Product Description

A complete and fascinating chronicle of Beatles music and history, Beatlesongs details the growth, evolution, and dissolution of the most influential group of out time.

Drawing together information from sources that include interviews, insider accounts, magazines, and news wire services, this is a complete profile of every Beatles song ever written -- from recording details such as who played which instruments and sang what harmonies to how each song fared on the charts and how other musicians and critics felt about it. Chronologically arranged by U.K. release date, Beatlesongs nails down dates, places, participants, and other intriguing facts in a truly remarkable portrait of the Liverpudlian legends.

Behind each song is a story -- like Paul's criticism of George's guitar playing during the Rubber Soul sessions, John's acid trip during the Sgt. Pepper's session, and the selection process for the Revolver album cover. And carefully examined along the way are the Beatles' evolving musical talents, their stormy private lives, and their successful -- and unsuccessful -- collaborations.

Beatlesongs is truly an inside look at the Fab Four and a treasure for all their fans.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #188250 in Books
• Published on: 1989-10-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 448 pages

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

PLEASE PLEASE ME

ALBUM

Though the Beatles' debut single. "Love Me Do," was a moderate success, their second release, "Please Please Me," was a huge hit. As it neared the top of the charts, the Beatles took one night off from touring to rush to London to record most of this album in one daylong session. The following night they were back on tour and performed in both Yorkshire and Lancashire. Live

CHART ACTION

UNITED KINGDOM: Rush-released March 22, 1963, shortly after the title song fell from its No. 1 position. The album entered the chart March 27 at No. 9 and in seven weeks was No. 1, where it stayed for twenty-nine weeks. It set a record for the longest continuous run at No. 1 in the NME (New Musical Express) album chart. Road

UNITED STATES: Capitol refused to release the album. It was released in a different form by the little Vee Jay record label as Introducing the Beatles, which failed to place in the charts. It differed from the U.K. version by not including "Please Please Me" and "Ask Me Why." Road

RECORDED

February 11, 1963, except for the title song and "Ask Me Why" (since both were previously released as a single) and "Love Me Do" and "P.S. I Love You" (another single), at Abbey Road. ATN: Live and Salewicz agree on date.

Sources disagree significantly on how long it took to record this album -- anywhere from 9 3/4 hours to 16 hours -- but it probably took about 13. About the only thing the sources agree on is that it required just one session to complete. various

GEORGE MARTIN, producer: "All we did really was to reproduce the Cavern performance in the comparative calm of the studio.

"At the beginning [of the Beatles' recording career], my specialty was the introductions and the endings, and any instrumental passages in the middle. I might say, for instance: "Please Please Me" only lasts a minute and 10 seconds, so you'll have to do two choruses, and in the second chorus we'll have to do such-and-such. "That was the extent of the arranging." Ears

PAUL AS THE BUDDING MUSICAL DIRECTOR

McCARTNEY: "...Then [Martin] had a lot of control -- we used to record the stuff, and leave him to mix it, pick a single, everything. After a while though, we got so into recording we'd stay behind while he mixed it, watching what he was doing." Jamming! (June 1982)

NORMAN SMITH, engineer: "[It was] nearly always Paul who was the MD, the musical director, as early as this. Obviously John would have quite a lot to say, but overall it was always Paul who was the guv'nor. Which is fair, because he was the natural musician, and even at this stage, the natural producer. On this session he was trying to figure out everything we were doing with the controls." Salewicz

A two-track tape machine was used, and the recording was entirely live. None of the vocals was overdubbed, and no more than four takes were made of any song. Salewicz

NORMAN SMITH: "I kept the sound relatively 'dry.' I hated all that echo that everyone was using back then. And I placed the singers' microphones right there with the rest of the band, although singers were usually hidden away in a separate recording booth. I thought that was a bad idea, because you lost the live feel of the session." Diary

At the Beatles' request, a large candy jar of cough lozenges and two new packs of Peter Stuyvesant cigarettes were placed on the piano for the session. So began a tradition that lasted for years. Salewicz

INSTRUMENTATION

McCARTNEY: bass
LENNON: rhythm guitar
HARRISON: lead guitar
STARR: drums
Road

ALBUM PACKAGE

The cover photograph was taken on the staircase of EMI House in Manchester Square, London, by Angus McBean. Road McBean shot a similarly staged photo six years later, to adorn the Get Back album (which later became Let It Be). It wasn't used for that but later appeared on The Beatles 1967-1970 compilation album. A photo from the original shoot was used for the cover of The Beatles 1962-1966. Road

MISCELLANEOUS

McCartney had designed a cover for the album with the name Off the Beatle Track. The title was later used for producer George Martin's album of orchestrated Beatles hits. Road

