Chords for The Story of Helter Skelter and How McCartney Got THAT Sound! | Friday Fretworks

Hey guys, I'm Chris Buck and a very warm welcome to Friday Frightworks.
And this week we're taking a look at what is considered by many to be the first heavy metal
song ever.
It also happens to have been recorded 52 years ago this week.
It's of course How [G] to
Skelter by The Beatles.
_ [A] _ _ _
_ [E] _ _ [Bm] _ _ [A] _ _ _
[Em] _ _ _ _ _ [Am] _ _ [Em] _
_ [E] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [C#m] _ _ _
_ [C] _ _ _ _ [G] _ _ _
_ [E] _ _ _ _ Do you know there's one man in love with you?
_ _ Coming down fast but a mile above you
_ _ Tell me, tell me, tell me
[G] Come on down, _ _ [A] _ love, I bet you ain't [E] not
So, how [A] to skelter?
_ Now the history of How to [N] Skelter is undoubtedly a checkered one.
From its acoustic, almost folky early origins,
through the many guises it took throughout the recording process in the studio, through to its tragic misinterpretation by killer Charles Manson in 1969.
But the fact remains that many consider How to Skelter to be the genesis of heavy metal, having preceded the likes of Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple,
even preceding Black Sabbath's genre-defining debut album in 1970 by two years.
Now it's interesting to see that over time, as you would expect, Paul McCartney's memories of How to Skelter have become fairly malleable to say the least.
The frequently recounted story being that upon reading an interview with The Who's Pete Townshend in Melody Maker in 1968,
Paul was inspired to write the track, as he explains in this interview here.
How it came about was I had read in a music paper that The Who had done a really heavy track
and Pete Townshend of The Who was quoted saying,
this is the, we've just made the dirtiest, loudest, filthiest song ever.
So I was kind of jealous.
I didn't hear their song.
I still don't know what song he was referring to.
But I went in the studio and said, guys, we've got to do a song that's dirtier and filthier and louder than The Who.
Paul has recounted that story numerous times over the years.
However, this is an interview from November of 1968, the month the White Album came out for reference,
in which he's a little bit more mysterious, almost a little bit more vague about the origins of the track.
I'd read a review of this record where it said, and this group, and it was some group I don't remember,
this group really goes wild, this echo on everything, they're screaming their heads off.
And I just remember thinking, oh, it'd be great to do one like that.
Pity they've done it already.
It must be great, a really screaming record.
And then I heard their record and it was quite straight.
It was all very sophisticated.
It wasn't rough and it wasn't screaming and tape echo at all.
So I thought, oh, well, we'll have to do one like that then.
And I had this song called How to Skelter, which is just a bit of a ridiculous song.
So we did it like that because I like noise.
Whatever its true history, Paul first brought How to Skelter to the band, or at least studio to Abbey Road,
on June 11th of 1968.
Funnily enough, a moment which was captured on film, as you saw at the start of this clip,
for a promotional clip that Apple were filming at the time.
Now, neither George nor Ringo were present at the studio on this date,
and John was reportedly busy in Studio 3 making noises for Revolution No.
9.
And as such, the objective of that evening was to record Blackbird.
And as such, How to Skelter wasn't looked at again until at least July of 1968,
when the Beatles recorded three versions, the longest clocking in at 27 minutes 11 seconds,
the longest ever Beatles recording, all three of which were ominously in the key of E minor,
as opposed to the key of E major, which was the later officially released version.
These must have been used as demo tapes or reference points,
because it wasn't until September 9th when the band finally returned to the studio to finish the track.
A further 18 takes were recorded, Paul McCartney on lead guitar,
George on rhythm, Ringo on drums with blisters on his fingers, and John Lennon on a Fender bass 6.
Now, of all the features which [E] contributed to this, undoubtedly being the Beatles' heaviest track to date,
whether it's Ringo's blistering, almost primal performance behind the kit,
John's clunky, distorted bass part,
if ever you wanted evidence that you shouldn't listen to isolated parts [Em] outside of the context of a mix,
check out John's isolated bass part [A] on YouTube,
George's overdriven guitar part which [E] only really appears in prominence during the motif,
[A] or Paul's [D] gutsy vocal [E] performance,
it is undoubtedly Paul's lead guitar performance which really drives the track and very much sets the tone.
