How Ringo Starr Created the Echo in The Beatles’ ‘Yellow Submarine’
The Beatles‘ “Yellow Submarine” includes a famous verse where the inhabitants of the yellow submarine talk to each other. The verse has a memorable echo effect. Ringo Starr once explained to another rock star how The Beatles were able to create this sound.
Ringo Starr said he helped create the echo from The Beatles’ ‘Yellow Submarine’
In a 2019 Rolling Stone article, Ringo and Nirvana’s Dave Grohl interviewed each other. Grohl asked how the Fab Four created the famous echo sound effect for “Yellow Submarine.” “We were just in Abbey Road for the [remastered] Abbey Road album release,” he replied.
“If you look where the stairs come down, [that’s] where we used to hang out and huddle with each other,” he added. “There’s a big door, and I went and opened that door and just shouted from there. John was saying, ‘What we do, Captain?’ or something. We were just all shouting and put it on. So that’s [why] it felt echoey. We did what we did!”
The song cemented the image Ringo Starr had before and after The Beatles broke up
According to the book The Beatles Diary Volume 1: The Beatles Years, the echo sound effect was originally part of a series of sound effects created for the song. Most of them were nixed. The end result is that “Yellow Submarine” sounds more like a 17th-century sea shanty than a densely produced 1960s psychedelic song.
Making the song more simple might have been beneficial in the long term. The Beatles Diary Volume 1: The Beatles Years says the song’s simplicity was meant to reinforce the simple public persona of Ringo. While Ringo was a drummer of complex talents, he had an image as a loveable goofball. He cultivated that perception of himself through Beatles novelty songs like “Yellow Submarine,” “Octopus’s Garden,” and “With a Little Help from My Friends.”
These tracks all set the tone for Ringo’s solo career. Ringo’s solo tunes like “No No Song,” “Snookeroo,” and his cover of Johnny Burnette’s “You’re Sixteen” all have a jocular feel that became the drummer’s signature style. His acting career went in a similar direction. After The Beatles’ breakup, Ringo acted in lighthearted fare such as the campy comedy films Son of Dracula and Caveman and the children’s series Shining Time Station.
How ‘Yellow Submarine’ impacted the Fab Four’s fandom
In addition to helping Ringo’s career, “Yellow Submarine” garnered The Beatles some younger fans. In Rolling Stone, Grohl said every child’s life is defined by “Yellow Submarine” at some point. While that’s an exaggeration, the song definitely added to the band’s appeal to children in many ways.
First of all, the tune is a wonderful song for young people in and of itself. It also inspired the classic cartoon of the same time. Millions of younger Beatles fans might not have become interested in the band if not for “Yellow Submarine.”
“Yellow Submarine” is a perfect children’s song and it wouldn’t be the same without that magical little echo effect.
