Written by: Lennon-McCartney
Recorded: 11 May 1967
Producer: George Martin
Engineer: Keith Grant
Released: 7 July 1967 (UK), 17 July 1967 (US)
John Lennon: vocals, clavioline, piano
Paul McCartney: vocals, piano, bass
George Harrison: vocals, guitar, handclaps
Ringo Starr: drums, tambourine, maracas
Eddie Kramer: vibraphone
Mick Jagger: vocals
Available on:
Magical Mystery Tour
Yellow Submarine Songtrack
A combination of two unfinished Lennon-McCartney song fragments, Baby You're A Rich Man was recorded in a single day and issued as the b-side to All You Need Is Love.
The first song recorded specifically for The Beatles' animated film Yellow Submarine, Baby You're A Rich Man segued together Lennon's falsetto verses and McCartney's bouncy, chanting chorus.
We just stuck two songs together for this one, the same as A Day In The Life.
Lennon's section was originally titled One Of The Beautiful People. It was possibly inspired by the 14-Hour Technicolour Dream, a 'happening' which took place on 29 April 1967, shortly before the song was recorded. John Lennon attended the event, which was headlined by Pink Floyd.
Paul McCartney's chorus, meanwhile, mostly centres on a single note. Its lyrics, like Lennon's verses, contain sufficient psychedelic nonsense to suit the times.
The lyrics are thought to relate, at least in part, to The Beatles' manager Brian Epstein. Indeed, during the later choruses Lennon can be heard singing "Baby you're a rich fag Jew" in a cruel reference to him.
Although originally intended for the Yellow Submarine soundtrack, Baby You're A Rich Man was included on the All You Need Is Love single, which was rush-released following The Beatles' appearance on the Our World satellite link-up.
On 7 August 1967 George Harrison visited San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district. Accompanied by his wife Pattie, Neil Aspinall and Derek Taylor, he performed the song on an acoustic guitar for the assembled beautiful people in a local park.
In the studio
This curiously sparse recording was completed in a single session on 11 May 1967. It took place at Olympic Sound Studios, in Barnes, London, between 9pm and 3am the following morning.
Baby You're A Rich Man was the first Beatles song recorded and mixed entirely away from Abbey Road. According to studio manager Keith Grant, who also engineered the session, The Beatles were unaccustomed to working to such a fast pace in 1967.
I do a lot of orchestral work and you naturally push people along. The Beatles said that this was the fastest record they'd ever made. They were used to a much more leisurely pace. We started the session at about 9pm and it was finished and mixed by 3am, vocals and everything. They kept on playing, version after version, then we spooled back to the one they liked and overdubbed the vocals.
The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, Mark Lewisohn
Lennon played a clavioline, a three-octave monophonic keyboard which was sped up to give an oboe-like effect. He also played piano, and sang lead and backing vocals, along with McCartney and Harrison.
McCartney also played bass and piano, Harrison contributed lead guitar, and Ringo performed percussion. Eddie Kramer, an engineer on the session, reportedly also played a vibraphone.
Mick Jagger was present at the session, and one of the tape boxes noted his name alongside The Beatles', suggesting he also sang backing vocals during the later choruses.
how could it be released in july if it was recorded in september? unless the dates are switched.
That was my mistake - thanks for pointing it out. The article said put the recording date as "11 May September 1967". This was a cut-and-paste error, and should have just been 11 May.
Baby you're a rich man has one of THE coolest intros ever with the percussion, then piano, then bass and I guess that clavioline.
I thought this was one of the songs that Rolling Stone genius Brian Jones played on along with You know my name, (look up the number.)