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

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

Bachelor on:
By Masters
Album 2

Personnel

John Lennon: vocals, guitar, maracas, harmonica, handclaps
Paul McCartney: vocals, piano, 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' unabridged canon, 'You lot Know My Proper noun (Look Up The Number)' was originally recorded in 1967, but remained unreleased until the 'Let Information technology Exist' unmarried three years later.

A multi-part song containing a nightclub cabaret pastiche and a host of featherbrained 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 time The Beatles had lost some of their focus, and were experimenting with a number of songwriting and recording techniques.

John had arrived one night with this vocal which was basically a mantra: 'You know my name, expect upward the number.' And I never knew who he was aiming that at, information technology might have been an early signal to Yoko. It was John's original idea and that was the consummate lyric. He brought it in originally as a fifteen-minute chant when he was in infinite-cadet way and we said, 'Well, what are nosotros going to do with this then?' and he said, 'It's just like a mantra.' So we said, 'Okay, permit's just do information technology'.

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

That was a piece of unfinished music that I turned into a comedy record with Paul. I was waiting for him in his business firm, and I saw the phone book was on the piano with 'You know the name, look upward the number.' That was like a logo, and I just inverse it. Information technology was going to be a 4 Tops kind of vocal – the chord changes are like that – simply it never developed and we made a joke of it. Brian Jones is playing saxophone on it.

John Lennon
All We Are Saying, David Sheff

In 1988 Paul McCartney, somewhat unexpectedly, named 'You lot Know My Proper noun (Await Upward The Number)' as his favourite vocal past The Beatles.

People are merely merely discovering the b-sides of Beatles singles. They're only just discovering things similar 'You Know My Proper noun (Look Up The Number)' – probably my favourite Beatles track, just because it's so insane. All the memories…

Paul McCartney
The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, Mark Lewisohn

Structurally, 'Yous Know My Proper noun (Wait Up The Number)' consists of 5 separate parts. The first was the well-nigh conventional, consisting of the song'due south title chanted by Lennon and McCartney, with a prominent piano backing.

Part two, which was later edited out at Lennon'southward behest, repeated the mantra to a ska backing. This was restored in 1996 in a new stereo mix prepared for Anthology 2.

The third part was the nightclub section, introduced by Lennon with the words, "Skilful evening and welcome to Slaggers. Featuring Denis O'Bell".

O'Bell was a fictional lounge singer character played by McCartney. The proper name was similar to film producer Denis O'Dell, who had worked on A Hard Day's Night and with Lennon on How I Won The State of war.

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

In that location were so many of them my wife started going out of her mind. Neither of us knew why this was suddenly happening. Then I happened to exist in 1 Sunday and picked upwardly the phone myself. Information technology was someone on LSD calling from a candle-making factory in Philadelphia and they just kept saying, 'We know your name and now we've got your number'.

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

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

The song's 4th function – actually recorded every bit role 5, as the sections were afterwards edited in a different lodge – was a Monty Pythonesque swing version, containing cuckoo sounds, harmonica, bongos, pianoforte, other furnishings from the Abbey Road collection, and some supremely airheaded voices.

The final section was another pianoforte-led jazz version, with a vibraphone part and a series of incomprehensible vocal mutterings. Information technology likewise featured a saxophone solo performed by The Rolling Stones' Brian Jones, whom McCartney invited to the session.

He arrived at Abbey Route in his big Afghan coat. He was ever nervous, a lilliputian insecure, and he was actually nervous that night because he'south 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 information technology would be a fun idea to take him, and I naturally thought he'd bring a guitar along to a Beatles session and maybe chung forth and do some nice rhythm guitar or a piddling fleck of electric twelve-string or something, but to our surprise he brought his saxophone. He opened up his sax case and started putting a reed in and warming up, playing a picayune chip. He was a really ropey sax actor, so I idea, Ah-hah. We've got just the melody.

Paul McCartney
Many Years From At present, Barry Miles

In the studio

The Beatles began recording 'Y'all Know My Name (Await Upwardly The Number)' on 17 May 1967. they recorded the bankroll track for part ane in 14 takes, forth with a number of rehearsals. The best of these was have 10, which featured guitars, bass, drums, handclaps and bongos.

They returned to take nine of the song on 7 June, adding a number of overdubs. They and then recorded v takes lasting a full of 20 minutes. The instrumentation was flute, electric guitar, drums, organ and tambourine, and the music was little more than an unstructured jam.

Office ii was recorded on the post-obit evening, and was completed in 12 takes. Four attempts at part three followed; six of part 4; and finally a single take of part five. This was the session which Brian Jones attended.

The song was edited on ix June, and rough mono mixes were fabricated. The song was and then left dormant until 30 April 1969, when John Lennon and Paul McCartney oversaw the improver of all the vocals and more sound furnishings.

John and Paul weren't always getting on that well at this time, but for that song they went onto the studio flooring and sang together around one microphone. Fifty-fifty at that time I was thinking, 'What are they doing with this onetime iv-rails record, recording these funny bits onto this quaint song?' But it was a fun rail to do.

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

Amidst the audio 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 nosotros pulled it all together… and nosotros only did a skit, Mal and his gravel. I can nevertheless run into Mal excavation the gravel. And information technology was just and so hilarious to put that record together. It's not a great melody or anything, it's just unique.

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

On 26 November 1969 John Lennon edited the vocal from 6'08" to 4'xix", with the intention of releasing it as a Plastic Ono Ring unmarried, with 'What'due south The New Mary Jane' on the b-side. The thought was vetoed by the other Beatles, and 'You lot Know My Proper noun (Look Up The Number)' eventually saw light of day in March 1970 as the b-side to 'Let It Be'.