Lovely Rita

"Lovely Rita" is a song by The Beatles performed on the album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, written and sung by Paul McCartney (writing credits: Lennon/McCartney). It is about a female traffic warden and the narrator's affection for her. Ringo Starr's instrumentation in this song is very progressive. The snare sound used here is two large cymbals being held together tightly while Ringo strikes the cymbals very hard with his drumstick, giving the illusion of a snare drum. The song plays an important role in the Paul is Dead hoax that occurred during The Beatles' fame. The song figures in to the hoax apparently because McCartney was distracted by her while driving, which led to the car crash that ended his life. In truth, the song emanates from when McCartney was issued with a parking ticket outside Abbey Road Studios, by a female traffic warden named Meta Davis.^[1] Instead of becoming angry, he accepted it with good grace and expressed his feelings (sarcastically) in song. When asked why he had called her "Rita", McCartney replied: "Well, she looked like a Rita to me".^[2] The term "meter-maid," American slang for a female traffic warden, now officially known as a parking attendant, was largely unknown in the UK prior to the song's release.

Recording process

Recording began with a rare live performance by the entire band on February 23, 1967. Using a four-track recorder, this first performance featured Harrison's guitar on Track 1, Lennon's guitar on Track 2, Ringo's drums on the third track, and McCartney's piano set for the final track. Once those tracks were "bounced," the band later added lead vocal, bass, and a three-part backing vocal section. A second piano, played by George Martin and processed electromechanically to wobble in and out of tune was added for the distinctive solo. By March 21, the final mono mix was completed and a month later, the stereo mix was done.^[1] The unusual noises during the song after the lines "and the bag across her shoulder/ made her look a little like a military man" were John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison playing the comb-and-paper.^[3]

Lennon on the roof

One of the recording sessions for "Lovely Rita" is famous for an incident involving Lennon. During the 21 March 1967 session in which producer George Martin added a piano solo, Lennon complained that he didn't feel well and couldn't focus. He had accidentally taken LSD when he meant to take an upper. Unaware of the mistake, Martin took him up to the roof of Abbey Road Studio for some fresh air, and returned to Studio Two where McCartney and Harrison were waiting. They knew why Lennon wasn't well, and upon hearing where Lennon was, rushed to the roof to retrieve him and prevent a possible accident.^[3][4][5]

Other versions

In 1976, Roy Wood of ELO and Wizzard recorded the song for the evanescent musical documentary All This and World War II. The song was also recorded by Fats Domino. In 2007, Travis recorded the song for It Was 40 Years Ago Today, a television film with contemporary acts recording the album's songs using the same studio, technicians and recording techniques as the original.

In popular culture

• As part of the Paul is Dead myth it was claimed that a pretty woman along the street caught his attention and caused him to crash his car.^[6]
• When the iPhone was unveiled in January of 2007, Apple Inc.'s Steve Jobs chose to play "Lovely Rita" to show off the device's music-playing functionality.

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} Walter Everett, The Beatles as Musicians, p. 113
2. ^ Clayson, Alan. Paul McCartney:Sanctury Publishing Limited, 2003. ISBN 1-86074-482-6
3. ^ ^{a b} Mark Lewisohn, The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, p. 100-101, 104
4. ^ The Beatles, Anthology, p. 242
5. ^ Geoff Emerick, Here, There, and Everywhere, p. 172-173
6. ^ http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/01/09/entertainment/e170533S59.DTL.

External links

• Song lyrics