Beatles News
“Help!” is one of the biggest hits John Lennon wrote for The Beatles. However, the lyrics have more meaning than many may have realized. The track expressed many of Lennon’s insecurities, and he even admitted to being “insecure” while writing the track.
In 1965, Beatlemania was at its peak. The band was benefitting from unprecedented success. However, Lennon wasn’t overjoyed as the success overwhelmed him and caused him to experience intense pressure and stress. In an interview with Playboy in 1980. Lennon said the insecurity he felt over The Beatles’ success manifested itself in “Help!”, which he wrote in his “fat, Elvis period.”
“When ‘Help!’ came out, I was actually crying out for help,” Lennon shared. “Most people think it’s just a fast rock ‘n’ roll song. I didn’t realize it at the time; I just wrote the song because I was commissioned to write it for the movie. But later, I knew I really was crying out for help. So it was my fat Elvis period.”
Source: Ross Tanenbaum/cheatsheet.com
Paul McCartney makes the shortlist for the most successful songwriter ever. Between the chart-topping tunes he wrote with The Beatles and his successful solo songs, he’s reached the apex dozens of times in his career. Still, one Paul song turned into a total flop when another artist recorded it while the Fab Four were at their peak.
English jazz musician Chris Barber found himself in an enviable position in July 1967. Paul McCartney had a song to give away and wanted to hand it to Barber. It was an offer he couldn’t refuse. Barber took Macca’s “Catswalk” tune, which he wrote nearly a decade earlier, rechristened it “Catcall,” and recorded a pop-jazz take on the song.
It was one of the rare Paul songs that flopped completely when the single hit shelves in October 1967.
Barber scored several hits in England, but “Catcall” wasn’t one of them. He had three top-10 tunes and another two top-50 songs, per Official Charts Company. One might think having McCartney’s name attached would create a ripple effect of success. That wasn’t the case. In an era where nearly every song Paul and the Beatles performed found instant acclaim, “Catcall” never reached the charts.
Source: Jason Rossi/cheatsheet.com
Aside from writing a majority of the entire Beatles catalog, in their earliest days as songwriters, John Lennon and Paul McCartney also wrote and produced songs for other artists.
Their songs, some of which were written by the duo in the late 1950s, were also recorded by The Beatles later on. Lennon-McCartney was credited with The Rolling Stones‘ 1963 hit “I Wanna Be Your Man,” along with several tracks for groups like The Fourmost, Billy J. Kramer with The Dakotas, and pop due Peter and Gordon.
Lennon-McCartney also offered songs —many of which became hits— to singer and fellow Liverpool friend Cilla Black, along with Mary Hopkin (also produced by McCartney) and her No. 2 single “Goodbye,” The Strangers with Mike Shannon (“One and One is Two”), singer P.J. Proby (“That Means a Lot”), The Applejacks (“Like Dreamers Do”), among other acts.
In addition to the initial American Songwriter list of 6 Songs You Didn’t Know Lennon and McCartney Wrote for Other Artists in 2022, here’s a look at five more songs by other artists that are credited to Lennon-McCartney.
Source: Tina Benitez-Eves/americansongwriter.com
On Monday, July 6, 1964, Shaftesbury Avenue in London's West End was a scene of pandemonium the likes of which London hadn't witnessed since the day the Second World War ended. On this hot summer night, an invasion that had been percolating in the north of England for years finally came to a full boil. The Beatles' debut film was having its world premiere at the London Pavilion, replacing Tom Jones, the film that heralded the critical and even more importantly commercial arrival of the new British cinema explosion.
The Beatles — John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr — had burst onto the international pop music scene. Only a few short years ago, they were scruffy young lads from Liverpool, the industrial port city of the north of England, in love with rock 'n' roll, with faint dreams of stardom. The current lineup began with John Lennon asking Paul McCartney to join his group the Quarrymen, McCartney bringing in Harrison, with Lennon's art-school friend Stuart Sutcliffe joining and Pete Best settling in as their drummer, after many held that position in the group. Sutcliffe eventually dropped out to stay in Hamburg and pursue a career in art. When the group finally signed to Parlophone Records, Best was sacked, and Starr took his place.
Source: ultimateclassicrock.com
All of The Beatles processed John Lennon’s death in different ways. Paul McCartney had a tough time discussing it and initially called it a “drag,” while Ringo Starr left his trip in the Bahamas to fly to New York to be with Yoko Ono. The news crushed George Harrison, but instead of grieving in silence, the former Beatledecided to record music.
John Lennon was fatally shot outside his New York City apartment on Dec. 8, 1980. The news stunned the world as many networks and broadcasts stopped what they were doing to announce his death. Harrison was set to record music for his upcoming album, Somewhere in England.
When he heard the news, many believed he would postpone the session to another day. However, drummer Dave Mattacks said Harrison wanted to go through with the session as recording a song would be “therapeutic.”
“Ray [Cooper] called on the morning of the sessions and said, ‘I’m not sure whether it’s going to happen,’” Mattacks told Uncut magazine. “I asked why. ‘Have you not heard? John Lennon has been shot.’ There was a two- or three-hour gap when nothing happened, then Ray called back and the conversation was something along the lines of, ‘I’ve spoken to George, and he thinks that trying to make music would be more therapeutic than him sitting around and being besieged by press and God knows what else.’ So the session went ahead.”
