Tell Me What You See
Lennon-McCartney / 2:36
1965
SONGWRITER
Paul
MUSICIANS
Paul: lead vocal, bass (?), Hohner Pianet electric piano, güiro
John: rhythm guitar, backing vocal
George: bass (?)
Ringo: drums, tambourine, claves
George Martin: piano
RECORDED
Abbey Road: February 18, 1965 (Studio Two)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 4
MIXING
Abbey Road: February 20–23, 1965 (Studio Two)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producer: George Martin
Sound Engineer: Norman Smith
Assistant Engineers: Ken Scott, Malcolm Davies
Genesis
“Tell Me What You See” is mainly Paul’s composition. “I would claim it as a 60/40, but it might have been totally me.”1 John confirmed this without hesitation in an interview with David Sheff: “It’s Paul’s.”2 The song was offered to Richard Lester for the soundtrack of Help!, but was rejected, and “Tell Me What You See” was used for the second side of the album. Paul describes “Tell Me What You See” as an album filler: “Not one of the better songs but they did a job, they were very handy for albums or B-sides. You need those kind of sides.”3
FOR BEATLES FANATICS
Listening carefully during the introduction, we can hear Paul repeating If you let twice before starting his vocal. This appears to be Paul warming up his vocal chords.
Production
“Tell Me What You See” was recorded in four takes at the end of the day on February 18. This time, Paul played the Pianet while John handled the rhythm on his Rickenbacker 325. George’s role remains unclear. Perhaps he played on bass while Paul played the güiro, a Latin American percussion instrument. Ringo, in addition to his function as a drummer, played the claves as he had in “And I Love Her.” He also played tambourine. In the end, Paul provided the lead vocal, backed by John, and then doubled the vocal.
The mono mix was made on February 20, and the stereo mix on February 23, one day after the Beatles flew to the Bahamas.
I’ve Just Seen A Face
Lennon-McCartney / 2:03
1965
SONGWRITER
Paul
MUSICIANS
Paul: vocal, acoustic lead guitar (?)
John: rhythm guitar
George: rhythm guitar, acoustic lead guitar (?)
Ringo: drums, maracas
RECORDED
Abbey Road: February 18, 1965 (Studio Two)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 4
MIXING
Abbey Road: February 20–23, 1965 (Studio Two)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producer: George Martin
Sound Engineer: Norman Smith
Assistant Engineers: Ken Scott, Malcolm Davies
Genesis
“I’ve Just Seen a Face,” a superb acoustic country and western song, written at Jane Asher’s parents’ home, is one of Paul’s favorites. According to some sources, it was an old instrumental tune that Paul played at the piano regularly, and his Aunt Gin expressed a liking for it. The working title was “Auntie Gin’s Theme,” and George Martin’s orchestra recorded an instrumental version of it under this title in 1965. Paul was also quite pleased with the lyrics, probably inspired by his romance with the actress Jane Asher.
The artistic department at Capitol in the United States thought the song would resonate with the American public so they used it as the opening song on the U.S. version of Rubber Soul.
FOR BEATLES FANATICS
Auntie Gin made another appearance in Paul’s solo career with Wings. He references her in his 1976 hit “Let ’Em In” from Wings at the Speed of Sound.
Production
“I’ve Just Seen a Face” was recorded on June 14—a memorable day dedicated to Paul’s talent. On the program that day were “I’ve Just Seen a Face,” “I’m Down,” and “Yesterday”—three songs in three different styles. Ringo played the basic rhythm with brush sticks, George was probably on his Framus Hootenanny twelve-string, and John on his Gibson J-160 E. For the first time, a Beatles song lacked a bass guitar part; Paul contributed only vocals, which he harmonized and doubled. Ringo later added some maracas. Finally, Paul added an introduction and an acoustic solo on his Epiphone Texan. The song was completed in six takes. Mono and stereo mixes were made on June 18, 1965.
