1958
The group continued into 1958 in the same vein as 1957, writing more songs...
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that's my woman (LENNON)
No recording is known of “That’s My Woman”, a song which has only occasionally been mentioned over the years. John appears to have been the main writer, and was quoted in 1964, saying, "The first song I ever wrote was called 'Hello Little Girl', then 'That's My Woman'" - which points at perhaps early 1958 as the period (give or take). Mark Lewisohn also situates it here in the chronology, naming it in The Beatles: Tune In during his discussion of the early 1958 period.
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because i know you love me so (lennon-mccartney)
Mark Lewisohn dates this song to January 1958, and the opening line, “Wake up in the morning” recalls the start of McCartney’s “I Lost My Little Girl” (“I woke up late this morning”) suggesting that it was derived from that lyric. But Lewisohn also points out that the Quarry Men never performed it – and their reticence is odd; the song is pretty decent by early standards.
The first audio of the song originates from the Get Back sessions, where Lennon and McCartney led the group through a spirited rendition with lead vocal harmonies, interrupting rehearsal of “One After 909”. That recording, made on January 3, 1969, leaked out on bootlegs under the assumed title “Wake Up In The Morning”. It is interesting how well the two Beatles recalled tune and lyrics, after a decade or so of (apparent) dormancy for the song. Come 2003, this rough and ready recording was selected among the bonus material for the album, Let It Be... Naked, where we hear about a minute and a half of the two and a half minute performance. Here it is given an official name, “Because I Know You Love Me So”. For this listener, the song surpasses “One After 909” as a composition, and would have made a nice addition to the Let It Be LP had the group given it some serious attention. |
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i call your name (lennon)
Written at the start of 1958, as a stab at the blues idiom, Lennon developed this song with McCartney in his bedroom at Mendips (251 Menlove Avenue). The Quarry Men/Beatles apparently never performed it, but in 1963 is was exhumed for one of Brian Epstein’s acts – Billy J Kramer and the Dakotas – who used it as a B-side (to Lennon-McCartney’s “Bad To Me”).
Lennon apparently felt he could do better and so the Beatles made their own version in March 1964, which slipped out on the Long Tall Sally EP. It has since been brought to the CD medium, courtesy of the compilation, Past Masters. |
The Quarry Men now had two very capable front men, with Lennon as the unofficial leader, but about a month into 1958, matters took another decisive turn. McCartney knew his friend George Harrison had enthusiasm and aptitude for the guitar, plus a love of rock and roll – and decided to try and get him into the group. Lennon was dubious (Harrison was 14 going on 15, whereas Lennon was 17 – quite a gap) but McCartney knew that his pal was a pretty capable musician, and pressed the point.
Harrison’s ‘audition’ took place on the top deck of a bus when the three happened to be together with a guitar, and egged on by McCartney, Harrison showed off his talents with a rendition of the rock song “Raunchy”. And so, after a bit of deliberation from Lennon, he was allowed in. Three quarters of what would become the Beatles was now in place, and the Quarry Men gained a handy lead guitarist.
What of the songwriting? Lennon and McCartney continued into 1958, although not many songs are known. It seems that McCartney was the main motivator, although information is sketchy. There are two more songs we can pin to the first half of the year.
Harrison’s ‘audition’ took place on the top deck of a bus when the three happened to be together with a guitar, and egged on by McCartney, Harrison showed off his talents with a rendition of the rock song “Raunchy”. And so, after a bit of deliberation from Lennon, he was allowed in. Three quarters of what would become the Beatles was now in place, and the Quarry Men gained a handy lead guitarist.
What of the songwriting? Lennon and McCartney continued into 1958, although not many songs are known. It seems that McCartney was the main motivator, although information is sketchy. There are two more songs we can pin to the first half of the year.
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love me do (mccartney)
“Love Me Do” was McCartney’s, worked out in early-1958. Years later, McCartney described it as a 50-50 write with Lennon, but his partner would later deny involvement, and most agree that it’s manly McCartney’s number. In any case, the original song lacked a middle-8, and it seems that the contrasting section (“Someone to love...”) was not added until mid-1962, when the two writers were consciously trying to come up with new material. (Lennon seemed to have some input into this later part.)
As we know, the song was eventually recorded for EMI three times, and the second of these (featuring Starr on drums) came out as the group’s debut single in October 1962. Several other versions have also appeared including BBC radio recordings, one of which has been released officially on The Beatles Live! At The BBC. The first (Pete Best) studio take is now available on Anthology 1, while a somewhat different rendition from the 1969 Get Back sessions has circulated on bootlegs. In addition, both McCartney and Starr have released their own solo recordings of the track. “Love Me Do” has earned a special status among the group’s recordings, and is universally seen as the song which launched their career proper. It has appeared as the lead-off track on several albums including The Beatles 1962-66, 20 Greatest Hits, Past Masters and 1. On the 20th anniversary of its first release, it was re-issued on single and charted at number 4 in the UK charts. It has been pressed on 7-inch, 12-inch, picture disc, CD single and cassette single, as well as released as a digital download. It will always be the song which marked the Beatles’ arrival, and with them the start of ‘the 1960s’. |
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in spite of all the danger (mccartney)
This song was written by McCartney in deliberate imitation of Elvis Presley’s “Trying To Get To You” during the early months of 1958. McCartney presented it to the group, and it fell to Harrison to provide a guitar solo. Absorbed into the group’s act, the song was apparently sung by Lennon, making it something of a team effort in the end.
