Rocky Raccoon: Introduction
“Rocky Raccoon” is a song from The Beatles’ “White Album.” Originally, Paul McCartney named the song “Rocky Sassoon” but changed it to make the character sound more like a cowboy. In fact, the track has all the attributes necessary to make it an “Old West” type song.
Indeed, George Martin played the piano in a honky-tonk-like manner, too. Furthermore, this is the last time we will hear John Lennon play the harmonica.
In Detail
- Release Date: November 22, 1968 (UK), November 25, 1968 (US)
- Recorded: August 15, 1968
- Genre: Country
- Track Duration: 3:33
- Record Label: Apple
- Songwriters: Lennon-McCartney
- Producer: George Martin
- Engineer: Ken Scott
Performers And Instruments
- Paul McCartney: lead vocals, also the acoustic guitar
- John Lennon: backing vocals, harmonium, six-string bass, harmonica (indeed, this is the last time we would hear Lennon play the harmonica)
- George Harrison: backing vocals
- Ringo Starr: drums
- George Martin: honky-tonk piano
Where To Find “Rocky Raccoon”
You can still buy this song on the following albums:
Rocky Raccoon: Background
Paul McCartney began writing “Rocky Raccoon” while he was studying Transcendental Meditation in India with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The song is basically McCartney’s attempt at writing a country ballad. He does it with good effect, albeit in a humorous manner.
The song describes a love triangle where Rocky’s girlfriend, Lil Magill, leaves him for someone by the name of Dan. Obviously, Rocky seeks revenge. A gun battle ensues, but Dan shoots first. Rocky falls back into his room, finding a copy of Gideon’s Bible and he sees this as a sign of God on his deathbed.
“Rocky Raccoon is quirky, very me. I like talking blues so I started off like that, then I did my tongue-in-cheek parody of a western and threw in some amusing lines. I just tried to keep it amusing, really; it’s me writing a play, a little one-act play giving them most of the dialogue. Rocky Raccoon is the main character, then there’s the girl whose real name was Magill, who called herself Lil, but she was known as Nancy.”
Paul McCartney
Many Years From Now, Barry Miles
When asked about the writer, John Lennon once said Paul McCartney did it: “Couldn’t you guess? Would I go to all that trouble about Gideon’s Bible and all that stuff?”
Recording Studio
The Beatles started recording “Rocky Raccoon” on August 15, 1968, in Studio Two at the EMI Studios in London during the 7.00pm–3.00am session. There were nine takes that day, with take nine becoming the master take for overdubbing purposes.
John Lennon overdubbed his harmonica piece; this was the last time he would do so on a Beatles’ song. They added further overdubs, such as the backing vocals and George Martin’s honky-tonk piano solo.
The version that is on the “Anthology 3” album from 1996 is Take Eight from this day. However, the lyrics are different from the final version. This is because the lyrics evolved throughout the recording session. Despite this, we get a rather witty attempt at a Wild West song worthy enough to be on the self-titled album, aka The White Album.
Take A Listen
Finally, listen to the song to experience the different music types. Indeed, for those not familiar with The Beatles in depth, this may be a surprise.
