Lovely Rita

Written by Lennon - McCartney

Album This song officially appears on the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Mono) LP.
Timeline This song has been officially released in 1967

Related interviews


The 1984 Playboy interview

December 1984 • From Playboy

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Song facts

From Wikipedia:

“Lovely Rita” is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1967 album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. It was written and sung by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. It is about a meter maid and the narrator’s affection for her.

Inspiration

The term “meter-maid”, largely unknown in the UK before the song’s release, is American slang for a female traffic warden. According to some sources, “Lovely Rita” originates from when a female traffic warden named Meta Davies issued a parking ticket to McCartney outside Abbey Road Studios. Instead of becoming angry, he accepted it with good grace and expressed his feelings in song. When asked why he had called her “Rita”, McCartney replied, “Well, she looked like a Rita to me”.

In his comments to biographer Barry Miles, however, McCartney refuted the idea that this episode inspired the song: “It wasn’t based on a real person. I think it was more a question of coincidence … I didn’t think, ‘Wow, that woman gave me a ticket, I’ll write a song about her.’ Never happened like that.” Author John Winn writes that McCartney’s inspiration came from hearing the term “meter maid”, after which he began writing the song when visiting his brother Michael in Liverpool.

According to a contemporary report on the recording of “Lovely Rita”, in Beat Instrumental magazine, the lyrics were completed by McCartney and John Lennon during the session. A reproduction of the manuscript shows only the opening chorus and verse in McCartney’s handwriting; the remaining lyrics appear in Beatles assistant Mal Evans’ handwriting, after he and Neil Aspinall joined the two songwriters in a corner of the studio.

Recording

Recording began on 23 February 1967 with eight takes required to achieve a satisfactory basic track. Using a four-track recorder, this first performance featured George Harrison’s guitar on track 1, Lennon’s guitar on track 2, Ringo Starr’s drums on track 3, and McCartney’s piano set on track 4. After those individual tracks had been combined in a reduction mix, McCartney overdubbed a bass guitar part.

The 24 February session was devoted to adding vocals. According to engineer Geoff Emerick, McCartney had told George Martin, the band’s producer, that he wanted the backing vocals to replicate how the Beach Boys “might approach the song”. The Beatles were visited in the studio that evening by Tony Hicks of the Hollies, American musicians David Crosby and Shawn Phillips, and the brother of Ravi Shankar, Harrison’s sitar teacher. Also present was Leslie Bryce, a photographer from Beatles Monthly. McCartney recorded his lead vocal with the tape speed reduced, so that his voice sounded at a higher pitch when the speed was corrected. Bryce took photos of Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Crosby grouped around a microphone, and the Beat Instrumental report stated that the backing vocals were recorded that night with Crosby’s participation. Phillips later supported this and said that he too sang backing vocals with the three Beatles. However, Phillips’ recollection is not supported by others, who say the group vocals were instead overdubbed on 7 March.

The session was led by Lennon and recorded with heavy tape echo. Enjoying the lighthearted session, the Beatles also added percussive effects played on comb and paper, serving as handmade kazoos, and vocalised sounds such as moans, sighs and screams. The latter sounds appear over the song’s extended coda. Martin later described the session as “anarchy”, given how little was achieved over the seven hours, and cited it as a precedent for the group’s “undisciplined, sometimes self-indulgent” method of working on Magical Mystery Tour later in 1967.

A second piano, played by Martin and processed electromechanically to wobble in and out of tune,[citation needed] was added for the solo on 21 March. This session was again filled with visitors. Among these were the band Pink Floyd, who were recording in a neighbouring studio and gained entry to the session through their producer, Norman Smith, formerly the Beatles’ recording engineer. Although Pink Floyd were established as one of the leading bands in the London underground scene, they were intimidated to be in the Beatles’ presence. Drummer Nick Mason recalled that they watched the band mixing “Lovely Rita” but they were “God-like figures to us” and any interaction between the two groups was minimal. Pink Floyd later used effects inspired by “Lovely Rita” when recording their instrumental composition “Pow R. Toc H.” from their debut album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn.[citation needed]

The final mono mix was completed that night, and a month later, the stereo mix was done. During mixdown the tape machine ran at 48.75 Hz instead of the standard 50 Hz, affecting the pitch on the released track. With vari-speed having been applied throughout the recording process, the song’s key is around E flat major. According to Martin, “Lovely Rita” and “When I’m Sixty Four” were the songs that would have been cut from Sgt. Pepper had the Beatles not been pressured into issuing “Strawberry Fields Forever” and “Penny Lane” as a non-album single in advance of the album’s release. In the opinion of music critic Richie Unterberger, “Lovely Rita” is “one of the more lighthearted songs on Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and consequently one of the more critically overlooked”.

