While the single's commercial performance was lessened by this, it topped the "Billboard" Hot 100 in the United States as well as charts in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and West Germany, and peaked at number 4 in the UK. "Something" is described as a love song to Pattie Boyd, Harrison's first wife, although Harrison offered alternative sources of inspiration in later interviews. Due to the difficulty he faced in getting more than two of his compositions onto each Beatles album, Harrison first offered the song to Joe Cocker. As recorded by the Beatles, the track features a guitar solo that several music critics identify among Harrison's finest playing.
Introduction
Something (Beatles song)
Something (Beatles song) | Introduction
Joe Cocker Harrison The Beatles and George Harrison It is a song by the English rock band "The Beatles".
who did george harrison wrote the song something for
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Pattie Boyd
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who was she?
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She is an English model and photographer.
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who sang the above mentioned song?
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She later suggested that she and Harrison could become a singer-and-songwriter pairing on the scale of Dionne Warwick and Burt Bacharach. After reading these comments in 1970, Harrison wrote "When Every Song Is Sung" with Bassey in mind, although it was not a composition that she ever recorded.
Something (Beatles song) | Shirley Bassey
I have it on my jukebox at home. It's absolutely brilliant."
Something (Beatles song) | Other artists
"She Said She Said" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1966 album "Revolver". Credited to Lennon–McCartney, it was written by John Lennon with assistance from George Harrison. Lennon described it as "an 'acidy' song" with lyrics inspired by actor Peter Fonda's comments during an LSD trip in August 1965 with members of the Beatles and the Byrds. "She Said She Said" was the last track recorded for "Revolver". Due to an argument over the song's musical arrangement, Paul McCartney walked out of the studio and did not contribute to the recording.
She Said She Said | Introduction
"Something in the Way She Moves" is a song written by James Taylor that appeared on his 1968 debut album for Apple Records, "James Taylor". It has also been covered by other artists, including Tom Rush and Harry Belafonte. The opening line inspired George Harrison to write the No. 1 Beatles' song "Something". According to James Taylor's stage banter at The Star in Frisco July 31, 2017, this was the song he played for Paul McCartney and George Harrison as an audition before signing with Apple Records.
Something in the Way She Moves | Introduction
In 2002, a year after Harrison's death, McCartney and Eric Clapton performed it at the Concert for George tribute at London's Royal Albert Hall.
Something (Beatles song) | Introduction
"Something" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1969 album "Abbey Road". It was written by George Harrison, the band's lead guitarist, and is widely viewed by music historians as having marked his ascendancy as a composer to the level of the Beatles' principal songwriters, John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Two weeks after the album's release, the song was issued on a double A-side single, coupled with "Come Together", making it the first Harrison composition to become a Beatles A-side. The pairing was also the first time in the United Kingdom that the Beatles issued a single containing tracks already available on an album.
Something (Beatles song) | Introduction
"She's a Woman" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written mainly by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. John Lennon contributed to the lyrics and middle eight (the bridge). The song was finished in the studio the morning of the session. It was released as the B-side to "I Feel Fine" in 1964, their last single release that year. It reached number 4 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 from frequent airplay. In New Zealand, the song reached number one for one week. The song's chorus was briefly heard in the movie "Help!" (1965).
She's a Woman | Introduction
Shirley Bassey had a top-five UK hit with her 1970 recording, while Frank Sinatra regularly performed the song. Other artists who have covered it include Elvis Presley, Ray Charles, Peggy Lee, James Brown, Tony Bennett, Andy Williams, Smokey Robinson and Ike & Tina Turner. In 1999, Broadcast Music Incorporated named "Something" as the 17th-most performed song of the twentieth century, with 5 million performances. In 2004, it was ranked at number 278 on "Rolling Stone"s list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time", while two years later, "Mojo" placed it at number 7 in the magazine's list of the Beatles' best songs.
Something (Beatles song) | Introduction
Additionally, "Something" is placed again at number 30, representing the song's performance before the November 1969 Hot 100 rule change.
Something (Beatles song) | Commercial performance
According to Walter Everett and Bruce Spizer: The Beatles Additional musicians
Something (Beatles song) | Personnel
The four segments were edited and compiled into a single film clip by Neil Aspinall. Writing in "The New York Times" following Aspinall's death in 2008, Allan Kozinn said: "What Mr. Aspinall's idyllic film avoided showing was that the Beatles were at that point barely on speaking terms. In the film, no two Beatles are seen together." In 2015, following restoration overseen by Apple's Jonathan Clyde, the "Something" promo film was included in the Beatles' video compilation "1" and its expanded edition, "1+". "Rolling Stone" journalist Rob Sheffield comments on the significance of the clip, with regard to the band's history: [E]ach couple projects a totally different vibe – George and Patti peacocking in their hippie-royalty finery, Paul and Linda on the farm in Scotland with Martha the sheepdog, Ringo and Maureen goofing around on motorbikes, John and Yoko serene in their matching black robes.
Something (Beatles song) | Promotional film
The opening lyric was taken from the title of "Something in the Way She Moves", a track by Harrison's fellow Apple Records artist James Taylor. While Harrison imagined the composition in the style of Ray Charles, his inspiration for "Something" was his wife, Pattie Boyd. In her 2007 autobiography, "Wonderful Today", Boyd recalls: "He told me, in a matter-of-fact way, that he had written it for me. I thought it was beautiful ..." Boyd discusses the song's popularity among other recording artists and concludes: "My favourite [version] was the one by George Harrison, which he played to me in the kitchen at Kinfauns." Having begun to write love songs that were directed at both God and a woman, with his White Album track "Long, Long, Long", Harrison later cited alternative sources for his inspiration for "Something".
