Within You Without You: Introduction
“Within You Without You” is the first song on side 2 of The Beatles’ Sgt. Peppers album. Indeed, it is another George Harrison composition with an Indian flavour. Harrison took much influence from his visit to India in 1966, of course. This was George Harrison’s second Indian classical-style song after “Love You To.” That song is available on The Beatles’ “Revolver” album, of course.
In Detail
- Publisher: Northern Songs
- Released: May 26, 1967
- Recorded: March 15 & 22, also April 3, 1967
- Studio: EMI Studios, London
- Genre: Indian classical, raga rock
- Track Duration: 5:05
- Record Label: Parlophone
- Songwriter: George Harrison
- Producer: George Martin
- Engineer: Geoff Emerick
Performers And Instruments
- George Harrison: lead vocals, tambura, sitar, also the acoustic guitar
Other Performers
- Anna Joshi: dilruba
- Amrit Gajjar, Amrit Gajjar: dilruba
- Natwar Soni: tabla
- Buddhadev Kansara, Neil Aspinall: tambura
- Uncredited: swarmandal
- Erich Gruenberg, Alan Loveday, Julien Gaillard, Paul Scherman, Ralph Elman, David Wolfsthal, Jack Rothstein, and Jack Greene: violins
- Reginald Kilbey, Allen Ford, and Peter Halling: cellos
Where To Find “Within You Without You”
You can still find the original version of this song on the Sgt. Peppers album.
Within You Without You: Background
“Within You Without You” is a George Harrison song. At the time, he was deeply into Hindu philosophy and the teachings of the Vedas (religious texts originating in ancient India). Together with his mentor and sitar teacher, Ravi Shankar, Harrison became much more spiritually enlightened. George Harrison’s exposure to Indian culture also allowed him to explore different avenues in the field of music.
Harrison explains:
“Within You Without You came about after I had spent a bit of time in India and fallen under the spell of the country and its music. I had brought back a lot of instruments. It was written at Klaus Voormann’s house in Hampstead after dinner one night. The song came to me when I was playing a pedal harmonium.”
He continues:
“I’d also spent a lot of time with Ravi Shankar, trying to figure out how to sit and hold the sitar, and how to play it. Within You Without You was a song that I wrote based upon a piece of music of Ravi’s that he’d recorded for All-India Radio.
It was a very long piece—maybe 30 or 40 minutes—and was written in different parts, with a progression in each. I wrote a mini-version of it, using sounds similar to those I’d discovered in his piece. I recorded in three segments and spliced them together later.”
Just George!
None of the other Beatles took part in the recording of this song. It was just George, with the help of members of the Asian Music Circle and a few other musicians. However, Beatles aide Neil Aspinall has made some contributions to the track. Be that as it may, the song’s inclusion on The Beatles’ album, “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” shows how committed the band members were to each other.
It also shows how open the band was to different musical concepts. Moreover, it took Indian music right into the heart of pop culture in the West. After all, “Sgt. Peppers” became one of the highest-selling albums of all time, so the exposure was enormous.
Recording Studio
Recording took place on March 15, 1967, in Studio 2 of EMI’s famous Abbey Road studios. The working title of this song had the unusual name “Untitled.”
With incense burning under low light and Indian tapestries on the walls, the performers sat on a carpet in anticipation. The almost spiritual atmosphere created in the London studio was to allow the musicians to put more feeling into the music.
In essence, there was a desire to get this song right from the beginning. Indeed, Harrison desperately wanted to promote his Indian-style music to Western audiences, so he knew it had to be good. Not only did Harrison create the right atmosphere, but his preparation was perfect—there was only one take on the day.
Some instrumental overdubbing took place on March 22. Then, on April 3, George Harrison recorded the lead vocals as well as adding further sitar and guitar instrumentation. This was to be the final day of recording for the Sgt. Peppers album.
On April 4, 1967, the final mixing took place, with Harrison adding laughter from the Abbey Road sound effects tape. Although George Martin and Geoff Emerick didn’t approve of the canned laughter, they agreed to Harrison’s request. Harrison explains, “You were supposed to hear the audience anyway, as they listen to Sergeant Pepper’s Show.”
Within You Without You: The Song’s Success
Within You Without You is not a typical Beatles’ song, of course. However, it did add a new dimension to The Beatles’ music. Some critics mocked it, while others loved it. But you can’t please everyone!
There are cover versions from artists like Big Jim Sullivan, Sonic Youth, Big Daddy and even Oasis. Stephen Stills loved the lyrics to this song so much that there is a carving of them on a stone monument in his yard!
Take A Listen
So, what do you think of this song? You can reply here, of course. But we also have a massive Beatles Forum for debates.
