What Goes On
What Goes On: The Beatles Anomalies List
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Anomalies G

Get Back

Most of this applies to the "Let It Be" version, especially timings.

0:00-0:20 (Let It Be only).
    Introduced by John's "Sweet Loretta Fart she thought she was a cleaner, but she was a frying pan". There is also Paul singing "Rosetta...", John's "The picker ... picks for the fingers, great!" and a quiet "1-2-1234" count in, a "Get in!" and a "Level John!"

According to two reports, "picks for the fingers" is in fact "Picture the fingers going". John is apparently motioning with his hands at this point on bootleg videos of the rooftop concert, although another report states that this chatter is from a studio recording (January 27th), and so what is visible in the rooftop video at this point is of no consequence. It is more likely John was talking about/asking for a plectrum (a pick), to save his fingers.

1:19 (Let It Be, 1:00 on PM2)
    Lead guitar (left channel) breaks up, when both John and Paul sing "Get back ... belonged".

2:31 (PM2 only)
    In the quiet break, after "once belong", and just before Paul's "oooh", someone speaks. It sounds like maybe George saying "Let's give him some Night Nurse" - Night Nurse being a cough/cold remedy. Paul's voice does sound a bit odd on this track, maybe they were joking about it! Also reported as "It's giving him some nightmuures" (Liverpool pronunciation of nightmares), and "Let's give it some might, guys".

2:55 (Let It Be only)
    Outroduced with a policeman (from the "on the roof" session) saying "I'm afraid it's just too long", telling them to wind up the gig. This is edited on from the rooftop performance, as is Paul's "Thanks Mo!" (to Maureen Starkey), and John's "I'd like to thank you on behalf of the group and ourselves, and I hope we passed the audition".


Getting Better

0:00-0:02
    Someone gives a count in for the vocals. Other talking evident on left channel.

0:13
    The word "teachers" has a double-track sound to it, as if an overlapped edit was performed. I'm sure Paul can't sing two notes at once like this! Listen for a lower vocal note than the one Paul sings, on the first syllable...

0:21
    Distortion on the word "up".

0:28
    More audible on right channel, edit in the word "Bett/ter".

0:34
    Right channel, someone shouts "Better" under Paul's vocals.

0:43-0:44
    Right channel, rising whistle, and a click.

0:56
    Paul makes a verbal slip, "And you're doing the best that I can".

1:04
    Odd sound (same as 1:26).

1:05
    Centre, loud click.

1:07
    Electric piano and cymbal/hi-hat do a "double skip", left side, as if it's a faulty edit. Doesn't sound intentional.

1:10
    "Shhh ..." or intake of breath, right channel.

1:21, 1:26, 1:33
    Sound (right channel). Coming from the guitar, possibly a faulty amplifier/cable, or maybe a very scratchy picking action!


Girl

0:24, 0:54, 1:24, 1:54, 2:25
    William Newman writes

After the word "girl" is sung in the chorus, there's a breathy sound. This sound is John smoking a joint. The sound varies and sometimes he's really gettin' down on it.

Well, it beats the usual explanation of John expressing his angst over this girl he's singing about! I'm not sure how accurate it is, though!

0:09, 0:37, 0:49
    There is leakage of an acoustic guitar or bouzouki on the right channel. The instrument is not actually being used in the mix at this point. It's probably coming through with John's vocal, after the line "girl who came to stay" (0:09), and "to cry ..." (0:37), and "why ..." (0:49)

0:59
    Right channel, someone (John?) coaches "tit tit tit" for the backing vocal.

1:30-1:50
    In addition to the bouzouki line here, there is leakage of a harmony bouzouki line (as found at the end, 2:00-onwards, placed in the left channel). The harmony line is playing twice as many notes, and sticks out over the main bouzouki line. Maybe it was recorded both times, but mixed out later. Not as clear on CD, this has been fixed.

1:54
    A few quiet bouzouki notes, right channel. Also reported as piano notes (there is no piano on this track), or sound of a guitar being put down or picked up.


Glass Onion

0:00
    John sniffs loudly!

0:05-0:06
    After the line "told you 'bout Strawberry Fields", someone sings "for evah" in the background.

0:51-0:52
    Two clicks, one during "yeah", one after.

1:00
    "Oh" in a high pitched voice during the gap.

1:19
    Piano chord cuts off abruptly just before the drum taps, highlighting the edited-together nature of this song! Maybe this is to delete a sound effect: See the Anthology version where there is a pinging bell at this point in the track.

1:26
    David Vegafria writes

The bass line in Glass Onion is very syncopated - it also is pretty rigid, he maintains the point where he starts, and never skips a beat that should be emphasized. At 1:25 he skips a full beat at the beginning of "I tell you man..." after listening to the song several times, I can't find an instance of a pause that long that isn't *obviously* supposed to be there.

1:38
    Edit in right channel, affecting drums (at the point where the crash cymbal suddenly appears).

1:45
    After "dovetail joint, yeah" someone shouts "hey!"