Something (Beatles song) | Background and inspiration
With the proceedings being recorded by director Michael Lindsay-Hogg for the planned documentary film, tapes reveal Harrison discussing his unfinished lyrics for "Something" with Lennon and McCartney, since he had been unable to complete the song's second line, which begins "Attracts me ..." To serve as a temporary filler, Lennon suggested "like a cauliflower", which Harrison then altered to "like a pomegranate". In their study of the available tapes, Doug Sulpy and Ray Schweighardt write that the Beatles gave the song two run-throughs that day, which was the only occasion that they attempted it during the "Get Back"/"Let It Be" project.
Something (Beatles song) | The Beatles' "Get Back/Let It Be" rehearsals
The promotional clip for "Something" was shot in late October 1969, not long after Lennon privately announced that he was leaving the band. By this time, the individual Beatles had grown apart and so the film consisted of separate clips of each Beatle walking around his home, accompanied by his wife, edited together. Harrison's segment shows him and Boyd together in the garden at Kinfauns; in author John Winn's description, Harrison appears "solemn" while Boyd is seen "smiling sweetly" and "sporting leather and fur coats". Winn also comments on the attractiveness of all the wives in contrast to the unkempt appearance of McCartney, especially, who had sunk into depression at the realisation that the Beatles were over.
Something (Beatles song) | Promotional film
According to the Bob Spitz biography of the Beatles, Lennon claimed a liaison with Cleave, inspiring the band's song "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)". Pete Shotton, a friend of Lennon's, also suggested Cleave, though Cleave has said that in all her encounters with Lennon that he made "no pass" at her, and Lennon claimed he could not remember whom the song was about. It has also been claimed that the woman in question was Sonny Freeman, wife of photographer Robert Freeman, who shot the photos on the covers of the Beatles albums "With the Beatles", "Beatles for Sale", "Help!" and "Rubber Soul".
Maureen Cleave | Introduction
Songs of the Beatles is a 1981 album by Sarah Vaughan of songs by The Beatles. The album contains songs written and originally performed by The Beatles with contemporaneous pop and jazz arrangements. On "Something" Vaughan was accompanied by the Brazilian singer and musician Marcos Valle. It was recorded in 1977 but was not released until 1981 due to a recording contract problem.
Songs of the Beatles | Introduction
The song also drew praise from the other Beatles and their producer, George Martin, with Lennon stating that it was the best song on "Abbey Road". The promotional film for the single combined footage of each of the Beatles with his respective wife, reflecting the estrangement in the band during the months preceding their break-up in April 1970. Harrison subsequently performed the song at his Concert for Bangladesh shows in 1971 and throughout the two tours he made as a solo artist. "Something" received the Ivor Novello Award for the "Best Song Musically and Lyrically" of 1969. By the late 1970s, it had been covered by over 150 artists, making it the second-most covered Beatles composition after "Yesterday".
Something (Beatles song) | Introduction
Harrison first introduced "Something" at a Beatles session on 19 September 1968, when he played it to George Martin's stand-in as producer of "The Beatles", Chris Thomas, while the latter was working out the harpsichord part for Harrison's track "Piggies". Despite Thomas's enthusiasm for the new composition, Harrison chose to focus on "Piggies". He told Thomas that he intended to offer "Something" to singer Jackie Lomax, whose debut album Harrison was producing for Apple Records. "Something" was not among the tracks released on Lomax's album, however, much of which was recorded in Los Angeles following the completion of the White Album.
Something (Beatles song) | The Beatles' "Get Back/Let It Be" rehearsals
While the single's commercial performance was lessened by this, it topped the "Billboard" Hot 100 in the United States as well as charts in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and West Germany, and peaked at number 4 in the UK. "Something" is described as a love song to Pattie Boyd, Harrison's first wife, although Harrison offered alternative sources of inspiration in later interviews. Due to the difficulty he faced in getting more than two of his compositions onto each Beatles album, Harrison first offered the song to Joe Cocker. As recorded by the Beatles, the track features a guitar solo that several music critics identify among Harrison's finest playing.
Something (Beatles song) | Introduction
The first live recording (a slow version of the song) was made at the Cavern Club at the end of 1962. Lennon did not play rhythm guitar; he played harmonica in the introduction and during the verses. Lennon and McCartney laughed when they sing "Well we danced all night/And I held her tight/And I held her hand in mine" the second time. The song was recorded at EMI Studios on 11 February 1963 and engineered by Norman Smith, as part of the marathon recording session that produced 10 of the 14 songs on "Please Please Me". The Beatles were not present for the mixing session on 25 February 1963.
I Saw Her Standing There | Recording
"Beatles", written by Sven Olov Bagge and Claes Bure, was the song that, performed by Swedish dansband Forbes, won the Swedish Melodifestivalen 1977. The song's lyrics are about the popular 1960s British rock group the Beatles and include the phrase "Yeah, yeah, yeah" as an homage to the Beatles song "She Loves You". Forbes took the song to the United Kingdom for the Eurovision Song Contest 1977, with Anders Berglund as conductor. The audience cheered at the song, not unexpectedly since the contest took place in the United Kingdom, but the jury had another opinion. The song finished last, with only two points, from West Germany.
Beatles (song) | Introduction
Among the song's many cover versions, Welsh singer Shirley Bassey recorded a successful version of "Something". It was released in 1970 as the title track to her album of the same name. Also issued as a single, it became Bassey's first top-ten hit in the UK since "I (Who Have Nothing)" in 1963, peaking at number 4 and spending 22 weeks on the chart. The single also reached the top twenty in other European countries and peaked at number 6 on "Billboard"s Easy Listening (later Adult Contemporary) chart. Bassey said she had been unaware of the song's origins when recording "Something".
