Who Wrote the Beatle Songs

by Todd M Compton

  “You’re Going to Lose That Girl” was written by John and Paul together at John’s house in Weybridge . . . . It was John’s original idea, estimated by Paul as about 60 per cent written by John and 40 per cent by himself. [53]

  I tend to think there was usually collaboration on the early Beatle songs, so accept that this was a John song developed with collaboration.

  Ticket to Ride — (Lennon-McCartney)

  See “Ticket to Ride / Yes It Is” single, above.

  SIDE TWO

  Act Naturally (COVER) (Johnny Russell, Vonie Morrison)

  (lead vocals: Ringo)

  This song was a country hit for Buck Owens and the Buckaroos in 1963.

  It’s Only Love — (Lennon-McCartney)

  (lead vocals: John) (recorded on June 15, 1965)

  This song was begun by John, then developed in a songwriting session with Paul at John’s house. John claimed it in 1971 (“Me. . . . Terrible lyric” [54] ) but Paul described it as a collaborative song from John’s “original idea.” [55]

  Both writers found the song distinctly subpar. “The lyrics were abysmal. I always hated that song,” said John in 1980. [56] Paul described it as “album filler.” [57]

  I conclude that it was started by John, then finished with collaboration.

  You Like Me Too Much (Harrison)

  (lead vocals: George) (recorded on February 17, 1965)

  I have found no comments by George on this song, which didn’t make it into the movie.

  Tell Me What You See — (McCartney-Lennon)

  (lead vocals: John and Paul) (recorded on February 18, 1965)

  This was a Paul song, apparently finished with collaboration. The second verse, “Big and black the clouds may be, time will pass away. / If you put your trust in me I'll make bright your day,” seems to be based on a religious poem that hung in a frame in John’s house: “However black the clouds may be, / In time they’ll pass away. / Have faith and trust and you will see / God’s light make bright your day.” So the words to this verse may have been substantially written by John, from this “found” source. [58]

  John ascribed this to Paul, in 1971 and 1980. [59]

  Paul’s comments on the song in 1995 are less than enlightening. He wanders, giving various possibilities for authorship. It could be entirely his (“I seem to remember it as mine. . . . it might have been totally me.”) or it could have been a fairly equal collaboration (“I would claim it as a 60-40 . . . they [the early McCartney and Lennon] did a job.”). [60]

  One wonders, if it is possible that it was a pure Paul song, why the alternative to 100% would be 60-40, instead of 70-30 or 80-20. (Another reason these numerical attributions are usually not helpful.) In any event, Paul is the dominant writer. Since this is an early Beatle song, I lean toward the “Paul song, finished with collaboration” alternative.

  I’ve Just Seen a Face — (McCartney)

  (lead vocals: Paul) (recorded on June 14, 1965)

  Paul composed this “slightly country and western” song at the Asher residence on Wimpole Street. [61] Known first as “Auntie Gin’s Theme,” because Paul’s Aunt Gin (Jane Virginia McCartney Harris, Paul’s father’s sister) was especially fond of it, George Martin recorded it under that name. [62] (Auntie Gin later appeared in the lyrics of “Let Em In.”)

  Paul and John agreed that this was a Paul song. “I think of this as totally by me,” Paul said in 1995. “It was from my point of view.” [63] In 1980, John said, “That’s Paul.” [64]

  It was recorded on June 14, 1965, the same day that two other songs by Paul, “Yesterday” and “I’m Down,” were recorded. This breadth looked forward to the astounding stylistic range of albums such as Revolver and the White Album .

  Yesterday — (McCartney)

  (lead vocals: Paul) (recorded on June 14, 17, 1965

  “Yesterday” offers possibly the most famous composition story in the entire Beatle canon, as the music came to Paul in a dream. He wrote/dreamed it at the Asher home in Wimpole Street in May 1965, during the filming of Help! (which would have been before May 11, when filming ended). [65] Curiously, George Martin reported that he first heard “Yesterday,” without lyrics, in January 1964, at the George V Hotel in Paris, [66] and Ray Coleman, who interviewed Paul extensively on this song in 1995, said that he wrote/dreamed it in late 1963. [67] But I accept the later date, as the song seems of very middle-Beatle vintage. [68]

  As Paul has told the story many times, he woke up with the main melody of the song complete in his mind: “I awoke with this tune in my head. [He hums the tune: ‘Da da da . . .’] I thought: what is that ? I know that . I know that .” [69] He at first thought it must have been one of the old standards his father would play, but he couldn’t remember which one. He jumped out of bed, then picked out the chords and melody on a piano. “I got the G,” he remembered in 1995, “then I got the nice F sharp minor seventh, that was the big waaaahhhh. That led very naturally to the B which led very naturally to the E minor. It just kept sort of tumbling out with those chords. I thought: well, this is very nice, but it’s a nick, it’s a nick [stolen from another song]. I don’t know what it is.” [70]

