Who Wrote the Beatle Songs
Page 11
In Paul’s earliest interview on the song, he both claimed it and acknowledged John’s input. “Well it was me and sort of with a lot of help from John, y’ know.” [8] Later, in somewhat contradictory statements, he emphasized his own authorship. In 1988, after discussing how he and John collaborated on many of their songs for others, he said, “Cilla’s ‘It’s For You’ was something else, that was something I’d written. You sometimes would pull one out of the drawer and say, ‘Maybe this would be good for you.’” [9] And in 1995, he said, “I wrote it for Cilla.” [10]
Paul’s earliest interview is preferable. He wrote the song at first, then it was finished with John.
George Martin produced the recording session for this song, and Paul and John attended. It rose to number seven in the U.K. charts.
He Won’t Ask Me (Bobby Willis)
“I Don’t Want To See You Again / I Would Buy” single — Peter and Gordon, September 11, 1964
I Don’t Want to See You Again — (McCartney)
(recorded August 1964)
Both Paul and John ascribed this to Paul. Miles wrote that it “was again written entirely by Paul.” [11] In 1971 and 1980, John said that Paul alone had written it. [12] Peter and Gordon’s third single, it reached number eighteen in the U.S., and became the title track of their second album.
I Would Buy (Peter Asher, Gordon Waller)
“I Feel Fine / She’s a Woman” single, November 23, 1964
I Feel Fine — (Lennon)
(lead vocals: John) (recorded on October 18, 1964)
When the Beatles were getting to the end of recording Beatles for Sale , John became completely enamored of a guitar riff, and tried to introduce it into all the songs on the album. [13] The other Beatles vetoed this idea, so he told them he’d write a song especially for it. “Yes, you go away and do that,” they said, thinking he wouldn’t get it done on time. But he wrote “I Feel Fine” fairly quickly, and brought it in to the studio. “I’ve written this song but it’s lousy,” he told Ringo. Actually, its energy caused it to be chosen as an A-side of a single — the holy grail for Beatle songs. [14]
Once again, there is contradictory testimony on whether there was collaboration on the song, after John brought it in. He always claimed it as entirely his own. [15] In 1995, however, Paul said, “The song itself was more John’s than mine. We sat down and co-wrote it with John’s original idea. John sang it, I’m on harmonies.” [16] However, in 1965 Paul had agreed that the song was John’s: “John wrote ‘I Feel Fine’ on his own.” [17] In the same year, in an interview with Paul and Derek Taylor, Taylor said,
I would like to say that during the time I was with the Beatles, I never ever saw any professional jealousy. . . . Paul, for instance, came up with “She’s A Woman”, and I thought it was an A [side], and — and other people did, and John came up with “I Feel Fine”, so Paul’s “She’s A Woman” went on the back. Did you mind? Paul: I didn’t mind at all. [18]
Given the conflict in Paul’s testimony, and the anecdotal fullness of John’s early interviews, I lean toward the earlier witnesses, including Paul’s, and regard this as a song by John alone. However, you could argue the other way. In about 1971, John said, “I wrote this at a recording session.” [19] This conflicts with his earlier interview, in which he wrote it at home. If he were writing at the studio, input from Paul would be more likely.
In a bizarre further divergence, George Harrison stated that he was present at the genesis of the song, and it was completely collaborative, with George contributing. The Beatles were crossing Scotland in an Austin Princess, a big luxury car, and they began singing Carl Perkins’s “Matchbox” in three-part harmony. This gradually, magically morphed into “I Feel Fine.” George gave this as an example of people outside John and Paul contributing to Lennon-McCartney songs. [20] This directly conflicts with John’s early memory of writing the song, so must be rejected. Nevertheless, it’s intriguing. Did John have a memory of that improvised Scotland song in his head when he went home to write a song around the Bobby Parker riff?
