You're Going to Lose That Girl

In the week of Monday, February 15th through Saturday, February 20th, 1965, the Beatles recorded eleven songs for director Richard Lester's consideration for the soundtrack of their second feature film, though only seven were required.  John Lennon's final offering of the week was the only song attempted on February 19th.  Not only was this composition good enough to eventually make the cut, it surely would have been good enough to be a hit record if released as a single by either the Beatles or any other act.

While You're Going to Lose That Girl was primarily written by Lennon, Paul McCartney probably had a hand in crafting the number, which features prominent backing vocals from Paul and George.  Many have pointed out over the years how this song is a mirror image of She Loves You - in place of the earlier singer generously encouraging a friend to pursue a relationship, this singer threatens to step in and selfishly steal the other's girlfriend away.

Due to an error in the booth, the first take was called take two, and it was a false start.  With everyone playing their usual instruments, John singing his lead vocal, and Paul and George singing their backing vocals, the very next take - the one and only complete take - proved to be the keeper.  John then double-tracked his vocal and Paul added a piano part to the track.  It took a few attempts for George to successfully nail his overdubbed lead guitar solo.  The most interesting overdub, however, featured Ringo flailing away on a set of bongos.

For some reason, the boys returned to the song and recorded some additional overdubs on March 30th.  A new stereo mix was even created a few days later incorporating these unknown overdubs, but it was never used.

The song appears on both the UK and US versions of the album Help!  Capitol Records originally misprinted the title on both the cover and on the label of the American album as You're Gonna Lose That Girl (which is how the boys actually sing it).  This was corrected on the label on later pressings, but not on the album's cover.

The song is featured early on in the film Help! in a sequence set in a recording studio.  Cigarette smoke swirls around as the boys perform the number in the darkened studio.  Some shots even show Paul playing the piano and Ringo with the bongos.  Unbeknownst to the Beatles, the evil Clang and his thugs are cutting a hole in the floor with a chainsaw, and poor Ringo and his entire drumkit fall straight down through it after the song is complete.

The only post-career release of You're Going to Lose That Girl was on the 1977 double album Love Songs.  Unlike most of the other songs on this collection, it is not a ballad, and the spiteful nature of the lyrics really make it an odd choice for this compilation. 

Your Mother Should Know

A day after the Our World broadcast in June of 1967, the Beatles put a few finishing touches onto the live recording of All You Need Is Love, making it ready for release as their newest single.  They had now been in the studio almost continuously since late November of '66, and it was time for a well-deserved extended break.  They did not reunite for another recording session for almost two full months, finally meeting up on August 22nd at London's Chappell Studios to resume work on the Magical Mystery Tour soundtrack.  At this point, they only had the title song and Paul's rather vague outline for a film which they would soon begin shooting.

McCartney had written a simple straightforward number called Your Mother Should Know on the harmonium in his house while some of his relatives from Liverpool were visiting him, thus putting him in an old-fashioned music hall frame of mind.  The Beatles captured this style with just Paul on piano, George on rhythm guitar and Ringo on drums.  They recorded eight takes on August 22nd before hitting upon the best.  

They returned to Chappell Studios on the following evening to add overdubs - specifically, the vocals.  Paul sang and double-tracked his lead vocal part, then he joined John and George to sing the backing vocals.  This date of August 23rd has always been notable as it was the last time any of the Beatles saw manager Brian Epstein, who showed up at the session.  A few days later, Epstein was dead, and the group's fortunes changed forever.  At a meeting following the funeral, they decided to immediately carry on with the Magical Mystery Tour project, hoping no doubt that immersing themselves in work would be the best thing to do in the moment.  Lacking Epstein's oversight and organizational skills, however, the production would quickly descend into chaos.

The basic tracks of the remaining soundtrack songs were duly recorded, then a hastily assembled cast set off to commence filming.  On September 16th, the Beatles returned to Abbey Road Studios to put down eleven takes of a remake of Your Mother Should Know.  This version featured Paul on harmonium, John on piano, Ringo playing a march like drum pattern, and George occasionally banging away on bongos.  The best of these takes (take twenty-seven!) appears on Anthology 2.  

