Boys

AUTHORSHIP Luther Dixon (.5) and Wes Farrell (.5)
McCARTNEY: "Ringo used to sing 'Boys' [1960], another Shirelles number. It was so innocent. We just never even thought, 'Why is he singing about boys?' We loved the song. We loved the records so much that what it said was irrelevant, it was just the spirit, the sound, the feeling. The joy when you did that 'Bab shoo-wap, bab bab shoo wop'. That was the great fun of doing 'Boys'." Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now

RECORDED
February 11, 1963, at Abbey Road

INSTRUMENTATION
McCARTNEY: bass, backing vocal
LENNON: rhythm guitar, backing vocal
HARRISON: lead guitar, backing vocal
STARR: drums, lead vocal

MISCELLANEOUS
Original recording artist: the Shirelles. Used as the B side of their big hit "Will You Love Me Tomorrow?" which was released November 7, 1960, it entered the Top 40 in December, and held the No. 1 position for two weeks. The Beatles Book of Lists and The Long and Winding Road: An Intimate Guide to the Beatles
This song was part of the Beatles' live repertoire from 1961 to 1964 (Pete Best sang lead until he was fired in August 1962). The Complete Beatles Chronicle

Dear Prudence

AUTHORSHIP Lennon (1.00)
LENNON: "Written in India. A song about Mia Farrow's sister, who seemed to go slightly balmy, meditating too long, and couldn't come out of the little hut that we were livin' in. They selected me and George to try and bring her out because she would trust us." September 1980, All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono

Mia Farrow's brother John and her nineteen-year-old sister Prudence travelled with her to India.

McCARTNEY: "Prudence Farrow got an attack of the horrors, paranoia, what you'd call these days an identity crisis, and wouldn't come out of her Butlins chalet. We all got a little bit worried about her so we went up there and knocked. 'Hi, Prudence, we all love you. You're wonderful!' But nobody could persuade her out. So John wrote 'Dear Prudence, won't you come out and play ...' He went in and sang it to her and I think that actually did help. We walked up to her chalet, a little delegation, and John sang it outside her door with his guitar. And she looked out, she improved after that. It was a turning point. I think it was quite sensitive of John to realise that she needed showing that she was okay, for someone to tell her that she was all right. You know, if you're used to McDonald's and Howard Johnson's, India is a little bit different. Looking at it now, from a nineties perspective, there was probably a lot of therapy needed for a lot of the people there. We were all looking for something. Obviously you don't go to Rishikesh if you're not looking for something. It's a long schlep otherwise. Prudence probably needed to talk about it rather than meditate." Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now

Prudence has no memory of ever hearing the song in India, but Paul Horn has said that she was in a semi-catatonic state from almost continuous meditation, against the Maharishi's wishes, and didn't even recognise her own brother at the time, so her memory is probably faulty. Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now

RECORDED
August 28, 1968, at Trident Studios, with overdubbing August 29 and 30

INSTRUMENTATION
McCARTNEY: bass, piano, drums, flugelhorn, lead and backing vocal
LENNON: lead guitar (Epiphone), tambourine, lead and backing vocal
HARRISON: acoustic guitar, backing vocal
MAL EVANS: tambourine
JACKIE LOMAX: backing vocal
Lomax contribution from Crawdaddy (August 1975)

Overdubbing of the guitar parts six or seven times helped create the rich sound. Beatles Forever

MISCELLANEOUS
A page containing the song's lyrics, with fourteen lines of verse and notes and doodles around the border, was sold for $19,500 to an unidentified investor June 27, 1987, at Sotheby's, New York. New York Times news service

COMMENTS BY OTHERS
This song is one of Julian Lennon's favourites. Circa 1984, Lennon : The Definitive Biography

Because

AUTHORSHIP Lennon (1.00)
LENNON: "This is about me and Yoko in the early days. Yoko was playing some Beethoven chords and I said play them backwards. It's really Moonlight Sonata backwards." Beatles in Their Own Words

LENNON: "I was lying on the sofa in our house, listening to Yoko play Beethoven's 'Moonlight Sonata' on the piano. Suddenly, I said, 'Can you play those chords backward?' She did, and I wrote 'Because' around them. The song sounds like 'Moonlight Sonata,' too. The lyrics are clear, no bullshit, no imagery, no obscure references." September 1980, All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono

McCARTNEY: "I wouldn't mind betting Yoko was in on the writing of that, it's rather her kind of writing: wind, sky and earth are recurring, it's straight out of Grapefruit and John was heavily influenced by her at the time." Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now

RECORDED
August 1, 1969, at Abbey Road, with overdubbing August 4 and 5

The intricate harmony singing was thoroughly rehearsed before recording began. The Long and Winding Road: An Intimate Guide to the Beatles

MARTIN: "Having done the backing track, John, Paul, and George sang the song in harmony. Then we overlaid it twice more, making nine-part harmony altogether, three voices recorded three times." The Complete BEATLES Recording Sessions; The Official Story of the Abbey Road Years 1962-1970

INSTRUMENTATION
McCARTNEY: bass, harmony lead vocal
LENNON: lead guitar, harpsichord, harmony lead vocal
HARRISON: Moog synthesizer, harmony lead vocal

MISCELLANEOUS
A piece of this music was first heard on John and Yoko's Wedding Album.