Yesterday
Lennon-McCartney / 2:04
1965
SONGWRITER
Paul
MUSICIANS
Paul: vocal, acoustic guitar
Tony Gilbert: 1st violin
Sidney Sax: 2nd violin
Kenneth Essex: viola
Francisco Gabarro: cello
RECORDED
Abbey Road: June 14 and 17, 1965 (Studio Two)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 2
MIXING
Abbey Road: June 17–18, 1965 (Studio Two)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producer: George Martin
Sound Engineer: Norman Smith
Assistant Engineer: Phil McDonald
Genesis
“I have had so much accolade for ‘Yesterday.’ That is Paul’s song … and Paul’s baby,”1 declared John with humor when he mentioned the song inspired by Paul McCartney’s dream. While staying at the Ashers’ family home, 57 Wimpole Street, Paul woke up one morning in his small attic room at the top of the house: “I got out of bed, sat at the piano, found G, found F sharp minor 7th—and that leads you through then to B to E minor, and finally back to E. It all leads forward logically. I liked the melody a lot, but because I’d dreamed it I couldn’t believe I’d written it.”2 Indeed, Paul was worried that he had plagiarized someone else’s song. Suspicious, he played the melody to his close friends, who assured him that they had never heard this sublime melody before.
At this stage, the lyrics were not yet defined. The song’s provisional title was “Scrambled Eggs” and the working opening verse was Scrambled Eggs / Oh, my baby how I love your legs.
During the shooting of Help!, Paul continued to work on the song. At one point, Richard Lester lost his temper and threatened to have Paul’s piano removed! At the end of the shoot, the Beatles took a well-deserved vacation. Late in May, Paul and Jane flew to southern Portugal for a vacation in Albufeira, where they were invited to the home of Paul’s friend, Bruce Welch, guitarist for the Shadows. On the way to his host’s house, he came up with the song’s title and the opening of the final verse. He borrowed a 1959 Martin acoustic guitar from Bruce Welch and polished the song. Two weeks later, the song was completed. “Generally, John and I would sit down and finish within three hours, but this was more organic,”3 confessed Paul in an interview with Barry Miles. John declared to a Playboy reporter, “Although the lyrics don’t resolve into any sense, they’re good lines. They certainly work. You know what I mean? They’re good—but if you read the whole song, it doesn’t say anything; you don’t know what happened. She left and he wishes it was yesterday—that much you get—but it doesn’t really resolve. So, mine didn’t used to resolve, either …” Before concluding: “Well done. Beautiful—and I never wished I’d written it.”4
FOR BEATLES FANATICS
By listening carefully to the left channel in stereo, we hear at 0:19 the creaking of a door, an instrument, or simply a sigh at the end of the word believe. It was probably the chair of one of the four string players.
Production
Listening to “Yesterday,” John, George, and Ringo all had the same reaction: they did not know what to play and suggested that Paul sing it solo. George Martin had a totally surprising and innovative idea for the time. He suggested that Paul use a string quartet. “With ‘Yesterday’ we used orchestration for the first time; and from then on, we moved into whole new areas.”1 he recalled in 1979. Paul was initially reluctant, but Martin succeeded in persuading him and finally Paul agreed, under the con
dition that the musicians perform without vibrato.
On June 14, after the band had completed “I’ve Just Seen a Face” and “I’m Down,” Paul was still fresh and energetic enough to end the recording session with “Yesterday.” Alone, he recorded the song on his Epiphone Texan acoustic guitar in just two takes. The performance was remarkable. Paul tuned his instrument down a whole step for greater flexibility. Three days later on June 17, the string quartet was recorded. Satisfied by the musicians’ excellent performance, George Martin asked Paul to perform an additional vocal, but it was judged inferior to the recording made on June 14, except for the line … something wrong now I long for yesterday (at 0:52). Norman Smith substituted the line in the mono mix made the same day. Paul had recorded the second vocal while listening to the original recording on the famous White Elephant speaker. Therefore, the original vocal track leaked from the studio speaker into the second recording, which gave the impression that Paul’s vocal was doubled—but only for those seven words! The stereo mix was made the next day. Paul was delighted with the string quartet.
