| "Lady Madonna" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 US picture sleeve | ||||
| Single bythe Beatles | ||||
| B-side | "The Inner Light" | |||
| Released | 15 March 1968 (1968-03-15) | |||
| Recorded | 3 and 6 February 1968 | |||
| Studio | EMI, London | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 2:16 | |||
| Label |
| |||
| Songwriter | Lennon–McCartney | |||
| Producer | George Martin | |||
| The Beatles singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Promotional film | ||||
| "Lady Madonna" onYouTube | ||||
"Lady Madonna" is a song by the Englishrock bandthe Beatles, written primarily byPaul McCartney and credited toLennon–McCartney. In March 1968 it was released as a mono non-albumsingle, backed with "The Inner Light". The song was recorded on 3 and 6 February 1968, beforethe Beatles left for India, and itsboogie-woogie style signalled a more conventional approach to writing and recording for the group following thepsychedelic experimentation of the previous two years.
This single was the last release by the band onParlophone in the United Kingdom, where it reached number 1 for the two weeks beginning 27 March, andCapitol Records in the United States, where it debuted at number 23 on theBillboard Hot 100 for the week ending 23 March and reached number 4 from the week ending 20 April through the week ending 4 May.[5][6] Subsequent releases, starting with "Hey Jude" in August 1968, were released on their own label,Apple Records, underEMI distribution, until the late 1970s, when Capitol and Parlophone re-released old material. The song's first album appearance in stereo was on the 1970 collectionHey Jude.[5]
In the description of musicologistWalter Everett, "Lady Madonna" is a "raucousrock and roll" song.[1] As such, it heraldedthe Beatles' return to a more standard form of songwriting after their recentpsychedelic productions, a back-to-basics approach that many other artists pursued throughout 1968.[8][9] According to one ofPaul McCartney's neighbours at his farm in Scotland, McCartney previewed the song on a piano during a visit he andJane Asher made from London in early December 1967.[10] Author Jonathan Gould views the timing as propitious, since the British music press in early 1968 "[began] to tout the idea of a 'rock-and-roll revival' as a corrective to the excesses of psychedelia".[11]
McCartney based his piano part for the song onHumphrey Lyttelton'strad jazz rendition of "Bad Penny Blues",[12] which was released on theParlophone record label in 1956, soon afterGeorge Martin, the Beatles' producer, had taken over as head of the label.[13] McCartney recalled:"'Lady Madonna' was me sitting down at the piano trying to write a bluesyboogie-woogie thing ... It reminded me ofFats Domino for some reason, so I started singing a Fats Domino impression. It took my other voice to a very odd place."[14] Domino's 1956 hit "Blue Monday" conveys the plight of a working man through each day of the week, while "Lady Madonna" does the same from a female perspective.[15]
John Lennon helped write the lyrics, which give an account of an overworked, exhausted (possibly single) mother, facing a new problem each day of the week.[16] McCartney explained the song by saying:"'Lady Madonna' started off as the Virgin Mary, then it was a working-class woman, of which obviously there's millions in Liverpool. There are a lot of Catholics in Liverpool because of the Irish connection."[17] The lyrics include each day of the week except Saturday, which McCartney only noticed many years later: "I was writing the words out to learn it for an American TV show and I realised I missed out Saturday ... So I figured it must have been a real night out."[14] McCartney said his inspiration for the song came after seeing a photograph inNational Geographic magazine of a woman breastfeeding, titled "Mountain Madonna".[18]
Speaking later about "Lady Madonna", Lennon said, "Good piano lick, but the song never really went anywhere",[19] adding: "Maybe I helped him on some of the lyrics, but I'm not proud of them either way."[5][16] AuthorHoward Sounes identifies both a relevance to McCartney's Catholic upbringing, and an autobiographical quality that belies the song's upbeat melody and delivery. He writes: "the lyric is also tender and personal, evoking the image of Mary McCartney asmidwife, tending mothers and their babies in Liverpool as she had during Paul's childhood. The phrase 'Lady Madonna' also has a clear Christian meaning, of course, conflating Paul's memory of his mother with the Virgin Mary in what is a boogie-woogie hymn."[20]
The Beatles decided to record "Lady Madonna" for their first single of 1968. The release was intended to cover the group's absence while they attended aTranscendental Meditation coursein India under the guidance ofMaharishi Mahesh Yogi.[21][22] The sessions took place on 3 and 6 February at EMI Studios (subsequentlyAbbey Road Studios) in London.[23]
