Written by: Lennon-McCartney
Recorded: 17 May; 7, 8 June 1967; 30 April 1969
Producer: George Martin
Engineer: Geoff Emerick
Released: 6 March 1970 (UK), 11 March 1970 (US)
John Lennon: vocals, guitar, maracas, handclaps
Paul McCartney: vocals, piano, bass, handclaps
George Harrison: backing vocals, guitar, vibes, handclaps
Ringo Starr: vocals, drums, bongos, handclaps
Mal Evans: spade in gravel
Brian Jones: alto saxophone
Available on:
Past Masters
Anthology 2
One of the strangest songs in The Beatles' entire canon, You Know My Name (Look Up The Number) was originally recorded in 1967, but remained unreleased until the Let It Be single three years later.
A multi-part song containing a nightclub cabaret pastiche and a host of silly voices and effects, You Know My Name was recorded in the weeks following the completion of the Sgt Pepper album.
By this time The Beatles had lost some of their focus, and were experimenting with a number of songwriting and recording techniques.
John had arrived one night with this song which was basically a mantra: 'You know my name, look up the number.' And I never knew who he was aiming that at, it might have been an early signal to Yoko. It was John's original idea and that was the complete lyric. He brought it in originally as a 15-minute chant when he was in space-cadet mode and we said, 'Well, what are we going to do with this then?' and he said, 'It's just like a mantra.' So we said, 'Okay, let's just do it'.
Many Years From Now, Barry Miles
In fact, the song was inspired by a slogan on the front of the London telephone directory for 1967, which Lennon had seen at McCartney's house.
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. It was going to be a Four Tops kind of song - the chord changes are like that - but it never developed and we made a joke out of it.
Playboy, 1980
In 1988 Paul McCartney, perhaps unexpectedly, named You Know My Name (Look Up The Number) as his favourite song by The Beatles.
People are only just discovering the b-sides of Beatles singles. They're only just discovering things like You Know My Name (Look Up The Number) - probably my favourite Beatles track, just because it's so insane. All the memories...
The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, Mark Lewisohn
Structurally, You Know My Name (Look Up The Number) consists of five separate parts. The first was the most conventional, consisting of the song's title chanted by Lennon and McCartney, with a prominent piano backing.
Part two, which was later edited out at Lennon's behest, repeated the mantra to a ska backing. This was restored in 1996 in a new stereo mix prepared for Anthology 2.
The third part was the nightclub section, introduced by Lennon with the words, "Good evening and welcome to Slaggers. Featuring Dennis O'Bell".
O'Bell was a fictional lounge singer character played by McCartney. The name was similar to film producer Dennis O'Dell, who had worked on A Hard Day's Night and with Lennon on How I Won The War.
O'Dell later produced Magical Mystery Tour and became the head of Apple Films. Following the song's release in 1970, he received a spate of phone calls from Beatles fans who took the song's invitation literally.
There were so many of them my wife started going out of her mind. Neither of us knew why this was suddenly happening. Then I happened to be in one Sunday and picked up the phone myself. It was someone on LSD calling from a candle-making factory in Philadelphia and they just kept saying, 'We know your name and now we've got your number'.
It was only through talking to the person that I established what it was all about. Then Ringo, who I'd worked with on the film The Magic Christian, played me the track and I realised why I'd been getting all these mysterious phone calls.
A Hard Day's Write, Steve Turner
The song's fourth part - actually recorded as part five, as the sections were later edited in a different order - was a Monty Pythonesque swing version, containing cuckoo sounds, harmonica, bongos, piano, other effects from the Abbey Road collection, and some supremely silly voices.
The final section was another piano-led jazz version, with a vibraphone part and the a series of incomprehensible vocal mutterings. It also featured a saxophone solo performed by The Rolling Stones' Brian Jones, whom McCartney invited to the session.
He arrived at Abbey Road in his big Afghan coat. He was always nervous, a little insecure, and he was really nervous that night because he's walking in on a Beatles session. He was nervous to the point of shaking, lighting ciggy after ciggy. I used to like Brian a lot. I thought it would be a fun idea to have him, and I naturally thought he'd bring a guitar along to a Beatles session and maybe chung along and do some nice rhythm guitar or a little bit of electric twelve-string or something, but to our surprise he brought his saxophone. He opened up his sax case and started putting a reed in and warming up, playing a little bit. He was a really ropey sax player, so I thought, Ah-hah. We've got just the tune.
