POP MUSIC / Riffs: John Corabi of Motley Crue finds 'Hey Jude' and the Beatles kind of cool

I really freaked on this song when I saw The Beatles doing it on the Ed Sullivan Show when I was little. Paul was at the piano and the audience were all sitting around on the floor. I don't quite remember what George and John were playing - I was more impressed by how cool they seemed. Paul was kind of bearded, really cool, and John had really long hair.

I loved the way they could rock hard and then do ballads and then do experimental tracks with backwards tapes and stuff. 'Hey Jude' starts out real subtle. Paul really builds the vocal carefully throughout the song, starting quietly and then ending with some bluesey screams and ad libbing over the 'Na-na-na' chorus. I love their unpredictability.

I went straight upstairs and tried to learn the melody on my guitar. It was real cool, and made me want to grow my hair and be in a rock band. I sort of worked out that the song was about being a good friend, being helpful to someone in trouble. It was years later that I found out it was actually written to John's son Julian.

After this my mom bought the Abbey Road album and I got really into them. Looking back now, she had some pretty cool records in her collection - it went from Sinatra to Led Zeppelin.'

Available on The Beatles 1967-1970 Parlophone (CD PCSP 718)

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