McCartney live performances

McCartney first performed “Lovely Rita” in concert on 4 May 2013, when he opened his Out There! world tour at the Estádio Mineirão in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. […]


Paul McCartney, in “The Beatles Anthology“:

There was a story in the paper about ‘Lovely Rita’, the meter maid. She’s just retired as a traffic warden. The phrase ‘meter maid’ was so American that it appealed, and to me a ‘maid’ was always a little sexy thing: ‘Meter maid. Hey, come and check my meter, baby.’ I saw a bit of that, and then I saw that she looked like a ‘military man’.

Paul McCartney in "Many Years From Now", by Barry Miles:

I remember one night just going for a walk and working on the words as I walked… It wasn’t based on a real person but, as often happened, it was claimed by a girl called Rita [sic] who was a traffic warden who apparently did give me a ticket, so that made the newspapers. I think it was more a question of coincidence: anyone called Rita who gave me a ticket would naturally think, ‘It’s me!’ I didn’t think, Wow, that woman gave me a ticket, I’ll write a song about her – never happened like that.

‘Lovely Rita’ was occasioned by me reading that, in America, they call Traffic Wardens ‘Meter Maids’, and I thought, ‘God. That’s so American!’ Also, to me, ‘Maid’ had sexual connotations, like a French maid, or a milkmaid. There’s something good about ‘Maid’, and ‘Meter’ made it a bit more special, like the meter in a cab. ‘The meter is running, meter maid.’ Hearing that amused me.

Paul McCartney – From “The Beatles: Off the Record” by Keith Badman, 2008

It was in the spring of 1967 that I ticketed Paul’s car. He was on a meter showing excess, so I gave him a ten-shilling ticket. I had just put it on when he came along and took it off. He looked at it and, as he walked away, turned back and said, ‘Is your name really Meta?’ I told him it was, and we chatted for a few minutes. Then he said, ‘That would be a good idea for a song, do you mind if I use it?’ And that was it. Then, a few months later, I heard ‘Lovely Rita’ on the radio.

Meta Davies – St John’s Wood’s first female ticket officer- From “The Beatles: Off the Record” by Keith Badman, 2008

They were stuck for the solo. And in fact I suggested the piano solo, believe it or not, because they were really in a tizwaz about what solo to put on it. So then Paul shouted up because I was at the top of the stairs and Paul said, ‘oh, you play it’. So I’m so nervous, you know, in those days. So I said no I can’t do it. I wanted a shimmer behind the piano, because to get a sound of a piano that no one had heard again. So what I did, I used an echo, the echo chamber on it which was at the back of (studio) number two, and we could send the signal of the piano via a tape machine into the echo chamber, which would give some sort of delay. I stuck sticky tape on all the guide rollers of the tape machine. So when the tape went through it was wobbling all over the place, right? Again if the manager had come in, I probably would have got fired or got into terrible trouble. So I wobbled the tape going through the heads right, of the tape machine, and wobbled the echo, or the piano into the sound into the chamber. And that was like the sound behind the piano, but now you can actually get that sound as a plug in, cos most plug-ins now are based on the things we used to do.

Geoff Emerick – From ABC News, May 25, 2017

From The Usenet Guide to Beatles Recording Variations:

[a] mono 21 Mar 1967.
UK: Parlophone PMC 7026 Sgt Pepper 1967.
US: Capitol MAS 2653 Sgt Pepper 1967.

[b] stereo 17 Apr 1967.
UK: Parlophone PCS 7026 Sgt Pepper 1967.
US: Capitol SMAS 2653 Sgt Pepper 1967.
CD: EMI CDP 7 46442 2 Sgt Pepper 1987.

Talk just before the end is audible, the last syllables “leave it” (or “believe it”?) being quite distinct in mono [a].

From Lovely Rita | Beatles, Notas (pinterest.com)
From BOOKTRYST: Paul McCartney’s Handwritten Lyrics To “Lovely Rita” Offered At $175,000, December 2012 – Paul McCartney’s handwritten, working manuscript for the song Lovely Rita, from the Beatles’ preeminent and triumphant album, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band (1967), has come into the marketplace. The first rough draft, ten lines in ink on a sheet of lined paper from a steno pad, it is being offered by Biblioctopus of Beverly Hills for $175,000. Within, McCartney rewrites the line, “writing all the numbers in her little black book,” to read, “filling in a ticket with her little blue pen.” In the final version as recorded the line reads, “filling in a ticket in her little white book.” At the top is a note, “chorus.” […] Authentic Beatles manuscript material from Sgt. Pepper hold the records for rock n’ roll memorabilia at auction. In 1994, a manuscript draft of Getting Better sold at Butterfield’s for $249,200. In 2010, the manuscript lyrics to A Day in the Life sold at Sotheby’s for $1,202,500. […] This piece was last seen at Butterfield’s on December 12, 1993.
From The Beatles Bible

Last updated on February 16, 2023

The book "The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present", published in 2021, covers Paul McCartney's early Liverpool days, the Beatles, Wings, and solo careers, by pairing the lyrics of 154 of his songs with first-person commentaries of the circumstances in which they were written, the people and places that inspired them, and what he thinks of them now.

