Great debates of our time: Who sang the "aaaah" on "A Day in the Life"? (Hint: It's Paul)


The long-running debate on who sings the soaring, sweeping "aaaah" during the Beatles' "A Day in the Life" has resurfaced once again online, with a couple of musical pros chiming in this time, Canada's Globe and Mail reports.

“Is it not John?” asked singer-songwriter Ron Sexsmith.

“It’s John,” CSNY’s David Crosby said, “no question.”

“There’s no debate,” Juno-winner Hawksley Workman agreed.

But there is a debate. Even though the late Abbey Road recording engineer Geoff Emerick (who recorded the song) wrote in his book that it was Lennon’s voice, a faction of Beatles nerds say Emerick’s memory was faulty and that the “Ahh” singer was Paul.

One of them is Jerry Hammack, a Canadian-American musician and studio engineer who authored The Beatles Recording Reference Manuals (1961-1970), a five-book magical mystery tour into the minutia of the band’s studio history. “I’ve determined that the ‘Ahh’ vocal is sung by Paul,” he told The Globe last week. “The tonality of the voice and his phrasing embellishments at the end of the passage are pure McCartney.”

Though I for years also thought the vocal was John Lennon, close listening several years back convinced me that it's indeed Paul singing the part. But it's fun to listen and debate, nevertheless. What other pop band provides such a rich listening experience?

Comments