The Beatles were familiar with the song, but did not add it to their live act until their stints in Hamburg in the early 60's, when the need to fill the countless hours of performing caused them to play anything and everything they knew. It immediately became a showcase number for George both as a singer and guitarist. On the brink of stardom during their visit to West Germany in December of 1962, they played the song one last time for those local fans, as you can hear on any of the multiple releases of the Star Club tapes. They were notoriously loose and goofy on this farewell night. After playing the song at a frantic pace, Ringo, still somewhat new to the group at this time, pushes them through no less than four false endings!
As their fame increased, their shows became much shorter, and George found himself limited to one vocal spotlight per performance. His latest album track - such as Do You Want to Know a Secret or Roll Over Beethoven - became his moment at the microphone. Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby was still played on occasion on BBC Radio programs like Pop Go the Beatles, but that was about it...
...until the evening of October 18th, 1964. In an effort to finish work on their fourth album, the boys stayed in the studio all day, churning out eight titles, including the A-side of their next single. They turned to familiar tunes from their old stage act for the final three songs, rapidly recording them in only a few takes. Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby required just one take, with a bit of double-tracking on George's lead vocal and a tambourine overdub.
Producer George Martin selected this number to close out the album Beatles for Sale. Perhaps the tempo of this recording, a bit slower than any live performance, accounts for the disdain many have for it. It does lack the ferocity of previous album-closers like Twist and Shout or Money (That's What I Want), plus it has a ridiculous amount of echo, making the track sound as if it is being played in an empty, cavernous hall, but Capitol Records in the US agreed with Martin's assessment of the song, placing it at the end of the album Beatles '65. The American label even included it on the rare EP 4 by the Beatles.
The song soon returned to the group's live act, first surfacing on a November 17th recording for the BBC Radio program Top Gear. This same recording was reused a week later at a November 25th session for another BBC Radio offering, Saturday Club. This performance, which is very close to the album version recorded a month earlier, can be heard on the 1994 release Live at the BBC.
It remained George's spotlight number for the 38 performances of Another Beatles Christmas Show from December 24th to January 16th in London, as well as the European and American tours of 1965. The two shows on June 20th, 1965 in Paris were recorded and broadcast, thus providing material for bootleggers. The band's pace is brisk and George is in fine form both vocally and instrumentally on one such bootleg tape in my possession.
For me, the most remarkable performance of the song is from the historic Shea Stadium concert on August 15th, 1965. The sonic wash of screaming fans permeates the recording as the Beatles play on, sounding heavier than they ever had up to this point in their career. The 1996 release Anthology 2 allowed us to hear this for the first time, perfectly capturing the awesome essence of Beatlemania at its peak.
And we have yet another version of the song on this year's Live at the Hollywood Bowl release, which now includes this song from the group's August 30th, 1965 appearance at that venue. By the time of the December '65 British tour, however, the song was finally retired from the set list and replaced by George's Rubber Soul composition If I Needed Someone.
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