1960
At the start of January, fate lent another helping hand, as Lennon’s close friend Stu Sutcliffe won a cash prize for his art. More for their own sake than his, Lennon and McCartney cajoled him into buying a bass guitar, and despite being unable to play, he instantly became part of the group. At the same time, superfluous guitarist Ken Brown was jettisoned, leaving a striking new line up of Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Sutcliffe.
The Casbah gigs were stopped soon after, following a dispute between the band and Mona Best. But the group had finally found their mojo, and in an indication of their new impetus, they decided to ditch the out-dated name “Quarry Men” and find a new identity: Beatals (or Beatles, depending who was writing it down).
Things were coming together.
For a while in early-1960, Lennon was sharing a flat on Gambier Terrace with Stu Sutcliffe. Harrison would also move in briefly, making the premises the informal HQ for the Beatles. McCartney continued living at Forthlin Road however, and at least eight new songs are preserved from this crucial period, many of them recorded in his home. Listening through, we discover the following compositions, presumably written in the main between the summers of 1959 and 1960, and forming a backlog the group wanted to get down for reference purposes.
The Casbah gigs were stopped soon after, following a dispute between the band and Mona Best. But the group had finally found their mojo, and in an indication of their new impetus, they decided to ditch the out-dated name “Quarry Men” and find a new identity: Beatals (or Beatles, depending who was writing it down).
Things were coming together.
For a while in early-1960, Lennon was sharing a flat on Gambier Terrace with Stu Sutcliffe. Harrison would also move in briefly, making the premises the informal HQ for the Beatles. McCartney continued living at Forthlin Road however, and at least eight new songs are preserved from this crucial period, many of them recorded in his home. Listening through, we discover the following compositions, presumably written in the main between the summers of 1959 and 1960, and forming a backlog the group wanted to get down for reference purposes.
[29]
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some days (mccartney)
This song turns up on the 1960 tapes, but apparently nowhere else. A not unattractive little rock number, it is clearly McCartney’s work, and he takes lead vocals. The song (all 1:30 of it) has been worked out and structured with a guitar solo, and the lyric is complete (if simplistic). If McCartney had wanted to, he could have developed it into a decent song. (The title, incidentally, is presumed from the words.)
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[30]
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well, darling (mccartney)
A fairly uninspired slow blues, in which Lennon and McCartney harmonise the title phrase several times before McCartney takes the vocal stage (thereby indicating that the song is his). A rudimentary bass is prominent, and this would presumably be Stu Sutcliffe rather than McCartney. The title, “Well, Darling”, is of course an educated guess, and is, incidentally, the opening phrase of “You’ll Be Mine”, also recorded at the time (see below).
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[31]
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you must write every day (mccartney)
Sounding very much like a McCartney composition, this number is performed by him on the Forthlin Road tapes. At around two and a half minutes, the song is essentially complete and reasonably well done. There is no other evidence of it, bar this one scratchy recording.
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[32]
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you'll be mine (mccartney ?)
Something of a send-up, “You’ll Be Mine” features a hammy McCartney vocal at the bottom of his register, with Lennon joining in the fun with a possibly ad-libbed spoken section (“My darling, when you brought me that toast the other morning, I looked into your eye and I could see a National Health eyeball...”).
Somewhere between the Goons and Presley, the song is novel but ultimately lightweight, although it clearly has potential. It’s a shame it wasn’t treated more seriously. Nevertheless, its historical value was realised with its inclusion on Anthology 1 in 1994. |
[33]
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i don't know (lennon-mccartney)
This track is only known through the Forthlin Road tapes, where it sits with the series of instrumental jams. This one is a somewhat better structured blues number, with Lennon and McCartney vocalising together and separately, although a full lyric is impossible to decipher. It is presumed to be a co-write, and the lack of proper words suggests it was of recent creation, although probably not made up on the spot. The title is derived from something Lennon seems to sing – possibly referencing himself not knowing any words.
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[34]
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one after 909 (lennon)
Written at Forthlin Road (according to McCartney), “One After 909” was one of the group’s most successful early numbers. It has the distinction of being recorded three times within months of its arrival, and was also cited in McCartney’s contemporary promotional letter. It became a regular in the group’s stage act (when Lennon-McCartney numbers were mostly still being shunned), and was then captured twice on tape in the Cavern Club in 1962 (bootlegged).
