The Beatles AI. - Being For The Benefit Of Mr Kite

 

For the benefit of Mr. Kite

There will be a show tonight on trampoline

The Hendersons will all be there

Late of Pablo Fanques Fair, what a scene

Over men and horses, hoops and garters

Lastly through a hogshead of real fire

In this way Mr. K. will challenge the world.

The celebrated Mr. K.

Performs his feat on Saturday at Bishops Gate

The Hendersons will dance and sing

As Mr. Kite flies through the ring, don't be late

Messrs. K and H. assure the public

Their production will be second to none

And of course Henry The Horse dances the waltz.

The band begins at ten to six

When Mr. K. performs his tricks without a sound

And Mr. H. will demonstrate

Ten somersets he'll undertake on solid ground

Having been some days in preparation

A splendid time is guaranteed for all

And tonight Mr. Kite is topping the bill.

      George Martin explained "When we came to the middle section of the song, where 'Henry the Horse dances the waltz' John said he wanted the music to 'swirl up and around,' to give it a circus atmosphere. As usual, having written a great song, he said to me, 'Do what you can with it' and walked away, leaving me to it. John and I did our thing on two electric organs, a Wurlitzer and a Hammond. John was to play the basic tune, and around it I was to play the swirly noises – chromatic runs based on it. Unfortunately, my digital capacities on an organ fall short of spectacular, and I found that I couldn’t achieve the speed I wanted for these runs. So, I told John: 'What we’ll do is to slow the whole thing down by a half. You play the tune twice as slow and an octave down, and I’ll do my runs as fast as I can, but an octave down as well. Then, when we double the tape speed, it’ll come out all nice and smooth and very swirly.'      

                     George Martin