Original Version recorded February 23 & March 21 1967
Ukulele version recorded July 2012
Jim Mola: Drums, vocals, ukuleles, percussion
Paul Livant: Ukulele Solo, nylon and electric guitars
Mike Hall: Bass and general good vibes
Produced by Jim Mola @ Lotus Bay Recording, Brooklyn NY
Drum session engineered by Wesley “GMA” Little at Loud Banana Recording, Nashville TN
Vocals recorded @ Mighty Toad Studios, Brooklyn NY
Mixed at Flux by daniel Sanint &Jim Mola, asst. Alex Palamar
Special thanks to Grandma Trix for the first uke, and to Amee and our boys for being my life.
Written by Paul McCartney
Credited to Lennon & McCartney
ABOUT THE SONG
Sometime during the early part of 1967, Paul McCartney emerged from Abbey Road Studios to find a parking attendant was in the process of ticketing his car. He immediately walked over and removed the ticket from the windscreen. The attendant later recalled “I had to make out a ticket which, at that time, carried a ten shilling fine. He [Paul] looked at it and read my signature [which was] written in full… Meta Davis. He said ‘Oh, is your name really Meta?’ I told him that it was. He said ‘That would be a good name for a song. Would you mind if I use it?’ And that was that. Off he went.”
A friend of Pauls, whilst visiting London on vacation from America, noticed another attendant (in those days a rare site in the UK and who were more commonly known as a ‘Traffic Wardens’), and exclaimed “I see you’ve got meter maids over here these days.” Paul then went back to his piano and started to write the track. “I was thinking it should be a hate song,” he later mused. “but then I thought it would be better to love her.” Out of this came the idea of an office worker who tries to get out of a parking fine by seducing the attendant. “I was imagining the kind of person I would be to fall for a meter maid.” The gimmick during the recording of the song on February 23rd, 1967 was George Harrison playing comb and paper. The ‘paper’ in question was secured from an Abby Road lavatory, with the indignity of having the words ‘Property of EMI’ stamped all over it. This was used to cover hair combs, which they blew through to resemble the sound of a kazoo orchestra. Meta Davis later remarked “I was never a Beatles’ fan, but you couldn’t help hearing their music.”
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Jim Mola’s first instrument was ukulele, having joyfully strummed his grandmother’s vintage uke beginning around age five. While he showed a natural ability for music, his ESP skills were not as clearly defined. Had he foreseen the current ukulele craze he would have spent his formative years learning those other fancier chords the instrument has to offer in preparation for this project. Instead, he has made his way through the music business landscape as a drummer and vocalist. As a drummer he has performed &/or recorded with a host of diverse artists such as Tony Bennett, Phil Woods, Henny Youngman and many others, as well as TV commercials & film work.
As a vocalist his client list includes Robert De Niro, A&E, Turner Classic Movies, Warner Brothers, NBC, AT&T, Disney, IBM, GM, VH1, 7-UP, Nickelodeon, Marriott, Talbot’s, The Howard Stern Show and many others.
Jim is very excited to be a part of this Beatle project and vows to find out who they are and what all the fuss is.