On September 24th, on a huge staircase set constructed inside a hanger, the sequence which would close out the film was shot, showing the boys in white tuxedos miming to the song as dancers swirl around them.  By this time, Paul must have decided that the first version of the song was better, because George can be seen mouthing the backing vocal part from the original - they were no doubt hearing it on playback.  John, typically, only remembers to join in every once in a while.  Unlike many of today's pop stars who perform energetic, complex dance routines, the Beatles barely manage to pull off the simplest choreography while being purposefully self-conscious - especially John with his demonic smile.  The result is somehow utterly charming.

Now that the first version of the song had been deemed official, some overdubs were added to the track back in the studio on September 29th, including John on organ, Ringo on tambourine and Paul finally playing a bass part.  At the tail end of the song, a droning tamboura can briefly be heard, representing George's contribution on this date.

Your Mother Should Know immediately follows the title tune on the Magical Mystery Tour double EP released in the UK.  The American album places the song near the end of side one just before I Am the Walrus.  Apart from the September 16th alternate version from Anthology 2 mentioned above, it has not appeared on any other post-career collections.

Magical Mystery Tour was broadcast on BBC TV on Boxing Day, December 26th, 1967.  Reaction from critics and the general public was so bad that ABC-TV, which had the American broadcast rights, declined to air the program.  The film is probably only a treat for diehard fans of the Beatles such as me.  The DVD I have, by the way, has a second helping of Your Mother Should Know in the extras, showing the boys rehearsing the number with even more goofing around from John. 

You Won't See Me

Canadian singer Anne Murray has always been rightfully proud of the fact that John Lennon once told her backstage at the Grammy Awards that her rendition of You Won't See Me was the best cover of a Beatles song that he had ever heard.  Her version features a fuzz bass part played by Skip Beckwith, different backing vocals than those sung by the Beatles, and a string arrangement.  While it may have been John's favorite, I merely find it to be rather pleasant.

The original, on the other hand, is a hidden gem.  It is a McCartney composition about his relationship with Jane Asher, written during a time when it was difficult for him to reach her while she was in Bristol working as a member of the Old Vic acting company.  Though the lyrics are downbeat, McCartney frames them in a catchy melody with one of his typically soaring bridges, one so good that he simply had to repeat it, bringing the number in over the three-minute mark.

November 11th, 1965 was the last day of sessions for the album Rubber Soul - it had to be in stores in time for the Christmas rush! - and more songs were needed to reach the usual quota of fourteen.  Vocals were added to the instrumental track of I'm Looking Through You (another song about Paul's strained relationship with Jane Asher), then Wait, a leftover number from the Help! sessions, was dusted off and given some new overdubs, and Lennon's brilliant composition Girl was recorded from start to finish...and all of this was done after You Won't See Me was begun and seen through to completion.  All in all, an amazingly productive thirteen hours.

Paul on piano, George on guitar, Ringo on drums and John on tambourine only required two takes to arrive at the master.  Paul then sang and double-tracked his lead vocals, harmonizing with himself at the end of each verse and in the bridges, while John and George sang backing vocals that build impressively over the course of the song.  Paul also overdubbed his very active bass part, and Ringo added some accents on hi-hat.  The group's assistant Mal Evans even got in on the action, holding down a single Hammond organ note throughout the final verse.  They could not resist giving him credit on the album sleeve as Mal "Organ" Evans.

You Won't See Me sits in the third position on side one of both the UK and US versions of the LP Rubber Soul.  It easily merits its place on an album filled with such powerhouse tracks as Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown), Michelle, Girl and In My Life.  Its only other release was on the 1966 British EP Nowhere Man.  Somehow, it has never made the cut for any post career compilations.  However, Anne Murray's 1974 version proved that even a lesser-known composition by the Beatles could be a successful single for another artist when it hit number eight on the Billboard chart.