"From Me to You" (Lennon/McCartney – January 30, 1964)
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"From Me to You" is a song written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon and released by the Beatles as a single in 1963. The single was the Beatles' first number one in some of the United Kingdom charts, second in others, but failed to make an impact in the United States at the time of its initial release. However, a 1963 cover version released by Del Shannon resulted in the song becoming the first Lennon–McCartney tune to enter the American pop chart. It was one of the very last songs to be credited "McCartney–Lennon"; soon afterwards their songs began appearing credited to "Lennon–McCartney".
History –
Written in a coach en route to a date in Shrewbury, England as an opening act for Helen Shapiro. John claims to have thrown out the first line, but the two finished it off on the bus together, having been inspired by a letters column in the legendary British music magazine [i[New Musical Express. The title of the column was "From You To Us." It was intended, at least in part, as a thank-you to the group's new fan base.
This is the first of many early Beatles songs to feature their signature falsetto "woo!" harmony at a key dramatic moment. Paul McCartney later identified Little Richard as the inspiration for this gimmick.
This is the first of many early Beatles songs to feature their signature falsetto "woo!" harmony at a key dramatic moment. Paul McCartney later identified Little Richard as the inspiration for this gimmick.
The bridge of this song was seen by both John and Paul as a significant stylistic step up from their earlier work, even a breakthrough.
"From Me To You" is in a major chord (C), but ends on a minor (A minor). This was almost unheard of at the time in pop music.
This became the group's first across-the-board Number One in England, and was the first Beatles single to be released in America. However, it missed the Billboard charts entirely, due in part to the difficulty in breaking English acts but also to a cover version by Del Shannon (which itself barely broke the Top 100). However, it did give John and Paul some key inroads in the States as songwriters.
Live versions: Star Club, Hamburg, Germany, December 31, 1962
BBC versions: 14 (for the BBC radio programs Side By Side, Easy Beat, Swinging Sound '63,Saturday Club, Steppin' Out, and Pop Go The Beatles; Miami, FL, February 18, 1964, for broadcast on that evening's Ed Sullivan Show broadcast (CBS TV).
"From Me To You" is in a major chord (C), but ends on a minor (A minor). This was almost unheard of at the time in pop music.
This became the group's first across-the-board Number One in England, and was the first Beatles single to be released in America. However, it missed the Billboard charts entirely, due in part to the difficulty in breaking English acts but also to a cover version by Del Shannon (which itself barely broke the Top 100). However, it did give John and Paul some key inroads in the States as songwriters.
Live versions: Star Club, Hamburg, Germany, December 31, 1962
BBC versions: 14 (for the BBC radio programs Side By Side, Easy Beat, Swinging Sound '63,Saturday Club, Steppin' Out, and Pop Go The Beatles; Miami, FL, February 18, 1964, for broadcast on that evening's Ed Sullivan Show broadcast (CBS TV).
Composition –
Lennon and McCartney began writing "From Me to You" while on a coach heading to Shrewsbury as part of the Beatles' tour with Helen Shapiro. The title was inspired by the name of the letters section of the New Musical Express, which they had been reading: "From You to Us". McCartney noted that their early songs tended to include the words "I", "me" or "you" in them, as a way of making them "very direct and personal".
In his 1980 interview with Playboy, Lennon recalled writing the song:
We were writing it in a car I think, and I think the first line was mine. I mean I know it was mine. [Hums melody of first line.] And then after that we took it from there. It was far bluesier than that when we wrote it. The notes—today you could rearrange it pretty funky."
McCartney also talked about re-arranging the song in 1964:
"From Me to You"—it could be done as an old ragtime tune—especially the middle eight—and so we're not writing the tunes in any particular idiom. In five years' time we may arrange the tunes differently. But we'll probably write the same old rubbish!
McCartney was not the only one on the bus who called it rubbish—singer Kenny Lynch, upon hearing the Beatles singing "ooh", remarked "You can't do that. You'll sound like a bunch of fucking fairies!" Soon afterwards he stormed off, declaring the Beatles did not know anything about songwriting. Roger Greenway recounted the story:
John and Paul were sitting at the back of the coach and Kenny Lynch, who at this time fancied himself as a songwriter, sauntered up to the back of the coach and Kenny Lynch ... decided he would help them write a song. After a period of about half-an-hour had elapsed and nothing seemed to be coming from the back, Kenny rushed to the front and shouted, 'Well, that's it. I am not going to write any more of that bloody rubbish with those idiots. They don't know music from their backsides. That's it! No more help from me!'