COMMENTS BY BEATLES

LENNON: "We were just writing songs à la Everly Brothers, à la Buddy Holly, pop songs with no more thought to them than that -- to create a sound. And the words were almost irrelevant." September 1980, Playboy Interviews

"I SAW HER STANDING THERE"

CHART ACTION

UNITED STATES: Released as a single January 13, 1964 (the B side of "I Want to Hold Your Hand"), this song entered the Top 40 in January 1964, hitting No. 14 during its eight-week stay. Road and Billboard

AUTHORSHIP McCartney (.8) and Lennon (.2)

LENNON: "That's Paul doing his usual good job of producing what George Martin used to call a 'potboiler.' I helped with a couple of the lyrics." September 1980, Playboy Interviews

McCartney and Lennon wrote the song in Paul's living room while playing hooky from school. Coleman

RECORDED

February 11, 1963, at Abbey Road Day and Abbey and Road

INSTRUMENTATION

McCARTNEY: bass, lead vocal
LENNON: rhythm guitar, harmony vocal
HARRISON: lead guitar
STARR: drums
Record; Road agrees on vocals.

MISCELLANEOUS

This song was part of the Beatles' repertoire for concerts from 1962 to 1964. Live It was one of six songs performed during the Beatles' second appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, February 16, 1964. Forever, Live says it was also one of five on first show. It also was played at the Washington Coliseum and Carnegie Hall concerts in February 1964 and on the 1964 North American tour (some shows). Forever

On November 28, 1974, Lennon joined Elton John on the Madison Square Garden stage and performed the song. Elton John released the recorded performance in the United States on March 1, 1975, as the B side of "Philadelphia Freedom." A-Z and Road It was the A side of a single in the United Kingdom.

McCartney performed this song at the Prince's Trust Concert (1986) with several rock luminaries. Prince's

"MISERY"

AUTHORSHIP Lennon (.6) and McCartney (.4)

Written mainly by Lennon with an assist from McCartney. Road and ATN and Hit Parader (April 1972)

This was written originally for singer Helen Shapiro during the Beatles' tour of Britain with her in February and March 1963. A-Z and Road and Day; Live agrees for Shapiro. Her management, however, rejected the song. At the time Shapiro was sixteen years old and the most popular singer in Britain.

SHAPIRO: "We were leaning out of hotel windows, throwing photographs of ourselves at fans, and it was an incredible period, looking back." Coleman

RECORDED

February 11, 1963, at Abbey Road Day and Abbey and Road

INSTRUMENTATION

McCARTNEY: bass, lead vocal
LENNON: rhythm guitar, lead vocal
HARRISON: lead guitar
STARR: drums
Record; Road and ATN agree on double lead vocals.
George Martin: piano
Shout

MISCELLANEOUS

This song was part of the Beatles' live repertoire in 1963. Live

"ANNA (GO TO HIM)"

AUTHORSHIP Arthur Alexander (1.00)

RECORDED

February 11, 1963, at Abbey Road ATN and Day and Abbey and Road

INSTRUMENTATION

McCARTNEY: bass, backing vocal
LENNON: rhythm guitar, lead vocal
HARRISON: lead guitar, backing vocal
STARR: drums

Customer Reviews

VERY informative and objective; right on the money
Beatlesongs is THE book for the stories behind the songs by one of the best musical groups of all time. It gives all the facts (who wrote the song, when it was recorded, etc.)as well as critical views of the songs (comments from Beatles and others). This book also shows discrepancies in the facts behind the music. Arranged in a well-organized format, it is the ideal Beatle reference book. It has settled many disputes about the music for me personally. All in all, this is a wonderful book. It is well researched, and anyone would be hard pressed to prove any of the information presented therein wrong. I consider it a must-have for any true Beatle fan.

An excellent companion book
An excellent companion book. I find myself constantly referring to when I listen to Beatle songs. The information on who played what, who wrote what is all there. The only disappointment is that I'd like to have had more beatle quotes. Some excellent songs have no quotes at all. Quotes from others are interesting also.

Not as reliable as folks might believe
I hate to be the sole dissenter here, but while "Beatlesongs" is an entertaining book to read, far too many of the "facts" articulated are incorrect.

The author has compiled information from numerous sources, but he has relied on far too many faulty ones. The most serious problems are found in the descriptions - lauded by many readers here - of which group member performed on the songs, and which parts they played. Mr. Dowlding seems to use as a source an older, similar and terribly flawed tome from the early 80's that was riddled with errors. The great number of references to John Lennon playing "lead guitar" are the most striking, since that rarely occurred ("Get Back", "Come Together" being definite times it did).

It's a fun book, but it is far from a definitive reference source. For that, readers are urged to read "Chronicle" by Mark Lewisohn; that book is THE reference source for details on the recording and performing careers of the Beatles.