The Beatles designated six straight days in the third week of February, 1965, to record songs featured in their upcoming film. This Monday through Saturday ran from February 15th through 20th, and three days later they landed on location in the Bahamas shooting the movie.
By Thursday, February 18th, mono mixes were already being made of the songs they had recorded on the three previous days. In between these mixing sessions, The Beatles entered EMI Studio Two to record three additional songs. The first completed on this day, from 3:30 to 5:15 pm, was John’s “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away.”
Pete Shotton, John Lennon’s closest childhood friend, happened to have been present in the recording studio on this day to witness the recording of this song. His eyewitness account verifies that the lyrics in the first verse actually were “feeling two-foot-tall” but that during an early take, John accidentally sang “two foot small.” “Let’s leave that in, actually,” Lennon exclaimed, “All those pseuds will really love it,” referring to ‘pseudo-intellectuals.’ Shotton is actually credited for the idea of John shouting “hey” during the choruses of the song.
Producer George Martin had a particular concern about John’s singing on this song. “I asked him not to sound too much like Dylan. He wasn’t doing it deliberately; it was subconscious more than anything.” Nonetheless, what came out was “a Dylan impression,” as McCartney described it.
The rhythm track consisted of John on 12-string acoustic guitar, Ringo playing his snare drum with brushes, Paul on bass and George on 6-string acoustic guitar. According to George Martin's handwritten notes (on exhibit at Liverpool's "The Beatles Story"), this entire rhythm track was recorded on 'track one' of the four-track tape. While many sources state that this is the first fully acoustic performance by The Beatles, Paul playing his electric Hofner bass guitar nullifies this claim. John did choose to to record his vocals while he played guitar as evidenced by released early 'takes' of the song but, as George Martin's notes indicate, his proper vocal performance as heard on the record was recorded as an overdub onto 'track two' of the tape. Therefore, the vocal performances John made during the recording of the rhythm track were apparently viewed as guide vocals.
The first 'take' didn’t get any farther than a few guitar strums until John exclaims “hold on, hold on” because of an improper positioning of either the guitar microphone or the capo John was using on his guitar. Ringo thinks he was the reason why John stopped the take, wrongfully confessing “I was out” (meaning ‘out of time’). However, John indicates the real reason for stopping the performance by making the necessary adjustment, explaining “I’m just gonna raise this so it’s nearer the bass strings than the top string.”
Take two didn’t get very far either, but was preceded by Paul breaking a drinking glass in the studio. This resulted in John kiddingly singing “Paul’s broken a glass, broken a glass, Paul’s broken a glass, a glass, a glass he broke today,” while Ringo accompanies him on the brushes. As he starts to count-down "take two," John stops to ask Paul, "Are you ready, Macca?"
The first complete take they made of the song was ‘take five,’ which can be heard on the album “Anthology 2” (as with the above mentioned ‘takes’). Even though this recording was near flawless, they apparently felt it could be approved upon. Therefore, they proceeded with three more incomplete takes until finally ‘take nine’ was complete and deemed ‘best.’
Onto this, they started adding overdubs. George Martin's notes indicate that John overdubbed his lead vocal onto 'track two,' while Ringo added a tambourine, Paul added maraca, and George added a second 12-string guitar simultaneously onto 'track three.' George Martin scribbled on his notes, "Have to use flute on Track 4," which is exactly what was done. It apparently already had been determined that a flute overdub was needed for the end of the song because a hired studio musician named Johnnie Scott was present on this day as well. He was a familiar face at EMI studios, working as a musical arranger as well as musician. While Andy White was hired by EMI as a session drummer on “Love Me Do” and “P.S. I Love You,” and George Martin himself was quite a regular feature on keyboards before this time, the appearance of Johnnie Scott on this day marks the first time The Beatles requested an outside musician to appear on one of their songs. Of course, this would be very commonplace as time went on.
