Piggies
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Not Guilty
For You Blue
All Things Must Pass
Old Brown Shoe
Something
I Me Mine
Song: Blue Jay WayDuration: 3.54 Track No.: 4 Composer: Harrison Vocals: George Harrison Year: 1967
Lyrics:
There's a fog upon L.A. And my friends have lost their way They'll be over soon they said Now they've lost themselves instead. Please don't be long please don't you be very long Please don't be long for I may be asleep Well it only goes to show And I told them where to go Ask a policeman on the street There's so many there to meet Please don't be long please don't you be very long Please don't be long for I may be asleep Now It's past my bed I know And I'd really like to go Soon will be the breath of day Sitting here in Blue Jay Way Please don't be long please don't you be very long Please don't be long for I may be asleep. Please don't be long please don't you be very long Please don't be long Please don't be long please don't you be very long Please don't be long Please don't be long please don't you be very long Please don't be long Don't be long - don't be long - don't be long Don't be long - don't be long - don't be long
Instruments & additional info.:
[*1:] Harrison: double-tracked vocal, backing vocal, Hammond organ McCartney: backing vocal, bass Lennon: backing vocal Starr: drums, tambourine Uncredited: cello Rec.: 6th/7th September, 6th October 1967 Rel. UK: 8th December 1967 (2-EP Magical Mystery Tour) Rel. US: 27th December 1967 (LP Magical Mystery Tour)
Song: Don't Bother Me
Lyrics:
Since she's been gone I want no one to talk to me It's not the same but I'm to blame, it's plain to see So go away, leave me alone Don't bother me I can't believe that she would leave me on my own It's just not right when ev'ry night I'm all alone I've got no time for you right now Don't bother me I know I'll never be the same If I don't get her back again Because I know she'll always be The only girl for me But till she's here please don't come near, just stay away I'll let you know when she's come home, till that the day Don't come around, leave me alone Don't bother me I've got no time for you right now Don't bother me I know I'll never be the same If I don't get her back again Because I know she'll always be The only girl for me But till she's here please don't come near, just stay away I'll let you know when she's come home, till that the day Don't come around, leave me alone Don't bother me Don't bother me (repeat and fade)
Instruments & additional info.:
[*1:] Harrison: double-tracked vocal, lead guitar Lennon: rhythm guitar, tambourine McCartney: bass, claves Starr: drums, bongos Rec.: 11th/12th September 1963 Rel. UK: 22nd November 1963 (LP With The Beatles) Rel. US: 20th January 1964 (LP Meet The Beatles!)
Song: For You Blue
Lyrics:
Because you're sweet and lovely, girl, I love you Because you're sweet and lovely, girl, it's true I love you more than ever, girl, I do I want you in the morning, girl, I love you I want you at the moment I feel blue I'm living every moment, girl, for you (Walk, walk cat, walk) (Go, Johnny, go) (Same old tale of blues) (Elmo James got nothin' on this, baby) I've loved you from the moment, I saw you You looked at me that's all you had to do I feel it now, I hope you feel it too Because you're sweet and lovely, girl, I love you Because you're sweet and lovely, girl, it's true I love you more than ever, girl, I do [*]
Instruments & additional info.:
[*1:] Harrison: vocal, acoustic guitar McCartney: piano Lennon: slide guitar Starr: drums Rec.: 25th January 1969 Rel. UK: 8th May 1970 (LP Let It Be) Rel. US: 18th May 1970 (LP Let It Be) Other versions on Anthology 3 The Best of George Harrison
Song: Here Comes The Sun
Lyrics:
Here comes the sun (Du du du du) Here comes the sun And I say It's alright Little darling It's been a long cold lonely winter Little darling It feels like years since it's been here Here comes the sun (Du du du du) Here comes the sun And I say It's alright Little darling The smiles returning to the faces Little darling It seems like years since it's been here Here comes the sun Here comes the sun And I say It's alright Sun, sun, sun, here it comes (five times) Little darling I feel that ice is slowly melting Little darling It seems like years since it's been clear Here comes the sun Here comes the sun And I say It's alright Here comes the sun (Du du du du) Here comes the sun It's alright It's alright [*]
Instruments & additional info.:
[*1:] Harrison: vocal, backing vocal, acoustic guitar, harmonium, Moog synthesiser, handclaps McCartney: backing vocal, bass, handclaps Starr: drums, handclaps Uncredited: 4 violas, 4 cellos, 1 double-bass, 2 piccolos, 2 flutes, 2 alto flutes, 2 clarinets Rec.: 7th/8th/16th July, 6th/15th/19th August 1969 Rel. UK: 26th September 1969 (LP Abbey Road) Rel. US: 1st October 1969 (LP Abbey Road) Other versions on The Concert for Bangla Desh The Best of George Harrison Live In Japan
Song: I Me Mine
Lyrics:
All through the day I me mine, I me mine, I me mine All through the night I me mine, I me mine, I me mine Now they're frightened of leaving it Ev'ryone's weaving it Coming on strong all the time All through the day I me mine I me me mine, I me me mine, I me me mine, I me me mine All I can hear I me mine, I me mine, I me mine Even those tears I me mine, I me mine, I me mine No one's frightened of playing it Everyone's saying it Flowing more freely than wine All through the day I me mine I me me mine, I me me mine, I me me mine, I me me mine All I can hear I me mine, I me mine, I me mine Even those tears I me mine, I me mine, I me mine No one's frightened of playing it Everyone's saying it Flowing more freely than wine All through the day I me mine [*]
Instruments & additional info.:
[*1:] Harrison: vocal, harmony vocal, acoustic guitars, lead guitars McCartney: harmony vocal, bass, organ, electric piano Starr: drums Uncredited: 18 violins, 4 violas, 4 cellos, 1 harp, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones Rec.: 3rd January, 1st/2nd April 1970 Rel. UK: 8th May 1970 (LP Let It Be) Rel. US: 18th May 1970 (LP Let It Be) Other versions on Anthology 3
Song: I Need You
Lyrics:
You don't realise how much I need you Love you all the time and never leave you Please come on back to me I'm lonely as can be I need you Said you had a thing or two to tell me How was I to know you would upset me I didn't realise As I looked in your eyes You told me Oh yes, you told me You don't want my lovin' any more That's when it hurt me And feeling like this I just can't go on any more Please remember how I feel about you I could never really live without you So come on back and see Just what you mean to me I need you But when you told me You don't want my lovin' any more That's when it hurt me And feeling like this I just can't go on any more Please remember how I feel about you I could never really live without you So come on back and see Just what you mean to me I need you I need you I need you [*]
Instruments & additional info.:
[*1:] Harrison: double-tracked vocal, lead guitar Lennon: harmony vocal, acoustic rhythm guitar McCartney: harmony vocal, bass Starr: drums, cowbell Rec.: 15th/16th February 1965 Rel. UK: 6th August 1965 (LP Help!) Rel. US: 13th August 1965 (LP Help!)
