1963
You’ve Really Got a Hold On Me
ALBUM
RELEASED
Great Britain: November 22, 1963 / No. 1 for 21 weeks
United States: January 20, 1964, released in the States under the title Meet the Beatles / No. 1 for 11 weeks; April 10, 1964, released under the title The Beatles’ Second Album
The number of songs and hits that the Beatles produced during 1963 is simply incredible: they recorded around thirty songs, including two albums and three singles that were number one “Please Please Me”, “From Me to You,” “She Loves You,” and “I Want to Hold Your Hand”! This was done on a rush schedule, in a whirlwind of increasing madness that culminated in the beginning of 1964 with the conquest of America. Within one year, they sold nearly three million records. Hard to imagine, but Dick Rowe (from Decca) had rejected Brian Epstein the previous year, telling him that guitar groups had no future.
Just four months after the release of their first album, they returned to the studio to produce a second one. Although most of Please Please Me was created in one day, With the Beatles required around thirty hours spread over a period of three and a half months. During that period, they produced their fifth single, “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” for which preorders reached a million copies.
During this period, the Beatles, were mostly on the road. They found time between concerts, often in hotel rooms, to write the material for With the Beatles. Out of fourteen songs, six were remakes. Strangely enough, there is only one Beatles classic on the album, “All My Loving.” In 1963, 33 rpm records did not have any real homogeneity; they mainly consisted of a collection of songs. George Martin confirmed this: “We would record singles, and the ones that weren’t issued as singles would be put onto an album, which is how the second album, With the Beatles, was put together. It was just a collection of their songs.”1 The influence of black American music, girl groups, and Smokey Robinson was predominant. John had a deep admiration for Smokey, which was felt in his own compositions (“All I’ve Got to Do”), as well as his remakes (“You Really Got a Hold on Me”). Paul wrote the best piece on the album (“All My Loving”) and expressed his taste for ballads (“Till There Was You”). George delivered his very first composition (“Don’t Bother Me”), and Ringo let loose on “I Wanna Be Your Man.”
It was George who probably expressed the most realistic appreciation of the record: “The second album was slightly better than the first, inasmuch as we spent more time on it, and there were more original songs.”2 Not more songs, George, there were just as many. Preorders exceeded 270,000 copies. It was the first album by a British group (or by any artist) to reach sales of a million copies.
John asked Robert Freeman, who moved in upstairs from him in London, to take the photo for the cover of With the Beatles. They had met during the group’s first tour on the other side of the English Channel. A former Cambridge student, Freeman began his career as a photographer in the field of jazz. He produced the photos for five Beatles album covers from With the Beatles to Rubber Soul. Said George: “The cover for With the Beatles became one of the most copied designs of the decade. Robert Freeman took the cover picture. We showed him the pictures Astrid [Kirchherr] and Jurgen [Vollmer] had taken in Hamburg and said, ‘Can’t you do it like this?’ We did the photo session in a room with a piece of black background.”3 The Beatles had to struggle long and hard to get the cover approved because EMI management found it gloomy, far from the smiling Beatles they expected. But the Beatles won their case, and this photo became one of the iconic images of the group.
During preorders of the album, the song “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me” was accidentally misspelled “You Really Got a Hold on Me.”
John kept the same equipment. Unfortunately, his Gibson J-160 E was stolen during “The Beatles’ Christmas Show” on December 24, 1963, at the Astoria Cinema in London. Around October, Paul ordered a new left-handed Hofner 500/1 bass. It became his main instrument for years to come. He also changed amplifiers in March and, like John and George, chose a Vox amplifier, that is, a complete Vox T-60. Then in August, he opted for another amplifier head, a Vox AC-30 Super Twin, in order to have more power. Around March, George also acquired a superb Gretsch Chet Atkins Country Gentleman, which he used in the studio to record “She Loves You.” He also played a classical guitar for “Till There Was You,” probably a José Ramirez. Finally, Ringo changed drums toward April, when he chose the famous Ludwig Oyster Black Pearl. He used them during the sessions for With the Beatles.
Lennon-McCartney / 2:12
1963
SONGWRITER
John
MUSICIANS
John: vocal, rhythm guitar
Paul: backing vocals, bass
George: backing vocals, lead guitar
Ringo: drums
RECORDED
Abbey Road: July 30, 1963 (Studio Two)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 23
MIXING
Abbey Road: August 21, 1963 (Studio Three) / October 29, 1963 (Studio Three)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producer: George Martin
Sound Engineer: Norman Smith
Assistant Engineers: Richard Langham, Geoff Emerick, B. T. (full name unknown)
In 1980, John recalled that “It Won’t Be Long” had been designed to be their next single. But, as he admitted, “It never quite made it.” It should be mentioned that, shortly afterwards, the Lennon-McCartney duo wrote “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” which brought the United States to its knees. “It Won’t Be Long” was inspired by John. “John mainly sang it, so I expect that it was his original idea but we both sat down and wrote it together,”1 Paul confided to Barry Miles. “Like the double meaning. In It won’t be long till I belong to you it was the same trip.”2 The lyrics revealed a more intimate side of John: hope following solitude. A typical love song or a reference to his difficult adolescence? One thing is for sure: after the yeahs of “She Loves You,” the group followed up with another series of yeahs—no less than fifty-five in the whole song!