“They told me roughly what they wanted, 3/4 time,” Johnnie remembers, “and the best way of fulfilling their needs was to play both tenor flute and alto flute, the second as an overdub. As I recall, all four of them were there and Ringo was full of marital joys, he’d just come back from his honeymoon." With this complete by 5:15 pm, this session was over, only to give way to another scheduled recording session at 6 pm.
The mono mix of the song was prepared on February 20th, 1965, during their last recording session before they left for the Bahamas. The mixing session was in the control room of EMI Studio Two with George Martin and engineers Norman Smith and Ken Scott in attendance. This mix has the vocals a little less prominent than the familiar stereo mix, as well as having less reverb. This is what is heard on the British mono album as well as in the first prints of the movie “Help!"
The first stereo mix of the song was made on February 23rd, 1965 in the control room of EMI Studio Two, but George Martin wasn’t in attendance. He left this duty to engineers Norman Smith and Malcolm Davies. This mix was featured on the stereo versions of both the British and American albums, as well as the mono American album because of Capitol Records’ decision to create a “type B” mix-down from the stereo mix.
In preparation for the compact disc release of the “Help!” album, George Martin thought to have a crack at creating a new stereo mix to improve the quality in 1986. The results appear on this release, which is virtually the same as the original 1965 stereo mix.
Then, sometime in 1995, George Martin and engineer Geoff Emerick returned to the master tapes to put together highlights of early takes of the song for inclusion on the compilation album "Anthology 2."
Song Structure and Style
When examining The Beatles catalog, Lennon is the one who dominates in using 3/4 time for their original compositions. While songs like “This Boy,” “Baby’s In Black” and “Yes It Is” (which was recorded just two days prior to this song) are all acknowledged as true Lennon/McCartney collaborations, John appears to be the catalyst to their original inspiration. Further emphasizing his love for this time signature, John is the Beatle who used it the most thereafter (“Norwegian Wood,” “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds” and “Yer Blues” among others) while both McCartney and Harrison used it sparingly.
As for structure, “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away” appears as a hybrid of a standard pop format and the folk ballad, the latter of which being used as a model by John for this song. This structure reveals itself as ‘verse/ verse/ chorus/ verse/ verse/ chorus/ verse’ (or aabaaba). A quick two measure introduction, used only to lay the groundwork of the home key of G, begins proceedings, while an instrumental version of the verse works as a conclusion.
The full rhythm section, consisting of two acoustic guitars, bass guitar and brushed snare drum, appears right on the downbeat of the introduction and is maintained throughout the entire song. The vocals immerge immediately on the one beat of the first verse, which is an unusual eighteen measures long. The downcast melody line John sings throughout all of the verses only range five notes, as if his depressed mood won’t let him bother to stray any further. Symmetrically, you would expect the verse to end after sixteen measures but, as is Lennon’s habit, he adds two extra measures at the end to add weight to his final thought; in this case “feeling two foot small.”
John punches up his low-keyed vocals at the beginning of the second verse to accentuate another facet to his mood with the lyrics “Everywhere people stare…” Another element added to differentiate this verse from the last is Ringo’s tambourine, which gives its accents on the downbeat of every other measure. The most noticeable new feature to this second verse is the addition of two more measures at the end, which makes this verse twenty measures in length. These are used to emphasize the falling bass notes of the final D chord which create an inevitable segue into the chorus that follows. The inevitability is further evident from the final lyrics of this verse which are “and I hear them say…”
The chorus is a symmetrical sixteen measures long and, thanks to John’s friend Pete Shotton, shoots the vocal note range up a full octave on the word “Hey.” While this chorus is simply an excuse for repeating the title of the song twice, it acts as the focal point to the whole proceedings. Another percussive element is introduced at this point, this being McCartney’s overdubbed maracas, which suddenly disappear immediately after the sixteenth measure ends.
While the intensity of everyone’s performance has peaked in the chorus, everything returns to its subdued feel as the third verse begins, which goes back to the eighteen-measure format as heard in the first verse. The musical arrangement is the same this time except that the tambourine is still played.