  Giving the tune the sentimental working title “Scrambled Egg,” [71] he was never certain that the music was original, so began playing it for people, asking: “Is this like something? I think I’ve written it.” [72] He played it for the singer Alma Cogan: “‘Scrambled egg, oh my baby how I love you leg. da da da da’ And she said, ‘Well I’m not too keen on the lyric, but it’s a nice tune.’ And I said, ‘But you’ve heard it.’ ‘No,’ she said, ‘I haven’t heard it. No it’s a good one.’” [73] He played it for John, for George Martin, for a number of older people, and even to experienced songwriter Lionel Bart. [74] No one recognized the tune.

  Eventually, after he convinced himself that he had indeed written an original melody in his sleep, he worked out the “middle eight” for it at Wimpole Street. [75] However, when he tried to add serious lyrics, he came to a block. During the filming of Help , from February to May 11, 1965, the final lyrics were still not there, though Paul performed the song frequently on the set. [76]

  On May 27 Paul and Jane Asher went on vacation to Albufeira, Portugal, a fishing village where one of the Shadows, Bruce Welch, had a villa. As they were being driven from the Lisbon Airport to Albufeira, Paul started to work on the song, and the final lyrics suddenly came to him. On arriving at the villa, he played the new lyrics to Welch, then continued polishing them during the vacation. [77]

  When he came back to London, he played the completed song for John, the other Beatles, and George Martin. Martin had reservations about the title because there was already a song called “Yesterdays,” but Paul insisted on the singular “Yesterday,” and told Martin the song was ready for recording. [78]

  When Paul played it for the Beatles at the studio, they were reluctant to add vocals or other instruments to Paul’s acoustic guitar. John said: “It’s yours. It’s good. Just you and an acoustic guitar would be all right.” [79] So on June 14, 1965, Paul recorded “Yesterday” with guitar alone. [80]

  When George Martin suggested adding strings to the song, Paul at first balked, not wanting to introduce a sugary sweet Mantovani sound into a Beatles record. But George suggested that they at least try adding a restrained string quartet, with no vibrato. Paul came to Martin’s house and they worked out the string parts. [81] After the strings were recorded on June 17, Paul was pleased with the addition. The song was complete.

  Given the beauty, complexity and sophistication of “Yesterday,” and the fact that it has become one of the most recorded songs in history, this is a remarkable story. In fact, Paul viewed the composition of this song as something unexplainable, mysterious, almost supernatural.

  Both Paul and John generally ascribed “Yesterday” entirely to Paul; in fact, none of the other Beatles even perform on the record. (Though the Beatles did perform it live as a group occasionally.) As early as 1965, Paul gav
e it as an example of a song he’d written entirely on his own: “What did I write on my own? Oh, ‘World Without Love,’ ‘Yesterday,’ Can’t Buy Me Love,’ ‘All My Loving,’ and quite a few others. Mine are normally a bit soppier than John’s. That’s because I am a bit soppier than John.” [82] In 1968, he also claimed authorship: “Q My favourite is “Yesterday.” How did you write it? You know, I just started playing it and this tune came, ‘cause that’s what happens. They just sort of, they come, you know.” [83] And in 1973, asked “Do you feel stronger about that song than the others?” he replied, “I do, actually, you know. I really reckon ‘Yesterday’ is probably my best.” [84]

  John generally agreed that Paul wrote the song. “‘Yesterday’ I had nothing to do with,” he said in 1970. [85] He sometimes told the anecdote of a Spanish violinist playing “Yesterday” for him and asking him to sign the violin. “I didn’t know what to say. I said: ‘Well, OK.’ I signed it and Yoko signed it. One day he’s going to find out that Paul wrote it.” [86]

  However, there is just the slightest hint of complexity in the song’s composition history. In 1967, Paul said that the actual title, “Yesterday,” came from John.

