The recording history for this song turned out quite
uncomplicated. The Beatles only needed one day to start and finish their new
piece, since they had already fine-tuned it before setting foot in studio two
of EMI studios on October 17th, 1963.
Seventeen takes of the song were recorded during this
afternoon/evening session, which started at 2:30 and ended at 10:00 pm
(including an hour and a half break from 5:30 to 7:00 pm.). It appears that the
song officially commenced at 7:00, since the first items recorded on this day
included the first edition of their “Beatles’ Christmas Record” which, starting
with an edit of the recording done on this day, would be sent on a flexi-disc
to members of their Official Beatles Fan Club. Also recorded in the earlier
session on this day was an attempt at a remake (take 12) of The Miracles’ hit
“You’ve Really Got A Hold On Me,” which they ended up not using, deciding that
the version they recorded on July 18th would suffice after all.
John Lennon insisted on trying a remake of “You’ve Really Got A
Hold On Me” on this day, no doubt because this was the first day The Beatles
were allowed by EMI to use a four-track recording console for their recordings.
Lennon knew that four-track recording would allow for this song to sound even
better than what they had achieved on a two-track console.
Everything The Beatles recorded prior to this day was on two-track
recording equipment, which limited the possibilities one could achieve in the
studio. With four-track recording, you could, according to Engineer Ken
Townsend, “do a basic rhythm track and then add on vocals and whatever else
later. It made the studios into much more of a workshop.” EMI previously had
four-track recording equipment but only used it for more serious recording
artists, such as for classical music. They didn’t feel that pop music needed to
utilize the advanced capabilities that four-track recording could provide.
Since The Beatles had by that time earned much more money for EMI than had the
classical releases, EMI felt that The Beatles earned their keep and offered
them four-track capabilities from this date forward. It is quite coincidental
that starting with this monumental recording, The Beatles made way into a new
era of recording technology that continued with them throughout their recording
careers until 1968 when, during the recording of their ‘White Album,’ EMI
studios graduated to the even more advanced eight-track recording console.
After their abandoned attempt at recreating “You’ve Really Got A
Hold On Me,” Lennon confidently called up to George Martin in the control
booth, “you’d better come on down here and have a listen to our next number one
record.” This statement solidifies two things: first, that “It Won’t Be Long”
was no longer in consideration for their next single by this time (as
originally planned) and, second, that The Beatles were still utilizing George
Martin for his expertise in arrangement. In this case, except a slight change
in tempo and adjustments in vocal harmonies, the song was perfectly arranged in
advance by themselves. There was little that Martin needed to do to improve
it.
When listening to the 17 takes (some false starts) of the song,
you can’t help but notice McCartney’s leadership role in full force even at
this early stage of The Beatles’ career. His bossiness is apparent throughout
the session, such as at the beginning of take one where, when Lennon suggests
doing it slower, Paul quickly asserts “NO…shhh!” and demands a “clean
beginning,” as well as instructing Ringo on the “attack” needed at the
beginning of the song. Paul later admitted “Yes, okay, in the studio I could be
overbearing because I wanted to get it right...I can see how that could get on
your nerves.” Nonetheless, as Ringo admitted, Paul’s bossiness “contributed to
really great products” as was the case with this song. McCartney’s
determination may have been just the thing needed in order to achieve the
greatness that “I Want To Hold Your Hand” achieved.
It has been noted that the first take sounded very similar in
structure to the final take because of their knowing the song so well by the
time they entered the studio on this day. What is noticed is that there were
new ideas that progressively entered into the mix as the sessions wore on. One
of these was on take two where, they began to hush the instrumentation on the
bridge, rather than the rocking rhythm guitar that Lennon played on the first
take. Another idea, beginning with take four, was McCartney’s adding the
familiar “sh” sound to words with an “s” sound, such as in “I think you’ll
undershtand” and “shay that shomthing.” This habit was something The Beatles
heard on American records and, by coincidence, made for better mastering
because of the absence of sibilance, or distorted “s” sounds.
Although the actual track information appears to be lost, we do
know that the song took a whopping 17 takes to perfect, which included all four
Beatles playing and singing simultaneously. This song was the studio debut of
Paul’s newly acquired 1963 Hofner bass, his original 1961 model having “seen so
much work that it was held together with sellotape,” explained McCartney in
1967. As witnessed by engineer Geoff Emerick, Lennon kept flubbing his vocals
throughout the song, which no doubt led to them needing so many takes to get it
right. Emerick suggested that these mistakes were due to either his usual poor
memory or his even poorer eyesight.
Handclaps, as well as double-tracking Lennon's lead vocals,
followed as overdubs onto a finished take 17. All four Beatles performed the
overdubbed handclaps huddled around one microphone, clowning around as they
usually did, which was evidence of the fun atmosphere obtained whenever The
Beatles were in the recording studio. Since the complete recording of the song’s
British flip side, “This Boy” was also recorded on this day, we can estimate
that recording “I Want To Hold Your Hand” took place between 7:00 and 8:30 pm
on October 17th, 1963.
The song was mixed for mono and stereo on October 21st, with only
George Martin and Engineer Norman Smith present. The mono mix won favor for the
worldwide single release, and the stereo version ended up only on an Australian
single. Two other stereo mixes of the song occurred later. The second stereo
mix was on June 8th, 1965 by Norman Smith and Engineer Ron Pender, who placed
the vocals in the center of the mix. This mix was reportedly never used, at
least not in Britain or the US. The third and final stereo mix of the song was
on November 7th, 1966 in preparation for the British compilation album “A
Collection Of Beatles Oldies,” which Martin released in Britain on December
10th, 1966. This stereo mix, made by George Martin and engineers Geoff Emerick
and Mike Stone, is the stereo mix used on CD to this day.
An interesting note concerning the mix used for the stereo “Meet
The Beatles!” album is that, even though a stereo mix surfaced in time for
Capitol records to use for the album, it was not sent to America for them to
use. Capitol hastily prepared a mock-stereo version of the song separating the
lows on the left channel and the highs on the right channel. This means that a
true stereo version of the song was not available in America until the March
7th, 1988 CD “Past Masters - Volume One.”
Another recording session for "I Want To Hold Your Hand"
took place on April 19th, 1964. Its purpose was to provide a pre-recorded
soundtrack for the British television special “Around The Beatles,” which was
broadcast by the BBC on May 6th and June 8th, 1964. The song required new
recordings of the first four British singles to comprise a “Beatles Medley” for
the group to lip-sync to in front of a studio audience. This session, which
they recorded on three-track tape, took place at IBC Studios in London, with
Jack Good as producer and Terry Johnson as engineer.
The song was played one other time at EMI studios. Since Ringo
remained in Britain because of his tonsils as well as pharyngitis, a
replacement drummer needed to be auditioned to take his place for The Beatles’
upcoming world tour. Session drummer Jimmy Nicol was brought into EMI studio
two to rehearse six songs, including “I Want To Hold Your Hand,” on June 3rd,
1964. The session was not recorded, but the audition was a success. The next
day, the four of them were in Copenhagen giving their first concert on the
world tour.