The fourth verse steps up the power somewhat just like what was heard in the second verse, but this time with the accusing tone of Lennon’s lyric “How could she say to me love will find a way?” Like the second verse, this is also twenty measures long with the added dropping bass notes at the end, which allows John’s line “let me hear you say…” hang in the air for a while.
The chorus is then repeated, which is structurally and lyrically identical and with the overdubbed maracas reappearing. After this occurs, another verse begins but not with the same subdued feel that the previous verses had. This is because this final verse acts as an instrumental conclusion to the song. Both a tenor and alto flute play a melody line roughly mimicking what John sings in the verses. Both the tambourine and maracas continue through this section, the maracas being shaken very fast for emphasis whenever the mood was right.
What would be expected at this point, as usually heard in The Beatles catalog as well as in pop music in general in the sixties, is that this instrumental section would be followed by another section of the song, such as another chorus. (The examples are endless, but for arguments sake, notice “All My Loving,” “Baby It’s You,” “I Should Have Known Better” and “Every Little Thing.”) But in this case, probably because of the reflective nature of the lyrics, the song ends in this unexpected way. At first listen, we can’t help but acknowledge the anti-climactic feel of this conclusion, leaving us with an expression on our faces that say, “That’s it?” But with the upturned final note hanging in the air as if there is another chapter of this story to be told, we’ve all come to realize that the conclusion is indeed fitting.
John’s singer/songwriter persona is probably in its highest form on this song and is performed extremely convincingly. Gratefully, it was determined that double-tracked vocals wouldn’t be fitting here because of the subject matter. Instead we feel the intensity of John’s pain through his Dylan-like gruffness and vocal imperfections, which would have been slurred by double-tracking.
Paul’s bass work is fitting for the occasion as well as his skilled maraca shaking. We can be grateful that he recognized that this wasn’t the place to inject any harmony vocals, which would have detracted from the intimate feel of the song. George plays two acoustic guitars on the song but both are placed somewhat low in the mix, meaning his contributions end up being somewhat nonessential. Ringo gets to display his brush technique on his snare drum while overdubbing tambourine accents with his usual perfect timing.
John’s lyrics, while quite imaginative, leave too many details out to give us a complete picture. His aim, no doubt, is to re-create the essence of Dylan’s songwriting but leaving it vague enough to keep us wondering. For instance, did his girl leave him? He appears not to be sure himself, as he sings, “if she’s gone, I can’t go on.” It sounds as if he’s returned home to find all of her things have been emptied out.
Another line that leaves us wondering is “How could she say to me, ‘love will find a way.’” Apparently, she had consoled him previously concerning the hopefulness of working things out between them, only to find her now abandoning the relationship.
The overall affect that the broken relationship has on John is what he decides to focus mostly on, wanting us to fully understand the reason for his wallowing in self-pity. Lyrics like “here I stand, head in hand, turn my face to the wall,” “feeling two foot small” and “how can I even try, I can never win” emphasize what he most wants us to know.
It even seems that everyone around him notices his plight and they either “stare” at him, “laugh” at him or offer their advice. All these “clowns” say he should “hide” how he feels which, in effect, leave him miserable. (As to John’s use of the word “clown,” this is a reprise of its inclusion in the previous years’ “I’m A Loser,” which is his other obvious Dylan-esque song. “Dylan had used it so I thought it was alright,” John said in 1974, “and it rhymed with whatever I was doing.”)
Next Song – I Need You:
“I Need You” was recorded during their first recording session for 1965 on February 15th at EMI Studio Two. This was the first of six consecutive days of sessions to produce songs to be included in their upcoming second movie. The earlier of two sessions on this day, from 2:30 to 5:45 pm, saw “Ticket To Ride” started and finished, while the later session, from 7 to 10:30 pm, was utilized to start two new songs. The first two-and-a-half hours were spent on Paul’s new song “Another Girl,” and then at about 8:30 pm they began work on George’s “I Need You.”
