Both sides of their fifth British single occurred during the same three-hour recording session on October 17th, 1963 at EMI Studio Two in London. This was the same historic recording session that introduced the techniques of four-track recording to the Beatles, having recorded “I Want To Hold Your Hand” in the same manner on that day, as well as the first Beatles Christmas Record of speech and an aborted attempt at a remake of “You Really Got A Hold On Me.” Having done these other three items first, “This Boy” was last on the agenda for the day, which approximately comprised the final hour of the session (9:00 to 10:00 pm).
It took fifteen takes of the song (most of them complete) to perfect, although there was more to be done to get it to the complete state as we know it. The vocals were recorded, by the Beatles request, with all three vocalists huddled around one microphone. The finished version appears to be an edit of takes 14 and 15, which is brutally spliced together just before the final verse, making an obvious abrupt edit that is very noticeable in the finished product (although performed with flowing precision when done on stage, as can be seen on their Ed Sullivan Show appearance).
Two overdubs (take 16 and 17) were then recorded, which comprise George Harrison performing octave guitar fills at the end of the song. Engineers added these overdubs to the end of take 15.
One more session was needed to get the song into a releasable condition. A mixing session, attended by George Martin and engineer Norman Smith only, was held four days later on October 21st. This day was arranged to create the mono mixes necessary for releasing their fifth British single. They created two mono mixes from take 15 of the recording session and then performed an edit of both of those mixes to get the final version, creating the fade-out that is heard on the released recording. It was decided at this stage, for an unknown reason, to fade the end of the song instead of the full ending The Beatles recorded in the studio. Needless to say, The Beatles continued to perform the full ending on stage throughout the song's performance life.
No stereo mix of the song took place at this time since the song ranked only slated as a single in Britain. However, entirely by accident, the song was given its first stereo mix on November 10th, 1966. A telephone call was made to Abbey Road to inform EMI of the line-up for the first “Greatest Hits” package which was scheduled for release in December of that year. By mistake, the phone message related that “This Boy” would be on the album so it would need to have a stereo mix made for the album release. The message should have indicated the song “Bad Boy,” which was not released in Britain at that time and given an included spot on the album, which was titled “A Collection Of Beatles Oldies,” as an enticement for fans to buy an album of songs they probably already owned. Before the mistake was corrected, the four-track tape of “This Boy” was dug out and treated to its first and only stereo mix. Two stereo mixes were made from the edited take 15 of the song, and then both of those mixes were edited together to create the full stereo mix.
Subsequently, the mix used for the stereo version of “Meet The Beatles!” in the US was actually a duophonic (or fake) stereo mix created by Capitol Records. This fake stereo mix continued to be used in America well after 1966 because the true stereo mix didn’t surface until October of 1988, with the release of “Past Masters, Volume One.”
“This Boy” did revisit EMI studios on one other occasion. That occasion was on June 3rd, 1964, when The Beatles were auditioning Jimmy Nicol to replace an ailing Ringo Starr for the beginning of their first world tour. It would be necessary to see if Jimmy could handle the subdued drum arrangement Ringo played on this song as well as ‘rock-out’ on “I Saw Her Standing There” and “Long Tall Sally.” Apparently he could, because 27 hours later they were in Copenhagen on the first date of their tour.
Song Structure and Style
Like the vast majority of the early Beatles catalog, “This Boy” is written in the 'verse/ verse/ bridge/ verse' configuration (or aaba). The group showed themselves somewhat adventurous by delving into a full-on 6/8 waltz-like time signature for the first time in their career, not too unlike the 3/4 time signature used throughout most of “A Taste Of Honey” on the first album. Although Harrison attempted a guitar solo at some point in the recording process, it was decided instead not to feature a solo at all. Because of the elongated 16 bar verses and bridge, a repeat of the bridge and final verse, as did many Beatles songs up to this point in their career, was not done.
The song starts with a strummed three chord precursor by Lennon to set the melancholy mood for the song. This three-chord pattern actually fills what would be the last three-quarters of a first bar which, by extension, brings the introduction of the song to five bars instead of the expected four. The following four bars are basically the four-chord pattern that we hear throughout all three verses, but they set the mood quite nicely.
Right on the one beat of the first verse, we dive headlong into the impressive three-part harmony, which will eventually permeate all three verses. The eleventh bar of the verse consists of a dramatic break which became a feature of many of the early Beatles songs. This is followed by another break on the twelfth bar, both breaks becoming a highlight for the signature lyric hook-line of the song.
