I'll Follow the Sun

October 18th, 1964 was an extremely productive day for the Beatles.  The clock was ticking toward the deadline for their fourth studio album and eighth single, yet only half the necessary tracks had been recorded so far.  Before calling it a night, the most prolific act in show business had eight more tracks ready to order.

Knowing that new material was lacking, McCartney dusted off one of his earliest compositions for the session.  Former drummer Pete Best remembered this song as one that Paul would play on piano between sets at the Kaiserkeller during the group's first trip to Hamburg in the fall of 1960.  And a home recording reportedly exists of the Quarrymen (with John, Paul and George on guitars, Stu Sutcliffe on bass and Tommy Moore on drums) playing the song with a different middle eight sometime in early 1960.  Accounts differ as to whether Lennon assisted in writing the new middle eight before the October 18th session.

After completing three other album tracks and then spending a good chunk of time perfecting the A-side I Feel Fine, the boys concentrated on I'll Follow the Sun.  It only took about an hour to nail the number, but much happened in that brief time.  First, producer George Martin taught a descending vocal line to John for the new middle eight, or bridge.  Plus, it was determined that instead of playing his drum kit, Ringo would merely slap his legs to keep the beat.  In his book Here, There and Everywhere, Geoff Emerick, who was serving as second engineer on the day, recounts watching engineer Norman Smith setting up a microphone between Ringo's knees to capture the sound.

Emerick, who surprisingly has little love for George Harrison in his book, goes on to say that George was rather touchy about John playing an acoustic guitar solo during the brief instrumental break.  He relates that Harrison went up to the control booth and complained that he was supposedly the lead guitarist of the group, so Martin allowed him to play an electric guitar solo as an overdub onto take eight.  Emerick is even disparaging about the simple melody line that George wound up playing for the solo, but there was no time for another attempt, as more songs were required before the night was through.

I daresay that no Beatles fans were aware that this lovely song was an old composition when it was released in December of 1964.  It fits in nicely on the UK album Beatles for Sale and the US version known as Beatles '65.  It also appeared several months later as the lead track on the British EP Beatles for Sale (No. 2).

I'll Follow the Sun was a natural choice for the compilation album Love Songs in 1977.  The one and only BBC recording of the song (for the program Top Gear) was released on the EP Baby It's You and the double album On Air - Live at the BBC Volume 2.  It's interesting to note that George did not take the opportunity to improve upon his simple guitar solo on this occasion.