She’s a Woman — (McCartney-Lennon)
(lead vocals: Paul) (recorded on October 8, 1964)
Paul liked singing Little Richard screamers in the live shows, often as the final song, but then he started thinking: why don’t I write one myself? So on the morning of October 8, 1964, he tried to write a very “bluesy” song. [21] After it was substantially done, music and the “template” of the lyrics, he walked around St John’s Wood, running through it in his head. [22] Later that day, he brought it to the studio. According to a 1964 interview with Paul and John, Paul only had the first verse, then the rest of the lyrics were written at the studio. “We had to finish it off quickly,” said John. “That’s why they’re such rubbishy lyrics.” [23] Paul was happy to be able to write a song in this style. “Bluesy melody is quite hard to write so I was quite pleased to get that,” he said in 1995. [24]
The earliest interviews by Paul and John reflect collaboration. “This is the first real rocker we’ve written,” Paul explained in 1964. “It’s the coloured sound.” [25] But it was collaboration to finish a song Paul had substantially started. John, in 1971, emphasized Paul’s contribution: “Paul. Though I helped with the middle. I think.” [26] A 1980 statement is similar: “That’s Paul with some contribution from me on lines, probably.” [27]
In 1989, Paul claimed it. “Once I found I could sing in that high, screamy voice, I started to write songs in that vein. And ‘She’s a Woman’ and ‘I’m Down’ are really the two.” [28] In 1995, he limited John’s contribution to “checking” the song after he brought it in. [29] The earlier evidence points to more substantive collaboration — probably Paul had all the music, and the first verse, then John worked with him on the subsequent verses at the studio.
Beatles for Sale album, December 4, 1964
No Reply — (Lennon-McCartney)
(lead vocals: John) (recorded on September 30, 1964)
Evidently Brian asked the Beatles to write a song for Tommy Quickly, and John shouldered the task. [30] He wrote this as a variation on “Silhouettes,” a doo-wop hit by The Rays from 1957:
Took a walk and passed your house late last night
All the shades were pulled and drawn way down tight
From within the dim light cast
Two silhouettes on the shade
Oh what a lovely couple they made.
So John was thinking of walking down the street and seeing the girl silhouetted in the window, after she hadn’t answered his phone call. John brought the song to Paul and they finished it together. Lennon later remembered that when publisher Dick James heard it, he told the songwriter, “‘You’re getting much better now. . . that was a complete story.’ Apparently, before that he thought my songs tended to sort of wander off.” [31]
In a familiar pattern, John claimed this song completely (in 1971, “Me,” and in 1980, “That’s my song” [32] ), but Paul remembered some collaboration, though it came from “a strong original idea” of John’s. “I think he pretty much had that one,” he said, but it apparently lacked some words or the middle eight. [33] When there are conflicts in testimony, I lean toward collaboration on early Beatle songs.
Quickly’s June 1964 recording of this was never released, as the Beatles decided to keep the song for themselves. A Beatles demo version can be found on Anthology 1 .
I’m a Loser — (Lennon-McCartney)
(lead vocals: John) (recorded on August 14, 1964)
John wrote this in the autobiographical mode. In 1970, he put it on a shortlist of his “personal records.” “I always wrote about me,” he said. [34] This and “Hide Your Love Away” were the beginning of his writing about his own emotions. [35] In 1965, he said it was influenced by Dylan, and “I could have made it even more Dylanish if I tried.” [36] A songwriting session with Paul ensued, though as Paul said in a 1965 interview, “John wrote most of it.” [37] In the studio, the Beatles turned it into a rock song. I
n a 1964 interview, Paul said, “I reckon the best way to describe this one is a folk song gone pop.” [38]
John claimed this song, [39] correctly, though there was some minor collaboration. Paul, in 1996, observed, “You really didn’t think about it [the “loser” theme] at the time, it’s only later you’d think, God! I think it was pretty brave of John.” [40]
Baby’s In Black — (collaboration)
(lead vocals: John and Paul) (recorded on August 11, 1964)
This was another song written together, from the ground up. [41] Paul and John wanted to write something a little darker and more bluesy than their other songs, [42] and started writing this song in waltz time, Paul said in 1964, “but it finished as a mixture of waltz and beat.” [43] Originally John sang the melody and Paul sang harmony, but then the harmony began to take on a life of its own. Finally, “the” melody became ambiguous — you could take either line as the main melody, Paul said in 1995.
