Yes It Is
| "Yes It Is" | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 US picture sleeve | ||||||||||
| Single by The Beatles | ||||||||||
| A-side | "Ticket to Ride" | |||||||||
| Released |
9 April 1965 (UK) 19 April 1965 (US) | |||||||||
| Format | 7" | |||||||||
| Recorded |
16 February 1965 Abbey Road Studios | |||||||||
| Genre | Pop[1] | |||||||||
| Length | 2:41 | |||||||||
| Label | Parlophone | |||||||||
| Writer(s) | Lennon–McCartney | |||||||||
| Producer(s) | George Martin | |||||||||
| The Beatles UK singles chronology | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
"Yes It Is" is a song by the Beatles, released in 1965. Written by John Lennon (credited to Lennon–McCartney) it was first released as the B-side to "Ticket to Ride". It features some of the Beatles' most complex and dissonant three-part vocal harmonies and showcases George Harrison's early use of volume pedal guitar.
Composition
In his 1980 interview with Playboy, John Lennon described it as an attempt to rewrite "This Boy" (the style of the song) that "didn't quite work".[2] Paul McCartney on the other hand described it as "a very fine song of John's", and said he was present when Lennon finished writing it.[3]
Musical structure
The song is in the 12/8 time signature, in the key of E and begins (on "If you wear red tonight ...") with a I–IV-ii7-V7 chord progression (E-A-F#m7-B7) in which the word "tonight" (B melody note) appears as a "delicately haunting" 4th above the F#m7.[4] The melodic pitches of this first two bar phrase are repeated (with initial repetition of the G# melody note) on "remember what I said tonight," except that the B melody note on the second "tonight" is now backed by a ♭VII (D) chord that shapes the B melody note into a more "luscious" 6th.[5] The chorus ("Yes it is, it's true. Yes it is, it's true") involves a I (E chord)- III (G# chord)- IV (A chord)- I (E chord) progression in which the major III (G#) chord appears for the first time in the Song to propel the Plagal drop from IV (A) to the tonic I (E) chord.[6]
Recording
Over the course of a five-hour recording session, the Beatles attempted 14 takes of the basic track before perfecting it,[7] more than any other song they recorded in 1965. It was recorded on 16 February, the same day that they completed Harrison's "I Need You".[7] After completing the rhythm track, Lennon, McCartney and Harrison recorded their vocal harmonies in three hours, singing live together.[7][8]
Release and reception
"Yes It Is" was released as the B-side of "Ticket to Ride" in both the UK and the US.[9] American pressings of the single erroneously show "Yes It Is" as being from the film Eight Arms to Hold You (the original title for the film, Help!),[10] in which it did not appear.[11]
The song was included on Beatles VI in the US, and on subsequent compilation albums including Love Songs, the British version of the Rarities album, Past Masters, Volume One (on which it made its first true stereo appearance), and also on Anthology 2 in an alternate version that combines the second and fourteenth takes. The original mono single mix appears on the Mono Masters CD as part of The Beatles in Mono box set.
Author Ian MacDonald praised "Yes It Is" along with its accompanying a-side "Ticket to Ride". He described the both songs as "[...] psychologically deeper than The Beatles had ever recorded before" and declared that they marked a huge step forward in the Beatles development as songwriters.[12]
Influence
Billy Joel said in a 2008 interview on the nationally syndicated Rockline radio show that his 1980 song "Through The Long Night" was modelled after "Yes It Is."
Covers and parodies
Don Henley performed the song at an early Bridge School Benefit. A recording was issued on Bridge School Concerts, Vol. 1.
Peter Sellers performed a spoken parody which can be heard on A Celebration of Sellers, the four-CD anthology of Sellers' recorded material, released in 1993.
Personnel
- John Lennon – double-tracked lead vocals, rhythm semi-acoustic guitar
- Paul McCartney – harmony vocal, bass
- George Harrison – harmony vocal, volume-pedalled lead electric guitar
- Ringo Starr – drums, tambourine
- George Martin – producer
- Norman Smith – engineer
- Personnel per Ian MacDonald[13]
Notes
- ↑ "The Beatles - Yes It Is - AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved November 23, 2014.
- ↑ Sheff 2000, p. 196.
- ↑ Beatles Interview Database 2009.
- ↑ Dominic Pedler. The Songwriting Secrets of the Beatles. Music Sales Limited. Omnibus Press. NY. 2003. p721
- ↑ Dominic Pedler. The Songwriting Secrets of the Beatles. Music Sales Limited. Omnibus Press. NY. 2003. p721
- ↑ Dominic Pedler. The Songwriting Secrets of the Beatles. Music Sales Limited. Omnibus Press. NY. 2003. p 112–113
- 1 2 3 Lewisohn 1988, p. 54.
- ↑ The Beatles Bible 2009.
- ↑ Lewisohn 1988, p. 200.
- ↑ Harry 2000, p. 1074.
- ↑ Harry 2000, p. 504.
- ↑ Ian MacDonald "A Revolution In The Head"
- ↑ MacDonald 2005, p. 146.
References
- "Help". Beatles Interview Database. 2009. Retrieved 23 September 2009.
- Harry, Bill (2000). The Beatles Encyclopedia: Revised and Updated. London: Virgin Publishing. ISBN 0-7535-0481-2.
- Lewisohn, Mark (1988). The Beatles Recording Sessions. New York: Harmony Books. ISBN 0-517-57066-1.
- MacDonald, Ian (2005). Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties (Second Revised ed.). London: Pimlico (Rand). ISBN 1-84413-828-3.
- Sheff, David (2000). All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-25464-4.
- "Yes It Is". The Beatles Bible. 2009. Retrieved 11 April 2009.