McCartney wrote the song and Harrison provided the guitar solo, and so the song is credited to McCartney–Harrison. Recording took place sometime between May and July 1958 at Percy Phillips' home studio in Liverpool.
Composition and structure
Paul McCartney wrote the song on his own, likely around January 1958 and possibly at George Harrison's family home in Upton Green.[2] The song uses the B7 chord, which McCartney discovered with Harrison after a multi-bus trip across Liverpool to the home of a stranger who knew the chord.[3][4] Harrison wrote both of the song's guitar solos, and so McCartney gave him a joint credit.[2][5][nb 2] In The Beatles Anthology, McCartney describes it as, "a self-penned little song very influenced by Elvis [Presley]."[7] In an interview with Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn, McCartney goes further and explains that the song is very similar to a specific Elvis song, though he avoids mentioning which particular one.[8] Lewisohn writes that, though McCartney wrote the track on his own, it is heavily based on the melody of Elvis's "Tryin' to Get to You", which also includes the similar lyric, "[in] spite of all that I've been through."[2]MusicologistWalter Everett agrees, writing that "its cadence comes close".[9] Chris Ingram says it was "clearly inspired" by it,[10] and John C. Winn says it was "fashioned after" it.[11]
Everett writes most of the Beatles' earliest compositions were "thoroughly diatonic, grounded solidly in the major scale," and includes this song as an example.[12]
The song is in the key of E and follows a standard I-I7-IV-V7-I-IV-I (E-E7-A-B7-E-A-E) progression.[13] Here the harmonic development initially arises with the move (in bar 5 on "I'll do anything for you") to a subdominant or IV (a chord built on the 4th degree of the E major scale), but without the intervening range of chords prolonging harmonic tension that so characterised later Beatles songwriting.[13] The resolution back to the tonic comes as the V chord (B7 in bar 8 on "you want me to") shifts to the I (E chord on "true to me").[14] Everett writes that the bridge "[culminates] in a stop-time retransition on a blue-note colored V."[9] This "dramatic placement of stop time... at the end of the bridge"[15] was something the Beatles saw regularly, including in "Come Go with Me", before they used it in "In Spite of All the Danger". They used the technique again in their later compositions "There's a Place" and "This Boy".[15]
Recording
Around July 1958,[nb 1] the Quarrymen paid for a recording session at Percy Phillips' home in Kensington, Liverpool, recording a cover of Buddy Holly's "That'll Be the Day" and "In Spite of All the Danger".[16] Lennon, McCartney and Harrison all played guitar,[nb 3]John "Duff" Lowe the piano and Colin Hanton the drums.[1][9] Recording was achieved with a single microphone suspended from the ceiling,[9] no volume balancing possible.[1] Curtains and carpets were put in the downstairs living room to dampen the noise of traffic from the street outside.[1] At nearly three and a half minutes, the song is much longer than most pop recordings of the time.[nb 4] Lewisohn writes, "anecdotes have Percy Phillips waving his arms at them, hurrying them to a finish, because he could see the disc-cutting lathe reaching its ultimate point, almost at the center label."[18]
The recording was cut directly to a single two sided shellac-on-metal 78-rpm disc.[9][nb 5] The disc likely cost the group 17s 6d. In a 1977 interview, Phillips recalled that the group initially only paid 15 shillings and someone returned a few days later with the remaining amount and to buy the record.[1]
The only earlier recording of the Quarrymen is a reel-to-reel tape-recording made by an audience member on July 6, 1957, during the Quarrymen's last set for the 1957 Rose Queen garden fête at St. Peter's Church, Woolton, Liverpool.[20]
Release and reception
With only one copy of the recording made, the group members shared the disc for a week each.[21] Lowe was the last to have it, keeping it for nearly 25 years.[22] In 1981, he prepared to sell it at auction, but McCartney intervened and purchased it directly from him. McCartney had engineers restore as much of the record's sound quality as possible and then made approximately 50 copies of the single that he gave as personal gifts to family and friends.[23] In 2004, Record Collector magazine named the original pressing the most valuable record in existence, estimating its worth at £100,000, with the 1981 copies made by McCartney coming in second on the list at £10,000 each.[citation needed]
"In Spite of All the Danger"[24] was not released to the public until it appeared on the 1995 compilation album Anthology 1[25] along with "That'll Be the Day"[26],[27][28] though the former was shortened to 2:42 from its original 3:25 runtime.[23]
Lewisohn describes the song as "a chugging and melodic country-flavored number".[2] He further writes that the record "[is] not representative of their sound at any time other than this moment, which was a long way from the rough skiffle scuffle of tea-chest bass, washboard and banjo that was its start."[29] Everett calls the song "Les Paul-like".[9] Musicologist and writer Ian MacDonald writes that the song is "a dreary doo-wop pastiche" which "has little to recommend it".[27]
Performances
McCartney played the song throughout his 2004 Summer and 2005 US tours and would continue to perform it through his 2016–17 One on One, 2018-19 Freshen Up and 2022 Got Back tours. A recording of McCartney's concert at The Cavern Club in 2018, which featured a performance of the song with his touring band, was broadcast on Christmas Day 2020 on BBC One.[30]
The song's recording was faithfully reproduced by "The Nowhere Boys"[31] in the 2009 biopicNowhere Boy. The band also performed "That'll Be the Day,"[32] although it was cut from the film and is available as a deleted scene on the DVD and Blu-ray releases.[33] These versions of the two songs, which are flawless remakes of the originals, can be heard on the film's soundtrack.[34]
McCartney performed the song at Glastonbury on 25 June 2022.