"Lovely Rita" is one of the 154 songs covered.

Lyrics

Lovely Rita meter maid
Lovely Rita meter maid
Lovely Rita meter maid
Nothing can come between us
When it gets dark I tow your heart away

Standing by a parking meter
When I caught a glimpse of Rita
Filling in the ticket in her little white book
In a cap she looked much older
And the bag across her shoulder
Made her look a little like a military man

Lovely Rita meter maid
May I inquire discreetly
When are you free to take some tea with me?
(Rita)

Took her out and tried to win her
Had a laugh and over dinner
Told her I would really like to see her again
Got the bill and Rita paid it
Took her home and nearly made it
Sitting on a sofa with a sister or two

Oh, lovely Rita meter maid
Where would I be without you?
Give us a wink and make me think of you

(Lovely Rita meter maid)
Lovely meter maid
(Lovely Rita meter maid)
Rita meter maid
(Lovely Rita meter maid)
Oh, lovely Rita meter, meter maid
Lovely Rita meter maid

Variations


A Original mono version

A2009 2009 mono remaster

B Original stereo version

B2009 2009 stereo remaster

C 2017 mix

D Speech and take 9

Officially appears on


Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Stereo)

LP • Released in 1967

2:42 • Studio versionB • Stereo

Paul McCartney :
Bass, Comb and paper, Piano, Vocals
Ringo Starr :
Comb and paper, Drums
John Lennon :
Acoustic rhythm guitar, Backing vocals, Comb and paper
George Harrison :
Acoustic rhythm guitar, Backing vocals, Comb and paper
George Martin :
Piano, Producer
Geoff Emerick :
Recording engineer

Session Recording:
Feb 23, 1967
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

Session Recording:
Feb 24, 1967
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

Session Recording:
Mar 07, 1967
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

Session Mixing:
Apr 17, 1967
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road


Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Mono)

LP • Released in 1967

2:42 • Studio versionA • Mono

Paul McCartney :
Bass, Comb and paper, Piano, Vocals
Ringo Starr :
Comb and paper, Drums
John Lennon :
Acoustic rhythm guitar, Backing vocals, Comb and paper
George Harrison :
Acoustic rhythm guitar, Backing vocals, Comb and paper
George Martin :
Piano, Producer
Geoff Emerick :
Recording engineer

Session Recording:
Feb 23, 1967
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

Session Recording:
Feb 24, 1967
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

Session Recording:
Mar 07, 1967
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

Session Mixing:
Mar 21, 1967
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road


Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Mono - 2009 remaster)

Official album • Released in 2009

2:42 • Studio versionA2009 • Mono • 2009 mono remaster

Paul McCartney :
Bass, Comb and paper, Piano, Vocals
Ringo Starr :
Comb and paper, Drums
John Lennon :
Acoustic rhythm guitar, Backing vocals, Comb and paper
George Harrison :
Acoustic rhythm guitar, Backing vocals, Comb and paper
George Martin :
Piano, Producer
Geoff Emerick :
Recording engineer
Paul Hicks :
Remastering
Guy Massey :
Remastering
Sean Magee :
Remastering
Allan Rouse :
Project co-ordinator

Session Recording:
Feb 23, 1967
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

Session Recording:
Feb 24, 1967
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

Session Recording:
Mar 07, 1967
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

Session Mixing:
Mar 21, 1967
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road


Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Stereo - 2009 remaster)

Official album • Released in 2009

2:42 • Studio versionB2009 • Stereo • 2009 stereo remaster

Paul McCartney :
Bass, Comb and paper, Piano, Vocals
Ringo Starr :
Comb and paper, Drums
John Lennon :
Acoustic rhythm guitar, Backing vocals, Comb and paper
George Harrison :
Acoustic rhythm guitar, Backing vocals, Comb and paper
George Martin :
Piano, Producer
Geoff Emerick :
Recording engineer
Guy Massey :
Remastering
Steve Rooke :
Remastering
Allan Rouse :
Project co-ordinator

Session Recording:
Feb 23, 1967
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

Session Recording:
Feb 24, 1967
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

Session Recording:
Mar 07, 1967
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