Many Years From Now, Barry Miles
"Slaggers" should be spelled "Schlagers". Schlager was a musical genre favored by Germans (and other nationalities) when the Beatles were playing in Germany in the '60s. I believe that the Beatles actually played at a club named "Schlagers", but I can't find a reference on the World Wide Web -- yet. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schlager
Yes, one of my favorites too, 'cause it's so crazy and funny, and yet very creative in its way
I love this song dearly, my father hates it. I've recently heard the original 6'20 version of it and it sounds fantastic. McCartney saids that it was this song that would later on inspire him to do McCartney II and would lead to The Fireman. Its such a brilliant song and those chords are just to go gaga for.
Funny that you call that particular section "Monty Pythonesque", even though this was recorded before the first Monty Python broadcast had even gone out (1969).
Funny how the Beatles yet again do something before every one else gets round to it. It's like that South Park episode, "The Simpsons Did It!...Simpsons Did It!"
How would one find the 6'20" version of this song?
I don't know if the 6'20" version has ever been bootlegged - I don't know much about bootlegs in general - but if you have simple music editing software you can reassemble a near-perfect facsimile from the two released versions. (That's what I did!) Basically, it's just the "Anthology 2" version with about 40 extra seconds from the "silly" section restored, plus the full finish rather than the fade at the end.
I love this track! It makes me smile in so many ways.
OK, here's that 6:20 edit for listening pleasure! It's nearly seamless, aside from switching from stereo to mono a couple of times:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/31v9bm
Thanks! I love this song. As a big Goon Show fan I love the twisted humor and the Bluebottle impression in the middle. Weird and wonderful.
Thanks for that! I love this version and this song. It was very Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band-like. They appeared in the tent nightclub scene in Magical Mystery Tour. Neil Innes later often guested on Monty Python (which is why this song sounds 'Pythonesque' even before Python was broadcast) and was the musical genius behind The Rutles.
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-excerpt from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonzo_Dog_Doo-Dah_Band
Definite Goon Show influence as well.
It's great that Brian Jones played with The Beatles - perhaps if he had joined them after his ousting from the Stones, he'd be alive today. His eccentric instrumentation would have suited the Fabs incredibly well.
This track reminds of the Bonzo Dog Band.
This song is another indication of what set the Beatles apart from other musical acts of that era.
I believe a lot of us would love to find the 6'20" version of this song that Paul Angel refers to.
I love the Beatles and their music for ages. Although I listened to this song all-ears and all good-will and open mind, I think this is just junk. Some gobbledygook recorded by some heavy drunk and/or stoned fellows. Total cacophony. Boring to death.
Wow, there's way too much hate for this song (not here in particular, just across the Internet).
It's just fun. Nothing more, and certainly nothing less.
I love how they kept working on the thing for three full years as if it was some long-awaited masterpiece in the works instead of a silly piece of nonsense. And the fact that it started out as a regular serious song (a fairly unremarkable one, from the sound of it) which they decided to turn into a joke amuses me too.
I Want that someone release on bootleg at least or better as official release the complete 6:18 version of You Know My Name (Look Up The Number) in Stereo.
You can still download my re-assembled complete 6:20 version at the Sendspace link above - it's the next best thing! (And in stereo for all but 50 seconds or so.)
I'm 52 years old and I was 13 when this song first came out. My friends and I were avid Beatles fans - Abbey Road was already out and the rumors about the Let It Be/Get Back sessions were flying. We had the Get Back session bootlegs so we all knew "Let It Be". The single came out and we saw this b-side You Know My Name etc - we had NO IDEA what this was. We rode home on bikes as fast we could pedal. Played Let it Be then flipped the single over and out came the chords, the shouts and all the rest. Jaws dropped? What the f***? We played that damn single over and over and over - amazed - The Beatles were as crazy as we were. I still have the single picture sleeve and all. Anyone who was a teenager when that song came out knows what I'm talking about. And Lennon burps!!