The recording sessions for the song also include one live
performance on August 23rd, 1964. That was the date The Beatles played at the
Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, California. The entire concert was recorded to
release it as a live album by the end of 1964, which never happened. Capitol
vice-president Voyle Gilmore produced the recording along with George Martin
and with Hugh Davies as engineer. A rough stereo mix took place on August 27th,
but their live recording of "I Want To Hold Your Hand" remains in the
vaults until this day.
Sometime in 2015 Giles Martin (son of George Martin) and Sam Okell
revisited the master tape of "I Want To Hold Your Hand" in Abbey Road
Studios to create a new stereo mix, the result appears on the newly mixed
"Beatles 1" compilation album released that year. Then, sometime in
2016, he received access to the live recording The Beatles made of the song at
the Hollywood Bowl on August 23rd, 1964 and produced a version for inclusion on
the long-awaited remastered version of "Live At The Hollywood Bowl"
which came out later that year.
The last time the song was brought into a recording studio by a
Beatle was sometime in August or September of 1980. John Lennon was recording
his classic 1980 album “Double Fantasy,” and at times old Beatles music was
heard during the sessions. Engineer Lee DeCario relates: “I remember we were
editing something and John was bored, so he went out into the studio, grabbed
the Fender Telecaster B-bender guitar that Rick Nielsen (from Cheap Trick) gave
him, plugged it in, and sat on the amp all day playing Beatles songs. It was
great, you’d walk by, and you’d hear him singing and playing ‘I Want To Hold
Your Hand.’”
Song Structure and Style
While the structure of this song follows the familiar pattern of
most of the early Beatles catalog, namely the 'verse/ verse/ bridge/ verse'
structure (or aaba) it is anything but ordinary because there are so many
interesting surprises along the way. Since Lennon and McCartney were
painstakingly working to make this song palatable to American audiences, we
hear many unique characteristics in the arrangement, no doubt including
suggestions made by George Martin in the studio.
It was decided to begin the song with the final repetitive four,
and a half bars of the bridge played instrumentally with a driving beat,
creating an intense excitement that was meant to herald the appearance of
Beatlemania in the states, saying, in effect, "Here We Are." This was
the repetitive influence, it is claimed, from Robert Freeman's jazz record
noted above.
What is striking about this introduction, and confusing as well,
is how the song begins midway through the measure with the accent on the last
eighth note of the measure instead of the one beat of the next measure. Upon
hearing the song for the first time (if we can possibly remember the first time
we heard it), the listener is thrown off balance by the ambiguity created. The
downbeat of the song is only fully recognized when the vocal quarter notes
sound forth. That is why the equilibrium of dancers, as well as listeners, was
thrown off by this introduction, although the effect is only momentary. We all
found our footing after the first eight seconds had passed and then we got it.
We now enter into the first verse, which comprises 12 bars. The
vocals are sung in unison by John and Paul for the first seven bars of each
verse, only to strikingly change into high register harmony on the word
"hand" sung during the second appearance of the B7 chord on the
eighth bar of the verse. That eighth bar was where the band directed all the
focus since everyone played and sang differently on that bar. Ringo played
accents and drum fills, John stopped playing altogether, Paul held the one note
on the bass, and the overdubbed handclaps, which maintained a regular pattern
throughout the first seven bars, dropped out for the remainder of the verse
only to resume when the next verse began. William Mann, music critic of The
Times in London, described the eighth bar of the verses as an "active
accent" and a "median" chord change, referring to this as
"a trademark of Lennon-McCartney songs."
Continuing into the ninth bar, unison singing resumes throughout
except, once again, on the word "hand," sung in a staggered
descending melody line.
The second verse runs identical to its' intricate structure; the
only difference alters the lyrics. These lyrics include the line "let me
be your man" which, no doubt, was a throw-back to the recently written
"I Wanna Be Your Man," which was sung by Ringo and recorded by The
Rolling Stones that year.
Entering the bridge, we now see a transition into a subdued but
melodic feel for the first seven bars which allows the tension to be
momentarily relieved. We hear Ringo playing a closed hi-hat, Harrison picking
single-note phrases from the chords, and McCartney just playing the signature
chord notes on the bass (not unlike Stu Sutcliffe would play two years prior) while
John and Paul hear unison singing. This all changes midway through the seventh
bar as we now see the origin of the introduction: The repetitive, supposedly
Robert Freeman-inspired melodic phrase, punctuated by the same driving force
heard at the beginning of the song. The vocals now strategically shift to
harmony sung very powerfully, repeating the phrase "I can't hide" (or
as Bob Dylan and many others thought, "I get high").
The bridge structure is a perfect segue into another verse,
identical in structure to the first two except for different lyrics. As another
bridge is then performed to again relieve the tension, we see the introduction
of harmony vocals throughout, which adds a dynamic touch to distract us from
the identical lyrics of the previous bridge.
The fourth and final verse is then performed, which is virtually a
repeat of the third verse, one of the differences being in the phrase
"when I feel that something," instead of "say that
something." The big difference, though, is that the song comprises fifteen
bars instead of twelve. The additional three bars consist of a dramatic
conclusion which entails the title of the song being repeated a fourth time
with the word "hand" held out with Paul's high harmony for two full
bars. For the first of those two bars (the fourteenth in the verse), the group
plays in a hard-hitting waltz tempo accentuating each beat with a driving force
before resolving into the G chord creating an "amen" cadence. No more
suitable ending could be written for a song that would leave a nation
breathless and, in the case of teenage females, screaming.
Even though John and Paul sing all of the lyrics completely
through the song, Lennon can easily be designated the lead singer since
McCartney is the one who lifts to a higher harmony whenever the need arises,
leaving John to sing the melody line. McCartney's bass work is efficient but
rudimentary throughout, only straying from the signature chord notes during the
melodic instrumental phrase of the second and sixth bar of each verse.
Lennon's rhythm guitar provides a structural backdrop for the
dazzling effects sprinkled throughout the song, even simply providing a
strummed guitar chord for each chord change in each bridge. Harrison's guitar
phrases are used as casual accents throughout the song and, although not
essential to the structure; they provide an interesting diversion during the
framework of the song. Meanwhile, Ringo's drum work, while not the power-play
he is capable of delivering using the 'beat' style of the Cavern Club days, is
dependable and proficient utilizing suitable drum fills and powerful accents
where needed.
What is truly on display here, aside from the instrumentation, is
the songwriting style of the Lennon & McCartney team as well as the overall
effect the song creates. Standout musicianship is not called for here, such as
with guitar solos, walking bass lines, or rollicking drum beats. The Beatles
don't distract us with musical showmanship in this song because it is not
needed. The effervescent vocal delivery, along with its masterful songwriting,
is all that was necessary to carry this masterpiece to the heights that it
achieved.
Lennon had stated that he never paid much attention to lyrics in
the early Beatles days, thinking they were less important than putting together
a coherent melody and song structure. It wasn't until Bob Dylan suggested to
use the forum of The Beatles' popularity to make meaningful statements that
Lennon turned his attention to his lyric writing. John's earlier attitude is
especially evident in "I Want To Hold Your Hand" as its' lyrics are
extremely perfunctory. No deep meanings here, just that the singer is attracted
to a young lady with whom he wants to make the outward display of holding
hands. After all, it makes him "happy inside," and there is nothing
wrong with that.
