Back from vacation, (and after a May 31st show at the Prince Of Wales Theatre in London), The Beatles entered EMI Studio Two on June 1st, 1964 with the duty of completing the second side of their "A Hard Day's Night" soundtrack album. Two three-hour sessions were booked, the first resulting in three full songs being recorded while the second, from 7 to 10 pm, resulted in the recording of only one song, "I'll Be Back."
The reason that the full three hours were utilized was that they weren't quite prepared to record the song, much experimenting having been needed. They weren't even sure what time signature to use, even though it clearly was written in 4/4 time. By suggestion from either Paul or George Martin, they attempted a take in 6/8 time with electric guitars which only clumsily made it through till the second bridge. This take, Take Two, can be heard on "Anthology 1," ending with the exclamation from Lennon that it was "too hard to sing."
Still with electric guitars in hand, they went back to 4/4 time and recorded Take Three, which can also be heard on "Anthology 1." While this suited the song much better, there were many changes yet to be made. For one, they still hadn't devised an introduction, Lennon counting off the song right into the first verse. Secondly, only John and Paul are harmonizing at this point while, thirdly, they end the song at the end of the third bridge while John repeats "oh-oh" over and over.
It took thirteen more attempts to refine the arrangement to that of the finished product, which included switching to acoustic guitars so as to fit the melancholy mood of the song. George Harrison was given more to do, adding a single-note higher harmony on top of John and Paul's vocal parts, which created a lush atmosphere. George also interjected a fragrant guitar phrase in appropriate places throughout the song. A repeat of the first verse was added at the end of the arrangement as well as alternating major/minor chords at the close of the song with the intention of fading during the mix stage. Take 16 was the keeper, over which Lennon double-tracked his vocals, resulting in the effect of even richer harmonies. An acoustic guitar overdub also occurred on this day which appears to have been performed by John to thicken the acoustic feel of the song.
The first mono mix was created on June 10th in the control room of EMI Studio Two by George Martin and engineers Norman Smith and Richard Langham, although this was never used. The official mono and stereo mixes of the song were done in a marathon mixing session on June 22nd, 1964 in the control room of EMI Studio One by George Martin, Norman Smith and 2nd engineer Geoff Emerick.
Two mono mixes were made on this day, the first for release in Britain and the second for the US. There are some subtle differences between the two. The British is slightly faster and does not appear to have any reverb, while the US mix is a little slower and has a slight touch of reverb, not to mention some noticeable "wobble" spots from an apparently defective tape. Only one stereo mix was made for the song, although Capitol did add a little more reverb as they were prone to do. It appears that the last vinyl pressing of the American "Beatles '65" album reverted back to the unadulterated stereo mix they originally received from EMI since the reverb was lessened.
Song Structure and Style
"I'll Be Back" features quite a long list of components within a scant 2 minutes and 22 seconds. The entire formula consists of 'verse/ verse/ bridge (1)/ verse/ verse/ bridge (2)/ verse/ verse/ bridge (1)/ verse' (or aabaacaaba for those who are keeping track). A short introduction and faded conclusion are also featured, but no solo or instrumental section was deemed necessary.
An interesting ambiguity that is encapsulated within the entire song is identifying its key. Is "I'll Be Back" in A major or A minor? The two-measure introduction starts proceedings off in A major but the beginning of the first verse switches quickly to A minor. Each verse ends up back on A major but the conclusion of the song reiterates this ambivalence by continually alternating between A major and A minor as it fades off into the sunset. Apparently, the identity of the key is both A major and minor!
The first thing we hear in the introduction is George Harrison's four-note guitar phrase which was apparently written and introduced during the recording session (since it wasn't in existence during Takes 2 and 3). This phrase is actually heard before the one-beat of the first measure, the last note appearing on the 'four-and' beat in which the rest of the band join in.