Regardless, the song was regarded by the Beatles as innovative and catchy enough to be released as a single. This was one Lennon–McCartney song that the duo truly co-wrote; McCartney described it as "very much co-written".
Melody and lyrics –
In his 1980 interview with Playboy, Lennon recalled writing the song:
We were writing it in a car I think, and I think the first line was mine. I mean I know it was mine. [Hums melody of first line.] And then after that we took it from there. It was far bluesier than that when we wrote it. The notes—today you could rearrange it pretty funky."
McCartney also talked about re-arranging the song in 1964:
"From Me to You"—it could be done as an old ragtime tune—especially the middle eight—and so we're not writing the tunes in any particular idiom. In five years' time we may arrange the tunes differently. But we'll probably write the same old rubbish!
McCartney was not the only one on the bus who called it rubbish—singer Kenny Lynch, upon hearing the Beatles singing "ooh", remarked "You can't do that. You'll sound like a bunch of fucking fairies!" Soon afterwards he stormed off, declaring the Beatles did not know anything about songwriting. Roger Greenway recounted the story:
John and Paul were sitting at the back of the coach and Kenny Lynch, who at this time fancied himself as a songwriter, sauntered up to the back of the coach and Kenny Lynch ... decided he would help them write a song. After a period of about half-an-hour had elapsed and nothing seemed to be coming from the back, Kenny rushed to the front and shouted, 'Well, that's it. I am not going to write any more of that bloody rubbish with those idiots. They don't know music from their backsides. That's it! No more help from me!'
Regardless, the song was regarded by the Beatles as innovative and catchy enough to be released as a single. This was one Lennon–McCartney song that the duo truly co-wrote; McCartney described it as "very much co-written".
Melody and lyrics –
"From Me to You" comprises five verses and two bridges. The form is Intro, V V B, V V B, V, Coda. The first half of the fourth verse is instrumental. The last half of each verse is a mini-refrain, while the lyrics of the bridges are identical. The verses each consist of a rather short eight measures played in C-major. In the bridge the song modulates to the subdominant (IV) key: F-major. The tonic-subdominant modulation is almost a cliché, but Lennon & McCartney avoids the cliché by going another route from I to IV than the standard I-I7-IV. At the bridge's climax, the chord changes are accompanied by "woo!" Another characterising element in the bridge is the augmented chord - a Gaug - that ends the bridge and leads back to home key (C-major). Lennon plays prominent harmonica solos during the beginning, middle and end of the song, as he did with "Love Me Do".
McCartney said of the song:
McCartney said of the song:
The thing I liked about "From Me to You" was it had a very complete middle. It went to a surprising place. The opening chord of the middle section of that song heralded a new batch for me. That was a pivotal song. Our songwriting lifted a little with that song.
McCartney later stated he first realized the impact of their songwriting when he heard a milkman whistling the tune.
The idea of singing the song's opening lick—the "da da da da da dum dum da" part—was suggested by George Martin, the Beatles' producer. The group thought it unusual but put their trust in Martin. "In a way, this made [the Beatles] aware of George's enormous musical sense," EMI producer Ron Richards later said.
In the song, the singer offers his love to the object of his affections—he has "everything that you want". Although the song is based on first-person pronouns, it lacks a lead singer.
McCartney later stated he first realized the impact of their songwriting when he heard a milkman whistling the tune.
The idea of singing the song's opening lick—the "da da da da da dum dum da" part—was suggested by George Martin, the Beatles' producer. The group thought it unusual but put their trust in Martin. "In a way, this made [the Beatles] aware of George's enormous musical sense," EMI producer Ron Richards later said.
In the song, the singer offers his love to the object of his affections—he has "everything that you want". Although the song is based on first-person pronouns, it lacks a lead singer.
"I asked them for another song as good as 'Please, Please Me,'" George Martin said, "and they brought me one — 'From Me to You.' . . . There seemed to be a bottomless well of songs."