Since the relatively new procedure of recording the rhythm track first and overdubbing the vocals later was instituted on this day, The Beatles spent the last two hours of this day recording a simple rhythm track for George’s song. Interestingly, according to George Martin's handwritten notes, which were discovered decades later and displayed at an exhibit at "The Beatles Story" in Liverpool, the instrumentation on "I Need You" appears to be George on acoustic guitar, Paul on bass, John on drums and Ringo tapping the back of an acoustic guitar. According to the above-mentioned notes, everything at this point was recorded onto 'track one' of the four-track tape. Five takes of the song were recorded before everyone was satisfied, “take five” being deemed as best. Although the notes say that the finished 'take' was recorded by 9:25 pm, the night came to a complete end at 10:30 with overdubs planned for the next day.
The next day, February 16th, 1965, began exactly where they left off. They entered EMI Studio Two at 2:30 pm to record all of the overdubs to “I Need You.” First on the agenda was for George to record his lead vocals with Paul harmonizing with him on the last phrase of each verse, which usually was the phrase “I need you.” However, at the end of the second verse, the words were “you told me,” which Paul hesitated on, no doubt, because he was unsure of what the words were. According to the handwritten notes, this overdub was recorded onto 'track two.' Then, onto 'track four,' George and Paul double-tracked their vocals with Ringo tapping out a beat on a cowbell. George, John and Paul then overdubbed background "aahs" during parts of the verses as well as the bridges.
The final overdub occurred next, which was George’s lead guitar work throughout the song. He used a foot-controlled volume pedal which was hooked up to the volume of the guitar. (This devise would be more commonly used as a wah-wah pedal very soon afterward by various artists.) The notes specify that at precisely 4:35 pm, the song was complete and they then worked to complete the other unfinished song from the day before, namely “Another Girl.” The later session on this day was used to record the song “Yes It Is,” which also featured George’s tone pedal.
The mono mix of “I Need You” was made two days later on February 18th, 1965 in the control room of EMI Studio Two by producer George Martin and engineers Norman Smith and Ken Scott. This mix appeared in the film as well as the mono version of the British “Help!” album.
The stereo mix was created on February 23rd, 1965 in the control room of EMI Studio Two by Norman Smith and 2nd engineer Malcolm Davies, George Martin not feeling he was needed for this relatively unnecessary task (since mono mixes were deemed the priority). This mix made it on the stereo versions of both the British and American “Help!” albums. The mono version of the US album also utilized this mix by Capitol creating a “type B” mix from combining both channels of the stereo mix to form their own mono mix. Therefore, the true mono mix of this song, as similar as it may be, was only to be heard in the early copies of the movie until many decades later.
Not to be forgotten is the 1986 stereo mix created by George Martin for the 1987 release of the entire "Help!" album on compact disc.
Song Structure and Style
As if following the established pattern set by Lennon and McCartney (although, in fact, it was established way before then), George imitates the ‘verse/ verse/ bridge/ verse’ format for this song. With a repeat of the bridge and final verse, we end up with a usual aababa structure without the need of a solo of any kind. Although Harrison is the group’s lead guitarist, he wisely realizes that an instrumental section would only hamper the flow of the song.
A simple two-measure introduction gets the ball rolling which establishes the home key of A. Basically, the acoustic rhythm guitar and overdubbed electric tone-pedal guitar are the only things heard in this short intro. George begins his guitar chord/riff, which is heard in various forms three times in each verse, directly on the downbeat of this introduction. Although a little rushed, it is emphasized exactly as it will be in the conclusion of the song. Paul introduces his bass guitar in the second half of the second measure as a segue into the first verse.
The first verse is an unusual fourteen measures long because the last of the four melodic phrases that make up this verse is cut in half. The simple subdued drums kick in on the downbeat of this section as do George’s lead vocals, which pronounce the first line as “you don’t re-o-lize how much I need you.” Each melodic vocal phrase ends with the first two notes of the “four chord/riff” (for example, on the words “need you”) that George plays with his tone-pedal guitar. If it wasn’t for the guitar finishing these phrases, the lyrics would leave us ‘hanging in the air,’ so to speak.
