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"Helter Skelter"
Song by The Beatles

from the album The Beatles
Released 22 November 1968
Recorded 9 September 1968
Abbey Road Studios, London
Genre Heavy Metal
Length 4:30 (Stereo LP)
3:38 (Mono LP)
Label Apple Records PMC 7067-7068 (mono), PCS 7067-7068 (stereo)
Writer Lennon/McCartney
Producer George Martin
The Beatles track listing
Music sample
"Helter Skelter"

"Helter Skelter" is a song written by Paul McCartney,[1][2] credited to Lennon/McCartney, and recorded by The Beatles on their eponymous LP The Beatles, better known as The White Album. A product of McCartney's deliberate effort to create a sound as loud and dirty as possible, the clangorous piece has been noted for both its "proto-metal roar" and "unique textures."[3][4] It was one of several White Album compositions interpreted by Charles Manson as coded prophecies of a war to arise from racial tensions between blacks and whites.[5][6]

Contents

Inspiration

McCartney was inspired to write the song after reading a 1967 Guitar Player magazine interview with The Who's Pete Townshend where he described their latest single, "I Can See for Miles," as the loudest, rawest, dirtiest song The Who had ever recorded. McCartney then "wrote 'Helter Skelter' to be the most raucous vocal, the loudest drums, et cetera" and said he was "using the symbol of a helter skelter as a ride from the top to the bottom—the rise and fall of the Roman Empire—and this was the fall, the demise."[1] In British English, the term helter-skelter not only has its meaning of "in disorderly haste or confusion" but is the name of a spiralling amusement park slide.[7] McCartney has used this song as a response to critics who accuse him of only writing ballads.[8]

On 20 November 1968, two days before the release of The Beatles, McCartney gave Radio Luxembourg an exclusive interview, in which he commented on several of the album’s songs. Speaking of "Helter Skelter," he said the following:

Umm, that came about just 'cuz I'd read a review of a record which said, "and this group really got us wild, there's echo on everything, they're screaming their heads off." And I just remember thinking, "Oh, it'd be great to do one. Pity they've done it. Must be great — really screaming record." And then I heard their record and it was quite straight, and it was very sort of sophisticated. It wasn't rough and screaming and tape echo at all. So I thought, "Oh well, we'll do one like that, then." And I had this song called "Helter Skelter," which is just a ridiculous song. So we did it like that, 'cuz I like noise.[9]

Recording

The Beatles recorded the song multiple times during the The White Album sessions. During the 18 July 1968 sessions, a version of the song lasting 27 minutes and 11 seconds was recorded, although this version is rather slow and hypnotic, differing greatly from the volume and rawness of the album version.[10] Another recording from the same day was edited down to 4:37 for Anthology 3, which was originally twelve minutes long. On 9 September, 18 takes of approximately five minutes each were recorded, and the last one is featured on the original LP.[11] After the 18th take, Ringo Starr flung his sticks across the studio[12] and screamed, "I've got blisters on my fingers!"[1][11] The Beatles included Starr's shout on the stereo mix of the song (available on CD); the song completely fades out around 3:40, then gradually fades back in, fades back out partially, and quickly fades back in with three cymbal crashes and Ringo's scream (some sources erroneously credit the "blisters" line to Lennon due to the fact that in the video he can be seen screaming at the end; in fact, Lennon can be heard asking "How's that?" before the outburst[13]). The mono version (originally on LP only) ends on the first fadeout without Ringo's outburst. The mono version was not initially available in the US as mono albums had already been phased out there. The mono version was later released in the American version of the Rarities album. In 2009, it was made available on the CD mono re-issue of the White Album as part of the Beatles in Mono CD box set.

According to Chris Thomas, who was present,[11] the 18 July session was especially spirited. "While Paul was doing his vocal, George Harrison had set fire to an ashtray and was running around the studio with it above his head, doing an Arthur Brown."[11] Starr's recollection is less detailed, but agrees in spirit: "'Helter Skelter' was a track we did in total madness and hysterics in the studio. Sometimes you just had to shake out the jams."[8]

Personnel

Personnel per Mark Lewisohn[11] and Alan W. Pollack[14]

Critical reaction

The song has been covered by a number of bands (see below) and praised by critics, including Richie Unterberger of Allmusic. Unterberger called it "one of [the] fiercest and most brutal rockers done by anyone" and "extraordinary."[4] Ian MacDonald was critical, calling it "ridiculous, McCartney shrieking weedily against a massively tape-echoed backdrop of out-of-tune thrashing."[15] Alan W. Pollack said the song will "scare and unsettle" listeners, citing "Helter Skelter"'s "obsessive nature" and "undercurrent of violence", and noted "Paul's savage vocal delivery" as reinforcing this theme.[14]

In a 1980 interview, Lennon said, "That's Paul completely ... It has nothing to do with anything, and least of all to do with me."[2]

In March 2005, Q magazine ranked "Helter Skelter" number 5 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks.