Something (Beatles song) | Shirley Bassey
Former Motown recording artist Kim Weston included her version on her 1970 album "Big Brass Four Poster". Ray Charles issued his version on the album "Volcanic Action of My Soul" in 1971, the same year that recordings appeared by Andy Williams and Junior Walker & the All Stars, while Buddy Rich, Blue Mink and Ike & Tina Turner were among the acts who covered it in 1972. Referring to the song's popularity among easy-listening artists, Harrison later said: "When even Liberace covered it [in 1970], you know that it's one of them that ends up in an elevator ..." "Something" was one of the rare Beatles songs that Elvis Presley chose to play, when he introduced it into the setlist for his third season at the International Hotel in Las Vegas, in August 1970.
Something (Beatles song) | Other artists
"That Would Be Something" is a song written by Paul McCartney which was first released on his "McCartney" album on 17 April 1970.
That Would Be Something | Introduction
It was a tremendous work – and so simple." The group recorded "Something" on 16 April before Harrison decided to redo the song, a new basic track for which was then completed at Abbey Road on 2 May. The line-up was Harrison on Leslie-effected rhythm guitar, Lennon on piano, McCartney on bass, Ringo Starr on drums, and guest musician Billy Preston playing Hammond organ. On 5 May, at Olympic Sound Studios, McCartney re-recorded his bass part and Harrison added lead guitar. At this point, the song ran to eight minutes, due to the inclusion of an extended, jam-like coda led by Lennon's piano.
Something (Beatles song) | Recording and production
Richie Unterberger of AllMusic describes "Something" as "an unabashedly straightforward and sentimental love song" written at a time "when most of the Beatles' songs were dealing with non-romantic topics or presenting cryptic and allusive lyrics even when they were writing about love".
Something (Beatles song) | Composition
I'd planned an 'answering song' where a couple of us would sing 'she loves you' and the other ones would answer 'yeah yeah'. We decided that was a crummy idea but at least we then had the idea of a song called 'She Loves You'. So we sat in the hotel bedroom for a few hours and wrote it – John and I, sitting on twin beds with guitars." Like many early Beatles songs, the title of "She Loves You" was framed around the use of personal pronouns. But unusually for a love song, the lyrics are not about the narrator's love for someone else; instead the narrator functions as a helpful go-between for estranged lovers: This idea was attributed by Lennon to McCartney in 1980: "It was Paul's idea: instead of singing 'I love you' again, we'd have a third party.
She Loves You | Composition
Dressed like a Teddy Boy, he sometimes brought a guitar with him into class, and once sang "Ain't She Sweet" directly to Powell.
Cynthia Lennon | Art college
In early 1969, according to author Joshua Greene, Harrison told his friends from the Hare Krishna Movement that the song was about the Hindu deity Krishna; in an interview with "Rolling Stone" in 1976, he said of his approach to writing love songs: "all love is part of a universal love. When you love a woman, it's the God in her that you see." By 1996, Harrison had denied writing "Something" for Boyd. That year, he told music journalist Paul Cashmere that "everybody presumed I wrote it about Pattie" because of the promotional film accompanying the release of the Beatles' recording, which showed the couple together.
Something (Beatles song) | Background and inspiration
In concert, McCartney often dedicated this song to Fred Astaire. The song was recorded on a piano tuned to A427.
You Gave Me the Answer | Origin and recording
After taking a break from recording, the band returned to "Something" on 11 July, when Harrison overdubbed what would turn out to be a temporary vocal. With the resulting reduction mix, much of the coda, along with almost all of Lennon's playing on the main part of the song, was cut from the recording. The piano can be heard only in the middle eight, specifically during the descending run that follows each pair of "I don't know" vocal lines. On 16 July, Harrison recorded a new vocal, with McCartney overdubbing his harmony vocal over the middle eight and Starr adding both a second hi-hat part and a cymbal.
Something (Beatles song) | Recording and production
He also performed it on his 1973 "Aloha from Hawaii" TV special, the recording from which appeared on the accompanying bestselling album. A live version from the 1970 Las Vegas concerts subsequently appeared on the Presley box sets "" (1995) and "Live in Las Vegas" (2001). In 1974, a recording by Johnny Rodriguez reached number 6 on "Billboard"s Hot Country Singles chart and number 85 on the Hot 100. In Canada, the song peaked at number 11 on the "RPM" country chart. The version by James Brown was said by Harrison to be his favourite cover of the song: "It was one of his B sides.
Something (Beatles song) | Other artists
"Ask Me Why" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles originally released in the United Kingdom as the B-side of their single "Please Please Me". It was also included on their 1963 debut album "Please Please Me". It was written primarily by John Lennon and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership.
Ask Me Why | Introduction
"She's Leaving Home" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by Paul Mccartney and John Lennon, and released on their 1967 album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". Paul McCartney wrote and sang the verse and John Lennon wrote the chorus, which they sang together. Neither George Harrison nor Ringo Starr was involved in the recording. The song's instrumental background was performed entirely by a small string orchestra arranged by Mike Leander, and was one of only a handful of Beatles songs in which the members did not play any instruments on the recording.
She's Leaving Home | Introduction
After Harrison rejoined the Beatles in January 1969 for their "Get Back" film project (later released as "Let It Be"), "Something" was one of many recent compositions that he offered to the group. Leng describes this period as a prolific one for Harrison as a songwriter, comparing it with John Lennon's peak of creativity over 1963–64, yet Harrison's songs received little interest from Lennon and McCartney amid the tense, uncooperative atmosphere within the band. Martin was also unimpressed by "Something" at first, considering it "too weak and derivative", according to music journalist Mikal Gilmore. The Beatles rehearsed the song at Apple Studio on 28 January.
