She Loves You

The debut single Love Me Do had exceeded expectations by hitting number seventeen on the British charts.  Even more surprising was the success of the second single Please Please Me, which shot up to the top.  From Me to You cemented the Beatles' hold on the number one spot as their first album Please Please Me achieved the same feat, and the group became frequent performers on television and radio, even earning their own BBC Radio program Pop Go the Beatles.  But it was the fourth single which would catapult the band to the status of a national phenomenon, poised to conquer the world and become one of the biggest acts in the history of show business.

Word had gotten out that the Beatles were scheduled to record on July 1st, 1963, and fans gathered, perhaps for the first time, outside Abbey Road Studios on the day of the session.  Security was unprepared for this eventuality, and a number of fans got into the building, at least one of them making it all the way into studio two before the premises were cleared.  What happened during the actual session following this incident is not known, as the EMI paperwork, usually impeccable, contains absolutely no information about it, including the number of takes, any overdubs, etc.

What we do know is that the song She Loves You, written by Lennon and McCartney only a few days earlier, greatly impressed producer George Martin, engineer Norman Smith, and second engineer, young Geoff Emerick.  The same four musicians, playing the same basic instruments, suddenly displayed a new level of power and confidence, delivering a defining performance for the ages.  The record is an explosion of pure joy, combining the raw exuberance of Please Please Me and I Saw Her Standing There with the pop craftsmanship of From Me to You, cleverly adding the point of view of a friend encouraging another in his relationship.  There had never been anything quite like it before - or since.

The record exploded on the scene in the UK when it was released in late August.  She Loves You was among the songs they performed on the TV show Val Parnell's Sunday Night at the London Palladium on October 13th.  The following day, the term Beatlemania appeared for the first time in the British press.  The video collection 1+ contains a performance from the Swedish television show Drop In recorded on October 30th during their first tour outside the UK.  Only days later, on November 4th, they played the song at the Royal Command Performance, which can be heard on Anthology 1.

Of course, it was a staple of their stage act, being performed as part of the Beatles Christmas Show in London, during their three week engagement in Paris in early 1964, for two consecutive weeks on the Ed Sullivan Show in the US, at the Washington Coliseum and at Carnegie Hall.  Though it is not part of the official soundtrack, they play it at the end of the concert sequence in the film A Hard Day's Night, securing its status as their signature song.

The song remained in their setlist throughout 1964, including a version which can be heard on the album The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl, recorded on August 23rd.  The group played it multiple times on BBC Radio, as well.  The collection On Air - Live at the BBC volume 2 presents a performance from the program Saturday Club recorded on September 7th.

Despite its great popularity, it is amazing to recall that Capitol Records refused to release it initially in the US.  Manager Brian Epstein had to look for a third label when VeeJay Records passed on it, as well.  The tiny Swan Records in Philadelphia took a chance on it, but gave it no promotion and could muster little airplay.  Only after the next single I Want to Hold Your Hand broke through on Capitol Records did She Loves You finally take off.  It became the group's second American number one, soon appearing on the Capitol release The Beatles' Second Album.  Trying to cash in even further, Swan released the German version Sie Liebt Dich as a single, but it barely broke into the Billboard Hot 100.

In the UK, the song appeared on the 1965 EP The Beatles' Million Sellers and on the album A Collection of Beatles Oldies at the end of 1966.  Post career releases of the song include the Red Album in 1973, both the UK and US versions of 20 Greatest Hits, Past Masters Volume One, and on the 2000 collection 1.

The Beatles had many more hits to come, of course, but She Loves You remained their biggest hit in the UK.  Not only that, but in the 1960s - a time featuring an astonishing array of popular music - She Loves You proved to be the biggest selling single of the decade in the UK.  Toppermost of the poppermost, indeed.

She Came in Through the Bathroom Window

From the mid-60's on, a group of devoted fans that George Harrison dubbed the Apple Scruffs maintained a vigil outside Abbey Road Studios and, later, the Apple headquarters at 3 Savile Row.  Sometimes they would wander over to Paul McCartney's house on Cavendish Avenue.  On one occasion, a few of them used a ladder to climb into his house and grab a few items.  Though he was angry and demanded the return of some of his possessions, he used the incident to give him the title of a new song.