Session Mixing:
Apr 17, 1967
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road


Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Mono - 2014 vinyl)

LP • Released in 2014

2:42 • Studio versionA2014 • Mono • 2014 remaster

Paul McCartney :
Bass, Comb and paper, Piano, Vocals
Ringo Starr :
Comb and paper, Drums
John Lennon :
Acoustic rhythm guitar, Backing vocals, Comb and paper
George Harrison :
Acoustic rhythm guitar, Backing vocals, Comb and paper
George Martin :
Piano, Producer
Geoff Emerick :
Recording engineer
Sean Magee :
Remastering
Steve Berkowitz :
Remastering

Session Recording:
Feb 23, 1967
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

Session Recording:
Feb 24, 1967
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

Session Recording:
Mar 07, 1967
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

Session Mixing:
Mar 21, 1967
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road


Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (50th anniversary boxset)

Official album • Released in 2017

2:42 • Studio versionC • Stereo • 2017 stereo mix

Paul McCartney :
Bass, Comb and paper, Piano, Vocals
Ringo Starr :
Comb and paper, Drums
John Lennon :
Acoustic rhythm guitar, Backing vocals, Comb and paper
George Harrison :
Acoustic rhythm guitar, Backing vocals, Comb and paper
George Martin :
Piano, Producer
Geoff Emerick :
Recording engineer
Giles Martin :
Producer
Sam Okell :
Mix engineer
Miles Showell :
Mastering engineer
Sean Magee :
Mastering engineer
Matt Mysko :
Mix assistant
Greg McAllister :
Mix assistant
Matthew Cocker :
Transfer engineer
James Clark :
Audio restoration
Adam Sharp :
Mix coordination

Session Recording:
Feb 23, 1967
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

Session Recording:
Feb 24, 1967
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

Session Recording:
Mar 07, 1967
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

Session Mixing:
Mar 21, 1967
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road


Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (50th anniversary boxset)

Official album • Released in 2017

3:05 • Studio versionD • Speech and take 9. Partially new although according to Mark Lewisohn, take 9 was a reduction mix from take 8 and also a backing track and vocals were added a day after giving birth to take 10 and 11, so this could not be Take 9. The speech at the intro could be from an earlier take and it’s already available (edited here) at the Rockband intros, then we can hear Paul’s count in very far away (“One, Two, Three, Four” and by the way, this same count-in intro is also available on the Rockband mixes starting from “two, three, four” ) and once the song starts he is reciting with loud and clear voice, not the same as for the count-in, so this is a vocal overdub take, but it’s actually the released vocal take. Sadly, the only difference is the lack of overdubs and the harmonies from the intro, the best is that we can hear the full ending of the song and Paul and John singing at the end when the song already ended “Oh no no, I refuse to Go”.

Giles Martin :
Mixing engineer

Session Recording:
Feb 24, 1967
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road


Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (50th anniversary boxset)

Official album • Released in 2017

2:46 • Studio versionA • 1967 mix

Paul McCartney :
Bass, Comb and paper, Piano, Vocals
Ringo Starr :
Comb and paper, Drums
John Lennon :
Acoustic rhythm guitar, Backing vocals, Comb and paper
George Harrison :
Acoustic rhythm guitar, Backing vocals, Comb and paper
George Martin :
Piano, Producer
Geoff Emerick :
Recording engineer

Session Recording:
Feb 23, 1967
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

Session Recording:
Feb 24, 1967
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

Session Recording:
Mar 07, 1967
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

Session Mixing:
Mar 21, 1967
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road


Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Picture Disc - Limited Edition - 2017)

LP • Released in 2017

2:42 • Studio versionC • Stereo • 2017 stereo mix

Paul McCartney :
Bass, Comb and paper, Piano, Vocals
Ringo Starr :
Comb and paper, Drums
John Lennon :
Acoustic rhythm guitar, Backing vocals, Comb and paper
George Harrison :
Acoustic rhythm guitar, Backing vocals, Comb and paper
George Martin :
Piano, Producer
Geoff Emerick :
Recording engineer
Giles Martin :
Producer
Sam Okell :
Mix engineer
Miles Showell :
Mastering engineer
Sean Magee :
Mastering engineer
Matt Mysko :
Mix assistant
Greg McAllister :
Mix assistant
Matthew Cocker :
Transfer engineer
James Clark :
Audio restoration
Adam Sharp :
Mix coordination

Session Recording:
Feb 23, 1967
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

Session Recording:
Feb 24, 1967
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

Session Recording:
Mar 07, 1967
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

Session Mixing:
Mar 21, 1967
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

Live performances

“Lovely Rita” has been played in 89 concerts and 4 soundchecks.

Latest concerts where Lovely Rita has been played







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