Don't Pass Me By
Encyclopedia
"Don't Pass Me By" is a song by The Beatles
from the double album The Beatles
(also known as the White Album). Lead vocals were performed by Ringo Starr
. It was Starr's first solo composition.
chatter session introducing "And I Love Her
" on the Top Gear
programme in 1964. In the conversation, Starr was asked if he had written a song and Paul McCartney
mocked him soon afterward, singing the first line "Don't pass me by, don't make me cry, don't make me blue." The song employs a three-chord blues
structure.
During a lead vocal track recorded on 6 June, Starr audibly counted out 8 beats, and it can be heard in the released song starting at 2:30 of the 1987 CD version. The monaural mix is faster than the stereo mix, and features a different arrangement of violin in the fade-out.
George Martin
arranged an orchestral interlude as an introduction, but this was rejected. It would eventually be used as an incidental cue for The Beatles' animated film Yellow Submarine. In 1996, the introduction was released as the track "A Beginning
" on The Beatles Anthology 3 CD.
The line "I'm sorry that I doubted you, I was so unfair, You were in a car crash and you lost your hair" is cited by proponents of the Paul is Dead
urban legend
as a clue to McCartney's fate; the line "you lost your hair" is claimed to be a reference to "When I'm Sixty-Four
", which McCartney wrote. However, the expression "to lose one's hair" was a fairly common English idiom (see, for instance, Elizabeth Bowen's novel "The Death of the Heart," 1938); it simply means "to become anxious or upset."
The pianos were both recorded into a Leslie 147 speaker.
and by the Southern rock
band, The Georgia Satellites on their 1988 album, Open All Night, and by The Punkles
on their 2004 album, Pistol.
The Rutles
's songs "Livin' In Hope" and (to a lesser extent) "Easy Listening" are based on this song.
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
from the double album The Beatles
The Beatles (album)
The Beatles is the ninth official album by the English rock group The Beatles, a double album released in 1968. It is also commonly known as "The White Album" as it has no graphics or text other than the band's name embossed on its plain white sleeve.The album was written and recorded during a...
(also known as the White Album). Lead vocals were performed by Ringo Starr
Ringo Starr
Richard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...
. It was Starr's first solo composition.
Origin
Its earliest mention seems to be in a BBCBBC Radio
BBC Radio is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927. For a history of BBC radio prior to 1927 see British Broadcasting Company...
chatter session introducing "And I Love Her
And I Love Her
"And I Love Her" is a song recorded by The Beatles, written mainly by Paul McCartney . The fifth track on their third album, A Hard Day's Night, it was released 20 July 1964 with "If I Fell" as a single by Capitol Records in the United States, reaching #12 in Billboard.The Beatles performed "And I...
" on the Top Gear
Top Gear (radio show)
Top Gear was originally a short-lived pop music show on the BBC Light Programme in the mid-1960s.- Origin and format :It was one of the Corporation's few attempts to compete with the pirate radio stations and Radio Luxembourg, who had attracted large audiences of young British pop music listeners...
programme in 1964. In the conversation, Starr was asked if he had written a song and Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
mocked him soon afterward, singing the first line "Don't pass me by, don't make me cry, don't make me blue." The song employs a three-chord blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
structure.
Recording
The song was recorded in three separate sessions in 1968: 5 and 6 June, 5 and 12 July. Despite references to the song in 1964 as "Don't Pass Me By", it was called "Ringo's Tune (Untitled)" on the 5 June session tape label and "This Is Some Friendly" on the 6 June label. By 12 July, the title was restored.During a lead vocal track recorded on 6 June, Starr audibly counted out 8 beats, and it can be heard in the released song starting at 2:30 of the 1987 CD version. The monaural mix is faster than the stereo mix, and features a different arrangement of violin in the fade-out.
George Martin
George Martin
Sir George Henry Martin CBE is an English record producer, arranger, composer and musician. He is sometimes referred to as "the Fifth Beatle"— a title that he often describes as "nonsense," but the fact remains that he served as producer on all but one of The Beatles' original albums...
arranged an orchestral interlude as an introduction, but this was rejected. It would eventually be used as an incidental cue for The Beatles' animated film Yellow Submarine. In 1996, the introduction was released as the track "A Beginning
A Beginning
"A Beginning" is an instrumental piece composed by The Beatles' producer George Martin and intended as an introduction to "Don't Pass Me By" by Ringo Starr....
" on The Beatles Anthology 3 CD.
The line "I'm sorry that I doubted you, I was so unfair, You were in a car crash and you lost your hair" is cited by proponents of the Paul is Dead
Paul Is Dead
"Paul is dead" is an urban legend suggesting that Paul McCartney of the English rock band The Beatles died in 1966 and was secretly replaced by a look-alike....
urban legend
Urban legend
An urban legend, urban myth, urban tale, or contemporary legend, is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories that may or may not have been believed by their tellers to be true...
as a clue to McCartney's fate; the line "you lost your hair" is claimed to be a reference to "When I'm Sixty-Four
When I'm Sixty-Four
"When I'm Sixty-Four" is a song by The Beatles, written by Paul McCartney and released in 1967 on their album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.-Composition:...
", which McCartney wrote. However, the expression "to lose one's hair" was a fairly common English idiom (see, for instance, Elizabeth Bowen's novel "The Death of the Heart," 1938); it simply means "to become anxious or upset."
Personnel
- Ringo StarrRingo StarrRichard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...
– lead vocal, sleigh bellJingle bellA jingle bell is a type of bell which produces a distinctive 'jingle' sound, especially in large numbers. They find use in many areas as a percussion instrument, including the classic sleigh bell sound and morris dancing...
, drums, tack piano - Paul McCartneyPaul McCartneySir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
– grand piano, bass guitar - Jack FallonJack FallonJack Fallon was a British jazz bassist born in Canada.Fallon played violin before making double-bass his primary instrument at age 20. During World War II he played in a dance band in the Royal Canadian Air Force, and settled in Britain after his discharge...
– violin
The pianos were both recorded into a Leslie 147 speaker.
- Personnel per Ian MacDonaldIan MacDonaldIan MacCormick was a British music critic and author, best known for Revolution in the Head, his forensic history of The Beatles which borrowed techniques from art historians, and The New Shostakovich, a controversial study of the Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich...
and supported by Mark LewisohnMark LewisohnMark Lewisohn is an English author and historian, regarded as the world's leading authority on the English rock band The Beatles.-The Beatles and related subjects:...
Cover versions
The song has been covered by alt-country band The GourdsThe Gourds
The Gourds are an American alternative country band that formed in Austin, Texas during the summer of 1994.-Career:Primarily evolving from the Picket Line Coyotes and the Grackles, The Gourds original line-up consisted of Kevin Russell , Jimmy Smith , Claude Bernard , and Charlie Llewellin...
and by the Southern rock
Southern rock
Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music, and genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country music, and blues, and is focused generally on electric guitar and vocals...
band, The Georgia Satellites on their 1988 album, Open All Night, and by The Punkles
The Punkles
The Punkles were a band performing songs by The Beatles in punk style. They formed in 1998 in Hamburg, Germany and it was actually a side project of Prollhead!....
on their 2004 album, Pistol.
The Rutles
The Rutles
The Rutles are a band that are known for their visual and aural pastiches and parodies of The Beatles. Originally created by Eric Idle and Neil Innes as a fictional band to be featured as part of various 1970s television programming, the group recorded, toured, and released two UK chart hits in...
's songs "Livin' In Hope" and (to a lesser extent) "Easy Listening" are based on this song.