Song: I Want To Tell You
Lyrics:
I want to tell you My head is filled with things to say When you're here All those words, they seem to slip away When I get near you The games begin to drag me down It's all right I'll make you maybe next time around But if I seem to act unkind It's only me, it's not my mind That is confusing things I want to tell you I feel hung up and I don't know why I don't mind I could wait forever, I've got time Sometimes I wish I knew you well Then I could speak my mind and tell you Maybe you'd understand I want to tell you I feel hung up and I don't know why I don't mind I could wait forever, I've got time I've got time I've got time [*]
Instruments & additional info.:
[*1:] Harrison: double-tracked vocal, lead guitar, handclaps McCartney: harmony vocal, bass, piano, handclaps Lennon: harmony vocal, tambourine, handclaps Starr: drums, maracas, handclaps Rec.: 2nd/3rd June 1966 Rel. UK: 5th August 1966 (LP Revolver) Rel. US: 8th August 1966 (LP Revolver) Other versions on Live In Japan
Song: If I Needed Someone
Lyrics:
If I needed someone to love You're the one that I'd be thinking of If I needed someone If I had some more time to spend Then I guess I'd be with you my friend If I needed someone Had you come some other day then It might not have been like this But you see now I'm too much in love Carve your number on my wall and Maybe you will get a call from me If I needed someone Aah, aah, aah, aah If I had some more time to spend Then I guess I'd be with you my friend If I needed someone Had you come some other day then It might not have been like this But you see now I'm too much in love Carve your number on my wall and Maybe you will get a call from me If I needed someone Aah, aah [*]
Instruments & additional info.:
[*1:] Harrison: double tracked vocal, lead guitar Lennon: harmony vocal, rhythm guitar McCartney: harmony vocal, bass Starr: drums, tambourine George Martin: harmonium Rec.: 16th/18th October 1965 Rel. UK: 3rd December 1965 (LP Rubber Soul) Rel. US: 20th June 1966 (LP 'Yesterday' ... and Today) Other versions on The Best of George Harrison Live In Japan
Song: It's All Too Much
Lyrics:
It's all too much It's all too much When I look into your eyes Your love is there for me And the more I go inside The more there is to see It's all too much for me to take A love that's shining all around you Ev'rywhere it's what you make For us to take, it's all too much Floating down the stream of time From life to life with me Makes no difference where you are Or where you'd like to be It's all too much for me to take A love that's shining all around you All the world is birthday cake So take a piece, but not too much Sail me on a silver sun Where I know that I'm free Show me that I'm ev'rywhere And get me home for tea It's all too much for me to see A love that's shining all around here The more I learn, the less I know And what I do is all too much It's all too much for me to take A love that's shining all around you Ev'rywhere it's what you make For us to take, it's all too much It's too much It's too much With your long, blonde hair And your eyes of blue With your long, blonde hair And your eyes of blue You're too much, [...] Too much, too much (repeat plenty and fade) [*]
Instruments & additional info.:
[*1:] Harrison: double-tracked vocal, lead guitar, organ McCartney: harmony vocal, bass Lennon: harmony vocal, lead guitar Starr: drums, tambourine Rec.: 25th/26th May, 2nd June 1967 Rel. UK: 17th January 1969 (LP: Yellow Submarine) Rel. US: 13th January 1969 (LP: Yellow Submarine)
Song: Long, Long, Long
Lyrics:
It's been a long long long time, How could I ever have lost you When I loved you. It took a long long long time Now I'm so happy I found you How I love you So many tears I was searching, So many tears I was wasting, oh. Oh - Now I can see you, be you How can I ever misplace you How I want you Oh I love you You know that I need you. Ooh I love you.
Instruments & additional info.:
[*1:] Harrison: double-tracked vocal, acoustic guitars McCartney: backing vocal, organ, bass Starr: drums Chris Thomas: piano Rec.: 7th/8th/9th October 1968 Rel. UK: 22nd November 1968 (LP The Beatles) Rel. US: 25th November 1968 (LP The Beatles)
Song: Love You To
Lyrics:
Each day just goes so fast I turn around, it's past You don't get time to hang a sign on me Love me while you can Before I'm a dead old man A lifetime is so short A new one can't be bought But what you've got means such a lot to me Make love all day long Make love singing songs Make love all day long Make love singing songs There's people standing 'round Who'll screw you in the ground They'll fill you in with all their sins, you'll see I'll make love to you If you want me to [*]
Instruments & additional info.:
[*1:] Harrison: multi-tracked vocal, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, sitar (?) McCartney: harmony vocal (?) Starr: tambourine Anil Bhagwat: tabla other unnamed Indian musicians: sitar, tambura Rec.: 11th/13th April 1966 Rel. UK: 5th August 1966 (LP Revolver) Rel. US: 8th August 1966 (LP Revolver)
Song: Old Brown Shoe
Lyrics:
I want a love that's right Right is only half of what's wrong I want a short-haired girl Who sometimes wears it twice as long Now I'm steppin' out this old brown shoe Baby I'm in love with you I'm so glad you came here, it won't be the same Now I'm telling you Though you pick me up From where some try to drag me down And when I see your smile Replacing ev'ry thoughtless frown So escaping from a zoo Baby I'm in love with you I'm so glad you came here, it won't be the same When I'm with you If I'll grow up I'll be a singer Wearing rings on ev'ry finger Not worrying about what they or you'll say I'll live and love and maybe someday, who knows baby You may comfort me (hey!) I may appear to be imperfect My love is something you can't reject I'm changing faster than the weather If you and me should get together who knows baby You may comfort me I know my love is yours To miss that love is something I'd hate I'll make an early start I'm making sure that I'm not late For your sweet lip I'm in the queue Baby I'm in love with you I'm so glad you came here, it won't be the same When I'm with you I'm so glad you came here It won't be the same now when I'm with you (Yeah yeah yeah) (Tu-la, tu-la-tu) (repeat and fade) [*]
Instruments & additional info.:
Another George Harrison B-side composition, backing 'The Ballad of John and Yoko'. Recorded in four takes at Abbey Road which began on 16 April 1969 and were completed two days later. [*1:] Harrison: vocal, guitars, organ McCartney: backing vocal, piano, bass Lennon: backing vocal Starr: drums Rec.: 16th/18th April 1969 Rel. UK: 30th May 1969 (B single / The Ballad Of John And Yoko) Rel. US: 4th June 1969 (B single / The Ballad Of John And Yoko) Other versions on Anthology 3 Live In Japan
Song: Only A Northern Song
Lyrics:
If you're listening to this song You may think the chords are going wrong But they're not He just wrote it like that When you're listening late at night You may feel the bands are not quite right But they are They just play it like that It doesn't really matter what chords I play What words I say Or time of day it is As it's only a Northern Song It doesn't really matter what clothes I wear Or how I fare Or if my hair is brown When it's only a Northern Song If you think the harmony Is a little dark and out of key You're correct There's nobody there And I told you there's no one there [*]
Instruments & additional info.:
[*1:] Harrison: vocal, organ, tape-effects, noises McCartney: bass, trumpet (?), tape-effects, noises Lennon: piano, glockenspiel (?), tape-effects, noises Starr: drums Rec.: 13th/14th February 1967 Rel. UK: 17th January 1969 (LP: Yellow Submarine) Rel. US: 13th January 1969 (LP: Yellow Submarine) Other versions on Anthology 2
Song: Piggies
Lyrics:
Have you seen the little piggies Crawling in the dirt And for all those little piggies Life is getting worse Always having dirt to play around in. Have you seen the bigger piggies In their starched white shirts You will find the bigger piggies Stirring up the dirt Always have clean shirts to play around in. In their styes with all their backing They don't care what goes on around In their eyes there's something lacking What they need's a damn good whacking. Everywhere there's lots of piggies Living piggy lives You can see them out for dinner With their piggy wives Clutching forks and knives to eat their bacon.
Instruments & additional info.:
[*1:] Harrison: vocal, guitar Lennon: tape loops McCartney: bass Starr: tambourine Chris Thomas: harpsichord Henry Daytner, Eric Bowie, Norman Lederman, Ronald Thomas: violins John Underwood, Keith Cummings: violas Eldon Fox, Reginald Kilbey: cellos Rec.: 19th/20th September, 10th October 1968 Rel. UK: 22nd November 1968 (LP The Beatles) Rel. US: 25th November 1968 (LP The Beatles) Other versions on Anthology 3 Live In Japan
Song: Savoy Truffle
Lyrics:
Creme tangerine and montelimat A ginger sling with a pineapple heart A coffee desert - yes you know its good news But you'll have to have them all pulled out After the Savoy truffle. Cool cherry cream and a nice apple tart I feel your taste all the time we're apart Coconut fudge - really blows down those blues But you'll have to have them all pulled out After the Savoy truffle. You might not feel it now But when the pain cuts through You're going to know and how The sweat is going to fill your head When it becomes too much You're going to shout aloud - Creme tangerine. You know that what you eat you are, But what is sweet now, turns so sour - We all know Obla-Di-Bla-Da But can you show me, where you are ? . . . Creme tangerine and montelimat A ginger sling with a pineapple heart A coffee desert - yes you know its good news But you'll have to have them all pulled out After the Savoy truffle.