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July 1, 1963, was the date scheduled for The Beatles to record
their fourth single. They entered EMI
Studio Two for the afternoon session, 2:30 to 5:30 pm, to record what they
decided would be the A-side of this single, the newly written "She Loves
You." Having completed the song in
these three hours, the evening session, 7 to 10 pm, would be devoted entirely
to the B-side of the single, which was entitled "Get You In The End"
at this early stage.
The number of takes needed for The Beatles to complete the song is
not known, although engineer Geoff Emerick remembers "it took quite a bit
of time to record, and the session ran a little overtime." Examining the finished product reveals that
they recorded the song live with all instruments and vocals performed
simultaneously. The only exception would
be John's harmonica, which is heard almost throughout the whole song, even
while John was singing. Since this task
proves impossible, the overdubbed harmonica certainly took place afterward.
One thing superficial on the finished recording is the vocal
mistakes they made, which are especially noticeable in the song's bridge. Given the band's extremely busy touring
schedule, as well as the fact that they had just finished pouring their hearts
out on "She Loves You" moments before (not to mention having to escape
many hysterical, screaming girls that broke into the studio earlier in the
day), everyone involved probably just 'made do' with the frazzled
performance. Geoff Emerick concludes
that George Martin had just "let it go, on the theory that most listeners
wouldn't hear it. That plus the studio
clock always ticking away time cost money." Although these mistakes are much more
noticeable on CD than on the old records, they still add an interesting
"character" to the song.
Three days later, July 4th, 1963, saw the mono mix of the song,
which was performed in EMI Studio Two by George Martin and Geoff Emerick. The title was still "Get You In The
End," even at this point, so sometime between July 4th and when the single
arrived in Britain shops on August 23rd they had decided to rename the song
"I'll Get You."
Since the song’s only intended purpose points toward a single
release, no stereo mix ever occurred. It
did appear in the US as well as other countries on albums, but duophonic (fake
stereo) versions helped create a simulate stereo (bass on one channel, treble
on the other).
The Beatles did record "I'll Get You" once more, this as
an impromptu performance on January 23rd, 1969 at Apple Studios during sessions
for what became the "Let It Be" album. This, of course, never saw the light of day.
Song Structure and Style
Strictly speaking, "I'll Get You" follows a 'verse/
verse/ bridge/ verse' pattern (or aaba), not unlike earlier Lennon/McCartney
collaborations such as "Please Please Me" and "Do You Want To
Know A Secret." This is not to say
there aren't a few surprises along the way, which is evidence of the growth of
their songwriting and an indication of many more structural surprises in the
coming years.
First off, we see a four-measure introduction that also appears as
the conclusion of the song. There is
also a reoccurrence of this introduction in a two-measure form at the end of
the first and second verses. This
introduction comprises the use of the purposely included 'Americanism' "oh
yeah," no doubt in imitation of their hero Elvis Presley's 1962 hit "Good
Luck Charm."
We then proceed into the first verse, which totals a whopping
sixteen measures. These measures divide
into four distinct sections. The main
section consists of the first eight measures, which fulfill the usual role of
setting the stage for the song lyrically.
The second section of the verse is two measures long, which include the
purpose of exhibiting McCartney's "All My Trials" chord change and
melody line. This section momentarily
interrupts the flow and acts as a small bridge, per se, into the refrain
section of the verse, which is a predictable four measures long and repeats the
lyrical hook of the song, similar to "Please Please Me." The final two measures of the verse hit us
with the "oh yeah" introduction, but in a shortened form.
After a second verse is heard, which is structurally identical to
first except for different lyrics, we go into a straightforward eight-measure
bridge, which segues nicely back into a repeat of the first verse. This repeated verse is extended three more
measures so as to reprise the full four measure introduction, adding a final
"oh yeah" to conclude the song.
There is no solo or instrumental section to the song, so the structure
stays compact within the aaba format.
Lennon appears to take command throughout, singing lead vocals and
playing harmonica for the entire song (except for the bridge). His harmonica work plays more than a rhythmic
role in the song since no riff or solo makes way (such as in "Love Me
Do" or "Little Child").
Both his and Harrison's guitar work are strictly rhythms, emphasizing
the swing style heard in "Misery."
Because only a mono version of the song exists, it is barely discernable
that there are even two guitars in the song at all. Ringo's role appears to be nothing more than
a metronome, except for the small fill that introduces the first verse and an
open hi-hat in the 11th measure of each verse.
McCartney's harmonies are brilliantly arranged (possibly with
George Martin's assistance) to appear sporadically throughout the verses and
continually in the bridge. Otherwise,
Paul sings in unison during the verses, making it almost sound as if John's
vocals were double-tracked. In fact,
opinions vary as to which melody line, John's or Paul's, is actually the lead
melody line. Since either could be true,
both are credited here as "lead vocalist" on this song.
A clever melody line in the bridge shows the nuances that were
beginning to creep into the Lennon/McCartney arsenal even at this early
date. A descending three-note pattern
dominates as the lead melody line, which is then repeated three times over
three different chords. McCartney and
Harrison alter their background vocals strategically during these lines to
create an irresistible interplay of Beatles voices.
As for the vocal flub during the bridge, one of the vocalists
sings "I'm gonna make you mine" instead of the correct lyric, which
is "change your mind." George
Martin may have thought that no one would notice, but that wasn't the
case. A British fan, Margaret from Bristol,
went as far as writing EMI to point out the error, asking them to "put
this in order." The studio
responded with a letter of apology, dated September 2nd, 1963.
The lyrics appear to be more than just a self-pep talk, but an
assurance that the singer will acquire what he wills. The positive major key paired with the
confident display of bravado suggests playful desire, not a threat. The singers' 'imagining' and 'pretending'
will, without doubt, bring her to him, even though she doesn't feel the same as
he does at present. "There's gonna
be a time when I'm gonna change your mind," Lennon predicts. She may as well give up now ("resign
herself") because it's definitely going to happen. She apparently has no say in the matter. Call it fate or the 'law of attraction';
either way, it's a done deal.
While many authors have noted a similarity between the first line
in "I'll Get You" ("Imagine I'm in love with you, it's easy
'cause I know") and the first line of his 1971 classic "Imagine"
("Imagine there's no heaven, it's easy if you try"), coincidence may
actually be at play here. One thing that
can be said is that his style of writing, as well as his train of thought, was
striking a pattern even from these early beginnings.
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"We wrote that two days before we recorded it,
actually." This quote from John
Lennon in 1963 about the song "She Loves You" may be an exaggeration,
but only slightly so. Four days after
the two completed the tune at Paul's Forthlin Road home on June 27th, they
premiered the song to George Martin and the recording staff at EMI studio two,
July 1, 1963.
Engineer Norman Smith remembers his first impression of the
song. "I was setting up the
microphone when I saw the lyrics on the music stand. I thought I'll just have a quick look. 'She
loves you yeah yeah yeah, she loves you yeah yeah yeah, she loves you yeah yeah
yeah yeah.' I thought 'Oh my God, what a
lyric! This is going to be one that I do
not like.' But when they started to sing
it - bang, wow, terrific. I was up at
the mixer jobbing around."
George Martin recalls being impressed as well, but with one
particular concern. "I was sitting
in my usual place on a high stool in studio two when John and Paul first ran
through the song on their acoustic guitars, George joining in on the choruses. I thought it was great but was intrigued by
the final chord, an odd sort of major sixth, with George doing the sixth and
John and Paul the third and fifths, like a Glenn Miller arrangement. They were saying 'It's a great chord! Nobody's ever heard it before!' Of course, I knew that wasn't quite
true."
