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Copyright: Apple Corps Ltd., EMI Records Ltd., Parlophone (UK), Capitol Records (USA)
Members: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr
Writer: Lennon/McCartney
Producer: George Martin
Original Album Released: October 28, 1996

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“Because” is a ballad written by John Lennon (credited to Lennon/McCartney) and performed by The Beatles. It features a 3-part harmony vocal performance between Lennon, McCartney and George Harrison, overdubbed three times to make nine voices in all. The results of this have been compared in sound to the Beach Boys.[citation needed] It appeared on the 1969 album Abbey Road, and is the song that precedes the extended medley that formed side two of the original LP record.

Composition:

The song begins with electric harpsichord played by George Martin and then joined by Lennon’s guitar doubling the harpsichord and played through a Leslie speaker. Vocals and bass guitar enter in what Alan Pollack calls the “mini-bridge.”

The song was one of the few Beatles songs to include an analogue synthesizer arrangement (although analog keyboards such as the Mellotron had been used often by The Beatles, few songs featured the use of a traditional analog synthesizer with voltage-controlled oscillators). The Beatles at the time of Abbey Road were among the first contemporary rock bands to experiment with the Moog synthesizer (the first, or at least the first to chart on the top 40, had been The Monkees).

According to Lennon, “Because” was inspired by Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata”. “Yoko was playing Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight Sonata’ on the piano … I said, ‘Can you play those chords backwards?’, and wrote ‘Because’ around them. The lyrics speak for themselves … No imagery, no obscure references.”

Recording:

The main recording session for “Because” was on 1 August 1969, with vocal overdubs on 4 August, and a Moog synthesizer overdub by George Harrison on 5 August.[5] As a result, this was the last song on the album to be committed to tape, although there were still overdubs for other incomplete songs.

A vocals-only version of the song can be found on Anthology 3 and Love and is an example of three part harmony from Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison, although the latter is slowed down and includes quiet nature sound effects. Both versions include the ‘Ahh’ at the beginning.

Album:

Anthology 3 is a compilation album by The Beatles released in October 1996 by Apple Records as part of The Beatles Anthology series. The album includes rarities and alternative tracks from the final two years of the band’s career, ranging from the initial sessions for The Beatles (also known as The White Album) to the last sessions for Let It Be and Abbey Road in later 1969 and early 1970.

Following “Free as a Bird” in Anthology 1 and “Real Love” in Anthology 2, a third John Lennon solo demo entitled “Now and Then” was to be reworked by the three surviving members of The Beatles for Anthology 3. However, it was decided against due to complications and sound quality issues involving Lennon’s recording. In its place is “A Beginning,” an orchestral instrumental track initially intended for The White Album.

Similar to the previous Anthology albums, the cover image painted by Klaus Voorman features a collage of The Beatles-related imagery designed to appear as a wall of peeling posters and album covers. An updated picture of Voorman can be seen in George Harrison’s hair in a segment of the Revolver album cover.

This was the group’s third double album in a row to go to #1 on the American charts, equaling a record set by Donna Summer back in the 1970s.

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Tags: 1996, anthology, Beatles, because, disc, George, Harrison, John, Lennon, McCartney, Paul, Ringo, Starr, The, Version, Vocal

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