1:49
    Left channel, a click from the bass guitar. This is an edit to the end piece.

2:16
    Some reports say that the tape is slowing down at the end of the song, but I have a horrible feeling that it was actually played this way. The very very last second (almost inaudible without processing) may be a tape machine being switched off, but I'm not convinced.


Golden Slumbers

1:23
    Click, centred, but more audible listening to the right channel only. It's during the word "Darling".


Good Day Sunshine

0:04,0:07
    "Taps and cymbals" track (right side) come in suddenly, rather than a complete fade-in.

0:23-0:24
    Piano riff drops out.

0:52
    Low frequency bump - "the sun is shining down [bump] burns my ..."

1:19
    Right channel, a click, right after the more audible clap.

1:26
    Someone (John? Ringo?) quietly repeats "She feels good" This appears to trigger something closely approximating a chuckle from Paul in the next line.

Listening closely on the CD, it sounds like Ringo or John saying "She f**ing does" or "She feels nice". The last word is definitely not "good", it ends in an "esss" sound. Also heard by David Gulczynski.

John Sinclair refers to the version on "Give My Regards To Broad Street" and says "that it is 'she feels good' repeated."

On Paul McCartney's Get Back video (1990 tour), a live version is performed, where he sings the second "she feels good" very clearly, showing the intention to repeat the line.

So maybe he laughed because the line was meant to be repeated, but in fact on this recording, it became twisted into something new?

1:33
    Bad edit or stumble in the piano track totally drops out (right channel).

1:58
    Cut to four vocal tracks is very abrupt, the piano drops out completely. Loud "swish" at edit point.


Good Morning Good Morning

Whole Song
    Throughout the song, the right channel contains soft drum beats, ostensibly used to direct the brass instruments. There are also hand claps.

0:06
    "Hah!" (left channel)

0:16
    Edit in the vocals, made audible by a cut off deep breath and a subtle change in the quality of the vocal.

0:23
    Hiss sound, right channel, under the words "to do".

0:30-0:32
    Two shouts, left channel, under main vocals. Maybe misplaced "Good Morning" guide vocals.

0:53
    Someone grunts after the sax stops playing (right channel).

1:55
    More slightly misplaced "Good Morning" guide vocals, centred.

2:25
    Reported as someone (John?) yelling "Lookout Lookout!" when the horses run by. This is actually John shouting "Go on, Gidyup, Yah!" to gee up the horses.

2:33
    Where the "Good Morning" vocals fade out, there is an audible click as the vocals and brass stop. Just before this a voice, very quiet, says "Turn it off" (right channel). Not present in the mono version.


Good Night

0:21,0:28,0:42,0:58 and too many others to list
    Clicks in centre of stereo field.

2:04-2:11
    Ringo sings "Close your eyes and I'll close mine", but the backing sings "Now it's time to say Good Night", elsewhere the vocals match correctly.

It has been suggested that this is intentional. Ugo Coppola writes

This is Ugo from Italy ... in reference to your Good Night (White Album) note ... I don't think that's an anomaly at all. I think it's intentional. Here in Italy there are lots of singers who sing something over a choir or some backing vocalists who sing something else on the same melody, especially in ballads or melodic songs in general. Umberto Tozzi, Raf, Laura Pausini, Claudio Baglioni and Lucio Battisti all do this.

Also Buddy Holly's "That Will Be The Day" (backing continues "That'll be the day" while lead sings "Say You're Gonna Leave").

2:36
    When Ringo sings "Dream sweet dreams for me", his voice cracks on "for".

3:09-3:11
    Really hard to hear, there's a metallic "ting", and a voice, and a creak remaining in the fadeout.


Got To Get You Into My Life

0:01 to 0:06
    Talking (John/Ringo?) during the intro, left channel. There are five words audible, but it's not clear enough to be a regular count in. They occur between the beats.

0:37
    Odd pop sound in Paul's vocal on the word "didn't [lie]".

0:40-1:00, 1:28-1:38
    Left side, distorted guitar sound plays horn riff after "find THERE ..." and in "OOH, then I suddenly" the guitar sound plays chord voicings on beats 2 and 4. Maybe before the brass was added, these parts were carried by guitars, and this is the remants breaking through as leakage.

1:45
    Strange guitar sound (centre).

1:49
    New guitar sound appears from nowhere, possible edit?

2:07
    Leakage of tremolo guitar (right side) that was edited out.

2:10
    Possible edit to the whole take, the vocals and brass seem to have more presence.

It's also noted by a couple of contributors that John's organ part and Paul's bass note stick on the chord (and note) G, yet the brass part keeps going from G to F. The engineer fades this organ part out at 2:16 to 2:19 to hide the mistake.

I don't believe this to be a mistake in chord structure: It was intended, I'm sure. Note that Paul holds the G-G-G-G-DG-G-G-G bass pattern over F chords in the early part of the song. There's nothing wrong with overlaying F and G in that way.

That does leave the question of where the organ went ...


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