David Crosby on The Beatles' "Lovely Rita"?

From ROLLING STONE    28.05.2017

 

After recording 'Lovely Rita' instrumental backing track, the Beatles reconvened the following day to tackle the vocals. As they worked, a pair of pop stars dropped by to join them: Tony Hicks of the Hollies and David Crosby of the Byrds. The Beatles had grown particularly close to Crosby during an extended stay in Los Angeles as part of their 1965 U.S. tour, even dropping acid with him and fellow Byrd Jim McGuinn. The groups would continue to a share a great affinity for one another – particularly George Harrison and McGuinn, who emboldened one another to incorporate Indian modes into Western pop with their jangling Rickenbacker 12-strings.

All of the Beatles valued Crosby's opinion, so when he stopped by Abbey Road they were eager to play him some of their latest work. "I was, as near as I know, the first human being besides them and George Martin and the engineers to hear 'A Day in the Life,'" Crosby recalled in an interview with Filter. "I was high as a kite – so high I was hunting geese with a rake. They sat me down; they had huge speakers, like coffins with wheels, that they rolled up on either side of the stool. By the time it got to the end of that piano chord, man, my brains were on the floor."

Also on hand that night was Leslie Bryce, the staff photographer from The Beatles Book Monthly magazine, who took several photos of Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Crosby gathered around a microphone. The accompanying article insinuates that Crosby added backup vocals on "Lovely Rita," but his contribution, if it ever existed (Crosby never says it did), was not used. However, at some point Paul said, 'We need backup vocals on this. This is what I want you to sing.' So David Crosby went in there and sang backup vocals on 'Lovely Rita.'" .

The Beatles would revisit "Lovely Rita" on March 7th, when they tackled a series of unconventional overdubs. In his 2006 memoir, Geoff Emerick recalls the band "standing around a single microphone humming through a comb and paper, each priceless Beatle comb carefully wrapped with a single layer of the standard issue extra-scratchy EMI toilet paper that we were all constantly complaining about." To achieve a kazoo effect, Mal Evans had been dispatched to the studio bathrooms to collect several rolls ...