The first recording session of 1965 took place in EMI Studio Two on February 15th. This was the start of six consecutive sessions to produce songs used on the soundtrack of their new movie eventually titled “Help!” The early session on this day was spent completely recording “Ticket To Ride,” while the evening session from 7 to 10:30 pm began with recording Paul’s recently written “Another Girl” while still fresh in his mind.
Since they adopted a new recording technique on this day that resulted in them rehearsing a song repeatedly with the tape rolling and then spooling back the tape to record over the rehearsals, Paul took this opportunity to teach the group his new song. When they learned the song adequately enough, they started recording the rhythm track, which comprised Paul on bass, John on electric rhythm guitar, George on acoustic rhythm guitar and Ringo on drums. While the tape box shows only one “take” needed to complete the rhythm track, an audible click as well as a volume drop of the acoustic guitar and cymbals at the end of the first minute, which indicates that this may have been an edit of two attempts at the rhythm track.
After this was complete, Paul overdubbed his lead vocals, John and George overdubbed their backing vocals, and then Paul and John double-tracked their vocals. As a finishing touch to the song, George worked at adding a guitar flourish at the end of the song, taping ten edit pieces to get it right. The seventh edit piece was viewed as the best, which featured George using the tremolo arm of his guitar which, according to George Martin's personal notes, was his 1963 Gretsch 6119 Tennessean. George Martin also mentions a "tom tom" overdub by Ringo which may very well have been performed in conjunction with George's guitar edit pieces. By 8:30 pm (according to George Martin's notes) the song was considered complete and they moved on to George’s “I Need You.”
By the time they entered EMI Studio Two the following day (February 16th), a decision was made to forego the ending guitar flourish taped the previous day. The earlier session on this day started at 2:30 pm and began with finishing up “I Need You.” At about 4 pm, Paul picked up his Epiphone Casino electric guitar and overdubbed lead guitar passages throughout “Another Girl,” including an extended conclusion to the song in place of George’s attempt the day before. By 5 pm the song was finished with two later sessions that day resulting in fully recording the song “Yes It Is.”
The mono mix of the song was prepared on February 18th, 1965 in the control room of EMI Studio Two by George Martin and engineers Norman Smith and Ken Scott. This mix was used in the British mono version of the album “Help!” as well as the first prints of the movie. The rhythm track is mixed slightly quieter in this mono mix.
The stereo mix was made on February 23rd, 1965 in the control room of EMI Studio Two, but this time George Martin left the work to engineer Norman Smith and 2nd engineer Malcolm Davies. This mix is virtually the same except for a slightly louder rhythm track.
With the compact disc era in full bloom in 1986, George Martin decided to revisit the master tapes to make a superior stereo mix of the entire British “Help!” album, including “Another Girl.” Although the modifications were minimal, this is the stereo mix most generally available today.
Song Structure and Style
The format used for this song appears on the surface to be quite unusual but, upon closer inspection, is very usual for The Beatles up to this point. Identifying the key phrase of the song, namely where the lyrics “for I have got another girl” are found, as actually the last four measures of the verse helps us to properly categorize this song in the ‘verse/ verse/ bridge/ verse’ structure (or aaba). What may trip us up here is that these last four measures are also utilized as the introduction of the song. Paul is such a tricky guy!
This introduction can actually be considered as being an odd five measures long since the a cappella vocal introduction of the song (on the words “for I have got”) comes in well before the downbeat where the instruments come in. The trick of precluding the song vocally before the one beat is something The Beatles have been doing somewhat regularly, evidenced by the similarly styled “Can’t Buy Me Love” among others. In fact, the swing style of rhythm heard in both of these songs is becoming a favorite of Paul’s, one also heard in the recently released “She’s A Woman.”
The full instrumentation kicks in right from the get-go; Ringo riding his swing beat on the ride cymbal, George on steady rhythm guitar, John with staccato guitar stabs on the off-beats (reminiscent of his guitar work on “She’s A Woman”) and Paul on bass. Paul’s overdubbed wiry lead guitar part is also immediately present as is John and George’s harmony vocals. Since no instrumental section or solo is required for this song, all of the elements of the song appear within the first four seconds. This introduction also shows the song flirting with A minor as the home key while, in actuality, A major is identified as the true home key when the first verse appears. For consistency sake, whenever this portion of the verse reappears, A minor is played once again.
