Best of the Beatles (16 page)

‘To Know Her Is To Love Her’

(Phil Spector)

When Phil Spector attended his father’s funeral, the tombstone read, ‘To know him is to love him’ and, almost immediately, a song was born. He recorded the song in 1958 with his friends, Annette Kleinbard and Marshall Leib, as the Teddy Bears and with Sandy Nelson on drums. It was a US Number 1 and a UK Number 2.

The song’s construction is similar to Buddy Holly’s, so it is easy to see how it appealed to the Beatles. John took the lead vocal, now calling the song ‘To Know Her Is To Love Her’ and, again in the heat of the moment, he takes the song too fast – the
Live At The BBC
version is superior. In 1965 the song, as ‘To Know You Is To Love You’, was a Top 10 hit for Peter and Gordon. Another variant would be ‘To Know Me Is To Love Me’ – perhaps Liam Gallagher could record that.

Third Session

The Beatles

7 March 1962, Playhouse Theatre, Manchester, BBC Light Programme
Teenager’s Turn
. This was the Beatles’ first radio appearance for which they were paid a total of £30.

‘Dream Baby’

(Cindy Walker)

Cindy Walker, the writer of such country hits as ‘When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again’, ‘You Don’t Know Me’, and ‘Distant Drums’ met record producer Fred Foster and was asked to submit some songs for Roy Orbison. ‘I came home and wrote ‘Dream Baby’, ‘Love Star’ and ‘Shahdoroba’, she told Craig Baguley in
Country Music People
(November 1997), “and I put them in a little box to mail to Fred Foster. Then I took out ‘Dream Baby’ as I thought it was too repetitious, the same thing over and over. My mama said, “If you don’t send that, you haven’t got anything at all to send”, so I put it back in the box. About a week later, Fred Foster called me and played ‘Dream Baby’ by Roy Orbison. It sounded wonderful and if it hadn’t been for my mama I wouldn’t have sent it.”

‘Dream Baby’ was released in February 1962 and entered the UK charts on 8 March 1962, climbing to Number 2. At the BBC audition, the producer Pete Pilbeam wrote “John Lennon, yes: Paul McCartney, no”, but Paul was still allowed to perform the song he had just learnt, on their radio debut. Within 15 months, Roy Orbison would be conceding top billing to the Beatles.

‘Memphis Tennessee’

(Chuck Berry)

As before.

‘Please Mr Postman’

(Brian Holland/Robert Bateman/Berry Gordy Jr/William Garrett/Georgia Dobbins/F Gorman or Gorman/Brainbert)

If you have ‘Please Mr Postman’ in your collection, check out the writers. Like ‘Why Do Fools Fall In Love’ and
‘Louie Louie’ it is a song whose authorship is in doubt. I have listed the seven names that I have found on various versions, but perhaps Gladys Horton, the lead singer of the Marvelettes has the true story: “The original ‘Please Mr Postman’ was a blues written by William Garrett,” she told me, “It was something like (sings) ‘Please please please I want a letter from my baby,’cause she gone and left me.’” One of the girls in the group, Georgia Dobbins, who was a very good writer, asked William if she could use the title but change the song as we were too young to be singing the blues. BB King could have done the original song, but not us. Williams has heard that Berry Gordy had picked our group to record at Motown and he said, “You can do anything with the song, but make sure I get a writer’s credit.” She reconstructed the song and made it about a girl waiting for a letter from her boyfriend, and the only two names that should have been on ‘Please Mr Postman’ were William Garrett and Georgia Dobbins. We then took it to Motown.

Somewhere along the line, the label’s owner, Berry Gordy Jr, and the group’s producers, Brian Holland and Robert Bateman, were added to the credits, along with two names I can’t identify. “It happened a lot at Motown,” says Gladys, “I was the only person who wrote ‘Playboy’ but the producers’ names were added to the credits. Why should I have to share the credits?” ‘Playboy’ was a US Top 10 hit and the credits are particularly significant with ‘Please Mr Postman’ as the song has become a much-performed rock ’n’ roll classic.

In December 1961, the Marvelettes’ ‘Please Mr Postman’ was the first Tamla Motown single to top the US charts, although it failed to make the UK Top 30. “Sometimes you don’t pay attention to the mail till someone you love
moves away from you, then you’re looking for the postman and you think of the Marvelettes, “says Gladys, and I have another 10 minutes of her praising the US postal system. If she is not paid to publicise their services, she should be.

