You Know My Name (Look Up The Number) single artwork – United Kingdom Written by: Lennon-McCartney
Recorded: 17 May; 7, 8 June 1967; 30 April 1969
Producer: George Martin
Engineer: Geoff Emerick

Released: 6 March 1970 (UK), xi March 1970 (US)

Available on:
By Masters
Anthology ii

Personnel

John Lennon: vocals, guitar, maracas, harmonica, handclaps
Paul McCartney: vocals, pianoforte, bass, handclaps
George Harrison: backing vocals, guitar, vibes, handclaps
Ringo Starr: vocals, drums, bongos, handclaps
Mal Evans: spade in gravel
Brian Jones: alto saxophone

One of the strangest songs in The Beatles' entire catechism, 'You Know My Proper name (Look Up The Number)' was originally recorded in 1967, merely remained unreleased until the 'Allow It Be' unmarried 3 years later.

A multi-office song containing a nightclub cabaret pastiche and a host of giddy voices and effects, 'You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)' was recorded in the weeks following the completion of the Sgt Pepper album.

By this fourth dimension The Beatles had lost some of their focus, and were experimenting with a number of songwriting and recording techniques.

John had arrived one dark with this song which was basically a mantra: 'Y'all know my name, expect up the number.' And I never knew who he was aiming that at, it might have been an early signal to Yoko. It was John'southward original thought and that was the complete lyric. He brought it in originally as a xv-infinitesimal chant when he was in infinite-cadet mode and we said, 'Well, what are nosotros going to do with this then?' and he said, 'It's just similar a mantra.' So we said, 'Okay, permit's simply do it'.

In fact, the song was inspired past a slogan on the front of the London telephone directory for 1967, which Lennon had seen at McCartney'south house.

That was a piece of unfinished music that I turned into a comedy record with Paul. I was waiting for him in his house, and I saw the telephone book was on the piano with 'You lot know the name, look up the number.' That was like a logo, and I just changed it. It was going to be a Four Tops kind of vocal – the chord changes are like that – but it never developed and we fabricated a joke of it. Brian Jones is playing saxophone on information technology.

John Lennon
All We Are Proverb, David Sheff

In 1988 Paul McCartney, somewhat unexpectedly, named 'You lot Know My Proper noun (Look Up The Number)' every bit his favourite song by The Beatles.

People are simply just discovering the b-sides of Beatles singles. They're only just discovering things like 'You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)' – probably my favourite Beatles rails, only considering it's so insane. All the memories…

Paul McCartney
The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, Mark Lewisohn

Structurally, 'You lot Know My Name (Look Up The Number)' consists of five carve up parts. The offset was the almost conventional, consisting of the vocal's title chanted by Lennon and McCartney, with a prominent pianoforte bankroll.

Role two, which was after edited out at Lennon's behest, repeated the mantra to a ska bankroll. This was restored in 1996 in a new stereo mix prepared for Anthology two.

The tertiary part was the nightclub section, introduced past Lennon with the words, "Practiced evening and welcome to Slaggers. Featuring Denis O'Bong".

O'Bong was a fictional lounge singer grapheme played by McCartney. The name was similar to film producer Denis O'Dell, who had worked on A Hard Solar day's Night and with Lennon on How I Won The War.

O'Dell later produced Magical Mystery Tour and became the caput of Apple tree Films. Following the song's release in 1970, he received a spate of phone calls from Beatles fans who took the song's invitation literally.

There were so many of them my wife started going out of her mind. Neither of us knew why this was all of a sudden happening. Then I happened to exist in ane Lord's day and picked upward the telephone myself. It was someone on LSD calling from a candle-making factory in Philadelphia and they just kept maxim, 'We know your name and at present we've got your number'.

Information technology was only through talking to the person that I established what it was all almost. Then Ringo, who I'd worked with on the motion picture The Magic Christian, played me the track and I realised why I'd been getting all these mysterious phone calls.

Denis O'Dell
A Hard Day'south Write, Steve Turner

The vocal'south fourth part – actually recorded as part five, every bit the sections were later edited in a unlike order – was a Monty Pythonesque swing version, containing cuckoo sounds, harmonica, bongos, piano, other effects from the Abbey Route drove, and some supremely silly voices.

The last department was another piano-led jazz version, with a vibraphone office and a serial of incomprehensible song mutterings. It also featured a saxophone solo performed past The Rolling Stones' Brian Jones, whom McCartney invited to the session.

He arrived at Abbey Road in his big Afghan coat. He was always nervous, a fiddling insecure, and he was really nervous that dark considering he's walking in on a Beatles session. He was nervous to the point of shaking, lighting ciggy after ciggy. I used to like Brian a lot. I thought it would exist a fun thought to have him, and I naturally thought he'd bring a guitar forth to a Beatles session and possibly chung forth and do some nice rhythm guitar or a picayune bit of electric twelve-cord or something, but to our surprise he brought his saxophone. He opened up his sax case and started putting a reed in and warming upwards, playing a little chip. He was a really ropey sax role player, so I thought, Ah-hah. We've got just the tune.

Paul McCartney
Many Years From Now, Barry Miles

In the studio

The Beatles began recording 'You lot Know My Name (Look Up The Number)' on 17 May 1967. they recorded the backing track for role one in fourteen takes, along with a number of rehearsals. The all-time of these was accept 10, which featured guitars, bass, drums, handclaps and bongos.

They returned to take ix of the song on vii June, adding a number of overdubs. They then recorded five takes lasting a full of xx minutes. The instrumentation was flute, electric guitar, drums, organ and tambourine, and the music was little more than than an unstructured jam.

Role two was recorded on the following evening, and was completed in 12 takes. Four attempts at part 3 followed; half-dozen of part four; and finally a single take of office v. This was the session which Brian Jones attended.

The song was edited on 9 June, and rough mono mixes were fabricated. The vocal was then left fallow until 30 April 1969, when John Lennon and Paul McCartney oversaw the addition of all the vocals and more sound effects.

John and Paul weren't ever getting on that well at this time, but for that vocal they went onto the studio floor and sang together effectually one microphone. Even at that time I was thinking, 'What are they doing with this sometime four-track tape, recording these funny bits onto this quaint song?' But it was a fun rails to do.

Nick Webb, engineer
The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, Mark Lewisohn

Among the sound effects were handclaps, baroque voices, and The Beatles' banana Mal Evans running a spade through gravel.

We had these endless, crazy fun sessions. And eventually we pulled it all together… and we just did a skit, Mal and his gravel. I tin can still encounter Mal digging the gravel. And it was just so hilarious to put that record together. Information technology's not a nifty melody or annihilation, it's only unique.

Paul McCartney, 1988
The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, Marking Lewisohn

On 26 November 1969 John Lennon edited the song from six'08" to four'19", with the intention of releasing it as a Plastic Ono Band single, with 'What's The New Mary Jane' on the b-side. The idea was vetoed by the other Beatles, and 'You Know My Name (Await Up The Number)' eventually saw light of twenty-four hour period in March 1970 every bit the b-side to 'Permit Information technology Be'.