You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)

Infobox Single
Name = You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)


Artist = The Beatles
A-side = "Let It Be"
Released = 6 March 1970 (UK)
Format = gramophone record
Recorded = Abbey Road Studios 17 May 1967 to 30 April 1969
Genre = Comedy rock, jazz
Length =
Label = Apple Records
Writer = Lennon/McCartney
Producer = George Martin and Chris Thomas
Reviews =
Last single = "Something"/"Come Together"
(1969)
This single = "Let It Be" / You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)
Next single = "The Long and Winding Road" (US)
(1970)"You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)" is a song by The Beatles, written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and originally released as the B-side of the single "Let It Be" on 6 March 1970. Although first issued with their penultimate single, it was recorded in five separate sessions beginning with four in May and June of 1967, and one in 1969.

Earlier in 1967 Frank Zappa released the song "America Drinks and Goes Home" on the Mothers of Invention album "Absolutely Free" where he also combined a silly tune with nightclub sound effects to parody his formative years in the early 1960s playing with drunken bar bands. Similar tunes were also recorded by The Rolling Stones, "On with the Show" (1967) and Jimi Hendrix, "My Friend" (1968).

The song is a music hall comedy number and is perhaps the silliest song in the Beatles' catalogue. Lennon came up with the lyric and title after seeing a phone book. He said:

McCartney once told Beatle recording analyst Mark Lewisohn, " [People] are only just discovering things like 'You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)'—probably my favourite Beatles' track!"cite book |first=Mark |last=Lewisohn |authorlink=Mark Lewisohn |title=The Beatles Recording Sessions |year=1988 |pages=15 |publisher=Harmony Books |location=New York |isbn=0-517-57066-1] He went on to explain:

The song features a saxophone solo played by the Rolling Stones' Brian Jones.cite book |first=Mark |last=Lewisohn |title=The Beatles Recording Sessions |year=1988 |pages=116]

The recording includes a reference to Dennis O'Dell, associate producer on the "A Hard Day's Night" film,cite book |first=Bill |last=Harry |authorlink=Bill Harry |title=The Beatles Encyclopedia: Revised and Updated |year=2000 |pages=810 |publisher=Virgin Publishing |location=London |isbn=0-7535-0481-2] . Partway through the song, Lennon introduces McCartney as lounge singer "Dennis O’Bell," one consonant away from the name of the film producer Lennon had worked with not only on "Hard Day's Night" but also "How I Won the War". The reference prompted numerous telephone calls to O'Dell's home by fans who told him, "We have your name and now we've got your number," as well as personal visits by fans wanting to live with him.web cite |url=http://www.aboutthebeatles.com/song-you_know_my_name.html |title=About The Beatles: Songlist: You Know My Name (Look Up the Number) |accessdate=2007-03-22]

Recording

All four Beatles participated in the first four recording sessions on 17 May, and 7-9 1967. Jones' saxophone part was recorded on 8 June.cite book |first=Mark |last=Lewisohn |title=The Beatles Recording Sessions |year=1988 |pages=112, 116]

The song was left unreleased and untouched until 30 April 1969, when Lennon and McCartney laid down all the vocal tracks and added additional sound effects with the help of Mal Evans. George Harrison and Ringo Starr did not participate in this last session.cite book |first=Mark |last=Lewisohn |title=The Beatles Recording Sessions |year=1988 |pages=175] Nick Webb, second engineer on the 30 April session described it this way:

Despite the fun sessions described by McCartney and Webb, the song was not released for another year.

Release

Although eventually released as a Beatles song, "You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)" was nearly released as the A-side of a Plastic Ono Band single. Lennon was determined to have this song and "What's The New Mary Jane" released, and he arranged for Apple to issue both unorthodox songs on a Plastic Ono Band single.cite book |first=Mark |last=Lewisohn |title=The Beatles Recording Sessions |year=1988 |pages=194] On 26 November, 1969, 4 months after Jones drowned in his swimming pool,cite book |first=Bill |last=Harry |title=The Beatles Encyclopedia: Revised and Updated |year=2000 |pages=583] Lennon edited "You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)", reducing the length from 6 minutes 8 seconds to 4:19, a more suitable length for a single. The Plastic Ono Band single was given an Apple catalogue number (Apple 1002) and British release date (5 December 1969).

Apple issued a press release, describing the record as Lennon and Yoko Ono singing and backed by "many of the greatest show business names of today" which the press believed was a thinly disguised reference to the Beatles. The record was cancelled before it was issued.

Three months later, the song was released as the B-side to the Beatles' single, "Let It Be." The original Plastic Ono Band single catalogue number is visible, though scratched out, in the runout groove of the original British pressings of the "Let It Be" single.cite book |first=Mark |last=Lewisohn |title=The Beatles Recording Sessions |year=1988 |pages=196]

"What's the New Mary Jane" was not officially issued by the Beatles until the release of "Anthology 3" in 1996, although the song did appear on bootleg records.cite album-notes |title=Anthology 3 |albumlink=Anthology 3 |year=1996 |bandname=The Beatles |format=booklet |publisher=Apple Records |location=London |publisherid=34451 |pages=17]

"You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)" was the last Beatles song from the group's official canon to be included on an album, issued on 12" vinyl for the first time on "Rarities" (which had been included as a bonus disc in the British and American boxed set, "The Beatles Collection" in 1978, and released separately as an album in the United Kingdom in 1979). The first stand-alone American album to feature "You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)" was the U.S. "Rarities", which was released in 1980.cite book |first=Mark |last=Lewisohn |title=The Beatles Recording Sessions |year=1988 |pages=200]

The first CD version was issued in 1988 on the "Past Masters, Volume Two" compilation.cite album-notes |title=Past Masters, Volume Two |albumlink=Past Masters, Volume Two |year=1988 |bandname=The Beatles |format=booklet |publisher=Apple Records |location=London |publisherid=90044 |pages=10]

"You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)" was available only in mono until 1996, when an extended stereo mix was finally issued on "Anthology 2".cite album-notes |title=Anthology 2 |albumlink=Anthology 2 |year=1994 |bandname=The Beatles |format=booklet |publisher=Apple Records |location=London |publisherid=31796 |pages=39] However, while this mix restores portions of the song, it omits others that were released on the mono single, causing considerable differences between the mono and stereo versions of the track. For example, the ending of the stereo version has the talking portion fade out, whereas the mono version does not.

A stereo version featuring all 5 sections uncut has never been released.

On the U.S. pressings of the original 7" single, the song was erroneously titled "You Know My Name (Look Up "My" Number)"

Credits

*John Lennon: lead vocals, piano, rhythm guitar, handclaps, maracas and sound effects.
*Paul McCartney: lead vocals, piano, bass, handclaps and sound effects.
*George Harrison: vibraphone.
*Ringo Starr: drums.
*Brian Jones: saxophone.
*Mal Evans: sound effects.

:Credits per Ian MacDonald.cite book |first=Ian |last=MacDonald |authorlink=Ian MacDonald |title=Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties |year=2005 |pages=259-260]

Notes

Further reading

*cite web |url=http://www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/DATABASES/AWP/ykmnlutn.shtml |title=Notes on ... Series #166, "You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)" |last=Pollack |first=Alan W |accessdate=2003-03-22
* [http://www.beatlesbible.com/songs/you-know-my-name-look-up-the-number/ The Beatles Bible: You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)] Retrieved Aug. 17, 2008.