You would think The Beatles, as successful as they were, would have enjoyed some sort of autonomy about what they did or didn’t want to do when they were at the height of their popularity. That wasn’t always the case. For example, they were forced to come up with new material for the soundtrack to Yellow Submarine, a 1968 animated movie based on their music.
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The fact that they had zero to do with making the movie didn’t excuse them from having to contribute songs to the project. They obliged with some leftovers and throwaways. But, this being The Beatles, even those songs turned out to be pretty special. Here’s how it all went down.
The Beatles vs. The Blue Meanies (and Their Film Contract)
The Beatles lucked out in that Yellow Submarine, a film over which they little control (not that they wanted to deal with it anyway) turned out as well as it did. Even though the actors hired to do the voices of the Fab Four didn’t always sound like them, the whimsical tale (beware those villainous Blue Meanies) and psychedelic animation charmed audiences.
Those audiences probably didn’t realize the group only agreed to the film because they were contractually obligated to do one more picture. While the animated film was being made in 1967, they were too busy with making their own music and a television movie of their own devising (Magical Mystery Tour) to give any input to the film’s producers.
To satisfy those producers, the group agreed to provide four songs for the soundtrack. In addition, there would be several cuts from their catalog used in the film. George Martin, the group’s producer, also came up with orchestral music for the film’s score.
Coming Up with the Songs
It’s probably a testament to how little the group cared for the Yellow Submarine project that the four songs they eventually pulled together for the film were either rejected for inclusion on other albums or thrown together hastily. Since they weren’t really on board with the cartoon to start, they were only going to do the bare minimum to get through it.
George Harrison, who was generally relegated to two cuts or fewer on the standard Beatles albums, benefited the most from the project. Two of his originals were chosen to be included out of the four cuts needed. One of those, “It’s All Too Much,” had been recorded for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, but ultimately was left on the cutting-room floor. Meanwhile, “Only a Northern Song” was an in-joke Harrison wrote to complain about how he didn’t have control over his publishing rights.
John Lennon’s “Hey Bulldog” was cobbled together in a hurry when the band were in the studio filming a promotional video for “Lady Madonna.” (Paul McCartney had suggested they might as well make good use of their time.) McCartney’s “All Together Now,” which was little more than gussied-up kids song, rounded out the quartet.
Submarine Sensations
Because The Beatles were so lax about dealing with the Yellow Submarine soundtrack, it didn’t arrive until 1969, by which point the movie had already been out for months and proven to be a hit. Listening to those four songs now, it’s striking just how engaging and imaginative the band could be, even when they weren’t necessarily swinging for the fences.
“It’s All Too Much,” which contains heaping helpings of Harrison’s cosmic philosophy amidst the wild, maximalist production, is a gem. So is “Hey Bulldog,” which works itself into a frothy intensity, and then deflates it all with inspired silliness from Lennon and McCartney. “Only a Northern Song” is weird, but Harrison’s dark humor shines through. Even “All Together Now” is charming.
It all came together quite seamlessly, so the public at the time was none the wiser that The Beatles really weren’t that involved in the animated film. (The good-natured cameo they made at the end of the flick helped.) The Yellow Submarine soundtrack showed these four were fab even when semi-interested.
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