Assagai - Hey Jude (The Beatles Afrobeat Cover)
ASSAGAI
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From '' Assagai ''
Label: Vertigo -- 6360 030
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: UK
Released: 1971
Tracklist
A1 Telephone Girl
A2 Akasa
A3 Hey Jude
A4 Cocoa
B1 Irin Ajolawa
B2 Ayieo
B3 Beka
B4 I'll Wait For You
Guitar -- Fred Coker
Tenor Saxophone -- Bizo Mngqikana (Bizo Mngqikana, Bizo Mnggikana)
Alto Saxophone -- Dudu Pukwana
Bass Guitar -- Charles Ononogbo
Cornet -- Mongezi Feza
Drums -- Louis Moholo
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"Hey Jude" is a song by the English rock band The Beatles, written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon--McCartney.
The ballad evolved from "Hey Jules", a song widely accepted as being written to comfort John Lennon's son, Julian, during his parents' divorce - although this explanation is not universally accepted and even McCartney has given conflicting accounts over the years.
"Hey Jude" was released in August 1968 as the first single from The Beatles' record label Apple Records.
More than seven minutes in length, "Hey Jude" was, at the time, the longest single ever to top the British charts.
It also spent nine weeks as number one in the United States—the longest run at the top of the American charts for a Beatles' single, and tied the record for longest stay at #1.
The single has sold approximately eight million copies and is frequently included on professional lists of the all-time best songs.
Single release
"Hey Jude" was released on 26 August 1968, in the United States and 30 August in the United Kingdom, backed with "Revolution" on the B-side of a 7" single.
The single was the debut release of The Beatles' record label Apple Records; in the US, it was also the first Beatles' single to be issued in a company sleeve rather than a picture sleeve.
"Hey Jude" began its sixteen-week run on the British charts on 7 September 1968, claiming the top spot a week later. It only lasted two weeks on top before being knocked off by another single from Apple, Mary Hopkin's "Those Were the Days" (a song which, incidentally, if not penned was actually produced by McCartney).
The single was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America on 13 September; that same week NME reported that two million copies of the single had been sold.
The song entered the US charts on 14 September 1968, where it stayed for nineteen weeks.
Two weeks later, "Hey Jude" was number one in the charts, and held that position for nine weeks, the longest time spent by a Beatles' single at number one, as well as being the longest-playing single to reach number one.
On 30 November 1968 NME reported that sales had reached nearly six million copies worldwide.
"Hey Jude" became the biggest-selling debut release for a record label ever, selling an estimated eight million copies worldwide and topping the charts in eleven countries.
"Hey Jude" was the top Billboard Hot 100 single for 1968, according to year-end charts.
Less than three weeks after its release, the record was certified gold for sales of one million copies.
In 1999, it was certified 4x platinum, representing four million units shipped.
Critical reception
Upon the release of the "Hey Jude" single, Time contrasted it with its B-side "Revolution." Time wrote, "The other side of the new disk urges activism of a different sort" as McCartney "liltingly exhorts a friend to overcome his fears and commit himself in love."
Music analyst Alan Pollack praised "Hey Jude," saying, "it's such a good illustration of two compositional lessons—how to fill a large canvas with simple means, and how to use diverse elements such as harmony, bassline, and orchestration to articulate form and contrast."
He also said it is unusual for a long song because it uses a "binary form that combines a fully developed, hymn-like song together with an extended, mantra-like jam on a simple chord progression."
Pollack described the song's long coda and fadeout as "an astonishingly transcendental effect," while Unterberger observed, "What could have very easily been boring is instead hypnotic".
John Lennon said "Hey Jude" was "one of his [Paul's] masterpieces."
"Hey Jude" was nominated for the Grammy Awards of 1969 in the Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal categories, but failed to win any of them.
It did win the 1968 Ivor Novello Award for "A-Side With the Highest Sales".
In the 1968 NME Readers' Poll, "Hey Jude" was named the best single of the year.
In 2001, "Hey Jude" was inducted into the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences Grammy Hall of Fame.
In 2004, it was ranked number 8 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".
In 2010, Rolling Stone ranked it #7 on The Beatles' 100 Greatest Songs.
It came in third on Channel 4's list of 100 Greatest Singles.
The Amusement & Music Operators Association ranked "Hey Jude" the 11th-best jukebox single of all time.