Paul adds a little more detail to this interchange with George
Martin on this day. "We rehearsed
the end bit of 'She Loves You' and took it to George (Martin). And he just laughed and said, 'Well you can't
do the end, of course...that sixth...it's too like The Andrew Sisters.' We just said, 'Alright, we'll try it without'
and we tried it, and it wasn't as good.
Then he conceded, 'You're right, I guess.'...We loved that bit, and we
rehearsed it a lot."
Regarding George Martin's suggestions, McCartney continues,
"He would often give us parameters, like, 'You mustn't double a 3rd,' or,
'It's corny to end with a 6th, and a 7th is even cornier.' We'd say, 'We like it, man, it's bluesy.' It was good that we could override a lot of
his so-called professional decisions with our innocence. If anyone now asks, 'What is the sign of a
great songwriter?' I say, 'If the songs sound good.' So we never listened to any rules."
Young Geoff Emerick, a teenager at the time, was privileged to be
secured as second engineer for this session.
He describes his first impression of "She Loves You" as
"a fantastic song, with a powerhouse beat and a relentless hook. Norman (Smith) and I immediately agreed that
it was destined to be a hit, for sure.
But there was also a level of intensity in the performance that I had
not heard before."
Emerick concludes that this "level of intensity" was
brought on by the first duty of business on this day. This entailed removing dozens of hysterical
teenage fans who had stormed the doors of EMI studios to get at The
Beatles. Before the recording session
began at 2:30 pm, The Beatles met in the alleyway outside the studios for a
photo shoot. The usual group of Beatle
fans could climb on top of the walls around the studio perimeter to see that
they were there, which led them to alert more friends and increase in number.
Once The Beatles were inside for their recording session, the
'barbarians stormed the walls,' as Lennon joked, one of them even managing to
get inside Studio Two, where The Beatles were.
After being tackled by roadie Mal Evans and escorted out, he discovered
that fans were swarming all through the building. Police were enlisted to handle the matter, but
the flattery and the adrenaline rush, no doubt, spurred The Beatles on to the
performance of their life
Before the session began, Norman Smith tried a couple of new
things to get a better sound. "This
old dog still has a few tricks up his sleeve, mate," he told Geoff Emerick
that day. One thing that he did was use
a compressor to reduce the dynamic range of the drums and bass guitar
independently, instead of together as was the usual practice. Next, he suspended an overhead microphone
over the drums to acquire a "more prominent, driving rhythm sound,"
as Emerick explained it. Together, these
two elements created a sound unlike all of their earlier recordings, but which
continued throughout the rest of their recording career.
"She Loves You" was recorded during the afternoon
session that day, which ran from 2:30 to 5:30 pm. Both Ringo and George Harrison, while barely
acquainted with this newly written song, were no doubt pumped up about this
session since they both had just acquired brand new instruments; Ringo's first
Ludwig drum kit and George's Chet Atkins-style Gretsch "Country
Gentleman." George experimented
with a recently acquired Gibson Maestro Fuzz-Tone pedal for this recording but
later removed from the final take. John
used his Gibson J160E acoustic/electric guitar plugged into his Vox amplifier
which resulted in quite an electric sound for an acoustic based guitar. The number of takes needed to complete the
song, as well as if any performed overdubs remain unknown because the recording
details no longer exist. We do know that
three reels of tape were filled on this day, which comprises the recording of
"She Loves You" and its B-side "I'll Get You."
Another thing that isn't known is how drastically the arrangement
of the song changed as they recorded it.
It was the habit of The Beatles to come up with new ideas while
recording the song or to take suggestions from George Martin for improving the
arrangement, even altering the structure of a song for greater effect. Johnny Dean, editor of The Beatles Book,
happened to be there on that day and he remembers the song being altered
dramatically as the session went on.
Starting the song out with an altered version on the refrain was a
suggestion of George Martin, which was an alteration that was done for other
Beatles songs as well, such as "P.S. I Love You" and even "Strawberry
Fields Forever."
Some have speculated that many of George Harrison's guitar fills
were either overdubbed or even recorded on a separate tape and remixed in the
editing stage. An edit made just before
the third verse shows the rhythm track momentarily drop out during George's
guitar flourish, which doesn't drop out.
Either way, it appears that at least this guitar fill was recorded after
the rest of the song was recorded.
Geoff Emerick suggests that the vocals were also overdubbed after
they recorded the rhythm track, although this was not standard practice for The
Beatles until much later. Their usual
pattern, which continued through the next couple of albums, was to record the
rhythm track with all instruments and vocals as if performing live, and then
overdubbing extra elements afterward, such as handclaps, added harmonies,
double-tracked vocals, etc. But since
Emerick was present and involved in the recording process on this day, we'll
assume that he's correct. After all,
documentation regarding this song is now lost, as are the actual master tapes.
"During the playback of the final recording up in the control
room," Emerick continues, "all four Beatles were beaming, and Norman
Smith was more hyped up and excited than I'd ever seen him before. He was actually dancing around the console in
glee. From a chair in the back of the
room, George Martin looked on in pride.
'Nice job lads,' was all he said to us, but you could tell he was
elated."
Three days later, on July 4, 1963, it took a three-hour session
(10 am to 1 pm) to perform the editing work and the mono mix of the song. "I'll Get You" was also mixed on
this day but, since no editing work was necessary for this song, most of these
three hours were devoted to "She Loves You." Since all documentation is now lost, there is
no way of knowing which takes were edited together on this day.
The trouble spot of the song seemed to be in the area of the third
verse. As stated earlier, an edit
occurred just before this verse starts during a small guitar flourish from
George. The second half of the verse,
encompassing the lyrics "pride can hurt you too, apologize to her,"
apparently needed polish from a different take of the song, so this was edited
into the final mix. The obvious
difference is noticeable by the intensified treble in Ringo's open hi-hats
during this segment of the verse.
On April 19th, 1964, The Beatles entered IBC Studios in London to
record a five-song medley onto three-track tape for them to mime to on an
upcoming British TV Special entitled "Around The Beatles." This medley included segments of all five
British Beatles singles to date, "She Loves You" being the
fourth. Terry Johnson was balance
engineer on the session while Glyn Johns (future producer for the "Let It
Be" project) was second engineer and tape operator.
The next time "She Loves You" was heard at EMI studios
was on June 3, 1964, but this was for rehearsal purposes only. With Ringo having tonsillitis and
pharyngitis, Jimmy Nicol was recruited to replace him on their first world tour
which started the next day. After
rehearsing six songs, Nicol passed the audition and off they went to
Copenhagen.
While on this tour, they performed at the Hollywood Bowl in Los
Angeles, California on August 23, 1964.
This is noteworthy because the performance was recorded for a possible
live album to be released in the US by Capitol Records in 1964. While this didn't happen at that time, this
performance did eventually get released on "The Beatles At The Hollywood
Bowl" on May 4, 1977. The session
was originally produced by Capitol vice president Voyle Gilmore and George
Martin plus engineered by Hugh Davies.
On August 27th, a rough stereo remix of the song was performed by
Gilmore and Davies with added equalization, reverb, and limiting.
