George – lead
vocals, guitar
John – harmony vocals, rhythm guitar, harmonica
Paul – harmony vocals, bass
Ringo – drums
Of the songs covered for Please Please Me, ‘Chains’ had been the most recent hit. The Cookies had taken the song to number 17 on the Billboard charts in November 1962, and had scraped into the UK top 50 for one week in January 1963.
The Cookies formed in the mid-1950s, recording as backing singers for various artists including Neil Sedaka, Carole King and Little Eva, as well as for Ray Charles (calling themselves the Raelettes). They also recorded a number of demos for song publisher Don “The Man With The Golden Ear” Kirshner, who was later to become the manager of the Monkees, among others. On joiningthe newly formed Dimension label in 1962, they had a number of hits in their own name. The first was ‘Chains’, which was followed up by ‘Don’t Say Nothing Bad About My Baby’, which made the Billboard top ten in 1963. Many of their songs, ‘Chains’ included, were compositions by Gerry Goffin and Carole King, although Goffin, who produced most of their recordings, would occasionally write with other people. Goffin and King were the de facto poets laureate of sixties songwriting, and possibly the most accomplished writing partnership to work in the legendary Brill Building. This New York establishment, located at 1619 Broadway, was the early home for a string of talented writers, including Neil Diamond and Neil Sedaka. Goffin and King’s hits include ‘Will You Love Me Tomorrow’ for the Shirelles, ‘The Locomotion’ for Little Eva (Eva Boyd, the couple’s babysitter) with the Cookies themselves on backing vocals, ‘Don’t Ever Change’ for the Crickets and ‘Take Good Care Of My Baby’ for Bobby Vee, all of which were played by the Beatles in their live performances between 1961 and 1963.
‘Chains’ is a basic two-chord twelve-bar standard, complete with middle eight. As far as the Beatles were concerned, it was a fine vehicle for their three-part harmonising, with George taking the solo lead for the bridge only. However, the newness of the song does tell on the performance, and it feels rather restrained. The situation was probably not helped by apparent rhythm guitar problems in the first bridge, where the sound breaks up quite badly, which is followed by an off-mike comment that is audible in both mono and stereo just before the second bridge. But the boys did throw in one neat Beatles addition – the minor chord (iv) just as the song fades away makes up for the rather arbitrary harmonica introduction and the lack of lead guitar presence. There is something of a ‘Love Me Wah’ moment at the beginning of the song, as the harmonica cuts off rather abruptly in order for John to add his vocal to the harmonies. Far from detracting from the track though, this adds to the feeling of the album being a record of the group’s live set.
It’s notable that the Beatles decided to record the song in Bb major, down from the D of the original. An unusual choice of key – and one they would not return to before ‘She Said She Said’ and ‘For No One’ on Revolver.
‘Chains’ was recorded third from last on the long day’s recording – and must have given John’s voice a bit of a welcome break, being relegated to the low harmony vocal. Four takes were recorded, although the first was ultimately judged the best, in spite of that dodgy connection to the rhythm guitar amplifier in the second half of the recording.
The group had performed the song for the first time on the BBC shortly before recording the LP, for their fourth Here We Go show, recorded in Manchester in front of an audience in January 1963. (Although the majority of the group’s performances for the BBC did not involve a studio audience, certain programmes, such as Here We Go and Easy Beat, were taped before a live audience.) They dusted it off for three more BBC programmes that year – each time without the harmonica introduction. Coincidentally, for both the final two programmes, editions of Pop Go The Beatles, a version of ‘A Taste Of Honey’ was also recorded but not broadcast due to time constraints.
Having appeared on Please Please Me, ‘Chains’ was also released on the third Beatles EP, The Beatles (No. 1). This EP holds the distinction of being the first Beatles EP to fail to make number one in the UK charts. Happily, this was because the group’s first EP, Twist And Shout, had experienced a revival and was enjoying a second spell at number one, knocking The Beatles’ Hits off the top and keeping The Beatles (No. 1) in third place, apart from a solitary week at number two. Following its run of ten weeks at the top in the summer of 1963, Twist And Shout would stay at number one for eleven more weeks from November to February 1964.
The Beatles’ cover of a Goffin/King number by the Cookies was something of a portent of their phenomenal impact on the music industry the following year. Earl-Jean McCrea, a member of the Cookies, began a solo career in 1964, billing herself simply as Earl-Jean. Her first single was penned by Goffin and King, ‘I’m Into Something Good’. But by now the US was in the grips of what was, quite rightly, being termed the British Invasion. Spearheaded by the Beatles, the American charts were becoming dominated by British groups, often covering songs originally recorded by American artists. A prominent component of the British Invasion was – surprisingly, it must be said – Herman’s Hermits. While Earl-Jean’s version of ‘I’m Into Something Good’ peaked at number 38, Herman’s Hermits’ first outing on the Billboard charts took the song into the top 20.