Something (Beatles song) | The Beatles' "Get Back/Let It Be" rehearsals
A version from Harrison's December 1991 tour of Japan with Clapton – Harrison's only other tour as a solo artist – appears on the "Live in Japan" double album (1992). Inglis writes of the track having "extra poignancy" by this time, "in that the woman for whom it was written had been married to, and divorced from, Harrison and Clapton in turn". Inglis adds: "It is not a new interpretation of the song, but it does suggest a new perspective, in which words and music are used by two close friends to reflect on the lives they have led."
Something (Beatles song) | Live performances by Harrison
Instead, she wrote and recorded an answer song, also titled "Revolution", partly based on Lennon's composition. In her lyrics, she challenged Lennon's statements about destruction and "the constitution", and urged him to "clean" his brain.
Revolution (Beatles song) | Cultural responses
Lennon began working on "She Said She Said" in March 1966, shortly before the Beatles started recording "Revolver". On the home recordings he made at this time, the song was titled "He Said" and performed on acoustic guitar. Lennon said that the episode with Fonda had stuck with him, and when writing the song, "I changed it to 'she' instead of 'he.'" Harrison recalled helping Lennon construct the song from "maybe three" separate segments that Lennon had. Harrison described the process as "a real weld". In his 2017 book "Who Wrote the Beatle Songs?", author Todd Compton credits Lennon and Harrison as the song's true composers.
She Said She Said | Composition
In McCartney's description: "My main memory is that John wanted to hear the breathing, wanted it to be very intimate, so George Martin put a special compressor on the voice, then John dubbed it. … I remember John saying to the engineer (Norman Smith) when we did 'Girl,' that when he draws his breath in, he wants to hear it." Following the Beatles' request, the engineer added more treble to the vocal, which, in Everett's description, matches the sound and timbre of the brushed cymbal played by Ringo Starr. In the song's middle eight sections, McCartney and Harrison sing the word "tit" repeatedly as vocal harmony.
Girl (Beatles song) | Recording
"She's a Woman" has been described as an example of the rock and roll, rhythm and blues and pop rock genres. The song, penned mainly by Paul McCartney (Lennon helped with the lyric and bridge) was his attempt at imitating the vocal style of Little Richard. This is why the song is in such a high register, even for McCartney's tenor range. Some takes of the song (especially recordings of live concerts) feature an extended outro. "She's a Woman" is the first Beatles song that is longer than three minutes. The structure of the song is fairly simple, with the melody carried mostly by McCartney's voice.
She's a Woman | Composition and recording
The track incorporates a change of metre, following Harrison's introduction of such a musical device into the Beatles' work with his Indian-styled composition "Love You To". "She Said She Said" uses both 3/4 and 4/4 time, shifting to 3/4 on the line "No, no, no, you're wrong" and back again on "I said …" The middle part consists of another song fragment that Lennon had penned. At Harrison's suggestion, Lennon used this fragment in the middle of "She Said She Said". In this section, the subject of Lennon's lyrics changes from his recollection of the LSD episode with Fonda to a reminiscence of childhood, as Lennon sings: "When I was a boy everything was right / Everything was right".
She Said She Said | Composition
In the version issued on the Beatles' 1969 album "Abbey Road", which was the first release for the song, "Something" runs at a speed of around 66 beats per minute and is in common time throughout. It begins with a five-note guitar figure, which functions as the song's chorus, since it is repeated before each of the verses and also closes the track. The melody is in the key of C major until the eight-measure-long bridge, or middle eight, which is in the key of A major. Harrison biographer Simon Leng identifies "harmonic interest ... [in] almost every line" of the song, as the melody follows a series of descending half-steps from the tonic over the verses, a structure that is then mirrored in the new key, through the middle eight.
Something (Beatles song) | Composition
Eleanor Rigby is a song by the Beatles. It can also refer to:
Eleanor Rigby (disambiguation) | Introduction
George Harrison liked "Something in the Way She Moves" so much that he used the beginning as the first line of his 1969 song "Something" from the Beatles album "Abbey Road", which was also released as a single and reached No. 1. Early in the development of "Something," Harrison had expanded the opening of this song to "Something in the way she moves / Attracts me like a pomegranate," using the word "pomegranate" simply as a place-holder until better words could be found. Taylor has stated that "I never thought for a second that George intended to do that. I don't think he intentionally ripped anything off, and all music is borrowed from other music.
Something in the Way She Moves | Inspiration for "Something"
The melody returns to C major for the guitar solo, the third verse, and the outro. While Leng considers that, lyrically and musically, "Something" reflects "doubt and striving to attain an uncertain goal", author Ian Inglis writes of the confident statements that Harrison makes throughout regarding his feelings for Boyd. Referring to lines in the song's verses, Inglis writes: "there is a clear and mutual confidence in the reciprocal nature of their love; he muses that [Boyd] 'attracts me like no other lover' and 'all I have to do is think of her,' but he is equally aware that she feels the same, that 'somewhere in her smile, she knows.'" Similarly, when Harrison sings in the middle eight that "You're asking me will my love grow / I don't know, I don't know", Inglis interprets the words as "not an indication of uncertainty, but a wry reflection that his love is already so complete that it may simply be impossible for it to become any greater".
Something (Beatles song) | Composition
In a 1990 letter to Mark Lewisohn, Klein refuted a claim made by Lewisohn in his book "The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions", that the single was intended as a money-making exercise: Klein said it was purely a mark of Lennon's regard for "Something" and "to point out George as a writer, and give him courage to go in and do his own LP. Which he did." Following the Beatles' break-up in April 1970, Harrison's ascendancy as a songwriter would continue with his triple album "All Things Must Pass", building on the promise of White Album tracks such as "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and his two contributions to "Abbey Road".