FOR BEATLES FANATICS
For his very first public appearance in 1964, at the Kelvin Cafeteria of a Winnipeg high school in Canada, Neil Young had the good taste to sing “Money” and “It Won’t Be Long.”
This first song of the album was also the first original composition to be recorded on Tuesday, July 30. The session was broken down into two segments: in the morning, from 10:00 A.M. to 1:30 P.M., and in the evening, from 5:00 P.M. to 11:00 P.M. “It Won’t Be Long,” the second song of the day (after “Please Mister Postman”), required ten takes in the morning, and seven more at the end of the evening, plus six overdubs. The seventeenth and twenty-first takes were considered the best and were considered definitive. John, who did not like his voice, used the options of the Twin Track to double it. The vocal harmonies of this song were absolutely superb and proved that, in a very short time, the Beatles had matured to a surprising extent. This was obvious if you compared “It Won’t Be Long” and “Love Me Do.” The mono mix took place on August 21, and the stereo mix was done over two months later, on October 29.
Lennon-McCartney / 2:02
1963
SONGWRITER
John
MUSICIANS
John: vocal, rhythm guitar
Paul: backing vocals, bass
George: backing vocals, lead guitar
Ringo: drums
RECORDED
Abbey Road: September 11, 1963 (Studio Two)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 15
MIXING
Abbey Road: September 30, 1963 (Studio Two) / October 29, 1963 (Studio Three)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producer: George Martin
Sound Engineer: Norman Smith
Assistant Engineer: Geoff Emerick
A song entirely composed by John—“That’s me trying to do Smokey Robinson again,”1 he said later—“All I’ve Got to Do” was only offered to Paul when he arrived at the studio, just before the recording. A lack of self-confidence? Possibly. John based the song on “You Can Depend on Me” by Smokey Robinson for the intro chord and the overall theme of the piece. It seemed that, as he was writing it, John had the American market in mind. The telephone, which is mentioned in the song, was more common at this time on the west side of the Atlantic than in Great Britain. “All I’ve Got to Do” was the only song among the Beatles catalog in which the ending is hummed.
FOR BEATLES FANATICS
On the left in the stereo, it seems that dear old Ringo should have greased the pedal of his bass drum, because it squeaked throughout the song!
On September 11, 1963, one year to the day after they recorded their first single, the group once again went to the studio to record five new songs for their second album. The day was divided into two sessions, “All I’ve Got to Do” being recorded in the first session. The piece required fourteen takes—and a fifteenth one for an overdub. The mono mix was done on September 30 without the presence of the Beatles, who were then on vacation: John was in Paris; George was in New York and then in St. Louis; and Paul and Ringo were in Greece. The stereo mix took place on October 29.
Lennon-McCartney / 2:06
1963
SONGWRITER
Paul
MUSICIANS
Paul: vocal, bass
John: backing vocals, rhythm guitar
George: backing vocals, lead guitar
Ringo: drums
RECORDED
Abbey Road: July 30, 1963 (Studio Two)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 14
MIXING
Abbey Road: August 21, 1963 (Studio Three) / October 29, 1963 (Studio Three)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producer: George Martin
Sound Engineer: Norman Smith
Assistant Engineers: Richard Langham, Geoff Emerick, B. T. (full name unknown)
Sometime between May 18 and June 9, 1963, Paul wrote the lyrics for “All My Loving,” on the bus that drove the group through the country for its third national tour, with Roy Orbison. “All My Loving” was exclusively his work. “It was the first song where I wrote the words without the tune,”1 he confided in 1988. John admitted that it was one of Paul’s best songs. “‘All My Loving’ is Paul, I regret to say. Ha-ha-ha. Because it’s a damn good piece of work. [Singing] ‘All my loving …’ But I play a pretty mean guitar in the back.”2
Paul, who thought at first that “All My Loving” was only meant to be included on an album, realized its potential after it was broadcast on Top of the Pops, the famous BBC show hosted by the very popular disc jockey David Jacobs. “I think from that moment it did become a big favorite for people.”3 On February 9, 1964, the song was used to start the first appearance of the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show in front of 73 million American viewers! According to Paul, it was perfect for the stage and worked very well. This explained why it was often included in the Beatles’ concert set lists and in Paul’s concerts during his solo career.
The lyrics, written in the form of a poem, were probably inspired by actress Jane Asher, whom Paul met during a BBC concert on April 18, 1963. With this song, John also discovered the talents of a partner who risked giving him a run for his money when it came to writing future singles.
FOR BEATLES FANATICS
Although this song was exclusively written by Paul, Cynthia Lennon believed in 2005 that John had written it for her.
On July 30, the second session for the new Beatles album took place. “All My Loving” was the last song of the day to be recorded. Only fourteen takes were required to record it (actually, thirteen, since take 5 was noted by mistake). Takes 12 to 14 were overdubs. Paul doubled his own voice (as can be easily seen at 0:27 on the word kissing or again at 0:35 on will come true) and also sang the harmony on the third verse. He played a walking bass, as he did later for “Penny Lane” and “Lady Madonna” (at the bridge). With his new guitar, the great Gretsch Country Gentleman, George played one of his first fantastic solos in the style of Chet Atkins, while John, on his Rickenbacker 325, delivered on rhythm a “superb piece of guitar,” as he said later himself. The rhythm was in triplets and reminiscent of the Crystals on “Da Doo Ron Ron.”