Since The Beatles did not have an album to release for Christmas
of 1966 (as was their custom for that time of year), EMI prepared a compilation
package which became "A Collection Of Beatles Oldies." Since stereo mixes bypassed the effort of many
of their earlier singles, it was the job of EMI staff to create them. While most of these songs posed no particular
problem, "She Loves You" was the exception. Since the original two-track tapes went
missing, all that survived was the mono master tape. George Martin (lovingly) gave the duty of
creating a pseudo-stereo mix of the song to engineer Geoff Emerick.
Emerick entered room 53 at Abbey Road on November 8, 1966, and
spent an hour and a half (4 to 5:30 pm) constructing two mixes of the
song. The first one was made by cutting
all the high frequencies from the left channel and cutting all the low
frequencies from the right channel. This
is the one that made it onto the album, which the record label released only in
Britain on December 9, 1966. The second
mix had Emerick shift the track from channel to channel during different
portions of the song, which got rejected.
Although the recording history of "She Loves You" ends
at this point, it is a noteworthy mention that its legacy lived on later in The
Beatles recording career. The song was
vocally reprised during the recording of "All You Need Is Love" on
June 25, 1967, as well as the "yeah, yeah yeah" lyrics heard in
"Polythene Pam," vocals recorded on July 28th and 30th, 1969.
Song Structure and Style
For the first time in a Lennon/McCartney composition, we see the
use of a refrain. Their usual 'verse/
verse/ bridge/ verse' formula (or aaba), so common in their early rock and roll
roots, were expanded upon starting with this song. They continued the use of the refrain shortly
thereafter with songs like "All My Loving" and then with
"Eleanor Rigby," although they remained loyal to the aaba format
throughout most of their career.
"She Loves You," however, comprises a 'verse/ verse/
refrain/ verse/ refrain' formula (or aabab).
An intro and outro section also appear in the song, but bypasses any
need for an instrumental, or solo section.
To introduce the eight-measure intro section, we hear a quick,
disjointed drum fill from Ringo, which creates the feeling that we're entering
into a song already in progress. This
effect seems partially created because the intro sounds quite similar in
structure to the refrain we'll hear a little later, where Ringo always performs
a similar drum fill.
The intro then proceeds with the whole band performing full
throttle, three-part harmonies and all, repeating three times the lyrical
hook-line of the song, "she loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah." Whenever the refrain pattern occurs, which
include the intro and outro sections because of their close similarities, Ringo
avoids the use of cymbals. Therefore,
the drums are very tom-heavy until the final two measures, which is where we
first hear the extra "yeah" with Harrison's added 6th note. Also noteworthy in the intro is the
syncopated drum accents at the ends of the second, fourth and sixth
measures. These accents are not unlike
those heard in "Ticket To Ride" nearly two years later. Since McCartney suggested these accents for
the latter song, many conclude that he must have suggested them here as well.
With Ringo's open hi-hat at full volume, we enter into the first
sixteen measure verse. Lennon and
McCartney go out of their way to avoid using the same tired chord patterns so
prominent in early rock and roll, so we see here the beginnings of the
expansive imagination these songwriters were to continue to develop. John and Paul switch back and forth between
singing in unison and harmony throughout the verse, while the chords change
every measure for the first half of the verse and every two measures for the
second half. The full octave range of
the songs' melody line is displayed in the verses, the high end heard
climactically with the title phrase "she loves you" in the ninth
measure.
The phrase "yeah yeah yeah" is really emphasized
throughout the song, even when they don't sing it. Notice George Harrison playing the "yeah
yeah yeah" progression in each verse after the words "can't be
bad." Also of interest is the
accent the band hits in each verse after they state the title of the song in
the ninth measure. This accent always
occurs on the off-beat between the two and three count, which gives us a
stumbling feeling. The obvious purpose
of this trick is to drive home the title of the song in our minds. Curiously they never do it when they repeat
the title in the fifteenth measure of the verse, proving the old adage that
"less is better."
The second verse occurs after a small guitar line from George
which contains some impressive minor touches.
This second verse mimics the first in structure, except for the Isley
Brothers' "Wooh" in the final measure, which was the built-in
opportunity for shaking heads during their performance of the song and,
therefore, screaming girls.
We then progress into the first eight measure refrain, which
welcomes George into the fold vocally, as well as Ringo's return to tom-heavy
percussion for the first half. We also
see a strategic '1-2-3' accent occurring on the words "love like
that" followed by the customary 'Beatles break' before the band continues
in full swing for the final three measures.
After a structural repeat of the verse, we dive into another
refrain, which has all the same dynamic tricks that we heard the first
time. A new trick is then introduced for
the first time in The Beatles canon, this being the driving home of the '1-2-3'
accent and the 'Beatles break' three times in a row. And, to top it all off, the music suddenly
comes to a grinding halt to showcase the three-part harmony of the line
"you know you should..." leaving us breathlessly awaiting the
resolve. When it finally comes with the
lyrics "...be glad", which is triumphantly at the top of the octave
again, we delve straight into the eight-measure outro. Ringo flails away on his toms again as George
plays the first "yeah yeah yeah" instrumentally, only to be followed
by the three-part harmony of the final two "yeah yeah yeah"s. The final occurrence of the 6th note chord
ends the song and resonates well after the actual instruments die out. This arrangement can only be described as a
classic pop masterpiece!
Lyrically, the singer appears to be confiding in a friend about
some inside information he received from this friend's former girl. His friend "thinks" he doesn't have
her as a girlfriend anymore, but the singer had a conversation with her, and
she instructed him "what to say" to her former boyfriend. After informing him that she still loves him,
the singer can't help but add his own encouragement, such as "you should
be glad." The friend probably
cheated on the girl, as is revealed by the "hurt" she felt that made
her 'almost lose her mind.' She now has
regained trust and wants him to know how she feels.
Many have suggested that there is a tone of competition in the
lyrics, especially with lines like "it's up to you / I think it's only
fair," insinuating that if he doesn't want her, the singer will pursue
her. While this isn't clearly stated,
the overall theme is sincere. After all,
the singer is encouraging him to "apologize to her."
Lennon's stellar performance definitely scores to the fore, with
his prominent vocals and full rhythm guitar work. McCartney is next, commended for his
pitch-perfect vocals and his altering bass lines, which are not unlike his
contribution many years later in "All Together Now."
Ringo's insistent attention to details, from his accents to his
structural consistencies, shows him at the top of his game, as well as his
dependability to do what it takes to get it right, even without much time to
rehearse as in this case. Harrison also
comes through with flying colors, with his classy minor guitar fills and accent
runs throughout the song, as well as his harmonic 6th note that adds the
perfect nuance to the final moments of the song.
Please feel free to leave any comments or corrections and share
these articles plus this blog's website with your friends, especially Beatles’
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full details.
With the George Martin/Brian Epstein plan to release a new Beatles
single every three months, their Manager ushered his band into the studio on
March 5th, 1963, which was their only free day in weeks, to quickly record
their next single. “Please Please Me” was still doing great on the British
charts and their first album wasn’t even released yet, but the ‘powers that be’
were making sure that The Beatles’ name would continue to be on the minds of
British fans.
