What You're Doing
Written by: Paul McCartney (100%)(credited as Lennon-McCartney)
Recorded: October 26, 1964 (Studio 2, Abbey Road Studios, London, England)
Mixed: October 27, 1964
Length: 2:30
Takes: 19
Musicians:
John Lennon: harmony vocal, acoustic rhythm guitar (1964 Gibson J160E)
Paul McCartney: lead vocal, bass guitar (1961 Hofner 500/1)
George Harrison: harmony vocal, lead guitar (1964 Rickenbacker "Fire-glo" 360-12)
Ringo Starr: drums (Ludwig)
George Martin: piano (1905 Steinway Vertegrand "Mrs. Mills")
Available on: (CDs in bold)
Beatles For Sale, (UK: Parlophone PMC 1240, PCS 3062; Parlophone CDP 7 46438 2)
Beatles VI, (US: Capitol (S)T 2358, Capitol CDP 0946 3 57499 2 2)
History:
- One of the simpler-sounding songs on Beatles For Sale, "What You're Doing" actually had the most difficult birth of any Beatles song up to that point -- largely due to Paul's insistence that all the details be right, a clear and ominous portent of things to come. It was also, to be fair, one of the more ambitious Beatles recordings to that time.
- Written specifically about troubles in Paul's relationship with then-girlfriend Jane Asher, this song was almost certainly written at the BFS sessions, with little or no input from John. Recording for it began on September 29th in a radically different version featuring both John and Paul singing a harmony lead, and a guitar solo one octave higher than in the final version. Recording was again attempted the next day, then shelved until October 29, when the arrangement was refined again and the song was finally completed at the very last minute (finishing the last session just after the cover of "Honey Don't" was completed).
- The ostinato drum pattern featured in the intro and break of this song was a direct attempt to reference the Ronettes' 1963 hit "Be My Baby," which also drops back to the drum pattern for dramatic effect before the final fade-out. Paul worked endlessly to get Ringo to play the pattern just as he wanted it, and also to get George's chiming lead guitar part exactly right. Said guitar part, laced with an uncommonly odd kind of distortion for the era, would prove a huge influence on the folk-rock movement, coming a full six months before the Byrds recorded "Mr. Tambourine Man."
- There were other stylistic innovations in this recording, including a very heavy (for the time) bass sound and a piano track by George Martin that produced strange chordal effects when laid against the lead guitar. The home key and chord changes would also show up prominently in Paul's songs of the "middle period," particularly "Drive My Car."
- "What You're Doing" is also noticeable for Paul's clever rhymes, which often break a word up into two lines: "Look what you're doing / I'm feeling blue n' lonely."
- The stereo mix of this song features a less-prominent rhythm track than the original mono.
- This song was remixed with "Drive My Car" and "The Word," all songs with similar keys and rhythms, on 2006's soundtrack album Love.
- This is one of the very few Beatles songs that has never been covered by a major artist.