A second verse is then performed, which is structurally identical to the first, with the exception of the chords played on the last two bars. This change in the chord pattern facilitates a transition into the climactic bridge, which creates the necessary anticipation and suits that transition perfectly.
The 16 bar bridge actually becomes the highlight of the song, with an uplifting yet pleading melody line rising higher than anything heard in the verses. The chord pattern, as well as the actual chords played, is strikingly dissimilar to the verses yet is an alluring counterpart creating an exciting tension to the song. Each chord in the progression changes every two measures instead of one per measure as the verses do. All the while, harmony background vocals create an atmospheric backdrop to Lennon’s gut-wrenching solo vocal, which climaxes into another break for the 15th and 16th bar while Lennon holds out the word “cry” for a full two measures.
(As a footnote, the word “cry” has been a constant feature of the lyrics of John Lennon throughout his Beatles career, spanning from “Ask Me Why” through “I’ll Cry Instead,” “Cry Baby Cry” and even “I Am The Walrus.” Some may claim that this may be an indication of his emotional state throughout the sixties and of the loss of his mother early in his life. But we’ll leave that for another book and author.)
The identically structured third verse with different lyrics then is played, leaving us with the final satisfying lyrical intent of the saga: “…if this boy gets you back again.” The conclusion of the song, or ‘outro,’ consists of the title of the song sung in three-part harmony repeatedly with the same chord pattern of the verses while an octave guitar passage is repeated in between the gaps while the song fades into the distance.
An instrumental analysis shows Lennon primarily strumming his acoustic guitar on the first and fourth beats of each measure, but with feeling, which provides a suitable backdrop to the song. He sings the lowest of the three-part harmonies in the verses, which make this the lead vocal line, being that he’s revealed to be the lead singer during the bridge. During this bridge, John sings a melody line that is a full octave higher than he sings in the verses, which adds dynamic force and excitement. The lead vocals of this impressive climatic bridge even impressed McCartney, who many years later stated about the song “nice middle, John sang that great.”
Paul’s bass work, although low in the mix like a lot of the early Beatles songs, is impressive through his use of small three note runs and octave jumps throughout the verses whenever he isn't singing. He seems to know when not to do bass runs, as he plays very rudimentary bass notes during the bridge, which shift all focus onto the lead vocal line and backing harmonies. Ever the perfectionist, Paul sings his usual higher harmony throughout the song, and always in good pitch.
George plays electric rhythm guitar using a more prominent swing rhythm during the verses utilizing all six beats of each measure, which provides a nice contrast to the simple chord strumming of Lennon. Harrison then drops the swing rhythm during the climatic bridge and just plays guitar ‘chops’ on each beat, which also provides a suitable contrast for the song. He then ends the song with his overdubbed octave guitar notes as the song fades. His middle harmony part is also performed with great precision, which shows how rehearsed and refined the vocals were at the time of recording.
Ringo’s drum work for the song consists primarily of riding his partially closed hi-hat during the verses using the same swing rhythm played by Harrison. The contrast needed for the bridge of the song also involves the drums, as Ringo performs a rudimentary full kit waltz-like pattern until the break, where Starr returns to his hi-hat beat until the song fades.
Lennon liked to dismiss the lyrics to most of his early Beatles work, stating about this song that there was “nothing in the lyrics, just a sound, and a harmony.” But there is more to this formulaic ‘teen’ lyric than meets the eye. As was common to his early lyrics, John is portraying himself as a loser. His girl was taken away from him by someone who, the singer claims, “won’t be happy till he’s seen (her) cry.” John then says that he would never feel differently about the girl if he could get her “back again.” Lennon’s lyrics depicting wallowing in misery continued to occur occasionally through 1965, even hinted in “Nowhere Man.” John’s ‘inner anguish,’ as many would call it, seemed to disappear as his lyrics became much more expressive and picturesque from 1966 onward, no doubt influenced by Bob Dylan’s encouragement to expand in his lyric writing, and by drugs (or probably both).
By today’s standards, the use of the word ‘boy’ to depict the male suitor sounds extremely dated but was quite acceptable in 1963/64 terms. As early as the ‘summer of love’ of 1967, that dynamic changed. It would no longer be acceptable to refer to the male partner in any relationship as a ‘boy’ by any stretch of the imagination. As evidence, a little over four years later, Herb Alpert had a number one hit with the similarly titled “This Guy’s In Love With You.” That ‘guy’ was no longer a ‘boy.’
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John said This Boy was his attempt at Smokey Robinson's, Baby, Baby.
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