Instruments & additional info.:
[*1:] Harrison: double-tracked vocal, lead guitar McCartney: bass Starr: drums, tambourine Chris Thomas: organ, electric piano Art Ellefson, Danny Moss, Derek Collins: tenor saxes Ronnie Ross, Harry Klein, Bernard George: baritone saxes Rec.: 3rd/5th/11th/14th October 1968 Rel. UK: 22nd November 1968 (LP The Beatles) Rel. US: 25th November 1968 (LP The Beatles)
Song: Something
Lyrics:
Something in the way she moves Attracts me like no other lover Something in the way she woos me I don't want to leave her now You know I believe and how Somewhere in her smile she knows That I don't need no other lover Something in her style that shows me I don't want to leave her now You know I believe and how You're asking me will my love grow I don't know, I don't know You stick around and it may show I don't know, I don't know Something in the way she knows And all I have to do is think of her Something in the things she shows me I don't want to leave her now You know I believe and how [*]
Instruments & additional info.:
[*1:] Harrison: double-tracked vocal, lead guitar, handclaps McCartney: backing vocals, bass, handclaps Lennon: guitar Starr: drums, handclaps Billy Preston: organ Uncredited: 12 violins, 4 violas, 4 cellos, 1 double-bass Rec.: 16th April, 2nd/5th May, 11th/16th July, 15th August 1969 Rel. UK: 26th September 1969 (LP Abbey Road) Rel. US: 1st October 1969 (LP Abbey Road) Other versions on Anthology 3 The Concert for Bangla Desh The Best of George Harrison Live In Japan
Song: Taxman
Lyrics:
(One, two, three, four, one two) Let me tell you how it will be There's one for you, nineteen for me 'Cause I'm the taxman Yeah, I'm the taxman Should five percent appear too small Be thankful I don't take it all 'Cause I'm the taxman Yeah, I'm the taxman (If you drive a car car) I'll tax the street (If you try to sit sit) I'll tax your seat (If you get too cold cold) I'll tax the heat (If you take a walk walk) I'll tax your feet Taxman! 'Cause I'm the taxman Yeah, I'm the taxman Don't ask me what I want it for (Ah, ah, Mr. Wilson) If you don't want to pay some more (Ah, ah, Mr. Heath) 'Cause I'm the taxman Yeah, I'm the taxman Now my advise for those who die (Taxman!) Declare the pennies on your eyes (Taxman!) 'Cause I'm the taxman Yeah, I'm the taxman And you're working for no one, but me (Taxman!) [*]
Instruments & additional info.:
[*1:] Harrison: vocal, lead guitar Lennon: backing vocal McCartney: backing vocal, bass, lead guitar Starr: drums, tambourine, cowbell Rec.: 20th/21st/22nd April, 16th May 1966 Rel. UK: 5th August 1966 (LP Revolver) Rel. US: 8th August 1966 (LP Revolver) Other versions on Anthology 3 The Concert for Bangla Desh The Best of George Harrison Live In Japan
Song: The Inner Light
Lyrics:
Without going out of my door I can know all things on earth Without looking out of my window I could know the ways of heaven The farther one travels The less one knows The less one really knows Without going out of your door You can know all things on earth Without looking out of your window You can know the ways of heaven The farther one travels The less one knows The less one really knows Arrive without travelling See all without looking Do all without doing [*]
Instruments & additional info.:
The B-side of 'Lady Madonna', and the first George Harrison composition to appear on a Beatles single. The instrumental track was recorded in five takes by Indian musicians, under George's direction, at the EMI studio in Bombay on 12 January 1968. George's lead vocal and John and Paul's brief backing vocals were overdubbed at Abbey Road on 6 and 8 February. [*1:] Harrison: vocal Lennon: backing vocal McCartney: backing vocal Sharad Gosh or Hanuman Jadex: shehnai Hariprasad Chaurasia or S. R. Kenkare: flute Ashish Khan: sarod Mahapurush Misra: tabla, pakavaj Rij Ram Desad: harmonium Rec.: 12th January, 6th/8th February 1968 Rel. UK: 15th March 1968 (B single / Lady Madonna) Rel. US: 18th March 1968 (B single / Lady Madonna)
Song: Think For Yourself
Lyrics:
I've got a word or two To say about the things that you do You're telling all those lies About the good things that we can have if we close our eyes Do what you want to do And go where you're going to Think for yourself 'Cause I won't be there with you I left you far behind The ruins of the life that you have in mind And though you still can't see I know you're mind's made up you're gonna cause more misery Do what you want to do And go where you're going to Think for yourself 'Cause I won't be there with you Although you're mind's opaque Try thinking more if just for your own sake The future still looks good And you've got time to rectify all the things that you should Do what you want to do And go where you're going to Think for yourself 'Cause I won't be there with you Do what you want to do And go where you're going to Think for yourself 'Cause I won't be there with you Think for yourself 'Cause I won't be there with you [*]
Instruments & additional info.:
[*1:] Harrison: vocal, lead guitar Lennon: harmony vocal, electric piano (?) McCartney: harmony vocal, bass Starr: drums, maracas, tambourine Rec.: 8th November 1965 Rel. UK: 3rd December 1965 (LP Rubber Soul) Rel. US: 6th December 1965 (LP Rubber Soul)
Song: While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Lyrics:
I look at you all see the love there that's sleeping While my guitar gently weeps I look at the floor and I see it needs sweeping Still my guitar gently weeps I don't know why nobody told you how to unfold your love I don't know how someone controlled you They bought and sold you. I look at the world and I notice it's turning While my guitar gently weeps With every mistake we must surely be learning Still my guitar gently weeps I don't know how you were diverted You were perverted too I don't know how you were inverted No one alerted you. I look at you all see the love there that's sleeping While my guitar gently weeps Look at you all . . . Still my guitar gently weeps.
Instruments & additional info.:
[*1:] Harrison: double-tracked vocal, backing vocal, acoustic guitar, Hammond organ McCartney: backing vocal, piano, organ, bass Lennon: lead guitar Starr: drums, tambourine Eric Clapton: lead guitar Rec.: 25th July, 16th August, 3rd/5th/6th September 1968 Rel. UK: 22nd November 1968 (LP The Beatles) Rel. US: 25th November 1968 (LP The Beatles) Other versions on Anthology 3 The Concert for Bangla Desh The Best of George Harrison Live In Japan
Song: Within You Without You
Lyrics:
We were talking - about the space between us all And the people - who hide themselves behind a wall of illusion Never glimpse the truth - then it's far too late - when they pass away. We were talking - about the love we all could share - when we find it To try our best to hold it there - with our love With our love - we could save the world - if they only knew. Try to realise it's all within yourself no-one else can make you change And to see you're really only very small, and life flows on within you and without you. We were talking - about the love that's gone so cold and the people, Who gain the world and lose their soul - they don't know - they can't see - are you one of them? When you've seen beyond yourself - then you may find, peace of mind is waiting there - And the time will come when you see we're all one, and life flows on within you and without you.