The recording on 5 March 1963 at Abbey Road Studios went without a hitch and on 11 April Parlophone released "From Me to You" in the UK as a single, with "Thank You Girl" on the B-side, catalogue number R5015. Nine days later, it kicked off a twenty-one week run in the British charts, culminating with reaching number one on 4 May, a position it would retain for seven weeks.
"From Me to You" featured Lennon playing harmonica in a Jimmy Reed-inspired blues style he had learned from Delbert McClinton, another American who was on the same bill with the Beatles in the early Sixties. "It's chiseled in stone now that I taught Lennon how to play harmonica," McClinton said. "John said, 'Show me something.' I was in a pretty unique position, because there just weren't a lot of people playing harmonica in popular music."
"From Me to You" was the first Beatles song to reach number one in Britain and is widely considered to be their first chart-topping song, for although "Please, Please Me" reached the summit on almost every chart, it was only number two on Record Retailer's chart, generally considered to be the most authoritative for the time. "From Me to You" would be the first of eleven consecutive British number one singles by the Beatles.
"From Me to You" replaced Gerry and the Pacemakers' "How Do You Do It", a song that had been offered to the Beatles (and even recorded by them, though it remained officially unreleased until 1995) but ultimately rejected by them in favor of "Love Me Do". Gerry & The Pacemakers, who also hailed from Liverpool, were very much rivals of the Beatles in their early days—Gerry and the Pacemakers attained the first number one ("How Do You Do It") before the Beatles, and also claimed their second and third number ones before the Beatles did, slowly losing steam afterwards as Beatlemania launched and the Beatles dominated music worldwide in 1964.
A true indication of how successful the Beatles became thanks to "From Me to You" (though it would soon be overshadowed by "She Loves You" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand") was expressed by McCartney: "The first time I thought we'd really made it, was when I was lying in bed one morning, and I heard a milkman whistling 'From Me to You'. Actually, I'm sure that I once heard a bird whistling it as well. I swear I did!"
The recording on 5 March 1963 at Abbey Road Studios went without a hitch and on 11 April Parlophone released "From Me to You" in the UK as a single, with "Thank You Girl" on the B-side, catalogue number R5015. Nine days later, it kicked off a twenty-one week run in the British charts, culminating with reaching number one on 4 May, a position it would retain for seven weeks.
"From Me to You" featured Lennon playing harmonica in a Jimmy Reed-inspired blues style he had learned from Delbert McClinton, another American who was on the same bill with the Beatles in the early Sixties. "It's chiseled in stone now that I taught Lennon how to play harmonica," McClinton said. "John said, 'Show me something.' I was in a pretty unique position, because there just weren't a lot of people playing harmonica in popular music."
"From Me to You" was the first Beatles song to reach number one in Britain and is widely considered to be their first chart-topping song, for although "Please, Please Me" reached the summit on almost every chart, it was only number two on Record Retailer's chart, generally considered to be the most authoritative for the time. "From Me to You" would be the first of eleven consecutive British number one singles by the Beatles.
"From Me to You" replaced Gerry and the Pacemakers' "How Do You Do It", a song that had been offered to the Beatles (and even recorded by them, though it remained officially unreleased until 1995) but ultimately rejected by them in favor of "Love Me Do". Gerry & The Pacemakers, who also hailed from Liverpool, were very much rivals of the Beatles in their early days—Gerry and the Pacemakers attained the first number one ("How Do You Do It") before the Beatles, and also claimed their second and third number ones before the Beatles did, slowly losing steam afterwards as Beatlemania launched and the Beatles dominated music worldwide in 1964.
A true indication of how successful the Beatles became thanks to "From Me to You" (though it would soon be overshadowed by "She Loves You" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand") was expressed by McCartney: "The first time I thought we'd really made it, was when I was lying in bed one morning, and I heard a milkman whistling 'From Me to You'. Actually, I'm sure that I once heard a bird whistling it as well. I swear I did!"
