from the paralysis initiated by the Blue Meanies' hatred of music. Later editions of the US single include a voice saying the end of the word "Seven" or "Eleven" before the track starts. Critical reception Writing in the NME in July 1967, Derek Johnson commented on the song's modern qualities relative to the sing-along style of the A-side. He highlighted Lennon's falsetto singing, the recording's "Oriental instrumentation and … unusual shuffle beat, emphasised by handclaps", and concluded: "The whole effect is startling and packed with interest from the word go." Billboards reviewer described it as "an Eastern-flavored rocker with an infectious beat and an intricate lyric". In one of the first cultural essays to acknowledge the Beatles' impact on American culture in a meaningful way, for the journal Partisan Review, Richard Poirier cited both sides of the single as a "particularly brilliant example" of how contemporary British rock bands had "restor[ed] to good standing ... the simplicities that have frightened us into irony and the search for irony". He described the musical backing on "Baby, You're a Rich Man" as "bursts of sitar music and the clip-clopping of Indian song", which combined to "operate in the manner of classical allusion in Pope", and he admired the lyrics' satirical quality, saying that they were superior to Lennon's Edward Lear-inspired poetry writing. In his feature article on the clavioline for Sound on Sound magazine, Gordon Reid pairs the song with the Tornados' 1962 hit "Telstar" as the two seminal pop recordings made with the instrument. In his assessment of "Baby, You're a Rich Man", Ian MacDonald welcomes the use of clavioline, saying that it evokes "a beguiling joss-stick exoticism", and he praises Starr's drumming as the equal of his performance on the song "Rain". MacDonald bemoans the lack of focus evident in this and other Beatles recordings from the immediate post-Sgt. Pepper period, however; he says that, while "Baby, You're a Rich Man" demonstrates the band's command of musical "feel" and "black-white acid-dance fusion" a year ahead of the Rolling Stones, McCartney's choruses are weak and, overall, the song is devoid of "well-crafted music". Tim Riley says that the July 1967 single offers two pieces that are "Not such bad notions in themselves, except that they sound spent." Riley criticises the song's lyrics as "lacking in purpose" and says that, although the "snake-charming Clavioline" provides a degree of interest, "There's no center