I'll Get You

The success of the single From Me to You was making the Beatles the hottest rising stars in England in the spring of 1963.  Maintaining their popularity was of paramount importance so, in addition to a grueling touring schedule which included an increasing number of radio and television appearances, manager Brian Epstein and record producer George Martin pushed John Lennon and Paul McCartney to come up with a high quality composition for their follow-up single.

As the date for the next recording session drew near, John and Paul put their heads together at John's house on Menlove Avenue in Liverpool and came up with what they thought would be a sure winner called Get You in the End.  Only days later, they brainstormed once again with the result being a far superior number called She Loves You, thus ensuring that the earlier tune would merely wind up as the B-side.

This is a rare instance in the group's catalog in which we do not know the number of takes for either She Loves You or I'll Get You.  The usually-impeccable Abbey Road Studios documentation is lacking for this day, perhaps due to an equally uncharacteristic lapse of security which resulted in several screaming fans actually getting into the building and disrupting the proceedings.  That event even made the Beatles a bit skittish about heading to the studio canteen between the afternoon and evening sessions.

What we do know is that the afternoon session on July 1st, 1963 was entirely devoted to She Loves You, leaving the work on the B-side for the evening.  As was customary at this time, the backing track was comprised of all four Beatles on their usual instruments with simultaneous live vocals from John and Paul, plus George in the bridge.  The only overdubs were some handclaps and John's harmonica.  There is a vocal flub during the bridge, but the session was running overtime and George Martin did not feel it was necessary to correct it.

In the UK, the sole appearance of I'll Get You was as the B-side of the group's first million-selling single.  Swan Records in America only had the rights to this one single, so when that label chose to release Sie Liebt Dich, the German version of She Loves You, it once again used I'll Get You as the B-side.  Capitol Records also released the song on The Beatles' Second Album.

The song appeared years later on the UK version of Rarities and on Past Masters Volume One.  Anthology 1 presents a performance of the song from the television program Val Parnell's Sunday Night at the London Palladium from October 13th, 1963.  This was the landmark appearance that prompted the first use of the word Beatlemania in the press the following day. 

Finally, On Air - Live at the BBC Volume 2 allows us to hear a taping of the song for the program Saturday Club, which was broadcast a few days before the famous television appearance mentioned above.  Naturally, these live performances do not feature John's harmonica, which plays throughout the song on the record.