Recording –
Takes: 13
Takes: 13
Personnel
John Lennon – Lead vocal, rhythm guitar (1958 Rickenbacker 325), Hohner harmonica
Paul McCartney – Co-lead vocal, bass guitar (1961 Hofner 500/1)
George Harrison – Lead guitar (Gretsch Duo Jet)
Ringo Starr – Drums (Premier)
Paul McCartney – Co-lead vocal, bass guitar (1961 Hofner 500/1)
George Harrison – Lead guitar (Gretsch Duo Jet)
Ringo Starr – Drums (Premier)
Recording and UK release –
First US release
When Del Shannon released a cover version of "From Me to You" on Bigtop Records in June, Vee-Jay tried to stimulate more interest in the original, both by placing magazine ads and by sending out additional promotional copies of the 45 stamped with the words "The Original Hit". But the biggest boost to the Beatles' version came from Dick Biondi, who had played "Please, Please Me" on WLS in Chicago. Biondi was fired by WLS in May and relocated to KRLA 1110 in Los Angeles in June. He was able to convince his new employer to add "From Me to You" to its playlist, and it entered KRLA's "Tune-Dex" on 14 July, spending six weeks on the chart and peaking at 32 on 11 August.
Because of the airplay, and resulting sales, in Los Angeles, "From Me to You" made the "Bubbling Under" portion of the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks, peaking at number 116 on 10 August, the same time the single peaked in Los Angeles. It was the first time the Beatles appeared on a national chart in the United States. The late attention in Los Angeles spurred sales of the 45; in the end, the original edition of "From Me to You" sold approximately 22,000 copies, roughly three times as many as "Please, Please Me" had. Even so, it is still considered to be a rare record and highly sought-after by Beatles collectors.
Second US release
Vee-Jay chose to couple "From Me to You" with "Please, Please Me" when it re-released the single on 30 January 1964, shortly after film of the Beatles had appeared on The Jack Paar Program, a prime-time television show. Had Vee-Jay known how all-encompassing Beatlemania would become, it likely would have saved "From Me to You" for use as an A-side, the way it did with "Twist and Shout" and "Do You Want to Know a Secret". But even as a B-side, "From Me to You" entered the Billboard charts on 7 March and peaked at number 41. The double-sided hit sold approximately 1.1 million copies in 1964.
Album availability –
The song's first appearance on an LP was on the Canadian album Twist and Shout in 1964. In 1966 it was issued in the UK on A Collection of Beatles Oldies. In 1973, it became available in the UK and, for the first time, the United States, on the double LP 1962–1966. The first release on CD was in 1988 when it was included in the Past Masters compilation. It was later released on the 1962-1966 double CD and the single CD compilation 1.
Alternative mixes –
The stereo version (recorded on two tracks) lacks the harmonica intro which was inserted into the mono version which was issued as a single, on the 1988 issue of Past Masters, the 1962–1966 CD reissue and the 1 compilation. The stereo version was included in the compilations A Collection of Beatles Oldies, the original LP issue of 1962–1966 and the 2009 reissue of Past Masters.
Trivia –
English singer/songwriter Kenny Lynch, part of the Shapiro tour, was also on the bus at the time, and after journeying to the back to "help" the duo write a new song, declared it "rubbish" and remarked that the soon-to-be-trademark "woo" made John and Paul sound like "fairies."
The Beatles created a similar version of the same song, called "From Us To You," specifically for use on the BBC radio program of the same name (1963-1965).
This Day in Beatles History (From The Internet Beatles Album) Janaury 28 –
This Day in Beatles History (From The Internet Beatles Album) Janaury 28 –
1967 – It is reported that the Who will star in a 30-minute pilot television project produced by Epstein Subafilms for NEMS Enterprises, 1st of a possible series of shows for worldwide television.
1969 – Apple Studios. Time unknown. Recording: "Dig A Pony"; "Get Back"; "Love Me Do"; "Get Back"; "Don't Let Me Down"; 'I've Got A Feeling'; 'Don't Let Me Down'; "The One After 909"; "I've Got A Feeling"; 'The One After 909'; 'Billy's Song (1)"; "Billy's Song (2)"; "Teddy Boy". Producer: George Martin; Engineer: Glyn Johns; 2nd Engineer: Alan Parsons.
– Versions of "Get Back" and "Don't Let Me Down" for the single. End of "Get Back" not included on the single, but on the 'Get Back' LP and film end titles.
–Evening: John and Yoko meet Allen Klein for the first time, at the Dorchester Hotel, London.
1970 – End of John's lithographies exhibition at the London Arts Gallery.
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