If I Fell

For me, there is no more beautiful ballad in the entire Beatles catalog than If I Fell.  McCartney's And I Love Her was immediately more popular (If I Fell was relegated to the B-side of the American single featuring both songs), but Lennon's offering was lyrically deeper and even more complex musically.  And the duet is their finest on record, surpassing even Two of Us and the final verse of Hey Jude in my estimation.  John and Paul were never in better form.

The number was among those composed at the George V Hotel in Paris during January of 1964 for the group's upcoming film debut.  While Lennon wrote the bulk of the song, McCartney has since claimed the intro as his own.  It was recorded in an afternoon session at Abbey Road Studios on February 27th with John and Paul standing at one microphone per their request.  Fifteen takes were necessary as tiny adjustments were made to the instrumental arrangement along the way.  Some double-tracking was then done for the vocals before the song was complete.  This resulted in some noticeable differences between the mono and stereo mixes of the song, as only the stereo version has John's intro double-tracked and fails to correct a precious moment when Paul's voice cracks on the word "vain" at the end of the second bridge.

Though it is the most mature of the soundtrack songs, it is played as a joke in A Hard Day's Night, with John singing to a sulking Ringo.  We do hear a good chunk of it again in the concert sequence near the end of the film.

It was released in the UK on the album A Hard Day's Night and on the EP Extracts from the Film A Hard Day's Night.  Aside from the Capitol single, it also appeared in the US on the United Artists soundtrack album A Hard Day's Night and the Capitol album Something New.  The 1977 compilation Love Songs contains the stereo version.  And On Air - Live at the BBC Volume 2 presents a new recording of the song for the radio program Top Gear.  John even double-tracked his vocal, including the intro, on this occasion.  This was from July of 1964, only a week after the release of the album in the UK.

Despite the intricacies of the duet, the group added the song to their stage act for the remainder of that year.  They did, however, often laugh their way through the number.  Too bad.  Such a delicate and sublime composition deserved better treatment at the hands of its creators.