Instruments & additional info.:
Recording commenced in studio two at Abbey Road on March 22 1967. Album version mixed from take two. Writer: George. Lead vocal: George. Producer: George Martin. Recording engineer: Geoff Emerick. Second engineer: Richard Lush. [*1:] Harrison: vocal, sitar, acoustic guitar, tambura Uncredited Indian musicians: dilrubas, svarmandal, tabla, tambura Erich Gruenberg, Alan Loveday, Julien Gaillard, Paul Scherman, Ralph Elman, David Wolfsthal, Jack Rothstein, Jack Greene: violins Reginald Kilbey, Allen Ford, Peter Beavan: cellos Neil Aspinall: tambura Rec.: 15th/22nd March, 3rd/4th April 1967 Rel. UK: 1st June 1967 (LP Seargent Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band) Rel. US: 2nd June 1967 (LP Seargent Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band) Other versions on Anthology 2
Song: You Like Me Too Much
Lyrics:
Though you're gone away this morning You'll be back again tonight Telling me there'll be no next time If I just don't treat you right You'll never leave me And you know it's true 'Cause you like me too much And I like you You've tried before to leave me But you haven't got the nerve To walk out and make me lonely Which is all that I deserve You'll never leave me And you know it's true 'Cause you like me too much And I like you I really do And it's nice when you believe me If you leave me I will follow you and Bring you back where you belong 'Cause I couldn't really stand it I'd admit that I was wrong I wouldn't let you leave me 'Cause it's true 'Cause you like me too much And I like you 'Cause you like me too much And I like you I really do And it's nice when you believe me If you leave me I will follow you and Bring you back where you belong 'Cause I couldn't really stand it I'd admit that I was wrong I wouldn't let you leave me 'Cause it's true 'Cause you like me too much And I like you 'Cause you like me too much And I like you [*]
Instruments & additional info.:
[*1:] Harrison: double-tracked vocal, lead guitar McCartney: bass, piano (with George Martin) Lennon: acoustic rhythm guitar, electric piano Starr: drums, tambourine Rec.: 17th February 1965 Rel. UK: 6th August 1965 (LP Help!) Rel. US: 14th June 1965 (LP Beatles VI)
Beatles songs sung by George Harrison
Song: Do You Want To Know A Secret
Lyrics:
You'll never know how much I really love you. You'll never know how much I really care. Listen, do you want to know a secret Do you promise not to tell, wow-oh woh Closer, let me whisper in your ear Say the words you long to hear I'm in love with you Listen, do you want to know a secret Do you promise not to tell, wow-oh-woh Closer, let me whisper in your ear Say the words you long to hear I'm in love with you I've known the secret for a week or two Nobody knows, just we two Listen, do you want to know a secret Do you promise not to tell, wow-oh-woh Closer, let me whisper in your ear Say the words you long to hear I'm in love with you [*]
Instruments & additional info.:
[*1:] Harrison: vocal, lead guitar Lennon: backing vocal, rhythm guitar McCartney: backing vocal, bass Starr: drums Rec.: 11th February 1963 Rel. UK: 22nd March 1963 (LP Please Please Me) Rel. US: 22nd July 1963 (LP Introducing The Beatles)
Song: Because
Lyrics:
Because the world is round, it turns me on Because the world is round, aah Because the wind is high, it blows my mind Becayse the wind is high, aah Love is old, love is new Love is all, love is you Because the sky is blue, it makes me cry Because the sky is blue, aah aah aah aah [*]
Instruments & additional info.:
[*1:] Lennon: vocals, lead guitar McCartney: vocals, bass Harrison: vocal, Moog synthesiser George Martin: electric harpsichord Rec.: 1st/4th/5th August 1969 Rel. UK: 26th September 1969 (LP Abbey Road) Rel. US: 1st October 1969 (LP Abbey Road)
Song: Chains
Lyrics:
Chains, my baby's got me locked up in chains And they ain't the kind that you can see Who-oh, these chains of love got a hold on me, yeah Chains, well I can't break away from these chains Can't run around, 'cause I'm not free Who-oh, these chains of love won't let me be, yeah I wanna tell you, pretty baby I think you're fine I'd like to love you But, darlin', I'm imprisoned by these... Chains, my baby's got me locked up in chains, And they ain't the kind that you can see, Oh, oh, these chains of love got a hold on me. Please believe me when I tell you, Your lips are sweet. I'd like to kiss them, But I can't break away from all of these... Chains, my baby's got me locked up in chains. And they ain't the kind that you can see. Whoa, oh, these chains of love got a hold on me, yeah. Chains, chains of love [*]
Instruments & additional info.:
[*1:] Harrison: vocal, lead guitar McCartney: harmony vocal, bass Lennon: harmony vocal, rhythm guitar, harmonica Starr: drums Rec.: 11th February 1963 Rel. UK: 22nd March 1963 (LP Please Please Me) Rel. US: 22nd July 1963 (LP Introducing The Beatles)
Song: You Really Got A Hold On Me
Lyrics:
I don't like you, but I love you See that I'm always thinking of you Oh, oh, oh You treat me badly, I love you madly You've really got a hold on me You've really got a hold on me, baby I don't want you, but I need you Don't want to kiss you, but I need you Oh, oh, oh You do me wrong now, my love is strong now You've really got a hold on me You've really got a hold on me, baby I love you and all I want you to do Is just hold me, hold me, hold me, hold me I want to leave you, don't want to stay here Don't want to spend another day here Oh, oh, oh, I want to split now, I just can quit now You've really got a hold on me You've really got a hold on me, baby I love you and all I want you to do Is just hold me, hold me, hold me, hold me You've really got a hold on me You've really got a hold on me [*]
Instruments & additional info.:
[*1:] Lennon: vocal, rhythm guitar Harrison: vocal, lead guitar McCartney: harmony vocal, bass Starr: drums George Martin: piano Rec.: 18th July/17th October 1963 Rel. UK: 22nd November 1963 (LP With The Beatles) Rel. US: 10th April 1964 (LP The Beatles' Second Album)
Song: Devil In Her Heart
Lyrics:
She's got the devil in her heart But her eyes they tantalize She's gonna tear your heart apart Oh her lips they really thrill me I'll take my chances For romance is So important to me She'll never hurt me She won't desert me She's an angel sent to me She's got the devil in her heart No no, this I can't believe She's gonna tear your heart apart No no nay will she deceive I can't believe that she'll ever ever go Not when she hugs and says she loves me so She'll never hurt me She won't desert me Listen can't you see She's got the devil in her heart Oh no no no, this I can't believe She's gonna tear your heart apart No no nay will she deceive Don't take chances if your romance is So important to you She'll never hurt me She won't desert me She's an angel sent to me She's got the devil in her heart Oh no no no, no this I can't believe She's gonna tear your heart apart No no nay will she deceive She's got the devil in her heart No she's an angel sent to me She's got the devil in her heart No she's an angel sent to me [*]
Instruments & additional info.:
[*1:] Harrison: double-tracked vocal, lead guitar McCartney: backing vocal, bass Lennon: backing vocal, rhythm guitar Starr: drums, maracas Rec.: 18th July 1963 Rel. UK: 22nd November 1963 (LP With The Beatles) Rel. US: 10th April 1964 (LP The Beatles' Second Album)
Song: Roll Over Beethoven
Lyrics:
Well gonna write a little letter, gonna mail it to my local D.J. It's a rockin' little record I want my jockey to play Roll over Beethoven, gotta hear it again today You know my temperature's risin' and the jukebox's blows a fuse My heart beatin' rhythm and my soul keeps a-singin' the blues Roll over Beethoven, and tell Tchaikovsky the news I got a rockin' pneumonia, I need a shot of rhythm and blues I think I got it off the writer sittin' down by the rhythm review Roll over Beethoven, we're rockin' in two by two Well if you feel you like it Well get your lover and reel and rock it Roll it over and move on up just Jump around and reel and rock it Roll it over, roll over Beethoven A rockin' in two by two Well early in the mornin', I'm a-givin' you the warnin' Don't you step on my blue suede shoes Hey little little gonna play my fiddle, ain't got nothing to lose Roll over Beethoven, and tell Tchaikovsky the news You know she winks like a glow worm, dance like a spinnin' top She's got a crazy partner, oughta see 'em reel an rock Long as she's got a dime the music will never stop Roll over Beethoven, roll over Beethoven Roll over Beethoven, roll over Beethoven Roll over Beethoven, dig these rhythm and blues [*]
Instruments & additional info.:
[*1:] Harrison: double-tracked vocal, lead guitar, handclaps Lennon: rhythm guitar, handclaps McCartney: bass, handclaps Starr: drums, handclaps Rec.: 30th July 1963 Rel. UK: 22nd November 1963 (LP With The Beatles) Rel. US: 10th April 1964 (LP The Beatles' Second Album) Other versions on Live In Japan
Song: This Boy
Lyrics:
That boy took my love away He'll regret it someday But this boy wants you back again That boy isn't good for you Though he may want you too This boy wants you back again Oh, and this boy would be happy Just to love you, but oh my-hi-hi-hi That boy won't be happy Till he's seen you cry-hi-hi-hi This boy wouldn't mind the pain Would always feel the same If this boy gets you back again This boy, this boy [*]
Instruments & additional info.:
[*1:] Lennon: vocal, acustic guitar McCartney: vocal, bass Harrison: vocal, lead guitar Starr: drums Rec.: 17th October 1963 Rel. UK: 29th November 1963 (B single/I Want To) Rel. US: 20th January 1964 (LP Meet The Beatles!)