Two recording sessions in Studio Two at EMI occurred on this day,
the first (from 2:30 to 5:30 pm) utilized for recording both sides of their
next single. After “From Me To You” was started and fully completed, “Thank You
Girl” began at approximately 4 pm. Six full band takes of the song were
recorded with the group playing their usual instruments as well as performing
all of the vocals. No harmonica parts appeared on this day. The sixth take was
considered the best.
The closing of the song needed some help, so the group, probably
at the suggestion of George Martin, performed seven attempts of an edit piece
to close the song. The edited piece consisted of the Buddy Holly-like “oh, oh”
opening segment of the verses with a Sandy Nelson-like drum solo by Ringo.
After this repeats twice, the “oh, oh” segment appears a third time followed by
an energetic accentuated ending. Since Ringo has gone on record as stating that
he despises drum solos, he relented and impressively performed the two solo
sections. This is not to say that it came easily for him; hence the seven
attempts to nail this edit piece. John can be heard on the session tapes
between these takes saying that Ringo wasn’t “on the beat.” Nonetheless, they
eventually got it right, the seventh attempt, or take 13, being the best. A
decision was also made to increase the reverb on this ending section of the
song, so a noticeable fullness permeates the last measures of the song.
The song appears to have had the working title “Thank You Little
Girl” at this stage, although the word “little” only appears once in the song
during the second verse. Since the documentation, which leads many to believe
this was the working title, usually consisted of an engineers’ handwritten
scribbles on a recording sheet at the time of the recording date, doubt can
easily surface as to this title being actually considered by the group. Since
the phrase “thank you girl” is repeated nine times in the lyrics without ever
including the word “little,” it appears unlikely that they wanted this to be
the title of the song. It might easily account that the engineer wrote it down
incorrectly on the recording sheet.
The noteworthy harmonica parts on the song were actually recorded
over a week later, on March 13th. John Lennon was the only Beatle to be in
Studio Two on this day since he was the only one needed to perform this
overdub. He could barely perform this overdub the way it was because he was
suffering from a bad cold, which had him “croaking and wheezing, blowing his
nose every few seconds” according to engineer Geoff Emerick. Lennon’s cold was
so bad that he missed The Beatles performance the night before in Bedford
during their second national tour with Chris Montez and Tommy Roe. The
three-man Beatles had to rearrange the vocals of songs such as “Please Please
Me” to cover up for John’s absence.
Nonetheless, John was game to record the harmonica parts necessary
to complete the song. Only one problem remained, and that was that he forgot to
bring his harmonica. Geoff Emerick remembered that his friend Malcolm Davies,
who was employed by EMI and was currently in the mastering room, played harmonica
and probably had it with him. John went up to the mastering room to borrow it,
and the session was on its way.
There were six segments of harmonica needed to fill out the song,
but it took 15 takes to get them all recorded. This wasn’t because John was
incapable, but only because of his “sneezing and snuffling.” After his work
ended, John went back up to the mastering room to return the harmonica to
Malcolm, not thanking him, instead complaining that it “tasted like a sack of
potatoes.”
This session started at 10:00 am with John’s overdubs completed
probably around 11:00. Afterwards, George Martin and engineers Norman Smith and
Geoff Emerick stuck around until 1:00 pm to edit in the harmonica overdubs onto
the previously edited song, as well as to construct both mono and stereo mixes
of the song. Since usually only mono mixes were required for songs issued as
singles, they may not have been sure at this stage if the song would list on an
album, which did require a stereo mix. Britain didn’t get an album release for
the song in the ’60s, so the stereo mix was not released there at the time.
America did get treated to this stereo mix on “The Beatles’ Second Album.”
When the stereo mix took place on this day, it included three
harmonica segments unworthy to include on the mono mix. ‘Tender Loving Care’
usually went into the mono mixes since this was what most record buyers bought
and radio stations played. For some reason, they took the extra work of
including these other three harmonica segments, two of which occur in the
bridge and one at the conclusion of the song. Another difference is with the
fifth harmonica segment, which on the stereo mix begins before the one-beat of
the measure, strategically covering up the edit previously made between the
first and second sections of the song. This edit may have been more noticeable
in stereo, so they picked a different take of that harmonica segment to cover
it up.
This is the version millions of American record buyers were
familiar with on “The Beatles’ Second Album.” Since Capitol constructed “mono
Type B” versions of Beatles songs taken from the stereo masters received from
George Martin, a method which combined both the left and right channels of the
stereo mix to create a new mono mix, both the mono and stereo versions of this
American album contained these harmonica segments. Capitol was also in the
habit of adding reverb to Beatles songs to give them more fullness, and this is
what they did to “Thank You Girl.” Since a fair amount of reverb was already
present in the closing measures of the song, the ending became extremely full
sounding. Although the song previously appeared on the flip side of both “From
Me To You” and “Do You Want To Know A Secret” on the American Vee-Jay label
with the original mono mix, most American Beatles fans were unacquainted with
the original mono version without those harmonica segments and added reverb
until the “Past Masters, Volume One” CD came out in 1988.
One noticeable difference between the actual session tapes and all
of the released versions of the song is the tempo. The song was sped up
slightly probably during the mastering process since EMI did not have the
“vari-speed” capabilities in 1963 that were utilized later in The Beatles
recording career.
Song Structure and Style
At first glance, “Thank You Girl” appears to have the same 'verse/
verse/ bridge/ verse' structure that most of the early Beatles catalog used. At
closer examination, though, we see more intricate detail which makes this song
unique. This detail encompasses the identification of two elements which are
both repeated within the songs’ structure and therefore viewed as separate
entities.
The first element we’ll analyze is the introductory four measures.
Since this introduction is actually heard three times in the song, it cannot be
dismissed as a ‘one-time thing’ or disregarded within the song’s structure.
Also, since the introduction is sometimes heard introducing the verse, this is
not always the case, so not identified as part of the verse. Therefore, this
four-bar introduction needs to be viewed as a distinct element of the song.
We’ll refer to this element as the “introduction.”
The second element under analysis is the four measures that
encompass the key phrase, “and all I gotta do is thank you girl, thank you,
girl.” While it may suggest that this is part of the verse, the bridge also
ends with this same four measures, signifying that this also should be viewed
as a distinct element of the song. Since identifying this element as a “chorus”
is uncharacteristic due to its position within the structure of the song as
well as the brevity of four measures, we’ll refer to this element as the
“refrain.”
All this having been said, the structure of the song turns out to
appear as follows: “introduction/ verse/ refrain/ verse/ refrain/ bridge/
refrain/ introduction/ verse/ refrain/ introduction.” (A shortened or
abbreviated form would be abcbcdcabca, which of course doesn’t look very
abbreviated.) No other Beatles song, nor any other song in the annals of
recorded music (I would think), has this structure, which makes “Thank You
Girl” very unique indeed.
To complicate matters, even more, the four-measure introduction is
actually broken down into two distinct sections, two measures each. The first
two measures feature Lennon’s harmonica flourish and Ringo’s tom-tom heavy
drumbeat. The second two measures feature the appearance of the Buddy
Holly-like “oh, oh, mmm” harmony vocals. This leads directly into the first
eight-measure verse, which features unison singing from John and Paul in the
first four measures and higher register harmony singing from Paul in the last
four measures. We then hear the distinct four-measure refrain for the first
time which hits home the title of the song. Unison vocals return for the
refrain except for the strategic word “do” which shows Paul jump to a high
register harmony note, which has already become somewhat of a trademark for
Beatles songs as of mid-1963.