The first verse, like all of the verses, is six measures long and features three-part harmony with John's melody line being double-tracked. A descending bass line from Paul helps contain the Del Shannon-like five chord pattern, one chord per measure with a repeat of the final A major chord as a backdrop to a repeat of George's four-note guitar phrase.
After an identical pattern for the second verse we enter into the first bridge, which is actually 6-and-a-half measures long since Lennon instinctively decides to chop off the final two beats of the last measure. John sings this solo, but double-tracked while ending the bridge with a distinctive "oh-oh" transitional phrase repeated twice to segue nicely back into a third verse.
This third verse, as well as the fourth verse that immediately follows, is identical in form to the previous verses. John then premiers a completely different bridge which ends up being 9-and-a-half measures long, since he once again instinctively chops of the last two beats of the final measure. This is probably what John is referring to when he stated about the song in a 1972 interview, "a nice song, though the middle is a bit tatty." At any rate, John's dramatic lyrical phrases "if I ran away from you, that you would want me too" are contained in this bridge, which become the high point of the song. This differently formatted bridge, which is only heard this one time in the song, is similar to the other bridge only in the repeat of the "oh-oh" transitional phrases heard at the end.
The third and fourth verses are then repeated, followed by the first bridge but with different lyrics. Afterwards, the song winds down with a repeat of the first verse, which was also a new idea introduced during the recording session evidenced by it not occurring in the complete Take 3. Concluding with a repeat of the first verse proved to be a good idea since we end the song with its title, which is only the second time it was used in the song. George's four-note guitar phrase is then repeated every two measures as the chord switches back and forth between A major and A minor and the song fades.
Lennon's lower-end melody line in the verses and higher register vocals in the bridges easily identify the song as primarily a 'John song,' as most of the British "A Hard Day's Night" album is confirmed to be. His convincing delivery helps us believe he is really unburdening himself to us, unlike songs with throwaway lyrics in the recent past (such as "Little Child"). His foursquare acoustic rhythm guitar work is delivered appropriately as a suitable backdrop to the song.
Harrison ends up delivering a compelling ingredient to the song with his reoccurring four-note acoustic guitar phrase as well as his syncopated triplet strums in the middle of many verses. His high sustained harmony vocals in the verses are done very well, something that also appears to have been thought of sometime during the three-hour recording session since it didn't exist in Take 3.
McCartney does his usual impeccable job keeping pitch on his harmonies as well as his appropriate downbeat bass work, including those descending bass lines. Ringo does little more than keep the beat except for his occasional accents, such as in the introduction. His job turned out to be a lot easier than it would have been if they had kept the 6/8 arrangement tried in Take Two, evidenced by his awkward attempts at compensating for Lennon's half measures. I'm sure he would have got it, but I think we can all agree that the song works much better in 4/4 time.
John's romantic insecurities are beginning to become a recurring theme in his lyrics as of mid-1964, as evidenced in "I'll Cry Instead" and "If I Fell." These insecurities remained evident in his work throughout the Beatle years, sometimes in a less descriptive way as in "Don't Let Me Down" and "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" toward the end of the group's career.
Nonetheless, this time around, the subject in "I'll Be Back" centers around his girl breaking his heart, resulting in his leaving for a short time only to return and have it happen again. "I love you so, I'm the one who wants you," John pleads apparently to no avail. He even confesses his motives in leaving, explaining "I thought that you would realize that if I ran away from you, that you would want me too." His latest return resulted in what he sarcastically refers to as a "big surprise," which is that she broke his heart again.
Even so, the singer is determined to attempt this plan yet another time, saying "I wanna go" but "you know I hate to leave you" since he has apparently become dependent on her love. This hopeless ambivalence is nicely pictured by the unsettling major/minor chord changes as the song fades away, depicting how the singer will probably keep repeating this pattern with the hopes that she'll finally stay true to him. Lennon himself continues this theme with "Girl" in 1965: "She promises the earth to me and I believe her, after all this time, I don't know why."
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