Something (Beatles song) | Selection for single release
"She Loves You" is a song by the Beatles. She Loves You may also refer to:
She Loves You (disambiguation) | Introduction
Following its appearance in David Leland's film "Concert for George" (2003) and on the accompanying live album, this performance of "Something" was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals. Bob Dylan also played the song live during his November 2002 concerts, as a tribute to Harrison. McCartney has continued to perform "Something", adopting the Concert for George mix of ukulele and rock backing; a version with this musical arrangement was included on his 2009 album "Good Evening New York City".
Something (Beatles song) | Harrison tributes
With Ken Scott serving as his engineer, he recorded a live take of "Something", featuring electric guitar and vocal. By this point, Harrison had completed the lyrics, although he included an extra verse, sung to a counter-melody, over the section that would comprise his guitar solo on the Beatles' subsequent official recording. This demo version of "Something" remained unreleased until its inclusion on the Beatles' outtake collection "Anthology 3" in 1996.
Something (Beatles song) | Harrison solo demo
George Harrison began writing "Something" in September 1968, during a session for the Beatles' self-titled double album, also known as "the White Album".Mark Lewisohn, "Something Else", in "Mojo Special Limited Edition", p. 118. In his autobiography, "I, Me Mine", he recalls working on the melody on a piano, at the same time as Paul McCartney recorded overdubs in a neighbouring studio at London's Abbey Road Studios. Harrison suspended work on the song, believing that with the tune having come to him so easily, it might have been a melody from another song. In "I, Me, Mine", he wrote that the middle eight "took some time to sort out".
Something (Beatles song) | Background and inspiration
This stereo version with the count-in also appeared on a bonus stereo vinyl EP included with an earlier vinyl EP box set. The song is heard being played on a tape recorder underground during the Salisbury Plain scene in the movie "Help!". In the UK, the first album release was on the 1978 compilation LP "Rarities" in mono in the box set "The Beatles Collection" and later released separately.
She's a Woman | Releases
Harrison's composition began accumulating cover versions almost immediately after the release of "Abbey Road". In addition to Joe Cocker, Peggy Lee and Tony Bennett each issued recordings of the song at the end of 1969. Lena Horne recorded "Something" in the jazz style for her 1970 album with guitarist Gabor Szabo, titled "Lena & Gabor". An instrumental version by Booker T. & the M.G.'s, from their "Abbey Road" tribute album "McLemore Avenue", peaked at number 76 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 in August 1970. Other artists who released covers of the song that year include Della Reese, Nancy Sinatra, Perry Como, Karina, Duane Eddy, the Ray Conniff Singers, Jerry Butler, Johnny Mathis, Engelbert Humperdinck, Isaac Hayes, King Curtis, Martha Reeves & the Vandellas, Ferrante & Teicher and the Shadows.
Something (Beatles song) | Other artists
Personnel per Ian MacDonald
Julia (Beatles song) | Personnel
Paul McCartney recalls in his authorised biography, "", that he had written the song, intending to give it to Marianne Faithfull to record, but she passed on recording it, as did the Beatles.
Etcetera (song) | Background
Upon the release of the Beatles' "Rubber Soul" album, he sent a letter to the group's publicist Derek Taylor, stating: "Tell Jim [McGuinn] and David [Crosby] that 'If I Needed Someone' is the riff from 'The Bells Of Rhymney' and the drumming from 'She Don't Care About Time', or my impression of it."
She Don't Care About Time | Composition
Later that year, "Something" was one of the two "key tracks" highlighted by "Rolling Stone" when the magazine placed Harrison at number 11 on its list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists".
Something (Beatles song) | Critical reception, awards and legacy
In late 1969, George Harrison's song "Something" was issued on the A-side of a single by the Beatles – the first time that one of his compositions had been given that honour. Discussing the song, Harrison remarked in an interview: "There's a lot of songs like that in my head. I must get them down. Maybe even other people would like to sing them." In the summer of 1970, "Something" gave Welsh singer Shirley Bassey her biggest UK hit in nine years, an achievement that led her to tell the press that she and Harrison could become a singer-and-songwriter pairing on the scale of Dionne Warwick and Burt Bacharach.
I'll Still Love You | Background and composition
Their relationship began to improve as he neared adolescence, though, and in the words of his half-sister, Julia Baird: "I lost her twice," Lennon said. "Once as a five-year-old when I was moved in with my auntie. And once again when she actually physically died."
Julia (Beatles song) | Composition
"Help!" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles that served as the title song for the 1965 film and its soundtrack album. It was released as a single in July 1965, and was number one for three weeks in the United States and the United Kingdom. Credited to Lennon–McCartney, "Help!" was written by John Lennon with some help from Paul McCartney. During an interview with "Playboy" in 1980, Lennon recounted: "The whole Beatles thing was just beyond comprehension. I was subconsciously crying out for help". It was ranked at number 29 on "Rolling Stone"'s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Help! (song) | Introduction
Each Beatle looks like he's found what he was looking for – but they're heading for four separate futures. In her review of "1+", for "Paste", Gillian Gaar says that with the Beatles' promotional films of their singles, from "Love Me Do" to "Something" (the last one they made during their career), "you can see the development of the promo clip, progressing from a short film that simply served up a straight performance to a piece of work that was striving to be something more artistic."
Something (Beatles song) | Promotional film
A mono mix of the song was made on 25 October, and a stereo mix on 26 October – the day the Beatles collected their MBEs from Buckingham Palace.
