A song from The Beatles‘ Magical Mystery Tour was originally two different songs, one by John Lennon and the other by Paul McCartney. Subsequently, a sound engineer who worked on the song was enthralled with it. The tune complements some other Fab Four songs very well.
The book All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono features an interview from 1980. In it, he was asked about “Baby, You’re a Rich Man.” “That’s a combination of two separate pieces, Paul’s and mine, put together and forced into one song,” he said.
John gave fans insight into how the song came together. “One half was all mine,” he recalled. “‘How does it feel to be one of the beautiful people, now that you know who you are, da da da da.’ Then Paul comes in with [sings] ‘Baby, you’re a rich man,’ which was a lick he had around.”
An engineer who worked on ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ songs loved ‘Baby, You’re a Rich Man’
Eddie Kramer is a sound engineer who worked on songs by Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, and some tracks from Magical Mastery Tour. During a 2013 interview with Guitar World, Kramer discussed John’s role in creating “Baby, You’re a Rich Man.” He said John added electronic keyboard riffs to the track that sounded like Indian music.
“If you can imagine, we’ve cut the track and it’s coming along really nicely,” Kramer said. “I think John wandered into the studio and said, ‘Oy, what’s this?’ And there on a table is the Clavioline [electronic keyboard]. So we hooked it up and he started fooling around with it. And he says, ‘OK that’s what I want.’ So we stuck a mic in front of the amp, and he was done in a couple of takes.”
Kramer was impressed with the song. “We were duty bound to make this thing really explode, and we did,” Kramer says. “It was an amazing track.” Notably, Kramer also worked on the tracks A-side: the beloved single “All You Need Is Love.”
Why ‘Baby, You’re a Rich Man’ fits so well into The Beatles’ discography
John’s comment is interesting, given the song’s quality. While “Baby, You’re a Rich Man” was derived from two different sources, it’s cohesive, musically and lyrically. It might not be as brilliant as “A Day in the Life” or “Strawberry Fields Forever,” but it works, mostly thanks to its psychedelic production.
The song’s cheeky attitude toward riches works in its favor. The Beatles advocated antimaterialism in songs such as “Can’t Buy Me Love” and “All You Need Is Love.” “Baby, You’re a Rich Man” exists in a similar vein, but with the Fab Four’s trademark humor. The line about hiding money in a big brown bag adds some Lewis Carroll-style whimsy to the tune.
“Baby, You’re a Rich Man” is a classic even though it was originally two different songs.
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