A recording of the song was soon made (see below), and as a result, it was possible to unveil it to the wider public in 1995, with its inclusion in the Anthology project. This edition has the original recording pared down by around 40 seconds to 2:44. (Bootlegs purporting to contain the full-length original are taken from the Anthology version and re-edited to extend the play time again; the original has never been heard outside of the Beatles’ inner circle.) An interesting cover version was released in 2004, by a group called the Quarrymen, made up of former members. Included on the CD, Songs We Remember, the recording featured Eric Griffiths, Rod Davis, Len Garry and Colin Hanton. |
Recording: phillips sound recording, july 1958
“In Spite Of All The Danger” was captured for all posterity in the summer of 1958, when it was recorded by the Quarry Men at Phillips Sound Recording Service, located at 38 Kensington in Liverpool (studio owner Percy Phillips’ home address). The group – consisting that day of Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, John ‘Duff’ Lowe (piano) and Colin Hanton (drums) – recorded it live into a single microphone, along with a rendition of Buddy Holly’s “That’ll Be The Day”.
They subsequently had the songs copied to either side of a 78rpm, 10-inch acetate, for a fee of 17/6, which was passed between the group members like treasure. The original tape was recorded over. Naive in the legalities of the music business, McCartney and Harrison assumed that because the latter had written the guitar solo, the song needed a joint credit, and accordingly both names were written down on the label, so the copyright is uniquely McCartney-Harrison. The disc is now considered the rarest (or more correctly, the most valuable) record in the world. McCartney is the envied owner. Recognising the poignancy of this artefact, McCartney had sound engineers clean up the recording in the early 1980s, and had 50 replica copies manufactured, which he gave out as Christmas presents to friends. (George Martin is known to have received one of them.) |
Another traumatic time for Lennon. His absent mother Julia, with whom he had become close in his teens, and who taught him to play music, was killed in July 1958. By all accounts, Lennon was knocked sideways, and would not be able to come to terms with the loss until he was in his 30s. A wild and unpredictable art student, Lennon kept up interest in the rebellious Quarry Men through the rest of 1958, although his focus was gone and things were comparatively quiet for the group, with very few live bookings coming along. The two songs known to date to some point after the summer of 1958 are as follows:
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fancy me chances with you (lennon-mccartney)
This song was composed by Lennon and McCartney together in the latter half of 1958. It seems to have been conceived as a comedic song, possibly as part of a musical play the two were musing. (There is evidence that they did some early sketching of a number of plays at the time, none of which came to anything.)
The song was actually captured on tape at the end of 1958, in a recording made by the group’s friend and would-be manager, Derek Hodkin, although that tape is long gone. Nonetheless, it seems they didn’t rate it much, as it was never performed on stage. However another precious recording was made on January 24, 1969, during the Get Back sessions. Here, Paul and John jam the song in thick scouse accents in a rough but enjoyable rendition. It seems probable that (like, say, “Polythene Pam”) it was always intended to be sung that way, adding to the comedy dimension. This is all that remains of the number. Due to its presence on the Get Back tapes, the track has been heavily bootlegged. It initially went by the presumed name “I Fancy Me Chances”, but when it was officially issued as part of the bonus disc for Let It Be... Naked in 2003, it was given the above, now definitive, title. |
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catswalk (mccartney)
One of several instrumentals, this one is principally by McCartney and was probably written in late-1958. The song was one of a few originals incorporated into the group’s live act, where it stayed until 1962. By luck, a tape of the Beatles rehearsing the song twice was captured in late-1962 at the Cavern Club, and these recordings have circulated on bootleg CDs. These versions have the song arranged Shadows-style, with dominant lead guitar figures.
McCartney wasn’t done with it however, and in July 1967, assisted Chris Barber with the recording of a rather different version which came out as a single that October, with the song titled by its other name, “Catcall”. (It didn’t chart.) In a break from protocol, the song was formally copyrighted without Lennon’s name being added. A tiny fragment of the song also turns up in bootlegged tapes from the 1969 Get Back sessions (January 24). More recently a legal edition of the Beatles’ Cavern performances has appeared on the double LP, I Saw Her Standing There on the Rock Melon label. This collection of miscellaneous 1962 material was made possible by the expiry of the 50-year legal protection period on unreleased recordings, which made these and other tapes fair game in 2013. |