format | gramophone record | |
| Recorded | Abbey Road Studios 17 May 1967 to 30 April 1969 |
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| Genre | Rock and roll | |
| Label | Apple Records | |
| Writer(s) | Lennon/McCartney | |
| Producer(s) | George Martin and Chris Thomas | |
| Chart positions | ||
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| The Beatles singles chronology | ||
| "Something"/"Come Together" (1969) |
"Let It Be" / You Know My Name (Look Up the Number) | "The Long and Winding Road" (US) (1970) |
"You Know My Name (Look up the Number)" is a song by the Beatles, written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and originally released as the B-side of the single "Let It Be" on 6 March 1970. Although first issued with their penultimate single, it was recorded in five separate sessions beginning with four in May and June of 1967, and one in 1969.
The song is a music hall comedy number and is perhaps the silliest song in the Beatles' catalogue. Lennon came up with the lyric and title after seeing a phone book. He said:
| “ | That was a piece of unfinished music that I turned into a comedy record with Paul. I was waiting for him in his house, and I saw the phone book was on the piano with 'You know the name, look up the number.' That was like a logo, and I just changed it.[1] | ” |
McCartney once told Beatle recording analyst Mark Lewisohn, "[People] are only just discovering things like 'You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)'—probably my favourite Beatles' track!"[2] He went on to explain:
| “ | It's so insane. All the memories ... I mean, what would you do if a guy like John Lennon turned up at the studio and said, 'I've got a new song'. I said, 'What's the words?' and he replied 'You know my name look up the number'. I asked, 'What's the rest of it?' 'No, no other words, those are the words. And I want to do it like a mantra!'[2] | ” |
The song features a saxophone solo played by the Rolling Stones' Brian Jones.[3][4]
The lyrics includes a reference to Dennis O'Dell, associate producer on the A Hard Day's Night film,[5] prompting numerous telephone calls to his home by fans who told him, "We have your name and now we've got your number," as well as personal visits by fans wanting to live with him.[6]
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[edit] Recording
All four Beatles participated in the first four recording sessions on 17 May, and 7-9 June 1967. Jones' saxophone part was recorded on 8 June.[7]
The song was left unreleased and untouched until 30 April 1969, when Lennon and McCartney laid down all the vocal tracks and added additional sound effects with the help of Mal Evans. George Harrison and Ringo Starr did not participate in this last session.[8] Nick Webb, second engineer on the 30 April session described it this way:
| “ | John and Paul weren't always getting along that well at this time, but for this song they went out on the studio floor and sang together around one microphone. Even at this time I was thinking 'What are they doing with this old four-track tape, recording these funny bits onto this quaint song?' But it was a fun track to do.[8] | ” |
Despite the fun sessions described by McCartney and Webb, the song was not released for another year.
[edit] Release
Although eventually released as a Beatles song, "You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)" was nearly released as the A-side of a Plastic Ono Band single. Lennon was determined to have this song and "What's The New Mary Jane" released, and he arranged for Apple to issue both unorthodox songs on a Plastic Ono Band single.[9] On 26 November 1969, 4 months after Jones drowned in his swimming pool,[10] Lennon edited "You Know My Name (Look up the Number)" , reducing the length from 6 minutes 8 seconds to 4:19, a more suitable length for a single. The Plastic Ono Band single was given an Apple catalogue number (Apple 1002) and British release date (5 December 1969).[9]
Apple issued a press release, describing the record as Lennon and Yoko Ono singing and backed by "many of the greatest show business names of today" which the press believed was a thinly disguised reference to the Beatles. The record was canceled before it was issued.[9]
Three months later, the song was released as the B-side to the Beatles' single, "Let It Be." The original Plastic Ono Band single catalog number is visible, though scratched out, in the runout groove of the original British pressings of the "Let It Be" single.[9]
"What's the New Mary Jane" was not officially issued by the Beatles until the release of Anthology 3 in 1996, although the song did appear on bootleg records.[11]
"You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)" was the last Beatles song from the group's official canon to be included on an album, issued on 12" vinyl for the first time on Rarities (which had been included as a bonus disc in the British and American boxed set, The Beatles Collection in 1978, and released separately as an album in the United Kingdom in 1979). The first stand-alone American album to feature "You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)" was the U.S. Rarities, which was released in 1980.[12]
The first CD version was issued in 1988 on the Past Masters, Volume Two compilation.[13]
"You Know My Name (Lookup the Number)" was available only in mono until 1996, when an extended stereo mix was finally issued on Anthology 2.[14] However, while this mix restores portions of the song, it omits others that were released on the mono single. Therefore, a stereo version featuring all 5 sections uncut has never been released.
On the U.S. pressings of the original 7" single, the song was erroneously titled "You Know My Name (Look Up My Number)"
[edit] Credits
- John Lennon — vocals, guitar, maracas
- Paul McCartney — vocals, piano, bass
- George Harrison — backing vocal, guitar
- Ringo Starr — drums
- Brian Jones — Saxophone
- Mal Evans — spade in gravel
- Credits per Ian MacDonald.[4]
[edit] Notes
- ^ Sheff, David (2000). All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono. New York: St. Martin's Press, 204-205. ISBN 0-312-25464-4.
- ^ a b Lewisohn, Mark (1988). The Beatles Recording Sessions. New York: Harmony Books, 15. ISBN 0-517-57066-1.
- ^ Lewisohn, Mark (1988). The Beatles Recording Sessions, 116.
- ^ a b MacDonald, Ian (2005). Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties, 259-260.
- ^ Harry, Bill (2000). The Beatles Encyclopedia: Revised and Updated. London: Virgin Publishing, 810. ISBN 0-7535-0481-2.
- ^ About The Beatles: Songlist: You Know My Name (Look Up The Number. Retrieved on March 22, 2007.
- ^ Lewisohn, Mark (1988). The Beatles Recording Sessions, 112, 116.
- ^ a b Lewisohn, Mark (1988). The Beatles Recording Sessions, 175.
- ^ a b c d Lewisohn, Mark (1988). The Beatles Recording Sessions, 194.
- ^ Harry, Bill (2000). The Beatles Encyclopedia: Revised and Updated, 583.
- ^ Anthology 3, (1996), The Beatles, notes from: booklet. Apple Records, London: 34451.
- ^ Lewisohn, Mark (1988). The Beatles Recording Sessions, 200.
- ^ Past Masters, Volume Two, (1988), The Beatles, notes from: booklet. Apple Records, London: 90044.
- ^ Anthology 2, (1994), The Beatles, notes from: booklet. Apple Records, London: 31796.
[edit] Further reading
- Pollack, Alan W. Notes on ... Series #166, "You Know My Name (Look Up The Number". Retrieved on March 22, 2003.