Before being recorded by Paul McCartney, “Yesterday,” was rejected by two singers. Chris Farlowe thought the song was too soft and Billy J. Kramer did not think it fit into his repertoire. The Beatles feared that the song would affect their image as a rock ’n’ roll band. “Yesterday” was never released as a single in Great Britain, despite the extraordinary reception to the song worldwide. In the United States, “Yesterday” breezed to the top of the charts on October 9 (John’s birthday!), before being knocked down by “Get Off of My Cloud” by the Stones. “Yesterday” is the British song most played on American radio and television, with over 7 million performances.
Echoes of an Italian Song
In the 1960s–1970s, Lilli Greco, an Italian singer and producer, told anyone who would listen that “Yesterday” was extremely similar to an 1895 Neapolitan song, “Piccerè Che Vene A Dicere.” Contrary to its Neapolitan “relative,” which no one had ever heard of, “Yesterday” is one of the most recorded songs in the history of popular music, and entered the Guinness Book of World Records with 3,000 cover versions!
Dizzy Miss Lizzy
Larry Williams / 2:54
1965
MUSICIANS
John: vocal, rhythm guitar
Paul: bass, Hohner Pianet electric piano
George: lead guitar
Ringo: drums, cowbell
RECORDED
Abbey Road: May 10, 1965 (Studio Two)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 7
MIXING
Abbey Road: May 10, 1965 (Studio Two)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producer: George Martin
Sound Engineer: Norman Smith
Assistant Engineer: Ken Scott
Genesis
Larry Williams is one of the most influential composers of rock ’n’ roll and rhythm & blues. We only need to mention “Dizzy Miss Lizzy,” originally released as a single on the B-side of “Slow Down” in March 1958. Since the end of the 1950s, this Southern anthem of rock ’n’ roll has been covered by everyone from Ronnie Hawkins to the New York Dolls. However, the most famous version is the Beatles’.
They first performed this title with success during their formative years in Hamburg in 1960, and played it live frequently before recording it. “Dizzy Miss Lizzy” appeared on Help! after “Yesterday,” as if the group wanted to remind the public that they had not forgotten their roots.
Production
The day after attending a Bob Dylan concert at the Royal Festival Hall in London on June 9, the Beatles recorded “Dizzy Miss Lizzy” and “Bad Boy.” The group recorded two live takes of “Dizzy Miss Lizzy” before working on “Bad Boy.” At George Martin’s insistence, they recorded a further five takes and were finally satisfied with the seventh. Paul remembers, after recently listening to a recording session of “Dizzy Miss Lizzy,” that at that time there were tensions between the Beatles and Martin. “After recording his vocal, John asked Martin, ‘What’s wrong with that?’ and George Martin says, ‘Erm … it wasn’t exciting enough, John,’ and John mumbles, ‘Bloody hell’—that kind of thing was creeping in a bit—‘It wasn’t exciting enough, eh? Well, you come here and sing it, then!’”1 Despite these inevitable confrontations, the Beatles recorded the rhythm track with their usual instruments, with George doubling and even tripling his guitar. Paul played the Hohner Pianet and Ringo added a cowbell while John sang the lead vocal. Mono and stereo mixes were made right away, and both copies of these two mixes were shipped to Capitol Records in Los Angeles the next day. Five weeks later, on June 14, 1965, Beatles VI, which featured the song, was available in American record bins.
Technical Details
In 1965, “Dizzy Miss Lizzy” was recorded with an echo effect, similar to the American ‘slap-back’ echo already used by the Beatles on “Everybody’s Trying to Be My Baby.”
FOR BEATLES FANATICS
We can hear George’s guitar riff in different locations in the stereo version: alone in the middle of the range at 1:27, then doubled in the right channel at 1:30 and finally in the left channel at 1:33.