Song: I'm Happy Just To Dance With You
Lyrics:
Before this dance is through I think I'll love you too I'm so happy when you dance with me I don't want to kiss or hold your hand If it's only try and understand There is really nothing else I'd rather do 'Cause I'm happy just to dance with you I don't need to hug or hold you tight I just want to dance with you all night In this world there's nothing I would rather do 'Cause I'm happy just to dance with you Just to dance with you is everything I need Before this dance is through I think I'll love you too I'm so happy when you dance with me If somebody tries to take my place Let's pretend we just can't see his face In this world there's nothing I would rather do 'Cause I'm happy just to dance with you Just to dance with you, is everything I need Before this dance is through I think I'll love you too I'm so happy when you dance with me If somebody tries to take my place Let's pretend we just can't see his face In this world there's nothing I would rather do I discovered I'm in love with you 'Cause I'm happy just to dance with you [*]
Instruments & additional info.:
[*1:] Harrison: vocal, lead guitar Lennon: backing vocal, rhythm guitar McCartney: backing vocal, bass Starr: drums, African drum Rec.: 1st March 1964 Rel. UK: 10th June 1964 (LP A Hard Day's Night) Rel. US: 26th June 1964 (LP A Hard Day's Night)
Song: I Don't Want To Spoil The Party
Lyrics:
I don't want to spoil the party so I'll go I would hate my disappointment to show There's nothing for me here so I will disappear If she turns up while I'm gone please let me know I've had a drink or two and I don't care There's no fun in what I do if she's not there I wonder what went wrong I've waited far too long I think I'll take a walk and look for her Though tonight she's made me sad I still love her If I find her I'll be glad I still love her I don't want to spoil the party so I'll go I would hate my disappointment to show There's nothing for me here so I will disappear If she turns up while I'm gone please let me know Though tonight she's made me sad I still love her If I find her I'll be glad I still love her I've had a drink or two and I don't care There's no fun in what I do if she's not there I wonder what went wrong I've waited far too long (But) I think I'll take a walk and look for her [*]
Instruments & additional info.:
[*1:] Lennon: vocal, acoustic rhythm guitar harrison: vocal, lead guitar McCartney: harmony vocal, bass Starr: drums, tambourine Rec.: 29th September 1964 Rel. UK: 4th December 1964 (LP Beatles For Sale) Rel. US: 15th February 1965 (B single/Eight Days A Week)
Song: Eight Days A Week
Lyrics:
Ooh I need your love babe Guess you know it's true Hope you need my love babe Just like I need you Hold me, love me, hold me, love me Ain't got nothin' but love babe Eight days a week Love you ev'ry day girl Always on my mind One thing I can say girl Love you all the time Hold me, love me, hold me, love me Ain't got nothin' but love babe Eight days a week Eight days a week I love you Eight days a week Is not enough to show I care Ooh I need your love babe Guess you know it's true Hope you need my love babe Just like I need you Hold me, love me, hold me, love me Ain't got nothin' but love babe Eight days a week Eight days a week I love you Eight days a week Is not enough to show I care Love you ev'ry day girl Always on my mind One thing I can say girl Love you all the time Hold me, love me, hold me, love me Ain't got nothin' but love babe Eight days a week Eight days a week I love you Eight days a week Is not enough to show I care Eight days a week. Eight days a week. Eight days a week. [*]
Instruments & additional info.:
[*1:] Lennon: vocal, acoustic rhythm guitar, handclaps McCartney: vocals, bass, handclaps Harrison: vocal, lead guitar Starr: drums, handclaps Rec.: 6th/18th October 1964 Rel. UK: 4th December 1964 (LP Beatles For Sale) Rel. US: 15th February 1965 (A single/I Don't Want To Spoil The Party)
Song: Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby
Lyrics:
Well they took some honey from the tree Dressed it up and they called it me Everybody's trying to be my baby, everybody's trying to be my baby Everybody's trying to be my baby now Woke up last night, half past four Wicked woman knocking at my door Everybody's trying to be my baby, everybody's trying to be my baby Everybody's trying to be my baby now Went out last night, I didn't stay late Called her home, had a nice teen date Everybody's trying to be my baby, everybody's trying to be my baby Everybody's trying to be my baby now Went out last night, I didn't stay late Called her home, had a nice teen date Everybody's trying to be my baby, everybody's trying to be my baby Everybody's trying to be my baby now Well they took some honey from the tree Dressed it up and they called it me Everybody's trying to be my baby, everybody's trying to be my baby Everybody's trying to be my baby now [*]
Instruments & additional info.:
[*1:] Harrison: vocal, lead guitar Lennon: acoustic rhythm guitar, tambourine McCartney: bass Starr: drums Rec.: 18th October 1964 Rel. UK: 4th December 1964 (LP Beatles For Sale) Rel. US: 15th December 1965 (LP Beatles '65)
Song: Yes It Is
Lyrics:
If you wear red tonight Remember what I said tonight For red is the color that my baby wore And what's more, it's true Yes it is Scarlet were the clothes she wore Ev'rybody knows, I'm sure I would remember all the things we planned Understand, it's true Yes it is, it's true Yes it is I could be happy With you by my side If I could forget her But it's my pride Yes it is, yes it is Oh, yes it is, yeah Please don't wear red tonight This is what I said tonight For red is the color that will make me blue In spite of you, it's true Yes it is, it's true Yes it is I could be happy With you by my side If I could forget her But it's my pride Yes it is, yes it is Oh, yes it is, yeah Please don't wear red tonight This is what I said tonight For red is the color that will make me blue In spite of you, it's true Yes it is, it's true Yes it is, it's true [*]
Instruments & additional info.:
[*1:] Lennon: double-tracked vocal, acoustic rhythm guitar McCartney: harmony vocal, bass Harrison: harmony vocal, lead guitar Starr: drums, tambourine (?) Rec.: 16th February 1965 Rel. UK: 9th April 1965 (B single/Ticket To Ride) Rel. US: 19th April 1965 (B single/Ticket To Ride)
Song: The Word
Lyrics:
Say the word and you'll be free Say the word and be like me Say the word I'm thinking of Have you heard the word is love? It's so fine, it's sunshine It's the word love In the beginning I misunderstood But now I've got it, the word is good Spread the word and you'll be free Spread the word and be like me Spread the word I'm thinking of Have you heard the word is love? It's so fine, it's sunshine It's the word love Every where I go I hear it said In the good and bad books that I have read Say the word and you'll be free Say the word and be like me Say the word I'm thinking of Have you heard the word is love? It's so fine, it's sunshine It's the word love Now that I know what I feel must be right I'm here to show everybody the light Give the word a chance to say That the word is just the way It's the word I'm thinking of And the only word is love It's so fine, it's sunshine It's the word love Say the word love, say the word love Say the word love, say the word love [*]
Instruments & additional info.:
[*1:] Lennon: vocal, rhythm guitar McCartney: vocal, bass, piano Harrison: vocal, lead guitar Starr: drums, maracas George Martin: harmonium Rec.: 10th November 1965 Rel. UK: 3rd December 1965 (LP Rubber Soul) Rel. US: 6th December 1965 (LP Rubber Soul)
Harrison songs on the 'Anthology' albums
3 That'll Be The Day*
Song: In Spite Of All The Danger
Lyrics:
Instruments & additional info.:
(Jerry Allison, Buddy Holly, Norman Petty)
4 In Spite Of All The Danger*
(Paul McCartney and George Harrison)
Recorded Phillips Sound Recording Service, Liverpool, 1958
Engineer Percy F Phillips
Running an electrical goods shop in Liverpool wsn't enough for Percy Phillips,
and being 60 certainly wasn't going to stop him. So in 1955, spurred by the local
interest in country and western music, Phillips spent 400 pound on a portable tape recorder
and portable disc cutting machine, microphones and a four-way mixer, which were
installed in the middle living-room of his Victorian terraced house at number 38
Kensington, a major thoroughfare located a mile beyond Liverpool centre.
Sparse it may have been but Phillips' recording facility was efficient. Having
arrived for their appointment customers would sit in a waiting area and, when
prompted, move into the living-room, face up to the microphones and perform, live.
While trams rattled along Kensington - their noise was deadened by a heavy curtain
over the studio door - Percy Phillips would first commit the performance to tape and
then, provided that the Artiste was not distressed with the result, immediately
transfer this to a sshellac disc, wiping over the tape next time someone used the studio.
Word of Phillips' facility soon spread, and as skiffle and then beat music took
hold so it began to attract a number of Liverpool's younger musicians, eager to
commit their sound to disc and be able to announce that they had "made a record".
Having travelled with their instruments from the south end of the city, a quintet
called the Quarry Men - John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison, who
all played guitars, John Lowe who played the piano, and Collin Hanton the drummer
- turned up at Phillips Sound Recording Service one day in the spring or summer of
1958. A short while later, having parted company with 17s 6d [88p], the five Quarry
Men left 38 Kensington passing among them the cherished fruit of their debut
recording session: a very-breakable 78rpm record, ten-inches in diameter. The disc's
labels clearly instructed "Play with a light-weight pick-up" ... but bore no mention
of the words Quarry Men, and certainly not Beatles, a name they wouldn't adopt for
another two years.
