Money (That's What I Want)

Song facts

From Wikipedia:

“Money (That’s What I Want)” is a 1959 song by Barrett Strong for the Tamla label, distributed nationally on Anna Records. It was written by Tamla founder Berry Gordy and Janie Bradford and became the first hit record for Gordy’s Motown enterprise. It went on to be covered by many artists including the Beatles, the Rolling Stones (1964) and the Doors, and with covers by the Kingsmen (1964), the Sonics (1965) and the Flying Lizards (1979) reaching high chart positions.

Overview

The song was originally released on Tamla in August 1959. Anna Records was operated by Gwen Gordy, Anna Gordy and Roquel “Billy” Davis. Gwen and Anna’s brother Berry Gordy had just established his Tamla label (soon Motown would follow) and licensed the song to the Anna label in 1960, which was distributed nationwide by Chicago-based Chess Records in order to meet demand; the Tamla record was a resounding success in the Midwest. The song features Strong curtly demanding that money is what he needs, more than anything else. In the US, the single became Motown’s first hit in June 1960, making it to number 2 on the Hot R&B Sides chart and number 23 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was listed as #288 on Rolling Stone‍ ’​s “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.” […]

The Beatles’ version

The Beatles recorded “Money” in seven takes on July 18, 1963, with their usual lineup. A series of piano overdubs was later added by producer George Martin. The song was released in November 1963 as the final track on their second UK album, With the Beatles.

According to George Harrison, the group discovered Strong’s version in Brian Epstein’s NEMS record store (though not a hit in the UK, it had been issued on London Records in 1960). They had previously performed it during their audition at Decca Records on January 1, 1962, with Pete Best still on drums at the time. They also recorded it six times for BBC radio. A live version, taped at a concert date in Stockholm, Sweden in October 1963, was included on Anthology 1. […]

From The Usenet Guide to Beatles Recording Variations:

• [a] mono 21 Aug 1963. edited.
  UK: Parlophone PMC 1206 With the Beatles 1963.
  CD: EMI CDP 7 46436 2 With the Beatles 1987.
• [b] stereo 30 Oct 1963. edited.
  UK: Parlophone PCS 3045 With the Beatles 1963.
• [b1] stereo remixed from [b] 1964, by Capitol.
  US: Capitol ST 2080 Second 1964.
• [b2] mono made from [b] 1964, by Capitol.
  US: Capitol T 2080 Second 1964.

This recording is not well described by Lewisohn, but see his Chronicle for the July 18 session sheet and his Recording Sessions for the July 30 session sheet. The mono and stereo each have sound not heard in the other, indicating two final-generation tapes made from a common earlier generation. The piano intro appears to be the same on both mixes, but with tapping in [a]. The other differences are the raspy guitar sound in mono [a] and the more prominent piano sound throughout in stereo [b].

Lewisohn reports that the mono [a] was made by editing take 6 (called “edit (piano)” on the session sheet) and take 7 (called “complete”), both July 18, while [b] was made from take 7 possibly including unnumbered piano overdubs made Sept 30. That the tapping intro is take 6, used only in mono [a], and that the louder piano all the way through is the Sept 30 work used only in stereo [b], makes sense but does not explain all. How is the guitar louder in mono [a]? Both takes 6 and 7 are marked “track 2”, i.e. second generation. It could be the second generation of take 6 added the tapping; we don’t know what was added for take 7. (No use of the July 30 session’s “track 3” is reported, when more piano intro was recorded. Even use of the Sept 30 overdubs is implied but not actually stated.)

The most difficult question is how the stereo [b] happens to have the vocal and handclap track mixed center, resulting in a true stereo mix without the hole in the center. The only other twin-track recording with anything mixed equally into both channels is the harmonica overdubs in From Me to You, done sound-on-sound as an overdub. Lewisohn says Money is two separate mono mixes on two tapes. Other reports in his book and George Martin’s indicate they had no way to synchronize two tapes reliably for more than few seconds at a time until 1967, making it seem incredible that Money could be two tapes, and yet, why did it take 3 hours to mix this one song to stereo on Oct 30, if it was just a twintrack source? Was it perhaps synchronized in short sections that were then edited together?

Capitol’s ST 2080 has heavyhanded “mixing” on all tracks, and this song, rebalanced like the rest of the album, ends up with the vocal off-center.

Last updated on February 14, 2016

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