Bad Boy
Larry Williams / 2:19
1965
MUSICIANS
John: vocal, rhythm guitar, organ
Paul: bass, Hohner Pianet electric piano
George: lead guitar
Ringo: drums, tambourine
RECORDED
Abbey Road: May 10, 1965 (Studio Two)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 4
MIXING
Abbey Road: May 10, 1965 (Studio Two)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producer: George Martin
Sound Engineer: Norman Smith
Assistant Engineer: Ken Scott
Genesis
“Bad Boy” was the Beatles’ third Larry Williams cover. Williams recorded “Bad Boy” in August 1958. Seven years later, the Beatles covered the song. Years before this recording, it was included in the Fab Four’s live repertoire between 1960 and 1962. They had more or less abandoned it but, pressed for new material, they recorded it for the release of Beatles VI by Capitol Records on June 14, 1965. The European release had to wait for the appearance of the album A Collection of Beatles Oldies on December 9, 1966.
Production
“Bad Boy” was recorded in four takes on May 10 between two working sessions for “Dizzy Miss Lizzy.” All the Beatles played their usual instruments. Paul added a Hohner Pianet part, John some organ (a Vox Continental), Ringo some tambourine, and George double-tracked his guitar solo. The song features John’s blistering vocal delivery. Along with “Dizzy Miss Lizzy,” “Bad Boy” was mixed right after the recording session to be shipped the next day to Capitol Records in Los Angeles.
Editor’s Note:
“Bad Boy” was recorded for the American album Beatles VI, but in Europe it only appeared on the compilation, A Collection of Beatles Oldies, released in December 1966 for the European market.
Yes It Is
(B-side of “Ticket to Ride”)
1965
SINGLE
RELEASED
Ticket to Ride / Yes It Is
Great Britain: April 9, 1965 / No. 1 for 3 weeks, starting on April 24, 1965
United States: April 19, 1965 / No. 1 for 1 week, starting on May 22, 1965
Yes It Is
Lennon-McCartney / 2:41
1965
SONGWRITER
John
MUSICIANS
John: vocal, rhythm guitar
Paul: bass, backing vocal
George: lead guitar, backing vocal
Ringo: drums
RECORDED
Abbey Road: February 16, 1965 (Studio Two)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 14
MIXING
Abbey Road: February 18 and 23, 1965 (Studio Two)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producer: George Martin
Sound Engineer: Norman Smith
Assistant Engineers: Ken S
cott, Jerry Boys, Malcolm Davies
Genesis
John: “That’s me trying a rewrite of ‘This Boy,’ but it didn’t work.”1 However, “Yes It Is” is a superb song filled with sweetness and nostalgia, showing the sensitivity of the Beatles. “Yes It Is” was written at Kenwood with Paul’s assistance. Paul: “… I helped him finish off. “Yes It Is” is a very fine song of John’s, a ballad, unusual for John. He wrote some beautiful ballads but I’m known generally as the balladeer.”2 George liked this song so much that he regretted that it was not chosen for the A-side of the single. What is strange is that “Yes It Is” was neither selected for the film soundtrack nor included on the Help! album. With respect to the group’s work, it was John’s songs that featured superb three-part backing vocal—“This Boy,” “Yes It Is,” and “Because.”
FOR BEATLES FANATICS
When released in the United States, the single “Ticket to Ride” (A-side of “Yes It Is”) included the note, “From the United Artists Release Eight Arms to Hold You, the first title for the movie Help!” This is true for “Ticket to Ride” (see the song), but not for “Yes It Is,” which is not on the soundtrack for the movie!
Production
February 16 was the second day devoted to recording songs for the movie Help!, including “Yes It Is.” At that time, the title was part of the movie soundtrack. The Beatles spent five hours in two recording sessions. During the first two-hour session, the group recorded the basic rhythm track in fourteen takes. John simultaneously played his Gibson J-160 E and sang. Paul was on bass, Ringo on drums, and George played his guitar with a volume pedal, as he did earlier in “I Need You.” In the second session, John probably played the José Ramirez classical nylon-string guitar. At the end of this second take, a string of his J-160 E broke. John, Paul, and George recorded their three-part backing vocal on the best take, take 14. After several tries, the result was superb. George played a second guitar part using the volume pedal, and Ringo added cymbals. This second recording session took three hours. The mono mix was completed on February 18 and the stereo mix on February 23.
All the Songs Page 18