TOP 100 SONGS OF THE BEATLES: 53

"It Won't Be Long" (Lennon – January 20, 1964)

With the Beatles – Side 1, Track 1 (2:13)

YouTube (Richard Esveldt cover)

From Wikipedia, Rolling Stone, About.com, and Google  – 

"It Won't Be Long" is the opening track on With The Beatles, The Beatles' second UK album, and was the first original song recorded for it. Although credited to Lennon/McCartney, it was primarily a John Lennon composition, with Paul McCartney assisting with the lyrics and arrangement.

History –

A deceptively simple (and unfairly overlooked) little number, John's "It Won't Be Long" features several Beatles stylistic quirks of their early period, including a guitar line (George's) that answers the singer in the verses, an unusual, slightly disorientating bridge, a titular pun ("it won't be long 'til Ibelong to you") and a surprise ending (slowing down suddenly to end on a major seventh chord, as the slightly earlier "She Loves You" landed on a major sixth).

This was recorded at the second session for With The Beatles, just after the group's cover of "Please Mr. Postman" and just before their take on "Money (That's What I Want)".

"It Won't Be Long" was written by John as an attempt at the band's next big single, but dropped after the group reached yet another creative breakthrough with "I Want To Hold Your Hand."

This appears to be the first Beatles track on which John Lennon's lead vocal is double-tracked, although use of their standard ADT (Automatic Double Tracking) method would come later.

Composition –

The chorus is a play on the words "be long" and "belong". The song features early Beatles' trademarks such as call-and-response yeah-yeahs and scaling guitar riffs. Typical also of this phase of Beatles' song writing is the melodramatic ending (similar to "She Loves You", which had just been recorded and was about to be released) where the music stops, allowing Lennon a brief solo vocal improvisation before the song finishes on a major seventh chord ("She Loves You" ends on a major sixth). There is an unusual middle eight—for what is, essentially, a rock and roll song—that uses chromatically descending chords.

John Lennon, in his last interview, told Playboy magazine that the song was the beginning of a wider audience for Beatles' music than the youthful throngs that had fervently followed them from their Liverpool clubbing days. "It was only after a critic for the (London) Times said we put 'Aeolian cadences' in 'It Won't Be Long' that the middle classes started listening to us. ... To this day, I have no idea what "Aeolian cadences" are. They sound like exotic birds." Actually the critic, William Mann, said this about the song "Not A Second Time."

Recording and Release –

The Beatles recorded this song on 30 July 1963 in two sessions. The first session was in the morning, where they recorded 10 takes. The second session was in the afternoon, where they recorded seven takes, miss-numbered as takes 17–23. The final product was a combination of takes 17 and 21, put together on 21 August.

The original release in the UK was on With The Beatles, 20 November 1963. In the US, "It Won't Be Long" first appeared on Meet the Beatles!, released 20 January 1964.

The song was never performed live or at any of the group's BBC sessions, although they did lip-synch to the track on an edition of Ready Steady Go! in March 1964.Takes: 17

Personnel

John Lennon –lead vocal (double-tracked), rhythm guitar (1958 Rickenbacker 325)
Paul McCartney – backing vocal, bass guitar (1961 Hofner 500/1)
George Harrison – backing vocal, lead guitar (1962 Gretsch 6122 "Country Gentleman")
Ringo Starr – drums (1963 Black Oyster Pearl Ludwig kit)

Trivia –

The group repeats the word "yeah" fifty-six times, a far as can be determined a record in a pop song.

The vocal track at the very end of the last chorus has several differences from the original mono version, where it appears there were a few vocal glitches that had to be cleaned up.

Neil Young's first public performance, at the cafeteria in his Winnipeg, Canada high school, consisted of the Beatles' version of "Money" and this song.

Today in Beatles History (From The Internet Beatles  Album) February 16 –

1963 – "Please Please Me" number 21 (UK Melody Market chart). 

– London. Recording for Thank Your Lucky Stars.
– EMI House. Photographic session with Angus McBean for Please Please Me LP cover.

1964 – Second performance on the Ed Sullivan Show, at the Deauville's Hotel Mau Mau Club, Miami Beach. 

– First act performing twice on this program. Dezo Hoffmann attends. Brian watches the Ed Sullivan Show performance at his hotel room in Miami. 
– The Beatles have a brief rest in Miami.

1965 – Studio 2. 2.30-5.00pm. Recording: "I Need You'" (overdub onto take 5); "Another Girl" (overdub onto take 1). Studio 2. 5.00-7.00pm. Recording: "Yes It Is" (takes 1-14). Studio 2. 7.00-10.00pm. Recording: "Yes It Is" (overdub onto take 14). Producer: George Martin; Engineer: Norman Smith; 2nd Engineer: Ken Scott/Jerry Boys. 

– First use (in "I Need You") of foot controlled tone pedal.
– EMI Manchester Square, Ground floor studio. Morning: The Beatles receive prizes from Sir Joseph Lockwood, including Japanese dolls, silver and gold discs.

1966 – Rubber Soul number 1, 11th week (UK New Musical Express chart).
– Brian presents A Smashing Day at the New Arts Theater, London.

1967 – Studio 3. 7.00pm-1.45am. Recording: "Good Morning Good Morning" (overdub onto take 8, tape reduction take 8 into takes 9, 10). Mono mixing: "Good Morning Good Morning" (remix 1, from take 8). Producer: George Martin; Engineer: Geoff Emerick; 2nd Engineer: Richard Lush.

– Re-transmission of "Penny Lane"/"Strawberry Fields Forever" clips on BBC-TV's Top Of The Pops.

1968 – John, George, Cynthia and Pattie go to Rishikesh.

1970 – The Beatles Book ends being published.

1972 – John and Yoko share hosting duties on The Mike Douglas Show. Recording of John and Chuck Berry performance.

1973 – UK LP release: Approximately Infinite Universe, by Yoko.

1984 – Rolling Stone cover features a picture taken on the first part of the 3 June 1963 photographic session at Prospect Studios, London.