| "Yellow Submarine" | |||||
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| Single by The Beatles from the album Revolver |
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| A-side | "Eleanor Rigby" | ||||
| Released | August 5 1966 (UK) August 8 1966 (U.S.) |
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| Format | 7" | ||||
| Recorded | Abbey Road Studios May 26 and June 1 1966 |
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| Genre | Pop Rock | ||||
| Length | 2:38 | ||||
| Label | Parlophone (UK) Capitol (U.S.) |
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| Writer | Lennon/McCartney | ||||
| Producer | George Martin | ||||
| The Beatles singles chronology | |||||
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| Revolver track listing | |||||
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| Yellow Submarine track listing | |||||
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| Yellow Submarine Songtrack track listing | |||||
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"Yellow Submarine" is a 1966 song by The Beatles (credited to the Lennon-McCartney duo, but mainly written by McCartney) and the theme song for the 1968 animated United Artists film based on the music of the Beatles. It is also the title for the soundtrack album to the film, released as part of The Beatles' music catalogue.
Contents |
Recording
"Yellow Submarine" was recorded on 26 May and 1 June 1966, at Abbey Road Studios.
Promotion
The "Yellow Submarine" single was the Beatles' thirteenth UK single. Ringo Starr performed lead vocals. It was released in the UK on 5 August as a 'double A side' with "Eleanor Rigby", and in the United States on 8 August.
Charts
United States
In the United States, the single was #2 on the Billboard "Hot 100", #1 in Record World, and #2 in Cashbox, where it was held off #1 by The Supremes' "You Can't Hurry Love".
United Kingdom
The single went to #1 on every major British chart, remained at #1 for four weeks and charted for 13 weeks. It won an Ivor Novello Award for the highest certified sales of any single issued in the UK in 1966. No promotional film clip was made, so some TV programs (including the BBC's Top Of The Pops) created their own clips from stock footage.
Controversy
Drug rumors
Following its release in August 1966, the song received bad publicity through rumors that it referred to hypnotic Nembutal capsules. Paul McCartney vehemently denied the allegations, saying he had written the song as a children's tune.
"Bigger than Jesus"
The single was released at the height of the controversy surrounding John Lennon's remarks about Christianity and this has been cited as part of the reason that it failed to reach #1 on all US charts. Despite this, it sold 1,200,000 copies in only four weeks and earned the Beatles their twenty-first US Gold Record award, beating the record set by Elvis Presley.
Credits
- John Lennon – acoustic guitar, backing vocals
- Paul McCartney – bass guitar, backing vocals
- George Harrison – percussion, backing vocals
- Ringo Starr – lead vocals, drums
Various people – including Neil Aspinall, Pattie Boyd, Donovan, Mal Evans, Marianne Faithfull, and Brian Jones – have been (unofficially) credited with contributing to the record's final vocal chorus, and/or sound effects such as the "party" noises (laughter, clinking glasses, etc.) on the second verse. Donovan reportedly also helped write the song (he reportedly wrote the line "sky of blue and sea of green").
Cover version
In 1968, Apple Records issued a single by the Black Dyke Mills Band—a brass band—which featured a cover version of "Yellow Submarine" as the B-side.
See also
| Preceded by "With a Girl Like You" by The Troggs |
UK Singles Chart number one single August 18 1966 - September 8 1966 |
Succeeded by "All or Nothing" by Small Faces |
| Preceded by N/A |
United World Chart number one single (first run) August 27 1966 - October 8 1966 |
Succeeded by "Reach Out I'll Be There" by The Four Tops |
| Preceded by "Reach Out I'll Be There" by The Four Tops |
United World Chart number one single (second run) October 22 1966 |
Succeeded by "Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing in the Shadow?" by The Rolling Stones |
