"Lovely Rita" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. It was written mainly by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. It is about a meter maid and the narrator's affection for her.

Inspiration

thumb|Two female traffic wardens in London, 1969

The term "meter-maid", largely unknown in the UK before the song's release, is American slang for a female traffic warden. "Lovely Rita" originates from when a female traffic warden named Meta Davies issued a parking ticket to McCartney outside Abbey Road Studios. Instead of becoming angry, he accepted it with good grace and expressed his feelings in song. When asked why he had called her "Rita", McCartney replied, "Well, she looked like a Rita to me".

In his comments to biographer Barry Miles, however, McCartney rebutted the idea that this episode inspired the song: "It wasn't based on a real person. I think it was more a question of coincidence … I didn't think, 'Wow, that woman gave me a ticket, I'll write a song about her.' Never happened like that." Author John Winn writes that McCartney's inspiration came from hearing the term "meter maid", after which he began writing the song when visiting his brother Michael in Liverpool.

According to a contemporary report on the recording of "Lovely Rita", in Beat Instrumental magazine, the lyrics were completed by McCartney and John Lennon during the session. A reproduction of the manuscript shows only the opening chorus and verse in McCartney's handwriting; the remaining lyrics appear in Beatles assistant Mal Evans' handwriting, after he and Neil Aspinall joined the two songwriters in a corner of the studio.

Recording

Recording began on 23 February 1967 with eight takes required to achieve a satisfactory basic track. Using a four-track recorder, this first performance featured George Harrison's guitar on track 1, Lennon's guitar on track 2, Ringo Starr's drums on track 3, and McCartney's piano set on track 4. After those individual tracks had been combined in a reduction mix, McCartney overdubbed a bass guitar part.

The 24 February session was devoted to adding vocals. According to engineer Geoff Emerick, McCartney had told George Martin, the band's producer, that he wanted the backing vocals to replicate how the Beach Boys "might approach the song". The Beatles were visited in the studio that evening by Tony Hicks of the Hollies, American musicians David Crosby and Shawn Phillips, and the brother of Ravi Shankar, Harrison's sitar teacher. Also present was Leslie Bryce, a photographer from Beatles Monthly. McCartney recorded his lead vocal with the tape speed reduced, so that his voice sounded at a higher pitch when the speed was corrected. Bryce took photos of Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Crosby grouped around a microphone,

McCartney live performances and cover versions

McCartney first performed "Lovely Rita" in concert on 4 May 2013, when he opened his Out There! world tour at the Estádio Mineirão in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

Fats Domino included the song on his 1968 album Fats Is Back. Richie Unterberger dismisses Domino's version as a "none-too-thrilling soul cover".

Personnel

According to Ian MacDonald, the line-up on the Beatles' recording was as follows:

The Beatles

  • Paul McCartney – lead and backing vocal, piano, bass guitar, comb and tissue paper
  • John Lennon – backing vocal, vocal percussion, acoustic rhythm guitar, comb and tissue paper
  • George Harrison – backing vocal, acoustic rhythm guitar, comb and tissue paper
  • Ringo Starr – drums, comb and tissue paper

Additional musician

  • George Martin – piano (solo)

References

Sources

  • Full lyrics for the song at the Beatles' official website