How Paperback Writer Changed The Beatles' Sound Forever

Paperback Writer is one of the catchiest songs that The Beatles ever released. A Billboard number one single in 1966, it kicked off a new era of sonic experimentation in the studio for Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, as the band shifted away from the relentless pressure of Beatlemania.

In this episode, we'll explore the recording history of this classic Beatles hit and uncover a few quirks and anomalies that you might have missed.

As a fair warning: you can't unhear this.

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Questions / Comments / Ideas:

Eli Rosen
Christopher Foss
Jeremy Ribakove
Kheng Lai Tan

Special thanks to:
Matt Goldman @akjak
@DLD2Music

#TheBeatles #YouCantUnhearThis #Music

[bscepter]

I still think it's one of the greatest guitar riffs ever recorded. And the bass part is just stellar. All-in-all, it's a tour-de-force for Paul.

[alansas]

Paperback Writer/ Rain is one of the Beatles best songs ever released as a single. It was the turning point in their career. It still sounds just as fresh as it did 57 years ago.

[thestormforce]

And here we are discussing another fantastic Beatles song almost 60 years later. They are the giants' shoulders all modern rock music is standing on. In 60 years on, they will still be relevant.

[StratsRUs]

The whole sound of that intro riff is just *so* _JUICY_ !

[Jamestele]

I will never get tired of this song, along with the B side, Rain. The fact that they were able to reproduce Paperback Writer live is insane. Those overlapping harmonies, and Paul's great bass lines.

[newsduke]

The reason people are still analyzing The Beatles’ music is because it’s still hard to believe that these four young people could’ve accomplished everything that they did. People STILL want to know how the hell they did it. And with all due respect to this video, which was very interesting, I don’t think we’ll ever get an adequate explanation. We can discuss recording techniques, and the Beatles’ influences, and all the little mistakes that were left in. But in the end, The Beatles created a magic that just can’t be explained, really.

[loZoneranger]

I remember hearing the flip side "Rain" for the first time at age 14 and thinking, "What is going on with that BASS part?!" It was the coolest bass line I'd ever heard!

[kevalraam]

I was 12 years old when I heard this for the first time on my transistor radio. Even at that age I knew I was listening to something innovative and unprecedented, and it blew me away. I am so happy I grew up with the Beatles… such an amazing journey.

[jeffj]

The Rubber Soul-Revolver albums were significant, not only for the creative engineering and phenomenal musical development but for what we (as teenagers at the time) were looking for in radio/pop tunes. We didn't even realize it at the time but we were hearing something that was hard to even imagine. All these years later, it's joyous to rediscover these innovations and nuances from 1965-6

[jeffcarlson]

I think Paperback Writer is one of their best songs It is one song I can listen to over and over again. And never grow tired of hearing it.

[andyinoregon]

I've had this 45-single in my collection since I was a 15 year-old in 1966, and this video further bolsters my belief that the reason music was so good in the '70s was because The Beatles had set the artistic bar so high in the '60s.

[randomjunkohyeah]

Seeing this channel pop up with a new upload is always a pleasant surprise. Such soothing and interesting videos on the best band there ever was.

[dabreu]

Paperback Writer was the first Beatles song my dad liked very much. Maybe he liked other before, but this was the first one he told me so. He asked me who was singing and was surprised to know it was The Beatles. He thought it sounded like our Marujada, a folk group from Brazil. " Really Beautiful", he said. Next the radio played "Rain" and he said. " Don't tell it is the Beatles again". Well, I said it was indeed The Beatles. He was fasicinated too. And said it was like Folia de Reis, a kind of folk songs we have in my city. Then he said he has discovered he should listen more to The Beatles. But the Beatles song that touched him even more...Strawberry Fields Forever.

[christophe]

I remember first hearing this coming out of the car radio speaker while my dad was driving. I was a super Beatles freak 10 year old and those unmistakable vocals pouring out alone at the very beginning acapella just shot right through me. Was popular at the time for DJs to talk through instrumental intros to songs but they couldn’t do it here. Mind blowing to a young man

[mensaconservative]

The Beatles provided more happiness to humanity than anything that came before. That phenomenon may never be topped. I will die a happy person because I was nine years old when they first appeared on Sullivan. The constant joy their music produced is indescribable.

[michaelscott]

I don't want to "unhear" anything that is present in a Beatles recording. Nothing you can eke out of the depths of a genius-driven recording of their's does anything but make me scurry and fire up my turntable!

[Eirran]

A friend of my sister came to us with the new Beatles single. As the first sounds of Paperback writer came out of the speakers, it totally blew my mind. This was so different than anything I had ever heard before and it was absolutely briliant.
When we played the B-side Rain, I was blown away again. Wow, what a single. I went out and bought it the very next day.

And I think that George Martin went on record to describe the “contrapuntal statements from the backing voices – no one had really done that before” pretty much sums up the creativity of the Beatles. There pretty much they did that "no one had really done that before”

[radiomindchatter]

I love Paperback Writer!
I remember hearing it the first time on the radio sitting in the back of my parents station wagon in 1966...great memories!

[tedburke]

Paperback writer and Rain, two oof my favorite Beatles songs

[stephenjerome]

Paperback Writer and Rain is IMO the greatest single released by The Beatles. It sounded so different to anything they had done before that time and really showcases their incredible talents as musicians. After all, Rain was the first recording by anyone to include a backwards tape section near the fade out at the end. It was very innovative for the time and i would go as far as to say had Paperback Writer and Rain been included on the Revolver album it would have made what was a great album even more greater.