  Well this is Paul taking up the story in a slight villa in Corsica [sic], strumming away on a medieval guitar. I thought, “Scrambled egg,” but I never could finish it. And eventually, I took it back, and with the ancient wisdom of the east, John came out with, “Yesterday.” So I thought, That’s the name of the story for that one. [87]

  If John did provide the title, this would be a significant impact on the song, for the rest of the lyrics sometimes would develop from the title. [88] However, Paul’s tone here is light, and he was probably simply joking around. About a year later, he said, “It was called ‘Scrambled Egg’ for a couple of months. . . (laughter ) until I thought of ‘Yesterday’ and that’s it.” [89]

  In 1965, John speaks of some collaborative work on the song: it “was around for months and months before we finally completed it. Paul wrote nearly all of it but we just couldn’t find the right title. . . . We almost had it finished . . . Then one morning Paul woke up — and the song and the title were both there — completed.” [90] (This is somewhat different from Paul’s 1967 interview). In 1966, John said, “‘Yesterday’ is Paul completely on his own, really.” This seems straightforward. But then John continued, “We just helped finishing off the ribbons ‘round it, you know — tying it up.” [91] So there was some help by John (and possibly George), though it was small finishing touches.

  Then, in 1970, John stated flatly, “‘Yesterday’ I had nothing to do with.”

  In view of the weight of testimony for Paul’s full authorship, I think we can accept it. I assume those early statements suggesting collaboration were made when it was customary for the Beatle songwriters to speak of collaboration. But if further early evidence for minor collaboration appears, we might want to see this as a McCartney song with some final edits from John, rather than completely a McCartney song.

  Dizzy Miss Lizzie (COVER) (Larry Williams)

  (lead vocals: John)

  As we have seen, the Beatles used to finish live sets with screamers, and their early albums were modeled on their live shows. John continues the tradition here, with a song that Larry Williams had released as a single in 1958. Other Beatle versions of this song appear on Live at the BBC , and the Plastic Ono Band’s Live Peace in Toronto 1969 .

  * * *

  [1] McCartney, in Anthology , 171.

  [2] Coleman, “Wish Elvis All the Best in Aladdin .”

  [3] Read, “McCartney on McCartney,” episode 2.

  [4] Miles, Many Years from Now , 193.

  [5] Cott, “The Rolling Stone Interview with John Lennon” (1968). Some less conclusive comments on the song: Wenner, Lennon Remembers , 81; Sheff, The Playboy Interviews, 205.

  [6] Nigel Hunter, interview with George Martin and Dick James, Disc Weekly , April 17, 1965 (Sandercombe, The Beatles: Press Reports , 123).

  [7] Ibid.

  [8] Hennessey, “Who Wrote What,” Record Mirror . Lost Lennon Tapes, Sept. 23, 1991 and March 20, 1989, cf. Sheff, The Playboy Interviews, 205.

  [9] “Ticket to Top Spot! Beatles Crush Knockers,” Melody Maker 40 (Apr. 17, 1965): p. 1. See also Read, “McCartney on McCartney,” episode 2.

  [10] Nigel Hunter, interview with George Martin and Dick James, Disc Weekly , April 17, 1965 (Sandercombe, The Beatles: Press Reports , 123).

  [11] Miles, Many Years from Now , 193.

  [12] Lost Lennon Tapes, March 20, 1989 (“That’s me, trying to rewrite ‘This Boy, but it didn’t work”), cf. Sheff, The Playboy Interviews, 205.

  [13] Miles, Many Years From Now , 176.

  [14] Ibid.

  [15] For Larry Williams, see “Slow Down” on the Long Tall Sally EP, above.

  [16] Miles, Many Years from Now , 199.

  [17] Ibid.

  [18] Article in Disc Weekly, July 31, 1965 (Sandercombe, The Beatles: Press Reports , 133).

  [19] Miles, Many Years from Now , 199.

  [20] Anthology , 171.

  [21] Director Richard Lester tells the story of Paul and John writing the song in a twenty-five minute cab ride. Soderbergh and Lester, Getting Away With It (1999), 62. This contradicts the memories of Paul and John, so should be rejected. Possibly they worked on it during a cab ride.

  [22] Hennessey, “Who Wrote What,” Record Mirror (on a list of songs John said he’d written alone). Wenner, Lennon Remembers , 9.

  [23] Lennon, Rolling Stone Interview, Dec. 1970, BBC, part 1, cf. Wenner, Lennon Remembers , 9.

  [24] Lennon, Rolling Stone Interview, Dec. 1970, BBC, part 4, cf. Wenner, Lennon Remembers , 98.

  [25] McCabe and Schonfeld, John Lennon: For the Record (1971), 118.

  [26] Sheff, The Playboy Interviews, 185.

  [27] Lost Lennon Tapes, March 21, 1988, cf. Sheff, The Playboy Interviews, 186-87.

  [28] Article in Disc Weekly, July 31, 1965 (Sandercombe, The Beatles: Press Reports , 133).

