The Rush Job

Dr. X posts this from the University Center mall:

In the winter of 1977 I picked up a magazine at the UAA bookstore.  There was a fiction piece in it about a Beatles reunion, an elaborate fantasy about kidnapping the band and forcing them to play a  concert.  It turned out Ringo was the...er....ringleader.

The first song of that fictional performance was Day Tripper. 

Makes perfect sense.  It is a quintessential Beatles song and has long been recognized as such.  Recorded in October 1965, it falls about at the halfway point of their career (Love Me Do was recorded in 1962, Abbey Road in the first half of 1969).  Although it is a drug song, there is no foreshadowing of the band's near-disastrous drift into undisciplined psychedelic crap.  Here is the original, with a little elaboration from McCartney.

The estimable Alan W. Pollack says: 

[The song is] by virtue of its handling of harmonic rhythm, ostinato guitar riff, and subtle textures in scoring, remarkably instrumental, even orchestral in gesture...  This is the first time in this series that we come upon a Beatles song that bears the signature of an unforgettable guitar riff used to both open and unify the whole production. Like most other musical devices we'll come upon in our studies, this kind of branding-by-riff may not be something the Beatles necessarily "invented," but there's no denying that it is one of several techniques by which they would be known."

I would add that the song exemplifies many other Beatles strengths, particularly the flawless drumming and perfectly executed vocals.  You might say the vocal performances were the product of studio tricks, and you'd be right, but it sounded ok live, too.

Before we consider the serious covers, I suggest you listen to this briefing performed by classical guitarist Muriel Anderson at a seminar in Singapore in 2005:



It turns out that it is difficult to find a decent cover of Day Tripper.  Very often, attempts to cover it convey little new information about the song, but make the performers' blind spots all-too-apparent   (e.g., ELO, Whitesnake, Paul Weller et al, Oasis).  

Then, there are capable performances that essentially duplicate the intentions and impact of the original, without finding much new in it:

• Cheap Trick (say what you want, they know their Beatles)
• Ocean Colour Scene
• Type O Negative (although, featuring the lamented Peter Steele, this is a serious guilty pleasure)
• Paul McCartney (very good in HD)
  

Even the legendary Hendrix rendition - which is totally awesome - probably belongs in this category:



"Owsley can you hear me now!?"  refers to famous LSD cook and Grateful Dead sound man Owsley Stanley, the inspiration for the Steely Dan song Kid Charlemagne.

So, yeah - that's pretty damn good.  One Youtube reviewer says "it's like Jesus covered a song by God." That sounds right - if Jesus had a little looser rhythm section than God.  I'm willing to admit the possibility, but will leave the final determination to the Authorities.

But there are a few covers that are genuinely exceptional - efforts that stand up as distinct interpretations:

• Jose Feliciano finds a more lyrical way to play the song, without sacrificing its edge or rhythmic power.  Lennon:  "Jose Feliciano does great things to Help and Day Tripper."
• The Vontastics bring a Sam and Dave approach to it, and it works just fine.
• Tok Tok Tok shows you don't really need the rock and roll machinery to make it work.
• Along the same lines, it's severely close to parody but I just love Sergio Mendes' version.   The song completely loses its edge - you can see Murph and the Magictones from here - but it's also very cool (it just seems like it could use...).  In fact, it's beautiful.
  

That's really the big point here.  Day Tripper was written hastily and in anger, to meet a commercial need.  ("You want a hit song for Christmas?  Here's your fucking hit song.  It's about a chick who won't put out and my buddy here who won't drop acid because he's a scared little girl.  Merry fucking Christmas."  Or something like that.)

Pollack:

The melodic material is less tuneful than it is rap-like and jagged in terms of both contour and rhythmic syncopation. Most of the phrases, outside of the bridge, make an overall downward gesture. 

But, be that as it may, the music is straight-up beautiful.  Muriel Anderson again, with some friends:



We could use more rush jobs like this.