This is the song "Hello Goodbye" in three short segments, each featuring a different version of the song.
The first version is the composition McCartney played for producer George Martin. This is just Paul on piano and Ringo on drums, with no vocals. This piano drives this song--it is powerful.
The second segment features the string orchestra George Martin brought in. He wrote its part by following Paul's piano playing. The Beatles are playing here, but their parts are turned down, and Paul is playing the piano part with restraint.
The third part of the video is the final version. It balances the loud piano in the original version with the strings arranged by George Martin. The fade-out is from the original piano composition again.
From 1967-1969, in my opinion, Paul was writing his best music for the Beatles, and this song is from the beginning of this period (which ends with his remarkable contributions to Abbey Road).
The first version is the composition McCartney played for producer George Martin. This is just Paul on piano and Ringo on drums, with no vocals. This piano drives this song--it is powerful.
The second segment features the string orchestra George Martin brought in. He wrote its part by following Paul's piano playing. The Beatles are playing here, but their parts are turned down, and Paul is playing the piano part with restraint.
The third part of the video is the final version. It balances the loud piano in the original version with the strings arranged by George Martin. The fade-out is from the original piano composition again.
From 1967-1969, in my opinion, Paul was writing his best music for the Beatles, and this song is from the beginning of this period (which ends with his remarkable contributions to Abbey Road).
BACK STORY TO THE VIDEO
I assembled this video as part of my work at the Boys and Girls Club of Richmond, where I started volunteering in June 2015. It was Val's suggestion to do volunteer work to cheer me up at a time that my relationship with Sandy was falling apart.
I am on a teaching hiatus now, but I went to the club three Friday afternoons a month for eight months. On most visits, I held an after-school session on music for whatever kids wanted to attend. They were low-income children, ages 10-14, or thereabouts, who were out of school for the day but had to kill time until their parents got home. On visits that I did not teach kids, I worked with one of the staff members on preparing materials other teachers could use.
Almost everything I did with the kids was in response to questions they had and interests they expressed. My first class was a disaster because I did not know what to expect, given their backgrounds and ages, and I presented something way too complicated. One of the kids raised his hand and asked, "What is the simplest song you know?" He was trying to help me out. I brought in a famous song that is just three chords and three notes, and made its writer, who was famous but was considered a has-been, tens of millions of dollars. It became his most famous song. I used video to explain the story, and that turned out to be key. No matter what I wanted to teach, I had to make it a video presentation.
The video on "Hello Goodbye" was, in part, my response to a question about why they should study music seriously, which is what I was encouraging them to do. We discussed the Beatles a lot. They had no interest in them until I told them that the Beatles broke all the rules--and then they wanted to hear more. They liked John quite a bit, based on quotes I gave them.