Cry Baby Cry
| "Cry Baby Cry" | |
|---|---|
| Song |
"Cry Baby Cry" is a song by The Beatles, written by John Lennon,[1] from their 1968 album The Beatles.
Composition
Demos of the song indicate that Lennon wrote the song in late 1967. The original lyrics were "Cry baby cry, make your mother buy." Lennon described to biographer Hunter Davies how he got the words from an advertisement.[2]
"Can You Take Me Back"
The song is followed on the album by an unrelated and unlisted track which features lead vocals by Paul McCartney. Though the song has no official name, it is popularly known as "Can You Take Me Back" (after the primary lyric of the song). The hidden track is an improvised jam recorded by the band during a 16 September 1968 session for "I Will".[3]
Recording
Engineer Geoff Emerick quit during the recording of "Cry Baby Cry", though his departure was precipitated by Lennon and McCartney's obsessions over the recording of both "Revolution" and "Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da", respectively, and the overall tensions of the White Album sessions. Emerick would not work with the Beatles again until the session for "The Ballad of John and Yoko" nine months later.[4]
Personnel
Per Ian MacDonald:[5]
- John Lennon – lead vocal, acoustic guitar, piano, organ
- Paul McCartney – bass guitar
- George Harrison – lead guitar
- Ringo Starr – drums, tambourine
- George Martin – harmonium
Cover versions
- Ramsey Lewis recorded an instrumental version of this song on his 1968 album Mother Nature's Son.
- Fool's Garden covered the song on their 1991 debut album Fool's Garden.
- Punk rock band Samiam from Berkeley, California recorded a version of this song on their 1997 album You Are Freaking Me Out.
- Bardo Pond recorded a space rock-influenced version on their 2006 album Ticket Crystals.
- Katie Melua covered this song in 2006 and released it on her maxi-single "Spider's Web".
- Throwing Muses covered this song on the B-side of their "Not Too Soon" single.
- The jam band Phish covered this song first on Hampton Comes Alive, and later (with most of the songs on the White Album) on Live Phish Volume 13.
Notes
- ^ Miles 1997, p. 487.
- ^ Davies 1968.
- ^ Pollack, Alan. "Notes on "Can You Take Me Back"". Retrieved 25 November 2011.
- ^ Lewisohn 1988, p. 173.
- ^ MacDonald 2005, p. 296.
References
- Davies, Hunter (1968). The Beatles.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Lewisohn, Mark (1988). The Beatles Recording Sessions. New York: Harmony Books. ISBN 0-517-57066-1.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - MacDonald, Ian (2005). Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties (2nd revised ed.). London: Pimlico. ISBN 1-8441-3828-3.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Miles, Barry (1997). Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now. New York: Henry Holt & Company. ISBN 0-8050-5249-6.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Sheff, David (2000). All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-25464-4.
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