The Who, a group competent of beating the Rolling Stones, Paul wrote “Helter Skelter,” which he viewed as the “nastiest, sweatiest” tune he could write with, and aimed to outperform The Who.
Paul wanted ‘Helter Skelter’ more powerful and louder than The Who’s ‘I Can See for Miles’:
In 1985, Paul revealed his aim with “Helter Skelter” after seeing a review. “The Who had made some track that was the loudest, the most raucous rock ‘n roll, the dirtiest thing they’d ever done,” he said. “And we decided to do the loudest, nastiest, sweatiest rock number we could.”
He was referring to the track “I Can See for Miles.” Paul went to listen to the track, he was upset it wasn’t risque. “I heard their record and it was quite straight, and it was very sort of sophisticated.” Indeed, the track by The Who can seem almost dull, given what was to happen.
Paul’s comrades, of course, willing to give him a hand.
The drug-fueled ‘Helter Skelter’ sessions performed on Paul’s idea:
According to engineer Brian Gibson, the Beatles had taken several substances while they were doing “Helter Skelter.”
After discarding a 27-minute version of the song, they got “completely out of their heads” to assert the shorter version they ultimately released. Paul’s harsh vocal didn’t pinch on the screaming.
For this track, John Lennon did the bass and sax, which ends with Ringo squealing about the blisters on his thumbs.
George and Paul provided the guitar parts that outperformed the Who’s ‘I Can See for Mile’. And the song might have been the first Heavy Metal track ever released.