If I Needed Someone | Recording
For instance, Lennon said in an interview regarding "No Reply": "I had the image of walking down the street and seeing her silhouetted in the window and not answering the 'phone, although I have never called a girl on the 'phone in my life! Because 'phones weren't part of the English child's life."
All I've Got to Do | Inspiration
[to] get it out there, and get something from it. Assisted by Harrison, Cocker recorded a demo of the song at Apple. While musicologist Walter Everett suggests that this was the same recording of "Something" that appeared on the "Joe Cocker!" album in November 1969, Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn writes that Cocker subsequently remade the track.
Something (Beatles song) | Joe Cocker demo
Lennon contributed piano to the recording and while most of the part was removed, traces of it remain in the final cut, notably on the middle eight, before Harrison's guitar solo. The song was issued as a double A-side single with "Come Together" in October 1969 and topped the US charts for one week, becoming the Beatles' first number-one single that was not a Lennon–McCartney composition. It was also the first Beatles single from an album already released in the UK. Apple's Neil Aspinall filmed a promotional video, which combined separate footage of the Beatles and their wives.
Abbey Road | "Something"
"And I Love Her" is a song recorded by English rock band the Beatles, written primarily by Paul McCartney and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. It is the fifth track of their third UK album "A Hard Day's Night" and was released 20 July 1964, along with "If I Fell", as a single release by Capitol Records in the United States, reaching No. 12 on the "Billboard" Hot 100. The Beatles performed "And I Love Her" just once outside EMI Studios; on 14 July 1964 they played it for an edition of the BBC's "Top Gear" radio show, which was broadcast two days later.
And I Love Her | Introduction
"Tell Me Why" is a song by English rock band the Beatles from their album "A Hard Day's Night". In North America, it was released on both the American version of "A Hard Day's Night" and the album "Something New". Credited to Lennon–McCartney, it was written by John Lennon in either Paris or New York City and recorded in eight takes on 27 February 1964.
Tell Me Why (Beatles song) | Introduction
The song's instrumentation has specific similarities to Greek music, as with "And I Love Her" and "Michelle". As for the inspiration of the song's lyrics, Lennon stated that the "girl" was an archetype he had been searching for and would finally find in Yoko Ono. He said: "'Girl' is real. There is no such thing as the girl, she was a dream, but the words are all right. It wasn't just a song, and it was about that girl – that turned out to be Yoko, in the end – the one that a lot of us were looking for." In an interview for "Rolling Stone" magazine in 1980, Lennon said of his song "Woman": "Reminds me of a Beatles track, but I wasn't trying to make it sound like that.
Girl (Beatles song) | Composition
"I Want You (She's So Heavy)" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by John Lennon (credited to Lennon–McCartney). The song closes side one on their 1969 album "Abbey Road". The song is an unusual Beatles composition for a variety of reasons, namely its length (nearly eight minutes), minimal lyrics, a three-minute descent through repeated guitar chords over a rising background of synthesized white noise, and an abrupt ending. It was the first song recorded for the "Abbey Road" album but one of the last songs to be finished, on 20 August 1969, the last time all four Beatles were together in the studio.
I Want You (She's So Heavy) | Introduction
"Because" is a song written by John Lennon (credited to Lennon–McCartney) and recorded by the English rock band the Beatles. It was released on their 1969 album "Abbey Road", immediately preceding the extended medley on side two of the record. It features a prominent three-part vocal harmony by Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison, recorded three times to make nine voices in all.
Because (Beatles song) | Introduction
McCartney recalled: "He was sitting up on this rostrum just eyeing up all the women. We'd start 'She Loves You': [counting in] 'one, two', nothing, 'one, two', and still nothing!" Their set was reduced from eleven songs to ten, dropping Ringo's vocal spot of "I Wanna Be Your Man". McCartney teasingly sent Starr a telegram saying: "Hurry up and get well Ringo, Jimmy is wearing out all your suits." Commenting later on the fickle nature of his brief celebrity, Nicol reflected: "The day before I was a Beatle, girls weren't interested in me at all. The day after, with the suit and the Beatle cut, riding in the back of the limo with John and Paul, they were dying to get a touch of me.
Jimmie Nicol | With the Beatles
McCartney said the song was inspired by Apple scruffs (dedicated fans who hung around outside the Abbey Road studio, the Apple Corps offices, and the individual homes of the Beatles), who broke into McCartney's St John's Wood home. Diane Ashley says: She then opened the front door to let the others in. The scruffs also stole a number of photographs in addition to clothes. Another Apple scruff, Margo Bird, remembers being good friends with McCartney – she would often take his dog for walks – and later got a job at Apple Corps. She says that she was asked to retrieve a photograph of his father Jim, which she did.
She Came In Through the Bathroom Window | Origin
"Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey" is a song by the English rock group the Beatles from their 1968 double album "The Beatles" (also known as "the White Album"). The song was written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney.
Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey | Introduction
The gatefold photograph features Bassey wearing a chiffon catsuit. The early 1970s would see Bassey wearing some of her most revealing stage costumes, as reflected on the cover.
Something Else (Shirley Bassey album) | Introduction
It also includes at least three different vocal and instrumental quotations from the Beatles' 1963 hit song "She Loves You", suggesting the fact that "We Love You Beatles" was a reply to it.