Although the song was a return to the Beatles' musical roots, this aesthetic was not carried over to the band taping the basic track as an ensemble.[24] McCartney first recorded his piano part, using EMI's"Mrs Mills" Steinway Vertegrand upright,[19] accompanied byRingo Starr playing asnare drum withbrushes.[25] Starr recalled that when recording the track the Beatles consulted Martin on how to re-create the sound that Lyttelton had achieved on "Bad Penny Blues".[26][nb 1]George Harrison and Lennon added the song'sdistorted guitar riffs, playing identical lines through the same amplifier; McCartney overdubbed bass guitar and Starr added more drums, played on a full drum kit.[27] McCartney sang his lead vocal in a style that authorIan MacDonald termsPresleyesque,[27] while Lennon, McCartney and Harrison contributed backing vocals, part of which consisted of the singers imitatingbrass instruments over the song's instrumental break.[28] Music journalistJohn Harris highlights the significance of McCartney's "salute" to Elvis Presley, who would makehis comeback later in 1968 with a return to his formative, rock 'n' roll style. Harris also identifies the influence ofthe Mills Brothers, whose act included the four singers mimicking brass instruments, in the Beatles' "scat harmonies" on "Lady Madonna".[29] Early mixes of the song indicate thatMellotron and tambourine were cut from the completed track, along with extraneous vocals and dialogue that reveal the band in high spirits during the sessions.[24][30]
The overdubbing session for the four-piecehorn section took place on 6 February.[23][31] Thetenor saxophone solo on the track was played by British jazz musician and club ownerRonnie Scott.Harry Klein, who playedbaritone saxophone on the track, recalled that the session was organised at the last minute, while Bill Povey, the second tenor saxophonist, said that no music had been written out for the musicians to follow and McCartney offered them only vague instructions.[23] The second baritone saxophone was played by Bill Jackman. In his bookRevolution in the Head, MacDonald writes that Scott's "audibly exasperated" solo was prompted by McCartney's "unprofessional" failure to provide the players with a proper horn arrangement.[32]
The song's selection as the single's A-side came at the expense of Lennon's "Across the Universe",[21][33] which Lennon also withdrew from contention as the B-side, since he was dissatisfied with the musical arrangement.[34] As a result, Harrison gained his first Beatles B-side as a songwriter, with "The Inner Light", the backing track of which he had recorded with severalIndian classical musicians inBombay, in January.[35]
The Beatles made two promotional films for "Lady Madonna", which weresyndicated to television broadcasting companies.[36] The material was shot on 11 February 1968 at EMI Studios and was distributed byNEMS Enterprises to US and UK TV stations. Tony Bramwell directed the two films.[37]
Although the intention had been to show the Beatles miming to the single, the band decided they wanted to use the time to record a new song.[37][38] The footage therefore consisted of the Beatles recording Lennon's "Hey Bulldog",[39] which became the last of the four new songs they suppliedUnited Artists for use in theYellow Submarine animated film.[39] Little attempt was made to marry up the footage of the Beatles' playing and singing with the audio of "Lady Madonna"; in the second of the two clips, Harrison is shown eating a plate of beans, while both clips show Starr listening to a playback and the Beatles playing alternative instruments from those heard on the song.[36] The promos also included footage of McCartney at Chappell Studios in November 1967, from a session he produced forCilla Black's single "Step Inside Love".[40]
A new edit of this footage, together with footage from the band's July 1968 rehearsals of "Hey Jude", was assembled for "Lady Madonna"'s segment inThe Beatles Anthology in 1995.[40] In 1999, the material was re-edited by Apple to create a new clip for "Hey Bulldog", to help promote the reissue of theYellow Submarine film.[40][41]
I describe it as "rock-as-swing". We've been trying to make a decent rock'n'roll record ever since we started, and as far as I know, we haven't done a decent one yet. This is another bash; it's pretty near it.[29]
In Britain, Parlophone issued "Lady Madonna" backed by "The Inner Light" on 15 March 1968,[42] with the catalogue number R 5675.[43] The single was released three days later in the United States, asCapitol 2138.[43] One of the promo clips was aired by theBBC on the 14 March edition ofTop of the Pops and then onAlan Freeman'sAll Systems Freeman the following day,[44] and in the US onABC-TV'sThe Hollywood Palace on 30 March.[45] In Everett's description, the single was "at the forefront of a spring–summer 1968 rock-and-roll revival in the United Kingdom", which included UK-exclusive reissues of singles byGene Vincent,Carl Perkins,Jerry Lee Lewis,Buddy Holly andLittle Richard.[46]
Among contemporary reviews of the single,Billboard magazine described "Lady Madonna" as a "powerful blues rocker"[47] whileCash Box's reviewer wrote: "Take one step back, the Beatles ease their progressive pace with this knocking rhythm side that features Ringo Starr in a rare vocal showing with hard-rock and kazoo orking and lyrics that view working class hardship with a pinch of salt."[48][nb 2]Record World said it "is terrific rock and roll and pungent social comment."[50]Chris Welch ofMelody Maker expressed doubts about the song, saying: "Best bit is the piano intro, then you can have fun wondering why Paul['s singing] sounds like Ringo … then go out and buy another record." Welch concluded: "I can't really see this being a hit, not when there's competition from the likes ofFour Jacks and a Jill andKay Starr."[51][52]Time magazine recognised the Beatles as the leaders of an "upsurge" of renewed interest in 1950s rock 'n' roll and said that the band had re-engaged with the "simple hard-driving style they left behind in Liverpool".[53][54] Author Bernard Gendron, paraphrasing a contention of theTime writers – who he says were ahead of the US rock press in recognising this trend – writes that by precedingthe Rolling Stones' "similarly retrospective 'Jumpin' Jack Flash'", "Lady Madonna" was possibly "the first single by an elite rock band to signal the 'return to roots'".[55]
