TOP 100 SONGS OF THE BEATLES: 91

"Every Little Thing" (McCartney – June 14, 1965)

Beatles for Sale – Side 2, Track 4 (2:01)

YouTube (Poor audio quality)

From Wikipedia, Rolling Stone and About.com –


Background –

McCartney wrote the song in a music room at the home of Jane Asher where he was living at the time. He had hopes it would be released as a single, but it 'didn't have quite what was required', and was released on Beatles for Sale instead.

"Every Little Thing" is a rare example of a Lennon/McCartney tune in which one member of the partnership was primary composer (here McCartney) but the other sang lead vocal (here John Lennon). McCartney sings harmony, although one can hear him better in the refrain. The song's composer is not in question: McCartney claimed the song as described above, and Lennon said in an interview with Playboy that McCartney wrote it.

The released version was recorded with 4 takes at EMI Studios on 29 September 1964, and then five more on 30 September. The Beatles were enjoying themselves on the second night; take six was aborted due to McCartney burping his vocals, and take seven was finished but ended in loud laughter. It is one of the few early Beatles songs to feature an instrument that did not usually appear on rock 'n roll songs: Ringo Starr plays the timpani on the track to add punctuating one-two flourishes to the refrains. This appeared for the first time on the ninth take, along with a guitar intro and piano piece.

Music critic Ian McDonald praised the song's "emotional depth" and used this song and others

as counter-arguments to the caricature of McCartney as an emotional lightweight. Richie Unterberger of All music also praised the song and its "infectious chorus".This song was revisited briefly during the stressful rehearsals that were recorded for the Get Back/Let It Be project, with Harrison playing the lick and McCartney joining in.

Recording  –

Takes: 9

The first four takes of "Every Little Thing" were an abortive attempt to nail down the song on September 29, 1964; the next day, four more takes were done, and after take 7 dissolved in laughter, 8 proved to be the keeper. The tympani and an edit piece (the guitar intro) were added on take 9, just before work began on "What You're Doing."

Personnel

John Lennon – Lead vocal, acoustic rhythm guitar (1964 Gibson J160E)
Paul McCartney – Harmony vocal, bass guitar (1961 Hofner 500/1)
George Harrison – Lead guitar (1964 Rickenbacker "Fire-glo" 360-12)
Ringo Starr – Drums (Ludwig), timpani
George Martin – Piano (1905 Steinway Vertegrand "Mrs. Mills")

Trivia –

"Every Little Thing" is one of only a handful of songs in the Beatles canon sung by John but written by Paul. Although John claimed in an interview that he may have contributed slightly, that contribution was likely limited to the high notes in the third line of each verse, which are not typically McCartneyesque. In fact, both John and Paul sing a close harmony all the way through, but since John's vocal line is higher and more prominent, his is often the only vocal which registers with listeners.

Some sources claim that John plays lead on this song, due to the style of the solo, and also because George did not arrive at the studio until two hours after the backing track was laid down. However, the guitar being played is indeed George's, although John may have merely borrowed it. The argument has never been resolved.

This song was revisited briefly during the stressful rehearsals that were recorded for the Get Back / Let It Be project, with George playing the lick and Paul joining in. Oddly, it was remembered as one of their better songs at that time.

Today in Beatles History (From The Internet Beatles Album) January 9 –

1964 – "Beatles Christmas Show", at the Astoria Cinema, Finsbury Park, London.
–  "I Want To Hold Your Hand" slowly climbs up the US charts.
–  John declares that the slow ascension of "I Want To Hold Your Hand" in the US charts was ''mere sympathy for British people'', and that he didn't expect being a hit in the US.

1965 – "Beatles For Sale" number 1, 4th week (UK Record Retailer chart).
– "I Feel Fine" number 1, 3rd and last week (Billboard).
– "Another Beatles Christmas Show" at the Hammersmith Odeon, London (two performances).
– John appears on BBC-TV's "Not Only... But Also", reading one of his poems.
– "Daily Express" publishes a photograph of the Beatles at the Boat Show, at the Earl's Court Exhibition Building.

1966 – Brian flies from New York to Bahamas.
– Brian flies from Bahamas to the Virgin Islands, on vacation.

1967 – Studio 2. 7.00pm-1.45am. Recording: 'Penny Lane' (overdub onto take 9). Mono mixing: 'Penny Lane' (remixes 5, 6, from take 9). Producer: George Martin; Engineer: Geoff Emerick; 2nd Engineer: Phil McDonald. –  Recording of flutes, trumpets, piccolos and flugelhorn for 'Penny Lane'.

1968 – EMI Recording Studio, Bombay, India. 10.00am-7.00pm., approx. George session.

– John appears on the from page of the US magazine "Look". "Look" publishes pictures taken on the 11 August 1967 photographic session with Richard Avedon at Thomson House. 1st publishing of photos from this session.

1969 – End of exhibition "Guildford Minus 40" at the Royal Institute Galleries, London.

1970 – UK LP release: "The Magic Christian".

Photos from Google.