I'm Down

On June 14th, 1965, the Beatles returned to Abbey Road Studios to add to the non-soundtrack side of their upcoming album Help!  As it turned out, the day belonged to Paul McCartney, who showed up with three new compositions ready to record.  After starting and completing his folk-rock tune I've Just Seen a Face in the first hour and a half, the focus shifted to a screaming rocker specifically designed to replace the Little Richard number Long Tall Sally in the group's live act.

For the backing track, John traded in his customary rhythm guitar for an electric organ while the other Beatles stayed with their usual instruments.  Anthology 2 presents take one of I'm Down, revealing that the arrangement was pretty much in place right from the start.  Once the seventh take was determined to be the best, the guitar and organ solos played by George and John were overdubbed, and Ringo added bongos at various points in the song.  Two separate sets of backing vocals were then added.  The first had John and George singing "I'm really down" and other phrases echoing Paul's lead vocal.  The second set had John singing a very low "down" with Paul and George harmonizing above him.  Again, all of this work required only an hour and a half.

The most remarkable part of the day was yet to come when, after shrieking his lungs out on this song, Paul recorded the master take of his brilliant ballad Yesterday.

While I'm Down may have been intended for the album, it wound up serving as the B-side of the single Help! instead.  And that was the only way you could get the song during the group's career.  This was a rare instance of Capitol Records in the US not making a song available on an album.  Post-career was a different story, however.  The song first appeared on the compilation Rock and Roll Music in 1976.  It was the final track on Past Masters Volume 1 in 1988 and, as aforementioned, take one was released on Anthology 2 in 1996.

It fulfilled its purpose in concert, closing out almost every show for the remainder of the group's touring days.  The film of the famous August 15th, 1965 Shea Stadium performance proves that I'm Down could be one of the highlights of shows that had become routinely frustrating.  On this historic occasion, the boys played the finale with abandon, caught up in the insanity of the world's first stadium concert.