The Beatles - Your Mother Should Know (Official Video)

“Your Mother Should Know“ is a song by the English rock band The Beatles, from their 1967 EP and LP, Magical Mystery Tour. It was written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. Titled after a line in the 1961 film A Taste of Honey, its lyrical premise centres on the history of hit songs across generations. McCartney said he wrote it as a plea for generational understanding and respect for a mother’s life experience. In the Magical Mystery Tour television film, the song serves as a big production number in the style of a 1930s Hollywood musical. Some commentators view the sequence as cultural satire, as the Beatles are seen dancing and dressed in white evening tails. “Your Mother Should Know“ is written in the music hall style, as was McCartney’s earlier composition, “When I’m Sixty-Four“. He first offered it as the Beatles’ contribution to the Our World satellite broadcast in June 1967, but the band favoured John Lennon’s “All You Need Is Love“ for its social significance. The initial sessions for “Your Mother Should Know“ took place at Chappell Recording Studios in London, towards the end of August. The group were visited there by their manager, Brian Epstein, the last time he joined them in the studio before his death on 27 August. Background and Inspiration: Paul McCartney began writing “Your Mother Should Know“ on a harmonium at his house in St John’s Wood, London, in the company of his Aunty Jin and Uncle Harry, and drew on his father’s love of music hall. The conversation he had with his family members that day inspired the subject matter of the song. Its lyrical premise centres on the history of hit songs across generations. McCartney took the title from a line in the 1961 film A Taste of Honey, which tells of a white teenage girl who falls pregnant with a black man’s child and withholds news of the pregnancy from her domineering mother. Discussing “Your Mother Should Know“ in his 1997 authorised biography, Many Years from Now, McCartney said he sought to address the issue of generation barriers. He lamented how an argument between a mother and her child could have enduring consequences for their relationship, and added: “So I was advocating peace between the generations ... I was basically trying to say, your mother might know more than you think she does. Give her credit.“ Recording: The Beatles began recording “Your Mother Should Know“ on 22 August 1967, their first session in close to two months. The recording took place at Chappell Recording Studios in central London because EMI Studios was unavailable at short notice. Although the Beatles had never worked at Chappell before, McCartney had participated in the session there for “Catcall“ the previous month. Recording continued at Chappell on 23 August. The overdubs included backing vocals by Lennon, McCartney and Harrison, which, according to music critic Tim Riley, give the performance a “parodic irreverence“. That session was the last time that Brian Epstein, the group’s manager, visited them in a recording studio. Following Epstein’s death on 27 August, the Beatles committed to making Magical Mystery Tour because as McCartney insisted the band needed to focus on a new creative project. The Beatles devoted a 16 September session at EMI Studios to remaking “Your Mother Should Know“ because McCartney was dissatisfied with the earlier version. The remake was discarded, however, because he and Lennon completed overdubs on the Chappell recording on 29 September. McCartney added bass guitar while Lennon overdubbed Hammond organ, the latter filling out the song’s vocal-less bridge sections. Mixing was completed on 7 November, with panning variation applied to the vocals in the stereo mix. #TheBeatles #YourMotherShouldKnow #OfficialVideo
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