This song ran alongside the ten tunes recorded on that historic day of February 11th, 1963, the day chosen to produce the first Beatles album, “Please Please Me.” The third of three sessions that day (the evening session) occurred between 7:30 and 10:45 p.m. at EMI Studio Two. Keep in mind they had been recording since 10:00 that morning with only two 1 1/2 hour breaks in between. But those weren’t even breaks for The Beatles since they asked to keep practicing while George Martin and his staff took their breaks.
By the time just over two hours remained for the days’ session, The Beatles still had half an album to record. So they got to work right away, but unfortunately they were off to an unproductive start. They tried, frustratingly, to record a McCartney / Lennon song entitled “Hold Me Tight,” going through 13 takes of the song, which took up a lot of time. After many false starts, breakdowns, and edit pieces, only two complete versions took place. It is estimated that a good 30 minutes or more) wasted away with this song that never made it on the album. (The lads reworked it for their next British album “With The Beatles.”)
With that out of the way, and the pressure on, they started work on five cover versions of songs they had been performing on stage. The first one recorded was “Anna (Go To Him), which started around 8:15 p.m. Since they already had the arrangement down, they went through three complete takes of the song, the third one being deemed the best. This ushered a completely live performance with no overdubs or edits needed.
Both the mono and stereo mixes of the song, as well as the rest of their first album, happened on February 25th, 1963 in the control room of EMI Studio One by George Martin and engineers Norman Smith and A.B. Lincoln.
Song Structure and Style
The song uses one of the most established formulas of popular music of its time, written in the 'verse/ verse/ bridge/ verse' style (or aaba) without a repeatable chorus. As with the original version of this song, The Beatles opted not to include a solo of any kind, which, after the last verse, allows for an immediate repeating of the bridge and final verse. In this case, it is not the title of the song found at the end of each verse, but the subtitle, or hook-line, which utters “Go With Him.” (It’s interesting to note that Lennon always sings the subtitle as “go with him” instead of “go to him,” the true subtitle on the label of the Arthur Alexander record. Alexander himself sings “go with him” in his recording of the song.)
The song begins with a four-bar instrumental introduction highlighted by George Harrison playing the same piano riff on the original record (played by Floyd Cramer) very convincingly on his electric guitar while Ringo plays a drum rhythm not unlike his pattern two years later on “In My Life.” Note the squeaky bass drum pedal which especially bleeds into a microphone during the introduction, although slightly detected throughout the song as well. George Martin, when interviewed in 1987 with the album’s first CD release, related that if he had realized how closely scrutinized this album would have been so many years later, he would have done something about the squeaky drum pedal.
The Beatles give careful detail to the most intricate characteristics of the song, which shows how rehearsed and “fresh in their minds” the song stood. Lennon’s vocal style is his precise interpretation of the original, as Arthur Alexander was known as one of his favorite singers. Note the pronunciation of certain words, which turns, for instance, “more” into “mo,” as inspired Lennon continued to sing throughout the next couple of years (evidenced in “I Should Have Known Better”, “When I Get Home” and “No Reply”).
Note also the lyrical phrasing of the word “girl” which habitually appears at the end of many lines. Lennon, by inspiration, copies this style in his songwriting as well (evidenced in “Please Please Me” and “Thank You Girl”). As the first verse ends, we hear George and Paul copy the intricately hushed backing vocals, giving more evidence of precise detail. As the climactic bridge begins, the background vocals harmonize, sometimes slightly off key, while Lennon excitingly tackles the emotion of the lyrics that depict supreme self-pity, which reflect his life experience with romance. This also inspired John to continue in his future songwriting, for instance, in “I’ll Cry Instead” and “I’m A Loser.” He then concludes this emotive bridge with his catch-in-the-throat “oh-oh-oh-oh’s” escalating downward to the last verse, which lyrically finalizes the relationship with the “give back your ring” line and the evidence of conceding to the other guy. The emotional punch of these lyrics, as well as the convincing delivery of The Beatles, brings this R&B standard to an audience who otherwise would have never experienced it.
It’s important to note once again that this was a live recording, just as they had rehearsed, with no edits or overdubs. One can only imagine the impact a performance of this caliber would have on a live audience at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, which would make this band stand head-and-shoulders above the other “beat” group competition floating around the clubs in the early sixties. And since the original was released in September of 1962, not all that much time had transpired to allow them to perfect the song in this way and to make it their own. This shows the dedication The Beatles had when they felt strongly enough about a good song.
The test of a good song is also when you can retain the melody in your memory after its planted. This is the case with “Anna,” as evidenced in the television show “Married…With Children.” A classic episode of this show, “Oldies But Young’uns,” shows character Al Bundy with this song “stuck in his head,” but unable to remember the words.
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