The first verse, as with all of the verses, are sixteen measures long and include The Beatles trademark “break” in the twelfth measure, no doubt arranged that way to coincide with Paul’s use of the word “stop” in the second verse. Paul sings solo throughout until the fourteenth measure where John and George kick in with their harmonized “another girl” vocals as heard identically in the introduction. For the first verse, Paul doesn’t regale us with any lead guitar frills until the last four measures.
The second verse is structurally identical but includes one instrumental addition, this being Paul’s lead guitar flourishes whenever he takes a breath vocally. Interestingly, as the verse ends, we see another example of a lyrical thought transcending from the verse to the bridge, this case with the sentence “another girl / who will love me till the end.” George Harrison picked up on this trick with his song “You Like Me Too Much,” which was recorded by the group two days later.
This eight-measure bridge does something very unique for The Beatles up to this point, that being an actual modulation to a different key. The song is in A major throughout but switches to C major for the bridges only. John mimics this idea identically with the structure of his song “You’re Going To Lose That Girl,” which was recorded four days later.
Other unique elements in this bridge are the full three-part harmonies heard throughout as well as John slightly altering his guitar chop pattern to a more syncopated style. Also, there is a notable lift in the melody line on the lyrics “through thick and thin,” making this section the highest register of Paul’s vocals in the whole song. While the bluesy swing-style in this track has been used by him on other occasions, such as the aforementioned “Can’t Buy Me Love” and “She’s A Woman,” Paul is singing in a more relaxed lower register throughout this song rather than at the top of his voice on these other tracks. This bridge is the only time he reaches beyond a subdued comfortable level.
One final element worth mentioning in this first bridge is Paul’s flubbed final note in his guitar flourish, which sounds as if he missed the string. The only explanation why this was left in has to be the time crunch, having to complete as many contenders for their second motion picture as they could within this week.
A third verse is then heard with Paul offering another lead guitar line in the fourth measure but this time giving it a rest in the eighth measure. He does get a little more innovative with his guitar work in the last four measures of the verse, which transcends into an identical repeat of the bridge. Paul plays the identical guitar flourish at the end of this bridge but this time he doesn’t flub the last note.
The final verse is then heard, which is an identical repeat of the third verse, although it is extended to nineteen measures to act as a fitting conclusion to the song. The title of the song is repeated three times to drill the point home as is a usual practice for The Beatles, such as witnessed in “Eight Days A Week” for instance. The song actually extends beyond this point to an unidentified measure count due to Paul’s aimless trailing guitar lick.
Paul is definitely center stage on this track, singing double-tracked lead vocals, proficient bouncing bass guitar and even lead guitar. While his guitar work, as described by Tim Riley in his book “Tell Me Why,” sounds “like a drunken commentary” and “like he’s tripping all over himself,” we mustn’t feel as if he was incapable. He most certainly redeemed himself in this role many times over later in The Beatles career, such as on “Taxman” and “Good Morning, Good Morning.”
Both John and George’s instrumental contributions to the song may be rudimentary, consisting of two types of rhythm guitar playing, but their excellent backing vocals fill out the coherent arrangement very nicely. Ringo is to be commended as well for his lazy swing beat, which never strays from his ride cymbal except for the quickly grasped crash before each break in the verses and his occasional introductory drum fill after the break.
Paul’s lyrics are quite crass as Beatles lyrics go up to that point. He is actually addressing a girl who appears jealous of his possible interest in another woman, telling her that “as from today” he is replacing her with “somebody that’s new.” The manner in which he informs her is very unfeeling as well, harshly saying “I ain’t no fool and I don’t take what I don’t want.” The song is actually half dumping his current girlfriend to her face, and half a testament to how wonderful his new girlfriend is. “Nobody in all the world can do what she can do,” he insinuates to his former girl. He also throws in a boast about how worldly wise he is in saying “she’s sweeter than all the girls and I’ve met quite a few.” So when it comes to her insisting that they are still a couple, Paul reiterates, “so, I’m telling you this time, you better stop.”
As if to soften the blow, Paul begins the third verse by explaining “I don’t want to say that I’ve been unhappy with you.” But she’s just going to have to accept that she’s out. After all, he IS Paul McCartney!
