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On this day, January 19, 1967, the Beatles began recording "A Day in the Life."
Last edited Fri Jan 19, 2024, 10:51 AM - Edit history (1)
This Day in MusicJanuary 19th
{snip}
1967 - The Beatles
The Beatles began recording 'A Day In The Life' at Abbey Road studios London, recording four takes of the new song. According to John Lennon the inspiration for the first two verses was the death of Tara Browne, the 21-year-old heir to the Guinness fortune who had crashed his Lotus Elan on 18 December 1966 in Redcliffe Gardens, London.
{snip}
1967 - The Beatles
The Beatles began recording 'A Day In The Life' at Abbey Road studios London, recording four takes of the new song. According to John Lennon the inspiration for the first two verses was the death of Tara Browne, the 21-year-old heir to the Guinness fortune who had crashed his Lotus Elan on 18 December 1966 in Redcliffe Gardens, London.
A Day in the Life
US sheet music cover
Song by the Beatles from the album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Released: 26 May 1967
Recorded: 19–20 January and 3, 10 & 22 February 1967
Studio: EMI, London
Genre: Art rock, psychedelic rock, orchestral pop
Length: 5:35
Label: Parlophone (UK), Capitol (US)
Songwriter(s): Lennon–McCartney
Producer(s): George Martin
"A Day in the Life" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles that was released as the final track of their 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Credited to Lennon–McCartney, the opening and closing sections of the song were mainly written by John Lennon, with Paul McCartney primarily contributing the song's middle section. All four Beatles played a role in shaping the final arrangement of the song.
Lennon's lyrics were mainly inspired by contemporary newspaper articles, including a report on the death of Guinness heir Tara Browne. The recording includes two passages of orchestral glissandos that were partly improvised in the avant-garde style. In the song's middle segment, McCartney recalls his younger years, which included riding the bus, smoking, and going to class. Following the second crescendo, the song ends with one of the most famous chords in music history, played on several keyboards, that sustains for over forty seconds.
A reputed drug reference in the line "I'd love to turn you on" resulted in the song initially being banned from broadcast by the BBC. Jeff Beck, Barry Gibb, the Fall and Phish are among the artists who have covered the song. The song inspired the creation of the Deep Note, the audio trademark for the THX film company. It remains one of the most influential and celebrated songs in popular music history, appearing on many lists of the greatest songs of all time, and being commonly appraised as the Beatles' finest song.
{snip}
US sheet music cover
Song by the Beatles from the album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Released: 26 May 1967
Recorded: 19–20 January and 3, 10 & 22 February 1967
Studio: EMI, London
Genre: Art rock, psychedelic rock, orchestral pop
Length: 5:35
Label: Parlophone (UK), Capitol (US)
Songwriter(s): Lennon–McCartney
Producer(s): George Martin
"A Day in the Life" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles that was released as the final track of their 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Credited to Lennon–McCartney, the opening and closing sections of the song were mainly written by John Lennon, with Paul McCartney primarily contributing the song's middle section. All four Beatles played a role in shaping the final arrangement of the song.
Lennon's lyrics were mainly inspired by contemporary newspaper articles, including a report on the death of Guinness heir Tara Browne. The recording includes two passages of orchestral glissandos that were partly improvised in the avant-garde style. In the song's middle segment, McCartney recalls his younger years, which included riding the bus, smoking, and going to class. Following the second crescendo, the song ends with one of the most famous chords in music history, played on several keyboards, that sustains for over forty seconds.
A reputed drug reference in the line "I'd love to turn you on" resulted in the song initially being banned from broadcast by the BBC. Jeff Beck, Barry Gibb, the Fall and Phish are among the artists who have covered the song. The song inspired the creation of the Deep Note, the audio trademark for the THX film company. It remains one of the most influential and celebrated songs in popular music history, appearing on many lists of the greatest songs of all time, and being commonly appraised as the Beatles' finest song.
{snip}
Tara Browne
Born: 4 March 1945; Dublin, Ireland
Died: 18 December 1966 (aged 21); London, England
Resting place: Luggala, Guinness Estate; Wicklow, Republic of Ireland
Nationality: British, Irish
Occupation: Socialite
Known for: Guinness fortune heir
Tara Browne (4 March 1945 – 18 December 1966) was a London-based Irish socialite and heir to the Guinness fortune. His December 1966 death in a car crash was an inspiration for the Beatles' song "A Day in the Life".
Early life
Browne was the younger son of the 4th Baron Oranmore and Browne, who was also the 2nd Baron Mereworth, and Oonagh Guinness. His father, Lord Oranmore and Browne, was an Anglo-Irish peer and member of the House of Lords who served in that house for 72 years, longer than any other peer up to that time (ending only by eviction during government reforms in 1999). His mother was an heiress to the Guinness fortune.
Browne was a member of Swinging London's counterculture of the 1960s and had stood to inherit £1 million at age 25. In August 1963, at age 18, he married Noreen "Nicky" MacSherry; the couple had two sons, Dorian and Julian.
