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Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!

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"Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!"

Song by The Beatles
From the album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Album released June 1 1967
Genre Rock
Song Length 2:37
Record label Apple Records
Producer George Martin
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Album Listing
She's Leaving Home
(Track 6)
Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!
(Track 7)
Within You Without You
(Track 8)

"Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" is the title of a 1967 song from The Beatles album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Though attributed to John Lennon and Paul McCartney, it was largely the work of Lennon.

Lennon wrote the song taking inspiration from a late 19th century circus poster which he purchased in an antique shop in January or February of 1967, while filming the promotional video for the song "Strawberry Fields Forever" in Kent. One of the more musically complex songs on Sgt. Pepper, it was recorded on February 17, 1967 with overdubs on February 20 (organ sound effects), March 28 (harmonica, organ, guitar), March 29 (more organ sound effects), and March 31.

The poster upon which the song is based.
Enlarge
The poster upon which the song is based.
Lennon wanted the track to have a "carnival atmosphere" - he is even said to have told producer George Martin that he wanted the song to smell like sawdust.  In the middle eight bars, multiple recordings of fairground organs, calliope, and steam organ music were spliced together to attempt to produce this request; after a great deal of unsuccessful experimentation, George Martin is said to have literally chopped the tape into pieces with scissors and then spliced it randomly together. 

Although Lennon originally stated of the song that he "wasn't proud of that", in 1980, he described it as "pure, like a painting, a pure watercolour."

External links

The Beatles
John Lennon | Paul McCartney | George Harrison | Ringo Starr
Pete Best | Stuart Sutcliffe
Management
Brian Epstein | Allen Klein | Apple Records
Production
George Martin | Geoff Emerick | Norman Smith | Phil Spector | Abbey Road Studios
Official studio albums
Please Please Me (1963) | With the Beatles (1963) | A Hard Day's Night (1964) | Beatles for Sale (1964) | Help! (1965) | Rubber Soul (1965) | Revolver (1966) | Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967) | Magical Mystery Tour (1967) | The Beatles (1968) | Yellow Submarine (1969) | Abbey Road (1969) | Let It Be (1970)
A Hard Day's Night (1964) | Help! (1965) | Magical Mystery Tour (1967) | Yellow Submarine (1968) | Let it Be (1970)
History | Lennon-McCartney | Bootlegs | Discography | Anthology | Influence | The Quarrymen | London | Beatlemania | Beatlesque | Fifth Beatle | Paul Is Dead | British Invasion | Apple Corps | Northern Songs | Harrisongs | Startling Music
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