John Lennon took the lead vocal on the Beatles’ version and the song was included on their second album
With The Beatles
.

Fourth Session

Tony Sheridan and the Beatles

In May 1962, Tony Sheridan, Roy Young (piano) and the Beatles (Pete Best, George Harrison, John Lennon and Paul McCartney) recorded at Studio Rahistedt (also known as Studio Wandsbek), Hamburg and were produced by Bert Kaempfert and his assistant, Paul Murphy. According to Pete Best’s autobiography
Beatle!
he recorded ‘Sweet Georgia Brown’ and ‘Skinny Minnie’ at this session, but no tapes of the latter exist and it is more likely that Pete Best has confused it with a later recording of Sheridan’s.

‘Swanee
River’

(Stephen Foster)

Writing for minstrel shows, Stephen Foster (1826–64) became the first major pop songwriter and his compositions include ‘The Old Folks at Home’, ‘Camptown Races’, ‘Beautiful Dreamer’, ‘Jeannie With the Light Brown Hair’ and ‘Swanee River’. Ray Charles updated the last-named as ‘Swanee River Rock’ in 1957.

Again, Sheridan recorded the song without the Beatles in December 1961, and the later version without the Beatles has a slow introduction, which is sometimes omitted on reissue. The first version has not been released.

‘Sweet Georgia Brown’

(Ben Bernie/Maceo Pinkard/Kenneth Casey)

This song from the 1920s was associated with Pearl Bailey and Bing Crosby, but had been revived by the Coasters in 1957. Their stop-start arrangement is quite different from Sheridan’s.

Sheridan had recorded the song without the Beatles in December 1961, but this version lacks vocal harmonies and lasts 2 minutes and 25 seconds. The version with the Beatles has vocal harmonies and lasts 2 minutes. In 1964 the Beatles’ version was remixed and Sheridan added a new verse, written by Liverpool musician Paul Murphy, about the Beatles’ fame – and hairstyle. “We didn’t take that seriously,” says Sheridan. “I just thought the words were witty and I sang them.”

Live Recording

The Beatles

A recording made by a Beatles’ fan at the Cavern around June 1962 was bought by Paul McCartney at Sotheby’s in 1985. He only paid £2,310 for the tape and bootleg versions do not exist.

The Beatles’ set list was ‘Words of Love’, ‘What’s Your Name’, ‘Roll Over Beethoven’, ‘Ask Me Why’, ‘Hippy Hippy Shake’, ‘Till There Was You’, ‘If You Gotta Make a Fool of Somebody’, ‘Please Mr Postman’, ‘Sharing You’, ‘Your Feet’s Too Big’, ‘Dizzy Miss Lizzy’, ‘I Forgot to Remember to Forget’, ‘Matchbox’, ‘I Wish I could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate’, ‘Memphis, Tennessee’, ‘Young Blood’ and ‘Dream Baby’.

Fifth
Session

The Beatles

6 June 1962, EMI, Abbey Road, London.

‘Besame Mucho’

(Consuelo Velazques/Sunny Skylar)

Another version of the song recorded at the Decca auditions. Again, it is taken too fast, but this was the way the Beatles performed it. It was a strange choice as Jet Harris’ version was still in the charts. Garry Tamlyn: “The snare rhythm that Pete Best plays is similar to ‘Love Me Do’ and it is very tight drumming, which goes against my comments on ‘Love Me Do’. Maybe he just didn’t have enough time rehearsing that song.”

‘Love Me Do’

(John Lennon/Paul McCartney)

Garry Tamlyn: “This is slower in tempo than the Ringo Starr and Andy White versions. The cymbals are only audible in the breaks and the middle eights and it is really interesting to hear what Pete Best does. The first time he plays a shuffle rhythm all the way through, and the second time he reverts to an even quaver rhythm on cymbals with a syncopated snare drum rhythm – a Latin beat, really. He has some tempo variations, particularly in the second break. Even his quaver rhythms on cymbals are uneven. On this showing, it doesn’t surprise me that George Martin was critical of his drumming.”

