Popular Culture Review Vol. 12, No. 1, February 2001 | Page 17

The Lasting Popularity of “Strawberry Fields Forever’’

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to create and cost $25,000 (Davis 62). The Beatles recorded 20 versions of SFF
alone between 24 November and 21 December 1966 (Dowlding, Martin). Above,
I identified the innovations audible in the production of SFF as the Beatles’ inaugural
use of (1) mellotron, a keyboard instrument that sounds like harmonizing flutes
when chorded; (2) deliberate electronic distortion in the recording of a vocal
performance, and (3) orchestral accompaniment in the recording of song penned
primarily by Lennon. I shall examine each of \