Written by: Lennon-McCartney
Recorded: 14 August 1968, 26 November 1969
Producers: George Martin, Geoff Emerick, John Lennon
Engineers: Ken Scott, Mike Sheady
Released: 28 October 1996
John Lennon: vocals, piano, effects
George Harrison: vocals, acoustic guitar, effects
Yoko Ono: vocals, effects
Mal Evans: handbell, effects
Available on:
Anthology 3
Written by John Lennon in 1968, What's The New Mary Jane was one of The Beatles' strangest recordings. It was considered for inclusion on the The Beatles (White Album), though remained unreleased until Anthology 3 in 1996.
The lyrical playfulness of the song suggests it was written in India or shortly afterwards. Based on the phrase "What a shame Mary Jane had a pain at the party", it was, along with Revolution 9, one of Lennon's first forays into the world of the avant garde.
This was a thing I wrote half with our electronic genius Alex [Mardas]. It was called What A Shame Mary Jane Had A Pain At The Party, and it was meant for The Beatles album.
Beginning in a fairly simple nursery rhyme style, of the kind Lennon mined more successfully on Cry Baby Cry, the song also has the same throwaway air as The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill. The title could be interpreted as a reference to marijuana, although the surrealistic lyrics give few solid clues.
The Beatles recorded a demo of What's The New Mary Jane as George Harrison's Esher house prior to the commencement of the White Album sessions. That first recording was performed on acoustic guitars with a cacophony of voices joining in on the free-form chorus.
In the studio
At Abbey Road, the song began to take on a quite different shape. Lennon and Harrison were the only Beatles to appear on the recording. They taped four takes on 14 August 1968, with assistance from Yoko Ono and Mal Evans.
While the first take was incomplete, the other three lasted 2'35", 3'45" and 6'12". Lennon sang and played piano, with Harrison on guitar, both double tracked. Other instruments on the recording included handbell and xylophone, with various effects added to give the impression of a particularly bad acid trip.
The longest version of What's The New Mary Jane was widely bootlegged after The Beatles split up, and was the one chosen for inclusion on Anthology 3. It ends with Lennon saying "Let's hear it, before we get taken away."
Initial mixing of the song took place on 26 September 1968, and again on 14 October. Although Lennon wanted the song to appear on the White Album, it sat uneasily with the other songs and was discarded in October 1968 during the final mixing sessions.
Lennon created three new stereo mixes on 11 September 1969, for a potential release by the Plastic Ono Band. He wanted the song to be issued as the b-side of You Know My Name (Look Up The Number), which would surely have been one of the most bizarre singles by any mainstream artist in modern musical history.
On 26 November 1969 Lennon made another stereo mix, simultaneously adding new vocals and sound effects with Yoko Ono. He then carried out a number of edits and further mixes.
The single was to have been released on 5 December 1969 with the catalogue number APPLES 1002. The Beatles or EMI may have objected to the move, and the project was shelved, although a press release from Apple did claim that the single would feature John and Yoko with "many of the greatest show business names of today" – a somewhat thinly-veiled reference to The Beatles.
It’s strange that George always spoke of a distaste for experimental music but it seems every weird song the beatles came up with (Revolution 9, What’s the New Mary Jane, Tomorrow Never Knows, and ,solo, Electronic Sound) he had a pretty big part in it adding effects and loops.
Didn’t George say “Avant-garde a clue” when referring to that kind of experimentation? Strange indeed!
I have something that you may want to add:
The 1996 Anthology Mix is really different to the 1968 Original Mix, and also, the 1968 Original Mix, lasts ”6:37”. In Anthology was heavily remixed to sound less cynical and maniac as originally was, and to don’t sound like a ”Revolution 9” track. It sounds like that the original mix but not at all. This is one of my favorites (1968 mix), the 1996 mix i hate it after i discovered that was heavily remixed. But it’s a good remix, but i prefer the original ”6:37” version.
Where can I find this original mix?
George released his own version of expermental music on a LP titled “Electronic Sound” so he must not have had too strong a distaste for it.
Cheers
According to a 2005 biography, isn’t “Mary Jane” Jane Asher?
That’s the first I’ve heard about it. Which 2005 biography, and of whom, was that in?
Wouldn’t Mary Jane refer to Marijuana?
im sure jane asher was paul mccartneys girlfriend before he met linda also its possible the song refers to her as the kinks song waterloo sunset makes a reference to terry meets julie referring to terrence stamp and julie christie
possible the idea was borrowed from the kinks perhaps? then again maybe not?