We Love You Beatles | Introduction
Beatles songs: "Martha, My Dear", "Don't Pass Me By" and "Eleanor Rigby" (instrumental) (opening music)
ISIRTA plays, J-Q | Structure of the episode
"Till There Was You" was recorded by the Beatles in 1963 and released on their second album "With the Beatles" (1963) (United Kingdom) and "Meet the Beatles!" (1964) (United States). It was the only song from a Broadway show released by the band. The Beatles' version is sung by Paul McCartney, who is accompanied by George Harrison and John Lennon on dueling acoustic, classical guitars played in a Spanish style over a bossa nova bongo beat played by Ringo Starr. The song was produced by George Martin. Its guitar solo is by George Harrison. The widow of Meredith Willson, the composer of "The Music Man", has stated that her husband's estate eventually received more income from the royalties of the Beatles recordings of "Till There Was You" than it originally received from the actual play.
Till There Was You | The Beatles version
All mono mixes of the five songs duplicated from the United Artists soundtrack album are identical on both releases. "Something New" was the only early Capitol Beatles album to contain all tracks in true stereo. The mono release contains alternative versions of "Any Time At All" (a different mix during the instrumental bridge), "I'll Cry Instead" (with the "missing" third verse), "When I Get Home" (the line "Till I walk out that door again" during the song's bridge has a different vocal passage from the UK mono mix), "If I Fell" (Lennon's non-double-tracked introductory vocal), and "And I Love Her" (McCartney's non-double-tracked vocal).
Something New (Beatles album) | Release history
This piano was used by the Beatles in the recording of songs such as "Lady Madonna", "She's a Woman", "I Want to Tell You" and "Penny Lane". In addition, the band used it over the middle section of "Rocky Raccoon" and in the introduction to "With a Little Help from My Friends".
Steinway Vertegrand | Mrs Mills at Abbey Road
Following the Beatles' brief efforts with "Something" on 28 January, Harrison talked with Lennon and Yoko Ono about recording a solo album of his unused songs, since he had already stockpiled enough compositions "for the next ten years", given his usual allocation of two tracks per album, and in order to "preserve this, the Beatle bit, more". Lennon offered his support for the idea, similarly keen that his and Ono's recording projects outside the Beatles could continue without jeopardising the band's future. On 25 February 1969 – his 26th birthday – Harrison entered Abbey Road Studios and taped solo demos of "Something", "Old Brown Shoe" and "All Things Must Pass", the last two of which had also been rejected recently by Lennon and McCartney.
Something (Beatles song) | Harrison solo demo
"She Loves You" is a song written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and recorded by English rock group the Beatles for release as a single in 1963. The single set and surpassed several sales records in the United Kingdom charts, and set a record in the United States as one of the five Beatles songs that held the top five positions in the charts simultaneously, on 4 April 1964. It remains the band's best-selling single in the United Kingdom and the top-selling single of the 1960s there by any artist. In November 2004, "Rolling Stone" ranked "She Loves You" number 64 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
She Loves You | Introduction
The song was covered by the Smithereens on their 2008 album "B-Sides The Beatles". Engineered by Norman Smith
Ask Me Why | Cover versions
The rhythm track was recorded by the Beatles for this and "Polythene Pam" as one piece on 25 July 1969. After take 39, they added lead vocals, and re-recorded the drums and bass parts. On 28 July they added more vocals, guitar, percussion and piano. The song was completed two days later with additional guitar and percussion. "She Came In Through the Bathroom Window" segues abruptly after "Polythene Pam", the song on the preceding track, without pause. At the very beginning of the song, in anticipation of the change of tempo, John Lennon gives out a laugh and then shouts "Oh, look out!" A slower, ethereal version of this song, recorded in late January 1969 during the "Let It Be" sessions, appears on the 1996 compilation "Anthology 3".
She Came In Through the Bathroom Window | Recording
Apple Records issued "Abbey Road" on 26 September 1969, with "Something" sequenced as the second track, following Lennon's "Come Together". Lennon considered "Something" to be the best song on the album. Having ensured that "Old Brown Shoe" was chosen as the B-side for the Beatles' single "The Ballad of John and Yoko", according to his later recollection, Lennon now pushed Allen Klein to release "Something" as a single from "Abbey Road". Coupled with "Come Together", the single was issued on 6 October in America (as Apple 2654) and 31 October in Britain (as Apple R5814). The release marked the first time that a Harrison composition had been afforded A-side treatment on a Beatles single, as well as the only time during their career that a single was issued in the UK featuring tracks already available on an album.
Something (Beatles song) | Selection for single release
"No Reply" is about a young man who is unable to contact his apparently unfaithful girlfriend, although he knows she is home. In a 1980 interview, Lennon recalled that the lyrics were inspired by "Silhouettes", a 1957 song first recorded and released by doo-wop group the Rays. Lennon added: "I had that image of walking down the street and seeing her silhouetted in the window and not answering the phone …" According to Lennon in a 1972 interview, the Beatles' music publisher, Dick James, was quite pleased with "No Reply": "I remember Dick James coming up to me after we did this one and saying, 'You're getting better now – that was a complete story.' Apparently, before that, he thought my songs wandered off."
No Reply (song) | Lyrics
Personnel per Ian MacDonald:
Because (Beatles song) | Personnel
Lennon expressed satisfaction with the completed track, adding, "The guitars are great on it."
She Said She Said | Recording
Asked if "Love First, Ask Questions Later" was like another part of the Beatles' "All You Need Is Love", Starr responded that the song is how he feels "the world should be and my hope that we all might stay in love." "Elizabeth Reigns" came about while Starr and Dean Grakal were recording at Rocca Bella Studio, some time before Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee. Asking Starr what ER stood for, Grakal proceeded to start on a song, with Starr exclaiming "I'm not going to sing about the Queen." "English Garden", which mentions Starr's wife Barbara Bach and their dog Buster, includes in the final part some verses taken from Paul McCartney's "Let 'Em In".