Pete Best: “I did what I thought was right for the number at the time. The idea was to make the middle eight different from the rest of the tune which is something we had tried and tested in Germany. It is slightly slower and different from the other versions, but we were going to put some finishing touches on it.”

I also played Garry the Ringo Starr and Andy White versions. “You can’t hear the bass drum clearly on Ringo’s recording but the snare is very audible. It sounds as though he is playing a swing rhythm on the hi-hat or cymbals. The bass drum is very audible on the version with the session drummer and aligns with the bass guitar riff very well. The session drumming is very tight and very accurate, the best of the bunch.”

‘PS I Love You’

(John Lennon/Paul McCartney

EMI have not confirmed that this version of ‘PS I Love You’ still exists.

Sixth Session

The Beatles

11 June 1962, Playhouse Theatre, Manchester, BBC Light Programme,
Here We Go.

‘Ask Me Why’

(John Lennon/Paul McCartney

With ‘Ask Me Why’, John and Paul were trying to write in the style of Motown, albeit with a slight Latin-American influence. It is a fairly simple song but Lennon takes it for all it is worth with the way he stretches and bends words. It became the B-side of ‘Please Please Me’. Possibly John wrote it for Cynthia, although “You’re the only one that I’ve ever had” hardly fits this interpretation.

‘Besame Mucho’

(Consuelo Velazquez/Sunny Skylar)

And again…

‘A Picture of You’

(John Beveridge/Pete Oakman)

After a succession of steady sellers, Joe Brown topped the NME charts in July 1962 with the country-styled ‘A Picture of You’ written by two of his Bruvvers. At the time of the Beatles’ BBC recording, the song had just entered the Top 10.

Encouraged by George Harrison, the Beatles performed Joe’s hits ‘Darktown Strutters Ball’, ‘What A Crazy World Were Living In’ and ‘A Picture of You’. Geoff Taggart of St Helens’ group the Zephyrs says, “George was heavily influenced by Joe Brown who, in turn, had taken so much from Carl Perkins and Paul Burlison of the Johnny Burnette Trio. Often I hear George Harrison solos on Beatle records and I think, “He’s doing Joe Brown again.” George now lives near Joe in Henley-on-Thames and they have had private sessions recording George Formby songs for their own amusement.

If you want to compare drumming styles on particular songs, Pete Best and Ringo Starr have both recorded the following thirty-three songs. The Pete Best Band of the 1990s features two drummers, Pete and his brother, Roag. They play together on the recordings below.

The live recordings from the Star-Club in December 1962 were the subject of a court case in 1998. The Beatles gained the rights to the original tape and the TV-advertised 2 CD set was withdrawn. The tapes had previously appeared as a double-album in 1977 and the sound had been considerably improved for CD with new technology. The exploitation of these tracks was the major issue and, I hope, that in time, the Beatles will realise that they are not their ‘crummiest’ performances and release them in a fully-annotated package.

‘Ask Me Why’

• The Beatles with Pete Best (1962 recording on
  Pop Goes the Radio Vol 1
  , Italian CD)
  
• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (Parlophone single, 1962)
  

‘Back in the USSR’

• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (
  The Beatles
  LP, 1968)
  
• The Beach Boys with Ringo Starr (
  Fourth of July
  LP, 1986)
  
• The Pete Best Band (
  Once A Beatle, Always
  … CD, 1996)
  

‘Besame Mucho’

• The Beatles with Pete Best (Decca audition tape, 1962)
  
• The Beatles with Pete Best (1962 Parlophone audition on
  Anthology
  1 CD)
  
• The Beatles with Pete Best (1962 recording on
  Pop Goes the Radio Vol 1
  , Italian CD)
  
• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (
  Live! At The Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany
  , 1962 LP)
  
• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (
  Let It Be
  film soundtrack, 1970)
  

‘Boys’

• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (
  Please Please Me
  LP, 1963)
  
• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (1964 TV performance on
  Anthology
  1 CD)
  
• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (1964 live recording on
  The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl
  LP)
  
• Ringo Starr and his All Starr Band (
  Live from Montreux
  CD, 1993)
  
• Pete Best (US Cameo single, 1966) Despite the label, vocalist is Wayne Bickerton.
  