Charles Manson

Main article: Helter Skelter (Manson scenario)

Charles Manson told his followers that White Album songs including "Helter Skelter" were the Beatles' coded prophecy of an apocalyptic war in which racist and non-racist whites would be maneuvered into virtually exterminating each other over the treatment of blacks.[6][16][17] Upon the war's conclusion, after black militants would kill off the few whites they would know to have survived, Manson and his companions would emerge from an underground city in which they would have escaped the conflict. As the only remaining whites, they would rule blacks, who, as the vision went, would be incapable of running America. Manson employed Helter Skelter as the term for this epic sequence of events.

Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Vincent Bugliosi, who led the prosecution of Manson and the killers who acted on Manson's instruction, named his best-selling book about the murders Helter Skelter. [6] The book was the basis for two television movies of the same title.

Cover versions

  • In 1975, Aerosmith recorded a cover of "Helter Skelter", but it was not released until 1991, on the Pandora's Box compilation.
  • In 1978, Siouxsie and the Banshees included a cover of this song on The Scream.
  • In 1980, Dianne Heatherington included a significant rearrangement of the song on her Epic album, Heatherington Rocks; the song was also released as a single.[18]
  • In 1981, Pat Benatar released a cover of "Helter Skelter" as the final track on Precious Time.
  • In 1983, Mötley Crüe recorded their version of this song on their Shout at the Devil album. (It also appeared on their 2006 live album Carnival Of Sins Live and on their 1999 live album Live: Entertainment or Death.)
  • In 1983, The Bobs released an a cappella version on their eponymous album. It earned them a 1984 Grammy nomination for best new arrangement of an existing song.
  • In 1988, U2 released a live cover version of "Helter Skelter" as the opening track on their Rattle and Hum album (see below).
  • In 1989, Skinny Puppy released the song "Worlock", which includes a movement where samples of Charles Manson singing the first verse of "Helter Skelter" are played on top of samples from the Beatles song. A music video exists and features short clips of Lennon, Manson and McCartney.
  • In 1989, Gillan released a cover of "Helter Skelter" as a bonus track on the reissue of Magic.
  • In 1989, Vow Wow recorded "Helter Skelter" and named their album after the song.
  • In 1997, Dimension Zero included a cover of the song on Penetrations from the Lost World.
  • In 1997, Skrew included a cover of the song on Angel Seed XXIII.
  • In 2000, Oasis released a studio version which was released as B-sides to "Go Let It Out" and "Who Feels Love?".
  • In 2007, the Stereophonics release a cover of the song as a bonus-track on the Japanese release of Pull the Pin.
  • In 2007, Dana Fuchs performs the song in Across the Universe.
  • In 2008, Autolux released a cover of the song as a B-side on their single "Audience No. 2".
  • In 2009, Thrice released a cover of the song as a bonus track on their album Beggars.

Live cover performances

  • In 1986, Hüsker Dü covered "Helter Skelter" live and issued it on their "Don't Want To Know If You Are Lonely" EP.
  • In 1987, U2 recorded the song in concert for their Rattle and Hum movie and album which was released the following year. Bono's introduction to the song was, "This is a song Charles Manson stole from The Beatles. We're stealing it back." Also noteworthy of this cover is that Bono reworked McCartney's original line "You may be a lover but you ain't no dancer" and sung it as (in a kind of double-negative) "you ain't no lover but you ain't no dancer".
  • In 1993, White Zombie played the song live while on tour. This version thus far has only been issued as a bootleg called Ressurection Day.
  • On 31 October 1994, Phish covered the song as part of their "Musical Costume" performance of (almost) the entire White Album. This version contained heavy discords; it concluded with the line "I've got Blisters on my Fingers" sung in four-part harmony. This concert was released as Live Phish Volume 13.
  • On 7 September 1995, Bon Jovi performed the first and second verse of this song live on the streets of Times Square for the 1995 MTV Video Music Awards before going into their own "Something For the Pain".
  • On 20 November 1996, Urban Dance Squad finished their show in Belgrade with a crossover version of the song, which subsequently appeared on their live album Beograd live.
  • In 1996, Pat Benatar released a live version on her Pat Benatar: Heartbreaker: Sixteen Classic Performances album.
  • In 1999, Bon Jovi released a live version on his Rare Tracks album.
  • In 2000, Oasis covered "Helter Skelter" live, this performance is included on their live album Familiar to Millions. A studio version was also recorded for the B-side to the single "Who Feels Love?" and was recorded during the sessions for Be Here Now.

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Miles 1997, pp. 487–488.
  2. ^ a b Sheff 2000, p. 200.
  3. ^ Erlewine 2007.
  4. ^ a b Allmusic 2007.
  5. ^ Hoekstra 1978.
  6. ^ a b c Bugliosi 1997, pp. 240–247.
  7. ^ AskOxford 2008.
  8. ^ a b The Beatles 2000, p. 311.
  9. ^ Beatles Interview Database 1968.
  10. ^ Marck 2008.
  11. ^ a b c d e Lewisohn 1988, p. 154.
  12. ^ Spitz 2005, p. 794.
  13. ^ Brown 2007.
  14. ^ a b Pollack 1998.
  15. ^ MacDonald 2005, p. 298.
  16. ^ Linder 2007a.
  17. ^ Linder 2007b.
  18. ^ Discogs 2009.

References

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