On one side of the disc was That'll Be The Day, homage to Buddy Holly and
the Crickets, featuring John Lennon's lead vocal with Paul McCartney providing the
high harmonies. On the other side was In Spite Of All The Danger, co-written by Paul
McCartney and George Harrison, but, again, with John Lennon singing lead.
Colin Hanton (whose membership of the Quarry Men pre-dated both Paul's
and George's) and John Lowe (who was recruited principally because he could play
Jerry Lee Lewis's exacting arpeggio part in Mean Woman Blues) left soo after the
band's one and only recording session, leaving the nucleus, Lennon, McCartney and
Harrison, to aim for fame.
* MONO tracks
10 My Bonnie
Song: Cry For A Shadow
Lyrics:
- Instrumental -
Instruments & additional info.:
(Traditional, arranged by Tony Sheridan)
11 Ain't She Sweet
(Milton Ager [music], Jack Yellen [lyric])
12 Cry For A Shadow
(George Harrison, John Lennon)
Recorded Friedrich-Ebert-Halle, Hamburg, 22 June 1961
Producer Bert Kaempfert
Engineer Karl Hinze
During the Beatles' second visit to Hamburg, April to July 1961, the group
regularly backed an English singer/guitarist, Tony Sheridan, who had gone to play
there in the early summer of 1960 and befriended the Beatles' when they first arrived
in the city shortly afterwards. On a visit to the Top Ten Club, a music publishing
executive was impressed by the Sheridan/Beatles stage combination and so talked to
a friend, the orchestra leader and composer Bert Kaempfert, suggesting that
Kaempfert consider producing some recording sessions.
One morning, probably 22 June, not long after the Beatles had finished another
seven-hour slog in the Top Ten, taxis arrived to take them to the place of recording -
not a real studio but Friedrich-Ebert-Halle, a school, where the session took place on
stage. The Beatles backed Sheridan on five or six numbers - the main one being a
rock rendition of the lullaby My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean - and then had two
more themselves: Ain't She Sweet and Cry For A Shadow. In August 1961, after
the Beatles had returned to Liverpool, Polydor issued My Bonnie as a single, credited
to Tony Sheridan and the Beat Brothers, the disc eventually climbing high on a local
German chart. Only on the British release (elsewhere, it was only after the group
became famous) was the label credit altered to Tony Sheridan and the Beatles.
But My Bonnie was more than just the Beatles' first appearance on commercial
disc: it also brought them to the attention of Brian Epstein...
Tony Sheridan rocked-up the arrangement they called My Bonnie, delivered the
spoken-word introduction, sang and played lead guitar. George Harrison played the
opening lead guitar passage, Paul McCartney is clearly evident, not only for his bass
but also for his background shouts, and John Lennon and drummer Pete Best - who
had joined the group's line-up in August 1960 - also played.
Ain't She Sweet did not feature Sheridan, John Lennon singing the lead vocal.
A staple of their 1961 stage act, the Beatles usually performed this in the more
mellow style of Gene Vincent and his Blue Caps' influential 1956 version. However,
when it came to Hamburg audiences, and this recording, the Beatles delivered the
song in what John Lennon later described as "a harder version ... more like a march".
Cry For A Shadow is a rare instrumental performance by the Beatles; the
composer credit, Harrison-Lennon, was the only such occurrence on disc.
15 Searchin'*
Song: Three Cool Cats
Lyrics:
Three cool cats Three cool cats Three cool cats Huntin on the corner in a beat up car Splittin up a lifted candy bar Talkin all about how sharp they are Are three cool cats Three cool chicks Walkin down the street Swingin their hips Splittin up a bag of potato chips And three cool cats turned three big flips For three cool chicks Well, up popped that first cool cat He said, "My look at that, Man, do you see what I see? Well, I want that middle chick" "I want that little chick" "Hey man, save one chick for me" Three cool chicks Three cool chicks Well, they looked like angels from up above And three cool cats really fell in love For three cool chicks Made three fools of Three cool cats Three cool cats Well, up popped that first cool cat He said, "My look at that, Man, do you see what I see? Well, I want that middle chick" "I want that little chick" "Hey man, save one chick for me" Three cool chicks Three cool chicks Well they looked like angels from up above And three cool cats really fell in love For three cool chicks made three fools of Three cool cats Three cool cats Three cool cats Three cool cats Three cool cats [*]
Instruments & additional info.: See track 1-16: 'The Sheik Of Araby', below.
Song: The Sheik Of Araby
Lyrics:
Well, I'm the Sheik of Araby Your love belongs to me Well at night when you're asleep Into your tent I'll creep The stars that shine above Will light our way to love You'll rule this world with me I'm the Sheik of Araby Well, I'm the Sheik of Araby Your love belongs to me At night when you're asleep Into your tent I'll creep The stars that shine above Will light our way to love You'll rule this world with me Cuz I'm the Sheik of Araby Well, I'm the Sheik of Araby Well, I'm the Sheik of Araby-yeah [* Sheik of Araby and Three Cool Cats: thanks to Katie for the lyrics]
Instruments & additional info.:
(Jerry Leiber [lyric], Mike Stoller [music])
16 Three Cool Cats*
(Jerry Leiber [lyric], Mike Stoller [music])
17 The Sheik Of Araby*
(Harry B Smith and Francis Wheeler [lyric], Ted Snyder [music])
18 Like Dreamers Do*
(John Lennon, Paul McCartney)
19 Hello Little Girl*
(John Lennon, Paul McCartney)
Recorded Decca Studios, London, 1 January 1962
Producer Mike Smith
Five songs taken from the 15 laid down by the Beatles - John Lennon, Paul
McCartney, George Harrison and Pete Best - during their audition for Decca Records.
The session took place on New Year's Day 1962, at the company's studio at 165
Broadhurst Gardens in the West Hampstead district of north London. Recorded live,
directly on to a mono tape, without the opportunity to overdub or remix, the session was
overseen by Decca A&R [artistes & repertoire] assistant Mike Smith.
Obtaining for the Beatles a contract with a British recording company was the
number one priority that Brian Epstein assigned himself in his role as the new
manager of the group. Moreover, in an attempt to underline the Beatles' musical
versatility, he personally selected the 15 songs cut at the Decca audition, all of
which, to a greater or lesser extent, could be heard if one followed the group's
frequent performances around the Meryside dance halls and rock clubs. Searchin'
and Three Cool Cats were certainly major Beatles stage favourites at this time,
and both were from the same matrix: comedy numbers written by Leiber-Stoller and
first recorded by the American R&B outfit the Coasters, in 1957 and 1958
respectively. For Searchin', Paul supplied the lead vocal, John and George the backing
vocal; Three Cool Cats featured George.
The Sheik Of Araby was another big favourite, again with George Harrison
delivering the lead vocal. The song was first performed in the stage musical Make It
Snappy and the 1940 Hollywood movie Tin Pan Alley, but the Beatles were inspired
by a cheeky, chirpy rock and roll version by Joe Brown, consequently their Decca
performance had humor to the fore, right from the beat-style Arabic mood-setting
kick-off through to the humorous John-Paul "not arf"s.
By the start of 1962, Lennon and McCartney had been composing music,
together or alone, for some five years, often claiming in early interviews to have
written "100 original songs" before noticed. The Beatles recorded very few
of these numbers once successful. Like Dreamers Do and Hello Little Girl, to name
but two, are early Lennon-McCartney numbers which the Beatles never recorded
once signed to EMI, although they were obviously considered strong enough
to present to Decca in the New Year's Day audition, not least to prove the boast, rare
for the period, that the group could pen their own material. Hello Little Girl was
actually the first song ever written by John Lennon, Like Dreamers Do showed Paul
McCartney in hopeful mood, "waiting for the bliss".
Both songs did eventually see commercial release. The Fourmost, another
Liverpool group managed by Brian Epstein, were given Hello Little Girl in 1963; Like
Dreamers Do was recorded by Birmingham band the Applejacks in 1964.
