(intense music) - It's August of 1966.

After years of relentless touring, The Beatles find themselves grappling with inadequate sound systems, raucous screaming fans, and the inability to hear themselves play.

Their music is getting more and more complex, but it can't be performed live due to the limitations of the technology of the time.

And so John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr make the pivotal decision to stop touring.

This could have spelled the end for The Beatles.

After all, the notion of a band that didn't perform live, well, that just sounded like it was destined to fail.

But The Beatles used this critical moment to embark on a new artistic direction, pushing the boundaries of songwriting and recording.

And the song that started it all began with a melancholic John Lennon strumming his guitar in a small apartment in Almería, Spain.

Welcome to "Deconstructing The Beatles: A Trip Through Strawberry Fields."

(upbeat music) Hi, I'm Scott Freiman.

I have been fascinated by the music of The Beatles all my life.

And over the last 20 years, I've been diving into the creative process of these four remarkable musicians.

The Beatles last live performance in front of a paying audience was August 29th, 1966 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, California.

After that concert, all four Beatles took time off to travel and to work on other projects.

Dick Lester, the director of Beatles movies, "A Hard Day's Night" and "Help!"

had cast Lennon in the role of a musketeer Gripweed in his anti-war satire, "How I Won the War."

To prepare for the role, Lennon got his haircut and adopted the granny glasses that would become his signature.

Despite being surrounded by the other actors and crew, Lennon was feeling lonely and missing his band mates.

He was miserable making the film, spending large amounts of time waiting to film his few scenes.

In addition, he was concerned about his future now that The Beatles were no longer going to be performing live.

When the production relocated from Germany to Almeria, Spain, Lennon moved into a small apartment called Delfín Verde, The Green Dolphin.

It was there that he channeled all his feelings into a new song.

(upbeat music) ♪ There's no one on my wavelength ♪ ♪ I mean, it's either too high or too low ♪ ♪ That is you can't, you know, tune in ♪ ♪ But it's all right ♪ I mean, it's not too bad ♪ There's no one on my wavelength ♪ ♪ I mean, it's either too high or too low ♪ ♪ That is you can't you know ♪ Tune in but it's all right ♪ I mean, it's not too bad - These are strange lyrics for a song filled with filler words like "you know" and "that is."

They read more like a conversation rather than a song lyric.

And let's face it, the words don't even rhyme.

Lennon perpetually grappled with the notion that he perceived the world differently from others, often oscillating between feeling like a genius or doubting his sanity.

Everyone else was either too high or too low, but Lennon tries to reassure himself that it's not too bad.

Lennon soon relocates to a 19th century mansion called El Cortijo Romero to accommodate some guests, including his wife, Cynthia, and Ringo Starr.

It has a high gate and a school next door.

Lennon records a version of his new song in the bathroom, since we all know we sound better singing in the bathroom.

This version introduces the song's chorus.

♪ Always, no sometimes, think it's me ♪ ♪ I mean, it must be too high or low ♪ ♪ That is, you can't, you know, tune in ♪ ♪ But it's all right ♪ You know, I think it's not too bad ♪ ♪ Let me take you down there ♪ Strawberry field ♪ Nothing is real ♪ And nothing to get mad about ♪ Strawberry field and nothing - So what is the strawberry field that Lennon is singing about?

Well, back in his hometown of Liverpool, Lennon's boyhood home was next door to an orphanage operated by The Salvation Army.

The imposing building had a huge garden, and the young Lennon and his friends would hop over the wall to play with the orphans, that orphanage was called Strawberry Field.

♪ Strawberry field forever - Sitting in Spain, listening to the children playing next door, Lennon conjures up a memory from his own childhood when he would play with his friends at Strawberry Field, and there was nothing to get hung about.

Before we see how The Beatles recorded the song, I want to take a moment to talk about the unusual music for the chorus.

(upbeat music) "Strawberry Fields Forever" is one of John Lennon's most beautiful melodies.

It begins firmly in the key of B Flat.

(Scott playing piano keyboard) And then starts to get a little darker with this F Minor chord.

(Scott playing piano keyboard) And then gets mysterious with this G diminished chord.

(Scott playing piano keyboard) And then there's nothing to be hung about, very triumphant with an extra two beats.

(Scott playing piano keyboard) And finally, that beautiful memory from John's childhood of playing at the Strawberry Field orphanage.

(Scott playing piano keyboard) John has taken us on an entire journey from curiosity, to suspense, to triumph, to release.

Let me play it all together.

(Scott playing piano keyboard) ♪ Let me take you down ♪ 'Cause I'm going to strawberry field ♪ (Scott playing piano keyboard) ♪ Nothing is real (Scott playing piano keyboard) ♪ And nothing to get hung about ♪ ♪ Strawberry fields forever - [Scott] After filming wraps in November, Lennon returns to Kenwood, his home in Weybridge, England.

He continues to work on this new song in his home studio, experimenting with different arrangements and instrumentation.