  [29] Beatles, “Beatles Interview: Bahamas, Promoting ‘Help’ Movie - May 1965.”

  [30] “Paul and Linda McCartney Interview,” Playboy , 107.

  [31] deCurtis, In Other Words , 61.

  [32] McCartney, Press Conference, 1 May 1993, Georgia Dome, Atlanta. See also Miles, Many Years from Now , 199.

  [33] Ibid., 199.

  [34] In From Rio to Liverpool (1990), a documentary.

  [35] Read, “McCartney on McCartney,” episode 2. Cf. Gambaccini, Paul McCartney In His Own Words , 9; McCartney in October 1964, as quoted in Turner, A Hard Day’s Write , 73. Miles, Many Years from Now , 201.

  [36] Miles, Many Years from Now , 201.

  [37] Hennessey, “Who Wrote What,” Record Mirror.

  [38] Sheff, The Playboy Interviews, 204.

  [39] Hennessey, “Who Wrote What,” Record Mirror.

  [40] Sheff, The Playboy Interviews, 204.

  [41] Miles, Many Years from Now , 195.

  [42] Wenner, Lennon Remembers , 83. See also Hennessey, “Who Wrote What,” Record Mirror (in a list of songs John wrote alone); Aldridge, Beatles Illustrated Lyrics , 239.

  [43] Sheff, The Playboy Interviews, 206. Similar attributions to John influenced by Dylan: Garbarani, “Paul McCartney: Lifting the Veil,” (1980), 48; Goodman, “Playboy Interview Paul and Linda McCartney” (1984), 107. Snow, “Paul McCartney.”

  [44] Gambaccini, “The Rolling Stone Interview.”

  [45] Miles, Many Years from Now , 195.

  [46] Beatles, Interview, August 13-24, 1965, as summarized in Winn, Way Beyond Compare , 351.

  [47] McDonald, Revolution in the Head , 116.

  [48] Miles, Many Years from Now , 194.

  [49] Sheff, The Playboy Interviews, 205 It is also on a list of “songs which John attributed directly to Paul.” Hennessey, “Who Wrote What,” Record Mirror .

  [50] Cynthia Lennon, John , 224.

  [51] Miles, Many Years from Now , 195.
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br />   [52] Aldridge, Beatles Illustrated Lyrics , 196. Similar: Sheff, The Playboy Interviews, 206.

  [53] Miles, Many Years from Now , 195.

  [54] Hennessey, “Who Wrote What,” Record Mirror. Similar: Sheff, The Playboy Interviews, 187. See also Lennon in 1969, as quoted by Turner, Hard Day’s Write , 82.

  [55] Miles, Many Years from Now , 200.

  [56] Lost Lennon Tapes, Oct. 21, 1991, cf. Sheff, The Playboy Interviews, 187.

  [57] Miles, Many Years from Now , 200.

  [58] A version of this is in Spaniard in the Works . Lydon, “Lennon and McCartney: Songwriters,” also in Lydon, Flashbacks: Eyewitness Accounts of the Rock Revolution , 16-17. Lewisohn, Tune In , extended, 2:1196.

  [59] Hennessey, “Who Wrote What,” Record Mirror. Sheff, The Playboy Interviews, 205.

  [60] Miles, Many Years from Now , 200.

  [61] Ibid.

  [62] Harry, Paul McCartney Encyclopedia , entry on the song.

  [63] Miles, Many Years from Now , 200.

  [64] Sheff, The Playboy Interviews, 205. John also put it on a list of songs written by Paul alone. Hennessey, “Who Wrote What,” Record Mirror.

  [65] Miles, Many Years from Now , 201. In 1982, Martin said that Paul told him that he had the tune for about a month before he had the lyric. This would also date the song’s first composition to about May 1965. Tobler and Grundy, “George Martin.”

  [66] Lewisohn, The Beatles Recording Sessions , 59.

  [67] Coleman, McCartney: Yesterday . . . and Today , 6-7. Paul also tells the story of this song in great detail in Miles, Many Years from Now , 201-9. It is possible that Coleman was working with the “Martin” chronology, as he quotes Martin when discussing Paul playing the song in France in early 1964, see p. 12.

  [68] Richard Lester said that Paul played “Yesterday” constantly on the set of Help! Winn, Way Beyond Compare , 305. See also Coleman, McCartney: Yesterday . . . and Today , 15-16. The movie was filmed from February to May 11, 1965. Publisher Dick James said he first heard it on the set of the movie, in the Beatle flat with four doors. Nigel Hunter, interview with Dick James, Oct. 9, 1965 (Sandercombe, The Beatles: Press Reports , 143).