This song, to me, is garbage. John under the heavy influence of Yoko and heroin.
I think it’s interesting to listen to this and then listen to “You Know My Name” because I think Lennon could have really gone somewhere with “avant-garde a clue” type music…just with Paul rather than with Yoko. I mean this song is certainly better than anything on “Two Virgins” or those other two painfully bad albums he and Yoko did, but still these are the type of songs that even the most die hard Lennon fans just can’t deal with.
I’ve always liked this song. The verses are catchy and silly, and the chorus is catchy and ridiculous. It’s Lennon having a lark and it’s fun. I don’t care much for the Yoko-inspired avant-garde segment, but the “song” section is just fine. Hey, back in the ’70s it was one of the only truly “new” finds to appear on a bootleg.
“You Know My Name” is fun and silly (though I wouldn’t put it on my “A” list). “..Mary Jane..” is just typical Lennon nonsense gobblety-gook-noise of that period. I listened to it once when Anthology3 came out and have skipped it ever since.
Totally agree! Heroin and Yoko were a bad combination for John – musically speaking. This combo would continue to hinder John a few months later during the Get Back/LIB sessions.
The structure of the song is based on what it’s like to be on marajuana.
It’s like you hear about the paty, then you get to BE the party.
That’s why there’s a four minute freak out. I do like the part when Mal Evans screams randomly “FUCK YOU ALL!”
Is that true about Mal shouting that? Omg that’s hilarious. What point in the song? I’ve listened to this song dozens of times and never noticed, so now I’m all excited.
I love the line “He grooving such cookie spaghetti” (presumably the Yeti she like to be married to). That cracks me up every time. Also the song mentions “Aldebaran”, which you should ALL learn about if you want to truly be Beatle-fanatics/obsessives
In take two (which can be found on YouTube) at one point near the end Mal Evans shouts “DAMN IT FUCK YOU ALL”
OMG Someone mentioned Aldebaran…the cat’s out of the bag now! Beware!!
From Wikipedia: “The planetary exploration probe Pioneer 10 is currently heading in the general direction of the star and should make its closest approach in about two million years”
I can hardly wait!
does Syd Barett have anything to do with the song?
NO. That is just a rumour.
I don’t really like this song. I mean I like it better than Revolution 9, but I like it less than You Know My Name (I like this one, mostly the uncut Anthology stereo mix). I think it was the right decision to not release it on White Album, but if they would have released it instead of Revolution 9, I would like it. I’d also like to know how Carnival of Lights sounds, but because of my dislike against Avant Garde, I think I wouldn’t like it.
Agreed. I actually like You know my name. Mary Jane is a little bit better than Revolution 9
I`ve always imagined that the guys spent most of the India trip smoking the quality hash that is apparently available there, and one day someone turned up to turn them on and the question was asked “What`s the new mary jane”….
I love this story and secretly like to be believe it’s true, like someone asked “waht’s the new strain we’re smoking?”
I’ve always found this song to be interesting to listend to (perhaps not all that enjoyable though) for several reasons: 1. Lyrically the song reflects John Lennon’s own poetic genius and is a logical progression from his early beatles writing days. Remember that John published two very unusual books during 64 and 65 — “In His Own Write” and “A Spaniard in the Works” which, even in the “pre marijuana” stage of the Beatles career were very unusual publications, filled with surrealistic “doggerel” rhymes and clever sketches and drawings (John was actually an accomplished artist having attended Liverpool Art Institute for several years). He WAS a freak back then but just didn’t look the part.
2. The avant garde music comes from all of them (except Ringo) learning and experimenting with sounds and tape loops and distortion and echo and backwards tapes, etc. and so on – remember they were brilliant composers and were trying to absorb all that was going on around them. This is the first evidence I’ve ever heard of the infamous Magic Alex actually appearing on a recording, so that is VERY cool. We know about John and Avant Garde; we know about George and Avant Garde – what many DON’T know is that intellectually Paul was the most of all. Many of the tapes and sound effects on Sargeant Pepper came from Paul’s own experimentation, including the earlier backwards tape loops on John’s “Tomorrow Never Knows” which Paul brought from his home on Cavendish avenue in a plastic bag and arranged for Abbey Road engineers to hold up pencils to provide tension so they could be run through the machines there…
Bottom line, they were incredible and its great to get a rare one every once in a while!
