The Beatles Rarity Of The Week
-
Artist:
-
Track:
I've seen a lot of discussion on MOG about The Beatles being "first" to do a lot of things: lyrics coming with the album packaging (Sgt. Pepper), the first feedback sound in a rock/pop song (I Feel Fine), the first classical instrumentation in a pop song (Yesterday), the first rock band to wear their hair longer than anyone was used to seeing on males, the first metal song (Helter Skelter), the first band to put backwards secret messages in their music or other hidden meanings on the album jackets, etc., etc. etc. Yeah, well, whether or not you agree with all of these, you should at least agree that The Beatles were innovative as hell.
I think this weeks BROW was the first pop/rock song to contain drug references or maybe to actually be completely about drugs. Then again, maybe I'm wrong. If you can find, or know of an earlier one, then please comment and educate me. The fact that it was about a pill pusher actually went unnoticed for awhile. The Beatles were always stretching the boundaries of what was "acceptable" and in this case got away with it without any bans. Soon afterwards the Stones followed suit with Mother's Little Helper which was also about pill popping. Most of us also know the story about how A Day In The Life was banned on the BBC due to the I'd love to turn you on lyric. And, of course, afterwards there are countless other "druggie songs" that followed.
Specifically a composition of John's (with a little collaboration with Paul), aboutthebeatles.com says this about who Dr. Robert actually was:
[A song] written about a New York doctor named Doctor Robert Freymann, a 60 year old, German physician who was famous for prescribing generous amounts of amphetamines to famous people. Freymann once boasted that he could name 100 famous names in 10 minutes of people who used his services. Some books credit Dr. Robert as being Dr. Charles Roberts, but that name was only used as an alias for one of Andy Warhol's actresses to protect another doctor who practiced the same type of medicine. The real Dr. Robert died in 1987 after losing his license in 1968 and removed from the NY State Medical Society in 1975.
And why am I posting this as a rarity?
Dr. Robert, the song, was first released in the US on the Yesterday...And Today album (yes, this was the one with the infamous Butcher cover, but that's another story) on June 20, 1966. It was later released on the UK Revolver album on August 5th, 1966 but some mixing changes were made after the US version was released that only appear on the UK albums. Since the masters from the UK stereo album was what was eventually used for the Revolver CD, the US (fake stereo and mono) versions were destined to obscurity. The version I've posted here is the US mono version from Yesterday...And Today which unlike the UK/Revolver CD version has the fade reaching the true ending of the song where John is saying 'OK Herb' (?) or something like that (you have to turn the volume up loud to hear this as it is at the end of the fade). The middle-eight section (which starts with 'well, well, well you're feeling fine') are also mixed differently here than on the common version we hear on the Revolver CD. The US fake stereo version which appeared on the stereo US Yesterday...And Today album was also different as the fade was 43 seconds longer than it is anywhere else.
Top to bottom: Ringo Starr, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison
This week's BROW is one song from my collection of over 6750 Beatles-related recordings. Want to make a suggestion for a future Beatles Rarity of the Week? Then let me hear from you. To help you decide you could visit my Beatles collection web site (www.MyBeatlesCollection.com) and hit the "Tracks" button and search my collection, then Mogmail me with what you'd like me to feature.
Comments (10)
C'mon man, drug songs in pop music are as common as......well there've been alot of them. Billie sang about smack. Cab Calloway? The Association? " ....And then along came Mary......"
Cab Calloway was not pop-rock but big band and The Association...now that might be a good argument but Along Came Mary came out around the same time as Dr. Robert (i.e. 1966). I'm not sure that it was before it.
The B side of the Stones first (or second) single was "Stoned".
Okay DM...You've educated me on that one. That's a Stones b-side I haven't come across. Thanks... Maybe I should have said "a song specifically about pill-popping" or something. But still, as the post pointed out from the start, I could be wrong.
One of my fave Beatles tracks. Thanks. And, hey, I thought of a track you MUST have that I've never heard: the original Lennon tape of "Free As A Bird". If you would, at some point...
I have takes 1 & 3 of John's original piano demos from 1977. Stay tuned...
Give me some "I'm Only Sleeping"!!!
Yeah...that's a good one. I like the backwards guitar parts.
Great post Mark. Thanks for sharing this, one of my favorite tracks. It's underrated in the Beatles canon IMHO. I particularly admire the carol-like middle section.
As well as Dr Robert Freymann, the identity of Dr Robert could be Bob Dylan, or Dr Robert MacPhail (a character in Aldous Huxley's novel Island), or most likely it's the Harley Street dentist Dr John Riley. Apparently John and George and their wives had an 'unusual experience' at a dinner party hosted by Dr Riley, but just who was responsible for it is still disputed by the people close to those involved. Whatever really happened, we know that John was capable of turning a story into a great song. I like to think the 'real' Dr Robert is a creative amalgam of several people.
I vote for She's A Woman being the Beatles' first intentional drug reference song, and for I Want To Hold Your Hand as the first unintentional one (if Dylan really heard the lyrics "I get high" instead of "I can't hide"). Sometimes drug references are all in the ear of the beholder!
an uderated classic