One particularly notable feature of Paul's guitar performance is a not-so-subtle half-step bend,
we'll call it for the sake of argument,
which follows near enough every E chord that Paul hits throughout the track.
Now, there's numerous ways this could have been achieved.
Generally speaking, it's something which is associated with hitting a string too hard,
which gives it a little kind of fluctuation before it returns to its resting position,
although my suspicion here is Paul is very subtly bending the neck, giving you that fluctuation in pitch.
However, it could have also been achieved by bending behind the nut,
where you apply a little bit of pressure to the low E string, again giving that fluctuation.
[N] Funnily enough, this was a technique the Black Sabbath employed on the start of Iron Man,
which again was to follow some two years later,
again implying that Helter Skelter was incredibly influential.
Now, I've done a fair amount of research into what gear Paul McCartney would have likely used on his guitar track for Helter Skelter.
After all, it is that gritty guitar tone which very much drives the band, really sets the tone.
However, there's not any kind of real concrete evidence or photographic evidence,
but it is possible to make some educated guesses.
Now, by 1968, at the time of the recording of the White Album,
the Beatles had stopped using Vox amps and had moved over to Fender amplifications,
and there are numerous photos around this time showing a couple of silver-faced twins
and a couple of bassmen knocking around the studio.
There's also a little bit of disagreement online in regards to what guitar Paul used.
Some swear blind that it was in fact his Fender Esquire,
but it seems marginally more likely to me to have been his Epiphone Casino.
Again, there is lots of photographic evidence around this time of him using that guitar,
and if you listen to take 17 of Helter Skelter, an alternate version which was released on the 50th anniversary box set of the White Album,
you can actually hear him struggling with feedback, which if you've ever used an Epiphone Casino, is quite a frequent occurrence.
Now, as I said, there are a lot of photos from around this era showing Paul using an Epiphone Casino in the studio,
including, conveniently for me, this photo, which not only shows the guitar,
but it actually plugged into the normal channel of a Fender bassman.
I think it is this exact rig that we are hearing on Helter Skelter.
Now, it's impossible to say if there was any other gear used in that respect,
but for this video I'm going to try and recreate that tone using my Korean-made Epiphone Casino
that you can see over my shoulder, as well as Native Instruments' Guitar Rig 5,
using a Fender-style amp, very much driven.
We've got one distortion pedal coming from Logic, and a subtle bit of EQing here and there
to try and give that slightly pinched, nasally sound that you associate with the guitar track on this.
Going back and forth between the two, my version and the original, sounds a [E] little bit like this. _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [C#m] _ _ _
_ [C] _ _ _ _ [G] _ _ _
_ [E] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ [G] _ _ _ _ [A] _ _ _
_ [E] _ _ _ _ [A] _ _ _
_ Now, it is amazing to think that on the same record that Paul penned a track which, by many, is considered to be the birth of heavy metal,
pretty much single-handedly inventing a genre of music.
I wonder whether, you know, heavy metal bands heard that and thought, that's the way to go.
He also penned Rocky Raccoon, [N] Honey Pie and Oblidia Oblida, which, to be honest,
gives some credence to the idea that it was not so much made in response to The Who or any particular band,
so much in response or retort to the critics who were very critical of Paul being the sentimental balladeer of the band,
or indeed the only soppy one in The Beatles.
Whether or not it was the birth of heavy metal, I guess ultimately is a matter of personal opinion.
Some people credit that to Dave Davis taking a knitting needle or even a razor blade,
depending on what you read, to his guitar speaker for all day and all of the night.
Some credit it to Jimi Hendrix, that octave fuzz effect at the start of Purple Haze.
Some even give it to Keith Richards on his fuzzed-out guitar part at the start of Satisfaction.
But ultimately, there's no denying the impact or the influence that The Helter Skelter has had.
And this is easy to see just from the sheer number of artists who have covered it over the years,
whether we're talking Aerosmith, Motley Crue, Oasis, U2, Suzie and the Banshees, Rob Zombie, Marilyn Manson.
Even if it didn't give birth to heavy metal, it undoubtedly influenced the form it was to take going forward.
Ultimately one of the most influential tracks of all time.
As ever, I'm Chris Buck, thank you very much for watching.
This is Friday Threat Works, please subscribe, hit the bell icon if you haven't already,
and I shall see you next week for another video.
Cheers guys, take care, I'll see you soon. _ _ _ _