* MONO tracks
19 You Know What To Do
Song: You Know What To Do
Lyrics:
When I see you I just don't know what to say I'd like to be with you ev'ry hour of the day So if you want me just like I need you You know what to do I watch you walking by and you looked alone I hope that you won't mind if I walk you back home But if you want me just like I need you You know what to do Just call on me when you're lonely I'll keep my love for you only I'll call on you if I'm lonely too Understand that I'll stay with you every day Make you love me more in every way So if you want me just like I want you You know what to do Just call on me when you're lonely I'll keep my love for you only I'll call on you if I'm lonely too Understand that I'll stay with you every day Make you love me more in every way So if you want me just like I need you You know what to do [**]
Instruments & additional info.:
(George Harrison)
20 No Reply (demo)
(John Lennon, Paul McCartney)
Recorded EMI Studios, London, 3 June 1964
Producer George Martin
Engineer Norman Smith
Two demo recordings taped by the Beatles at EMI the day before they flew
to Denmark to begin an inter-continental concert tour.
The drummer on the first few dates of that tour was a substitute, Jimmy Nicol,
drafted in at the eleventh hour after Ringo had been taken ill morning of 3 June.
The EMI recording session booked for the remainder of the day was thrown into
disarray by Ringo's indisposition; instead of taping the fourteenth and final song for
the album A Hard Day's Night, John, Paul and George spent an hour listening to
playbacks and running Nicol through some of the songs in their stage repertoire.
Then, after the drummer had gone to pack his suitcase, they remained at Abbey
Road and, during a four-hour evening session in Studio Two, loosely recorded three
songs, two of which are presented here. The tape of the session was misfiled andī
re-discovered in 1993.
Incorporating vocal, guitar, bass and tambourine tracks, this is believed to
be the only existing recording of George Harrison's second song composition
You Know What To Do. (The first was Don't Bother Me, issued on With The Beatles
in 1963.) George did not contribute any songs to the albums A Hard Day's Night and
Beatles For Sale and then added two to the next, Help!, but You Know What To Do
never re-surfaced and has remained unissued until now.
With greater application extended during a session on 30 September 1964, John
Lennon's No Reply was issued, on the album Beatles For Sale, but this 3 June demo
recording of the song certainly has not been heard before. It was announced at the
time that John was giving No Reply to Tommy Quickly, another Brian Epstein's
artists, and - as John sings it in a staccato, jaunty style more typical of Quickly's than
his own - it's feasible that this demo was recorded with that donation in mind. (All
the same, if he recorded it at all, Quickly never issued his version.) Intriguingly, a
drummer is evident, even though no recognised player - neither Ringo nor Jimmy
Nicol - was present.
20 Taxman
Song: Taxman
Lyrics:
Instruments & additional info.:
(George Harrison)
Recorded EMI Studios, London, 21 April 1966
Producer George Martin
Engineer Geoff Emerick
The opening title on Revolver, Taxman was George Harrison's acerbic and witty view of the inescapable realities of life. Take 12 was the master recording, this being a "reduction", or "bounce", of take 11. (These are terms for a recording process, taken up by the Beatles around this time, where, by merging two or more existing tracks of a tape while copying it across to a second tape, vacant tracks are created, allowing for further overdubbing. Abbey Road was still using four-track recording machines in 1966, so this process was often necessary.) Issued here for the first time is that Take 11, not dissimilar to the master but with some notable differences, principally in the clean, full ending (instead of the repeated guitar solo) and the "anybody got a bit of money?" backing vocals (instead of "Mister Wilson, Mister Heath" reference).
Other versions on Revolver The Best of George Harrison Live In Japan7 Only A Northern Song
Song: Only A Northern Song
Lyrics:
If you're listening to this song You may think the chords are going wrong But they're not I just wrote it like that When you listen late at night You may feel the words are not quite right But they are I just wrote them myself And it doesn't really matter what chords I play What words I say Or time of day it is As it's only a Northern Song It doesn't really matter what clothes I wear Or how I fare Or if my hair is brown When it's only a Northern Song If you think the harmony Is a little off and out of key Then you're right 'Cause I sing it myself [*]
Instruments & additional info.:
(George Harrison)
Recorded EMI Studios, London, 13, 14 February and 20 April 1967
Producer George Martin
Engineer Geoff Emerick
Although not issued on disc until the Yellow Submarine soundtrack album,
in January 1969, George's Only A Northern Song was written and first
intended for Sgt Pepper, its place in the recording chronology coming between
other Pepper tracks Fixing A Hole, composed by Paul, and Being For The
Benefit Of Mr Kite!, by John.
The master of Only A Northern Song combined Take 3 (with overdubs) and a "reduction"
of this, Take 11 (which further overdubs), synchronously mixed into mono. The mix
presented here, in stereo and slightly speeded up, is Take 3 - the basic track from
13 February, with bass and guitar added on 20 April - with unused vocal tracks (yielding
a number of lyric variations from the master) overdubbed on to a seperate "reductions",
Take 12, flown in.
Other versions on Yellow Submarine11 Within You Without You (instrumental)
Song: Within You Without You (Instrumental)
Lyrics:
- Instrumental -
Instruments & additional info.:
(George Harrison)
Recorded EMI Studios, London, 15, 16 and 22 March and 3 April 1967
Producer George Martin
Engineer Geoff Emerick
This is the master of the George Harrison composition that opened side
two of Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, presented here in a fashion not
previously available: remixed, without George's vocal, from the different original
four-track taped that formed that master.
What remains, audible to the fore, is a combination of tamboura, tabla, dilruba
and swaramandal tracks recorded in March, with violins, cellos and George's sitar track
overdubbed on 3 April.
Other versions on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band4 Mean Mr Mustard
Song: Piggies
Lyrics:
Have you seen the little piggies Crawling in the dirt And for all the little piggies Life is getting worse Always having dirt to play around in. Have you seen the bigger piggies In their starched white shirts You will find the bigger piggies Stirring up the dirt Always have clean shirts to play around in. In their styes with all their backing They don't care what goes on around In their eyes there's something lacking What they need's a damn good whacking. Everywhere there's lots of piggies Living piggy lives You will see them out for dinner With their piggy wives Clutching forks and knives to cut their [..] jobs [*]
Instruments & additional info.:
(John Lennon, Paul McCartney)
5 Polythene Pam
(John Lennon, Paul McCartney)
6 Glass Onion
(John Lennon, Paul McCartney)
7 Junk
(Paul McCartney)
8 Piggies*
(George Harrison)
9 Honey Pie
(John Lennon, Paul McCartney)
Recorded Esher, May 1968
Six further demo recordings from the Esher session, only three of which were developed for the White Album. The first two selections, Mean Mr Mustard and Polythene Pam, written by John, were not taped at EMI until 1969, appearing on the Beatles' final recorded album Abbey Road. Both surface here, as does the White Album track Glass Onion, in early, unfinished form, John double-tracking his performance and venturing into vocal gobbleygook in the places where he had yet to finalise the lyrics. Like these three, Junk was composed when the Beatles were in India in Spring 1968, but the group never taped a formal studio version and the song remained unissued until April 1970, when it appeared on Paul's first post-Beatles album McCartney, re-recorded in much the same acoustic style as at Esher. Piggies was composed and performed by George, double-tracking his vocal, as was Paul's Honey Pie, both going on to the White Album with slightly revised lyrics.
Other versions on The Beatles Live In Japan16 While My Guitar Gently Weeps (George Harrison)
Song: While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Lyrics:
I look at you all see the love there that's sleeping While my guitar gently weeps I look at the floor and I see it needs sweeping Still my guitar gently weeps I don't know why nobody told you how to unfold your love I don't know how someone controlled you They bought and sold you. I look at the world and I notice it's turning While my guitar gently weeps With every mistake we must surely be learning Still my guitar gently weeps I don't know how you were diverted You were perverted too I don't know how you were inverted No one alerted you. I look from the wings at the play you are stageing While my guitar gently weeps As I'm seiiting here doing nothing but ageing Still my guitar gently weeps [*]
Instruments & additional info.:
Recorded EMI Studios, London, 25 July 1968
Producer George Martin
Engineer Ken Scott
Having withheld his own new compositions since the White Album sessions started eight weeks earlier, George Harrison waited no longer and recorded this eloquent demo of While My Guitar Gently Weeps, the first of five songs he contributed to the growing collection. The song would undergo two re-makes between this date and 6 September, when the master was completed, and become siginificantly heavier in the process - the final version featuring a lead guitar track played by guest Eric Clapton. This first studio recording could scarcely be more different, George singing live to his own acoustic guitar accompaniment (augmented by an organ part played by Paul), and incorporating an additional verse omitted from later versions.
