THE BEATLES - YELLOW SUBMARINE OST @ 55

Released on January 13th, 1969, and celebrating its 55th anniversary today, is the Beatles' original soundtrack for their animated feature film, Yellow Submarine, which premiered in London in July of 1968. It was the tenth studio album by the band, though it does not, in fact, offer a full LP's worth of original Beatles music. The B-side of the LP is entirely taken up with incidental music created for the film by George Martin, the Beatles' producer. It was essentially a contractual obligation release due to the band having singed a deal for the film stipulating that they would create four original songs for the soundtrack and include Martin's score on the release.

The first side of the record features six songs from The Beatles, two of which had been released previously. These included the title track and All You Need Is Love. Of the 4 songs unique to the album, Only A Northern Song, a gripe-song about George's publishing contract, and It's All Too Much, an ode to LSD, were both Harrison compositions, with the former being a rejected leftover from Sgt. Pepper. The latter was originally over 8 minutes in length, but was edited down for the final version. All Together Now is a McCartney composition that was inspired by British music hall singalongs and was considered by its author to be a "throwaway", while Hey Bulldog was contributed by John Lennon, who described it as, "a good-sounding record that means nothing."

The B-side of the LP consists of re-recordings of the incidental music by George Martin and many consider this material to have severely compromised the overall quality of the album. Even John Lennon dismissed the music as "...all this terrible shit" and blamed Brian Epstein, the Beatles' manager, for allowing Martin to participate in the project. Plans were even made to release an EP containing only the 6 Beatles songs, but this release, even though it got as far as mixing mono versions of the songs and mastering, was ultimately abandoned. George Martin certainly wasn't going to agree to have his contribution dropped as this was going to be a major payday for him, given the massive publishing and royalties he'd be getting by piggybacking on The Beatles popularity. This was only changed when a 30th anniversary edition of the soundtrack was released in 1999, which omitted Martin's work and added 9 Beatles songs that appeared throughout the movie, but were not included on the original soundtrack due to being previously released songs.

Though the new material for the soundtrack was recorded and completed before the group started work on their eponymous "White" album, release of Yellow Submarine was delayed until after the White album was released in order to avoid having the impact of that album undermined by the soundtrack. Upon its release, it did well in terms of sales, but the critical response to it was mostly ambivalent and many felt that it simply didn't offer the kind of value that was a consistent trait of previous releases. The Beatles themselves were simply disinterested in the project as a whole and agreed to an animated film simply because it meant the most minimal commitment from them.

Personally, this album was my introduction to the group, at least in a way that left an impression on my very young mind. I couldn't have been older than 5 or six when a babysitter brought the LP over and played it for my brother and I. I was immediately enthralled by it, and it became my touchstone for my first impressions of the band. As such, it has a certain sentimental value, even though it's likely their least significant record.
 

INFLUENTIAL ALBUM - THE BEATLES, YELLOW SUBMARINE

Music was a big part of my childhood. My mom even played music extra loud while I was in-utero because she wanted me to love music, and this was in 1963, long before hipster moms glomed onto the idea of trying to influence their babies while they were still chillin' in the womb. Once I was outta there, it was mostly stuff like Elvis & Johnny Cash records for my mom, while my dad had a Latin easy listening lean, stuff like Herb Alpert & Mexican Joe. They were still in their early 20s, so while their tastes were rooted in the 1950s, they'd still pick up the odd contemporary single, things like The Monkees' I'm a Believe & Last Train to Clarksville, but it was mostly country music stuff from them beyond that.

The real eye/ear opener for me as a kid was the day the babysitter brought over her newly purchased copy of The Beatles Yellow Submarine. It being released in 1969, I couldn't have been more than 5, going on 6. I can remember it so clearly, being in the living room, sitting with her on the floor next to the big old console stereo and her showing me this record. The cover of it was marvelous, so colorful and strange! Coming into my sense of self-consciousness in the late 1960s was a weird time because psychedelia was in full swing and it had an immediate appeal for a kid like me with its bright colors and fantastical imagery. It most definitely became a foundation memory for me in terms of guiding my quests for the unusual.

When she put the record on, I recall being transfixed by the music. It was so different from anything I'd really heard before and so instantly memorable. The hooks in the songs sunk into you and never let go. You heard this stuff once and were humming it forever afterwards.

I had no idea of what went into making this music back then nor how sophisticated it was in terms of its production, arrangements and execution. All I knew was that I wanted to find more music like this. It would be several years before my record collecting obsession would fully kick into gear in 1977, but this album was the one that got me to perceive the medium as something special and collectible, objects worth coveting. At the time, however, all I knew was that I also wanted to live in a Yellow Submarine.