Here is a clip of Lennon working on the song in his home studio.

♪ No one I think is in my tree ♪ I mean, it must be high or low ♪ ♪ That is (John chuckling) - [John] It just only goes too quieter, doesn't it?

(upbeat music) ♪ That is, you can't, you know, tune in ♪ (speaker mumbling) ♪ Let me take you down ♪ 'Cause I'm going to strawberry fields ♪ ♪ Nothing is real ♪ And nothing to get hung about ♪ ♪ Strawberry fields forever ♪ Strawberry fields forever ♪ Strawberry fields forever - By the time the four Beatles reconvene at EMI Studios on November 24th, 1966, Lennon is ready to debut his song for the group and producer George Martin.

Martin was thunderstruck.

It was a very gentle song when I first heard it.

He later recalled, "It was spellbinding, his lyrics painted a hazy impressionistic world.

I was in love with what I heard.

All I had to do was record it."

We're going to listen to The Beatles' first take of the song.

Unlike the final version, it begins with the verse rather than the chorus.

It also features background harmonies, a simpler drum part, and a strange instrument that sounds like a slide guitar.

We'll talk about that slide guitar in a minute.

Let's listen.

(upbeat music) - [Speaker] Take 1.

♪ Living is easy with eyes closed ♪ ♪ Misunderstanding all you see ♪ It's getting hard to be someone ♪ ♪ But it all works out ♪ It doesn't matter much to me ♪ No one I think is in my tree ♪ I mean, it must be high or low ♪ ♪ That is, you can't, you know, tune in, ♪ ♪ But it's all right ♪ That is, I think it's not too bad ♪ ♪ Let me take you down ♪ 'Cause I'm going to strawberry fields ♪ ♪ Nothing is real ♪ And nothing to get hung about ♪ ♪ Strawberry fields forever ♪ Always, no sometimes, think it's me ♪ ♪ But you know, I know when it's a dream ♪ ♪ I think I know, I mean a yes ♪ But it's all wrong ♪ That is, I think I disagree ♪ Let me take you down 'cause I'm going to ♪ - Any other group would've been thrilled with this performance.

It's beautiful, and it sounds nothing like the music other groups were recording at the time, but The Beatles think they can do better, and so they start over with Take 2.

This time they're going to begin the song with the chorus, but before that chorus enters, there's an introduction played on a relatively new instrument called a Mellotron.

(upbeat music) The Mellotron lets you choose from a series of prerecorded instruments and loops, like flutes or trumpets or Spanish guitars.

Each sound had a bank of tapes, one tape for each note of the keyboard.

When you press the key, the tape would play for about eight seconds before it rewound to be played again.

It was what we call today a sampling instrument, playing back prerecorded sounds rather than creating new ones.

♪ Let me take you down - [Scott] That strange slide guitar we heard in Take 1, well, that was a Mellotron set to play back an electric guitar sound.

For Take 2, Paul McCartney uses a flute sound for the song's introduction.

Here is Take 2 of the "Strawberry Fields Forever."

You'll notice how different this take sounds from the first take.

It's darker, moodier, and Ringo's drums are much more dramatic.

It begins with the Mellotron.

(upbeat music) By the time the Beatles get to Take 6 of "Strawberry Fields," the arrangement of the song is fully formed.

It features several Mellotron parts, some percussion played by George Harrison, Paul's bass, Ringo's drums, and Lennon's beautiful haunting vocal.

Martin, and engineer, Geoff Emerick, merged some of the tracks together, so that they can make room for a second lead vocal, an additional Mellotron guitar and piano.

Here is Take 7, the final version of "Strawberry Fields", or so they thought.

Producer George Martin announces the Take.

- [George] "Strawberry Feels Forever," Take 7, remix from four-track, Take 6.

(upbeat music) ♪ Let me take you down ♪ 'Cause I'm going to strawberry fields ♪ ♪ Nothing is real ♪ And nothing to get hung about ♪ ♪ Strawberry fields forever - Everybody was thrilled with how far the song had come, except John Lennon.

Martin asked Lennon, what else he would like to add to the song?

But Lennon was thinking about something more extreme.

He wanted to start over completely.

This time he asked for a more aggressive approach with George Martin adding an orchestral accompaniment.

"Well," John said, "Martin, if you wanna redo the song that way, we can't use anything that we've already recorded, we'll need to start with a brand-new backing track."

On December 8th, The Beatles begin recording this new backing track at 7:00 p.m. in a session that lasted until 3:40 a.m. the next morning.

Martin and Emerick were at the premier of "Finders Keepers", the new Cliff Richard movie, so Technical Engineer Dave Harries' man, the mixer.

The Beatles begin by recording Ringo's cymbals, and then they reversed the tape, so the cymbals play backwards.

Paul and George played timpani and bongos, while roadie, Mal Evans, adds a tambourine.

Lastly, they overdub electric guitars.

