Polythene Pam
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| "Polythene Pam" | ||||
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Sheet Music Cover
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| Song by The Beatles | ||||
| Album | Abbey Road | |||
| Released | 26 September 1969 | |||
| Recorded | 25–30 July 1969 | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 1:12 | |||
| Label | Apple Records | |||
| Writer | Lennon/McCartney | |||
| Producer | George Martin | |||
| Abbey Road track listing | ||||
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Recorded as one with Sun King, Lennon wrote this song while in India in the spring of 1968. "England's answer to Allen Ginsberg" refers to the Beat poet Royston Ellis.
| “ | That was me, remembering a little event I had with a woman in Jersey, an island off the French coast. A poet, England's answer to Allen Ginsberg, a beatnik that looked like a beatnik, who gave us our first exposure, who was from Liverpool, took me to this apartment of his in Jersey. This was so long ago. This is all triggering these amazing memories. So this poet took me to his place, and I had a girl and he had one he wanted me to meet. He said she dressed up in polythene, which she did. In polythene bags. She didn't wear jack boots and kilts – I just sort of elaborated – and no, she didn't really look like a man. There was nothing much to it. It was kind of perverted sex in a polythene bag. But it provided something to write a song about. | „ |
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—John Lennon, Playboy Interview, , 1980 |
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| “ | John went out to dinner with Royston and they ended up back at his apartment with a girl who dressed herself in polythene for John's amusement, so it was a kinky scene. She became Polythene Pam. She was a real character. | „ |
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—Paul McCartney, Many Years From Now, Barry Miles, 1994 |
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| “ | Just as "Sun King" and "Mean Mr Mustard" were recorded as one continuous piece, so were "Polythene Pam" and "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window" ... Encompassing both songs in the manner, the recordings began with some sharp Lennon jabs of a 12-string acoustic guitar (the start of "Polythene Pam") and ended with Paul's vocal line "...on the phone to me, oh yeah." ... In between, on this first day, was a basic track of bass (Paul), drums (Ringo), lead guitar (George) and that acoustic guitar (John) ... There was an amusing moment when John commented that Ringo's drumming style for the recording "sounds like Dave Clark!" (It wasn't meant as a compliment.) Perhaps this explains why the drum track ... was taped again later in the session. | „ |
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—Mark Lewisohn, The Beatles Recording Sessions, 1988 |
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