The session ended at 11:00 P.M. In the control room of Studio Three, the mono mix was done on August 21. The stereo mix occurred on October 29. A live version was also recorded a year later on August 23, 1964, during the Beatles’ concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.
George Harrison / 2:26
1963
MUSICIANS
George: vocal, lead guitar and rhythm guitar
John: rhythm guitar, tambourine
Paul: bass, claves
Ringo: drums, bongos
RECORDED
Abbey Road: September 11–12, 1963 (Studio Two)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 19
MIXING
Abbey Road: September 30, 1963 (Studio Two) / October 29, 1963 (Studio Three)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producer: George Martin
Sound Engineer: Norman Smith
Assistant Engineers: Richard Langham, Geoff Emerick
On tour in Bournemouth from August 19 to 24, George, who had the flu, was bedridden in his hotel room. He used this time to write his very first song, “Don’t Bother Me.” His feverish condition was probably responsible for the theme of the song: “I wrote it as an exercise to see if I could write a song,”1 he admitted in his autobiography. Watching his two colleagues write one song after another with so much ease led him to try songwriting. But poor George did not receive any encouragement from his bandmates during his entire career with the Beatles. It was only on their last album, Abbey Road, that they became aware of his value. George Martin admitted it: “I think the trouble with George was that he was never treated on the same level as having the same quality of songwriting, by anyone—by John, by Paul, or by me.… The other problem was that he didn’t have a collaborator.… George was a loner and I’m afraid that was made the worse by the three of us. I’m sorry about that now.”2 Paul even revealed much later that they had made the decision with John to keep him away from songwriting right from the start. This did not prevent George from writing several songs that were included among the treasures of the Beatles (“While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” “Something,” and “Here Comes the Sun”). Although George did not find that “Don’t Bother Me” worked very well, it at least gave him the opportunity to try his hand at writing.
FOR BEATLES FANATICS
George was still sick and feverish when Robert Freeman took the photograph of the group that appeared on the cover of the With the Beatles album.
Recorded on Wednesday, September 11, during the evening session, “Don’t Bother Me” took seven takes, including three overdubs. The results were not satisfactory. The group decided to postpone its production to the next day. Returning to the studio, the Beatles began a session around 7:00 P.M. that started with “Don’t Bother Me,” with a reworked structure. The thirteenth take was considered satisfactory. The rhythmic basis worked well. John supplied excellent rhythm guitar, which had a powerful tremolo; Paul played bass very efficiently, and Ringo supported the whole group with a semi-Latin, semirock beat. Finally, a series of over-dubs were done. George doubled his own voice, while John played tambourine, Paul played rhythm sticks, and Ringo played bongos. The fifteenth take became the master. The mono mix took place on September 30, and the stereo mix on October 29.
A Credit Error
“Don’t Bother Me” was heard in their first film, A Hard Day’s Night, which came out on July 6, 1964. In the original version of the movie, the credits mistakenly claimed it was written by Lennon-McCartney!
Lennon-McCartney / 1:45
1963
SONGWRITERS
John and Paul
MUSICIANS
John: vocal, rhythm guitar, harmonica
Paul: bass, backing vocals, piano
George: lead guitar (?)
Ringo: drums
RECORDED
Abbey Road: September 11–12, 1963 (Studio Two) / October 3, 1963 (Studio Two)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 21
MIXING
Abbey Road: September 30, 1963 (Studio Two) / October 23, 1963 (Studio Two) / October 29, 1963 (Studio Three)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producer: George Martin
Sound Engineer: Norman Smith
Assistant Engineers: Richard Langham, Geoff Emerick, B. T. (full name unknown)
“Little Child” was not one of the group’s masterpieces. Lennon and McCartney knew how to differentiate a hit song from a song that would be part of an album. Although they dedicated all their energy and their talent to their work when they were inspired, they had a bad habit of neglecting songs they wrote for others—even for Ringo or George. This was the case for “Little Child.” John in 1980: “‘Little Child was another effort by Paul and me to write a song for somebody. It was probably Ringo.”1 In 1997, Paul explained: “They [songs written for Ringo] had to be fairly simple. [Ringo] didn’t have a large vocal range but he could handle things with good con brio and spirito if they were nice and simple. It had to be something he could get behind. If he couldn’t picture it, you were in trouble.”2 In fact, John lent his voice to “Little Child,” Ringo preferring to share his brilliant, spirited singing on another song of the album, “I Wanna Be Your Man.” Even though the piece was rather basic rock, Paul acknowledged that part of the melody was somewhat influenced by the song “Whistle My Love,” performed by Elton Hayes in a 1952 Disney production (Robin Hood), which was the opposite of rock music.