The song seemed like a good prospect, and come 1963, was considered for their third EMI single. A studio was booked for a March 5 session, with “One After 909” and “Thank You Girl” scheduled for the day. Four or five takes of “One After 909” were captured but, as it turned out, Lennon and McCartney wrote “From Me To You” just days beforehand, and it was the obvious choice for the forthcoming single. But why was “One After 909” then consigned to the dustbin? The reasons are not clear; possibly the Beatles weren’t sure how to arrange it. It began life as an approximation of the ‘freight-train blues’ style (the ‘909’ being a rail car), but by the end of 1962 had evolved into a slow strut. Certainly the 1963 versions caused some problems during the session and are not great, but it still could have been salvaged. Yet the song seemed to have been abandoned at that stage and we don’t hear of it again until the Get Back sessions. Recalling the song rekindled Lennon and McCartney’s fondness for it, so that it was scheduled into the rooftop session of January 30, where a rollicking performance became the definitive take. “One After 909” was placed as the lead-off on the unreleased Get Back LP, although when re-produced and restructured as Let It Be, “909” had slipped down the order and was tucked halfway into side 2. In the years since, one of the 1963 versions has surfaced legally, and McCartney has performed it live more than once in his solo years, bootlegs of which have appeared. |
rECORDING: forthlin road, april and june, 1960
By far the most important artefacts from early-1960 are tapes of the group rehearsing at Forthlin Road, which included the sequence of new songs detailed above. These were made over two dates which have not been pinned down, but one was in April, the other in mid-June.
The line-up on these sessions was Lennon (guitar), McCartney (guitar), Harrison (guitar), Stu Sutcliffe (bass), and Mike McCartney (percussion). Details are sketchy however and it has been speculated that, on the evidence of the audio, Harrison might not have been present for the second date; the group were without a drummer, and were clearly guitar-heavy so could conceivably have played without him. The recordings are not great in terms of audio quality, but are fascinating nonetheless. We hear a good number of original songs, including early drafts of “I’ll Follow The Sun” and “One After 909”, as well as several others not otherwise preserved. |
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forthlin road instrumentals (group authorship)
The group taped themselves playing a number of instrumentals, and assigning titles to everything is tricky. The definitive CD, The Braun-Kirchherr Tapes, gives song titles on the back, and so we follow the title convention there, which identifies eight tracks as “Instrumental #1”, “Instrumental #2” and so on.
These tracks are of very poor sound quality, and all are rough and ready – seeming much like improvisations on typical rock and pop chord sequences. (The clearly organised structure of the older “Cayenne”, recorded between the jams, sits in clear contrast to the apparent aimlessness of these ‘songs’). A couple of the eight instrumentals have faint words being sketched out in the background, giving a possible means of titling them. Accordingly, they sometimes turn up on bootlegs with alternative names, and so Walter Everett mentions titles such as “Come On People” (Instrumental #4) and “I’ll Be Leaving” (Instrumental #6). Other sources give yet more (supposed) names. We should note that some otherwise unknown instrumentals were listed with titles in the 1959 song list. It's possible some of the recorded tracks are among those listed - there is no way of knowing. |
recording: phillips sound recording, summer 1960
Recall that the Quarry Men had visited Percy Phillips’ home studio to record “In Spite Of All The Danger” back in July 1958. At some stage over the summer of 1960 they went back, with one of their latest and best songs, “One After 909”, to repeat the trick. Only Lennon, McCartney and Harrison were on the recording this time, which was transferred to disc, and passed around the group and close friends. Sadly, unlike the earlier 78, it has been lost.
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There is another important item dating to this period, though nowhere near as interesting as the rehearsal tapes detailed above. At the time, McCartney and Stu Sutcliffe (at least) were sending out speculative letters to promoters, looking for openings and publicity for the group. One of these letters survives, written by McCartney. It is particularly fascinating for the fact that McCartney names several of the group’s self-penned songs, among them one which is otherwise entirely unknown:
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keep looking that way (writer unknown)
Since this is among the few compositions quoted, McCartney must have thought highly of it, and presumably it was in some state of completion. It is mentioned alongside “Thinking Of Linking” and “One After 909” as a song “composed with the modern audience in mind”. One supposes it is a rock and roll number of some sort.
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years roll along (mccartney)
This song was initially only on the record due to McCartney’s letter, which was first reproduced in the Beatles’ authorised biography of 1968 (by Hunter Davies). All that was then known was the song’s title, but this changed when it was recalled by its creator in his 1997 memoirs, Many Years From Now. There, he mentioned it as one he had not got around to finishing, and quoted the line, “It might have been winter when you told me”, which is as much substance as we have. This is one of several very early Beatles numbers rumoured to have been taped in 1962, without confirmation.
