IN THE MIX The Beatles Edition Vol. 1 - All You Need Are Friends

IN THE MIX The Beatles Edition Vol. 1

Whether you’re a Beatle, or a former Beatle, friends are going to ask you to play on their records.  The Fab Four were generally amenable to doing so, as evidenced by this Beatles Edition IN THE MIX.

John Lennon famously sang backing vocals on David Bowie’s Fame, and on Elton John’s version of Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.  Lennon agreed to join Elton onstage if his version topped the charts, and kept his word.  Elton says the biggest roar he’d ever heard from an audience occurred when John stepped onstage with him at Madison Square Garden.  Lennon was reportedly dope sick, by the way.  Elton John & Ringo Starr backed T. Rex on Children Of The Revolution.

I played with the format a bit to include some odd bedfellows that joined The Beatles on record, like Tommy Smothers playing acoustic guitar on Give Peace A Chance.  And what I believe is Rick Nielsen & Bun E. Carlos playing on an alternate version of I’m Losing You.  I also had a hard time determining if John & Paul are singing with The Dakotas on the wonderful version of I'll Be On My Way contained here.  Whether it is or not, Vol. 1 passed the test drive.

Eric Clapton definitely played guitar on While My Guitar Gently Weeps, & Mick Jagger sang the “Yeah, Yeah Yeah” during the fade on The Beatles All You Need Is Love.  Another Beatles/Stones hybrid was created when George Harrison & Mick Taylor helped out Nicky Hopkins with Speed On.  The most recent occurrence was when Paul McCartney joined The Rolling Stones for Bite My Head Off.

Only John & Paul didn’t appear on one another’s albums after what John referred to as their “divorce”. The other Beatles were quick to lend a hand to one another, like when McCartney provided backing vocals on Harrison’s All Those Years Ago.  George was especially generous with his talents, appearing here with Badfinger, Jim Capaldi, Belinda Carlisle, Gary Wright, & Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers.  (George’s IN THE MIX is finished—so watch this space!)

Paul McCartney & George Harrison sang background on both Donovan’s Mellow Yellow and James Taylor’s Carolina In My Mind.