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Like many of McCartney's songs, the melody and first line of the song came to
him as he was playing around on his piano. The name that came to him, though,
was not Eleanor Rigby but Miss Daisy Hawkins. In 1966, McCartney recalled how he
got the idea for his song:
"I was sitting at the piano when I thought of it. The first few bars just came
to me, and I got this name in my head... Daisy Hawkins picks up the rice in the
church. I don't know why. I couldn't think of much more so I put it away for a
day. Then the name Father McCartney came to me, and all the lonely people. But I
thought that people would think it was supposed to be about my Dad sitting
knitting his socks. Dad's a happy lad. So I went through the telephone book and
I got the name McKenzie."
He originally imagined Daisy as a young girl, but anyone who cleaned up in
churches would probably be older. If she were older, she might have missed not
only the wedding she cleans up after but also her own. Gradually, McCartney
developed the theme of the loneliness of old age, morphing his song from the
story of a young girl to a elderly woman whose loneliness is worsened by having
to clean up after happy couples.
McCartney took a while to settle down on the name "Eleanor Rigby". His neighbor
and fellow musician Donovan recalled that McCartney had played him a version of
the song with the lyrics:
"Ola Na Tungee/ Blowing his mind in the dark/ With a pipe full of clay."
"The words hadn't yet come out right for him," Donovan said.
McCartney said he came up with the name Eleanor from actress Eleanor Bron, with
whom he had starred in the film Help!. Rigby came from the name of a store in
Bristol, Rigby & Evens Ltd, Wine & Spirit Shippers at 22 King Street, while
seeing his then-girlfriend Jane Asher act in The Happiest Days Of Your Life. He
recalled in 1984, "I just liked the name. I was looking for a name that sounded
natural. Eleanor Rigby sounded natural."
The "Eleanor Rigby"/"Yellow Submarine" single from the United Kingdom, released
on Parlophone Records. "Eleanor Rigby" stayed at #1 for four weeks on the
British pop charts.Coincidentally, in the
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1980s, a grave of an Eleanor Rigby was
discovered in the graveyard of St. Peter's Parish Church in Woolton, Liverpool,
a few feet from where McCartney and Lennon had met for the first time during a
fete in 1957 [1]. Paul had frequently played there as a boy. The actual Eleanor
was born in 1895 and lived in Liverpool, possibly in the suburb of Woolton,
where she married a man named Thomas Woods. She died in her sleep of unknown
reasons on October 10, 1939, at age 44, and was buried in St. Peter's churchyard
in Woolton. (Coincidentally, she died 365 days before John Lennon was born;
1940, Lennon's birth year, was a leap year.) Whether this Eleanor was the
inspiration for the song or not, her tombstone has become a landmark to Beatles
fans visiting Liverpool. A digitized version of it was added to the 1995 music
video for the Beatles' reunion song "Free As a Bird". The Rigby family, if any,
has never come forward with any royalty demands.
The Beatles finished off the song in the music room of John Lennon's home at
Kenwood. Lennon, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, and their friend Pete Shotton all
listened to McCartney play his song through and contributed ideas. Someone
suggested introducing a romance into the story, but this was rejected because it
made the story too complicated. Starr contributed the line "writing the words of
a sermon that no one will hear " and suggested making "Father McCartney" darn
his socks, which McCartney liked, and Harrison came up with the line "Ah, look
at all the lonely people". It was Shotton who suggested the change from Father
McCartney.
McCartney couldn't decide how to end the song, and Shotton finally suggested
that the two lonely people come together as Father McKenzie conducts Eleanor
Rigby's funeral. At the time, Lennon rejected the idea out of hand, but
McCartney said nothing and used the idea to finish off the song, later
acknowledging Shotton's help.
Recording
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"Eleanor Rigby" does not have a standard pop backing. In fact, it doesn't
feature any of the Beatles playing any instruments at all. Instead, McCartney
used a string octet of studio musicians, composed of four violins, two cellos,
and two violas all working off a score written by producer George Martin. For
the most part, the instruments "double up"—that is, they serve as two string
quartets with two instruments playing each part in the quartet. Microphones were
placed close to the instruments to produce a more vivid and raw sound.
McCartney's choice of a string backing may have been influenced by his interest
in the composer Vivaldi. Lennon recalled in 1980 that "Eleanor Rigby" was:
"Paul's baby, and I helped with the education of the child... The violin backing
was Paul's idea. Jane Asher had turned him on to Vivaldi, and it was very good."
Martin said that his score was influenced by composer Bernard Hermann's score
for the film Fahrenheit 451.
It was recorded April 28, 1966 in Studio 2 at Abbey Road studios and completed
in Studio 3 on the 29th and on 6 June. Take 15 was selected as the master.
Releases
"Eleanor Rigby" was released simultaneously on August 5, 1966 on both the album
Revolver and on a double A-side single with the song "Yellow Submarine" on
Parlophone in the United Kingdom and Capitol in the United States. It spent four
weeks at number one on the British charts, but in America in only reached the
eleventh spot.
In 1996, George Martin's string arrangement was released on the Beatles'
Anthology 2.
The song was nominated for three Grammies and won the 1966 Grammy for Best
Contemporary Pop Vocal Performance, Male.
"Eleanor Rigby" was never performed live by the Beatles.
Cover Versions
Despite being driven by a string ensemble rather than a rock backing, numerous
artists have covered "Eleanor Rigby" since its release in 1966, at least 61
released on albums by one count [2]. Aretha Franklin, on the album This Girl's
in Love and as a single, released one of the more notable covers, switching the
song to first person ("I'm Eleanor Rigby, I pick up the rice in a church where
the weddings have been") and replacing the string quartet with a driving soul
backing, complete with a chorus. Ray Charles also released a famous cover
version as a single an on the album A Portrait of Ray. This soul cover one
steers closer to the original, retaining a string section, but adds a driving
drum part and a more subdued chorus. Other notable artists who have covered
"Eleanor Rigby" include Joan Baez, Diana Ross & the Supremes and The
Temptations, John Denver, The Four Tops, Thrice, Zoot, Boston Pops and John
Pizzarelli, who covered it in a jazzed-up instrumental, with lead-guitar taking
over the vocal line.
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