The third melodic phrase, starting with “please come on back to me,” breaks away from the home key and raises the emotional level of the song as well as the note range George is singing. Another difference is the introduction background harmonies on this section which adds a nice backwash to the arrangement. The final phrase actually only consists of three words, “I need you,” which Paul harmonizes on. Once again, we see the established Beatles pattern of ending the verses with the title of the song, driving it home for all listeners as George had already caught on with on 1963’s “Don’t Bother Me.”
After a structurally identical second verse (with George’s interesting lyrical flow of “a thing or two to tell me”), we enter the bridge. We can see here a pattern developing in these current ‘Harrisongs’ in the form of continuing a thought, and the actual sentence, from the verse right into the bridge. In this case, George starts a new thought by singing “you told me” at the end of the verse and then finishing the sentence in the bridge with “oh, yes, you told me you don’t want my lovin’ anymore.” (Observe “You Like Me Too Much,” which was recorded the next day, for similar lyric writing.)
This bridge also has an unusual number of measures, this time being nine. The usual eight measures are extended by one at the end as if he needed to take a breath before the third verse began, which wasn’t the case. We can easily imagine the song flowing nicely without this extra measure, especially since no one is doing anything extraordinary musically in this extra measure either. But as is the case, George wanted the extra measure and, although unnecessary, it works well.
As far as arrangement goes in the bridge, we see the addition of Ringo’s cowbell throughout all nine measures as well as George, John and Paul’s background vocals. In actuality, the seventh and eighth measures of this bridge contain the gut-wrenching emotional highlight of the song, accentuated by George’s outcry “I just can’t go on anymore.” (Maybe that’s why he wanted the extra measure in the bridge…he wanted this desperate proclamation to sink in as well as gain his composure before beginning his plea for her return.)
As the cowbell disappears, the third verse begins which is also structurally identical to the first two. After a repeat of the bridge, this third verse is heard again but in an extended twenty-measure form to work as a fitting conclusion to the song. The final statement “I need you” is repeated identically two more times with Paul’s harmonies as the chords change strategically underneath. We then arrive at the home key of A again as we hear a repeat of the guitar chord/riff, the last chord becoming the final strident chord of the song.
Of course, George is the primary focus of this folksy-arranged song, delivered in perfect singer/songwriter fashion. His tone-pedal work, while occasionally not in perfect time, gives a weeping affect which convincingly portrays the sad lyrics. His lead vocals are also done professionally well, seeing that he has come to master the art of double-tracking with little overlapped accentuations.
Paul is always there to add what is necessary to make a good recording, this time jumping in with nice vocal harmonies. His bass work is done simply so as not to detract from the emotional effect of the lyrics. Being in the usual experimental mood for a song of George's, John plays rudimentary drums but keeps a steady enough beat to propel the song nicely, adding background “aahs” when required. Ringo plays no bigger of a role than metronome on the back of the acoustic guitar and then cowbell, but more than that would only detract from the sentiment of the song.
It’s somewhat perplexing that many authors explain this song away as simple a love song to girlfriend Pattie Boyd. The first two lines of the song may make you think this could be the case, but from the third line on it is obvious that the storyline focuses on George being dumped by his girl, which wasn’t the case with Pattie. “Please come on back to me, I’m lonely as can be” is the true gist of the song as a whole, as explained in this verse.
The second verse begins to give us the intricate details of this sad fictional story, telling us how his girl “had a thing or two to tell” him, which left him “upset.” The bridge reveals what she told him, namely, “you don’t want my lovin’ anymore,” which now left him “hurt.” After proclaiming that he “just can’t go on anymore,” the third verse begins his pleading for her to “come on back and see just what you mean to me.”
Obviously, this is not a current personal experience, but “projecting myself into a situation and writing a nice story about it,” as Lennon would explain about early Beatles songs. John and Paul may have been writing more autobiographically by this time, but George was just developing as a songwriter and was well behind his fellow band members in this category. This having been said, “I Need You” has found a definite place in the hearts of a lot of Beatles’ fans because of its simply stated melancholic feel and charming delivery.
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