When Martin and Emerick returned to the studio later that evening, this is what they hear.

(upbeat music) - [John] Cranberry sauce.

Cranberry sauce.

- [Scott] Nobody knows why John said- - Cranberry sauce.

- "Cranberry sauce" during that recording, but many people mistakenly thought that John had said- - I buried Paul!

- "I buried Paul!

", which helped feed the Paul's dead hoax of late 1969.

Any other producer would've recoiled in horror upon hearing this.

After all, The Beatles had already recorded a beautiful take of "Strawberry Fields Forever."

This recording definitely didn't sound like the same song, but George Martin was not any producer, he was just as willing to experiment as the four Beatles.

And so rather than dismissed this new backing track, Martin set to work writing an orchestral arrangement for it, one just as unusual as what The Beatles had recorded.

Martin chose to score the song for trumpets and cello, a far cry from the string arrangements he had written for songs like "Yesterday" and "Eleanor Rigby."

In Martin's arrangement, the trumpets would blare in the high register while the cello dug in underneath.

This left room for Lennon's vocal to fit snugly in the middle.

It was brilliant.

Here is a little of that arrangement.

(upbeat music) There was one final instrument added to the arrangement.

The song was embellished with a touch of George Harrison's ever-growing fascination with Eastern music, courtesy of an enchanting Indian harp known as the swarmandal.

Here's what the swarmandal sounds like.

(upbeat music) A final tape reduction was performed to allow for a second vocal, a piano part, and some additional snare drum from Ringo.

Here is George Martin to walk us through a little of Take 26.

♪ Let me take you down 'Cause I'm going to strawberry fields - [George] Double track voices on three and four, but with percussion as well on three.

♪ And nothing to get hung about ♪ ♪ Strawberry fields forever - [George] Swarmandal.

(upbeat music) An Indian instrument that George had brought back, it's like a kind of harp, had a marvelous effect.

♪ That is, you can't, you know, tune in, but it's all right ♪ - [George] Backwards cymbal on track one.

♪ That is, I think it's not too bad ♪ ♪ Let me take you down - [George] Always sounds like Russian language to me.

♪ Going to strawberry fields ♪ Nothing is real - [George] Raw stabs and so on with the cello, but underlying it all there's wonderful rhythm section.

♪ Strawberry fields forever (upbeat music) - [George] About nine or 10 players there.

♪ Hung about ♪ Strawberry fields forever ♪ Strawberry fields forever ♪ Strawberry fields forever - [Scott] The group must have been ecstatic about this recording.

What an arrangement!

The Mellotron, the swarmandal, the cello and trumpets, and that wild percussion part is such a powerful setting for Lennon's moving lyrics, yet there was still someone unhappy.

You guessed it, John Lennon.

He told Martin, I'd like the first part of the earlier arrangement, Take 7, but I prefer the second part of the new arrangement.

Can we just cut them together?

Martin told Lennon, that was impossible.

John, you've got to understand that we recorded the earlier version in the key of A and the new version in the key of C, plus this new version was played at a faster tempo than the earlier version.

Two different keys, two different tempos, there's no way to combine them.

"I know you can figure it out", said John, and he left Martin and Emerick to solve the problem.

Believe it or not, they did.

Thanks to a technique called Varispeed, the ability to vary the speed of a tape player.

The two determined that if they slightly sped up the recording of Take 7, it would raise the key from A to roughly B Flat.

And if they slowed down Take 26, it would lower the key from C to roughly B Flat.

And that is exactly what they did.

Now the two different takes were roughly the same tempo and roughly the same key.

Emerick along with tape operator, Phil McDonald, oversaw a very difficult edit, cutting the tape at a very shallow angle to disguise the join.

And the final version of "Strawberry Fields Forever" was complete.

If you isolate the two channels of the recording, you can hear exactly where the two takes were joint.

Here is the left channel.

Listen to the tone change when John sings, "Let me take you down 'cause I'm going to."

♪ It doesn't matter much to me ♪ Let me take you down ♪ 'Cause I'm going to strawberry fields ♪ - [Scott] In the right channel, you can hear the trumpets and cello come in at the joint.

♪ It doesn't matter much to me ♪ Let me take you down ♪ 'Cause I'm going to strawberry fields ♪ - [Scott] Edits like this are commonplace today, since computers can easily transform the speed and pitch of a recording.

But Martin, Emerick, and McDonald did this with tape.

It was truly remarkable, not only that they got it to work, but that the edit is so seamless.

It's hard to believe that the final version of "Strawberry Fields Forever" is a combination of two completely different versions of the song in different keys, different tempos, and with completely different instrumentation.

Paul McCartney knew that "Strawberry Fields Forever" was a masterpiece, so he was determined to write a song that was just as good.

If John's song was about Liverpool, then Paul would match it with another Liverpool song.

That song, "Penny Lane" would continue The Beatles' streak of innovation and would set the stage for their 1967 masterpiece, "Sgt.

Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band."

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