For his 21st birthday, he threw a "lavish" party at Luggala, the Gothic Browne family seat in the Wicklow Mountains, where "two private jets flew the 200 or so guests to Ireland, including John Paul Getty, Mick Jagger, Brian Jones [and] Jones' then-girlfriend Anita Pallenberg."
Browne induced his friend Paul McCartney's first LSD trip in 1966, at Browne's home in Belgravia.
His life was captured in Paul Howard's biography I Read the News Today, Oh Boy, published in 2016.
{snip}
Death
On 17 December 1966, Browne was driving with his girlfriend, model Suki Potier, in his Lotus Elan through South Kensington at high speed (some reports suggesting in excess of 106 mph/170 km/h). He was under the influence of alcohol and other drugs at the time. Browne failed to see a traffic light and proceeded through the junction of Redcliffe Square and Redcliffe Gardens, colliding with a parked lorry. He died of his injuries the following day. Potier claimed that Browne swerved the car to absorb the impact of the crash to save her life.
Browne's body was brought back to Ireland and buried on the Guiness family's Luggala Estate. His grave is one of three situated on the shore of Lough Tay, next to an ornamental building known as the Temple; the two other people buried there are his unnamed baby brother, who was born and died in December 1943, and his half-sister.
Following his death, his estranged wife launched a public legal battle for custody of their two young children; Browne's mother also sought custody. A judge eventually ruled that the boys should live with their grandmother.[1]
"A Day in the Life"
The death of Browne is captured in the song "A Day in the Life" by the Beatles, which was released on their 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. In a 1980 interview with Playboy magazine, John Lennon said, "I was reading the paper one day [...] the Guinness heir who killed himself in a car. That was the main headline story. He died in London in a car crash." Lennon, who was a friend of Browne, read the coroner's verdict into Browne's death while composing music at his piano. It was this news which inspired him to write the following lines:
{snip}
Born: 4 March 1945; Dublin, Ireland
Died: 18 December 1966 (aged 21); London, England
Resting place: Luggala, Guinness Estate; Wicklow, Republic of Ireland
Nationality: British, Irish
Occupation: Socialite
Known for: Guinness fortune heir
Tara Browne (4 March 1945 – 18 December 1966) was a London-based Irish socialite and heir to the Guinness fortune. His December 1966 death in a car crash was an inspiration for the Beatles' song "A Day in the Life".
Early life
Browne was the younger son of the 4th Baron Oranmore and Browne, who was also the 2nd Baron Mereworth, and Oonagh Guinness. His father, Lord Oranmore and Browne, was an Anglo-Irish peer and member of the House of Lords who served in that house for 72 years, longer than any other peer up to that time (ending only by eviction during government reforms in 1999). His mother was an heiress to the Guinness fortune.
Browne was a member of Swinging London's counterculture of the 1960s and had stood to inherit £1 million at age 25. In August 1963, at age 18, he married Noreen "Nicky" MacSherry; the couple had two sons, Dorian and Julian.
For his 21st birthday, he threw a "lavish" party at Luggala, the Gothic Browne family seat in the Wicklow Mountains, where "two private jets flew the 200 or so guests to Ireland, including John Paul Getty, Mick Jagger, Brian Jones [and] Jones' then-girlfriend Anita Pallenberg."
Browne induced his friend Paul McCartney's first LSD trip in 1966, at Browne's home in Belgravia.
His life was captured in Paul Howard's biography I Read the News Today, Oh Boy, published in 2016.
{snip}
Death
On 17 December 1966, Browne was driving with his girlfriend, model Suki Potier, in his Lotus Elan through South Kensington at high speed (some reports suggesting in excess of 106 mph/170 km/h). He was under the influence of alcohol and other drugs at the time. Browne failed to see a traffic light and proceeded through the junction of Redcliffe Square and Redcliffe Gardens, colliding with a parked lorry. He died of his injuries the following day. Potier claimed that Browne swerved the car to absorb the impact of the crash to save her life.
Browne's body was brought back to Ireland and buried on the Guiness family's Luggala Estate. His grave is one of three situated on the shore of Lough Tay, next to an ornamental building known as the Temple; the two other people buried there are his unnamed baby brother, who was born and died in December 1943, and his half-sister.
Following his death, his estranged wife launched a public legal battle for custody of their two young children; Browne's mother also sought custody. A judge eventually ruled that the boys should live with their grandmother.[1]
"A Day in the Life"
Main article: A Day in the Life
The death of Browne is captured in the song "A Day in the Life" by the Beatles, which was released on their 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. In a 1980 interview with Playboy magazine, John Lennon said, "I was reading the paper one day [...] the Guinness heir who killed himself in a car. That was the main headline story. He died in London in a car crash." Lennon, who was a friend of Browne, read the coroner's verdict into Browne's death while composing music at his piano. It was this news which inspired him to write the following lines:
He blew his mind out in a car
He didn't notice that the lights had changed
A crowd of people stood and stared
They'd seen his face before
Nobody was really sure
If he was from the House of Lords
{snip}
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