Later, when EMI were rationalising their instrument collection, Paul was able to buy the electric spinet which gives much of the characteristic sound to the track. He still has it in his recording studio along with many of the instruments used on Sgt. Pepper and Bill Black's stand-up double bass used on Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel," bought for him as a birthday present by Linda on a visit to Nashville.

COMMENTS BY BEATLES
LENNON: "This is a terrible arrangement, a bit like Beethoven's Fifth backwards." Hit Parader (April 1972)

McCartney and Harrison said this was their favourite song on the album. Beatles Forever

HARRISON: ". . . A bit like 'If I Needed Someone' - you know, the basic riff going through it is somewhat the same, but it's actually quite a simple tune. It's a three-part harmony thing which John, Paul, and myself all sing together. . . . I think this is possibly my favourite one on the album because it's so damn simple. The lyrics are uncomplicated, but the harmony was actually pretty difficult to sing. We had to really learn it, but I think it's one of the tunes that will definitely impress most people." Late 1969, The Beatles: A Celebration

Dizzy Miss Lizzy

AUTHORSHIP Larry Williams (1.00)

RECORDED
May 10, 1965, at Abbey Road

INSTRUMENTATION
McCARTNEY: bass
LENNON: Hammond orgran, lead vocal
HARRISON: lead guitar
STARR: drums

MISCELLANEOUS
This recording appeared first on the U.S. album Beatles VI, released in June 1965, about two months before Help! appeared.
The original recording by Larry Williams was released February 24, 1958. It was not a Top 40 hit.
This song was part of the Beatles' live repertoire from 1960 to 1962 and again in 1965. The Complete Beatles Chronicle

Birthday

AUTHORSHIP McCartney (.5) and Lennon (.5)
McCARTNEY: "We thought, 'Why not make something up?' So we got a riff going and arranged it around this riff. We said, 'We'll go to there for a few bars, then we'll do this for a few bars.' We added some lyrics, then we got the friends who were there to join in on the chorus. So that is 50-50 John and me, made up on the spot and recorded all on the same evening. I don't recall it being anybody's birthday in particular but it might have been, but the other reason for doing it is that, if you have a song that refers to Christmas or a birthday, it adds to the life of the song, if it's a good song, because people will pull it out on birthday shows, so I think there was a little bit of that at the back of our minds." Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now

LENNON: "Both of us [wrote it]." Hit Parader (April 1972)

LENNON: " 'Birthday' was written in the studio. Just made up on the spot. I think Paul wanted to write a song like 'Happy Birthday Baby,' the old '50s hit." September 1980, All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono

RECORDED
September 18, 1968, at Abbey Road

CHRIS THOMAS, producer of the session: ". . . Paul was the first one in, and he was playing the 'Birthday' riff. Eventually the others arrived, by which time Paul had literally written the song, right there in the studio." The Complete BEATLES Recording Sessions; The Official Story of the Abbey Road Years 1962-1970
Harrison wore a glove during the session to avoid getting more blisters. The Long and Winding Road: An Intimate Guide to the Beatles
During a break in the session, the Beatles watched The Girl Can't Help It on television at McCartney's house. The 1956 film starred Jayne Mansfield and featured performances by Fats Domino, the Platters, Gene Vincent, and Little Richard. The Beatles Diary, Volume 1 : From Liverpool to London

INSTRUMENTATION
McCARTNEY: piano, lead vocal
LENNON: lead guitar, backing and occasional lead vocal
HARRISON: bass, tambourine
STARR: drums
YOKO ONO: backing vocal
PATTI HARRISON: backing vocal

McCartney's piano was an upright that was prepared to sound like an electric harpsichord. The Long and Winding Road: An Intimate Guide to the Beatles

COMMENTS BY BEATLES
LENNON: "It was a piece of garbage." September 1980, All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono

Drive My Car

AUTHORSHIP McCartney (.7) and Lennon (.3)
Paul arrived at John's house in Weybridge with the tune in his head but with very bad lyrics.