The verse/refrain pattern then continues, which is performed
identically except for a different set of lyrics in this second verse. We now
see the bridge appear for its only time in the song, which is eight measures
long. The descending quarter note melody line of the bridge appears to be a
repeat of the same idea used in the verses of their previous British hit
“Please Please Me.” The vocals flow in unison throughout except for the repeat
of the words “way that you do” in the fourth measure. A natural inclination
points also to repeat the phrase “good to be true” in the eighth measure, but
this was left blank in order to add that melodic phrase with harmonica at the
later recording session. George Martin apparently decided this wasn’t needed
for the predominant mono mix, so it was left off during that mixing
session.
After we hear another identical refrain and a repeat of the
introduction, we enter into the third verse, which is actually a repeat of the
first verse performed identically. After the final refrain plays through, we go
back to the introduction, which actually appears as an extended version that
encompasses a whopping fourteen measures. After the first two harmonica
measures, the Buddy Holly-like harmony vocals reappear, but this time repeating
“oh” three times instead of two. Ringo then treats us to a two-measure “drum
solo” accompanied by the rest of the group vamping along. This pattern is
repeated, giving us a somewhat different “drum solo” from Ringo. The pattern
appears to repeat for a third time, but after two “oh”s, the group goes in for
the dramatic finish ending on the fourteenth measure. Lennon’s harmonica
flourish adds a nice touch, but not nice enough for George Martin to include in
the finished mono mix.
Lyrically the song can be viewed as pedestrian and with its’ share
of clichés, such as “eternally I’ll always be in love with you” and a “love
that is too good to be true.” Since the words were quickly written to thank
their female fans for their support up to that point, the lyrics suit their
purpose perfectly. Also, the words were slanted to sound like it was a love
song between two people so it could be universally accepted. The
irresistibility of the song rests on the displayed arrangement and unique
songwriting talents, not to mention the harmonies.
Lennon is to the fore on this track, harmonica in hand as well as
lead vocalist. Although the harmonica parts were overdubbed only in places
where John wasn’t singing, it technically could have been performed live in this
fashion. Since John apparently didn’t use a harmonica brace on stage until late
1964 when performing songs such as “I’m A Loser,” “Thank You Girl” was never
performed live with a harmonica since his hands were busy playing rhythm
guitar. The song was retired from their live repertoire well before that
time.
McCartney performs his usual excellent job as lead vocalist on the
track, popping into harmony in strategic places throughout the song. His bass
work is rudimentary on the song, which indicated that not much time had been
spent working out one of his usual impressive bass parts. He later redeems
himself as expressive bass runs begin to surface during live performances of
the song such as noted on the version appearing on the “Live At The BBC” album.
Ringo plays pretty straightforward throughout the song, riding on
hi-hats and accenting the tom-toms on whenever the introduction is heard. That
is to say until the two “drum solos” appear at the end of the song. The only
other occurrences of anything close to a drum solo on a Beatles record would be
on “Long Tall Sally,” “Strawberry Fields Forever,” “A Day In The Life,”
“Birthday” and of course “The End” from the “Abbey Road” album.
Since no required guitar solo brought support for the song, George
Harrison takes somewhat of a backseat, playing rhythm guitar along with John
throughout. Very simple yet proficient chords do play throughout the song
except whenever the introduction of the song takes place. Harrison then slips
into a thumping rocking style which adds the right degree of excitement to the
song, especially when performed on stage.
Please feel free to leave any comments or corrections and share
these articles plus this blog's website with your friends, especially Beatles’
fans. You and they might also enjoy knowing more about my Love Songs CD and my
novel, BEATLEMANIAC. Just click on the “My Shop” tab near the top of this page
for full details.
On March 5, 1963, five days after John & Paul composed this
song, The Beatles went into EMI Studio Two, where a three-hour afternoon
session, from 2:30 to 5:30 pm, was scheduled to record both sides of their new
single.
Before the session commenced, they went to the EMI canteen to enjoy
some tea with George Martin (and have some pictures taken). Then they went into the studio to introduce
“From Me To You” to George Martin for the first time. “I used to sit on my high stool in the
studio, and the boys would play me what they had brought in to record,” George
Martin explains. “I’d listen to the
basic idea of the song, perhaps on an acoustic guitar, and I’d help to decide
on the structure of the introduction, where the solo should go, the ending and
the final length of the song – never longer than 2:45 otherwise we wouldn’t get
it on the radio!”
They then commenced recording the song live (vocals, instruments
and all) but without the unison vocals and harmonica introduction as we’re used
to hearing it. Take one shows how the
lead guitar work of George Harrison is the stand out instrument in the
introduction – in fact, he even partially reprises the intro at the end of the
first verse. The song is somewhat slower
on this first take, another oddity being that either John or Paul sings “so
call on me” instead of “just call on me” in the second verse. Suddenly, however, toward the end of the
third verse, somebody whistled which was interpreted by the band as an
indication from George Martin to call the song to a halt. Paul then asked, “What happened,” which
brought the reply from George Martin, “What do you mean ‘what happened’?” “I just thought I heard you talking,
actually,” Paul fires back. Both John
and Paul exclaim that they heard someone whistle, but nobody appears to have
‘fessed up’ to who the whistler was so they got ready to begin the second take.
Take two made it all the way through to the end of the song,
however, the big difference here is that they had yet to include an
instrumental section to the song.
Therefore, the third verse segues immediately into the second
bridge. We see that the vocalists still
haven’t sorted out whether to sing “so” or “just” in the second verse. There also seems to be some awkwardness to
Ringo’s drumming at the conclusion of the song, which prompts Paul to exclaim,
“ah, ah, ah, you missed the ending.”
Obviously more things needed to be ironed out.
Take three begins with John suggesting, “Let’s speed it up a
little bit,” and then with a countdown, they achieved another full take. George chooses a couple of lower notes to
play in between the first two verses this time around, since the instrumental
section is still not in place and they are still mixing up the “so” and “just”
word in the second verse. Ringo is
getting closer to conquer his accents correctly played in the conclusion, but
he’s still not quite there yet.
Thinking that they had already nailed it, John begins take four
with the statement, “Well, we can’t get it much closer.” But, in fact, they do get it a little closer
this time around, although they still haven’t included the instrumental section
as of yet. Ringo now gets his accents
down perfectly in the conclusion, but John performs his final guitar strum
slightly late, which probably deemed this take worthy of improvement.
A suggestion is now made by George Martin to include an
instrumental break in the song but, before take five begins, John reiterates to
George Harrison about how it should sound.
“Do the first bit but not the second bit, he said,” he tells
George. When this blank solo section
occurs, John and Paul sing a quick “from me” and then “to you” before finishing
up the verse with vocals. Paul, however,
at first forgets to add harmony to the second bridge which, once again, renders
this complete take unusable.
For some reason, take six didn’t get past the second measure of
the song, but the complete take seven ended up being the keeper. A decision was made to abandon the brief lead
guitar riff in between the first two verses and they ended up settling with the
word “just” in the second verse. They
also labored the vocal line “from me” in the instrumental section as we’ve come
to know it.