The production of “Little Child” proved to be difficult. The afternoon session on September 11 began with “I Wanna Be Your Man” and “Little Child.” Two unsatisfactory takes were completed. The group chose to postpone rerecording these songs until the next day. Therefore, on September 12, after having worked on George’s “Don’t Bother Me,” they redid the song. The seventh take was used as the basis for the many overdubs that followed. John added some harmonica (diatonic in A) on the thirteenth take, Paul added some piano on the fifteenth, and John added another harmonica solo on the eighteenth take. On September 30, Martin and his team edited the thirteenth and fifteenth takes for a mono mix that was not kept. Then on October 3, other overdubs completed the piece, with John no doubt doubling his voice (takes 19 to 21). Finally, on October 23 the mono mix was completed. The stereo mix was done on October 29. Despite the numerous takes, the results were not there, and you could feel the group and Martin struggling to make it sound good. John did not really apply himself (for instance, in the doubling of his own voice at 0:35, he did not even repeat the right lyrics). The guitars were drowned out in the mix, and the stereo version had some very strange quirks (such as the return of the voices right after the harmonica solo). “Little Child” did not please everybody during the recording or the mix. Just an “album filler.”
Meredith Willson / 2:12
1963
MUSICIANS
Paul: vocal, bass
John: rhythm guitar
George: guitar solo
Ringo: bongos
RECORDED
Abbey Road: July 18–30, 1963 (Studio Two)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 8
MIXING
Abbey Road: August 21, 1963 (Studio Three) / October 29, 1963 (Studio Three)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producer: George Martin
Sound Engineer: Norman Smith
Assistant Engineers: Richard Langham, Geoff Emerick, B. T. (full name unknown)
Meredith Willson, from Mason City, Iowa, studied music at the prestigious Julliard School in New York. Finding his first taste of success in Hollywood, as the composer of the score for Charlie Chaplin’s The Great Dictator (1940) and William Wyler’s The Viper (1941), Willson triumphed on Broadway years later with the musical comedy The Music Man (1957). Part of the score was the song “Till There Was You.” This song was recorded for the first time by Sue Raney in November 1957. Then it was performed by Anita Bryant, Peggy Lee, and the Beatles.
Paul: “There were records other than rock ’n’ roll that were important to me. And that would come out in the Beatles doing songs like ‘Till There Was You.’1 Indeed, Paul always flirted with the world of musical theater. By his own admission, he never differentiated between a beautiful melody and a cool rock ’n’ roll song. His family had encouraged him to widen his musical taste. At the age of sixteen, he wrote “When I’m Sixty-Four” and, later, “Your Mother Should Know,” “Honey Pie,” and many others—“granny music,” as John called it. “Till There Was You” was performed during the Royal Command Performance on November 4, 1963 and during the Beatles’ first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, 1964.
FOR BEATLES FANATICS
When he was rehearsing “Till There Was You” with his Beatles colleagues, Paul did not suspect that, a few years later, the song’s rights would belong to him through his publishing house MPL Communications Ltd., which acquired the musical rights for the comedy The Music Man.
Three takes of “Till There Was You” were recorded during the very first session of July 18 that was dedicated to their second album. Considered unsatisfactory, the song was set aside until Tuesday, July 30. John was on rhythm on his Gibson J-160 E, George probably played on a José Ramirez classical guitar and produced an excellent solo, Ringo left the drums to play the bongos that were more appropriate for this piece, and Paul supplied the singing and the bass. The eighth take was the best one. The song was mixed in mono on August 21 and in stereo on October 29.
Everyone Put in His Place
Brian Epstein related that during the recording of “Till There Was You,” he had pointed out a problem with Paul’s voice to George Martin, who was in the control room with him. The intercom had been left on. Brian: “John heard it and bellowed back, ‘We’ll make the record. You just go on counting your percentages.’ I was terribly annoyed and hurt because it was in front of all the recording staff and the rest of the Beatles.”2
Georgia Dobbins–William Garrett–Freddie Gorman–Brian Holland–Robert Bateman / 2:32
1963
MUSICIANS
John: vocal, rhythm guitar, hand claps
Paul: backing vocals, bass, hand claps
George: lead guitar, backing vocals, hand claps
Ringo: drums, hand claps
RECORDED
Abbey Road: July 30, 1963 (Studio Two)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 9
MIXING
Abbey Road: August 21, 1963 (Studio Three) / October 29, 1963 (Studio Three)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producer: George Martin
Sound Engineer: Norman Smith
Assistant Engineers: Richard Langham, Geoff Emerick, B. T. (full name unknown)
In April 1961, the vocal group known as the Marvels landed an audition with Tamla-Motown. In order to convince Berry Gordy to sign a contract as soon as possible, Georgia Dobbins, who was then a member of the group, “borrowed” a blues song from her friend William Garrett and reworked it in depth under the name “Please Mr. Postman.” The audition proved decisive. Despite this, Dobbins quit the group, which Gordy renamed the Marvelettes, and brought to the studio. So, on October 16, 1961, the Marvelettes were the first girl group to give Gordy a number 1 hit. Regarding the long list of songwriters on the song’s credits: Berry Gordy did find the song in its raw state, and it needed to be reworked. He then brought in the duo of Brian Holland and Robert Bateman (also known under the pen name of Brianbert). Holland in turn solicited the help of a friend to provide the finishing touches, Freddie Gorman, who was actually a mailman!
