Deconstructing Cry Baby Cry - The Beatles (Isolated Tracks)

First being written in 1967 John stated that, “I've got another one here, a few words, I think I got them from an advert: 'Cry baby cry, make your mother buy.' I've been playing it over on the piano.” John finished writing “Cry Baby Cry” during the Beatles trip to India in 1968. Much of the song was inspired by the nursery rhyme “A Song Of Sixpence”.

The song was first demoed at George’s home on May 28th, 1968. That Esher Demo being officially released on the 2018 Boxset. It's similar to what would eventually be recorded. It was then brought into the studio 2 days later on the 30th. A taste of this session can be heard here:    • Cry Baby Cry (Unnumbered Rehearsal)  . This session produced a slower, much bluesier version. Before the final recording sessions would take place Geoff Emerick would step down as the main engineer. Ken Scott would take over as main engineer and on July 16th, 1968 the group would record 10 takes. The line up would be Paul on his Jazz Bass, Ringo on drums, John on acoustic, and vocals as well. This filled up the four track machine so a tape reduction was needed. All the rhythm tracks were condensed down to track 1 and 2. Further overdubs included George Martin on harmonium, John on Piano, and some tea party sound effects.

Then two days later on the 18th the Beatles would return to work after taking a day off to attend the premiere of “Yellow Submarine”. These overdubs included John double tracking his lead vocals in some spots along with Paul and John recording their falsetto backing vocals, George recorded a singular electric guitar line, and lastly Paul and John whistling which can be mistaken as an organ. It wasn’t until 2 months later on September 16th that the song would be worked on again. This simply adding the “Can You Take Me Back?” ending to the song. “Can You Take Me Back?” which was a jam made during the recording of “I Wll”. The next day Paul recorded some small piano lines and Paul and Ringo overdubbed some drums and tambourines. This concludes the recording of the song.

Of course John in later years was not very kind to “Cry Baby Cry” however John was usually dismissive of much of his material. “Cry Baby Cry” was a perfect song to transition to “Revolution 9” especially with the eerie feeling of “Can You Take Me Back?”

One thing to note is there's some bleed of the overdubbed drums into the basic track drums. With all of that out of the way enjoy this deconstruction!

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Basic Track Drums (0:00)
Overdubbed Drums and Tambourine (2:21)
Can You Take Me Back Drums (4:43)
Bass (5:10)
Vocals (7:20)
Single Tracked Vocals (10:20)
Backing Vocals (13:22)
Piano (13:50)
Electric Guitar (14:04)
Sound Effects (14:18)
Harmonium (14:34)
Whistles (16:05)
Main Piano (16:23)
John's Acoustic (18:40)
Paul's Acoustic (21:14)
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John Lennon - Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitar (1964 Gibson J-160E), Piano (Hamburg Steinway Baby Grand), Whistling (Possible), Maracas, Tea Party Sound Effects
Paul McCartney - Bass (Fender Jazz), Piano (Hamburg Steinway Baby Grand), Backing Vocals, Whistling (Possible), Tambourine, Lead Vocals (during outro), Acoustic Guitar (during outro) (1967 Martin D-28), Tea Party Sound Effects
George Harrison - Lead Guitar (1961 Sonic Blue Fender Stratocaster), Tea Party Sound Effects
Ringo Starr - Drums (1964 Ludwig Super Classic Black Oyster Pearl), Tea Party Sound Effects, Bongos
George Martin - Harmonium (Mannborg)
#crybabycry #beatles #thebeatles #johnlennon #georgeharrison #paulmccartney #ringostarr