Yellow Submarine (Lennon/McCartney)
A spoken-word introduction was recorded by Ringo Starr but was ultimately abandoned. A version of the song with this introduction was included on the Real Love single in 1996.
In the remixed version of the song appearing on the Yellow Submarine Songtrack, John Lennon’s “echo” of Ringo’s line “a life of ease” was included, whereas it did not appear in the original mix. Also, all of John’s “reply” lines were panned and faded from right to left and the sound effects were more pronounced in that version.
With a little help…
Sound effects and background chatter were provided by Neil Aspinall, Pattie Boyd, Mal Evans, Marianne Faithfull, Brian Jones, and chauffeur Alf Bicknell (laughter, clinking glasses, etc.)
Famous cash register
The cash register sound effect was from the famous special effects closet at Abbey Road Studios and was used in 1973 on Money by Pink Floyd.
The Airbnb ad
In February, 2023, the original master recording of Yellow Submarine was used in an Airnb commercial that ran during the Super Bowl promoting the Airbnb Categories campaign.. It was an extremely rare instance of an original Beatles master recording used in a non-Beatles ad.
Quotes
“John and Paul have written a song which they think is for me but if I mess it up then we might have to find another country-and-western song off somebody else’s LP.” – Ringo Starr
“It’s a happy place, that’s all. You know, it was just… We were trying to write a children’s song. That was the basic idea. And there’s nothing more to be read into it than there is in the lyrics of any children’s song.” – Paul McCartney
“I was laying in bed in the Asher’s garret…I was thinking of it as a song for Ringo, which it eventually turned out to be, so I wrote it as not too rangey in the vocal, then started making a story, sort of an ancient mariner, telling the young kids where he’d lived. It was pretty much my song as I recall…I think John helped out. The lyrics got more and more obscure as it goes on, but the chorus, melody and verses are mine.” – Paul McCartney
“Yellow Submarine’ is Paul’s baby. Donovan helped with the lyrics. I helped with the lyrics too. We virtually made the track come alive in the studio, but based on Paul’s inspiration. Paul’s idea. Paul’s title…written for Ringo.” – John Lennon
“I had no idea until I started going through the outtakes. This was a Lennon-McCartney thing. I said to Paul, ‘I always thought this was a song that you wrote and gave to Ringo and that John was like, ‘Oh, bloody “Yellow Submarine.”‘ Not at all. That’s like a Woody Guthrie song. But it’s beautiful in a way, where you realize that there’s so much depth behind it. When you listen to the outtakes, even knowing the beauty of that John version, you know why Ringo ended up singing it. And it was acutely, let’s face it, the right decision to make.” – Giles Martin, Rolling Stone
Recording history
- May 26, 1966 (5 takes)
- June 1, 1966 (special effects overdubs)
- June 2, 1966 (mixing)
- June 3, 1966 (mixing)
- June 22, 1966 (mixing)
Personnel
- Ringo Starr – lead vocal, drums
- John Lennon – acoustic guitar, backing vocals, sound effects (bubbles)
- Paul McCartney – bass guitar, backing vocals
- George Harrison – acoustic guitar, tambourine, backing vocals
- Mal Evans – bass drum, backing vocals
- George Martin – backing vocals
- Geoff Emerick – backing vocals, tape loops
- Neil Aspinall – backing vocals
- Alf Bicknell – sound effects (rattling chains)
- Pattie Boyd – backing vocals
- Marianne Faithfull – backing vocals
- Brian Jones – backing vocals, sound effects (clinking glasses)
- Brian Epstein – backing vocals
Release history
- Yellow Submarine / Eleanor Rigby (single) (1966)
- Revolver (1966)
- A Collection Of Beatles Oldies (1966)
- Yellow Submarine (1969)
- 1962-1966 (1973)
- Reel Music (1982)
- 20 Greatest Hits (1982)
- Yellow Submarine Songtrack (1999)
- Real Love (single) (1996) [Real Love single mix]
- 1 (2000)
Chart performance
- #1, August 8 – September 14, 1966 (4 weeks), Record Retailer (UK)
- #2, August 20, 1966 (US)
Notable covers
- Black Mills Dyke Band; 1968 (single)