The session cannot be dated with any certainty because the group's name doesn't show in the studio logbook, save for a note on the inside cover that reads merely "Arthur Kelly of Quarrymen." A plaque above the door of the house, unveiled in 2005, gives a precise session date of (Monday) 14 July 1958, but how this was arrived at has never been convincingly demonstrated; it could have been a month or two earlier.[1]
It says on the label that it was me and George but I think it was actually written by me and George played the guitar solo! We were mates and nobody was into copyrights and publishing, nobody understood—we actually used to think when we came down to London that songs belonged to everyone. I've said this a few times but it's true, we really thought they just were in the air, and that you couldn't actually own one. So you can imagine the publishers saw us coming! 'Welcome boys, sit down. That's what you think, is it?' So that's what we used to do in those days—and because George did the solo we figured that he 'wrote' the solo. That wouldn't be the case now: [Bruce] Springsteen writes the record and the guy who plays the solo doesn't 'write' it."[6]
↑ Walter Everett writes that the guitars are amplified acoustic guitars.[9]Mark Lewisohn writes Lennon and McCartney play acoustic while Harrison uses "a pickup through Paul's Elpico amp."[1]
↑ The median length of 1958 chart numbers was 2:25. Of the 200 new tracks that made it on the British Hit Parade in 1958, only two were longer than 3:30.[17]
An acetate, or lacquer, was an aluminum disc with a nitrocellulose lacquer coating; because the grooves were softer than a conventionally pressed record, the sound quality deteriorated by degrees each time it was played. Acetates were much used in the music business as the quickest and easiest means of distributing recorded sound.[19]
↑ In an interview with Mark Lewisohn, McCartney says, "... I sang the lead, I think so anyway. It was my song. It's very similar to an Elvis song. It's me doing an Elvis".[8] In The Beatles Anthology, McCartney says "John and I sang it..."[7]In an April 1975 radio interview with Paul Drew, Lennon recalled of the session, "... I sang both sides. I was such a bully in those days I didn't even let Paul sing his own song."[18]Everett writes, "we hear Lennon singing lead with McCartney providing only a simple descant..."[9] Lewisohn writes, "John again sings lead on 'In Spite of All the Danger', Paul provides more fine harmonies throughout..."[18] Musicologist and writer Ian MacDonald agrees that Lennon sings the lead vocal.[27]
1 2 Lewisohn 2013, p.177: "John, Paul and George with their guitars (John and Paul acoustic, George using a pickup through Paul's Elpico amp)... " Everett 2001, p.26: "John, Paul and George, all with amplified acoustic guitars..." Lewisohn 2013, p.178: "... George [takes] the guitar solo."McCartney, quoted in The Beatles 2000, p.23: "At that time I was playing guitar too... We would show up for gigs just with three guitars, and the person booking us would ask, 'Where's the drums, then?' To cover this eventuality we would say, 'The rhythm's in the guitars,' stand there, smile a lot, bluff it out. There was not a lot you could say to that, and we'd make them very rhythmic to prove our point."
↑ Everett 2001, p.26: "... [Harrison provides] vocal 'fills'..." Lewisohn 2013, p.178: "... George adds an 'ah' backing."
The Quarrymen are a British skiffle/rock and roll group, formed by John Lennon in Liverpool in 1956, which evolved into the Beatles in 1960. Originally consisting of Lennon and several school friends, the Quarrymen took their name from a line in the school song of their school, the Quarry Bank High School. Lennon's mother, Julia, taught her son to play the banjo, showed Lennon and Eric Griffiths how to tune their guitars in a similar way to the banjo, and taught them simple chords and songs.
Lennon–McCartney was the songwriting partnership between English musicians John Lennon (1940–1980) and Paul McCartney of the Beatles. It is widely considered one of the greatest, best known and most successful musical collaborations ever by records sold, with the Beatles selling over 600 million records worldwide as of 2004. Between 5 October 1962 and 8 May 1970, the partnership published approximately 180 jointly credited songs, of which the vast majority were recorded by the Beatles, forming the bulk of their catalogue.
"What Goes On" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, featured as the eighth track on their 1965 album Rubber Soul. The song was later released as the B-side of the US single "Nowhere Man", and then as the tenth track on the North America-only album Yesterday and Today. It is the only song by the band credited to Lennon–McCartney–Starkey and the only song on Rubber Soul that features Ringo Starr on lead vocals. The song reached number 81 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1966.
