THE STORY BEHIND "HEY BULLDOG" AND THE MYTH OF ITS UNEXPECTED STUDIO GUEST

When United Artists requested additional material for the 1968 animated feature Yellow Submarine, John Lennon began developing a new track originally titled “Hey Bullfrog.” This composition became the final piece licensed for the movie’s soundtrack. Between late 1967 and early 1968, Lennon recorded home demos of the track at his Kenwood residence in Weybridge, capturing early versions of the chorus melody and working through the “she can talk to me” bridge. He later brought the unfinished piece to Paul McCartney, who helped refine the lyrics and arrangement in the studio, earning the track its official Lennon–McCartney credit. As McCartney later reflected, while he assisted in completing the song, the core energy and attitude belonged entirely to Lennon.

The Beatles entered London’s EMI Studios on February 11, 1968, originally scheduled to shoot promotional footage for “Lady Madonna.” Instead, at Lennon’s urging, the group turned the day into a full recording session for “Hey Bulldog.” With George Martin producing and Geoff Emerick engineering, the band completed the track—a rare Beatles recording driven by a prominent piano riff—in ten takes over a ten-hour span, mixing it in mono. Impressed by the raw energy of the finished master, Lennon pushed for “Hey Bulldog” to serve as the A-side to “Lady Madonna,” though McCartney vetoed the idea. It marked the group’s final studio work before departing for India later that month. Later in 1968, the track was slated for a September EP sandwiched between “Only a Northern Song” and “Across the Universe,” a release that was ultimately shelved. Decades later, an instrumental mix of Take 4 surfaced on Anthology 4 in 2025.

For years, a persistent piece of Beatles lore claimed that this specific session marked the very first time Yoko Ono accompanied John Lennon into the recording studio. However, historical documentation contradicts this popular belief. During the February 11 session, a film crew led by Tony Bramwell captured extensive footage of the band at work; neither those surviving reels nor engineer Geoff Emerick’s detailed recollections show any sign of Ono. Moreover, official biographer Hunter Davies was present in the control room that day, witnessing the band finalize the lyrics firsthand, and made no mention of her being there.

The misconception stems from a December 1970 Rolling Stone interview in which Lennon and Ono misremembered “Hey Bulldog” as her debut studio visit. In reality, EMI photographic archives and studio logs confirm that Ono did not become a regular presence alongside Lennon until May 1968—after the band returned from India and their romantic relationship began, notably during the early White Album sessions for “Revolution” (aside from an isolated, earlier studio visit alongside other guests during the September 25, 1967 sessions for “The Fool on the Hill”).

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