The Beatles’ version was clearly more joyous than the original. The enthusiasm overflowed, John was at the peak of his form, the group sang in unison: the years of training had given them remarkable mastery and self-confidence. In 1984, Paul specified that the idea of remaking this song came from their fans, who, on the back of the letters of fan mail, added notes such as, “Postman, postman, hurry up and do like the Beatles, and go, man, go!”
FOR BEATLES FANATICS
On the Marvelettes version, the exact title of the song was “Please Mr. Postman.” The Beatles replaced the abbreviation Mr. with Mister.
After the first session on July 18, which was spent recording four new covers (“You Really Got a Hold on Me,” “Money,” “Devil in Her Heart,” and “Till There Was You”), the Beatles started with another remake, “Please Mister Postman,” on the Tuesday morning, July 30. Why did they begin the sessions of the new album with five remakes? No doubt the Beatles needed to reassure themselves in the studio before taking on their own compositions. Their overbooked schedule did not make the job any easier. Seven takes were necessary to produce “Please Mister Postman.” Two other over-dubs completed the work with the doubling of John’s voice and the addition of hand claps. The mix was done based on the ninth take, on August 21, for the mono version, and on October 29 for the stereo version.
Chuck Berry / 2:44
1963
MUSICIANS
George: vocal, lead guitar, hand claps
John: rhythm guitar, hand claps
Paul: bass, hand claps
Ringo: drums, hand claps
RECORDED
Abbey Road: July 30, 1963 (Studio Two)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 8
MIXING
Abbey Road: August 21, 1963 (Studio Three) / October 29, 1963 (Studio Three)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producer: George Martin
Sound Engineer: Norman Smith
Assistant Engineers: Richard Langham, Geoff Emerick, B. T. (full name unknown)
With his luminous intros and riffs carved in stone, Chuck Berry was certainly the pioneer of rock ’n’ roll who most influenced young Brits in the sixties. Legend has it that the concept of this paean to youth came to him as a response to his sister, who was studying classical music on the family piano. One thing is certain: he recorded it on April 16, 1956, in the famous Chess studios in Chicago. The single came out the following month, with “Drifting Heart” on side B, and hit the American charts at the end of June. “Roll Over Beethoven” has been rated number 97 in the list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, according to Rolling Stone magazine.
Like all apprentice musicians on this planet, the Beatles one day, together or separately, played some Chuck Berry. “Roll Over Beethoven” was no doubt one of the oldest songs they played on the stages of Hamburg or Liverpool. It was, therefore, logical to pay homage to it on their second album.
FOR BEATLES FANATICS
In the score of the Superman III movie (1983), the Beatles’ version of “Roll Over Beethoven” could be heard. One good reason for this was perhaps the fact that the director was none other than Richard Lester, who had directed the Fab Four in A Hard Day’s Night and in Help!
George took the lead on “Roll Over Beethoven.” The recording session took place on July 30 after they appeared on Saturday Club, a BBC show to which they had been invited. Five takes were recorded. George then doubled his own voice, played a rather convincing solo on his Gretsch Country Gentleman, and they all provided hand claps. Finally, George recorded separately the guitar chord that brought the piece to its conclusion. It was the eighth take. As early as August 21, Martin and his team proceeded to edit takes 7 and 8. The mono mix was carried out soon afterwards, and the stereo mix was done on October 29.
The Beatles seemed to lack conviction on “Roll Over Beethoven”: George seemed ill at ease on his intro riff and Ringo did not really play with finesse. They could have harmonized it, as on the Hollywood Bowl version. The whole song sounded a bit too contrived. It must be remembered that the Beatles were first and foremost creators, and covers were mainly used (with a few exceptions) to fill albums. With their incessant tours in 1963, however, they did not have much time for original creation.
In 1963, headphones were not yet used in studios. To sing or play an overdub, a huge speaker broadcasted the playback in the studio to guide the singer or musician. The microphones inevitably picked up some of the original recording that then leaked into the overdubbed recording. One example can be heard in “Roll Over Beethoven” right after the drum break that introduced George’s singing (0:17). In the stereo version, the sound became broader and widened considerably.
Lennon-McCartney / 2:30
1963
SONGWRITER
Paul
MUSICIANS
Paul: vocal, bass, hand claps
John: backing vocals, rhythm guitar, hand claps
George: backing vocals, lead guitar, hand claps
Ringo: drums, hand claps
RECORDED
Abbey Road: February 11, 1963 (Studio Two) / September 12, 1963 (Studio Two)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 29
MIXING
Abbey Road: September 30, 1963 (Studio Two) / October 23, 1963 (Studio Two) / October 29, 1963 (Studio Three)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producer: George Martin
Sound Engineer: Norman Smith
Assistant Engineers: Richard Langham, Geoff Emerick, B. T. (full name unknown)
Like all the songs they composed at that time, that ran around 2:30, “Hold Me Tight” was designed to be a hit. It was written at Forthlin Road. John and Paul based their inspiration on the joyful and sensual style of the African-American vocal groups whom they admired (they had already done a cover of “Boys” by the Shirelles on their first album, Please Please Me). But the magic was absent and the song, which was considered for a while as a potential single, ended up, according to Paul, simply as “acceptable album filler.”1 John was more categorical: “That was Paul’s. Maybe I stuck some bits in there—I don’t remember. It was a pretty poor song and I was never really interested in it either way.”2 Despite this unanimous rejection, they played it at the Cavern Club and even tried to record it for their first album.