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In May 1960 (sometime between the two Forthlin Road tapes) local music manager Allan Williams took an interest in the Beatles, and did some work on their behalf. Through him, they finally found a drummer (Tommy Moore), and auditioned as backing group for Billy Fury. Although they failed that test, they did secure a tour of Scotland behind singer Johnny Gentle, and were travelling the roads from May 20 to May 28. (They were then going by the name Silver Beatles.) Arising from this tour, we have a tenuous song to add to the catalogue.
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i've just fallen for someone (lennon)
During the Scottish tour, Johnny Gentle (real name, Darren Young) played Lennon one of his songs in progress, “I’ve Just Fallen For Someone”, and claims that Lennon put forth a few suggested lyrics, which were kept in. If this is accurate, the song is technically a co-write. The track did come out as a single a couple of years later (on Parlophone), but Lennon was not credited. It was released under the name Darren Young, rather than Johnny Gentle.
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We have one more to add before moving on:
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world without love (mccartney)
McCartney recalled that this song was written (or started) in his head, during a late-night walk home in the first half of 1960. When he played it to the other Beatles, they found the opening line (“Please lock me away”) highly amusing, and so the song was never taken seriously nor incorporated into the group’s repertoire.
In early-1964, “World Without Love” was recalled and offered to Peter And Gordon to record as their first single. A 30-second demo recording which McCartney made for Peter Asher surfaced in 2013, and has the writer running through the first verse and refrain on acoustic guitar. Lennon has stated that at the time, “I think he changed the words”, indicating that the song was fleshed out and improved in 1964, as compared to the 1960 original. Peter And Gordon’s recording made number 1 on both sides of the Atlantic, and is the definitive version of the song. It is copyrighted to Lennon-McCartney. |
New songs seem to have dried up at this point, as the group were occupied with the new experience of being a seemingly non-stop live band. A key opportunity turned up in August 1960 as Allan Williams brought the group to the attention of German club owner Bruno Koschmider, who requisitioned them for a residency in Hamburg, which in the fullness of time, became the first of five visits of varying length.
By now, Tommy Moore had quit, leaving the group drummerless, but in their determination to get the Hamburg deal, the Beatles quickly auditioned, and recruited, Pete Best – and off they went to Germany.
The ensuing gigs are now legendary for their wild revelry, the group playing ridiculously long sets night after night, and enacting all sorts of madness on stage during the gruelling sessions. It has been pointed out that this (and subsequent visits) made the Beatles into a pretty decent live group, the sheer number of hours they put in sufficient to serve as a thorough apprenticeship for any band. It seems that during this period, a new song was devised:
By now, Tommy Moore had quit, leaving the group drummerless, but in their determination to get the Hamburg deal, the Beatles quickly auditioned, and recruited, Pete Best – and off they went to Germany.
The ensuing gigs are now legendary for their wild revelry, the group playing ridiculously long sets night after night, and enacting all sorts of madness on stage during the gruelling sessions. It has been pointed out that this (and subsequent visits) made the Beatles into a pretty decent live group, the sheer number of hours they put in sufficient to serve as a thorough apprenticeship for any band. It seems that during this period, a new song was devised:
[40]
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cry for a shadow (harrison-lennon)
This Shadows-esque guitar instrumental was apparently written by Lennon and Harrison as an improvised take on the Shadows’ recent hit, “Man Of Mystery”, which Rory Storm tried to teach them by whistling, before losing his way and giving up – leaving the two Beatles to continue jamming under their own direction. By this route they devised a completely new tune.
They christened their creation “Beatle Bop” and incorporated it into the group’s live sets. A recording survives which was eventually issued by EMI on the Anthology 1 album. The Polydor label had their hands on it first though, and without the group’s knowledge, re-named it “Cry For A Shadow”, in a clear nod to that other guitar group. Under that moniker it became the only Harrison-Lennon copyright. |
The group straggled home from Germany separately, and in some disarray in late-November, following a series of fraught incidents including legal disputes, a falling out with Bruno Koschmider and even arrests and deportations. But back in Liverpool they quickly reorganised themselves, ready to make their Cavern Club debut on February 9, 1961. (Technically not a debut, depending how you look at it; the Quarry Men played an isolated gig there in August 1957, but of the future Beatles, only Lennon was on the stage.)