McCARTNEY: "The lyrics were disastrous and I kenw it. Often you just block songs out and words just come into your mind and when they do it's hard to get rid of them. You often quote other songs too and you know you've got to get rid of them, but sometimes it's very difficult to find a more suitable phrase than the one that has insinuated itself into your consciousness. This is one of the songs where John and I came nearest to having a dry session. The lyrics I brought in were something to do with golden rings, which is always fatal. 'Rings' is fatal anyway, 'rings' always rhymes with 'things' and I knew it was a bad idea. I came in and said, 'These aren't good lyrics but it's a good tune.' The tune was nice, the tune was there, I'd done the melody. Well, we tried, and John couldn't think of anything, and we tried and eventually it was, 'Oh let's leave it, let's get off this one.' 'No, no. We can do it, we can do it.' So we had a break, maybe had a cigarette or a cup of tea, then we came back to it, and somehow it became 'drive my car' instead of 'gold-en rings', and then it was wonderful because this nice tongue-in-cheek idea came and suddenly there was a girl there, the heroine of the story, and the story developed and had a little sting in the tail like 'Norwegian Wood' had, which was 'I actually haven't got a car, but when I get one you'll be a terrific chauffeur'. So to me it was LA chicks, 'You can be my chauffeur', and it also meant 'you can be my lover'. 'Drive my car' was an old blues euphemism for sex, so in the end all is revealed. Black humour crept in and saved the day. It wrote itself then. I find that very often, once you get the good idea, things write themselves. So that was my idea and John and I wrote the words, so I'd go 70-30 on that to me." Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now

Lennon attributed authorship to both himself and McCartney. Hit Parader (April 1972)
McCartney originally wrote the song with the lyric "You can give me golden rings." In the studio, Lennon said the line was "crap" and they both came up with "You can drive my car," which they agreed was better.
McCARTNEY: "The idea of the girl being a bitch was the same but it made the key line better." Newsweek via Compleat(b)

RECORDED
October 13, 1965, at Abbey Road

There are small differences in John and Paul's vocals during the last vese. MARTIN: "That was never intended, but they did it that way. It was live, and things such as that slipped my attention. Once it went through and I saw it was there, I didn't think it was worthwhile calling them in again to replace a line; life's too short!" Musician (July 1987)

HARRISON: ". . . If [Paul] had written a song, he'd learn all the parts for Paul and then come in the studio and say (sometimes he was very difficult): 'Do this.' He'd never give you the opportunity to come out with something. But on 'Drive My Car' I just played the line, which is really like a lick off 'Respect,' you know, the Otis Redding version - duum-da-da-da-da-da-da-dum - and I played that line on the guitar and Paul laid that with me on bass. We laid the track down like that. We played the lead part later on top of it." Crawdaddy (February 1977)

INSTRUMENTATION
McCARTNEY: bass, guitar, piano, lead vocal
LENNON: tambourine, lead vocal
HARRISON: lead guitar, backing vocal
STARR: drums

Blackbird

AUTHORSHIP McCartney (.95) and Lennon (.05)
Paul wrote "Blackbird" at his farm in Scotland. Shortly afterwards, on a warm summer night back in London, he sat next to the open window of his top-floor music room and sang the song, accompanying himself on acoustic guitar. For the fans gathered in the darkness beyond his gates this unwitting free concert was the sort of magical moment that made their vigil worthwhile.
McCARTNEY: "The original inspiration was from a well-known piece by Bach, which I never know the title of, which George and I had learned to play at an early age; he better than me actually. Part of its structure is a particular harmonic thing between the melody and the bass line which intrigued me. Bach was always one of our favourite composers; we felt we had a lot in common with him. For some reason we thought his music was very similar to ours and we latched on to him amazingly quickly. We also liked the stories of him being the church organist and wopping this stuff out weekly, which was rather similar to what we were doing. We were very pleased to hear that.
"I developed the melody on guitar based on the Bach piece and took it somewhere else, took it to another level, then I just fitted the words to it. I had in mind a black woman, rather than a bird. Those were the days of the civil-rights movement, which all of us cared passionately about, so this was really a song from me to a black woman, experiencing these problems in the States: 'Let me encourage you to keep trying, to keep your faith, there is hope.' As is often the case with my things, a veiling took place so, rather than say 'Black woman living in Little Rock' and be very specific, she became a bird, became symbolic, so you could apply it to your particular problem.
"This is one of my themes: take a sad song and make it better, let this song help you. 'Empowerment' is a good word for it. Through the years I have had lots of wonderful letters from people saying, 'That song really helped me through a terrible period.' I think that the single greatest joy of having been a musician, and been in the Beatles, is when those letters come back to you and you find that you've really helped people. That's the magic of it all, that's the wonder, because I wrote them with half an idea that they might help, but it really makes me feel very proud when I realise that they have been of actual help to people." Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now

LENNON: "I gave him a line on that one." September 1980, All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono
RECORDED
June 11, 1968, at Abbey Road, by McCartney

INSTRUMENTATION
McCARTNEY: acoustic guitar, metronome, lead vocal (occasionally double-tracked)
Blackbirds: singing

The blackbird itself was taken from an ornithological record in the EMI sound archives.
McCARTNEY: "He did a very good job, I thought. He sings very well on that." Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now

MISCELLANEOUS
McCartney said that one of his most cherished moments as a songwriter was when he woke one morning to the sound of a blackbird singing the tune of this song.
McCartney was happy and sat on a windowsill playing an acoustic guitar and serenading the fans around his house by singing this song on the night Linda Eastman arrived from New York to live with him in late summer 1968. McCartney: The Definitive Biography