FOR BEATLES FANATICS
On his 1973 solo album, Red Rose Speedway, Paul took only the title of this song for a totally different version that was included in the medley that closed the album.
“Hold Me Tight” was among the songs selected for Please Please Me during the recording session on February 11. When the Beatles began the second session of this marathon day, there were still six songs left to record. “Hold Me Tight,” the only original composition out of the six, was first in line. Out of thirteen takes, only two were satisfactory. But Martin finally decided not to use it. Reconsidered for their second album, a new attempt at the song began on September 12. The countdown of new takes began again at number 20. Takes 26 and 29 were edited together on September 30 and a first mix was done. The mono mix was finalized on October 23, and the stereo version was completed on October 29.
It seemed that “Hold Me Tight” just didn’t motivate the group. It was one of the rare pieces produced with so little dedication: Paul was sometimes bordering on inappropriate; John invariably made mistakes on the sentence It feels so right now, which he rendered as It feels so right so; George ended up alone on the choruses at 1:27 (Hold); the bass did not exist; and the guitars were far from playing in perfect harmony. Probably because it was criticized so much, the piece ended up boring everyone, including George Martin. It was too bad, because if it had been produced properly it could have had potential, as could be heard in the remake in the film Across the Universe (2007). It was the only song, along with “Wait” from Rubber Soul (which was initially recorded for Help!), to have been worked on and then relegated to the following album.
Smokey Robinson / 3:00
1963
MUSICIANS
John: vocal, rhythm guitar
George: vocal, lead guitar
Paul: backing vocals, bass
Ringo: drums
George Martin: piano
RECORDED
Abbey Road: July 18, 1963 (Studio Two) / October 17, 1963 (Studio Two)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 12
MIXING
Abbey Road: August 21, 1963 (Studio Three) / October 29, 1963 (Studio Three)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producer: George Martin
Sound Engineer: Norman Smith
Assistant Engineers: Richard Langham, Geoff Emerick, B. T. (full name unknown)
“You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me” was one of the most famous songs by the Miracles, with Smokey Robinson as a solo singer and Bobby Rogers as second tenor. The story line was about a man who refused to leave the woman he loved, despite the torture she put him through. The song, which was recorded in Motown’s studio A on October 16, 1962, came out as side B of “Happy Landing,” on November 9. “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me” was immediately a favorite of disc jockeys, who made it possible for it to enter the Billboard ratings—and then reach first place on the rhythm & blues charts on January 12, 1963—the day after the Beatles’ second single appeared in Great Britain.
Eighteen days after recording “She Loves You” / “I’ll Get You,” the Beatles returned to Abbey Road for their new album. Lennon, who was a fan of the leader of the Miracles, wanted to do a remake of “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me.” The Fab Four were all very receptive to Smokey’s talent and their version, which is quite close to the original, nevertheless had a unique power that made it one of the group’s best covers. Robinson always considered this remake as a great honor and credited the Beatles for recognizing the musical contributions of black American artists.
A Version they Never Used
The Beatles were not finished with this song: on January 26, 1969, they recorded it again in the Apple studios for the Get Back project during a medley. This version was mixed in stereo the very next day, but was never used!
The first song to open the sessions of their second album, “You Really Got a Hold on Me” was worked on by the Beatles as early as Thursday, July 18. Everyone liked the song, including George Martin, who accompanied them on piano. John delivered a superb vocal, supported by George Harrison, who harmonized his voice, and by Paul, who stepped in for the choruses. The whole song worked rather well and seven takes were required to land the basic track. Four overdubs were then recorded to perfect the performance of the word Baby, which ended the choruses, and fine-tune the riffs at the end of the piece. Editing of the seventh, tenth, and eleventh takes was done on August 21, followed the same day by a mono mix. But before going on to the stereo mix on October 29, the Beatles returned to the song on October 17, right after “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” After first using a four-track tape recorder on that song, Lennon wanted to use it on “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me.” Geoff Emerick reported that John must have naively believed that going from a two-track to a four-track tape recorder could improve the song. They tried a final twelfth take. The edit of the different takes from August 21 became the final master.
FOR BEATLES FANATICS
Whereas the original title was “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me,” the Beatles renamed it (no doubt by mistake), “You Really Got a Hold on Me.”
Lennon-McCartney / 1:56
1963
SONGWRITER
Paul
MUSICIANS
Ringo: vocal, drums, maracas, tambourine (?)