Next Song – You’re Going to Lose That Girl:
On February 19th, 1965, which was their fifth consecutive day in EMI Studio Two recording tracks for their upcoming film, The Beatles utilized nearly three hours (3:30 to 6:20 pm) for recording “You’re Going To Lose That Girl.” This was the only song on the agenda for this day. Even though they recorded one final number on the following day (the rejected “That Means A Lot”), this was the final song recorded during this week that was selected for the movie.
The group no doubt spent some of this time rehearsing the song on tape, which may have led to the confusion of calling the first take “take two” by accident. At any rate, this take was only a false start while the second attempt (“take three”) was the keeper. The Beatles all played their usual instruments; both John and George on rhythm guitar but playing in different patterns, Paul on bass and Ringo on drums. John sang his lead vocals on this rhythm track as well, as did Paul and George’s responding harmonies.
A few overdubs were needed to complete the picture. John double-tracked his lead vocals, George made at least a couple attempts at a guitar solo (as heard in bootleg recordings) before it was perfected, Paul added a sturdy piano part to fill out the arrangement throughout, and Ringo flailed away at the bongos. With these overdubs completed, they were done for the day only to return at noon the next day for one last recording session before jetting off to the Bahamas to begin filming the movie.
The mono mix of the song was also created on the following day, February 20th, 1965, in the control room of EMI Studio Two by producer George Martin and engineers Norman Smith and Ken Scott. This version appears on the mono copies of the British “Help!” album as well as the first prints of the movie.
The first two of four (yes, four) stereo mixes of the song was made on February 23rd, 1965 in the control room of EMI Studio Two by Norman Smith and 2nd engineer Malcolm Davies. They felt that the first mix could be improved upon so their second attempt became the one that graced the stereo copies of the “Help!” album both in Britain and the US.
While The Beatles were back in their home territory of London filming the movie, they entered EMI Studio Two on March 30th, 1965 between 7 and 10 pm for more recording. Their first order of business was trying another attempt at recording the Dick Lester-rejected “That Means A Lot,” which was forever abandoned after five takes. Afterward, they recorded further overdubs for “You’re Going To Lose That Girl,” although EMI documentation doesn’t say what the overdubs were. (Some sources say it was further attempts at George Harrison’s guitar solo, but this has not been verified.)
With new overdubs having been recorded, George Martin and Norman Smith took out an hour of time on April 2nd, 1965 in the control room of EMI Studio Two to create a new stereo mix. Although this third stereo mix was created well before the “Help!” album came out, we know this mix was never used because all the instrumentation and vocals are identical to what is heard in the first prints of the movie, which used the mono mix made on February 20th, 1965. Therefore, this third stereo mix continues in the vaults at EMI to this day, if it hadn’t been discarded or recorded over.
In the age of compact discs, George Martin brought out the master tapes of the entire British “Help!” album, including “You’re Going To Lose That Girl,” in order to create a new set of stereo mixes for worldwide release. The results have been available on the CD ever since its initial release in 1987, even when it was re-mastered in 2009.
Song Structure and Style
“You’re Going To Lose That Girl” exhibits yet more liberties being taken as to arrangement and style. While the usual ‘verse/ verse/ bridge/ verse’ (or aaba) format is still in place, we see The Beatles continuing their new feature of changing keys in the bridge, which is a feature they introduced earlier that week with the newly written “Another Girl.” Another similarity to that song is the previewing of the final four measures of the verse as the introduction to the song.
This four-measure introduction begins with an a cappella vocal from John that comes in before the downbeat of the first measure, which is another similarity with “Another Girl” as well as many others in The Beatles catalog, such as “Can’t Buy Me Love” and “It Won’t Be Long.” With only the bass guitar as a guide on the rhythm track, John’s lead vocals, as well as Paul and George’s responding background vocals, are slightly out of tune. This wouldn’t be noticeable except for the fact that Paul’s piano overdub during this intro makes the proper tuning apparent. John’s slip into falsetto on the word “lose” the second time around hints that his words “you’re going to lose that girl” are more of a threat than a warning. With Ringo’s rapid-fire snare drum fill as an invitation, the rest of the instrumentation comes in on the downbeat of the first measure of the first verse.
