All I've Got to Do

Today's song, "All I've Got to Do", is a good one. I'd never heard it, but I liked it so much I listened to it multiple times. :) Wikipedia tells us that "this song is the first time in rock and roll or rock music where the bass player plays chords as a vital part of the song" (according to some dude who isn't important enough for his own Wikipedia page). I think that's pretty interesting because although I'm only an amateur, I've played both bass and electric guitar. I can tell you, chords are much easier on the latter so I admire George's talent.

Another fascinating tidbit dealt with The Beatles' two different audiences--Brits and Americans. Their albums were released first in the UK, and then later in the U.S., and were often renamed and/or reorganized in the process. "All I've Got to Do" is an great example of the discrepancy between the two, and how the band often deferred to the American audience in their music. Here's a quote that tells the story:

Lennon said that it was written specifically for the American market; the idea of calling a girl on the telephone was unthinkable to a British youth in the early 1960s. 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."

Haha, "'phone" with an apostrophe, as in short for "telephone". How quaint! Anyway, that's definitely something you probably never think of while listening to their music, that their own native culture might not be able to fully relate to what these British kids are singing about. It kind of astounds me, too, just how early on artists were pandering to the (possibly huge and wealthy) American audience (and of course it didn't even start with The Beatles). We'll probably run into more examples of this as we go. 

That's all for today! See you tomorrow. :)

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Heard It Tally: 3

Songs Completed: 16