John: backing vocals, rhythm guitar
Paul: backing vocals, bass
George: lead guitar
George Martin: Hammond organ
RECORDED
Abbey Road: September 11–12 and 30, 1963 (Studio Two) / October 3 and 23, 1963 (Studio Two)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 16
MIXING
Abbey Road: October 23 and 29, 1963 (Studio Two)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producer: George Martin
Sound Engineer: Norman Smith
Assistant Engineers: Richard Langham, Geoff Emerick, B. T. (full name unknown)
Other than “Boys,” Ringo did not have any new songs in his repertoire. Paul had in stock an unfinished song, called “I Wanna Be Your Man,” that could suit Ringo and was vaguely inspired by “Fortune Teller” by Benny Spellman. But this piece had a peculiar fate. The night before its recording, which was scheduled for September 11, John and Paul met Andrew Loog Oldham, the manager of the Rolling Stones, at the door of the Savoy Hotel in London. He explained to them that his musicians were desperately searching for a new song to follow “Come On,” their first single, which had been released on June 7, 1963. The two Beatles offered him “I Wanna Be Your Man,” which they believed fit the style of the Stones. They immediately left to join the Stones, who were rehearsing at studio 51 and, under their bewildered eyes, completed the song in a corner of the room. Oldham remembered that the bridge was finished in the studio. “Right in front of their eyes we did it.”1 In his biography, which was published in 2010, Keith Richards related: “[John and Paul] played it through with us. Brian put on some nice slide guitar; we turned it into an unmistakably Stones rather than Beatles song. It was clear that we had a hit almost before they’d left the studio.”2
According to John, it was at this moment that the author-composer duo of Mick and Keith was born. Seeing them return with their completed song, they apparently exclaimed: “Jesus, look at that. They just went in the corner and wrote it and came back!”3
Paul had a slightly different version of the story. According to him, as he was walking with John along Charing Cross Road after eating lunch at the Savoy Hotel, they noticed Mick and Keith in a taxi, accompanied them to their rehearsal, and that is when Mick supposedly asked them for a song for their next single. Whichever is the case, the Stones released the single on November 1, and it debuted at twelfth place on the British charts.
Offered the night before to the Rolling Stones, “I Wanna Be Your Man” was the first song to be recorded by the Beatles on September 11. The Beatles performed only one take on that day. The very next day, they returned to it, and six other takes were recorded. On September 30, George Martin, alone, added a Hammond organ part, while the Beatles were on vacation. There was a new session on October 3 with Ringo on maracas. Finally, on October 23, after one last take (number 16), the piece was mixed in mono on the very same day and then in stereo on October 29.
In order to give it a Bo Diddley flavor, John used very accentuated tremolo on his rhythm guitar. Ringo’s maracas also helped. But the whole song remained rather banal and was not especially convincing. Ringo nevertheless played it for a long time onstage, including at the Hollywood Bowl and during the Beatles’ last tour in 1966.
FOR BEATLES FANATICS
On the fifth and sixth lines (around 1:13 of the stereo version) hand claps can be heard in the distance on Ringo’s track (the right channel). Was this track not edited properly or was it the enthusiasm of his colleagues who were supporting their drummer as he sang?
In order to avoid leakage from the other instruments during Ringo’s vocal recording, Norman Smith used a different recording technique than he had used on “Boys.” All the instruments were recorded on the first track of the Twin Track tape recorder, so he could leave the second track entirely free for Ringo’s voice (which was doubled).
Richard Drapkin / 2:24
1963
MUSICIANS
George: vocal, lead guitar
John: backing vocals, rhythm guitar
Paul: backing vocals, bass
Ringo: drums, maracas
RECORDED
Abbey Road: July 18, 1963 (Studio Two)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 6
MIXING
Abbey Road: August 21, 1963 (Studio Three) / October 29, 1963 (Studio Three)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producer: George Martin
Sound Engineer: Norman Smith
Assistant Engineers: Richard Langham, Geoff Emerick, B. T. (full name unknown)
“Devil in His Heart” was a composition by Richard Drapkin, who recorded it under the name of Ricky Dee. The Donays, a rhythm & blues group from Detroit, recorded it in 1962 for Correctone Records. The New York label Brent bought the rights for it a few weeks later and released it again in August under the title “[There’s a] Devil in Her Heart,” on side B of “Bad Boy.” The single was then marketed in Great Britain with Oriole, but did not make the charts. It was the only recording by the Donays. At NEMS, Brian Epstein’s record store, the Beatles discovered this record, as well as many others. The store was full of American imports, which were often as obscure in their own country as in Great Britain. “That’s where we found artists like Arthur Alexander and Ritchie Barrett.… ‘Devil in Her Heart’ and Barrett Strong’s ‘Money’ were records that we’d picked up and played in the shop and thought were interesting.”1 As a result, the Beatles made Drapkin very happy, because his song would probably have never had such coverage and such success without them.
FOR BEATLES FANATICS
You can hear George’s false start on guitar at 2:04 exactly!
Recorded on July 18 during the first session of the album, “Devil in Her Heart” was one of the three songs performed by George on this album. The Beatles carried out the recording of the basic track in barely three takes: it was faster than the original version and adapted to a female audience. Then three overdubs were done, to double George’s voice and add maracas. The mono mix was completed on August 21, and the stereo on October 29.