Rock and Roll Music (COVER) (Chuck Berry)
(lead vocals: John)
This Chuck Berry single had been released in 1957, and became a Beatles staple. Other versions are on Anthology 2 and Beatles at the BBC .
I’ll Follow the Sun — (McCartney-Lennon)
(lead vocals: Paul) (recorded on October 18, 1964)
“I’ll Follow the Sun” is one of Paul’s early songs, written at Forthlin Road in the late fifties, a day after Paul recovered from a bout of the flu. “I had that cigarette that’s the ‘cotton-wool’ one. . . . I remember standing in the parlour, with my guitar, looking out through lace curtains of the window and writing that one,” Paul said. [44] Pete Best remembered that Paul would busk it on the piano at the Kaiserkeller, [45] and it can be found on a summer 1960 Beatle rehearsal tape. [46] However, it was never entirely finished, [47] and Paul worked on it with John; then just before recording it they changed the middle section. [48]
Both Paul and John agree that it was a McCartney song. [49] In 1965, John said that “Paul wrote that when he was ten.” [50] That would have been in 1952, but John was exaggerating, as he often did! In 1971, John said, once again: “Paul. A nice one — one of his early compositions.” [51] However, a 1964 interview with Paul makes the collaboration certain: “John and I wrote this one some while ago, but we changed the middle eight bars before we actually recorded it.” [52] This may parallel Paul’s 1995 statement that the song had been unfinished.
Mr. Moonlight (COVER) (Roy Lee Johnson)
(lead vocals: John)
This was first released in 1962, as the B-side of the “Dr. Feelgood” single by Dr. Feelgood and the Interns. Dr. Feelgood was William “Willie” Lee Perryman, also known as Piano Red, one of the early blues-rock-n-roll pioneers.
Kansas City/Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! (COVER) (Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller/Richard Penniman)
(lead vocals: Paul)
This is another of Paul’s Little Richard rave-ups. Leiber and Stoller wrote “Kansas City” in 1952, and it became a major hit for Wilbert Harrison seven years later. In the same year, Little Richard recorded it, changing some words and adding a song he had recorded in 1958, “Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!”, the B-side to his “Good Golly Miss Molly.” This is the version that Paul covered. “‘Kansas City’ is one of my all-time favorite records, actually,” he said in 1964. [53]
Since “It requires a great deal of nerve to just jump up and scream like an idiot, you know?” as Paul said, [54] John acted as his cheerleader when he recorded this song: “Come on, Paul, knock the shit out of ‘Kansas City’” or “You can do it, you’ve just got to scream, you can do it.” [55]
Other versions are on the Live at the BBC albums and Anthology 1 .
SIDE TWO
Eight Days a Week — (McCartney-Lennon)
(lead vocals: John and Paul) (recorded on October 6, 1964)
According to Paul, he got the idea for this song from the chance phrase of a chauffeur who drove him out to John’s house at Weybridge one night. The chauffeur said the employees in his company were being worked so hard that they seemed to work “eight days a week.” [56] “So when I got to John’s house, I said, ‘Eight Days a Week.’” [57] In 1995, Paul emphasized that he had nothing beyond the title when he and John started the songwriting session. “I didn’t have any idea for it other than the title, and we just knocked it off together, just filling in from the title. So that one came quickly.” [58]
John, in 1971, agreed that it was collaborative: “Both of us.” [59] But nine years later, he emphasized Paul’s contribution: “It was Paul’s effort at getting a single for the movie. . . . It was his initial effort, but I think we both worked on it. I’m not sure.” [60]
My conclusion is that the song was co-written, but from a title and idea from Paul.
John’s statement that the song was “Paul’s effort at getting a single for the movie” is questionable, from a chronological point of view. The song was recorded on October 6, 1964, during the Beatles for Sale sessions, while Help! didn’t start filming till February 1965. [61] Evidently, John confused this title with Eight Arms to Hold You , an early working title of the Help! movie. [62]
Words of Love (COVER) (Buddy Holly)
(lead vocals: John and Paul)
Buddy Holly released this as a single in 1957.
Honey Don’t (COVER) (Carl Perkins)
(lead vocals: Ringo)
This was released in 1956 as the B-side of Carl Perkins’s “Blue Suede Shoes.” Other Beatle versions can be found on the Live at the BBC albums, one of which has John singing lead.