Other versions on The Beatles The Concert for Bangla Desh The Best of George Harrison Live In Japan18 Not Guilty
Song: Not Guilty
Lyrics:
Not guilty Of getting in your way While you're trying to steal the day Not guilty And I'm not here for the rest I'm not trying to steal your vest. I am not trying to be smart I only want what I can get I'm really sorry for your ageing head But like you heard me said Not guilty. No use handing me a writ While I'm trying to do my bit. I don't expect to take your heart . . . I only want what I can get I'm really sorry that you're underfed . . . But like you heard me said . . . Not guilty. Not guilty For looking like a freak Making friends with every Sikh Not guilty For leading you astray On the road to Mandalay. I won't upset the apple cart I only want what I can get I'm really sorry that you've been misled . . . But like you heard me said . . . Not guilty. [*]
Instruments & additional info.:
(George Harrison)
Recorded EMI Studios, London, 8, 9, 12 August 1968
Producer George Martin
Engineer Ken Scott
The Beatles spent three nights recording the basic track of George Harrison's Not Guilty, until they pronounced the 99th the "best" take and freed space in a tape-to-tape reduction mixdown for George to overdub his vocal. Curiously, though, once he had done so, and the recording was completed, it was decided to leave it off the White Album, the song remained unheard until 1979, when George recorded an acoustic re-make for his album George Harrison. But this Beatles version (Take 102), heavier in approach, has not been issued until now.
Other versions on George Harrison5 For You Blue
Song: For You Blue
Lyrics:
Because you're sweet and lovely, girl, I love you Because you're sweet and lovely, girl, I do I love you more than ever, girl, it's true I want you in the morning, girl, I love you I want you at the moment I feel blue I'm living every moment, girl, for you I loved you from the moment that I saw you You looked at me that's all you had to do I feel it now, I hope you feel it too Because you're sweet and lovely, girl, I love you Because you're sweet and lovely, girl, it's true I love you more each moment I'm with you [*]
Instruments & additional info.:
(George Harrison)
Recorded Apple Studios, London, 25 January 1969
Producer George Martin
Engineer Glyn Johns
A good band performance - acoustic guitar (George), slide guitar (John), piano (Paul) and drums (Ringo) - of George Harrison's happy twelve-bar blues. All the recordings of this song were done on the same day, but the version on the album Let It Be featured a lead vocal re-recorded by George on 8 January 1970.
Other versions on Let It Be The Best of George Harrison10 All Things Must Pass
Song: All Things Must Pass
Lyrics:
Sunrise doesn't last all morning A cloudburst doesn't last all day Seems my love is up And has left you with no warning It's not always been this grey All things must pass All things must pass away Sunset doesn't last all evening A mind can blow those clouds away After all this, my love is up and must be leaving It's not always been this grey All things must pass All things must pass away All things must pass None of life's strings can last So, I must be on my way Face another day The darkness only stays the night-time In the morning it would fade away Daylight is good at arriving at the right time It's not always gonna be this grey All things must pass All things must pass away All things must pass All things must pass away [*]
Instruments & additional info.:
(George Harrison)
Recorded Apple Studios, London, 25 February 1969
Engineer Ken Scott
During the Beatles' January 1969 Get Back sessions George Harrison frequently
suggested this new composition as a contender, but it wasn't until he took time out to
record a solo demo of the song a month later that it was first put on a multi-track
tape. It was then another year and a half before George taped the definitive studio
recording, the song going on to grace - and give the title to - his first post-Beatles
work, a triple-album issued at the end of 1970.
This charming demo - guitar and vocal, with a second guitar passage overdubbed -
is one of three that the artist recorded on the occasion of his 26th birthday. The other
two (Old Brown Show and Something) appear later in this collection.
Other versions on All Things Must Pass13 Old Brown Shoe
Song: Old Brown Shoe
Lyrics:
I want a love that's right But right is only half of what's wrong I want a short-haired girl That sometimes wears it twice as long Now I'm steppin' out this old brown shoe Baby I'm in love with you I'm so glad you came here, it won't be the same Now I'm telling you You know you pick me up From where some try to drag me down And when I see your smile Replacing ev'ry thoughtless frown You've got me escaping from a zoo Baby I'm in love with you I'm so glad you came here, it won't be the same Now I'm telling you If I'll grow up I'll be a singer Wear rings on ev're finger Don't worry about what they or you'll say I'll live and love and maybe someday, who knows baby You may comfort me I may appear to be imperfect My love is something you can't reject I'm changing faster than the weather If you and me should get together who knows baby You may comfort me I want that love of yours To miss that love is something I'd hate I'll make an early start I'm making sure that I'm not late For your sweet lip I'm in the queue Baby I'm in love with you I'm so glad you came here, it won't be the same Now I'm telling you Yes, I'm so glad you came here It won't be the same now when I'm with you [*]
Instruments & additional info.:
(George Harrison)
Recorded Apple Studios, London, 25 February 1969
Engineer Ken Scott
Of the three demos created by George Harrison on 25 February 1969 this is the most elaborate: after recording a live vocal along with a pinao track he then overdubbed electric guitar and, rolling the tape from the top for a thrid time, further guitar passages for the bridge and coda. Group recording of Old Brown Shoe took place over two sessions in April 1969 and the song was issued a month later as the B-side of the Beatles' twentieth single, The Ballad Of John And Yoko.
Other versions on Pastr Masters Vol. 2 Live In Japan16 Something*
Song: Something
Lyrics:
Something in the way she moves Attracts me like no other lover Something in the way she woos me I don't want to leave her now You know I believe in how Something in her smile she knows That I don't need no other lover Something in her style that shows me I don't want to leave her now You know I believe in how You're asking me will my love grow I don't know, I don't know Stick around and it may show But I don't know, I don't know No I love that woman ' mine And I need her all of the time No I'm telling you That woman that woman don't make me blue [*]
Instruments & additional info.:
(George Harrison)
Recorded EMI Studios, London, 25 February 1969
Engineer Ken Scott
The final solo demo recorded by George Harrison on his 26th birthday resulted in the first commitment to tape of the beautiful Something, destined for the album Abbey Road (recording spanned April to August 1969), George's first A-side composition for the Beatles when it was issued as a single that October, and hundreds of cover versions. The demo is simplicity itself: a live-in-one-take electric guitar/vocal performance that, in addition to the definitive lyric, also embraced a couter-melody verse later dropped. Shortly after taping this demo George participated in a session during which Joe Cocker became the first artist - ahead of the Beatles, even - to record this major new composition; his version did not come out until November 1969, however, by which time Abbey Road and the Something single had been issued.
* MONO track
Other versions on Abbey Road The Concert for Bangla Desh The Best of George Harrison Live In Japan22 I Me Mine
Song: I Me Mine
Lyrics:
All through the day I me mine, I me mine, I me mine All through the night I me mine, I me mine, I me mine Now they're frightened of leaving it Ev'ryone's reading it Coming on strong all the time All through the day I me mine I me me mine, I me me mine, I me me mine, I me me mine All I can hear I me mine, I me mine, I me mine Even those tears I me mine, I me mine, I me mine No one's frightened of playing it Everyone's saying it Flowing more freely than wine All through your life I me mine [*]
Instruments & additional info.:
(George Harrison)
Recorded EMI Studios, London, 3 January 1970
Producer George Martin
Engineer Phil McDonald
A quick run-through of George Harrison's I Me Mine (shot in early January
1969 during the Twickenham rehearsal period of the Get Back project) was set for
inclusion in the Let It Be film, indicating that it also should feature on the
accompanying album. But as the song had never been committed to tape with any
serious endeavour the Beatles convened again in number two studio at EMI - some
five months after completing final album Abbey Road - and recorded their last new
piece together. (The word "new" is an important qualifier, for work polishing up
previously recorded material for Let It Be continued through to April.) But not all of
the Beatles participated: John Lennon was on holiday, his absence prompting a telling
remark - like a mock press statement - from George during the session, which
precedes this Anthology recording.
As George, Paul and Ringo recorded it, I Me Mine was short, running to just 1.34.
For the Let It Be album, Phil Spector - brought in by George and John in March 1970
to "re-produce" the tapes - extended the length to 2.25 by means of editing, and also
supervised the overdubbing of orchestral tracks. Although the same master (Take 16)
has been used for the Anthology, the song appears here at its true length and as
the three Beatles recorded it during what turned out to be their last session together
for 24 years.
Other versions on Let It BeGeorge Harrison - Lyrics Pages -- 1996/97
Last Changed: 02/16/1998