The Harp in McCartney Songs In the 1970s

Posted On April 12, 2020

The harp is emphatically not an instrument of the rock tradition. However, McCartney is perhaps as famous as a balladeer as rock star. In addition, many other works in his catalogue are of a whimisical or dreamy nature, for which the ethereal tones of the harp are ideally suited.

In The Beatles

In The Beatles McCartney memorably used the harp in She’s Leaving Home from Sgt.Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Unusually, the arrangement was by Mike Leander, as George Martin was not available at the time. In this video you can watch the harp part in a performance by The Analogues. More than simply a tribute band, The Analogues specialise in live recreations of Beatles songs that are uncannily like the original:

The harp also features on The Long and Winding Road on The Beatles’ Let It Be album. This time, the arrangement was by Richard Hewson, under the instruction of the producer, Phil Spector. McCartney was less than happy with this lush orchestral arrangement.

Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey (1971)

After The Beatles, the duties of orchestration were passed back to George Martin for two tracks on Ram, the 1971 album credited to “Paul and Linda McCartney”. We hear a lush harp glissando on the diatonic scale of D major at 1:56 on Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey:

The Back Seat of My Car (1971)

Martin employs a harp glissando at the entrance of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra at 1:12 on the Ram track The Back Seat of My Car. This time, it is chromatic in nature and ends at C5 to meet the chord of C minor.

Tragedy (1972)

Around March 1972 Wings recorded the a cover version of the ballad Tragedy, with which Thomas Wayne scored his one-and-only hit in 1959. The track begins with a light harp part that was probably overdubbed at Abbey Road in January 1973. Unlike the flamboyant glissandi in other songs, one harp gently alternates between F#5 and D5, to define the chord of D major, while a second track another harp plays a descending arpeggio riff. The harp is more obvious in the following mix of the song, rather than on the official release on the Archive Collection Series:

Treat Her Gently-Lonely Old People (1975)

Moving forward to 1975 and the last few bars of the Venus and Mars track Listen to What the Man said feature a slow harp arpeggio on E major that leads into the next song – the medley of Treat Her Gently-Lonely Old People. In this lush ballad, a short diatonic gliss decorates the first bar of the return to Treat Her Gently at 2:04. Gayle Levant peforms the harp part and Tony Dorsey is credited for the arrangement:

Love In Song (1975)

The most striking use of the harp on Venus and Mars is on the track Love in Song. From 2:34, Gayle Levant plays high-pitched chords that double the chord pattern of the verse. At 2:40, the harp plays a chord of G minor7 at the lower octave, with a rich and luxuriant sound.

The song ends on a chord that covers a wide range of frequencies and timbres – from the low strings playing the note of G₁, to the harp’s chord that reaches right up to G₆.

These are the main examples of the use harp in McCartney’s songs in the 1970s.

If you can think of any more, please let us know in the comments below: