I Feel Fine

Great song today--"I Feel Fine" is a very well-known Beatles song. Written by Lennon and primarily riff-driven, John actually wrote the song around the riff itself. Lennon, speaking about the origin of the song, related how it got its start. 

"I wrote 'I Feel Fine' around that riff going on in the background," he recalled. "I told them I'd write a song specially for the riff. So they said, 'Yes. You go away and do that,' knowing that we'd almost finished the album Beatles for Sale. Anyway, going into the studio one morning, I said to Ringo, 'I've written this song but it's lousy.' But we tried it, complete with riff, and it sounded like an A side, so we decided to release it just like that."

Another neat aspect of the song is the innovative use of feedback. Although artists such as The KinksThe Who had been using feedback during their live performances, "Lennon remained proud of the fact that the Beatles were the first group to actually put it on vinyl." The way they "discovered" the feedback is a pretty cool story as well; I'll let Wikipedia tell it. and

According to McCartney, "John had a semi-acoustic Gibson guitar. It had a pick-up on it so it could be amplified... We were just about to walk away to listen to a take when John leaned his guitar against the amp. I can still see him doing it... it went, 'Nnnnnnwahhhhh!" And we went, 'What's that? Voodoo!' 'No, it's feedback.' Wow, it's a great sound!' George Martin was there so we said, 'Can we have that on the record?' 'Well, I suppose we could, we could edit it on the front.' It was a found object, an accident caused by leaning the guitar against the amp."

Haha, "Voodoo!" It's stuff like that--little accidents and twists of fate--that really add to the Beatles mythos. Overall, this is a really great song. It's one of John's happier tunes, showing a contentment that we don't often see in his songs.

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

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Heard It Tally: 9

Songs Completed: 68

She's a Woman

"She's a Woman" is one of two new songs from the album Beatles '65; it was sung by Paul and marked his attempt at sounding more like Little Richard. Since I listen to the song before beginning my daily post, I didn't recognize Paul's voice at all. For a second I even thought I was accidentally listening to a different band's version of the song. :P Overall, not my favorite; his voice just sounds so strained and weird.

Paul's adventurous vocal styling jumps the song up to a much higher register than even his tenor voice was accustomed to performing. As far as the lyrics are concerned, however, John seemed to be quite pleased with one specific line: "The lyrics 'turn me on,', were as John Lennon was quoted saying, 'so excited to say 'turn me on' — you know, about marijuana and all that... using it as an expression.'" Needless to say, the guys had been experimenting with drugs for quite some time before this point and had no doubt slipped a few references into their lyrics--though of course not nearly as many as they would in the near future. 

That's it for today... Tomorrow we'll hear the other "new" song from this album, and then it'll be on to the next one! See you then. :)

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Heard It Tally: 8

Songs Completed: 67

I Want to Hold Your Hand

Classic song today. "I Want to Hold Your Hand" (released on The Beatles' Long Tall Sally) marked the true beginning of Beatlemania--when this single hit the States, thousands of teenage girls fell in love simultaneously--and also provided a way in for other artists wishing to hop the pond, sparking the British invasion. It holds a quite respectable #16 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, and it appears on a myriad of lists--songs that changed the world, songs that shaped rock and roll, all-time best songs ever made ever, etc. The song was number one in the American charts for seven weeks; it was eventually replaced by "She Loves You". (It's probably less of a blow when your song gets replaced at the top by another one of your songs. :P )

It's pretty much universally accepted as a Beatles classic these days, but back then, there were some humbugs around. Below is a wiki quote detailing different reactions to the song.

The song was greeted by raving fans on both sides of the Atlantic but was dismissed by some critics as nothing more than another fad song that would not hold up to the test of time. Cynthia Lowery of the Associated Press expressed her exasperation with Beatlemania by saying of the Beatles: "Heaven knows we've heard them enough. It has been impossible to get a radio weather bulletin or time signal without running into 'I Want to Hold Your Hand'."