Every Little Thing — (McCartney-Lennon)
(lead vocals: John and Paul) (recorded on September 29–30, 1964)
All the evidence on the songwriting for “Every Little Thing” is contradictory. Paul and John here seem to disagree with themselves, not just with each other. Any number of possible reconstructions of the songwriting process is possible. Following is one attempt.
Paul started writing this in London, in the Asher residence, either in the basement music room or in the garret. [63] Then he and John worked on it in Atlantic City, when they were touring the U.S., and finished it then, in late August, 1964. [64] (The Beatles played Convention Hall in Atlantic City on August 30, 1964.)
Both Paul and John attest to collaboration on this song — Paul said, “John and I got this one written in Atlantic City during our last tour of the States.” John put it on a list of jointly written songs. [65] Yet both Paul and John agree that Paul was the main songwriter for this song. Paul said: “‘Every Little Thing,’ like most of the stuff I did, was my attempt at the next single.” [66] John agreed that it was Paul’s, but offered the possibility that he might have contributed something to it. [67] It was probably a Paul song, finished with collaboration.
I Don’t Want to Spoil the Party — (Lennon-McCartney)
(lead vocals: John and Paul) (recorded on September 29, 1964)
John started writing this as another of his new “very personal” songs. [68] Then he and Paul worked on it — Paul remembered the songwriting session as them “sitting down doing a job.” [69] In 1964, he said, “We went after a real country and western flavour when we wrote this one.” [70] A country-western confessional song, Beatle-ified.
What You’re Doing — (McCartney-Lennon)
(lead vocals: Paul) (recorded on September 29-30 and October 26, 1964)
This was another song that Paul and John worked on on a day off in Atlantic City, in late August 1964. [71] Again, the evidence is somewhat contradictory, but apparently the song was more Paul’s than John’s. [72] John, in 1980, said, “His song; I might’ve done something.” [73]
Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby (COVER) (Carl Perkins)
(lead vocals: George)
This song, a very weak album finale, first appeared on Dance Album of . . . Carl Perkins in 1957. Another Beatle performance is on Live at the BBC .
* * *
[1] Anthology , 159. Paul referred to the covers in this album as “
old Cavern” things. Nigel Hunter, interview with McCartney, Disc Weekly , Nov. 14, 1964 (Sandercombe, The Beatles: Press Reports , 102).
[2] Miles, Many Years from Now , 171.
[3] Hennessey, “Who Wrote What,” Record Mirror.
[4] Sheff, The Playboy Interviews, 183.
[5] Miles, Many Years From Now , 181.
[6] Cilla Black, quoted in Miles, The Beatles: A Diary , 131.
[7] Paul McCartney, interview with Klas Burling, July 29, 1964.
[8] Ibid.
[9] Lewisohn, “The Paul McCartney Interview” (1988).
[10] Miles, Many Years From Now , 122. John left no known comments on the song.
[11] Miles, Many Years from Now , 112.
[12] Hennessey, “Who Wrote What,” Record Mirror. Sheff, The Playboy Interviews, 204.
[13] According to George Harrison, the guitar riff John so loved was from Bobby Parker’s “Watch Your Step.” Rowland, “The Quiet Wilbury” (1990), 34. This was one of his favorite records, Anthology , 160. Lost Lennon Tapes, July 11, 1988. Parker evidently adapted his guitar riff from an electric piano motif on Ray Charles’s 1959 single, “What’d I Say.” Shea and Rodriguez, Fab Four FAQ , 303. See also George in Anthology , 160.
[14] Hutchins, “Secrets of the House of Lennon,” a 1964 interview.
[15] “That’s me completely,” he said in 1980. Sheff, The Playboy Interviews, 184. See also Hennessey, “Who Wrote What,” Record Mirror : “Me.”
[16] Miles, Many Years From Now , 172.
[17] Wyndham, “Paul McCartney As Songwriter.”
[18] McCartney, “Interview with Derek Taylor.”
[19] Aldridge, The Beatles Illustrated Lyrics , 246.
[20] Rowland, “The Quiet Wilbury” (1990), 34.