‘Can’t Buy Me Love’

• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (1964 outtake on
  Anthology
  1 CD)
  
• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (Parlophone single, 1964)
  
• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (1965 live recording on
  The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl
  LP)
  
• The Pete Best Band (
  Once A Beatle, Always
  … CD, 1996)
  

‘Crying Waiting Hoping’

• The Beatles with Pete Best (Decca audition tape, 1962)
  
• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (1963 version on
  Live at the BBC
  , CD)
  

‘Dizzy Miss Lizzy’

• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (
  Help!
  LP, 1965)
  
• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (1965 version on
  Live at the BBC
  CD)
  
• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (1965 live recording on
  The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl
  LP)
  
• The Pete Best Band (
  Back to the Beat
  CD, 1995)
  

‘A Hard Day’s Night’

• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (1964 outtake on
  Anthology
  1 CD)
  
• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (Parlophone single, 1964)
  
• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (1964 version on
  Live at the BBC
  CD)
  
• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (1965 live recording on
  The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl
  LP)
  
• The Pete Best Band (
  Once a Beatle, Always
  … CD, 1996)
  

‘Hippy Hippy Shake’

• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (
  Live! At The Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany
  , 1962 LP)
  
• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (1963 version on
  Live at the BBC
  CD)
  
• The Pete Best Band (
  Back to the Beat
  CD, 1995)
  

‘I’ll Get You’

• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (Parlophone B-side, 1963)
  
• The Pete Best Band (
  Imagine…The Sixties
  , video 1990)
  

‘I’m Down’

• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (1965 outtake on
  Anthology
  2 CD)
  
• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (Parlophone B-side, 1965)
  
• The Pete Best Band (
  Once a Beatle, Always
  … CD 1996)
  

‘I Saw Her Standing There’

• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (
  Please Please Me
  LP, 1963)
  
• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (1963 version on
  Live at the BBC
  CD)
  
• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (1963 live version on
  Anthology
  1 CD)
  
• The Pete Best Band (
  Back to the Beat
  CD, 1995)
  

‘Johnny B Goode’

• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (1964 version on
  Live at the BBC
  CD)
  
• The Pete Best Band (
  Back to the Beat
  CD, 1995)
  

‘Kansas City

• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (
  Live! At The Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany, 1962
  LP)
  
• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (1964 outtake on
  Anthology
  1 CD)
  
• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (
  Beatles for Sale
  LP, 1964)
  
• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (1963 version on
  Live at the BBC
  CD)
  
• The Pete Best Band (US Cameo single, 1966)
  

‘Long Tall Sally’

• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (
  Live! At The Star-Club in Hamburg
  ,
  Germany
  , 1962 LP)
  
• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (‘Long Tall Sally’ EP, 1964)
  
• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (1963 version on
  Live At The BBC
  CD)
  
• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (1964 TV performance on
  Anthology
  1 CD)
  
• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (1964 live recording on
  The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl
  LP)
  
• The Merseybeats with Pete Best (
  Merseybeat Magic
  video 1989)
  
• The Pete Best Band (
  Back to the Beat
  CD, 1995)
  

‘Love Me Do’

• The Beatles with Pete Best (1962 Parlophone audition tape on
  Anthology
  1 CD)
  
• The Beatles with Ringo Starr, drums (Parlophone single, 1962)
  
• The Beatles with Andy White, drums and Ringo Starr, tambourine (
  Please Please Me
  LP, 1963)
  
• The Beatles with Ringo Starr, drums (1963 version on
  Live at the BBC
  CD)
  
• The Pete Best Band (
  Back to the Beat
  CD, 1995)
  
• The Pete Best Band (
  Once a Beatle, Always
  … CD, 1996)
  
• Ringo Starr (
  Vertical Man
  CD, 1998)
  

‘Lucille’

• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (1963 version on
  Live at the BBC
  CD)
  
• The Pete Best Band (
  Live at The Adelphi
  CD, 1992)
  

‘Memphis Tennessee’

• The Beatles with Pete Best (Decca audition tape, 1962)
  
• The Beatles with Pete Best (1962 recording in
  Pop Goes the Radio Vol 1
  , Italian CD)
  
• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (1963 version on
  Live at the BBC
  CD)
  

‘Money (That’s What I Want)’

• The Beatles with Pete Best (Decca audition tape, 1962)
  
• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (
  With The Beatles
  , LP, 1963)
  
• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (1963 live version on
  Anthology
  1 CD)
  
• The Pete Best Band (
  Back to the Beat
  CD, 1995)
  

‘Mr Moonlight’

• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (
  Live! At The Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany, 1962
  LP)
  
• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (1964 outtake on
  Anthology
  1 CD)
  
• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (
  Beatles for Sale
  LP, 1964)
  
• The Pete Best Band (
  Once a Beatle, Always
  … CD, 1996)
  

‘Please Mr Postman’

• The Beatles with Pete Best (1962 recording in
  Pop Goes the Radio Vol 1
  , Italian CD)
  
• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (
  With The Beatles
  LP, 1963)
  

‘Please Please Me’

• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (1962 outtake on
  Anthology
  1 CD)
  
• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (Parlophone single, 1963)
  
• The Pete Best Band (
  Once a Beatle, Always
  … CD, 1996)
  

‘Revolution’

• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (Apple B-side, 1968)
  
• The Pete Best Band (
  Once a Beatle, Always
  … CD, 1996)
  

‘Rip It Up’

• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (1969 rehearsal on
  Anthology
  3 CD)
  
• The Pete Best Band (
  Live at The Adelphi
  CD, 1992)
  

‘Rock and Roll Music’

• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (
  Beatles For Sale
  LP, 1964)
  
• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (1964 version on
  Live at the BBC
  CD)
  
• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (1966 live performance on
  Anthology
  2 CD)
  
• Pete Best (
  Best of The Beatles
  US LP, 1965)
  
• The Pete Best Band (
  Once a Beatle, Always
  … CD, 1996)
  

‘Roll Over Beethoven’

• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (
  Live! At The Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany, 1962
  LP)
  
• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (
  With The Beatles
  LP,1963)
  
• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (1963 live version on
  Anthology
  1 CD)
  
• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (1964 version on
  Live at the BBC
  CD)
  
• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (1964 live recording on
  The Beatles at The Hollywood
  Bowl LP)
  
• The Pete Best Band (
  Back to the Beat
  CD, 1995)
  

‘Slow Down’

• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (1963 version on
  Live at the BBC
  CD)
  
• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (‘Long Tall Sally’ EP, 1964)
  
• The Pete Best Band (
  Live at The Adelphi
  CD, 1992)
  

‘Some Other Guy’

• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (1963 version on
  Live at the BBC
  CD)
  
• Pete Best (
  Best of The Beatles
  US LP, 1965)
  
• The Pete Best Band (
  Once a Beatle, Always
  … CD, 1996)
  

‘Sure To Fall’

• The Beatles with Pete Best (Decca audition tape, 1962)
  
• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (1963 version on
  Live at the BBC
  CD)
  
• Ringo Starr (
  Stop and Smell the Roses
  LP, 1981)
  

‘Ticket to Ride’

• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (Parlophone single, 1965)
  
• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (1965 version on
  Live at the BBC
  CD)
  
• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (1965 live TV performance on
  Anthology
  2 CD)
  
• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (1965 live recording on
  The Beatles at The Hollywood Bowl
  LP)
  
• The Pete Best Band (
  Once a Beatle, Always
  … CD, 1996)
  

‘Till There Was You’

• The Beatles with Pete Best (Decca audition tape, 1962)
  
• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (
  Live! At The Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany, 1962
  LP)
  
• The Beatles with Ringo Starr, bongos (
  With The Beatles
  LP, 1963)
  
• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (1963 live version on
  Anthology
  1 CD)
  
• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (1964 version on
  Live at the
  BBC
  CD)
  

‘To Know Her Is To Love Her’

• The Beatles with Pete Best (Decca audition tape, 1962)
  
• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (
  Live! At The Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany
  ,
  1962
  LP)
  
• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (1963 version on
  Live at the BBC
  CD)
  

‘Twist and Shout’

• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (
  Please Please Me
  LP, 1963)
  
• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (1963 live version on
  Anthology
  1 CD)
  
• The Beatles with Ringo Starr (1965 live recording on
  The Beatles at The Hollywood Bowl
  LP)
  
• The Pete Best Band and Merseycats ensemble (
  Imagine…The Sixties
  , video 1990)
  
• The Pete Best Band (
  Back to the Beat
  CD, 1995)