"Lady Madonna" topped theRecord Retailer chart (subsequently adopted as theUK Singles Chart) for two weeks,[56] although on the national chart compiled byMelody Maker it peaked at number 2.[57] It was the first single by the Beatles not to make number 1 onMelody Maker's chart since the band's 1962 debut, "Love Me Do".[58][nb 3] In America, "Lady Madonna" peaked at number 4 on theBillboard Hot 100,[60] making it the first Beatles single not to top that chart since "Eleanor Rigby" in 1966,[61] and number 2 on theCash Box Top 100.[62] Ian MacDonald considers this relative lack of success to be significant, and he described the song as "a moderately entertaining let-down after the psychedelic heights of early 1967".[61] In Jonathan Gould's opinion, the song is a "witty, powerful, yet willfully inconsequential track" with "all the makings of a classic Beatle B-side", whereas ideally the lead side of the single should have been a Lennon composition.[11][nb 4]Rob Sheffield ofRolling Stone considers that, at this stage in their career, "the Beatles didn't need to push – they could have hit #1 with a tape of themselves blowing their noses", which, he suggests, "would have been catchier" than "Lady Madonna" and the band's previous single, "Hello, Goodbye".[66] Music criticTim Riley has similarly dismissed the song as a "trifle" and "something they could do with their left hand".[67]
Writing in 1988, Beatles historianMark Lewisohn described "Lady Madonna" as a "terrific" single that was "curiously overlooked today by those analysing the group's output".[34] In his song review forAllMusic,Richie Unterberger attributes its standing as one of the band's less-celebrated singles partly to its failure to match the chart success usually associated with the Beatles, but he considers it an "excellent song". He adds that the lyrics, in their implication of the protagonist as a prostitute, are "more intriguing than anything Fats Domino was likely to come up with", while the Beatles' imitation of brass instruments was done "effectively and wittily".[68] Writing forMojo in 2003, John Harris bemoaned that the song was overlooked as a key recording in the Beatles' development and "one of the foundation stones" for the late 1960s "roots-rock revival". He identified it as the precedent for the Rolling Stones' return to form onBeggars Banquet, forEric Clapton to exchangeCream's "virtuoso head-rock" for a musical path that resulted in the formation ofDerek and the Dominos, and forChuck Berry and Little Richard to assume "the rarified pedestals where theBritish Invasion groups had originally placed them".[29][nb 5] In 2010,Rolling Stone ranked "Lady Madonna" at number 86 on its list of "The 100 Greatest Beatles Songs".[33]
The Beatles' version of "Lady Madonna" has appeared on the followingcompilation albums, released byApple Records:Hey Jude (1970),1967–1970 (1973),20 Greatest Hits (1982),Past Masters, Volume Two (1988),Anthology 2 (1996; takes 3 and 4 of the song),1 (2000) andLove (2006).[70] The mix used in the 1968 single had obscured much of Ronnie Scott's saxophone; the versions subsequently issued onAnthology 2 andLove feature a more prominent use of his solo, at the end of the song. In theBBC documentaryTimewatch, McCartney explained that Scott had not been impressed that his playing had been hidden behind the "imitation brass vocals" performed by McCartney, Lennon and Harrison, so McCartney had decided to fix it with the most recent mix.[citation needed] TheLove version incorporates the percussion intro from "Why Don't We Do It in the Road?", the piano from "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da", the guitar riff from "Hey Bulldog",Billy Preston's organ solo from "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" andEric Clapton's guitar solo from "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"..[30]
Having been averse to performing compositions from the Beatles era followingthe band's break-up in 1970,[71] McCartney included "Lady Madonna" in the set list for his andWings' 1975–76 world tour.[72] He continued to feature the song on many of his subsequent tours.[73] Live versions appear on the albumsWings over America,Paul Is Live,Back in the U.S.,Back in the World andGood Evening New York City.[73] A variation of the song can be heard on hisChaos and Creation at Abbey Road DVD, where McCartney calls it "an old lady in new clothes".[73]
According to Ian MacDonald:[27]
The Beatles
Additional musicians and production
Weekly charts[edit]
| Year-end charts[edit]
|
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| France | — | 200,000[102] |
| United Kingdom | — | 250,000[103] |
| United States (RIAA)[104] | Platinum | 1,000,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