Source: Ross Tanenbaum/cheatsheet.com
During the 1960s, music fans would always anticipate the latest single from The Beatles, who were taking the music industry by storm. The single’s A-side was almost guaranteed to be a hit, with the B-side usually landing with mixed results. However, Paul McCartney said The Beatles always tried to deliver excellent B-sides, even if they flopped.
The Beatles had many excellent A-side singles like “Hey Jude” and “Can’t Buy Me Love” that dominated the charts in the 1960s and are still widely listened to today. However, there are a few deep-cut B-sides that many people, including The Beatles themselves, believe are better than the A-side they were on. A few examples of these include “I Saw Her Standing There”, “I Am the Walrus”, and “Rain”.
“Rain” was released as the B-side to “Paperback Writer”. “Paperback Writer” was a No. 1 single, but The Beatles thought “Rain” was the better song. In the book The Beatles: Off the Record, Ringo Starr said “Rain” is one of his favorite Beatles songs and said it’s the best piece of drumming he did with the band.
Source: Ross Tanenbaum/cheatsheet.com
Paul McCartney helped create one of The Beatles’ best songs with “A Day in the Life.” That makes it one of the most iconic songs of its generation. The Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band finale stands as the greatest John Lennon-Paul McCartney song. Paul had a crazy thought to record an entire orchestra for the piece’s crescendo, but producer George Martin stepped up with a genius idea and made the climax even better.
“A Day in the Life” was essentially two songs — John’s disturbing opening vignette with Paul’s slice-of-life narrative attached after it. Macca’s crazy plan was to have an entire symphony orchestra play the swelling buzz of sound that married the two halves and reappeared at the end of the song.
Even crazier, Paul wanted to conduct the orchestra — 80 musicians or more — and have them play by feel instead of following sheet music. Both parts of that plan never really got off the ground, but Martin had a genius plan to save Paul’s crazy idea, writes Paul McCartney: A Life author Peter Ames Carlin:
Source: Jason Rossi/cheatsheet.com
John Lennon was a fan of a Bruce Springsteen song and a Cars song for the same reason. He liked 1980s music with 1950s vibes as well as classic rock songs from the 1950s. The Springsteen song was huge in the United States but not the United Kingdom.
John Lennon was a big fan of one of Bruce Springsteen’s songs. He said it reminded him of 1950s music. In addition, John felt the Springsteen track was similar to one of his biggest solo hits.
The book Lennon on Lennon: Conversations with John Lennon includes an interview from 1980. In it, John compared some recent singles to his song “(Just Like) Starting Over.” For context, “(Just Like) Starting Over” is deeply indebted to the music of Elvis Presley and other early rock ‘n’ roll stars.
“Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Hungry Heart’ — which I think is a great record — is to me the same kind of period sound as ‘Starting Over,'” John said. “I think The Cars’ ‘Touch and Go’ is right out of the ’50s. ‘Uh, uh, oh … ‘ That new wave, a lot of it is ’50s stuff. But with the ’80s styling, and that’s what I think ‘Starting Over’ is: it’s a ’50s song made with an ’80s approach.”
Source: Matthew Trzcinski/cheatsheet.comRead More>>>
During an early performance with The Quarry Men, Paul McCartney realized George Harrison should take over his role in the band. Before the future Beatle was a bassist, he favored the guitar. While his skill at the instrument landed him a position in the band, he struggled to make it through his first performance. His moment of stage fright ultimately secured Harrison’s position with The Beatles.
McCartney first met John Lennon after his band, The Quarry Men, performed at a church fest. He introduced himself to the group afterward and played the guitar for them. McCartney impressed Lennon and, shortly thereafter, accepted an invitation to join the band.
McCartney joined the band in rehearsals and proved he was talented enough to play a solo during his first performance with the band. Once he got on stage, though, things didn’t go as planned.
“For my first gig, I was given a guitar solo on ‘Guitar Boogie,'” McCartney said, per The Beatles Anthology. “I could play it easily in rehearsal so they elected that I should do it as my solo. Things were going fine, but when the moment came in the performance I got sticky fingers; I thought, ‘What am I doing here?'”
Source: Emma McKee/cheatsheet.com
The Beatles had an extensive catalog and a relatively brief touring career; as a result, there were a number of songs they never performed live as a band. In his solo career, Paul McCartney has dusted off some previously unplayed songs in concerts, but many have still gone unperformed. Here are five songs The Beatles never performed live.
‘And Your Bird Can Sing’
John Lennon wrote the Revolver song “And Your Bird Can Sing” in 1966, and it has puzzled listeners since. People have speculated that the song is about anyone from McCartney to Frank Sinatra to Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithfull. Lennon did little to clear it up. When reflecting on the song, Lennon rolled his eyes at it.
Because The Beatles stopped touring in 1966, they didn’t perform many songs from Revolver. Per NME, this was one that never saw the light of day during concerts.
Source: Emma McKee/cheatsheet.com
