Paperback Writer

McCartney said: "The idea's a bit different. Years ago, my Auntie Lil said to me, 'Why do you always write songs about love all the time? Can't you ever write about a horse or the summit conference or something interesting?' So, I thought, 'All right, Auntie Lil.' And recently, we've not been writing all our songs about love."[5] Disc jockey Jimmy Savile also recalled McCartney citing the song being inspired by a request from McCartney's aunt who asked if he could "write a single that wasn't about love".[6][7]

In 1966, McCartney discussed the song in an interview with the NME, with Alan Smith writing: ""This came about because I love the word 'paperback.'" He seemed to savour the word and rolled it around his tongue. "Anyway, when we did the song, we wrote the words down like we were writing a letter. We sort of started off 'Dear Sir or Madam,' then carried on from there. If you look at the words I think you'll see what I mean, the way they flow like a letter. But that's it really, there's no story behind it and it wasnt inspired by any real-life characters."[8]

In a 2007 interview, McCartney recalled that he started writing the song after reading in the Daily Mail about an aspiring author, possibly Martin Amis.[9] The Daily Mail was Lennon's regular newspaper and copies were in Lennon's Weybridge home when Lennon and McCartney were writing songs.[6]

The song's lyrics are in the form of a letter from an aspiring author addressed to a publisher. The author badly needs a job and has written a paperback book "based on a novel by a man named Lear".

Aside from deviating from the subject of love, McCartney had it in mind to write a song with a melody backed by a single, static chord. "John and I would like to do songs with just one note like 'Long Tall Sally.' We got near it in 'The Word.'"[10] McCartney claimed to have barely failed to achieve this goal with "Paperback Writer", as the verse remains on G until the end, at which point it pauses on C.[11]

Lennon told Hit Parader in 1972 that "Paperback Writer" was primarily written by McCartney: "I think I might have helped with some of the lyrics. Yes, I did. But it was mainly Paul's tune." Lennon also told Playboy in 1980: "'Paperback Writer' is son of 'Day Tripper', but it is Paul's song."

The Beatles recorded the track at EMI Studios in London on 13 and 14 April 1966. "Paperback Writer" is marked by the boosted bass guitar sound throughout, partly in response to John Lennon demanding to know why the bass on a certain Wilson Pickett record exceeded the bass on any Beatles records.[12] This changed with the "Paperback Writer" single.

The Beatles in 1965

"'Paperback Writer' was the first time the bass sound had been heard in all its excitement," said Beatles' engineer Geoff Emerick in Mark Lewisohn's book The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions. "Paul played a different bass, a Rickenbacker. Then we boosted it further by using a loudspeaker as a microphone. We positioned it directly in front of the bass speaker and the moving diaphragm of the second speaker made the electric current."[12] Further, McCartney's playing was more melodic and busy than on previous tracks.[13]

According to McCartney, the harmony vocals on the track were arranged during the recording session.[14] George Martin, the Beatles' producer, later commented: "The way the song itself is shaped and the slow, contrapuntal statements from the backing voices – no one had really done that before."[15] In their backing vocals over the third verse, Lennon and George Harrison sing the title of the French nursery rhyme "Frère Jacques".[16]

Emerick stated that the "Paperback Writer" / "Rain" single was cut louder than any other Beatles record up to that time, due to a new piece of equipment used in the mastering process, referred to as "Automatic Transient Overload Control", which was devised by the EMI maintenance department.[17]

In Britain, the single was promoted with a photograph depicting the Beatles draped with pieces of raw meat and decapitated baby dolls. This photograph was later used, albeit briefly, as the Yesterday and Today album cover in the US, and in that capacity it became known as the "butcher cover".[18] For the American release of the single, the picture sleeve depicted the Beatles playing live, but with Lennon and Harrison's images reflected so that it appeared they were playing left-handedly.

Michael Lindsay-Hogg directed four promotional films for the song shot on 19 and 20 May 1966. On the first day they recorded a colour performance at EMI Studios, for The Ed Sullivan Show, which was shown on 5 June, and two black-and-white performance clips for British television. The latter were shown on Ready Steady Go! and Thank Your Lucky Stars on 3 and 25 June, respectively.

On 20 May, a second colour film was made at Chiswick House in west London.[19] The Beatles mimed to the song, and they were shown in and around the conservatory in the grounds of the house. The clip was first broadcast in black and white on BBC-TV's Top of the Pops on 2 June.[20] The 20 May promo clip was included in the Beatles' 2015 video compilation 1, and both the 19 May colour film and the 20 May film were included in the three-disc versions of the compilation, titled 1+.[21]

The Beatles appeared on Top of the Pops to mime to "Paperback Writer" and "Rain" on 16 June. The band were introduced by DJ Pete Murray. This television appearance – which was the Beatles' only "in person" appearance on the BBC's flagship pop music show of the era – became infamous due to the BBC's decision to wipe the master recording to free up expensive video tape for re-use. In 2019, 11 seconds of the performance was unearthed by a collector;[22] over 90 seconds' worth was found in the same year.[23] The appearance also showed how difficult the Beatles found it to mime to their material, and the band failing to take their performance seriously.

"Paperback Writer" has appeared on subsequent re-releases including 1962–1966 (1973), a re-released single (1976), Past Masters, Volume Two (1988) and 1 (2000). The single was released as part of a Record Store Day reissue in 2010.[25] In 1995, a mix of the song featuring only vocals was among several tracks that were in the running for inclusion on the three Beatles Anthology compilation albums but were ultimately passed over.[26]

There is some dispute over who played what on "Paperback Writer". In the July 1990 and the November 2005 issues of Guitar Player magazine, McCartney stated that he played the song's opening riff on his Epiphone Casino guitar,[27] and photos from the recording session seem to be consistent with this.[28] In the 2005 edition of his book Revolution in the Head, Ian MacDonald gives Harrison as the sole lead guitarist,[29] and Kenneth Womack similarly lists McCartney only on bass and lead vocal.[30] Robert Rodriguez and Walter Everett each credit McCartney as the player of the song's main guitar riff, and state that Harrison added lead guitar "fills" over his initial rhythm part.[31][32]

The following line-up is per Rodriguez:[31]

• Paul McCartney – lead vocal, lead guitar (riff), bass
• John Lennon – backing vocal, tambourine
• George Harrison – backing vocal, rhythm guitar, lead guitar (fills)
• Ringo Starr – drums

• Kris Kristofferson recorded a version of the song for the 1995 Beatles tribute album Come Together: America Salutes The Beatles.
• The Bee Gees recorded the song in 1966 in Australia. It was first released on the album Inception/Nostalgia in 1970.
• Floyd Cramer covered the song for his 1966 album Class of '66.[49]
• Tempest covered the song on their 1974 album Living in Fear.
• Kids Incorporated covered the song in 1988 in the Season 5 episode "The Open Book".[50]
• Eric Johnson covered the song with on his 2002 album Souvenir.