This first verse is twelve measures long and, while this sounds standard, this is the only verse in the song that is this length. The Beatles still liked utilizing the question/answer harmony feature apparent in many of their earlier recordings. In fact, three of the songs in the movie soundtrack feature this ingredient, “The Night Before” and the title track being the other two. When the guitars kick in on the rhythm track as this verse begins, all the vocalists then slightly correct their pitch. The first eight measures include the meat of the lyrics while the final four measures, which we’ve already heard in the introduction, act as the ‘refrain’ section of the verse that reiterates the key phrase of the song.
A second verse begins immediately afterwards and is melodically and instrumentally identical except for one thing. Because this verse segues into a bridge that changes key from E major to G major, they repeat a half phrase of the refrain section of the verse using the pivot chord D major to transcend to the bridge, thereby making this verse fourteen measures in length. This half phrase makes it necessary for John to repeat his falsetto “lose” and extend it for almost the entire two extra measures.
This bridge is an odd seven measures long which could have sounded more symmetrical had they extended the final F major chord for one additional measure but, as could be imagined, it would have slowed down the momentum of the song unnecessarily. The song is sung in full three-part harmony throughout except where Paul and George add another answering phrase in the third measure (“watch what you do”). What could have been an awkward transition back to E major in the following verse was ironed out by just moving a step downward from F major, this being the last chord of the bridge.
The third verse is identical in form to the second with the exception that the first eight measures are taken up by George Harrison’s guitar solo, which is then followed by the ‘refrain’ section of the verse. Utilizing the opening section of a verse as a solo has been used repeatedly in The Beatles cannon, such as in “A Hard Day’s Night” and even as far back as “From Me To You.” This verse also contains the half phrase at the end to segue into an identical bridge before repeating the first verse once again.
This final verse can actually be viewed as fifteen measures long because of it acting as the song’s conclusion. With Ringo’s occasional triplet-like bongo playing as a backdrop, The Beatles extend the ending half phrase a little differently with John’s falsetto and Paul and George’s background harmonies encapsulating the final three words of the song in half notes, namely the words “lose that girl!” With the final E major chord ringing out and cymbal crash fading away, the song concludes with a satisfying smile.
While John’s guitar from the rhythm track is somewhat low in the mix, his threatening vocal tone is what makes the song. The crass lyrics are conveyed confidently, as are Paul and George’s answering vocal lines which accentuate the assuredness that John will indeed succeed in winning the girl over. In fact, the instrumentation in “You’re Going To Lose That Girl” are secondary to the excellent vocal arrangement that consumes the performance.
Paul’s bass work, while not that prominent, is rudimentary but appropriate to the feel of the song. While we have gotten quite used to George Martin filling the role of keyboard player in The Beatles early recordings, Paul seems to have taken over that role very nicely. When listening to the isolated piano overdub track (which also contains the bongos), one has to admire his piano ability even at this early stage of the game.
George Harrison’s rhythm guitar work is very prominent in the mix on the rhythm track and is played very simply but adequately. While Paul seemed to be bucking for his job this week, having played some lead guitar in “Ticket To Ride,” “Another Girl” and “The Night Before,” he lets George back into his role this time around. His bendy-guitar lead, using his newly acquired 1961 Sonic Blue Fender Stratocaster, fits the bill nicely. Apart from an introductory drum fill and final cymbal crash, Ringo’s primary roll on the drum kit appears to be one of time-keeper, staying strictly on his closed hi-hat during the steady rhythm of the entire song. His bongo playing, on the other hand, is as adventurous as it is loud in the final mix.
The mean-spirited lyrics, mostly credited to Lennon, show that he didn’t hold back from any subject matter that he wanted to delve into. While this practice grew to enormous proportions as the following years unfolded, “You’re Going To Lose That Girl” shows him at his evilest. He’s telling his unnamed “friend” that if he doesn’t act fast, “she’s going to change her mind” and he’ll “find her gone,” since he’s determined to steal her away. “I’ll make a point of taking her away from you,” he confidently sneers. As if his friend has left him no choice, he states “the way you treat her, what else can I do?”
While some of the clichés have been used before (the rhyme of “lonely one” with “only one” was heard way back in 1963’s “Misery”), the cunning intent of the lyrics are clear. John is going to steal his friend’s girl away from him for one reason and one reason only – because he can!
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