I read somewhere that whats the new mary jane was released as a b side and some labels were misprinted as whats the news mary jane not sure which single it was a b side of though
this gets my vote for the worst piece of crap John or any of the other Beatles for that matter ever recorded with the intent of having it on an official release. Total nonsense even by John’s late period standards. Sounds like something a high school kid came up with while high playing his first guitar
Awfuil and I’m from Liverpool, sounds like he’s been too much on the Higson’s Bitter, never mind marigona .
With all the hype for this song through Lennon interviews, one was expecting a masterpiece of unknown. The Beatles included it on ‘Anthology 3’, thus causing me the afford every time I hear the nonsence piano intro to skip it. What a load of rubbish. Even ‘Revolution 9’ is more pleasant to listen to. They should’ve released ‘Carnival Of Light’ in its place!
I have my own theory on this song. The Beatles were fans of American musician Brute Force, who put out a music/humor album called “Confections Of Love.” They were fans to such an extent that they actually reached out to him in 1969 when Brute was unable to get his recording “The King Of Fuh” published in England and released it themselves on Apple Records.
One of the tracks on “Confections Of Love” is called “Brute’s Party”, and it has a certain structural similarity to What’s The New Mary Jane. Additionally, as Mark Lewisohn noted in The Beatles Recording Sessions, ‘For some equally strange reason John always sung “party” with an American drawl viz, “Pahr-tee'”
I think that there’s a strong possibility that John Lennon was so tickled by Brute’s album that he wrote What’s The New Mary Jane as a very loose riff off of “Brute’s Party.”
The song is on youtube. Give it a listen for yourself.
Pretty interesting. I think it was wise enough to leave it out from the White Album and listen to it in another one if given a chance. Probably in the RARITIES Album.
I like the sound effects at the end, but the song itself is pretty bad. At least Revolution 9 works as a sound collage. The song sounds like a songwriter shedding all his artistry and just strumming stuff at random.
More Lennon self-indulgent twaddle. His contributions, especially in the latter half of the Beatles life was mostly garbage. This, Revolution #9, and a lot of lyrics were just cringe-worthy. No wonder Paul felt he needed to step up and carry the band forward. George is a bit of an odd-one when it comes to avant-garde with his apparent dislike of it, yet plays on all their tracks. Still this song is crap and too much the norm for Lennon at this time.
I could not disagree more with you. Garbage is most of Paul’s production towards the end. Too commercial. John’s compositions are brilliant allways.
Agreed, although Paul didn’t really sell out until into his solo years (“granny” songs like “Honey Pie”, my vote for worst Beatles song ever, aside).
For the OP – John’s later compositions like “Because”, “A Day In The Life”, “Across The Universe”, “Happiness Is A Warm Gun”(pretty much every Lennon composition on The White Album), “I Am The Walrus”, etc were garbage? Well I guess I gimme garbage…all day long
I really like this after only two listens. It’s definitely best that they didn’t put it on the album, but I’m a sucker for psychedelia and I’d say the middle section is seriously awesome. Some bits being Revolution 9-ish. The actual bits with John’s vocals are crap though I find. Good little Avant-Garde that I’m glad found a place somewhere at least. Psychedelic right after they quit they business, but more avant-garde.
In an interview in 1980, Lennon said he can see himself becoming a children’s author in his 60’s. He stated that Lewis Carroll, The Wind and Willows, and Treasure island had a big impact on him as a child. So I wasn’t surprised when reading a book about A. A. Milne the author of all the Winnie the Pooh books and found a poem in there : “What is the matter with Mary Jane? She’s perfectly well, and she hasn’t had a pain.”
An excellent find and probably the best possible explanation I’ve ever heard for the genesis of the song. Here is the poem in its entirety:
Alan Alexander Milne 1882-1956
What is the matter with Mary Jane?
She’s crying with all her might and main,
And she won’t eat her dinner – rice pudding again –
What is the matter with Mary Jane?
What is the matter with Mary Jane?
I’ve promised her dolls and a daisy-chain,
And a book about animals – all in vain –
What is the matter with Mary Jane?
What is the matter with Mary Jane?
She’s perfectly well, and she hasn’t a pain;
But, look at her, now she’s beginning again! –
What is the matter with Mary Jane?
What is the matter with Mary Jane?
I’ve promised her sweets and a ride in the train,
And I’ve begged her to stop for a bit and explain –
What is the matter with Mary Jane?
What is the matter with Mary Jane?
She’s perfectly well and she hasn’t a pain,
And it’s lovely rice pudding for dinner again!
What is the matter with Mary Jane?