The Beatles rehearsed She Came in Through the Bathroom Window a number of times during the Get Back sessions at Twickenham Film Studios in early January 1969.  When those rehearsals shifted to the Apple Studios at Savile Row later in the month, they worked on the song again with Ringo on drums, Paul on bass, George playing tone pedal guitar and John on electric piano (this was just before keyboardist Billy Preston joined the proceedings).  Anthology 3 presents a very slow and mellow version of the tune from this time, showing that John sang a complementary harmony during the refrains.  Though they continued to return to the song throughout these sessions, it did not make the final cut for the project.

By the summer of '69, the group was committed to another album, and the idea of a long medley of unused songs was developing.  Many of these song snippets were even linked together in the recording process, though they were usually by the same composer.  The exception was Polythene Pam/She Came in Through the Bathroom Window, combining tunes from both Lennon and McCartney.

The group gathered to record the backing track of both songs on July 25th, this time with John on acoustic guitar.  It required thirty-nine takes to attain the master, though Ringo had to re-record his drum part (see my entry for Polythene Pam regarding John's harsh criticism which prompted this).  Paul took the opportunity to re-record his bass part, as well, and to overdub his lead vocal.  They returned to the track on July 28th, with Paul double-tracking his vocal and playing piano and electric piano, John and George adding more guitars, and various bits of percussion were also added, including tambourine, maracas, cowbell and handclaps.  The final touches were applied on July 30th, with John, Paul and George overdubbing their distinctive backing and harmony vocals. 

To facilitate the song working in the long medley on side two of the album Abbey Road, it begins with a few introductory measures that change the key following the guitar solo at the end of Polythene Pam.  Also, it is played at a brisk tempo when compared to the January rehearsal.  In addition, the refrain is only heard twice (instead of four times as in the January version), and verses two and three are run together without interruption.  The song thus clocks in at less than two minutes, as opposed to the three-minute January version.  At its conclusion, there is a brief pause before the medley continues with Golden Slumbers.

This is the type of composition that McCartney would feature frequently in his solo career.  His lyrics are largely nonsensical, with no real story or point of view.  They are merely a collection of words and images that sound interesting when strung together, but they are always redeemed by his gift for a melody that is irresistibly catchy and instantly hummable.

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)

As work on the album neared the finish line, a decision was made to bring Sgt. Pepper's band back to close out the show.  Most accounts have assistant Neil Aspinall coming up with this idea, though producer George Martin has also received credit for it.  The reprise of the title song would not end the album, however, as A Day in the Life would have that honor, serving as a sort of encore.

On April 1st, 1967, the group reported to the vast studio one at EMI's Abbey Road Studios.  They usually recorded in the cozy confines of studio two, but it had already been booked for the day.  Engineer Geoff Emerick had as many screens as were available set up around the band and their instruments to limit the amount of echo in the large room.  Paul played Hammond organ, leading the others through nine takes of the harder, faster version of the Sgt. Pepper theme.

Anthology 2 allows us to hear take five.  As with every other take, Paul provides an energetic guide vocal, driving the brisk, stripped-down backing track.  The same is true of take eight, which appears on the 50th anniversary editions of the album.  With take nine as the keeper, Paul overdubbed his bass guitar part, maracas and tambourine were also added, all four Beatles sang the group harmony vocals, and the bulk of the album was officially in the can.

The mono mix of the song was made at the end of this all-night session, featuring some different audience overdubs than those most of us would recognize.  The slightly more subtle audience sounds were added on April 20th as part of the stereo mix.  Also on this night, the perfect matching of the squawking hen at the end of Good Morning Good Morning and George's guitar at the start of this number was achieved, an effect that is not quite as good on the mono mix.

By effectively bookending the album with the two versions of the title song, the Beatles completed the conceit of a performance by Sgt. Pepper's band, and legitimized the idea of the concept album, even though most of the songs on this album actually have nothing to do with each other.  To paraphrase John Lennon, it worked because the Beatles said it worked, and we bought it.