It reminds me of the popular T-shirt adage, often attributed to Dee Snider: "If it's too loud, you're too old." Clearly the youngsters were infatuated, and the mood was infectious. Even Bob Dylan caught the fever:

Bob Dylan was impressed by the Beatles' innovation, saying, "They were doing things nobody was doing. Their chords were outrageous, just outrageous, and their harmonies made it all valid." For a time Dylan thought the Beatles were singing "I get high" instead of "I can't hide". He was surprised when he met them and found out that none of them had actually smoked marijuana.

Honest mistake, I'm sure. :P 

My own impression of the song is extremely positive--it's one of those songs you either take to instantly, or immediately despise, so there's not much in between. I also love the romantic, slowed-down cover by T.V. Carpio in Across the Universe in all its anti-heteronormative glory.

This has been a great end to a crappy day. The Beatles always know how to cheer me up. :) I'll see you guys tomorrow!

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Heard It Tally: 3

Songs Completed: 37

From Me to You

Today's song, "From Me to You", is another one like yesterday's--it's the only song from its album (Twist and Shout) that I haven't already covered. Overall, I enjoyed listening to it--it's a really fun, sweet song. :) In its time, though, it was just okay-popular until Del Shannon did a cover of it, improving the popularity of the original. There's a lot of interesting stuff to read about this song on Wikipedia, so I'll pick and choose what caught my eye. 

The first thing was that Kenny Lynch, the British singer, songwriter, actor, etc., tried to help the guys write this song. However, something about their style must have put him off, because "he rushed to the front [of the tour bus] and shouted, 'Well, that's it. I am not going to write any more of that bloody rubbish with those idiots. They don't know music from their backsides. That's it! No more help from me!'" I think that's hilarious. :P John and Paul, who fully co-wrote the song, actually agreed and later called the song "rubbish"; however, "the song was regarded by the Beatles as innovative and catchy enough to be released as a single."

Another neat quote about this song comes from Paul, who said, "The thing I liked about 'From Me to You' was it had a very complete middle. It went to a surprising place. The opening chord of the middle section of that song heralded a new batch for me. That was a pivotal song. Our songwriting lifted a little with that song." Clearly Paul was pleased at least with the musical aspect of the song. Also, the first U.S. release of this song "it is still considered to be a rare record and highly sought-after by Beatles collectors." 

Well, that's it for today... I'll see you guys tomorrow!

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Heard It Tally: 1

Songs Completed: 30

This Boy

As I hopped on Wikipedia today to find out today's song, I realized I'll have to skip two albums (Beatlemania! With The Beatles (1963) and Introducing... The Beatles (1964)) because they're just rearrangements of songs I've already covered (mostly U.S. releases of their first UK albums). The song for today, "This Boy", is the only song from Meet The Beatles that I haven't heard, so I'll just do the song today, and skip an album summary. :)

"This Boy" was another attempt by John to write a Smokey-inspired song; he used "circular doo-wop chord changes" and various other techniques. John, Paul and George band together for the three-part harmonies. I really like this one--it's slower than a lot of their other songs so far, and a little bittersweet and plaintive.

Well, that's all I have for today. I wanted to find a little more history for the song, but BeatlesEBooks.com is down right now. I might revisit this post tomorrow if the site is back up, to add any interesting info I learn. :)

EDIT: Here's what I found on BeatlesEBooks.com about "This Boy". 

The Beatles were simply versatile.  They could rock and roll themselves right off the stage, but that was only a portion of their intention.  They naturally had a love for many different styles of music, including the softer side.  Lennon himself stated that the Beatles “never stuck to one style; They never just did blues, or just rock.  We loved all music,” even the “sentimental things” as John called them... Upon recollecting his personal songwriting abilities during the Beatle years, Lennon recalls “This Boy” and states, “I was writing melody with the best of them.”

Basically, The Beatles didn't just toss in "This Boy" to soften up the album; it was genuinely part of them as musicians and artists. Their soft and mushy side pops up a lot more often as they move out of their early period, but we'll talk about that later on. :)

See you tomorrow!

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Heard It Tally: 1

Songs Completed: 29