"Because" is a song written by John Lennon 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.
"For You Blue" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1970 album Let It Be. The track was written by George Harrison as a love song to his wife, Pattie Boyd. It was also the B-side to the "Long and Winding Road" single, issued in many countries, but not Britain, and was listed with that song when the single topped the US Billboard Hot 100 and Canada's national chart in June 1970. On the Cash Box Top 100 chart, which measured the US performance of single sides individually, "For You Blue" peaked at number 71.
"The End" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1969 album Abbey Road. It was composed by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was the last song recorded collectively by all four Beatles, and is the final song of the medley that constitutes the majority of side two of the album. The song features the only drum solo recorded by Ringo Starr with the Beatles.
"Things We Said Today" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was released in July 1964 as the B-side to the single "A Hard Day's Night" and on their album of the same name, except in North America, where it appeared on the album Something New. The band recorded the song twice for BBC Radio and regularly performed an abbreviated version during their 1964 North American tour.
"This Boy" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by John Lennon (credited to Lennon–McCartney). It was released in November 1963 as the B-side of the band's Parlophone single "I Want to Hold Your Hand". In the United States, it was issued in January 1964 on Meet the Beatles! which was Capitol Records' reconfigured version of the With the Beatles album. The Beatles performed the song live on 16 February 1964 for their second appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. An instrumental easy listening arrangement by George Martin, re-titled "Ringo's Theme (This Boy)", was featured in the film A Hard Day's Night and the United Artists soundtrack album. This version was also issued as a single, reaching number 53 in the US and number one in Canada.
"Fixing a Hole" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. It was written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney.
"You're Going to Lose That Girl" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1965 album and film Help! Credited to the Lennon–McCartney songwriting partnership, the song was mostly written by John Lennon with contributions from Paul McCartney.
"Mr. Moonlight" is a song written by Roy Lee Johnson and recorded by Dr. Feelgood and the Interns in 1962. The song was covered by the Beatles on their 1964 albums Beatles for Sale and Beatles '65.
"Don't Bother Me" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1963 UK album With the Beatles. It was the first song written by George Harrison, the group's lead guitarist, to appear on one of their albums. A midtempo rock and roll song, it was originally released in the United States on the 1964 album Meet the Beatles!
"I'll Be on My Way" is a song written by Paul McCartney, credited to Lennon–McCartney, first released on 26 April 1963 by Billy J. Kramer with the Dakotas as the B-side of their hit debut single "Do You Want to Know a Secret", a song also written by Lennon–McCartney. The single reached number two in the UK charts while "From Me to You" by the Beatles occupied the number 1 position. The Beatles recorded a version of the song on 4 April 1963 for BBC radio, first released on the 1994 compilation album Live at the BBC.
"I Lost My Little Girl" is one of the first songs written by Paul McCartney and the first he wrote for guitar. McCartney wrote the song in 1956 or 1957, around the age of 14 or 15, shortly after his mother's death.
John Charles "Duff" Lowe was an English pianist. In the late 1950s, he played piano for The Quarrymen, the group who would evolve into The Beatles.
"Hello Little Girl" is one of the first songs written by John Lennon, credited to the Lennon–McCartney songwriting partnership. Written in 1957, it was used as one of the songs at the Beatles unsuccessful Decca audition in 1962, included on the 1995 compilation album Anthology 1. A 1960 home demo recording has never been officially released.
Songs We Remember is the third album by the re-incarnated version of the Quarrymen, which was the band that eventually evolved into the Beatles. It is also the final album to feature founder member Eric Griffiths before his death in 2005.
Get Back – Together is the second album by the reformed Liverpool band the Quarrymen, which was the band that, in its original conception, evolved into the Beatles. It is also the first of two albums by the band that feature all surviving founding members together, as while the name the Quarrymen name was used in the 1994 album Open for Engagements seen as the first album since the reformation, it only featured Rod Davis and part-time member John Duff Lowe. Eric Griffiths and Len Garry make their first appearances on a studio recording with drummer Colin Hanton also returning to the band for the first time since 1959, having previously appeared on the "In Spite of All The Danger" recording in 1958 as a b-side to a cover of Buddy Hollys "That'll Be the Day". It is also the only full length album featuring Pete Shotton who also returned to the band in 1997 but later retired due to ill health. Shotton subsequently died in 2017. Recorded and mixed at Liverpool Music House by record producer and recording engineer Lance Thomas.
Phillips' Sound Recording Services was a studio in the house of Percy Francis Phillips (1896–1984) and his family at 38 Kensington, Kensington, Liverpool, England. Between 1955 and 1969, Phillips recorded numerous tapes and acetate discs for Liverpool acts, people and businesses in a small room behind the shop his family owned.
"Thinking of Linking" is one of the first songs written by English musician Paul McCartney. Inspired by a cinema advertisement for Link Furniture, McCartney composed the song in 1958. The lyric consists of only three lines, while the music is influenced by the sound of Buddy Holly and the Crickets, particularly the song "Peggy Sue Got Married".
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