Another suggestion from George Martin on this day was to include
harmonica in the introduction, instrumental section, and conclusion of the song
instead of just the guitar riff as they originally intended. So after take seven was deemed the best take,
takes eight through ten brought in the harmonica sections of the song as well
as a low guitar passage in the instrumental section to accentuate the
harmonica, undoubtedly played by George Harrison.
George Martin also wanted John and Paul to sing unison “da, da,
da, da, da, dun, dun, dah” vocals in the introduction as well. This took place as an edit piece, take eleven
not making the grade, but take twelve succeeding. The song was then complete at approximately 4
pm, with work then starting on what became the b-side of the single, namely
“Thank You Girl.” They did have an
evening session on this day, which was used to record another Lennon/McCartney
composition “The One After 909.” After
they worked quite extensively on the song and even contemplated working on
another composition called “What Goes On,” they left this recording for the
vaults, only to be officially revealed on the “Anthology 1” album. Funnily enough, both of these songs did get
recorded and released during their recording career.
March 14, 1963, was scheduled to put together the mix necessary
for “From Me To You.” Editing work
needed to be done to put together a complete version of the song. Listening to the released mono and stereo
versions of the song reveal much as to how this editing took place. The introduction to the mono version includes
the harmonica riff, while the stereo version doesn’t. Also, the mono version includes a slightly
strange effect in the fourth measure, which is where the drum fill introduces
the first verse. This effect is due to
the synchronization of two different tape sources playing at the same time. Two tape machines playing the same song will
vary because they don’t run at the same speed.
If one tape machine is moving slightly faster than the other, when the
tape passes the slower moving machine, this synchronization sound appears. Therefore, George Martin must have synced-up
two different tape machines to add the harmonica introduction to the mono
version of the song.
After this synchronization and/or other editing was completed
(from unknown take numbers), an actual mono mix was made, which is the mono
version of the song we are all familiar with on vinyl. Interestingly, a stereo mix made an attempt
from this synchronization edit job, but it apparently never saw the light of
day. This was done probably because of
the possibility adding the song on an album, for which a stereo mix needed the
process. It was not accomplished in time
to be included on their first album “Please Please Me,” released eight days
later. Since their previous two singles
did appear on that first album, George Martin probably thought this song would
appear on their next album, which ultimately became “With The Beatles.” Since this did not happen, the stereo mix
made on this day appears to have been either locked away in the vaults or
eventually discarded.
Because the Beatles did not have a new album to release for the
Christmas season in 1966, EMI decided to put together a ‘greatest hits’ package
entitled “A Collection Of Beatles Oldies.”
“From Me To You” would surely need to be included on such an album, so a
stereo mix of the song was needed. The
stereo mix made on March 14, 1963, could not be located and was thought to be
scrapped, so they just decided to take the original two-track master tape and
make that the stereo mix of the song – instruments on the left channel and
vocals on the right. The only exception
to this rule is the unison vocal introduction, and harmonica parts heard in the
solo and conclusion of the song they overdubbed on both channels and appear in
the center of the mix. Since the
introductory harmonica passage was synchronized in from another tape machine
directly for the mono mix, it was not on the original two-track master
tape. Therefore, the harmonica does not
appear on the stereo mix of the song.
On January 7, 1969, the Beatles briefly returned to the song while
rehearsing material for their “Get Back/Let It Be” project at Twickenham film
studios. While this does qualify for
being part of the “recording sessions” for “From Me To You,” it wasn’t a
serious recording attempt and it, appropriately, has never been released.
Song Structure and Style
As was standard for the Lennon/McCartney songwriting team up to
this point, the structure consists of a verse/ verse/ bridge/ verse format (or
aaba). To this we add an introduction,
then a solo/verse section, a repeat of the bridge and final verse, and then a
conclusion with full ending.
We start out with a four-measure introduction, which is identical
in melody line to the first two measures of the verse but repeated twice. This introduction features unison vocals from
John and Paul and a distinctive harmonica riff (if you're listening to the mono
version, that is), ending with a drum fill from Ringo in the final measure.
The first verse, as well as the entire song, is sung by both
Lennon and McCartney with occasional bursts of harmony from Paul. The first four measures of the eight-measure
verse differ between the verses lyrically, while the final four measures are
identical in all verses, highlighting the title as the key phrase, or
hook-line, of the song. You never have
any doubt as to the title of the song.
After a second verse that is identical to the first apart from the
lyrics of the first four measures, we enter into the eight-measure bridge,
which is where we see the maturity of the Beatles' songwriting begin to
flourish. "That middle-eight was a
big departure for us," McCartney elaborates. "Say you're in C then go to A minor -
fairly ordinary, C, change it to G. And
then F - pretty ordinary, but then it goes (sings) 'I got arms,' and that's a G
Minor. Going to G Minor and a C takes
you to a whole new world. It was
exciting."
The vocals in the bridge are sung in harmony throughout and end
with a quick glimpse of their Isley Brothers' falsetto "oooh," which
they really emphasized in their next single, "She Loves You."
After the bridge, which takes them away from the home key of C,
they segue back for an identical repeat of the first verse. That completes the aaba structure. Then we go into the solo/verse section, which
is identical to the eight-measure verse chords and melody line, only the first
four measures are played by harmonica and (if you listen carefully enough) lead
guitar played an octave lower than the harmonica. The last four measures are an identical
repeat of the verse lyrics with the hook-line still in place.
After we then repeat the bridge and first verse, we see that the
final measure of that verse is cut off in order to enter into a five-measure
outro, or conclusion, to the song. After
repeating and accenting the words "to you" two more times with
different chord changes and drum fills on the off-beat before the third beat of
each measure, we return to the harmonica riff and unison singing of the
intro. Interestingly, they choose to end
on an A Minor chord, which leaves the song unresolved and hanging in the
air. Another new trick initiated on this
song.
Lyrically, we see portrayed here the innocence of sentiment as
displayed in many songs of the pop era.
The singer will give "anything" to his girlfriend that she
requests. The "anything"
apparently ends on the romantic side, because the singer only has in mind
"arms that long to hold" her and "lips that long to kiss"
her. Having "a heart that's oh, so
true," after all, is pretty standard fare for 1963. Being that dissatisfaction with what his girl
does for him was addressed in their previous single "Please Please
Me," this appears to be a step backwards lyrically. But, with the pressure to follow up a big
hit, which they've never had to do before, it seems that they succumbed to the
pressure of what was usual in the pop charts to fill the need. After all, what "From Me To You"
lacks lyrically is made up within song structure.
Lennon is to the fore throughout the song, with his commanding
lead vocals and harmonica riff.
McCartney's bouncing harmony lines sprinkled throughout the song are a
testament to his natural musical ability and sense of harmony. His bass work seems to encompass a standard
'oom-pah' alternation but, upon closer inspection, are made up of quarter- and
eighth-notes.
Ringo keeps somewhat subdued on his closed hi-hats throughout the
song, although his emphasized accents and drum fills at the end of each bridge
are completely suitable for cueing in audiences for screaming, as they usually
did at this point. George Harrison, on
the other hand, is least noticeable on this track, his guitar riffs being
overshadowed by Lennon's harmonica due to George Martin's suggestion. Still, his presence is felt through his
guitar work, which is primarily rhythm in this case, as with Lennon.
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