Ringo Rama | Music and lyrics
It has been attributed to Tara Browne, the Guinness heir, which I don't believe is the case, certainly as we were writing it, I was not attributing it to Tara in my head. In John's head it might have been. In my head I was imagining a politician bombed out on drugs who'd stopped at some traffic lights and didn't notice that the lights had changed. The 'blew his mind' was purely a drugs reference, nothing to do with a car crash."
Tara Browne | Beatles' song
Recorded by the Beatles over three days, in Abbey Road Studio Two, the sessions were produced by George Martin and engineered by Norman Smith. The second engineer was Richard Langham.
And I Love Her | Recording
Author Ian MacDonald describes "Girl" as "Lennon's answer to McCartney's 'Michelle': another Euro-song, replacing his partner's suave mock-French with a decadent German two-step crossed with Mikis Theodorakis's music for "Zorba the Greek"". Performed by Lennon and George Harrison, the acoustic guitars on the track were played with capos, lending an extra brightness to their sound. Musicologist Walter Everett comments that one of Harrison's guitar parts has the capo positioned so high up the neck and is played by him in a manner that creates a "nasal, sitar-like 'bouzouki' sound". Lennon's lead vocals were initially overdubbed and featured a characteristic unheard before on a Beatles song.
Girl (Beatles song) | Recording
The song talks about an amateur rocker and his cocktail waitress girlfriend. The narrator talks about how they see each other as stars, since they are in love. It says, "She thinks he looks like Elvis, when he runs his fingers through his jet black hair." The narrator states that the couple has a love "bigger than the Beatles". Meaning that even though they aren't stars, they look like it to each other. The "yeah yeah yeah yeah" background chorus at the end of the song is a reference to The Beatles' "She Loves You", as well as a reference to "All You Need is Love" in the last line of the bridge, while the title is a pun on John Lennon's controversial "bigger than Jesus" claim.
Bigger Than the Beatles | Content
Something New is an album by English rock band the Beatles, released in 1964.
Something New (Beatles album) | Introduction
This interpretation was proposed by journalist Richard Simpson, and others have cited it as an example of the perceived rivalry between the Beatles and Jagger's band, the Rolling Stones. According to Beatles biographer Steve Turner, Faithfull's interpretation is incorrect, since she was not in a relationship with Jagger until later in 1966. Some writers have speculated that Lennon's lyrics were directed at Paul McCartney. According to "Rolling Stone", and supported by Womack, the line "You say you've seen seven wonders" could be a reference to a comment McCartney made in 1964 when the Beatles were smoking cannabis with Bob Dylan in New York.
And Your Bird Can Sing | Background and inspiration
The occasion was used by both camps for publicity. On the evening of the television show (February 16) a crush of people nearly prevented the band from making it onstage. A wedge of policemen were needed and the band began playing "She Loves You" only seconds after reaching their instruments. They continued with "This Boy," and "All My Loving" and returned later to close the show with "I Saw Her Standing There," "From Me to You" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand."
The Ed Sullivan Show | The Beatles
Paul McCartney said: Lennon described the song as resembling "a black New York girl-group song". Its basic structure of simple doo-wop chord changes and block harmonies over a walking bass line "creates an illusion of sincerity through its sheer attack." The song is in the key of D major. John, Paul, and George sing a three-part harmony. On the chorus, John's lead vocal part sits higher than George's, and more unusual in this case, Paul's harmonies.
Tell Me Why (Beatles song) | Composition
The songs became her second and third Top 10 hits as a solo artist. "Here's the Answer" was officially released in January 1961, but did not chart any "Billboard" list.
Here's the Answer | Release
By late 1964, it had been dropped in favour of newer songs and the other artists' material that remained in their show. It did not appear in the group's 1965 or 1966 concert performances.
She Loves You | Later Beatles use
Although its commercial impact was lessened by the ongoing success of the parent album, "Something" / "Come Together" was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on 27 October. During the single's chart run on "Billboard" in the US, "Something" peaked at number 3 until the magazine changed its practice of counting sales and airplay separately for each song; following this change on 29 November, the single topped the "Billboard" Hot 100, for one week. "Come Together" / "Something" became the Beatles' eighteenth number 1 single in "Billboard", surpassing Elvis Presley's record of seventeen. In the other US national charts, "Record World" listed "Something" / "Come Together" at number 1 for two weeks and "Come Together" / "Something" for the remaining three weeks at number 1, while in "Cash Box" magazine, which continued to rank each song separately, "Something" peaked at number 2 and "Come Together" spent three weeks at number 1.
Something (Beatles song) | Commercial performance
"I Saw Her Standing There" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles credited to Paul McCartney and John Lennon, but written primarily by McCartney. It is the opening track on the band's 1963 debut album "Please Please Me". In December 1963, Capitol Records released the song in the United States as the B-side on the label's first single by the Beatles, "I Want to Hold Your Hand". While the A-side topped the US "Billboard" chart for seven weeks starting 1 February 1964, "I Saw Her Standing There" entered the "Billboard" Hot 100 on 8 February 1964, remaining there for 11 weeks, peaking at No.
I Saw Her Standing There | Introduction
In the United States, the song was released on the Capitol album "Beatles '65" with considerable reverb added by executive Dave Dexter, Jr. Both mono and stereo versions were released, the stereo version presented in a duophonic (mock stereo) mix. These were released on CD in 2004 as part of "The Capitol Albums, Volume 1" boxed set compilation. A genuine stereo version of the song was released in 1987 on the "Past Masters, Volume 1" CD; the true mono version was not made available in CD format until 2009 as part of "The Beatles in Mono" boxed set compilation. There is also another stereo version that sounds the same but with McCartney's count-in which appears on the CD EP box set.
She's a Woman | Releases