On one of the three overdubs, George Martin wanted George to redo the second sentence of the first couplet (But her eyes they tantalize). For this Martin asked him only to sing this sentence, while Norman Smith dubbed it into the song. On one of the two tracks of the Twin Track, he started recording at the point of entry of the sentence and stopped at the exit point. “This was a primitive version of ‘punching in’ to fix a small section of a recording.”2
Lennon-McCartney / 2:04
1963
SONGWRITER
John
MUSICIANS
John: vocal, rhythm guitar
Paul: bass
George: rhythm guitar
Ringo: drums
George Martin: piano
RECORDED
Abbey Road: September 11, 1963 (Studio Two)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 9
MIXING
Abbey Road: September 30, 1963 (Studio Two) / October 29, 1963 (Studio Three)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producer: George Martin
Sound Engineer: Norman Smith
Assistant Engineers: Richard Langham, Geoff Emerick, B. T. (full name unknown)
A song totally written by John, “Not a Second Time” was one of the best songs on the album, although it was unfairly underestimated. Nevertheless, this song had caught the attention of those in artistic intellectual circles, thanks to an article by the celebrated Times of London critic, William Mann, who wrote in an article on December 23, 1963: “Harmonic interest is typical of their [the Beatles’] quicker songs, too, and one gets the impression that they think simultaneously of harmony and melody, so firmly are the major tonic sevenths and ninths built into their tunes, … so natural is the Aeolian cadence at the end of ‘Not a Second Time’ (the chord progression which ends Mahler’s Song of the Earth).”1 In 1965, John called him an imbecile but admitted that this article made it possible for them to reach a new audience. “It works and we were flattered. I wrote ‘Not a Second Time’ and, really, it was just chords like any other chords. To me, I was writing a Smokey Robinson–type tune or something at that time.”2 Indeed! The leader of Motown at that time was then one of his major influences. After “All I’ve Got to Do” and “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me,” it was the third song on the album that implicitly honored him. Enough to believe in Miracles …
FOR BEATLES FANATICS
Times of London music critic William Mann, whom John called an imbecile in 1965, caused a scandal in musical circles by claiming that the Fab Four were the greatest composers since Schubert!
Recorded in nine takes, “Not a Second Time” began the second session of the day at 7:30 P.M. After a break, the Beatles worked on the song on Wednesday, September 11. This time, only John sings, while supplying the rhythm on his Gibson J-160 E. Contrary to what some people claim, George is very much present and provides the main guitar work. It is easy to check this in the stereo version: right from the intro, the sound of George’s Gretsch is obvious as well as John’s Gibson J-160E, which is audible in the background on the right (at 0:03). Paul is on bass (but not on vocal harmony) and Ringo is on drums. The fifth take was used as the basis for the different overdubs. Four other takes were required to complete the piece, with John doubling his own voice (going out of time in the coda after 1:58) and George Martin on piano, playing the solo. The ninth take was mixed in mono on September 30 and in stereo on October 29.
Berry Gordy–Janie Bradford / 2:49
1963
MUSICIANS
John: vocal, rhythm guitar, hand claps
Paul: backing vocals, bass, hand claps
George: backing vocals, lead guitar, hand claps
Ringo: drums, hand claps
George Martin: piano
RECORDED
Abbey Road: July 18 and 30, 1963 (Studio Two) / September 30, 1963 (Studio Two)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 14
MIXING
Abbey Road: August 21, 1963 (Studio Three) / October 29–30, 1963 (Studio Three)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producer: George Martin
Sound Engineer: Norman Smith
Assistant Engineers: Richard Langham, Geoff Emerick, A. B. Lincoln, B. T. (full name unknown)
Singer Barrett Strong, a longtime friend of Berry Gordy (founder of Motown) and composer Janie Bradford, was an important contributor to the success of the Detroit record company in the first half of the sixties. Masterpieces, such as “I Heard It through the Grapevine,” “War,” and “Papa Was a Rolling Stone,” all bore the trademark of his rich partnership with Norman Whitfield. What is not so well known, however, is that Motown owed him one of its very first hits. Coming out in 1959 with Anna Records, then with Tamla the following year, “Money” entered the rhythm & blues charts as early as March 1960. It turned out to be the last song performed by Strong.
Several people accused John of wanting “to be rich and famous”1 because he decided to remake this song. But although John wanted recognition right from the start of his career, his position regarding money was never as categorical as that and it is more likely that his remake of “Money” was motivated by its considerable musical power rather than by its message. With this piece, John tried to repeat the success of “Twist and Shout.” The delivery was wild—John’s voice roared. “Money” was one of the group’s best covers.
FOR BEATLES FANATICS
Despite a strong piano performance by George Martin, he made several mistakes. Around 2:14 (stereo mix), he can be heard forgetting the chord changes.
“Money” was a song that the Beatles were familiar with; they had played it in Hamburg, and it was part of the fifteen songs in the Decca audition on January 1, 1962. When they undertook to record it on July 18, they did it live in seven takes, George Martin supplying the piano part. John, in top form, added some ad libbed vocals in the coda, stating, I want to be free. On July 30, George Martin recorded additional piano overdubs, which reinforced the song’s riff. On August 21, after having edited takes 6 and 7, the song was mixed in mono. Strangely enough, Martin returned alone to his piano part on September 30. Three attempts were done by overdubbing on take 7. Then came October 29, the day scheduled for the stereo mix of the whole album, including “Money.” Dissatisfied, Martin came back to it the very next day and produced the final stereo mix using two Twin Track tape recorders simultaneously, whose playback he recorded on a third machine in order to preserve the quality of the sound. The need for a real multitrack system was becoming critical.