Beatles: A Song-a-Day
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99: I Will
I Will is a track from the White Album, written by Paul McCartney. Although John Lennon and Ringo Starr appear on the recording playing percussion, George Harrison did not participate. When you listen to Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band or Abbey Road, there’s a pleasing variation in the different sounds and…
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100: Hold Me Tight
Hold Me Tight is an original track, written by Paul McCartney and appearing on With The Beatles. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Hold Me Tight is one of a trilogy of “hold” songs all completed between September and October of 1963. The Smokey Robinson cover You Really Got A Hold On Me is…
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101: Baby’s In Black
Baby’s In Black is an Lennon-McCartney collaboration from the Beatles For Sale album. Although few would claim it’s their greatest song, it does demonstrate an increasing self-confidence and ambition in their writing and perhaps unconsciously exposes something about their connection. Lyrically, Baby’s In Black (what a cool title) deals with someone else’s grief (she dresses…
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102: Hello, Goodbye
Hello, Goodbye was the A-side of the Beatles’ last single of 1967, written by Paul McCartney. It was released in November becoming a Christmas number one in the UK, although it took a little longer to depose the Monkees’ Daydream Believer in the US. It also appears on Magical Mystery Tour. Whereas when writing yesterday’s…
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103: I Don’t Want To Spoil The Party
I Don’t Want To Spoil The Party is a track from Beatles For Sale, written by John Lennon. According to Paul McCartney (in Barry Miles’ 1998 authorised biography, Many Years From Now) it was written with Ringo in mind, but I can’t help thinking this is a mix-up; it really doesn’t sound like one that…
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104: The Ballad Of John And Yoko
The Ballad Of John And Yoko was the A-side of a single released in May 1969. The song is Lennon’s autobiographical account of his recent wedding and the (largely self-imposed) furore surrounding it. John and Yoko had begun their intense relationship in May 1968, around the Beatles’ return from India, just as the White Album…
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105: We Can Work It Out
We Can Work It Out was one side of the double A-sided single (with Day Tripper) which was released on the same day – 3rd December 1965 – as Rubber Soul (neither song appears on the album); what an amazing day that must have been for Beatle fans. The songwriting was a collaboration between McCartney…
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106: You Can’t Do That
You Can’t Do That, written by John Lennon, was the B-side of the Can’t Buy Me Love single and was included on the A Hard Day’s Night album. You Can’t Do That – recorded in early 1964 – can be seen as the start of a sequence of songs in which Lennon’s lyrics deal with…
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107: Baby It’s You
Baby It’s You is one of two Shirelles’ covers (along with with Boys) to appear on the Beatles’ first album Please Please Me. The Beatles’ first heroes may have been artists like Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly and Little Richard, the best known Rock’n’roll stars, but by the time they made their first record – judging…
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108: Chains
Chains is a cover of the Cookies song written by Goffin and King, and sung by George Harrison on the Beatles version which appears on Please Please Me. The Cookies were a New York girl group who were important in linking Atlantic records and the Brill Building, acting as backing singers on several hits including…
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109: Money (That’s What I Want)
Money is a cover of the Barrett Strong song which appears as the climactic rocker at the end of With The Beatles. As with Twist And Shout, from the Please Please Me album, John Lennon pulls out all the stops in a powerful vocal performance. The entire band turns up the energy as the song…
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110: Octopus’s Garden
Octopus’s Garden is a song from the Beatles’ final album, Abbey Road, written by Ringo Starr (with uncredited assistance from George Harrison). Surprisingly, it was the Beatles second foray into that rarest of specialised genres the underwater fantasy children’s song* (the first being Yellow Submarine). During the tense sessions for the White Album Ringo had…